Josh Howerton - Am I Going to Heaven or Hell? (01/11/2026)
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Summary:
In this hard-hitting message from Acts chapter 1, the preacher contrasts the tragic fates of Judas and Peter after both betrayed Jesus, showing that Judas never truly believed and ended in despair and hell, while Peter repented and ran back to Christ for forgiveness and restoration. The core idea is that true salvation cannot be lost because it belongs to God, but it can be faked—like Judas did—leading to eternal separation. The powerful conclusion urges everyone to run to Jesus with their sin rather than away from Him, trusting the gospel that He fully forgives and redeems those who come to Him in faith.
Welcome and Marriage Night Recap
All right, welcome, LakePointe family! Hey man, is anybody still riding high from Marriage Night? Y’all were here? Who was here? Dude, Marriage Night was amazing! I just want to say that was last night, and man, it was incredible to gather with like five or six thousand people from LakePointe, just investing in marriages. I need you to know this: we are all in. We are all in on this. We don’t just want to build great disciples; we want to build strong families. It was just an awesome night to gather, laugh, learn, and repent, and it was awesome.
Free Marriage Advice
Now, I do want to say this: I just want to drop a little gift; this is free, totally free! So for the people who missed Marriage Night—if you missed it and thought, «Man, it would have been good, ” can we give a little something? If you’re not married yet but headed toward marriage, okay, I’m going to do that right now. This is a golden nugget of advice I was given by a mentor, okay? So this is free! Can y’all handle it? Okay, this is free!
Now first, let me do this: let me talk to the guys first. Guys, when it comes to her wedding day, she has been planning this day her entire life. She got her first wedding magazine when she was 14. She draped a blanket around her like it was her wedding dress when she was a teenager. She did the towel over her head; it was a little veil! All the stuff! She’s been planning this day her whole life. So here’s what you need to do, man: when it comes to that day, just stand where she tells you to stand, wear what she tells you to wear, and do what she tells you to do. You’ll make her the happiest woman in the world! Okay, now I got an amen! Let’s see if you amen this!
Now ladies, when it comes to his wedding night, he has been planning this day his whole life. So just stand where he tells you to stand, wear what he tells you to wear, and do what he tells you to do, and you’re going to make him the happiest man in the world! That’s it, man! Okay, that was free! Acts chapter one. Acts one, we are—I’m going to shift emotional gears so hard right now! We are going to answer questions today like: can a Christian lose their salvation? If a Christian commits suicide, do they go to hell? How can you be restored from a moral failure deeply after you betray the Lord? We are hitting these things because we are in a series that we’re just calling „There Is More, ” where we’re preaching through the book of Acts. And here’s why we’re doing this: it takes the whole Word to make a whole Christian.
Series Context and Passage Setup
So what you’ll see as we preach through the book of Acts is, I’m going to be forced as a Bible teacher to get into passages that I would not naturally choose. But the reason we want to do this is, again, it takes the whole Bible to make a whole Christian. So let’s just dive right in! We are in Acts chapter 1; we’re going to pick up in verse 15.
Let me set the stage because this is a very full passage. This is after Jesus has ascended into heaven. Jesus has promised the filling of the Holy Spirit to all of His disciples; it has not yet happened at this point. You’ve got the Apostle Peter, the 11 remaining Apostles—as you’re going to see, the second Judas has hanged himself—so 11 Apostles, Jesus' Mom Mary, Jesus' aunt is there, and a smattering of about 120 people who started following Jesus during His ministry. It is at this moment that you have these two names that rise to the surface in this passage. Here are the two names; this is very important as it sets the tone for the entire passage and the whole sermon today. The two names are Judas and Peter. These two names dominate this passage!
Judas and Peter: Similar Starts, Different Ends
Now, here’s why I point this out: these two men have very similar stories. Fascinating! A lot of Bible readers miss this. Both of these men were disciples of Jesus. Jesus warned both of them that they would experience catastrophic moral failure and that both of them would betray Him. Both of them! They are the only two Apostles that Jesus warned, „Each of you will specifically be targeted by Satan before I go to the Cross.“ Both of them fail Jesus on the night of His arrest. Peter experiences the failure of denial; Judas experiences the failure of betrayal. Both of them fail Jesus.
Now, up to this point, these two men have the same story. After this point, radically different outcomes. One of them, Judas, ends up demon-possessed, commits suicide, and goes to hell. The other, Peter, ends up—as you’ll see next week—ends up Spirit-filled. Oh, by the way, demon possession is the satanic counterfeit of being filled with the Spirit. Peter is Spirit-filled; he is now the human leader of the church on Earth, teaching a Bible study to Jesus' mom and brothers and the disciples who did not deny Jesus! Both of them start the same; they finish very differently. What’s the difference? That’s the focus of this sermon.
Now, the reason we need to know the answer to that question is I just need to tell you this: if you have walked with Jesus for nearly any time at all in your life, you need to know you are almost certainly going to experience a catastrophic failure as a disciple of Jesus at some point. Now, you may hear that, and be like, „Man, come to get uplifted! Can’t you be more positive?“ Yes! I am positive that you are going to experience catastrophic failure as a disciple of Jesus at some point. So here’s the question: when that happens to you, will you have a Judas future or a Peter future? That’s Acts 1, starting in 15. Now check this out; let me read it.
It says, „In those days, Peter stood up among the believers—a group numbering about 120—and he said, 'Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled.'“ I love this! „The Scripture had to be fulfilled.“ Why? Because the Scriptures are always fulfilled, in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as a guide for those who arrested Jesus. He was one of our number, and he shared in our ministry.»
Background on Judas
Now for us to understand what is being taught here, let me give you some background about Judas. Judas was one of the 12 disciples called by Jesus. Now, a little confusing: there were actually two disciples named Judas—Judas Iscariot and then Judas, son of James. Extremely unfortunate for the other Judas, let me just say that! For the rest of that dude’s life, he’d be like, «Hey man, what’s your name?» «Judas.» «Wow!» And his whole life, dude would have just been going, «Not that one, the other one, you know? I’m Winston Bin Laden! Different guy, you know, that kind of thing.» So, but there were two, but Judas Iscariot is the one, one of the 12 original disciples called by Jesus.
He is called Iscariot; most people don’t know this. That’s referring to the region where he grew up. Interestingly, the other 11 disciples were from a region called Galilee. Galilee had a lot of Gentile traffic, so it was a lot more secular than sort of the more urban area, the Judean area that was, like I said, more urban to the south. Just want to point this out: Judas is the only city boy, and he’s the one who betrays Jesus. Just want to point that out! So he’s the only one from Judea.
Now, Judas also, as you’re going to see in a second, John 12 says that Judas had a special role among the Apostles. He was the functional CFO of Jesus' ministry. So for Jesus, Inc., the nonprofit, Judas was the CFO, the money keeper. And Judas, obviously despite his special role, is the one who betrays Jesus. Now, can I just get this out right from the gate? That freaks me out as the senior pastor of LakePointe Church in 2024. It freaks me out that Judas betrays Jesus! Do you know why that freaks me out? Check this out: this is Matthew chapter 10. I want you to see it.
Judas’ Ministry Involvement
This says, «Now Jesus called His 12 disciples to Him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.» When it says «12» in Matthew 10, that means this dude Judas that betrays Jesus was one of those guys! So think about this: this guy never missed church for three years! Judas did not have some lame Josh Howerton preacher opening the Scriptures to him every week. If Judas had a question, Jesus answered it! Not only did Judas see all the miracles of Jesus—think about this: Judas saw every miracle Jesus did! He saw the feeding of the 5,000. More than that, actually, the Bible says that the Apostles—Jesus put bread into their hands, and they walked around holding out bread! Judas had the bread in his hands, was holding it, watched the bread multiply in his hands as he passed it out! He saw that happen!
Judas saw the calming of the sea! Judas saw Jesus raise the widow’s daughter! Judas was there when Jesus cried out to a full grave, «Lazarus, come out!» and Jesus—Judas watched a cadaver get up and walk out! Matthew 10, that we just read, said that Judas not only saw the miracles; he did them. He went everywhere, and with his own two hands, the power of God flowed through Judas to people! He cast out demons, healed sicknesses, healed the wounded—all of these things! And yet Judas never surrendered himself to the lordship of Jesus!
Now, how do we know this? I want to show you this in the passage. How do we know this? Two ways a lot of people miss this. We know Judas never believed in Jesus. Fascinating; never believed in Jesus! Check this out: this is John chapter 6. This is early in Jesus' ministry. Jesus says to the Apostles, «Yet there are some of you who do not believe!» Now it’s like, «Oh, well, which one?» Well, He tells us! «For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe, who would betray Him.» Never at any point in Jesus' ministry did Judas believe in Jesus!
Now, if you’re going, «Okay bro, but how do you know he never submitted to the lordship of Jesus?» Here’s another thing a lot of people miss. Check this out: this is Matthew 26. So this is like right before Jesus goes to the Cross. Jesus is in the upper room; He’s doing the Last Supper with all the Apostles, and here’s what it says. «When it was evening, He reclined at table with the 12, and as they were eating, He said, 'Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me! '» Now as soon as He said this, everybody’s like, «Whoa, what’s going on? Like who’s gonna do that?» I think, you know, Peter was probably the first one to start talking, because Peter has no inner voice; he only has an outer voice! He says everything he thinks!
The Last Supper Difference
So I think Peter just immediately, what he does—check this out—it just says this, «Peter, the disciples go, and they said, and they were sorrowful and began to say to Him one after another, ‘Is it I? ’» Now you tell me what that word is! «Is it I, Lord?» Like I said, I think Peter was first. «Is it I, Lord? Is it me? You talking about me?» And then the Bible says, it says, «One after another, 11 dudes, ‘Is it I, Lord? Is it I, Lord? Is it I, Lord? Is it I, Lord? ’» Eleven guys! But then watch what Judas says two verses later. Judas—who would betray Him—answered, «Is it I?» What’s that word? «Rabbi!» And then Jesus said, «You have said so.»
Listen, you must see this: what you have to see, here’s the scary news. You can do all the things, you can be at all the things, you can attend all the services, you can do all the ministry, all the things, and you can still not know Jesus and not end up in the kingdom of God! This is what happens to Judas. Every now and then, I’ve had somebody ask me this before: «So Josh, did Judas lose his salvation?» Nope! He faked it!
Theological question, theological question class: can a Christian lose their salvation? Here’s what I would say: wrong question! Because the Bible says salvation belongs to the Lord! He chose us in Him before the foundations of the earth. Salvation belongs to the Lord! So wrong question! Here’s the right question: can God lose a Christian? Answer: no! No! And this is what we see here: Jesus didn’t lose Judas; Judas never gave himself to Jesus! So you can’t lose your salvation, but you can fake it!
Judas’ Eternal Fate
And listen, I’m preaching the Word! I’m going to give you everything that comes from the Word. If that happens, Judas faked his salvation, and as a result, Judas ended up in hell! Judas ended up in hell! You say, «How, Josh? How do you know he ended up in hell?» The Bible explicitly tells us this down later in this passage in Acts chapter one. Watch what it says! «Then they prayed, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two they have to pick—two between two dudes—who’s going to replace Judas because we need 12 Apostles that represent the 12 tribes in the Old Testament, because the New Testament kingdom of God is the on-Earth equivalent of the Old Testament kingdom of God. So we need 12! ’ So they’re choosing who’s gonna replace Judas.»
And then they said, «Chosen to take over his apostolic ministry.» Watch this, «which Judas left to go”—and this is very sobering—“where he belongs.» If that does not sober you enough, the Book of Matthew, if you’re like, «Josh, are you sure that’s talking about hell?» The Book of Matthew tells us that Jesus said about Judas, «It would be better for that man if he had never been born!» Judas definitely ended up in hell!
Now I’ve got to talk about this because the Bible talks about it. And let me just say something as a pastor that I felt while I was preparing this message. There was a previous generation of preachers maybe 30, 40 years ago that might have talked about hell too much—like, all fire and brimstone, «I’m gonna scare the hell out of you!» kind of thing—and just go with me. I may not do that tomorrow, but on Saturday night, you’ve got to want to be here on Saturday night! So there was a previous generation of pastors that may have talked about hell too much. Can I just say? My generation of preachers overcorrected, and we do not talk about it enough! Guys, this is simply a reality. Let me just say some things to you in a straightforward way: heaven and hell are real, and everyone you meet is going one of those two places forever!
Forever! More than that, what—like, the burden of my soul preparing for this message—not only are those two places real, hell is hot, and eternity is long! And what this passage says—I know this sounds crazy; it’s like you’re kind of not allowed to say this in our culture—what this passage says is that some people belong there! They belong there! Let me explain it like this: hell is where they fit! And honestly, they would not want to be in heaven!
Disney World Analogy for Heaven and Hell
Now again, I need to do a really, really, really hard emotional gear shift for a second because the best analogy I’ve ever been able to come up with is Disney World. So we’re going from hell to Disney World; just track with me! Let me just cut to the chase: I hate Disney World! I just—I hear, I see that hand! It’s not my thing, it’s just not my thing! You know the whole commercial, «Happiest Place on Earth?» You know, I’m like, «Might be happy! And then you get in the parking lot and see how much you spent, ” then you’re not happy anymore! A lot of people—some of you have never been to Disney World, and I want to give it a fair shot for you! So if you’ve never been, here’s—I just want to be fair to it. Here’s what it’s like: imagine you’re standing in line at the DMV. That’s it! That’s Disney World!
Okay! Now, and the last time I went, I just got to say this: the last time I went, it was August 2020, okay? So it was like 120 degrees. It didn’t matter where you were; they were like policing the masks. So everywhere you went, it was like you had a sweaty washcloth on your face—and you’re smelling every ounce of breath you have under it, like trapped in this ferocious air bubble! And the thing about—let me just—I won’t belabor this—the thing about Disney World is it’s 120 degrees. You’re carrying kids on your back; you’re never sitting down; you’re sweating all day, and you can still gain weight! I do not understand it! It’s the only place on Earth!
Now I do, just again, there are some people—there are some adults who, even without kids, love it! They’re called weirdos! But they love it! And they just love being there! And you know what’s just—let me just be real for a second—I do know some people create very personal, very meaningful memories at Disney World, and you love it. And I just want you to hear this: you’re wrong! That’s all I just want to say; you’re wrong! So here’s my point: the whole point of this is, what would be what is heaven for some people? They can’t wait to get there! That’s like my metaphorical hell! Like they love it! They want to be there the whole time! They feel very at home! They love the experience! I can’t stand one second of it!
Now, I just—in all seriousness, here’s my analogy: there are some people for whom that is exactly what heaven and hell in eternity are like! Listen, Judas didn’t want to have anything to do with a relationship with Jesus when he was on Earth! Why in the world would he want to be in heaven for eternity? Heaven is all about Jesus, and that’s the whole thing!
So, this is the point: listen, death changes nothing; it merely eternalizes whatever trajectory of your soul you’re already on on Earth. If you don’t want to have anything to do with Jesus on Earth, you will not go where He is for eternity in heaven! Now, I just need to say this: some people, when I talk about this, wrestle because they’re like, „Josh, but I don’t want to worship a God who would send people to hell.“ Can I just say this? That’s not the God I worship! That’s not the God I worship! The God I worship doesn’t want anybody to go to hell! 1 Thessalonians says that our God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to acknowledge the truth! That listen, the God that we worship, He loves you so much! He sent His only Son to die on a cross for your sins so that you would never have to experience hell!
The God we worship does everything in His power to keep you from going to hell, so much so that He sent His Son! So that if you go to hell, you’ve got to step over His dead body to get there! That’s the God that we worship! Now, Judas did that! Judas stepped over the body—the crucified body of Jesus—to get to hell!
Why Judas Followed Jesus
Now, you may be going, „Well, Josh, I’m confused! Then why did he follow Jesus around for three years?“ Well, let me just say this: here’s why this is important! Because there are many people who follow Jesus around but do not have saving faith in Jesus! There are many—let me just say there are many people who are in church, but they’re not in Christ! And so after they attend church, when they die they’ll go to hell! We have to deal with this reality!
In fact, the Bible tells us why Judas hung tight with Jesus for three years. Check this out: this is John 12; it tells us exactly why! So context: this is like the whole deal where the girl comes and she breaks a little alabaster perfume thing on Jesus' feet! Y’all remember that? And does the whole hair thing! So right after that, Judas pipes up, and this is Judas, one of his disciples. Judas, who would later betray Him, objected! „Well why didn’t this perfume, why didn’t we sell this perfume? And sell it and take the money and give it to the poor?“ Because that was worth like a year’s wages, what she just did! Now check this out! Then the Bible gives us this: „He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as a keeper of the money bag he used to help himself to what was put into it.“
If you’re going to lean into any part of this message, you lean in right now! I’m going to say some hard things, I’m going to say them because I love you. Judas’s real God was his profit and loss statement! You know if you’re unfamiliar, a profit and loss statement is a line in the middle and on one side is everything that’s profitable for you or your business. On the other side is everything that’s a loss, right? Now it’s operating in the red, so the profits are in the black, the losses are in the red. That was Judas’s God!
And as long as following Jesus resulted in things on the profit side in Judas’ life, he was in! When it made him a little money, he was in! When it gained him social standing, he was in! Wanted to stay close to Jesus when it made him really popular! When he could walk around and heal the sick and crowds wanted to be around Judas, he was all in! But the second Judas realized, „I’m never gonna get rich off this guy and he’s starting to get in trouble, and I might end up in trouble if I’m associated with him, ” the second he realized following Jesus isn’t on the profit side; it’s on the loss side! He did what people do with losses he cut his losses!
Modern Apostasy and Half-Hearted Faith
This is what Judas did! Now listen man, this right here, I’m going to say this with sensitivity: that is what’s happening en masse in our culture right now! If you are not aware, you are right now living in the middle of a generational apostasy! There are more people walking away from the faith—walking away ostensibly from Jesus—than any other time in my entire lifetime, maybe any other time in American history! And listen, I’m going to say something with some sensitivity, but I just need to say it: what they will say is, „The reason I’m walking away from Jesus is, oh, it’s all these terrible Christians! Or it’s the church! The church is so bad! Or I’m deconverting! Or man, it’s all about the politics of Christians!“ Or you may have family members who look at you and they go, „It’s actually your fault! You’re the reason I walked away! You were this to me, and I didn’t like that!“ That’s what they say.
That is not true! The foundational reality of why they walk away—the Bible tells us in 1 John 2—it says, „They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their going showed that none of them belong to us.“ Anytime somebody walks away from Jesus, Judas or your best friend in 2024, the reason they walked away is that they had never placed saving faith in Jesus and truly been born again! That’s the reason!
Now listen, let me apply this to you. Here’s my fear for you! There are people who are just like Judas, who you’re more into the blessings than you are the Blesser. And here’s the question: when you’re not getting gifts from His hand, will you continue to seek His face? Here’s my reminder in our culture in general: check this out, man! In this culture, 21st century America right now—I’m not sure how much longer this is going to be true! It’s my job as a pastor to prepare you for the moment when it’s not true! But in our culture right now in America, following Jesus actually generally makes your life better! But listen, we don’t follow Jesus because he makes life better; we follow Jesus because He is better than life! That’s why we follow Jesus! Judas did not have this in him!
And you’ve got to understand this: half-hearted Christians are the most miserable people in the world! They know enough to feel guilty, but they haven’t gone far enough with their faith in the mercy of the Father to feel happy! They don’t go that far!
Judas’ Suicide
Now check this out! This is what happens to Judas! Judas ultimately, because of what I just said, he didn’t go far enough in his faith with Jesus to be happy! And see His mercy! This is why Judas commits suicide! Let me just read it to you! So this is straight from Acts chapter 1: „With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field. There he fell headlong, and his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out!“ Now, you know there it is! That’s the verse! It’s a very Bible verse! Just very straightforward!
Now, Matthew 27 gives us additional context! You may have read these verses and thought, „Oh, the Bible contradicts itself!“ Let me help you! Matthew 27 says this: „Judas, after he betrays Jesus, comes back to the Pharisees, and he’s like, ‘Hey, take your 30 pieces of silver back! I feel real bad! ’“ This is what they say to him. So Judas says, „I’ve sinned! For I betrayed innocent blood!“ They say, „What’s that to us?“ Essentially, „Bro, we do not care! We don’t care about you!“ They replied, „That’s your responsibility!“ Then Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself! You may have read both these verses and thought, „Whoa, well, which one was it? Did he fall headfirst and his intestines spill out or did he hang himself?“ Which one? Both!
I’ve been to this spot! It’s interesting! For decades people thought the Bible contradicted itself! Then they dug up this spot, Akeldama, in the Valley of Hinnom. It’s at the surface of a very steep cliff. Both happened! Judas hangs himself on a tree that was reportedly at the very top of the cliff. Eventually, the rope snaps; he falls down off the cliff; body bursts open; intestines spill out! Both happen!
Suicide and Salvation
Now let me ask this question; this is important! It relates: if a Christian commits suicide, will they go to heaven? Now this is very sensitive! And let me just answer this question! For some of you, what I’m about to say will contradict the tradition you came from! For instance, if you come from like a Catholic background, the teaching is that if anybody commits suicide, they go to hell. On this basis, they say, „Well then, the last thing you did was murder; murder is breaking one of the Ten Commandments, which is categorized as what’s called a mortal sin. And because the last thing you ever did was commit a mortal sin, you can’t repent because you killed yourself, and because you can’t repent, you’ll be in hell.“
Now, here’s the problem with that thinking, y’all: when Jesus forgives us, He forgives all our sin, past, present, and future! All our sin, past, present, and future! If a person goes to heaven or hell, it’s based on one thing and one thing alone: their relationship with Jesus Christ! That’s the only thing!
Now some people have heard that and they’ve said, „Yeah, Josh, but like somebody who is truly saved, they would never actually commit suicide.“ I would just say that is very naive! That is very naive! Moses, Job, Elijah, Jeremiah—all of them in the Bible had suicidal thoughts or vocalized they wished they could die! Actually, let me give you an answer. Remember, suicide is a form of murder. So let me ask this question: can a Christian commit murder and be forgiven? Obviously, yes! We’ve got three examples: David, Moses, and Paul!
So listen to me: the death that defines your eternity is Jesus' death, not yours! That’s what matters! So I just want to say this: listen, because what I know is in a church our size—30,000, 40,000 people are going to hear this message—there is going to be somebody that’s listening to this message and you’re considering this! Listen to me! You need to know this: you are not alone! You are not alone! If you’re still breathing, there’s still hope! The Bible says this: when David had his own thoughts of maybe he wanted to die, the Lord gently reminded him, „Surely you shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!“ That’s true for you! Surely you shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! However you’re feeling right now, it will not be that way forever because you have a Savior who can wipe away every tear from every eye and make it fresh again! He can do that for you!
So listen, I would just say this to you: don’t make a permanent decision based on a temporary emotion! Don’t do that! Amen, Church? Do we all agree? We’re a family! We want to be here to help you! Get honest with somebody! Let somebody into that pit!
Peter’s Restoration
And let me just say this: that Judas taking his life is not how Judas’s life had to end! This is not how Judas’s life had to end!
So, my favorite part? Y’all, I’m going to get weepy! Heads up! My favorite part about this whole passage is—do you remember who the dude is that’s leading this whole meeting at Bible study? Who is it? It’s Peter! It’s Peter! Now I just, let me point this out; the whole passage, you remember this? Peter’s going, „The Scripture had to be fulfilled!“ The reason we’ve got to have this dude—his name is Matthias! The reason we’ve got to pick somebody to replace Judas is because y’all remember what the Scripture said? And Peter was the leader of the Bible study going, „We’re going to be the people who obey the Word of God, who honor the Word of God, who walk in righteousness with our Savior!“
And here’s why I love that so much! I love it so much! Listen, you need to know this: that’s the guy that’s filled with the Spirit in one chapter! So let me just say this: people who are filled with the Spirit of God are people who obey the Word of God! Spirit of God people are Word of God people! If you ever experience something that contradicts the Word of God and you’re like, „Well, I know what the Bible says, but the Spirit told me, ” listen, that actually may have been a spirit—it wasn’t the Holy Spirit; it was a demonic, unholy spirit is what it was! The Spirit of God will never contradict the Word of God because the Spirit of God authored the Word of God, and He operates through the Word of God for hope, joy, peace, and restoration in your life! That’s what the Spirit does!
So here’s the—let me—the reason Peter is so insistent on, „We must obey the Word! We must obey the Word! We must obey the Word!“ Check this out: because God doesn’t bless people; we say it wrong! God doesn’t bless people! God blesses a place! The place that God blesses is under His Word! You place yourself under the Word of God, you bend your knee to the lordship of Jesus, you start walking in obedience to the Word of God! We don’t obey to be saved; we do obey to be blessed! And Word of God people will end up being filled with the Spirit of God! This is what we got here! So this is Peter!
Now, that was all free! Here’s where I want to land the plane! So Peter’s the dude leading the meeting! Now remember, Judas is not the only dude who failed Jesus on the night of his betrayal! Remember this? So you got Peter! Peter’s original name is Simon; Jesus renames Peter Petros, which means rock or the rock! And Peter was the son of John! What that means is that in modern day, Peter’s real name would have been The Rock Johnson! Just had to get that in there! That’s what just had to get that in!
Peter’s Failure and Response
So this is Peter now—biggest screw-up of all the Apostles! This dude can’t get it right for four gospels! Guy’s got diarrhea of the mouth! He can’t not say anything! That I won’t do that on Sunday either! He can’t say anything! Anything that comes to his mind, he can’t not say it! He’s the only Apostle who Jesus looks at and goes, „Get behind me, Satan!“ You’re the one! When they tried to arrest Jesus, Peter cuts a dude’s ear off! That’s not because he was a plastic surgeon! That’s because he missed! That’s what that means!
So like this dude was violent! He was all these—you all this stuff! But remember, on the night of Jesus’ crucifixion, Peter, the Bible says, was quote, „following Jesus at a distance!“ Some of you right now, you’re following Jesus at a distance! What do I think about this guy? I’m gonna hang around LakePointe just a little bit, watch out! It’s gonna get on you! That’s what’s gonna happen! And then it’s going to get in you and then it’s going to change you forever!
You’re right now following Jesus at a distance. Jesus starts getting put on trial, and the Bible says that Peter was sitting around there; it only references this twice in the whole Bible, a quote, „charcoal fire!“ So Peter’s like he’s in front of this charcoal fire, and this girl asks him, „Hey bro, like you weren’t you with Jesus?“ And Peter’s like, „No way, man!“ Because he’s afraid what’s going to happen to Jesus is going to happen to him! And then she’s like, „Yeah, but like your accent—you’ve got one of them Country Boy accents! You’ve got that Galilean accent, just like us! Like, California people have California accents, Florida people have Florida accents, Brooklyn people have Brooklyn accents. Texans are the only people who speak English perfectly! We’re the only ones! We’re the only ones!“
But they were like „Peter, your accent’s giving you away!“ And then the Bible says Peter starts— it literally says cursing Jesus! He starts cursing! „That blankety blank guy! I hate that blankety blank guy! That guy’s the worst! I hope he gets crucified!“ He’s cursing him and going, „Would a real disciple of Jesus be cursing like this?“
And the second he did it, a rooster crowed! And Jesus had told him! And then the Bible says Jesus looked; from here to the back of this room—and I’m in a big room if you’re watching somewhere—Jesus looks at him all the way across the facility he was in and locks eyes with Peter! And then the Bible says Peter went out and he wept bitterly!
Now Peter and Judas both betrayed Jesus! They had the same sin as you do! Here’s the difference: Judas ran away from Jesus, killed himself, and went to hell! Peter did something very different! Do you all remember this? The morning Jesus was crucified, all these women—they’re there, and they start running around, and they’re like, „Bro, I’m telling you!“ They start telling all the guys! „I’m telling you!“ He’s not in the tomb! And because they’re idiots, the guys don’t believe the women, and they do all this stuff, but you remember Peter was the only one? You remember what Peter did? He starts—like, sprinting to the grave!
Here’s so Judas runs away from Jesus, takes his sin to the grave, and because he took his sin to the grave, his sin took him to hell. Peter runs straight to Jesus! Here was the difference between these two men: Judas had a religious heart, and Peter had a heart that believed the gospel! This is what it was!
Religion vs. Gospel Heart
Okay, now somebody showed me this years ago, and right now I’m hoping this is like a sword that pierces your soul like it was for me! Here’s the difference! The difference between somebody with a religious heart and a gospel heart is this: check this out! Religion says, „I messed up! Dad’s gonna kill me!“ The gospel says, „I messed up! I need to go call Dad!“ Judas and Peter, they had different understandings of the character of the Father! Peter understood if I can just give my sin to Jesus—He died on the cross for my sin—He’s going to erase my sin, forgive my sin, give me a new heart, wash it away, separate it from me, lift me up, redeem me!
And because he runs to Jesus with his sin, Jesus takes away his sin, and Jesus takes him to heaven! That can happen for you! Here’s the choice that stands before every single person hearing my voice: will you run from Jesus with your sin, keep your sin, and take your sin to the grave? If you do, your sin will take you to hell! Or will you run with your sin to Jesus, give your sin to Jesus? Jesus will take it away, and then Jesus will take you to heaven! One of those two things will happen for every person.
Invitation to Salvation
Now some of you right now, you’ve been hanging around LakePointe. You’ve been following Jesus at a distance. And right now, you’re realizing, „I need to cross the line of faith and go all in with Him because He can take my sin away!“ Right now, what I want you to do, at all of our campuses, would you just bow your heads and close your eyes? And if that’s you right now and you’re realizing that you need to cross a line of faith and give your sin to Jesus, would you just pray this prayer with me silently from your seat? Just pray it with a sincere heart! Just whisper in your heart to God: „God, I know I’m a sinner, and I know I’ve lived for other things besides you first. But I believe you died for my sin. I believe that somehow, in some way, the cross counted for me.“
Pray this from a sincere heart: „I believe you rose from the dead, and I believe that now you live to give life to anyone who would call on your name! So from this day forward, as best as I know how, I will live for you first. I’ll receive the free gift of grace apart from anything I’ve ever done or anything I’ll ever do—just as a gift! Thank you, God, for adopting me as a son or a daughter of a heavenly Father!“
Now keep your heads bowed and your eyes closed, and if you prayed that prayer and you crossed a line of faith, maybe for the first time today to give your life to Jesus, on the count of three I’m going to ask you to raise your hand in the air! Every head bowed, every eye still closed! Here’s why I’m doing that: because something solidifies in you spiritually when you respond physically!
So can you do it? Can you? On the count of three I’m going to ask: one, God loves you! Two, you came here for a reason today! Three, right now, right now! If that’s you, you’re crossing a line of faith and you’re giving your life to Christ, just right now, wherever you are! Hands up right now! Keep them up! Like, „Bro, like lock that elbow! Like man, like yep, yep! Like I’m coming home like right now! God, I’m yours! Jesus, take my sin, and take me to eternity with you right now!“ Man, all over the room! Amen! Amen!