The Men God Chooses and Uses: Judas Iscariot, Part 1

Let's pray together Lord We are grateful for the reminder that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father We thank you Lord for revealing to us the truth of the scripture that we might understand your identity in your ministry That we might clearly come to grips with the saving grace of Jesus Christ our Lord Today Lord as we study one who was all around you But had no true part of you We pray that our lives would be touched and examined as we look at the life of Judas Iscariot a man lost for all eternity Because he would not believe the truth of the gospel We pray this in Jesus name Amen in the sixth chapter of the gospel of Luke We have been many many weeks looking at the twelve apostles The Bible says in verse number 12 of Luke 6 these words And it was at this time that he went off to the mountain to pray and he spent the whole night in prayer to God Our Lord Jesus Christ the Messiah would spend the whole night in prayer to his father in heaven about the men he would choose And the Bible says in verse number 13 and when day came he called his disciples to him That was a myriad of individuals.

Not just a few By this time in our Lord's ministry. He had hundreds literally thousands of people following him And so he called his disciples to himself and he would choose out of those disciples 12 specific individuals I'm sure that there were many people who were kind of resentful of our Lord that He didn't choose them That saw themselves may be as qualified to be one of his close disciples, but he didn't choose them He just chose 12 and the Bible tells us the 12 he chose Says he chose 12 with them whom he also named as apostles Simon Whom he also named Peter We told you Simon is always mentioned first in the list of the Apostles Because he was according to Matthew chapter 10 the Protoss the first one the chief one.

He was the leader of the twelve Andrew his brother and James and John and Philip and Bartholomew and Matthew and Thomas James the son of Alphaeus and Simon who was called the zealot Judas the son of James and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor Judas is always mentioned last in the list of the Apostles and Always has that qualifier Judas Iscariot the one the specific one who became a Traitor at this time of the writing of Luke Luke knew about Judas But at the time that Judas was chosen Judas Iscariot along with the other 11 No one knew anything about him No one had any idea Who he was?

It's interesting to note that the New Testament Describes the betrayal of Christ in about 40 different verses and in each of those verses Judas is always Implicator implicated as the traitor the betrayer and his sin is exposed You must understand that Judas was not a victim of determinism Some people think well Judas had no choice but to do what he did. No. No, he had a choice Just like you Have a choice human volition God's sovereignty are two things. You will never understand this side of eternity and Once you err on one side of the other then your theology will be all messed up So you must believe what the Bible says concerning?

man's volition and God's election God's sovereignty and man's desire or unwillingness to follow Christ Versus his desire and willingness to follow Christ Judas Iscariot is one of the most remarkable people in all the Bible He's very intriguing It's it's amazing to see a man Who was so dark? Yet lived his life for three years around the brightest of lights the glorious Ministry of our Lord the brightness and beauty of Christ He was always around him and yet he remained in utter darkness Thus begs the question of how people can can go to church and in here the gospel Over and over and over again see the truth of Jesus Christ Portrayed and preached to the text yet still remain in darkness They find themselves going down a a Judas path Judas probably is the worst of all people whoever lived Worst than Adolf Hitler worse than Joseph Stalin worse than serial killers and serial rapists Judas becomes the worst of all people and yet he hung around the best of all people He hung around perfection He hung around Jesus Christ our Lord and yet he is the worst of all people to have ever lived For the Bible says that when it was life was over He went to his own place Hmm his own place a place Specifically designed For the one who would betray the Messiah So we studied the life of Judas Because he is in the list of the Twelve Apostles And it begs many questions.

Why would Jesus choose this man? What would be the behind him choosing one who would betray him and one who would reject him and? Speak against him the traitor Judas The scariot We've been studying the the life of the Apostles looking at each man Individually looking at what the Bible tells us about their ministry and even to some degree looking at their martyrdom to understand these Apostles that God would choose Invest his life in send them out to be used in a great and mighty way One thing you must understand about what the scripture teaches about Judas is That it always teaches us That Judas is one who chose his own Destiny the Bible portrays Judas as one who always Chose his own Destiny It portrays him as culpable it portrays him as sinful it Portrays him as one who would choose to do what it is.

He did And so you can't look at Judas as a victim of sovereignty a Victim of God's control. You cannot do that as you can't do that with anybody else who's ever lived So we want to see that in the life of Judas We want to come to understand this man because there is a slew of questions about him many books written about Judas Some of them kind of bizarre, but what does the Bible say about Judas Iscariot? Many movies about Judas and the betrayal of of the Messiah But what does the Bible actually portray to us about this man Judas Iscariot?

Because there's lots of information in the Bible about him We will spend this week and next week talking about this one individual for one purpose That we might be able to understand how God does what he does and number two to be able to see How it is People can come to church Hear the gospel Be married to Christians be raised in Christian families and yet remain in darkness All the while getting you to believe that they truly are in the light Because all the eleven the other eleven would believe that Judas was one of them true to the Lord until the end It wasn't until John chapter 18 When Judas would come with the temple police and a cohort of soldiers to be able to kiss the Messiah To betray him that they would begin to recognize that Judas was not One of them in spite of all the warnings that Christ came gave to his men He even said that One of you is a devil One of you is a devil, but you know, they never said oh That's Judas In fact when Christ said one of you will betray me they didn't say well we know who that one is That's gonna be Judas Iscariot No, they all said it is that I Is it I?

Who is it Lord? They had no idea That it was Judas They thought it was going to be them But it was Judas Iscariot So let's look at this man Judas the traitor the betrayer And let's understand what the Bible says about Judas Iscariot and I imagine that when we're all done today You'll have a slew of questions.

That's good because probably next week. We'll answer the questions that we Cause you to have today and after next week your questions aren't answered Please let me know and we'll make sure that we answer those questions for you because we want you to know the truth about what?

the Bible says concerning Judas Is scary it He's got a great name But nobody ever names their son Judas Why Why it's a great name the word the name Judas means Jehovah leads It's from the Hebrew word Judah the one who is the object of praise Now think about that you're the parents of of Judas His father's name is Simon we know that from John 6 71 Judas son of Simon Who is Iscariot So we know he had a father named Simon And you can imagine what it must have been like that day in the village of Kerioth when this man Judas was born His parents were probably thinking the same thing that you're thinking when you have a newborn child Thinking Wow, what is God gonna do with this person?

How is God gonna work in his life, let's name him let's give him a name that will help us see how Jehovah leads Let's name him Judas From the Hebrew Judah because we want our son to be an object of praise As parents we have great aspirations as to what God will do with our children So you can imagine that Judas's parents were the same they were Jews. They were they were Jews Anticipating the coming of the Messiah believing that one day the Messiah would come and rule and reign and so they Anticipated that their son might be one who would specifically be led by Jehovah Ironically Providentially he was one who truly was led by Satan Even though Satan never filled his heart until the eve of the crucifixion That's when Satan entered him and filled his heart before that time Satan had not entered his life The one who had become the object of praise Has become an object of wrath And yet is it not true that in the sovereign control of Almighty God God becomes the one who's praised because of the betrayal of Judas Because of his death and because of his Resurrection and because of the glory of the cross we were able to see that God works all things After the counsel of his own will right?

But think about his parents They had great aspirations for their boy a Great desire to see him led by Jehovah to become an object of praise He's called Judas Iscariot The Hebrew word ish means man Kerioth is a village. He's the man from the village Kerioth Iscariot is not his father's name. We told you before his father's name was Simon. So Judas Iscariot is the only Apostle Identified by a geographical location. I Think that's interesting Because Judas was a Judean Jew the other Apostles were Galilean Jews Why is that significant well if I'm a Judean Jew I see myself as more superior to the Galilean Jews I See the Galilean Jews Jews for lack of a better term as kind of hickish redneck backwoods people Okay, I'm a Judean Jew.

I'm of the city. I'm of I'm of the the the high elite class and so a Judean Jew would see himself as Separated from a Galilean Jew because he would see himself in a better class of people and Judas Chosen as the only Judean Jew Would be an outsider when it came to the other 11 Apostles and He would remain an outsider and he would die an outsider Yet This man Judas from the little village Kerioth. Where's Kerioth? Well, if you were to go south of Jerusalem the first village or city you'd enter would be Bethlehem And that's three to five miles away from Jerusalem and you travel another 20 miles you will come to a rural town made up of different kind of Villages and they all make up the same area called Kerioth And that's where Judas Was from Judas Iscariot the only Apostle identified by his geographical location So this man Judas would have heard of the Messiah He would be like most of the Jews in those days They would see the miracles hear about the miracles hear about the sermons see Christ and Judas became interested in the Messiah like most people would become interested in the Messiah and yet as we study the Scriptures We don't ever have a record of the call of Judas outside of what is said in Matthew and in in Luke and Mark about this man Judas Being chosen we don't know how he became a part of the group We don't know how he entered into following the Messiah We don't know when he entered the scene all we know is that by Luke 6 He's a part of the disciples a part of the followers the learners of Christ He's in the crowd Christ goes up and prays all night Asking his father who it is.

He should choose he comes down Calls his disciples together and says I choose you you you you you you Goes to the list and then he says to Judas and I choose you And they became the twelve apostles This man Judas Iscariot Probably could not believe That he'd been chosen Think about it this way Judas was a man Who was committed to following the Messiah for what it would benefit him And to be honest, let's let's let's look at the other Apostles they saw that following the Messiah would benefit them as well I mean when you think about the Apostles and you think about all of them together They all entered into the same argument about who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom Right, they were all into self-exaltation Exaltation They all wanted to be lifted up on high Judas was just like them.

He he was in the self-exaltation as well But the only difference between Judas and the other eleven is that the Spirit of God changed their hearts. They became repented individuals They got their lives right with Christ and Judas did not Which will help us to understand why it is Judas would betray our Lord The others became transformed Judas did not And yet they kind of all had the same carnal aspirations throughout the the life of Christ Very self-centered individuals filled with themselves And so Judas would kind of fit in with everybody else because he was just like that But the funny thing about it is that Judas never says anything to John chapter 12 he never speaks the word until until Mary anoints the feet of Jesus and he gets a little upset because That money can have been used for something else Which gives us a little hint into the life of Judas.

He was a man committed to greed He was a man of great avarice. He was a man that was committed to his own self's purposes He was a man who followed the Messiah for his own purposes whether he was a young man an older man We don't know how devout he was as a Jew We don't know but there was some anticipation of a Messiah that would come there would be someone who would come in and all the Apostles saw Christ as Messiah and as a Military ruler one who would overthrow Rome. They all they all saw him as that That's who they wanted him to be and that's why they got upset every time Christ talked about his death because that wasn't the Messiah Concept they had from the Old Testament.

They had a different concept of their Messiah They saw him as a as a ruler as a powerful ruler who would free them from Roman bondage Who would be able to lead them and provide the kingdom for them and everything would be at peace for them And that's the way Judas was and that's probably what got him to be among the throngs of people who followed Christ Because he wanted that kind of Messiah And he's thinking that if I follow this one this this Jesus who who feeds thousands who heals many who who preaches?

Incredibly if I follow him and he is the Messiah then I will have an inroad to the greatness in the kingdom And and that's why I'll be a part of this Jesus bandwagon and when Christ finally chose him he thought Man, this is so cool To the Greek text you got to get it there, you know, but he was like wow, this is amazing I can be a part of of this inner circle and be a part of establishing the kingdom and and boy We overthrow wrong.

This is what I'm all about see And yet He had a misperception of The spiritual nature of the Messiah like truly all the Apostles did except their lives changed and Judas's never did His life never changed Why More than that in a moment Don't want to get ahead of ourselves But we're gonna begin to understand this man because it's imperative that we realize what takes place in this man Judas Iscariot Remember we read to you John 6 last week and Christ looked at his men and says, you know all these multitude of people went away because they didn't want to hear the hard sayings of Christ and in crisis with me It was meant will you go away also and Peter says where are we going?

You have the words of eternal life You're the Holy One of God. We know that you're the Messiah and Christ would make that qualifying statement in John chapter 6 with these words He says did I myself not choose you the twelve? Yet one of you was a devil Now he meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot for he one of the twelve was going to betray him Wow You see many of the disciples went away Judas didn't He stayed He heard the words of Christ and and because it was so hard for most Jews to digest the message They loved the miracles.

They hated the message Because it would cause them to realize that they were sinners and they needed to embrace the Messiah Jesus Christ and Submit to his words and they just didn't want to submit to the commands of Christ. That wasn't where they were Oh, they love the miracles. They love what he could do for them. And that's a lot of people today They love what Jesus will do for them And that's why I get so upset when people say, you know come to Christ and he'll change your marriage and come to Christ It'll change your family and come to Christ and your financial situation will change and cut.

No, it won't Where do you find that in the Bible? but we preach that because that appeals to people well if I come to Jesus and my marriage is going to be good and I'll get out of debt and my finances will be good And and if I come to Jesus boy good things will happen to me No, usually if you come to Jesus bad things happen to you, but see we don't tell people that because They don't want that to happen But that's the truth. It's about cross-bearing. It's about self-denial it's About following Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior Take it up your cross daily and and following him But Judas didn't leave he stayed Even though Christ says one of you's a devil.

I don't believe at that time Judas knew that he was the devil I don't think Judas knew that he was the betrayer. I Don't think any idea Just like the other eleven had no idea who it was and would cause them to think it was them He had no idea Because at that point his hard His heart was not as hard as it would be at the end of the ministry of Christ And so this man Judas Iscariot Would be one who would see Christ from a distance see Christ up close Be a part of what was happening and then all of a sudden one day Christ would come down From praying all night and choose him to be one of his very own Apostles It had to Startle Judas.

Oh and at the same time excite him about the possibility of what might take place in the land of Israel if this one truly is the Messiah and That because of his greed and his desire for for more and more that he would have it all when Christ became the ruler of Israel So he was there and yet and yet we ask ourselves did Jesus not know About Judas. Oh, yeah, he knew How do we know that well, I love the words of John chapter 2 when it says these words Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, this is John 2 23 during the feast many believe in his name Beholding his signs which he was doing but Jesus on his part was not entrusting himself to them For he knew all men and because he did not need anyone to bear witness concerning man For he himself knew what was in man Jesus is on mission He knows everything Did he know Judas was the betrayer when he chose him yes, he did I Believe he knows all things And he knew that Judas that's why he called Judas.

He said one of you is a devil One of you will betray me Christ knew That Judas would be the one it wasn't that Christ was caught off guard. No, it wasn't like, uh-huh Boy, I thought it was gonna be Simon Or Thomas. I didn't know it's gonna be you Judas No Christ knew He knew because he knew scripture He knew the Old Testament It was the Word of Truth and he is the God of truth and he knows He knows the Old Testament and the Bible says these words in the book of Psalms Psalm 41 verse number 9 Yeah, my own familiar friend in whom I trusted who did eat of my bread has lifted up his heel against me Psalm 41 verse number 9 a messianic song dealing with the fact that one of the trusted ones of the Messiah One who ate bread with him now you have to understand that in the Near Eastern culture to sit down and and partake of bread and share a meal with someone was a sign of of great friendship and intimacy and so in Psalm 41 verse number 9 We have what is commonly referred to as as a deep close intimate friend of one who would be the Messiah Who would be betrayed?

by one very close to him and the Bible says in in Matthew chapter 26 These words in verse number 20 now when evening had come He was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples and as they were eating He said truly I say to you that one of you will betray me And being deeply grieved they each one began to say to him surely not I Lord each one Each one Surely one of you will betray me and they really believe that it could have been them And then Verse 23 the answer and said he who dipped his hand with me in the bowl is the one who will betray me Speaking of that friendship speaking of that one who was eating the meal with me Referring to Psalm 41 it says this in verse 24 The son of man is to go just as it is written of him But woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed.

It would have been good for that man if he had not been Born Why would it be good for that man not to be to have been born? Well to have been born would mean that you would have to die And to die would mean that you'd have to spend eternity someplace And this one would have to spend eternity away from the Messiah But the son of man Luke's account says that this way Luke 22 21 says Jesus speaking the Last Supper says but behold the hand of him that betrayeth me is on the table in other words This is one who is eating with me a sign of intimate friendship Has the fulfillment of Psalm 41 verse number 9 and Truly the son of man goeth as it was determined but woe unto that man by whom he is Betrayed listen carefully on the one hand the betrayal was determined but on the other hand Judas was completely responsible for betraying the Messiah Both are absolutely 100% true You must understand that because Judas is culpable because of a sin Judas is culpable because of his rebellion Judas is culpable because of his hardness of heart Judas is culpable because he refused to believe the love of the truth He refused to receive it Isn't that what the Bible says in second Thessalonians?

Second Thessalonians chapter 3 the words written by the Apostle Paul It says That people are deceived in the end times by by the Antichrist Because they did not receive the love of the truth.

So as to be saved and For this reason God will send upon them a deluded influence so that they might believe what is false Because they refuse to believe the truth The Lord then will send a deluding influence on them so they can't believe the truth In order verse 12 that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth But took pleasure in wickedness. You see the emphasis is on man's Unwillingness to believe the truth and his desire to take pleasure in wickedness When a man goes to hell He goes to hell because he does not receive the love of the truth and takes pleasure in wickedness when a man goes to heaven he goes to heaven because God chose him from the foundation of the world and Called him to himself and saved his soul Man can't take credit for his salvation Because it's God who saves him.

It's God who elects him. It's God who calls him. It's God who predetermines him It's God who does that and yet? When a man goes to hell he goes there because that was his choice That's what the Bible teaches You just might say well that doesn't sound real logical to me. You know what it doesn't make any difference how it sounds to you It's what it is It's the truth. It's what the Bible says it is And what the Bible says it is it is no matter what we think it might or might not be Because we tend to think more logically than theologically anyway, and we have to learn to think only what the Bible says Because when the Lord returns in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 1 he comes to deal out retribution on those who do not Believe the gospel and do not obey the truth of the gospel Those are the ones that our Lord deals out retribution on Because they are completely responsible completely culpable Completely sinful.

They are the ones who are completely guilty And therefore they are judged The Bible says also in Psalm 55 verse 12 for it was not an enemy that reproached me then I could have born it Neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me Then I would have hidden myself from him But it was thou a man might equal my guide and my familiar friend We took sweet counsel together and walked into the house of God and company He hath broken his covenant the words of his mouth were smoother than butter But war was in his heart.

His words were softer than oil yet were they drawn swords The psalmist again Speaks of the one who would betray the Messiah speaking of his hypocrisy and his deceit Remember over in John chapter 13 It was our Lord who would quote Psalm 41 verse number 9 When he said these words on the eve of the crucifixion I do not speak of all of you speaking of the fact that if you do what I say, you will be blessed He says I do not speak of all of you I know the ones I have chosen, but it is that the scripture may be fulfilled He who eats my bread has lifted up his heel against me.

You see if the Lord knew the plan and Because the Lord knew the plan he would choose one who would ultimately betray him so that scripture might be fulfilled Now read on verse 19 from now on I am telling you before it comes to pass So that when it does occur you may believe that I am in other words that ego a me that I am that I am The God of the universe what's gonna happen is gonna happen so that you will believe that I'm the Messiah You need to believe that I am God in the flesh You need to believe that I am the God who spoke to Moses from the burning bush You need to believe that I am to do that I'm gonna tell you that Psalm 41 verse number 9 says that I will be betrayed and I'm telling you this before it happens So you will believe when it happens that I am God the text says in verse 20 truly truly I say to you he receives whomever I said receives me and he who receives me receives him who sent me the betrayal of Judas is evidence that Jesus is the Messiah as Jesus quotes Psalm 41 verse number 9 You can also read about the betrayal of our Lord in Zechariah 11 verses 12 to 13 because there it speaks of the 30 pieces of silver and we know that according to Matthew 26 verse number 14 Then one of the twelve named Judas Iscariot went to the chief priest and said what are you willing to give me to?

deliver him up to you and they weighed out to him 30 pieces of silver a Fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy that our Lord would be would be betrayed for a small amount of money You see the Lord knew the plan The Lord knew what was going to happen He chose Judas because he knew the plan And he knew that the plan must come to fruition Exactly as it was prophesied in the Old Testament John 17 gives us a little bit of light on Judas. Listen to this verse John 17 Verse number 12 While I was with them I was keeping them in thy name which thou has given me and I guarded them and not one of them perished But the son of perdition that the scripture Might be fulfilled The son of perdition There's one other individual in the Bible called the son of perdition he's the Antichrist in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 He is called the son of perdition perdition means the lostness And to say that Judas was the son of perdition is to say that Judas by nature was a lost person and Because by nature he is a lost person.

He then will become a damned Person if we say that you are a son of righteousness We say that by nature you are a righteous person if we say that you are a son of love That means by nature You are a loving person if we say that you are a son of Satan or son of Belial Then we say that by nature you are a sinner and by nature one of Satan's own If we say that you are a son of perdition We are saying that by nature you have a lost condition Judas had a lost condition and utter lost condition He is the son of perdition.

He is the son of lostness. It's in Contrast in John 17 12 to those whom God has chosen Those whom God has chosen have been found thus they have been saved because the Lord came to seek and to save that which was lost and Those chosen ones those eleven were in a lost condition But were guarded and protected and kept by Christ and Judas was left in his lostness Why Because he refused to believe what the others believed Simple answer that's why That's what the Bible says.

I Can only tell you what the Bible says. I I can't tell you anything else other than that And so when the Bible tells us that this one who was lost is the son of perdition the one whose nature is lost Which Helps us understand a Little bit about him, you know, the Bible says this in Acts chapter 2 sometimes we for we forget about these things Peter said this men of Israel listen to these words Jesus Nazarene a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through him in your midst Just as you yourselves know this man The Messiah delivered up by the predetermined plan and for knowledge of God you Nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put him to death He was delivered up by the predetermined plan and for knowledge of God But you are responsible because you nailed him to a tree and delivered him over to godless men How that works within the sovereign control of Almighty God is never going to be known this side of eternity So don't try to figure it out He can't the crucifixion of the Messiah was all part of the predetermined plan of God, but Man nailed him to the tree man Rebelled against his authority man said we will not have this one this king ruled over us and man said we will kill him and Man, therefore is responsible for his sin Why because man is guilty before God because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God That's what the Bible says So this is the common the common Belief of the of the early church.

They understood that in fact over in Acts chapter 5 I'm sorry Acts chapter 4 after the Apostles had been threatened and Released it says this as the people gathered together to pray. They said Oh Lord verse 24 It is thou who this make the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them Who by thy Holy Spirit Through the mouth of our father David thy servant did say why did the Gentiles rage and the people's devised fetal things? The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ Those two verses are a quotation from Psalm 2 verse number 1 Psalm 2 verse number 2 a messianic Psalm that speaks about how man would rise against the Messiah It was all prophesied that the Gentiles would come against the Messiah see and Yet those who came against the Messiah are there for responsible Because of their own sin and that's what goes on to say verse 27 for truly in this city There were gathered together against thy holy servant Jesus whom thou didst anoint Both Herod and Pontius Pilate Along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel to do whatever thy hand and thy purpose predestined to occur and now Lord take note of their threats and Grant that thy bond servants may speak thy word with all confidence.

You see in their prayer they realized the predetermined plan of the sovereign God of the universe and how Somehow within that plan there are people who rebel against it and they are responsible for the rebellion against God Even though it was predetermined in eternity past completely Incomprehensible to a finite mind like yours and mine But completely clear to the infinite mind of the Creator who has worked all things out after the council of his own will And Judas that son of perdition That man from the little village of Kerioth that man whose parents Brought him into the world Anticipating great things to happen that somehow Jehovah would lead him and he would become the object of praise was the greatest paradox in the history of man Because he was just the opposite of all that But it was all a part of the predetermined plan of Almighty God I Don't think that Judas had any thing in his outer Demeanor that would cause others to think that he was something other than what they were.

I Mean he was the most trusted of the men because the Bible tells us that he was the treasurer So he was the money holder. So they had to somehow have great trust in him to make sure that something Wasn't stolen And so if you're gonna entrust your money to someone you're gonna trust in somebody you really trust, right? You're not gonna give it to somebody who's gonna spend it frivolously You know give to somebody who doesn't know what they're doing You're gonna give to somebody who knows exactly what they're doing.

They gave to Judas because Judas knew and They trusted Judas So they give to him There wasn't anything about his character on the outside that would cause him to even begin to doubt Because he was the greatest of all hypocrites He was the best of all deceivers Because he could get everybody else to believe what he wanted them to believe and never ever one time be considered a traitor a betrayer a false apostle Not once He was a master Deceiver you know think about it when He was chosen. He wasn't much different than Matthew the tax gatherer, right a man, who who was against his own people because he would he would take money from his own people I hated man or Man, like Simon the Zealot who was a terrorist or an assassin at best And so he fell into the category of these these men that that we would necessarily choose But but but God was working in and so he was able to carry on his master deception throughout the group Going on missionary journeys with them sharing the gospel Because he knew the gospel inside and out But see what happened to these other 11 didn't happen to him why because the same Sun that melts the wax hardens the clay same Sun and these men melted under the authority of Scripture and they melted under the the testimony of the Messiah while Judas instead of having a heart that would melt had a heart that became harder and harder and harder as time went on and Then we begin to understand a little bit more About him and what you think about it this way Judas heard all the sermons Hear the sermons about the unjust steward And how he was condemned to a place of hell where there'd be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

He heard that sermon Heard the parable of of the king who would throw a party and invite Israel to come in Israel fused and so he he sent his attendants to go out into the highways and byways and Compel anybody to come in just anybody to come and he would clothe them with wedding garments and and the king would come out and and observe the people in his ballroom and realize that there was one there without wedding garments on and Say that well, how'd you get here? What are you doing here? You you you have not the wedding garments and the man was speechless And the king said take him and throw him Into the place where there's burning and gnashing of teeth and they did You just heard that sermon Judas heard the sermon about That that money money you you shall love the Lord God and not money You can't serve two masters.

You either will hold to the one and despise the other or you'll love the one and hate the other You can't hold on to both And Judas would be there and hear the sermon about man's life Does not consist in the abundance of things which he possesses and go on and give the parable about the man who would build bigger and bigger barns because he just kept accumulating more and more money and And and and and the Bible says you fool You fool Today, you'll be lost forever.

You'll burn in the fires of hell And in the end and you just want to hear those sermons He hear the sermons that that that blasting of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees in Matthew 23 when when Christ say Whoa to you Pharisees. Whoa, you cursed it. Are you because you are hypocrites you you look this way in the outside? But you're this way in the inside and you have deceived man But you can't deceive me and you are hypocrites by nature. You will burn in hell and Judas heard all that and yet as he heard the message His heart did not melt It became hardened More obstinate More rebellious Against the truth Listen if you learn anything from Judas Learn this If you're coming to church and you're hearing the messages and your hearts not melting Don't come back Leave Run away and don't ever come back Because all you're doing is hardening your heart against the truth of the gospel and when that happens, you know what God does He sends you a strong delusion so that you believe a lie and he hardens your heart.

Remember pharaoh Pharaoh hardened his heart against god and god hardened pharaoh's heart Both were true And if you're coming to church And you're hearing the messages about the Apostles because we see ourselves in all the Apostles There's a little bit of all of us in the in the Apostles and and if you're here today and you're saying well You know, that's me If you don't repent of your sin today, if you don't let the the the hammer of the God's Word shatter your soul Don't come back Why? Because the fires of hell will burn greater for those who hear more than for those who don't Simple as that You know, maybe you're one of those people who who you know, you got christian parents Got christian grandparents And they brought you to church as as a youth and now you kind of come And kind of go as you want you're here a week or two and then you're gone for three or four And you come back a week or two and then you're gone for five or six and you kind of come in You know fly by night on the seat of your pants coming to church trying to try to make an appearance every once in a While let us know you're still alive.

You're still here But yet you hear the truth and there's no burning conviction in your soul There there's no love that's that's arising in your soul There's no desire for god flaming up in your soul You're on your way down the judah's path You are the path of perdition You You see when you when you come and you hear the word of god and it doesn't affect your life What does it do? You harden your heart against it You put those layers against it And you're not willing to obey what god's word says. All you do is harden your heart I'm not going to do that Well, that might work for them.

It's not going to work I'm not doing that and you leave and as you leave a layer covers your heart a layer of rebellion a layer of obstinance a layer of Of rejection And the next week you come and you and you hear the word if you come the next week Maybe it's two weeks later. You come and you hear no, i'm not i'm not gonna do that It gets harder and harder and harder see And you build up layer in layer the bible calls it having a seared conscience you feel nothing anymore You come to church and feel nothing It's like scarred skin Been burned severely and in your skin is so burned and the nerves are burned away that when you touch it You can't feel anything anymore.

That's what happens to the hard heart It no longer feels the penetrating effects of the word of god and you come to church and and there's there's nothing that's happening. It's like Okay, whatever you're going down the judas path that's the warning of the judas iscariot That's that's the word that god wants you to understand today He wants you to realize that that you can't keep going down a path of rejection and expect to understand mercy grace and repentance down the road You won't Because hebrews 6 says It will be impossible For you to ever repent That's why the writer of hebrews says today if you hear his voice Do not harden your hearts as in the day of provocation It's a repeated theme in hebrews chapter 3 in hebrews chapter 4 today If you hear his voice do not harden your hearts in the day of provocation because the longer you harden your heart The longer you reject the truth the longer you refuse to respond to what the word of god says You are in danger of hardening your heart and coming to a place where it will be according to hebrews 6 impossible to ever Bring you to a point of repentance See judas heard the sermons about the parable of the sower in the soil How the word would come and fall in the hard soil and satan would snatch it away It'd fall on thorny soil and fall on rocky soil and the thorny and rocky soil would receive the word with joy They get on the bandwagon of of of jesus and receive it with joy, but when persecution and hardship came fell away Or or when the materialistic things of the world would rise up they would choke out the word and they would fall away Classic illustrations of apostasy Apostasy is defined by by those who hear the truth Those who believe the truth have a semblance of belief in the truth those who hang around the truth a lot And yet never do what the truth says And they fall away You think judas didn't hear the sermon in john 15 about the branch?

And that there's there's a branch tied to him that doesn't produce fruit and that will be burned up That was for judas That was for the men to understand I believe that when christ preached he preached repentance in the face of judas every single time. He preached a sermon So judas would be without excuse on the day of judgment because he would hear all the sermons He would know what the truth was and yet he would harden his heart against that truth He would become obstinate against it That's why in john chapter 12 when mary would take that ointment and he she would bathe the feet of jesus With that ointment.

He was so upset He was so angry why How dare you waste your money on god Oh, by the way, the apostate always says that If you got trouble giving your money to god be warned you're going down the judas path Folks there's severe warnings here in the life of judas Severe warnings That portray to us those people who look really really good on the outside In fact, they look the best of anybody on the outside But are the worst of all on the inside Because they reject the truth That was judas That was judas Folks this is such a crucial message for today Listen it would it would grieve me deeply deeply For you to continue coming to church And continue in your rejection Because all you do is harden your heart against the spirit's truth given to you That is just such a a sad place to be And as christians that should grieve all of us should grieve all of us Because we would want people to receive the truth to love the truth see the apostles They had a hard time with truth they did but when push came to shove There was true repentance There was a true longing to follow the lord There was a true desire to honor him with their lives when push came to shove But with judas It wasn't that way But he played the game And he played it really really well Are you here today playing the game Maybe you're trying to play it with your wife or your husband Maybe you're trying to play it in front of your kids It's a game that you might enjoy playing for a while But you can never play that game with god because he knows your heart he knows what's in you see he knows all that And the choir sang it before I preached this morning that is you will bow You will confess that jesus is lord to the glory of god the father you will Because that's who he is Judas didn't bow He didn't bow then But he's bowing now Unfortunately He's not bowing in adoration in worship He's bowing in bitterness And anger because he went to a place where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth You know the whole gnashing of teeth thing know what that is It's it's it's when you're really angry with somebody and you grit your teeth And you are so angry with them that you just can't stand to be around them anymore And you you grit your teeth together that's the gnashing of teeth and and that's what happens when people go to hell because you see they Had all the opportunity and they rejected it And they're so so bitter and angry forever All the while burning in hell Because when the opportunity arose they rejected and they rejected again and again and again And they are resentful And they have no one to blame But themselves No one You can't say well, yeah lord, but No judas has no one to blame but himself For where he is Because he heard all the same messages The difference is the condition of the heart Because as the word was given for the 11 It melted their hearts for the one It hardened his heart Same word same messiah same sermon same miracle Everybody saw heard observed the same thing But it was the condition of the heart of the individual One was soft The other hard And the one that was hard became more hard And the one that was soft became softer still because it allowed the word of god to take effect in its life Where are you Where do you stand today?

I pray that your heart is soft that you might receive The love of the truth let's pray Our most gracious heavenly father we thank you for this day and the truth of your word and all that's there Oh lord, I pray That your word would penetrate Every heart in this room That no one would leave this place In the realm of rejection No one would leave becoming harder in the heart They'd realize the pitfall of the path of perdition And come to the saving grace of jesus christ our lord Lord And I pray as we study this man judas iscariot that all of us would re-examine our lives and where we stand with christ lord because that truly is the ultimate question Where do we stand?

with the messiah our lord and savior Pray in jesus name Amen