Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Thoroughly Innocent . . . Totally Guilty Msg 1621

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Thoroughly Innocent . . . Totally Guilty Msg 1621 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: If you have a copy of the scriptures with you,
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Speaker 1: please turn to the first book in the New Testament,
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Speaker 1: the Gospel by Matthew. We're looking at the first 10
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Speaker 1: verses in Matthew 27. We're working our way through the
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Speaker 1: Gospel by Matthew, and we come today to our 82nd message,
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Speaker 1: Not that that matters, except it lets you know we're
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Speaker 1: getting near the end. And our desire is to help
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Speaker 1: you be acquainted with the truths of the scriptures, and
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Speaker 1: even more importantly, allowing those truths to come in and
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Speaker 1: alter the way you live your life. So it is
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Speaker 1: not simply a fact-gathering study. It is a life evaluating
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Speaker 1: study where the mirror of the word reveals the truth
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Speaker 1: regarding ourselves. We come to Matthew 27, we come to
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Speaker 1: a crucial change in the trials of Jesus. I placed
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Speaker 1: in your worship folder a chart On each side is
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Speaker 1: a different kind of chart that I will get into
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Speaker 1: explaining when I get into my message. I just want
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Speaker 1: you to have it handy. Keep it folded and place
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Speaker 1: it here after we finish our reading so that you
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Speaker 1: can mark your place and hold on to it. I
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Speaker 1: think you will need it in the days and even
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Speaker 1: years to come as you seek to keep the events
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Speaker 1: going clarified in your mind as well as the time
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Speaker 1: in which these things occurred, the last day Jesus spent
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Speaker 1: on this earth, the day of his death. Once you
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Speaker 1: find Matthew 27, you'll notice I'm reading from another version,
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Speaker 1: the New Living Translation. You may now use that version, perhaps.
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Speaker 1: If not, yours will be very similar, but if there's
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Speaker 1: a difference, that will explain it. Once you find your
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Speaker 1: place to 27 of Matthew, please stand for the reading
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Speaker 1: of God's word and please remain standing following this for prayer.
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Speaker 1: Matthew 27, very early in the morning, the leading priests
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Speaker 1: and the elders of the people met again to lay
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Speaker 1: plans for putting Jesus to death. Then they bound him
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Speaker 1: led him away and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor.
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Speaker 1: When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had
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Speaker 1: been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse. So
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Speaker 1: he took the 30 pieces of silver back to the
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Speaker 1: leading priests and the elders and I have sinned, he declared,
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Speaker 1: for I have betrayed an innocent man. What do we care,
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Speaker 1: they retorted. That's your problem. Then Judas threw the silver
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Speaker 1: coins down in the temple and went out and hanged himself.
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Speaker 1: The leading priests picked up the coins and It wouldn't
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Speaker 1: be right to put this money in the temple treasury,
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Speaker 1: they said, since it was payment for murder. After some discussion,
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Speaker 1: they finally decided to buy the potter's field and they
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Speaker 1: made it into a cemetery for foreigners. That is why
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Speaker 1: the field is still called the field of blood. A
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Speaker 1: sad note on which to stop the reading, but it
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Speaker 1: does give us the tone of this passage. Not all
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Speaker 1: settings in the scriptures are pleasant and easy to imagine.
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Speaker 1: I always urge those I'm teaching to do your best
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Speaker 1: to put yourself in this original setting as you imagine
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Speaker 1: the scene transpiring. Now join me in prayer, will you please?
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Speaker 1: We are grateful, our Father, for your constant grace that
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Speaker 1: meets us where we are, provides what we do not deserve,
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Speaker 1: and ultimately forgives us of wrong that we do and
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Speaker 1: places us in right standing before you through faith, in
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Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus Christ. We realize, Lord, as we read
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Speaker 1: of a man totally disillusioned, totally sinful, completely and thoroughly
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Speaker 1: away from the spiritual life, that he is the same
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Speaker 1: one who walked with your son for years, who heard
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Speaker 1: the same teachings, witnessed the same miracles. Yet none of
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Speaker 1: it affected his life. I pray that you will search
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Speaker 1: our souls, Lord. Make us aware that what happened then
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Speaker 1: can still happen today. And as the psalmist prayed, I pray,
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Speaker 1: search us, O God, and know our hearts. Try us
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Speaker 1: and know our thoughts and see if there be any
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Speaker 1: way of pain within us and having revealed it, lead
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Speaker 1: us into the way of righteousness. On the cusp of
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Speaker 1: this new year, we commit to you the weeks that
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Speaker 1: will unfold. We pray that we might walk in the
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Speaker 1: power of the Spirit that we might be your faithful models.
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Speaker 1: Not perfect, but faithful. Find in us hearts that wish
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Speaker 1: to be authentic and lives that are lived before others
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Speaker 1: to draw them to the Savior. May your grace shine
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Speaker 1: through our lives as it has been used so effectively
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Speaker 1: to bring us to the cross and to humble us
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Speaker 1: before you. We thank you for the privilege now of giving.
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Speaker 1: We pray that these offerings will honor you as they
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Speaker 1: go into areas that we will never be and touch
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Speaker 1: lives we will never meet. May the gospel be faithfully
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Speaker 1: declared and may lives be changed because of it. We
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Speaker 1: commit the offering to you as we do these words
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Speaker 1: of prayer. In the name of Jesus, our Savior and
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Speaker 1: Lord of great grace, we pray. Everyone said amen. You
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Speaker 1: may be seated. The venerable A.W. Tozer grabbed my attention
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Speaker 1: when I read these words. May not the inadequacy of
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Speaker 1: much of our spiritual experience be traced back to our
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Speaker 1: habit of skipping through the corridor of the kingdom like
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Speaker 1: children in the marketplace, always chattering about everything but pausing
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Speaker 1: to learn the true value of nothing. Those words were
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Speaker 1: convicting then, and they are convicting now. Skipping through the
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Speaker 1: corridors of the kingdom like children. Reading this, but not
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Speaker 1: really paying attention to that. Going from what is fascinating, intriguing,
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Speaker 1: curious to something that stands out as important, all the
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Speaker 1: while missing the deep things of God. The things that
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Speaker 1: are tucked away in the folds of the details can
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Speaker 1: happen so easily, for example, in the life of Jesus.
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Speaker 1: How easy to skip From Gethsemane to Golgotha. From the
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Speaker 1: prayer where he asked that the Lord allow the cup
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Speaker 1: to pass from him. to it is finished as he
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Speaker 1: hangs and dies on the cross. But what about in between?
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Speaker 1: The scenes in the garden and death on the cross.
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Speaker 1: One man is honest enough to write, the church I
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Speaker 1: grew up in skipped past the events of Holy Week
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Speaker 1: in a rush to hear the symbol sounds of Easter.
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Speaker 1: Said very well, isn't it? It's likely you have not
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Speaker 1: taken the time in your own study, your own reading,
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Speaker 1: to probe the depths of what our Savior endured between
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Speaker 1: Gethsemane and Golgotha. If that's true, let me acquaint you
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Speaker 1: briefly with what you have missed. There wasn't one trial,
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Speaker 1: there were six. Three of them Jewish, three of them
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Speaker 1: Roman Jews. And that plays a special part in why
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Speaker 1: the trials unfolded as they did. A few of those
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Speaker 1: trials weren't illegal. All six were illegal. And those who
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Speaker 1: conducted them knew it. And the charge was switched from
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Speaker 1: blasphemy among the Jews to treason. or sedition among the Romans.
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Speaker 1: There was a reason for that. You see, the Jews
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Speaker 1: did not put people on the cross. Romans did. In
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Speaker 1: order for there to be capital punishment, the Romans must
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Speaker 1: agree to capital punishment, which required the Jews to take
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Speaker 1: him from their chamber and their council, called the Sanhedrin,
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Speaker 1: and to bring him before the governor named Pilate. By
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Speaker 1: the way, the ultimate verdict of guilty was declared but
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Speaker 1: never proven. Never once did the accusers prove Jesus guilty.
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Speaker 1: They found him guilty, they declared him guilty, but it
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Speaker 1: was a prejudicial decision, not a factual one. And the
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Speaker 1: final judgment, which was done by Pilate the governor, was
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Speaker 1: a reluctant one. He never believed Jesus was guilty. He
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Speaker 1: had nothing to gain or lose in the trial. So
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Speaker 1: as he met with Jesus, he was just another instigator
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Speaker 1: of difficulties among the Jews and how Pilate hated the Jews.
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Speaker 1: So he wasn't there to cooperate with the Jewish leaders.
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Speaker 1: The more he interviewed Jesus, the less convinced he was
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Speaker 1: of his guilt, which caused him to say ultimately, I
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Speaker 1: find no fault in this man. And yet he agreed
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Speaker 1: to put him on a cross. That too is more
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Speaker 1: than intriguing. There are so many things that you will
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Speaker 1: miss if you skip, like children in the marketplace, chattering
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Speaker 1: about what seems significant, and missing the details that add
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Speaker 1: the color and the shading to the story. For that reason,
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Speaker 1: I prepared the chart. I would like for you to
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Speaker 1: look at it for a moment. I don't want to
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Speaker 1: be pedantic about this, but I do want you to
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Speaker 1: understand what you have in your possession. I've never seen
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Speaker 1: charts like this, so I drew one up thinking it
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Speaker 1: would help. First is one that you will read Vertically,
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Speaker 1: I call it a time chart or a chronology of events.
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Speaker 1: And I put the events on the left and I
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Speaker 1: put the approximate time as best we can determine on
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Speaker 1: the right. I've moved us from the prayer and agony
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Speaker 1: at Gethsemane all the way down to the death of
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Speaker 1: Jesus on the cross. It was quite a day that
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Speaker 1: began at 1 a.m. in the garden garden. and ended
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Speaker 1: with Jesus having died, having given up his spirit at
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Speaker 1: the ninth hour, as John writes it, at 3 p.m.
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Speaker 1: The timing of it, by the way, in case you're interested,
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Speaker 1: we are today right about the center of that chart.
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Speaker 1: The first interrogation by Pilate, you will see that's where
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Speaker 1: we are, Matthew 27, one and two, followed by the
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Speaker 1: rest of that trial, 11 to 14. By the way,
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Speaker 1: he went before Pilate twice. In between was Herod, who
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Speaker 1: saw Jesus as something of a clown. We'll get to
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Speaker 1: that in our study later. Now turn the chart over
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Speaker 1: and you'll see the one that we've written horizontally. This
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Speaker 1: covers the trials of Jesus. From the first to the sixth,
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Speaker 1: top to bottom, then you read from left to right.
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Speaker 1: The first trial you'll read of the officiating authority. And
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Speaker 1: if you read down the page, you'll see each trial,
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Speaker 1: who officiated at that trial. Then you'll find the scripture
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Speaker 1: where that's located in God's word. You'll see the charges
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Speaker 1: or the accusation trumped up against him in the little
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Speaker 1: fourth section on the chart. Then you'll see why the
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Speaker 1: trials were illegal, in each case they were. You'll see
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Speaker 1: the type of trial, whether it was Jewish and religious,
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Speaker 1: or whether it was Roman and civil. And finally, you'll
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Speaker 1: see the result, where he was found or declared guilty,
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Speaker 1: but never once proven guilty, I repeat. And in case
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Speaker 1: you wonder where we are in this chart, we're at
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Speaker 1: trial number four. We have seen Jesus before Annas, the
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Speaker 1: high priest, or ex-high priest, and then Caiaphas, Annas' son-in-law,
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Speaker 1: and then the Sanhedrin, And then now we bring him,
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Speaker 1: as we see from the scriptures, before the governor. Keep
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Speaker 1: those charts handy. You'll refer to them from time to time,
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Speaker 1: and I think they will help you. I want them to.
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Speaker 1: I hope they will. Now, into the scriptures. Turn, please,
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Speaker 1: to Matthew 27. Very early in the morning, As best
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Speaker 1: we can tell, it was about 6.30 in the morning,
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Speaker 1: also an illegal time because no trial was to be
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Speaker 1: held at night. The elders of the people and the
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Speaker 1: leading priests met again. Notice the reason. Not to determine
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Speaker 1: the outcome, but to put Jesus to death. You see,
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Speaker 1: the prejudice immediately disappeared. Their purpose in bringing him to
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Speaker 1: Pilate was to point a finger to Pilate and to say,
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Speaker 1: in effect, you make sure you put him on a cross.
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Speaker 1: We want him dead. We don't want a long, lingering,
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Speaker 1: needless bunch of details. You make sure you nail him
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Speaker 1: to a cross. to put it in raw terms, so
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Speaker 1: they bound him and they led him away and they
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Speaker 1: took him to Pilate. It's the first time we've met
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Speaker 1: Pilate in our journey, so if you will allow me
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Speaker 1: just a few words on his life. This man is
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Speaker 1: a notorious, corrupt character, Pontius Pilate, who lives in Caesarea
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Speaker 1: by the sea, but is in Jerusalem during Passover because
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Speaker 1: of the crowds. And he was there to keep down
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Speaker 1: any possibility of mob violence. That's important, by the way.
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Speaker 1: Later on, we'll explain why. One man writes that he
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Speaker 1: is an anti-Semite, a Roman to the core, an absolute
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Speaker 1: wolf for Jewish blood. He had zero interest in cooperating
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Speaker 1: with the Jewish authorities who demanded the guilty verdict. We'll
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Speaker 1: come back to him later on, but Pilate is the
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Speaker 1: only one who gave Jesus something of a fair trial
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Speaker 1: because he sought to find whether he was guilty or not.
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Speaker 1: The scene quickly changes, so we will change because of Scripture.
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Speaker 1: And we'll come back to Pilate next time. Verse 11,
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Speaker 1: you read, Jesus is standing before Pilate. So that fourth
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Speaker 1: trial continues, and we'll get into that next time. But
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Speaker 1: now we meet a man, and we will study him
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Speaker 1: a little more in depth, though we have referred to
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Speaker 1: him on a number of occasions, whose name is Judas.
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Speaker 1: Notice how Matthew enters Judas into the scene. When Judas
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Speaker 1: who had betrayed him understand when Matthew wrote his story
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Speaker 1: all of this has transpired. Of course He could not
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Speaker 1: have written the gospel had it still been going on.
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Speaker 1: He's looking back. John looks back farther than anyone else,
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Speaker 1: as we've learned earlier in our time together. But Matthew
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Speaker 1: writes rather soon on the heels, only a few years
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Speaker 1: after the events. And he is now catching us up
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Speaker 1: on the scene as he brings Judas into the story.
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Speaker 1: When he walked alongside Judas, he never thought of him
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Speaker 1: as a traitor. nor would you had you been one
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Speaker 1: of the 12. Had they done photography back in those
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Speaker 1: ancient days and pictures had been taken of the disciples,
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Speaker 1: you would have never been able to tell by looking
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Speaker 1: which one was Judas. Artists attempt to make you aware
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Speaker 1: by certain facial expressions, but Judas was a master hypocrite.
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Speaker 1: In fact, he did not begin with plans to be
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Speaker 1: a hypocrite. That became a part of his lifestyle over
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Speaker 1: the passing of those three, three and a half years.
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Speaker 1: But here is Judas, who has betrayed Jesus. You remember
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Speaker 1: he took the 30 pieces of silver. He came up
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Speaker 1: to him in the garden and kissed him to identify him,
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Speaker 1: for the soldiers would not have known who Jesus was.
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Speaker 1: And Judas was there to point him out Then he
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Speaker 1: steps aside and we don't know anything more about Judas
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Speaker 1: till now. We don't know where he went. We don't
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Speaker 1: know what he did. Probably stood at a distance, maybe
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Speaker 1: near Peter in the courtyard, watching the events transpire as
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Speaker 1: his stomach began to churn and he became aware of
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Speaker 1: the terror of his act. I want you to think
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Speaker 1: about Judas before the act of betrayal. He heard all
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Speaker 1: the teachings. He witnessed as many miracles as any disciple witnessed.
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Speaker 1: He was there alongside Jesus. He heard him breathe at night.
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Speaker 1: He ate alongside him. He watched the crippled healed. He
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Speaker 1: watched the dead raised to life. He watched the storm stilled.
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Speaker 1: He watched the sea calmed. He saw the second member
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Speaker 1: of the Trinity at work in human flesh. He was
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Speaker 1: aware of all of it. Then why in the world
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Speaker 1: would he betray him? Most likely, though we are never
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Speaker 1: given verses on this, when you piece them together and
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Speaker 1: you see Judas emerge from place to place, Most likely,
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Speaker 1: Judas was more a political zealot than a religious disciple.
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Speaker 1: Judas wanted Jesus to become the king over the Romans.
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Speaker 1: He lived for the day that Jesus would accept his kingdom,
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Speaker 1: make those disciples a part of his kingship, and overthrow Rome.
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Speaker 1: When Jesus turned down the kingdom, Judas was terribly disappointed. disillusion.
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Speaker 1: He began to rethink his role and why he was
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Speaker 1: following Jesus. He began to see Jesus in a different light.
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Speaker 1: If you will, Jesus let him down. He didn't do
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Speaker 1: what he thought he would do. Judas kept that in
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Speaker 1: mind and kept waiting for the moment which never came
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Speaker 1: because Jesus came in his first mission To die, he
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Speaker 1: will come in his second return to reign. But Judas
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Speaker 1: wants him to reign now and to overthrow those Roman
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Speaker 1: swine who were dominating the Jews at that time. Jesus
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Speaker 1: did not cooperate with Judas's desire and dreams. And so,
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Speaker 1: in light of that disillusionment, Judas begins to change. Now
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Speaker 1: he comes to the ultimate moment, the result of his betrayal,
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Speaker 1: as he witnesses firsthand something he had never thought would happen.
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Speaker 1: I believe that Judas thought somehow Jesus would be whisked
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Speaker 1: through the trials, removed and relieved and taken away, done
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Speaker 1: away with some other way. never thought what he would
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Speaker 1: witness would become a reality, which is why we read
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Speaker 1: what we do. Here is Judas who realized that Jesus
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Speaker 1: had been condemned to die. The way it's written is
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Speaker 1: like a light goes on. He sees it for the
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Speaker 1: first time. He realizes that he's going to die. He
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Speaker 1: has probably seen some of the torturing that is a
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Speaker 1: part of the scourging. And the result is he is
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Speaker 1: filled with remorse, not repentance, remorse. He feels shame for
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Speaker 1: what he has done, but he is not repenting from
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Speaker 1: his actions. I've left out something very, very important. The
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Speaker 1: night of the Last Supper, before Judas leaves to go
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Speaker 1: into the night to carry out his plan to betray him,
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Speaker 1: we read that Satan entered Judas. He's still there. We
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Speaker 1: never read where Satan left Judas. So he's still a
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Speaker 1: Satan-inspired and influenced and possessed man. He is evil to
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Speaker 1: the core. But even though that's true, He is confused
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Speaker 1: when he sees what is happening and the result of
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Speaker 1: his betrayal. One expositor puts it in these words, as
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Speaker 1: Judas watched Jesus being carried away to Pilate, the full
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Speaker 1: enormity of his treachery finally began to dawn on him.
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Speaker 1: As he realized the Jewish leaders did indeed intend to
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Speaker 1: put Jesus to death. The one last obstacle was the
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Speaker 1: permission of Pilate which Judas had no reason to believe
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Speaker 1: would be denied. The sight was devastating to Judas, more
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Speaker 1: than even his money-hungry mind, his sordid soul, and his
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Speaker 1: seared conscience could deal with. He felt remorse as he
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Speaker 1: began to experience the excruciating pain that is unique to
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Speaker 1: profound guilt. He feels this pain of remorse, this shame,
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Speaker 1: this deep and abiding sense of regret. So he takes
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Speaker 1: the 30 pieces of silver back to the leading priest
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Speaker 1: and he treats them as though they are his priests.
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Speaker 1: And he says, I've sinned. I betrayed an innocent man.
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Speaker 1: And he slings the silver out in the temple. We
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Speaker 1: read in verse 5, he threw the silver coins down.
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Speaker 1: Before you read the rest, please notice their response. They
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Speaker 1: say to him, what do we care? That's your problem.
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Speaker 1: Let me, this is very important. Let me remind you
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Speaker 1: of a piece I've shared with you before regarding sin
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Speaker 1: in a life. I call it the toll sin takes.
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Speaker 1: It comes in three parts. Sin will take you further
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Speaker 1: than you want to go. It will keep you longer
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Speaker 1: than you want to stay. And it will cost you
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Speaker 1: more than you want to pay. Classic example is Judas.
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Speaker 1: He's now trapped in his own sinfulness. He didn't start
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Speaker 1: out to be a traitor, but over the erosion of time,
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Speaker 1: even though he was in the presence of one who
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Speaker 1: was absolutely and completely innocent, he became increasingly more guilty. totally,
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Speaker 1: ultimately sinful. So he's in a no man's land. He
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Speaker 1: can't return to the disciples for they know now that
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Speaker 1: he's a traitor. And he can't go to run with
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Speaker 1: the Jewish leaders because they want nothing to do with him.
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Speaker 1: They've used him up. He's trash to them. He is.
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Speaker 1: Without the one thing every person needs to exist. He
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Speaker 1: is without hope. He has nowhere to turn. Broken, confused, disillusioned.
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Speaker 1: saturated in guilt, putty in the hands of Satan, filled
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Speaker 1: with shame. And I might add, remember, still possessed of
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Speaker 1: the one who was a murderer from the beginning, Satan himself.
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Speaker 1: Judas moves to the one act that happens as a
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Speaker 1: result of this hopeless situation He went out and he
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Speaker 1: hanged himself. The rest of the verses 6 through 10
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Speaker 1: deal with the money and how it's spent to buy
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Speaker 1: the field. You can read that for yourself. I want
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Speaker 1: to pause here at this very serious impasse and draw
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Speaker 1: five important lessons regarding this situation. Before I do, I
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Speaker 1: want to say to all of you, I know I
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Speaker 1: am not looking at a Judas as I look at
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Speaker 1: all of you, but I may be looking at one
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Speaker 1: or more who has picked up this eroding mentality. You
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Speaker 1: run with Christians, you know the songs, You maybe can
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Speaker 1: quote the verses. You're in fairly faithful attendance at a church.
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Speaker 1: You understand the lifestyle of believers. But you're not one.
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Speaker 1: And you know you're not one. But you have cultivated
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Speaker 1: a persona that appears as though you are. I don't
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Speaker 1: know who you are. So I use this as the
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Speaker 1: place of application and I speak to all of you
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Speaker 1: knowing that it will truly speak to a few of
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Speaker 1: you who are in that category. These are the five
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Speaker 1: lessons we all can learn from them. Number one, secret
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Speaker 1: sin warps our minds and twists our values. This was
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Speaker 1: the result of cover-up. It began with Judas when Jesus
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Speaker 1: rejected the kingdom and he secretly harbored thoughts against him.
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Speaker 1: His interests, remember, were more political than spiritual. Jesus didn't
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Speaker 1: do what he thought he would do Judas began to
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Speaker 1: think differently about the one he had followed or had
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Speaker 1: been following. Secret sins will do a number on you,
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Speaker 1: which is one of the reasons I've said for years
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Speaker 1: that a good, solid, biblically-based counselor who is wise and
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Speaker 1: confidential is often the healthiest counselor kind of relationship you
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Speaker 1: can cultivate. With that individual, you are free to unload
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Speaker 1: the truth of your life, to let the secrets out,
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Speaker 1: to admit them, to acknowledge them, and to deal with them.
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Speaker 1: Judas has no one and is not looking for anyone.
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Speaker 1: Before that could happen, Satan enters him and and he
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Speaker 1: becomes a pawn in the hand of the evil master.
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Speaker 1: Secret sin warps our minds and twists our values. Second,
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Speaker 1: all acts of cover-up are deceitful, making self-deception the worst.
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Speaker 1: All acts of cover-up are deceitful, making self-deception the worst.
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Speaker 1: This leads to the cultivation of the worst kind of sin,
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Speaker 1: hardcore hypocrisy. I say the worst kind with tongue-in-cheek because
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Speaker 1: sin is sin, but it has such grave ramifications. Hardcore hypocrisy,
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Speaker 1: the longer it lasts, the better you get at it.
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Speaker 1: And the more people you can fool, worst of all,
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Speaker 1: the more you can lie to yourself. The longer Judas
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Speaker 1: lied to himself, the more he believed what he was
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Speaker 1: doing was the truth, was the right thing to do.
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Speaker 1: I can't explain fully how this is, but it took
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Speaker 1: a twisted mind for it to be cultivated, and that
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Speaker 1: was Judas. Now here's the third, which plays off that
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Speaker 1: second one. The cycle of compulsion and shame drives a
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Speaker 1: wedge between private thoughts and public persona. The cycle of
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Speaker 1: compulsion and shame drives a wedge between private thoughts that
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Speaker 1: are sinful and an often pious public persona. There was
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Speaker 1: a growing unrest deep within Judas, but over time it
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Speaker 1: was a settled fact that he must carry out a
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Speaker 1: plan different than the other disciples, even though he continued
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Speaker 1: to look like a loyal disciple. Remember the Last Supper
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Speaker 1: when Jesus dismissed him? None of the disciples assumed or
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Speaker 1: were suspicious of him. They didn't look upon Judas leaving
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Speaker 1: as any sense of his moving in a wrong direction.
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Speaker 1: They trusted him to the end. Remember, he held the purse.
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Speaker 1: He was the one chosen to be the treasurer of
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Speaker 1: the twelve. Trusted to the end. Because he had cultivated
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Speaker 1: this hardcore hypocrisy and gotten good at it. Now, this
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Speaker 1: is where it gets a little complicated. When reality ultimately hits,
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Speaker 1: the deceiver is usually shocked, which explains why Judas is shocked.
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Speaker 1: The trial with Pilate, he's shocked to realize what they're
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Speaker 1: going to do with Jesus. You want to say because
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Speaker 1: you're sitting here with an untwisted mind, well, what did
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Speaker 1: you think? He didn't think like you're thinking. In his mind,
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Speaker 1: there is a twisted set of values. There is a
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Speaker 1: strange way of thinking. And when the reality, the real world,
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Speaker 1: finally landed on him, he is shocked. It explains his
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Speaker 1: response as he says, I have sinned. Now, fifth, finally,
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Speaker 1: when inescapable reality combines with undeniable hopelessness, thoughts of suicide emerge.
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Speaker 1: When reality combines with hopelessness, thoughts of suicide occur. I'm
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Speaker 1: not saying that everyone who takes his life is a Judas.
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Speaker 1: I am not saying that all the details match. I'm
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Speaker 1: not saying that at all. However, I will say this.
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Speaker 1: I've never known a case of suicide where I was
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Speaker 1: able to probe enough regarding those things that led up
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Speaker 1: to it I've never known a case where the person
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Speaker 1: had hope. Invariably, there was an absence of hope. That's
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Speaker 1: why I've said for years, you cannot really live very
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Speaker 1: long without hope. When Judas realized he was in no
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Speaker 1: man's land, there was no place for him, no group
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Speaker 1: that would have him, not even his family. He took
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Speaker 1: his life. It was the end on this earth for Judas,
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Speaker 1: but not for eternity, of course. Now, where are you?
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Speaker 1: Only you know. You're sitting here hearing these things and
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Speaker 1: And I just have to ask that you pay close
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Speaker 1: attention to what strikes a chord. in your own heart.
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Speaker 1: Because only you can examine yourself. Only you can come
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Speaker 1: to terms with what needs to be done and you
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Speaker 1: must come to terms with that if you are beginning
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Speaker 1: to live a life of secret sin, a life of hypocrisy,
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Speaker 1: and you are covering it up more and more, I
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Speaker 1: want to warn you, it will take you farther than
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Speaker 1: you want to go, it will keep you longer than
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Speaker 1: you want to stay, and it will cost you more
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Speaker 1: than you want to pay. and that is no way
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Speaker 1: to live your life. The beautiful truth is that Jesus
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Speaker 1: Christ died even for the hypocrite. The joy is that
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Speaker 1: we have a message of hope and forgiveness for all
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Speaker 1: of us, and it's called grace. God so loved the
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Speaker 1: world that he gave his one and only son that whoever,
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Speaker 1: listen to that word, Whoever believes in him would not
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Speaker 1: perish but have everlasting life. What a great message of
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Speaker 1: hope to give to all of us today. Let's bow
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Speaker 1: our heads together, please. Sit very still. Do your own self-analysis.
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Speaker 1: Where are you? Not just in this story you've heard,
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Speaker 1: but where are you in life? What are you permitting
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Speaker 1: that ought not be going on? What have you stopped
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Speaker 1: paying attention to that needs your attention and change and repentance?
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Speaker 1: address that right now. The Lord's table is a wonderful
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Speaker 1: place for cleansing. We are told that we are not
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Speaker 1: to come to this table with unwashed hands and hearts,
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Speaker 1: but to make sure that we who eat of this
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Speaker 1: bread and drink from this cup not only know the Lord,
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Speaker 1: but are walking in the light. in our relationship with
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Speaker 1: the Lord. If you are, then we invite you to partake.
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Speaker 1: If you are not, please let the elements pass until
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Speaker 1: you have come to terms with these things in your life.
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Speaker 1: And if you've never trusted in the Lord Jesus, now
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Speaker 1: is the time to do so. You're not too far gone.
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Speaker 1: You're not too deep in what you're involved in for
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Speaker 1: the Lord not to forgive. Come now. Dear Father, make
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Speaker 1: this time meaningful and soul-searching. Speak deeply to us in
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Speaker 1: the quietness of this hour. And do not let us
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Speaker 1: find rest or relief Until we have found that in
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Speaker 1: you and in a relationship with you. That is right.
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Speaker 1: That is pure. That is free from hypocrisy. May these
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Speaker 1: elements minister to us. As we reflect on the body
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Speaker 1: and the blood of our Savior. Given on our behalf.
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Speaker 1: Through Jesus Christ. I pray.
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Speaker 2: Amen. The preceding message, Thoroughly Innocent, Totally Guilty, was copyrighted
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Speaker 2: in 2018 and 2021, and the sound recording was copyrighted
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Speaker 2: in 2021 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are
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Speaker 2: reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is
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Speaker 2: strictly prohibited.