Alrighty, we're going to need our Bibles tonight, folks. So if you would, let's begin by looking at our text in Matthew chapter 26. Turn to Matthew chapter 26. Look at Matthew chapter 26, beginning at verse 14.

Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? and they covenanted with him for 30 pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

Now the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the Passover? And he said, Go into the city to such a man and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at thy house and with thy disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus has appointed them, and they made ready for the Passover.

Now when the evening was come, he sat down with the twelve, and as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? And he answered and said, he that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The son of man goeth as it is written of him, but woe unto that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. It had been good for that man if he had not been born.

Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? And he, the Lord, said unto him, thou hast said.

Now, before we go any further into commentary on that, we've got a lot to soak in right there, but I want to jump over to Romans chapter nine real quick, if you would. Turn over to Romans chapter nine. And there's several verses that I want to read there. We're going to begin at verse 8 and go quite a ways. So if you would turn with me to Romans chapter 9, beginning at verse 8.

That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise. At this time, this is verse 9 of chapter 9, at this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son. And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac, for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

Now, this is important. I want you to get a picture here of what Paul is declaring unto us through some of the Old Testament. He brought the Pharaoh in here. He brought the birth of Jacob and Esau. He brought the promise to Sarah to have a child. He's bringing the Old Testament into focus here for a reason. I want you to grasp this.

Verse 18 Therefore have he mercy on whom he will have mercy? and whom he will, he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay, but, O men, who art thou that replyest against God? Who are you to speak out about the ways of God? Shall the thing form, say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay? of the same lump to make one vessel and to honor and another to dishonor? What if God willing to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had afford prepared unto glory."

Let's turn to our handout now if you would. First paragraph below the first two lines there. This is the Declaration of the whole Bible. Everything between these two covers that we hold in our hand, everything is this declaration that God Almighty is the Potter. He is the Creator, the Sovereign, the Lord of all that is. His purpose is exactly this, that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy.

I pause because I want that to soak into all of us. Folks, we could be just as easily a vessel of wrath, a vessel of destruction, but by God's grace, He has chosen a people to do what? To make known the riches of His glory on these vessels. whereth he if afford prepared unto glory. That was what we read in verse 23 of Romans chapter 9.

In Ephesians 2 verse 8 we read this, for by grace, and we all know what grace means. It means unmerited favor. It means there's nothing in us that warrants God to be merciful to us. It's strictly by His grace. By grace you are saved through Believing through faith, and just to take it one step further, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Faith is the gift of God. Grace is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

In a previous study, we saw in chapter 25, the Lord separates all mankind into two camps, the sheep and the goats. Remember back in chapter 25, the sheep on the right, the goats on the left? And in our text in Matthew 26, we have his declaration of who it is that makes the difference. We think we're just reading in our text here about the man who betrayed our Lord. And it's good that we think that, because that's what it is. But there's another thing that slipped in there. Did you notice the Lord told two of his disciples to go into town? Didn't it seem kind of strange? Here we are looking at the story of the betrayer, the story of the one who will turn God over for 30 pieces of silver. And here he slips in this little section of Scripture where The disciples go to town and he declares the future to them and it happens exactly how he declares it.

We'll look at that in a moment in Mark chapter 14. But before I get there, let's go back to our handout again. Let's first go back to the Old Testament and see the prophecy, the foretelling of these events. that we may be brought to a greater understanding of His Lordship. Do you ever get tired of hearing how great of a Lord He is? How much He's a Lord of all things? Do you ever get tired of that? I don't. I love to hear that. It's my only assurance. It's my only assurance that the promises He's made cannot be turned. They will come to pass. Just like what was prophesied in the Old Testament. does come to pass.

Listen to these, listen to this, Zechariah 11 verse 12. And I said unto them, if ye think good, give me my price, and if not forbear, so they weighed my price, thirty pieces of silver. Folks, this is more than 400 years before the event that we read about back there in our text. Go ahead and Turn over to Mark chapter 14 and I'm going to read the bottom of page 1. For the benefit of seeing his hand in all things, look with me at Mark's account in this event. Mark chapter 14 verses 10 through 16.

Mark chapter 14. And Judas Iscariot one of the twelve went unto the chief priest, betray him unto them, that's almost word for word, and when they had heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money, and he sought how he might conveniently betray him. And the first day of the unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the Passover?

Now listen to this, this is the Lord who is speaking to them. They're not even in Jerusalem yet. They're on their way to Jerusalem. And He's telling them, go ahead, go ye into the city. He sent forth two of His disciples and said unto them, go ye into the city and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher. Now isn't that strange? Look at the detail. He knows the detail because He's in charge of all things. He rules all that is. Meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water, follow him.

Some say that this man is a servant, because of what we read next in 14. And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the good man of the house, the master saith, where is the guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples? And he will show you a large upper room and get a load of this. furnished and prepared that they make ready for us. And his disciples went forth and came into the city and found as he had said unto them and they made ready for the Passover.

Do you see the details? This reminds me as I was reading about this and putting tonight's study together, it reminds me of the great And I'm not giving Steve credit for the greatness, I give my God for the greatness of the study. But when Steve took us through the detail of the temple, one of the things, some of you who remember that study, Steve, before he even got into the great details of how gold was covered over this, and certain wood was used for this, and then gold was covered that, and how the tapestry was this, and he said, before you get lost in trying to figure out what all these little details are, it's there for one reason. To point us out that our God rules every little detail.

When we say that our God determines where that speck of dust will land, how big it is, where it came from, He literally controls it all. He's Lord of everything. Lord of all things, and that's what this is talking about. That's what this is showing us here. He's Lord of all the details. He's declaring something before they even got there, and when they got there, it's exactly how he had told them it was going to be.

The potter that we read about, the very one who raised up Pharaoh, that he might destroy him and his army to show the world his power is called the potter. And that's our focus for tonight's lesson, page two, if you would. Charles Spurgeon, commenting on this passage, he wrote, what a contrast to the incident we have just been considering. Speaking of the woman that was pouring the alabaster box of oil on her Lord's head, the anointing of Jesus is to be the theme of admiration wherever the gospel is preached. That's what we were looking at. But his betrayal by Judas, writes Spurgeon, will be the subject of execration to all eternity. He was one of the 12. who went unto the chief priest to bargain for the price of his lord, his lord betrayal. He did not even mention Christ's name in his infamous question. He says, what will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you. The amount agreed upon, 30 pieces of silver, was the price for a slave. and showed how little value the priest put upon Christ, and also revealed the greed of Judas in selling his master for so small a sum.

Yet many have sold Jesus for a lesser price than Judas received. A smile or a sneer has been sufficient to induce them to betray their Lord. Let us who have been redeemed with Christ's precious blood set high store by him, think much of him and praise him much as we remember with shame and sorrow these 30 pieces of silver. Let us never undervalue him or forget the priceless preciousness of him who was reckoned as worth no more than a slave.

Brother Don wrote this, he said, Matthew 26, 14 through 25 is divinely inspired record of one of the blackest events in the history of the world. There is no greater evidence of the wickedness that is in man than that which is revealed in the character and the conduct of Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of our Lord. These verses speak of things we would all prefer not to consider, but they are written here for our instruction. And if God the Holy Spirit will be our teacher, we'll find much in them that will bring joy in our hearts, to our hearts.

Now with that in mind, I want to consider five points, if you would. And the first one is this, the Word of God. These verses clearly establish the fact that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. You might ask, where is that taught in this passage? The inspiration of scripture, is established by the precious fulfillment of the prophecies of Scripture. Oh, the wonderful fulfillment of God's prophecies that show us, that prove that He is who He is. Here we once more see Old Testament prophecy fulfilled to the letter. exactly as God had purposed it and prophesied, used his men to prophesy of it. Not by one who was attempting to bring honor to the word of God, but by one who was inspired by the devil himself.

Page 3. The scriptures clearly predict that our Savior would be betrayed by one of his most intimate companions, one who ate bread with him. As we read in Psalm 41, 9, yea, mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. The Old Testament specifically prophesied that the Lord Jesus would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. which would then be cast down into the temple and that money would be used to buy a place in the potter's field as seen in Zechariah 11 verses 11 through 13. And we'll look at that a little deeper over in Matthew chapter 27.

Ever revere the Bible as the inspired Word of God. Always keep that thought before you. Is the Word that God inspired men to write? No man could have come up with the imagination to put this together. Ever reveal this precious Word that God has given us as His Word. This book alone is God's Word. This book alone is the authority in the church and the kingdom of God. This book alone is our rule of faith and practice. This book alone is able to make us wise into salvation. Treasure it. Seek to know the book better. Believe this book and obey it as the word of God.

Secondly, it's the religious. There's many who are religious but lost. We learn by the example of Judas Iscariot that a person may enjoy great religious privileges and make an impressive show of religion and yet be an unregenerate reprobate.

Judas Iscariot was a religious but lost. He had the highest possible privileges of outward religion. He was a chosen apostle, a companion of Christ. He was an eyewitness to the Lord's miracles. He heard the gospel from the lips of the incarnate God. He ate at the same table with him and he dipped his bread in the bowl with which the master himself ate.

Again, I quote from Brother Don, he says, Judas saw things that neither Abraham nor Moses could see. He heard things that neither David nor Isaiah ever heard. This man lived in the society of the Lord Jesus and His apostles. He preached with Peter, James, and John, yet Judas was a lost man.

He was, it appears to be, a man of highest reputation. and esteem among men. He appears to have been a man who was, in outward appearance, great and unassuming. We read very little about what he ever said or did, but he was trusted by all to be the treasurer of the early church. He handled all the money that came through. When the master said, one of you shall betray me, no one suspected him, yet Judas was a hypocrite.

Page four. Judas is held before us as a beacon of man's natural heart. Think of this vile man often. Do not ever imagine that he was outwardly wicked, though. He was not. Outwardly, he was an example of what men call purity, maybe, or even holy or godly. But without a doubt, Judas was of the devil.

Whenever we think of Judas, we ought to pray as we read in our opening scriptures, Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. That was the last two verses of what we read in our opening text tonight, Psalm 139.

Be not content, folks, with mere outward religion. I wanna stop there for just a moment. It's not enough for God's people to get up and just go to church on a Sunday. Do not be satisfied, we'll pick it up again now, do not be satisfied with the approval of men. Make certain that your religion is a matter of the heart. a union of your very soul with the Son of God by faith.

Spurgeon warned, a man may get very near to Christ, I even may dip his hand in the same dish with the Savior and yet betray him. We may be high in office and may apparently be very useful as Judas was at the church, yet we may yet we may betray Christ.

I would add this, that was Charles Spurgeon's statement, I would add this to this, to our brother Charles' words, I said, I may as Judas betray the Lord of glory, but only if I am left to myself. If I am left to follow my unregenerate nature, yet if I belong to Christ, if I have been given a new nature, a new heart, If I am a gift of God the Father to God the Son, though my flesh may deny Him as Peter did, it takes nothing away from the sacrifice Christ gave for me.

Does that allow me to continue in sin? Only one who knows not Christ would think that. The people of God act out of love for the one who first loved us.

Thirdly, we can see here the root of all evil. Again, scripture being fulfilled, showing us how the root of all evil is the love of money. The Holy Spirit shows us here a very vivid picture of that fact. Where we read in 1 Timothy 6.10, the love of money is the root of all evil. I cannot conceive of a clearer proof of this fact than Judas Iscariot. The question, what will ye give me, he said, reveals the evil that ruled his heart. How much are you going to give me? What's it worth to me to turn this one over, who I don't have any trust for anyway? Judas had given up much to follow Christ. Outward sacrifices he was prepared to make, but he could not and would not give up his covetousness, his love, his desire. Seems wealth was his god. Money ruled his heart. His every thought was about money. His every word was about money.

We have an illustration, we have many illustrations of the corrupting influence of the love of money. It's not the lack of money or the possession of money that is the root of all evil, but the love of it.

Page five. It was the money that Joseph, it was for money that Joseph was sold into Egypt, remember? When his brothers wanted, some wanted to kill him, and one of his brothers stood up and said, no, no, no, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites. The lovers of Islam. Let's sell them to the Ishmaelites that are on their caravan heading down to Egypt. Remember that? Samson was betrayed by Delilah. For what? For wealth. For gain. Geazi deceived Naaman and lied to Elijah. Ananias and Zephariah. Remember what they did? They lied to the Holy Spirit. They said they gave all when they had not. And they hid some of their wealth away in their tent. And Judas betrayed the Son of God for 30 pieces of silver.

Remember the story of the rich young ruler? We just looked at this, I believe, last Sunday. And a certain ruler, I've got it here in the handout for you. And a certain ruler asked him, saying, good master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, why callest thou me good? None is good save one, that is God. Thou knowest the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Honor thy father and thy mother. And he said, all these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, he lacketh thou one thing, sell all that thou hast, and distribute it unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God, for it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

We saw how this rich young ruler turned away sad and would not follow the Lord because he was rich. Be warned, the love of money will destroy your soul. What shall it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul? Be wise and pray daily, give me neither poverty nor riches, feed me with food convenient for me. They that will be rich in this world often find in the end, like Esau and Judas, that the bargain that they made was the worst of bargains.

Having said that, it must be recognized that many have betrayed the Son of God at a far lower price, as we saw back there in the statement by Brother Charles Spurgeon. a far lower price than the 30 pieces of silver for which Judas bargained, many, especially those who claim to be preachers, have sold him for no more than a smile. In other words, for the approval of men.

Fourthly, we see our God as sovereign over all things. This verse gives us a very clear revelation, last paragraph, page 5, of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, is the sovereign God of the universe. Notice the language our Savior used to speak of Judas. of Judas' betrayal of Him. He speaks not as one who was alarmed or even slightly disturbed, but by the things He knew were about to transpire. Page 6. He knew it was coming. He purposed it. Folks, our God purposed everything. If not, then why would we read in Revelation that He was seen as though a lamb that was slain from before the foundation of the world.

Top of page six we read, he spoke as one who was in total control of the circumstances and the people around him. This man who was about to be betrayed was and is the eternal God who made and ruled and disposed of his betrayer. His divine omniscience is evident in the fact that our master knew what his disciples would do, what the certain man in the city would do, what Judas had done, and what he would do next. He knew it all because he's the potter and he controls it all.

His divine dominion is seen in the fact that the man whose house he would use for the observance of the Passover would readily obey his will. We read in Matthew 26, 18 through 19, and he said, go into the city to such a man and say to him, the master saith, my time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at thy house with my disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them, and they made ready the Passover.

His divine purpose is clearly stated in his insertions. My time is at hand. And the Son of Man goeth as it is written of him. Everything and everyone in this world is moving according to the precise schedule to the predestined end. Everything and everyone, even the actions of wicked men, the very demons of hell, the devil himself do nothing to thwart or hinder or even disturb God's purpose. They are only His servants used by Him to accomplish that purpose.

Psalm 76 verse 10, Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee, the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. Romans 8, 28 through 30. And we know that all things work together for the good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called. And whom He called, them He also justified. And whom He justified, them He also glorified. Romans 11, verse 36, for of Him and through Him and to Him are all things. And to Him be glory forever. Amen.

Page 7. Even Judas was an instrument in the hands of our God for the accomplishment of His gracious purpose of redemption and grace for His elect. Nowhere is the fact of our Lord's absolute and total sovereignty seen more clearly than in the events surrounding His betrayal and crucifixion.

Acts chapter 2 verse 23, we read these words, Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. God's determinate counsel and His foreknowledge delivered His Son for our sakes, ye have taken and with wicked hands have crucified and slain.

Acts 4 verse 27 through 28, we read these words, for of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

In the same book of Acts, chapter 13, verse 28-29, we read this, And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a sepulcher. That was written as well.

Lastly, we see that Our Lord teaches us that it would be better never to live at all than to live and die without Christ. Our Savior said, the Son of Man goeth as it is written of Him, but woe unto that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It had been good for that man if he had not been born.

Folks, this is the depth of our Lord's grace to you and I. We deserve the very thing that Judas Iscariot got. And the grace of God is that the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, took everything that Judas Iscariot got as our substitute for us. So we will never have to.

Judas stands before us back in the last paragraph of page 7. Judas stands before us in the Word of God as a glaring warning. He would this day give anything simply never to have been born. Judas is in hell. He lived and died without Christ as an unbeliever and an enemy of God. Now he suffers the wrath of God in hell. So too shall you if like Judas you live and die without Christ.

Be warned, if you are yet without Christ, you are just like Judas. Your heart is exactly the same as Judas Iscariot, but those which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murderous, adulterous, fornication, theft, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man." That was what we read back in Matthew 15, if you remember.

Hey, Jake, you may be taken captive by Satan at his will and led by him to do things you never dreamed of that you were capable of doing. Listen to 2 Timothy 2.26, and that they may recover themselves out of the snares of the devil who are taken captive by him at his will. Unless you repent, unless you look to Christ by faith, you shall be with Judas forever in hell, suffering the terrible wrath of God Almighty.

Let us never forget that we are by nature where we are and where we were headed when God saved us by His matchless, free, and sovereign grace. Listen to these words from Psalm, verse 40, verses 1 through 5.

I waited patiently for the Lord and He inclined unto me and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit out of the miry clay, and he set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. Many shall see it and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to usward. They cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

Let us ever give thanks to our God for his sovereign dominion over all things, and for his infinite mercy towards us. If we believe, it is because God the Father loved us with an everlasting love and chose us to be His own. God the Son loved us and gave Himself for us. And God the Holy Spirit loved us and gave us life and faith in Christ.

Hath not the potter the right to do as he would? When your potter is God Almighty, And He has promised a people unto His Son. Absolutely praise the Lord for His sovereign will in all that is. Amen.