I want you to listen to what
I'm going to say. Do you suppose, do you suppose
there's any possibility that Judas Iscariot could have been
a Christian after all? Do you suppose there's any possibility
that Judas knew the Lord, that he's a saved man, that he's with
Christ in glory? Reckon there's any possibility
that's so. If you judge Judas by that which is commonly preached
in most pulpits, including most conservative fundamentalist pulpits,
you'd have to say, yes sir, Judas is a saved man. He made a profession
of faith. He went to church real regular.
He read his Bible, knew it real well. He lived an upright moral
life. He was a man who preached, and
unlike most preachers in our day, he preached truth. He walked
with Christ physically and walked with his disciples physically
for three years, three years. But of course, we understand
Judas is the son of perdition. We understand Judas is in hell. We recognize that Judas is an
apostate professor, an apostate apostle, an apostate disciple. That is, one who once was named
among the disciples of Christ, but never knew Christ. One who
named himself a believer, but never was a believer. One who
was called a child of God, but never was a child of God. Now
the title of my message this evening, if you want to take
notes, is very simple and it's very serious. It is Remember
Judas. Remember Judas. I hope you will
never forget this man Judas. I hope you will never forget
what the Spirit of God here records for us, for our learning and
our instruction concerning this man Judas. As you read the Bible,
you cannot help noticing that there are numerous examples of
men and women who appeared to fear God, who appeared to walk
with him, who in time forsook him altogether and perished under
his wrath. A lot of them. A lot of them.
I say it with terrible recognition of how serious
it is, but say it I must. There are multitudes in hell
today who were once considered, while they lived upon this earth,
the saintliest of saints. Multitudes. And there are multitudes going
to hell right now, who are fully confident that when they leave
this world, they'll be with God, with Christ, and with his saints
in heaven. Multitudes. Listen to the scriptures. Our
Lord says, remember Lot's wife. Remember her? Horah, Dathan,
and Abiram. Achan, Tinsol, Ananias and Sapphira,
Demas and Diotrephes, are all means that ought to sound alarms
in our souls. They ought to ring with a blast
of alarm in our hearts. These all, like the multitude
in John chapter 6, Though they professed to be the Lord's disciples,
though they were considered by all except the Lord himself to
be his disciples, these all went back and walked no more with
him. They are beacons placed before
us to warn us of the danger of hypocrisy and carnal security. All is not gold that glitters,
and they are not all Israel which are of Israel. The simple fact
is, many who profess faith in Christ, and are confident that
their faith is genuine, shall betray and forsake Christ in
time, just like Judas did, and shall perish under the wrath
of God, just like Judas did. We live in a day when religion
requires nothing, when religion demands nothing, when religion
produces nothing, because the religion is nothing. There are
multitudes who are absolutely confident, just ask them, just
ask them, absolutely confident that they are children of God,
heirs of grace, heirs of eternal life, absolutely confident that
heaven is their eternal portion, who have no knowledge of God
Almighty, and in time will prove that they don't. Now, no one
more fearfully and glaringly demonstrates this fact than Judas
Iscariot, the son of perdition, our Lord's betrayer. He is the
principal subject of these 10 verses that we're going to look
at this evening for our text. This man, Judas, is a man who
once preached the gospel, a man who once performed mighty miracles,
a man who carried the treasurer's bag for the first church ever
to be established in this world. who, after he betrayed the Son
of God, repented, confessed his sin, and even made restitution
with the 30 pieces of silver, which indicated the cost of his
crime. And yet, after he had done all
that, Judas went out and committed suicide. He hanged himself and
perished under the wrath of God and the justice of God. Today,
that man who once thought He was such a great man and that
man who was once fought by others to be such a great man. Such
an imminent believer burns in hell and suffers the wrath of
God Almighty. I pray, I pray that God will
not allow any of us to follow this man to eternal ruin. There's a time for serious examination. And for you and me, this time
tonight will be spent, I hope, in serious examination. I want,
if you are yet resting your soul in a refuge of lies, I want,
if I am yet trusting in a false hope, I want it exposed for me
and exposed for you. And I want you to flee to Christ. Oh, God give us grace that we
may drop every trust and clean to Jesus Christ alone. Now pray,
pray with me, that God will search our hearts, that God will try
our reins, and show us that we're yet in the way of iniquity, sin,
and unbelief, and that he will lead us in the way everlasting
by faith in Christ the Lord. Read with me Matthew 27, verses
one through 10. And then I want to show you seven
things clearly demonstrated in this passage of scripture. When
the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the
people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. And when
they had bound him, they laid him away and delivered him to
Pontius Pilate, the governor. Then Judas, which had betrayed
him, when he saw that he was condemned, the thirty pieces of silver to
the chief priest and elders, saying, I have sinned, in that
I have betrayed innocent blood. And they said, what's that to
us? We don't care about that. See thou to that. And he cast
down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed and
went and hanged himself. and the chief priest took the
silver pieces and said it is not lawful for them to be put
into the treasury because it is the price of blood. And they
took counsel and brought with them the potter's field to bury
strangers in. Wherefore that field is called
the field of blood unto this day. Then was fulfilled that
which was spoken by And they took the thirty 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." Now here's the first thing.
The first thing to be learned in this passage of scripture
is the fact that this book, this book right here, I keep emphasizing
it because I want you to hear it. This book is the inspired
inerrant, infallible Word of God Almighty. I do not suggest
that this book contains the Word of God. I do not suggest that
this book has a word from God for you. But rather, this book
is, in its entirety, from Genesis through Revelation, the inspired
infallible, inerrant Word of God. Now, Pastor, why is that
so important? Why do we keep hearing this from
you? Why do we keep hearing you hammer
away that this is the Word of God? I want you never to entertain
the thought that there may be some error in this book, or that
it may not be depended upon implicitly. We recognize that this book alone
is inspired of God. This book alone is authoritative
as our rule of faith and practice. That is, we believe what is written
here. Plus, minus, nothing. We bow
for what is written here. Believers do. Believers do. I
talk to folks all the time, I don't believe that, I think this, I
think that. It doesn't matter what you think.
It doesn't matter what the opinions of others are. It doesn't matter
how the opinions of the world run against it. Believers bow
to the revelation of holy scripture. Now they just do. God's saints
recognize this is his word. We read the scriptures. All scripture,
all of it, is given by inspiration of God. And all of it is profitable
for doctrine. that the man of God may be perfect,
freely furnished, and do all good works. For the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man. This is not, what we've
just read here is not something Matthew sat down one day and
said, boy, I believe I'll write this. It came not in old time
by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were
moved by God of the Holy Spirit. And dear Lord, God gives us at
the close of Revelation This morning, he says concerning any
who would add to his word or take from his word, they shall
reap everlasting damnation. Now, I may say something more
about this Sunday. I don't know, I'm thinking about
preaching to you this Sunday concerning the charismatic nonsense
of our day. But they're charismatics of our
day. Now listen to what they do. Listen to what they do. How
they stand up. You see them on TV. You hear
them on the radio. Some of them may have folks who
go to these wild, crazy churches where they have visions and dreams
and claim to speak in tongues and lay hands on folks. All that
nonsense. It is absolutely satanic. Now, I don't make any apology
for that. I know what I'm saying is absolutely
satanic. For those who claim to have it.
Let's say Bob Ponce, right now, stands up and says, I have a
word from God. I've got a word from God. That means you've got
a word in addition to this word. Ooh, that's serious stuff. Well how do you know he doesn't?
If he, if you do, if you do, this book is not finished yet.
If you do, this book is not a law and authoritative. If you do,
this book is not a law and our rule of faith and practice. If
you still getting a vision and revelation inspired from God,
you're an apostle of God and I've found a false witness of
God. Now that's just how serious this is. This book alone is the
word of God. So we can't make little judgments?
No, I can't. But God has. And this is what
he says. Listen, this is what he says.
I testify unto every man. that heareth the words of the
prophecy of this book. If any man shall add unto these
things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written
in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words
of this book, of this prophecy, God shall take away his part
out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from
the things that are written in this book. You add to it, or
take from it, and you miss God altogether. For to add to this
book, or take from this book, is to betray an evil heart of
rebellion and unbelief against God. Many infidels shake their
fingers here at Matthew 27 in verse 9. And we'll look at it
for just a second. Get that place for you if you
will. Matthew 27, 9. Many infidels shake their fingers
at this verse as an example of a mistake in the Bible. Here
it is written, And they took the thirty pieces
of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the
children of Israel did value. Now if you read the Bible carefully,
you know that's not found in Jeremiah. You can read Jeremiah,
and you can find it. It's just not there. The infidel
says, there's a mistake. There's a mistake! Matthew was
confused. Matthew! Matthew misremembered
things. This was written by the prophet
Zechariah, and you find it in Zechariah's prophecy. But nothing
could be further from the truth. You see, learned infidels are
only educated fools, and their folly is evident when they attempt
to disprove the truthfulness and the veracity of scripture.
This passage, I grant, is not found in Jeremiah's prophecy,
as I've already said. It is found in Zechariah's prophecy. But, that does not imply at all
that Matthew made a mistake. Matthew wrote exactly that which
he was inspired of God the Holy Spirit to write. Now that which
we have here, that Matthew is quoting, is found in Zechariah,
but that does not mean Jeremiah didn't write it. Let me see if
I can get a straight point. Somebody picks up, say I'm dead
a hundred years from now, somebody picks up Grace for Today, The
Book on the Church, The Book of Hymns, Acts, anything else
like that I write that's published as I've done this, and they quote
something from me. And folks go to those books and
look at it and say, well, no, he didn't write that. That's
not all I've written. My soul, I've written much more
than what has been published out in the public for folks to
see. And Jeremiah wrote much more and spoke much more than
what is written in the prophecy of Jeremiah. Jeremiah's prophecy
is merely that which was inspired of God. The other things he wrote
as a man, as a man who spoke for God, but not under inspiration
of God. You understand that? The Apostle
Paul wrote many epistles that are not included in the canon
of Sacred Scripture as he himself suggests. What we have here is
a passage where Zachariah quotes from Jeremiah as it was handed
down to him by tradition, by custom, from his forefathers,
but he does so by the inspiration of God. And so when Matthew says
it is written in the prophecy of Jeremiah, then Matthew is
telling us that which Jeremiah the prophet wrote as it had been
passed down to him, but as he was inspired by God to do it.
Well, how do you know that? Because God the Holy Spirit said
right here that this was a prophecy spoken by Jeremiah. That's satisfactory. Well, do we have other examples
of that in scriptures? Of course we do. You remember
in Acts chapter 20 and verse 35, the Apostle Paul speaking
says, I have showed you all things, how that so laboring you ought
to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus,
how that he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive.
Now Larry, you read the full Gospels and find that. It's not
in there. It's not written in there. What
does that mean? Paul was mistaken? No! Utter nonsense! Paul was simply recording by
divine inspiration that about which we have no other information
except that God said to Paul, write it this way. And that's
exactly what it did. You read Enoch's prophecy in
Jude 14. And Enoch also the seventh from
Adam prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with
ten thousand of his saints. Find that in the book of Genesis.
Well how on earth did you know it? Because God told him, that's
how he knew it. This does not in any way suggest
there's any kind of mistake. These chief priests and elders
bound the Lord Jesus Christ and delivered him into the hands
of the Gentiles as it is written in verses 1 and 2. Because the
scriptures must be fulfilled and their actions here demonstrate
the veracity Our Lord Jesus prophesied that
he must be delivered by the Jews into the hands of the Romans
or the Gentiles. And therefore the Jews, in order
to fulfill scripture, delivered him to the Gentiles. But don't
imagine that they were trying to do what he said they would
do. They were doing exactly what they wanted to. But the word
must be fulfilled. And so they did exactly what
he prophesied would be done. Isaac was bound to the altar
of sacrifice, he who was the type of our Lord. And so the
Lord Jesus was bound to the altar of sacrifice as our representative
and our substitute, as the Lamb of God. He already bound himself
with cords of love to his elect, otherwise these cords could not
have held him. He would have broken them like
Samson broke the cords of the Philistines. And now the Lord
God Almighty has bound our sins upon him that he might set us
free by the sacrifice of his dear son. It was prophesied back
in Genesis 49. Turn there if you will. Hold
your hands here and turn to Genesis 49. Way back in the very earliest
days of Israel's existence as a nation. The prophet speaks
and says that Shiloh will not come. Shiloh will not come. That is, the Messiah, the Redeemer,
the Savior, the Substitute, promised to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3.15.
He will not come until the scepter has departed from Judah. You
read that in Genesis chapter 49. And verse 10, the scepter
shall not depart from Judah, nor the lawgiver from between
his feet, until Shiloh come. And unto him shall the gathering
of the people be. Now this is exactly what Jacob
is saying. He says Israel will stand as a nation. a civil, legitimate
nation until the Messiah comes. But when Messiah comes, Israel
will have ceased to be a nation. Israel will no longer have any
legitimate power as a nation. Now in this passage of scripture
here in Matthew 27, we see the fulfillment of this perfectly.
The Jews took Jesus and gave him to Pilate, the Gentiles,
to be crucified. not because they didn't want
to kill him. They tried numerous times earlier to stone him. But
two years prior to this, the Romans had decided that Jews
had too much power. And while they held the Jews
in subjection, they said you will no longer have right as
a nation to exercise legitimate trials criminals. So if these bloodthirsty,
enraged, religious Jews would murder the Son of God, they must
have it sanctioned by the Gentiles. And so the Scripture is fulfilled.
God took the sector of civil government out from between Judah's
knees and he calls Israel to cease to have power as a nation
because now Shiloh has come and he has come that one to whom
the gathering of the Gentiles shall be. And so the scriptures
are perfectly fulfilled by the acts and deeds of wicked, godless
men. Second, our text is a vivid illustration
of the fact that what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5.18 is so. All things are of God. I keep trying to show you as
we go through the scriptures, as we experience so much in this
world, I keep trying to show you what's for the finger of
God. It's always there. It's always
there. It's always there. All things
are of God. The finger of God was in this
matter as much as it was in the incarnation of Christ. The hand
of God ruled the whole affair. Nothing was left to chance, nothing
was left to fate, nothing was left to accident, nothing was
left to the will of man. The Jews were not in charge.
Pilate was not in charge. The soldiers were not in charge.
God Almighty was in charge when his son is here arrested, bound,
and carried off to Pilate when he was betrayed and when he was
crucified. these wicked men, while they
did exactly what they wanted to do, while they performed exactly
what was in their defrayed hearts, they performed exactly what God
Almighty ordained from eternity must be done, and they would
do no more than what God had said would be done to his son.
Not one thing more, and not one thing less. The vile hypocrisy spinelessness of that Roman governor. Pilate, he was He was kind of
like most politicians. He didn't have the backbone of
a water fountain. He was absolutely spineless.
But he was a politician whose job depended upon the approval
of the people lest Caesar should take him out of his office. And
so Pilate was utterly spineless. The Roman soldiers were utter
barbarians. Utter barbarians. But God Almighty
was in absolute control of the rage of the Jews. the spineless
governor pilot, and the barbarian Roman soldiers. He was in absolute
control. So that not one of them did anything
except what was written in the scriptures must be done to the
Son of God. Surely then, we can say with
the psalmist, the wrath of man shall praise thee, and the remainder
of wrath wilt thou restrain. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that amazing? That means,
Rex, God our Father, who ruled the hearts of wicked men in that
day, for the good of your soul, still rules the hearts and deeds
of wicked men today, even for the good of your soul. Everything. What do men do? They can do nothing
except our Fathers say to them. Nothing. David speaks concerning
Shammai. David's servant, I believe it
was a bystander, said, why don't you let me go up and take his
head off his shoulders? And David said, the Lord said
to Shemai, cuss David. Perhaps he will require me good
this day for Shemai's evil. And he certainly did. Thirdly,
I want you to see that Judas himself gives us a glaring proof
that the Lord Jesus Christ was totally innocent of the trumped
up charges laid against him. Now, try to think a little bit. These things are not just laid
out here for the Holy Spirit to fill up space. But what is
written is written, and what is not written is not written
by deliberate design. Why do you suppose that when
the Roman, or when the Jewish chief priest and elders were
trying to hire false witnesses I mean, they were scouring the
country. Find us somebody who can give
us some juice on this man called Jesus so we can have a reason
to turn him over to Pilate to be crucified. Find somebody who's
heard him say or deem something bad. Why do you reckon they didn't
call Judas? If there was anybody living upon
the earth who could have given him the inside scoop of any slight,
slight, slight possibility of evil in this man Jesus of Nazareth,
Judas was the man. He was with him for three years.
He walked with him everywhere he went for three years. He heard
him preach and teach in public and in private. He heard every
word he spoke. If there was anything that he
had done amiss, anything he had said amiss, anything he had even
indicated amiss, Judas would know it. But the Sanhedrin didn't
call him. They didn't say, Judas, tell
us what you know. Pilate didn't call him. Pilate was seeking
charge. What evil has he done? But Judas holds his peace. He
doesn't say a word. Why didn't he say anything? Why
was he silent? There can only be one answer,
friends. Judas did not bear witness against the Son of God because
there was none to bear. There was none to bear. If there
had been anything amiss in him, it would have been to Judas'
advantage. It would have been in his own
interest to have told whatever it is that he even suspected.
At least if there was some kind of charge of evil that could
be cast against the Son of God, then Judas could be justified
in his betrayal. But there was nothing to be found.
Wicked, vile, and base as Judas was. this apostate apostle knew
that Jesus Christ was and is an innocent man, holy, harmless,
undefiled, and separate from sinners. This too is a matter
of great importance. The Holy Spirit distress over and over again
to us the fact that Jesus Christ our Redeemer knew no sin. The
Lamb of God who is our Savior who puts away the sins of his
people is himself both infinite in merit because he is God and
he is holy and righteous without the slightest taint of sin, this
land is without spot and without blemish before God. And that's
the kind of high priest that we had to have. That's the kind
of sacrifice we had to have. That's the kind of redeemer we
had to have. Fourthly, and I come here to the tough
part. Judah shows us that a person
may experience much. know much and do much, much that
appears to be genuinely spiritual and yet perish at last. Now frankly,
I don't know how to say what needs to be said here. I don't
know how to say it forcefully enough, but I know it's got to
be said. Salvation is an experience, but it's much more than an experience. Twenty, my soul, twenty-nine
years ago now, God crossed my path. And buddy, I had a radical, radical
life-changing experience. Life-changing experience. My
outward behavior, and I hope my heart, has never been the
same since. But if all my hope is based on
that radical experience, I have no hope before God. Understand
what I'm saying? Salvation is an experience, but
it's more than an experience. Salvation involves knowledge,
but it's more than knowledge. You can't be saved without knowing
the Son of God. You can't be saved without knowing
the truth of the gospel. You can't be saved without knowing
something concerning the things of God as revealed in this book
about the character of Jesus Christ, the character of salvation,
and the character of your own depraved soul. You can't be saved
without that. But you can know all those things
and still not be saved. You sure can. I read a theological
journal that came across my desk a few months ago, maybe a year
or two ago now, I can't remember, but I remember it like it was
yesterday. The man made the statement concerning what we call the doctrines
of grace, what folks commonly call the five points of Calvinism.
He said, if a man believes these things, he's saved. Oh, no. Judas believed all of them. Judas
is a better preacher than I am. And he preached the truth, he
wouldn't have walked with the apostles. He wouldn't have walked with
the Son of God. Oh no, knowledge, knowledge alone is not salvation.
Salvation produces God. He was not only an apostle, but
he probably was the most highly esteemed of all the apostles. Well now how can you say that?
Until he betrayed the Son of God. Mark you'll read the four
gospels in vain to find Judas reprimanded even one time. He
never spoke out of turn. He wasn't rash like Peter. He
wasn't timid like John. This man Judas was never reprimanded
one time except it might be considered when the whole group of the apostles
were reprimanded. Not one time. This man Judas
was by the approval of all the apostles. The treasurer. He carried
the bag. He took care of the money. They
held things in common. They didn't do things like we
did. We give a portion of our income to the cause of Christ. I hope we genuinely give it all.
And I don't suggest that this is what ought to be done. But
these fellas gave everything. They gave everything. And Judas
carried the bag. He carried the bag. How do you esteem Judas? When
our Lord said, you shall all respect me, one of you shall
betray me. All of them said, Lord is it
I? Now anybody said, is it Judas? Nobody. And yet Judas was a lost man. He never knew God. He never knew
God. He walked with Christ, he rubbed
shoulders with Christ, he ate with Christ, but he never knew
Christ. Never knew him. Salvation, very
clear, is Christ in you. It's Christ in you. Salvation
is a living union of faith with the Son of God. Salvation is
a heart work, a work of God upon our hearts and in our hearts.
Salvation is not something that you can muster for yourself.
It is not something the preacher can bestow upon you. It is not
something the church can communicate to you. It's not something that
your mom and dad can pray down from heaven for you. Salvation
is God's work. It's God's gift. Salvation is
of the Lord. Salvation is something that you
can't do. I'll tell you why. Not only because
you're dead. Salvation is something you can't
do because salvation involves the surrender of a sinner to
the utter total dominion and rule and will of God Almighty
as he's revealed in Jesus Christ. James Lee, I know that so as
well as I know I'm looking you square in the eye right now.
It is a profession of faith. I'll be honest with you, I have
met in my lifetime, I've been preaching now since I was 17
years old, I haven't met two people in my life who are going
to hell. Everybody I've met made some
kind of profession of faith. Everybody I ever met, drunk or
sober, in prison or on the streets, in church or out of the church.
Everybody I ever met was going to heaven when they died. And
most of them pretty sure of it. Most of them pretty sure of it. But no knowledge of God. No knowledge of God. I talked to a man several years
ago, used to attend church here. I was chatting with him in town
one day. He said, well, I need to get
back to the church. And I said, no, you need more than that.
You need to know the living God because you don't know him. You
don't know him. How can you say that? Never darkens
the doors. That's how I know that. Has no
interest in the things of God. That's how I know that. Believers
surrender to the rule of God Almighty in the totality of their
beings. They will surrender to it. I
don't mean that believers surrender perfectly, nor that they obey
perfectly. I mean, buddy, if you know God
or I know him, we surrender to him in the universality of our
lives. Do what you will. We seek his
honor everywhere and in everything. When you come to know Christ,
the last Adam, you willingly do what the first Adam refused
to do. You bow to and surrender to God
as God. Acknowledging his right to be
God and to do what he will. That was the problem to start
with. That's the reason we're in this mess. Adam said, God,
I'll take over. And the sons of Adam keep on
saying, God, I'll take care of this. I don't need you. I don't
need you. But our Lord said, if a man come
after me and forsakes not everything he has, He can't be my disciple. Our Lord said, whosoever shall
lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall
find it. Whosoever saveth his life, the
same shall lose it. Next, Judas shows us that there
is a repentance that needs to be repented of. Look at verses
3, 4, and 5. Then Judas, which had betrayed
him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself,
mark that, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver,
underscore that too, to the chief priest and elders, saying, I
have sinned. He confessed his sin. I have
sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood. And they said,
what's that to us? Say thou to him. And he cast
down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went
and hanged himself. Now look at this for just a second.
When he saw that he was condemned. I got to looking at this earlier
this morning and I thought, man I have never seen this before.
It appears, it appears that Judas thought these things would never
happen. He thought this would never happen.
This never happened. He appears to have presumed that
as the Lord had on many occasions by a miracle escaped out of the
hands of the Jews, he would again escape out of the hands of the
Jews. I am quite confident that Judas never had the idea, he
never dreamed that the Son of God would actually be crucified
as a result of his betrayed kiss. Judas saw an opportunity, because
he was a covetous man, Judas saw an opportunity because he
was a greedy man. Judas saw an opportunity because
of his envy of man. He saw an opportunity to use
his position and his relationship with Christ to make himself a
pretty good chunk of change. That's all he worried about is.
And he walks up with a pretentious act of devotion. critical act
of love and kisses the Son of God on the cheek for thirty pieces
of silver. But when he saw what the results
were of his betrayal, when he saw that the Lord Jesus was condemned,
he was utterly horrified. and he tried to undo the mischief
of his crimes. We're plainly told that Judas
repented himself, that he confessed, I have betrayed innocent blood,
I have sinned, and he even made restitution of the money he had
taken. But all for no avail. Judas'
repentance was a fearful example of that repentance Paul speaks
of in 2 Corinthians 7 and verse 10. He says, Godly sorrow worked
with repentance unto salvation, not to be repented of. But the
sorrow of the world worketh death. There is repentance to be repented
of. This matter deserves special attention and more time than
I'm going to give it tonight. But you listen carefully. Multitudes,
I fear, have a form of repentance that, like Judas's repentance,
will bring them at last to hell. Solomon tells us that many, Proverbs
1 verse 28, that many shall call upon God, shall seek Him, but
He will not answer them. They shall seek Him early, but
they shall not find Him. That's exactly what it says,
Proverbs 1 verse 28. You see, Judas repented. He didn't
repent because he saw the glory of God in redemption. He didn't
repent because he saw the beauty and wonder and majesty of God's
saving grace in Christ. He didn't repent because he had
any affection for Christ. He repented because he was scared
to death of going to hell. That's all. Y'all will remember, oh the first
year or two I was here, I can't remember exactly when it was.
They had a big rally over at the high school. But with Boyle
County High School, all the churches in town got together and they
showed a movie called The Burning Hell. And they tried to get me
involved with it. Didn't try real hard, but they
called and asked me if I'd come and support the thing, and I
said no. And one preacher asked me why.
I said because you can't. You can't do anybody any good
by trying to scare them into religion. You can't scare folks
into the kingdom of God. Can't be done. And they tried
to scare the hell out of folks, and they succeeded. For a little
while. And folks got religious. They
made professions of faith. Had no effect. Had no effect.
It may last for years, but it has no effect on their souls.
You can't scare folks in the kingdom of God. This was Judas'
repentance. This is the repentance that's
being preached and taught throughout the world. Scare folks up! Scare
folks up! Scare them to death! And they'll
come and get saved. You can't scare folks in love
with Christ. You can't do it. You can't scare
folks into the arms of the Redeemer. You see, Judas wanted salvation,
but not the Savior. He wanted mercy, but not a master.
He wanted grace, but he cared nothing for the glory of God.
And Jesus Christ simply will not be your fire escape from
hell. He won't be. He won't be. You see, there's
a great deal of difference between being afraid of God and fear
in God has a big, big difference. You take Jenny's little baby. Little as she is, little as she
knows, she's scared to death of me. She's scared to death
of me. My wife fears me. All the difference
in the world. All the difference in the world.
Fear of God is a reference a loving reverence, an honoring reverence
of God that loathes the thought of dishonoring him. It's not being scared of him.
There is a great difference between an awareness of guilt and Holy
Spirit conviction of sin. True repentance is the gift of
God's goodness. It is not the result of God's
terror, but of goodness. It is not the result of judgment,
but of goodness. The apostle says, it is the goodness
of God that leadeth thee to repentance. I want you, they shall look on
me, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourned for his only
child. But only as a result of looking
on him. Only as you see the goodness
and grace and glory of God in redemption is your heart going
out to Christ. Jesus stands as a beacon to warn
us that the things of this world give no comfort to an immortal
soul leaving this world. All I wish, I wish God would give me your
attention and the attention of every human being I know in this And I hope he's got my attention. The treasures of the wicked profit
nothing. Nothing. So, Jay's sitting back
there with his girlfriend, thinking about getting married. I worked
that farm. Gotta make plans. Let me tell you something, my friend.
If you can take that farm down there and make yourself a hundred
million dollars off of it by the time you're thirty years
old and make yourself a name that everybody in the world will
remember as long as the world stands when you come to leave
that farm in this world all of it will be of no comfort to your
soul. I tell you what, Judas is a good
man. I've seen some folks in asylums.
I'm talking about serious asylums. And they do things that just
demonstrate the utter madness of their minds. And I'll tell
you exactly what Judas is doing right now. Exactly what he's
doing. I have no question about it. As he screams and cusses
God, he's still trying to repent. I don't wish I could keep doing
that, but thirty pieces of silver, four and ten thirty pieces of
silver, and a thousand men, and I can't keep it. And that's exactly
how you will be with this world, if you cling to this world, and
let go of the Son of God. Judas teaches us that no sinner
is so great a sinner as that sinner who stands against the
light and knowledge and privileges that God sets before him. Judas
went out and healed himself. Oh, what a sad, sad biography. What a sad, sad tale, the life
of Judas. He is an apostate apostle of
Christ, an apostate preacher of the gospel, an apostate table
companion of Peter, James, and John, hanging by his own hands, enduring forever the horrid,
indescribable wrath of God Almighty. He came to the very door of heaven. He handled the door. He leaned
on the door. He talked about the door. He
showed other folks the door and went to hell. Remember Judas. He that being
often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed,
and that without remedy. Let me give you some questions
to carry home. Oh, Holy Spirit, make us carry these questions
in our hearts. What is the state of my soul? You go home late in the night,
Bob, you think about that and remember Judas. Am I resting upon a profession
of faith? there when you go home at night
and lay down and try to sleep you think about that and remember
Judas. Am I clinging to this world? Bobby when you try to sleep tonight
remember that and remember Judas. Am I trifling with things of
God? Preacher, you go home tonight
and lay on your bed, do you remember that? And remember Judas. Judas is a beacon to warn us. Remember Judas, lest you make
shipwreck of your souls. God help you. God help me to
remember Judas. Amen. God bless you.