Turn back to Matthew 27. As I read this chapter, I started looking at what they
did to our Lord. I looked and thought about Barabbas, but my thoughts kept going back
to the first ten verses. Don't skip those verses. We are
going to see the end of a betrayer, a repentance that needs to be
repented of. I think a faithful pastor is
one who rightly divides the word of truth. He is one who studies
to show himself approved, a workman that needs not be ashamed. He
is one who exalts the Lord Jesus Christ out of His word. He is one that exhorts the people. He warns the flock. But he's not one who is always
looking for the easy message that serves up no one, but one
that is faithful to his calling. Look over in Proverbs 27. It's tempting at times to just
go to those scriptures that's easy to preach Christ from and
that's just a blessing to the heart. But when you have to deal
with things like Judas and his betrayal and false repentance,
those are more difficult. Those are more difficult. But
I know this, in Proverbs 27, look in verse 7, the full soul
loatheth an honeycomb. Doesn't even want anything that's
good. But to the hungry soul, every
bitter thing is sweet. Every bitter thing is sweet.
Even the messages that warn us, even the messages that rebuke
us are sweet to the hungry soul. Paul wrote to Timothy. Timothy preached the word. Be
instant, in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with
all longsuffering. and doctrine. And he wrote to
Titus, holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught,
that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to
convince the gainsayer. So with that in mind, let's not
jump past Judas. Let's look at the final end of
this man, of this one who betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ. Last Sunday
we saw Peter denying the Lord three times. And after that rooster
crowed, it says, and I believe it's in Mark's Gospel, the Lord
looked at him, and Peter thought upon his word, and he went out,
and he wept bitterly, bitterly. Judas went out, it says, and
hanged himself. I want that repentance. that
weeps bitterly and falls at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ
and not that which leads to despair like Judas and you go out and
you commit suicide. When the morning was come, all
the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against
Jesus to put him to death. They had been up all night doing
their dirty work. The wicked do their best work
in the dark, in the night. And notice it says here, all
the chief priests and elders, all, not one of them, not one
of them stepped forth for the Lord Jesus Christ. All
of them The whole ecclesiastical body. We're in on this plot to put
Christ to death. If you really want to see what
this world would do to a truly righteous man, here it is. Here
it is. Just take a good look here. The
Holy One of Israel. The only man who knew no sin
has come among us, and we sin, Jews and Gentiles. You see, he's going to be turned
over to the Gentiles here in just a little bit. And you know
what they're going to do? Over in verse 30 of this chapter,
and they spit upon him. Now, where did we read that before?
That's when he was standing in the palace of the high priest
and they spit upon him. The Jews, the Gentiles, this
whole world, spit in the face of God. They spit in the face
of God. We did. But, oh, I thank God
for His grace. I thank God for the power that
he has to make his enemies to come to his feet and sue for
mercy. I thank God for the power and
the grace that he has enabling us to do that. And the reason they wanted to
put him to death is this. He is light. We are darkness. We are darkness. Christ exposed
this world for what it really is. He told the truth, and he
was hated for telling the truth. All the religious leaders said,
let us put him to death. And this is nothing more than
the fulfillment of Psalm 2. Look back in Psalm 2. Here is something that just amazes
me. If the Lord does not give a person
a center of eyes to see and ears to hear, they can read the Bible
day after day after day and totally miss it. They read this. They read this. Why do the heathen
rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth
set themselves. Pilate and Herod and the rulers
Take counsel, the rulers of the people, the priests and the elders
of Israel. Take counsel together against
the Lord and against His anointed, saying, let us break their bands
asunder and cast away their cords from us. Let us put Him to death. Let us kill Him. Why do they
rage? Because they hate God. They hate His character. Holy? They hate His reign. Sovereign. No one, no one has ever been
more hated than that God-man. This is the heir. Come, let us
kill him and seize on his inheritance. No one more hated than God. And then it says, when they had
bound him, Creation. Binding. Now let's get this.
This is mind-boggling. Creation. Binding. Its creator. This is what's happening. Binding
its creator. And they led him away as in triumph. It was a mile. It was one mile
approximately from the palace of the high priest to Pilate's
judgment hall. It was approximately a mile.
And they bound him, put his hands behind his back, tied his hands,
and led him through the streets so all the people could see that
this man is nothing but a criminal. That's all he is. He's just a
criminal. And they led him through the street like a parade. And
you know those high priests, those elders were making accusations
as they went. And here our Lord, Our Lord is
bound by his creation. That's just astounding to me.
Astounding. But I'll tell you another reason
why he's bound. The anti-type has to fit the type. Look over
in Isaiah, not Isaiah, but Genesis. Genesis chapter 22. Genesis chapter 22. And verse 7, And Isaac spake
unto Abraham his father, and said, My father? And he said,
Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire
and the wood. But where is the lamb for a burnt
offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself
a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went both of them together,
and they came to the place which God had told him of. And Abraham
built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound
Isaac. The anti-type has to fit the
type. And Abraham bound Isaac, his son, and laid him on the
altar. He didn't bind him to the altar.
He bound him. This shows his willingness. Even
here in Isaac. You know, Isaac could have gotten
away from Abraham. Isaac's a strapping young man.
And he just willingly is bound and then laid on that altar.
Here, our Lord, He willingly lets them bind him. And then
they take him. And of course, you know he's
crucified. So they lead him. Here is our
substitute bound and being led to the slaughter. As Frank spoke
of this morning. Led to the slaughter. This is
the ram caught in the thicket by his horns whom Abraham took
and placed on the altar and slew it in the stead of Isaac. Here's the substitute. Here's
the substitute. One writer said this, I thought
this was good. He was already bound by his love
to his people. He was bound by his love to us. But here was to fulfill the Scriptures,
he had to be bound by his creation. He had to be bound by those high
priests. Over in Mark, listen to this.
This is another fulfillment of Scripture. In Mark chapter 10,
verse 33, I'll read it to you. Our Lord, speaking here, saying,
Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered
unto the chief priest," this is exactly what's going to happen,
he's telling his disciples beforehand, and unto the scribes, and they
shall condemn him to death, and they did, and shall deliver him
to the Gentiles. God's in control. of this whole
thing. He's saying this is what's going
to happen step by step by step. And it did. It did. How little did they know that
they were fulfilling the Word of God. They were doing exactly
what God purposed them to do. Now the Holy Spirit returns to
Judas for a purpose. There are no fillers in the Word
of God. Everything has a purpose. It's written for a purpose. And
this is like a beacon of warning. You've seen these lighthouses.
They stand on these rocky ledges of the ocean. You go up Maine
and see them. And that lighthouse is standing
there telling those ships out to sea, don't come in here or
you're going to wreck. You're going to sink. Here the Holy Spirit gives us
the final end of Judas to warn us that there is a repentance
that needs to be repented of. There is a repentance that's
not of God. That's not of God. I want you to see this here over
in 2 Corinthians before we go on. Turn over to 2 Corinthians. In 2 Corinthians chapter 7. Look at verse 8. Paul says, though
I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent. I do not regret it, though I
did repent. You know, it did bother me that
I, you know, if you ever spanked, I know you have, you've had to
spank your children. If you're worth your salt, you
have. And it's not easy. But I, you know, when I've had
to spank the boys when they were young, I felt bad about it. I mean, it hurt. You know, you
just. And that's what Paul's saying,
he says, I don't I don't I do not repent, though I did feel
bad about it. It did hurt. For I perceive that
the same epistle that hath made you sorry, though it were but
for a season. But now I rejoice. Not that you
were made sorry, I don't rejoice over that, but that you sorrowed
to repentance. to true godly repentance, for
ye were made sorry, listen, after a godly manner. It led you, it
ran you to Christ, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
That kind of repentance does not cause damage. It does not
cause damage. Yes, I spake my voice and it
did not cause damage. In this day and time, you say,
well, you're whipping me, you're causing some kind of mental damage. That's that's that's not so if
you do it, if you do be abusive, that's different. But correction
is not damaging. And Paul said, for you were made
sorry after a godly manner that you might receive damage by us
and nothing for godly sorrow. Now, listen, godly sorrow, sorrow
that's of God, repentance that's of God, godly sorrow worketh
repentance. Listen to salvation. It brings you to Christ. It makes
you flee to Christ. We will see in Judas, he did
not flee to Christ. It was nothing more than his
conscience turned loose on him. Because
the law of God is written on the heart. You know, you know
it's wrong to murder. You know it's wrong to steal. But this godly sorrow works repentance
to salvation, not to be repented of. You don't need to repent
of this when it's good. But the sorrow of the world,
that's not of God. That kind of repentance is not
of God, and it works death. And that's exactly what Judas
had. See, Peter had the first one. He had a godly sorrow that
worked repentance, that led to salvation. But Judas was totally
opposite. Totally opposite. So that's why
the Holy Spirit returns here to Judas. Then Judas, which had
betrayed him when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself
and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief
priest and the elders. And notice here the Holy Spirit
is careful to point out Judas, which had betrayed him, not Judas
who wrote the book of Jude. He's careful to protect the name
of the Lord's chief. This is the one who betrayed
him. And when he saw that he was condemned, Judas probably
thought many times, many times our Lord
escaped. Remember, they wanted to lay
hands on him. They wanted to kill him several times, believe me.
And he slipped through the crowd. And Judas probably thought he
would do that again. He probably thought he would
do that again or that he would prove his innocence And the Romans
would let him go and no damage done. At that time, I want you to notice
something here. You see, he thought the Romans
would let him go. At this time, the Romans had full control,
full governmental control over the Jews. Here is the providence
of God. The scepter shall not depart
from Judah. till Shiloh come. Two years before
this happened, they lost their last governmental right. They
could not execute anyone. They lost total governmental
control totally. They could not execute. If he's
going to be executed, the Romans have to do it. The Gentiles have
to do it. This is the providence of God. The scripture says, the scepter
shall not depart from Judah, the shallow comes. Well, it departed.
So what does that say? Shallow has come. Here he is. And they still missed it. They
still missed it. And it says here, he repented
himself. He was filled with grief over
the outcome, but it was not until It was not until he was condemned
that he felt this sorrow. If they would have let him go,
if he would have escaped or they would have let him go, all would
have been well. The Jews would have been embarrassed
and Judas would have had his money and no harm done. And that's
how it would have ended. True repentance is not called
by seeing the outcome. True repentance is caused by
seeing the goodness of God. It's the goodness of God that
leadeth to repentance. It's not the fear of hell. It's
seeing they will mourn when they look on Him whom they pierce. When Peter denied the Lord, he
denied the most loving, the most caring, The most giving person. And he realized that. He realized
that. But Judas, he saw the outcome. He saw the outcome. And then
it repented him. He felt the pain of his conscience. Because he walked with this man,
talked with this man, ate with this man, was intermingled with
him all the time like the other disciples did. And he knew He
knew he betrayed the innocent blood and his conscious just
stabbed him. His natural conscious just stabbed
him. He even tried to make restitution by bringing the money back. It
says he brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief
priest and the elders. We cannot undo what we do. That will not put away sin. We cannot change what we are. Frank said to you this morning,
we are sin. That is our nature. We cannot
change that. Can the Ethiopian, it says in
Jeremiah 13, can the Ethiopian change his skin? No. Or the leopard
his spots? No. Neither may ye also do good
that are accustomed to do evil. Judas came back. He brought the
money back. He says, here, I don't want this.
Well, that's not going to put away what you did, Judas. You're
coming to the wrong people. You're coming to the wrong ones.
He came back to the priest. He came back to the temple. If he had just come to Christ,
all would have been well. The 30 pieces of silver is not
the problem. Giving them back will not put
away the sin of it. Only the blood of Christ can
put away sin. Had he gone to Christ and repented
himself of the evil of his sin, he would have been forgiven,
wouldn't he? The Lord's never turned away
anyone who truly sought mercy. But repentance that's not of
God never leads to Christ. He never does. Now listen to
Judas' confession. He's saying, I have sinned in
that I have betrayed the innocent blood, I have betrayed the innocent
one, I have betrayed the righteous one. And they said, well, what's
that to us? Don't come back here. See thou
to it. Judas said, I've done a terrible
thing. I've sinned. Anyone with a conscience
would realize this, wouldn't they? You take the most hardened
criminal in prison, and he'll say, Judas did a bad thing. Judas
did a terrible thing. But Judas felt, what he felt
here, he felt the guilt of his sin without the grace of God
to lead him to Christ. He just felt the guilt of it. And it led to despair. It led
to despair. But notice here what the Holy
Spirit has Matthew to write concerning Judas. Judas said, I have betrayed
the innocent blood. If anyone, if anyone at this
time, remember they were trying to get witnesses against Christ.
They come up with some false witnesses. If anyone could have
come forth and testified against Christ, something he said, something
he did, it would have been Judas. He lived with him for three years.
For three years he walked with him, ate with him. And this man,
this is God getting the victory. Satan entered into this man,
into Judas, and here he is confessing the sinlessness the perfectness
of this man. He said, I have betrayed the
innocent blood. I have betrayed one who is totally
innocent. Oh, I tell you, God gets the
glory. One way or another, He gets it.
He gets it. The Holy Spirit makes it very
clear that this man knew no sin, that this man is the righteous
one. This man is. And notice their
reaction. What's that to us? They played
his friend at first, didn't they? Now they don't want anything
to do with him. Well, that's the world for you. I'm telling
you, that's a good picture of the world. If you can benefit
them, they want you. If not, you're out of here. Old
Tom Landry, 26 years. Winning streak, 26 years of the
Dallas Cowboys. He has two bad years. Gone. That's the world. That's the
world for you. If you can't benefit them, you're
out of here. Get out of here. They actually tried to clear
themselves of any guilt in this matter. They said, you see, you
came to us. You came to us. Now it's your
problem. You take care of it. And he cast
down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went
and hanged himself. That's the end of a false repentance. That's the end of it right there.
A repentance that needs to be repented of. His repentance,
listen, did not bring him to Christ. It brought him to religion. It
brought him to the priest. But it did not bring him to Christ. Natural sorrow is not godly sorrow
which leads to life. I say I've repented. I believe
I have. Where has it led me and where
does it lead me now? To Christ continually or despair? The repentance of Judas led him
to despair and not to Christ. True repentance always leads
to Christ. Psalm 51. Over here in Psalm 51. Now, here's
a man who put an innocent man to death as far as you and I
are concerned, as far as David was concerned. Uriah, the husband
of Bathsheba. And then Nathan the prophet came
and said, Thou art the man. You took his wife and you killed
him. You're the man. Now, wouldn't that be devastating
to have that realization? And he says here, David says,
Have mercy upon me, O God. See, here's true repentance here.
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness, according
to the multitude of Thy tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions. Blot them out. Wash me throughly
from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge
my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against thee,
and thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight. Boy of Judas would I have this,
that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear
when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth
in the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me
to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall
be clean. And I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast
broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and
blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O
God, and do a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy
presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto
me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit."
That's what true repentance leads to right there. That's what it leads to. False repentance leads to death,
eternal death. He went out and he hanged himself. He hanged himself. Murdered himself. And notice here, the very thing
that Judas loved became his ruin. Money. Covetous. He loved money, and
in the day of his death he found no comfort in the things which
he possessed. But if he had possessed Christ,
or Christ had possessed him, he would have lived. True is that scripture that says,
where your treasure is, your heart will be also. And then the chief priest took
the silver pieces and they said, it's not lawful to put them into
the treasury because it is the price of blood. Oh, the blindness,
the blindness and the deadness of the lost. It is not lawful. Can you believe this? It is not
lawful for to put them into the treasury. I assure you, they
took them out of the treasury. and use them for this purpose. Because it's the price of blood.
You're talking about gagging at a gnat and swallowing a camel. They are doing it right here.
It's not lawful. What do you care about lawful?
Look what you just did. They use the law to their advantage.
They manipulate the Word of God to their advantage. They did that to fulfill the
Scriptures, and they didn't even realize it. They did not even
realize it. And they took counsel and brought
with them the potter's field. They did this to quiet their
conscience, to bury strangers in it. Those who came up to Jerusalem
to worship were proselytes, and if one of them died there, they
would take and put him in the potter's field. That's why they
bought it. Wherefore, that field was called
the field of blood unto this day. It stands as a memorial
to this day to their wickedness. They didn't call it the field
of blood. They didn't put that on, they didn't give it that
name. God gave it that name. But the
people, the people that knew what went on, there's a lot of
people that knew what went on. They named it that. They gave
it that name. The chief priest and the elders
didn't do that. But it was given this name to
stand as a monument to their wickedness. Then was fulfilled
that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet. This is one of those
stumbling stones. Right here is one of those stumbling
stones that's in the Word of God that men stumble over and
they say, see, the Word of God is not right. Because it's not
written in Jeremiah, it's written in Zechariah. It's written in
Zechariah chapter 11, I think it's verse 12 and 13. Zechariah
is quoting Jeremiah. But not everything the prophet
said is written. Not everything our Lord said, not everything
that our Lord did is written. He said the books wouldn't be
able to contain him. So here, he says here, He says, then was
fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet. You won't
find that in Jeremiah. You can't find it in Zechariah.
Zechariah is quoting Jeremiah. That's what's going on. But that's
a stumbling stone. Somebody's going to read that
and say, see, there's an error. No, it's not. No, it's not. You
and I know that. And they took the 30 pieces of
silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the
children of Israel did value. and gave them for the potter's
field as the Lord appointed me." The Lord's hand is in this. He's
orchestrating this whole thing. I want, and I truly want you,
you and I, to have that true godly sorrow that leads to salvation
and not that which leads to despair and takes us away from Christ
and not to Him. The repentance that's of God,
now listen, always leads to Christ, always brings us to Christ. We
don't despair. We may feel despair and despondent,
but we know that His grace is greater than our sin. David knew
that. That's why David in Psalm 51,
did not go out and hang himself. He went before the Lord because
he knew that God's grace is greater than any sin. That's repentance
that's of God.