Let us open our Bibles today
to Mark chapter 10 as we continue to look through the Gospel of
Mark. This morning I'm reading verses
14 through 16 and we're going to have two subjects to consider
and one of the subjects, well both of the subjects really,
but one is such a solemn, solemn subject that is the loss of a
soul, the damnation of a person. Someone that I recently read
said every preacher when he stands in the pulpit should always be
aware, be aware of these two things and the two things he
mentioned was heaven and hell. Heaven and hell. Because those are the two places
that you and I are going to spend eternity in, one or the other. There is no other place. And
all of us have a soul. And all of us are going to meet
God in eternity. We're reading about one man here
this morning who is in hell today. And that's certainly a very solemn
matter, isn't it? Eternity separated from God under
the wrath of God. Let's begin reading in verse
10. And Judas Iscariot, one of the 12, went unto the chief priest
to betray him unto them. And when they 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 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? And he sendeth forth two of his
disciples, and saith unto them, go ye into the city, and there
shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him. And wheresoever he shall go in,
say ye to the goodman 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 furnished and prepared. there 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 the Passover. The two subjects, the Lord's
betrayer, the Lord's betrayer, and second, the Lord's word. First, the Lord's betrayer. The
Lord's Betrayer, Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve. Last week,
we looked at the verses that precede these verses, and we
saw the good work our Lord called the work that that woman did
when she brought that nard and poured it upon his head, a good
work. She prepared or anointed his
body for his burial. And it's immediately, the scriptures
indicate that immediately after the Lord Jesus Christ said that,
after he said this also, that she hath done shall be spoken
of for a memorial of her, that Judas took off, that he left
the other disciples and went to the priest. One good work, and then immediately
an evil work. A good work by that woman, an
evil work by Judas. Judas was, according to the account
that is given in John's gospel, he's the one who pointed out
when that woman anointed the Lord with that ointment, he's
the one who pointed out that that ointment was worth 300 pence. And his word was it could have
been sold and given to the poor. John said it wasn't because he
had any concern for the poor that he made that statement,
but he said that because he was the one who carried the bag,
that is, the money bag, money offerings that were given unto
the Lord and his disciples as they went forth preaching. and
teaching as he went forth preaching and teaching and people contributed
to their support. Judas is the man who carried
the bag and he was a thief. He was a thief. Three things
that I want to point out to us about this betrayal. First of
all, the Old Testament prophecy is fulfilled by this betrayal. This was prophesied of, and I
want us to look at a couple of places, but before we do, if
you look on further down in that chapter to verse 21, the Lord
Jesus said, the Son of Man indeed goeth as it is written of Him. The Son of Man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, He would indeed go out of this world and he would go
out as it was written of him, both in the decrees of God, the
secret things which belong unto God, he would go out according
to that which was written in God's decrees, but he would also
go out according to those things which were written in the Old
Testament, that is, prophecies concerning his death. And I want you to look with me
at two of these Old Testament prophecies today that speak of
the betrayal here of Judas. The first one, if you will, in
Psalm chapter 41. And if you do not wish to turn,
maybe you could mark these references down and look at them later.
But in Psalm 41 and verse nine, The scripture says, yea, mine
own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my
bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. Now we know that
David was the human author of the psalm, and of course he had
a friend by the name of Ahithophel, who was his counselor. And a
very wise man, evidently. They said when he spoke, it was
as the oracles of God. And Ahithophel, who was David's
counselor, was a traitor to David and went with his son Absalom
when Absalom led that rebellion against his father. But this
has reference, no doubt, to Judas Iscariot. And I want you to notice
that everything that is said here is true or was true of Judas. First of all, we read, yea, mine
own familiar friend. Judas was one of the 12. He was
one of those who heard the Lord Jesus Christ say one day, Hitherto
have I called thee servants, but now, my friends, he was called
by the Lord Jesus Christ his friend. And when Judas led the
soldiers out to arrest the Lord Jesus Christ in the Garden of
Gethsemane, the Lord addressed him as friend. Friend. And then the second thing that
this text tells us is in whom I trusted. I've already said
that he's the man that was trusted to carry the bag, the treasurer,
if you please, of that small group, that little flock of the
Savior. And then the next thing we read
about him, which did eat of my bread. And no doubt he ate many
times the bread of the Lord Jesus Christ. And yes, he even ate
the bread when the Lord ordained the Lord's Supper, what is called
the Lord's Supper. When the Lord Jesus Christ gave
his disciples, those 12, he was one of them. And he ate the bread
of that table. And that should remind us of
this. that ordinances, you can take
the Lord's table. There's no saving grace. These
are not sacraments. When we have the Lord's table,
these are not sacraments. These are symbols and there's
no saving grace communicated in the bread or in the wine. And the same thing is so concerning
water baptism. That's an ordinance of God, and
yes, we are commanded, those who believe in Christ, to be
baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, but there's no saving efficacy in the water. Judas, he ate the bread from
the Lord's table. And then the last thing that
is said about him here is he has lifted up his heel against
me. And from what I've read, that
was a saying of a horse, an unruly horse that would throw its rider
and then lift up its heel and kick, kick the rider after it
thrown him off its back. And Judas, he proved to be a
traitor, a traitor. Hypocritically, he betrayed the
Lord Jesus Christ, professing himself to be a friend, a disciple,
a follower, and yet he betrayed the Lord. Look with me at another
place in the Old Testament in the book of Zechariah. This is
just next to the last of the Old Testament books, but in Zechariah
chapter 11, we'll begin reading in verse 10, but
the verse that especially I want us to consider is verse 11, verse
12. Chapter 11, verse 10. And I took my staff, even beauty,
and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had
made with all the people. And these verses are prophetic
of the nation of Israel. Now, not the covenant of works
that God made with Adam. All men are under that covenant,
and it was broken by man. and not the covenant of grace,
but because that's an everlasting covenant and it will never be
broken. But the covenant that God made
with Israel at Sinai, with the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus
Christ, that covenant is coming to an end, going to be put to
an end. And some say that the word beauty
here, and I took my staff, beauty refers to the gospel. And the
gospel is beautiful, isn't it? Because the gospel is Christ. And he's beautiful. He's beautiful. His person, his work, what he's
accomplished, what he's accomplishing today. And that was taken from
the nation of Israel and spread out, sent out into the nations
to the generals, the Gentiles. And it was broken in that day.
And so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that
it was the word of the Lord. The poor of the flock was his
disciples. Remember he said, blessed are
the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The
majority of the nation of Israel, they turned thumbs down on Christ,
didn't they? Crucify, crucify. But there were
those, the poor of the flock, who believed and followed him.
And I said unto them, if you think good, give me my price,
and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price
30 pieces of silver. Now, in Matthew's gospel, we
read that when Judas went to the priest to betray the Lord
Jesus Christ, He asked them, what will you give me? What will
you give me? And they offered him 30 pieces
of silver. He could have asked for much
more, or he said 30 pieces of silver. He could have asked for
much more, no doubt, because they were intent on destroying
the Lord Jesus Christ. But again, not on the feast day. But here are two Old Testament
prophecies which speak of what Judas did beforehand. In other words, this was prophesied
of, that this would take place. Now, the second thing that I
want to bring out from this betrayal is that this was another part
of the Lord Jesus Christ humbling himself. Another step, if I might
say, in the Lord Jesus Christ humbling himself. Look with me
in Philippians chapter two. Many years ago, I read a message,
a sermon by one of the Puritans named John Flable. And it was
on this passage of scripture. And I won't forget, the Lord
willing, I won't forget, but He, in His message, pointed to
each one of these as a step down. That the Son of God stepped down,
and He stepped further down, and He stepped further down.
See if you don't see that in these verses. Verse 5, let this mind be in
you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form
of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. He is God. And when I most often speak about
the Son of God, let's not forget and let not
that term, the Son of God, God, the Father, God, the Son, God,
the Holy Spirit, God, God stepped down because He is God. And I thought about this this
past week, you know, the Son of God, but that's God. He's God. Don't let that title
or that name, the Son of God, keep us from realizing this is
God who came into this world. This is God who stepped down.
This is God who humbled himself that he might be our Redeemer. Would God do that for me? Would
God do that for you? He did. Who being in the form of God
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but he stepped
down. He made himself of no reputation. He stepped farther down. He took
upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness
of men. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself. You see, he steps down becoming
a man and then step down being a servant and step down Even
the Apostle tells us, even to the death of the cross. And that's
the lowest point, no doubt, the lowest point in his humiliation. Allowing himself to be nailed
to a tree, to be crucified, he who had all power and He allowed this to happen to
himself. He humbled himself, even to the
point of death. And it wasn't just any death
either. That's the point here. Even the
death of the cross, the most shameful, ignominious, cruel
death that man has ever invented. That's what he did. And being sold for 30 pieces
of silver, was part of this humiliation. The Son of God humbled himself
in being made flesh, first of all, God Almighty being made
flesh, a little lower than the angels, born in a cave, not in
a palace. The sweet little baby, we see
these precious babies that are born and they're washed and cleansed
and wrapped in soft and beautiful flannel and lace. No, the Lord Jesus Christ wrapped
in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. This is the Lord
of glory. Laid in a manger. He humbled
himself. He earned his bread by the sweat
of his brow, just like Adam under the curse because of his sin.
would earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, so the Lord Jesus
Christ did in the carpenter's shop of Joseph. He multiplied
bread and fish to feed thousands of people, but yet he would not
turn stones into bread after he had fasted for 40 days and
was hungry. All part of his humiliation. And he said this, the foxes have
holes. Now listen. Every one of us in
here today, we have a house, we have a home, a place where
we're going to go tonight and sleep, right? Every one of us. He didn't. He didn't. The foxes
have holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the son of
man hath not where to lay his head. And you might ask this
morning, was that literally true of him? Yes, sirree, Bob. Yes, sir. It was literally true. And I want to show you that if
you look in John's gospel, chapter seven. The last verse of chapter 7,
and every man went unto his own house. Get that. Every man went
unto his own house. But notice the next verse of
chapter 8. Where did Jesus go? He had no
house of his own. Where did he go? Where did he
spend the night? Jesus went out unto the Mount
of Olives. And the next day, early in the
morning, he came into the temple. But you say, well, preacher,
how do we see the humiliation of Christ in this, Him being
sold for 30 pieces of silver? Well, we see it in this way.
The law The law which God gave to Moses, remember, it had three
parts. It had the moral, it had the
ceremonial, and it had the civil. And in the civil part of that
law, it all pictured Christ in some way. And I love to preach
Christ from the pictures in that law, don't you? The ceremonial
part of it especially, but even in the civil part. The civil
part which concerned a Hebrew servant, he's got to be turned
free in the seventh year. He's got to go out free. But
if he goes and has his ear bore because he loves his master and
he loves his wife and he loves his children, he will be a servant
forever. What is that a picture of? The
Lord Jesus Christ. His faithful servant. And so is this. The law said
this in chapter 21. This is the part I wanted to
mention. The law said if a man has an
ox, and that was what they used mainly for plowing, wasn't it?
If a man has an ox, and it pushes or gores someone else's manservant
or maidservant, what's he going to pay? He's liable for that
manservant. What's he going to pay? 30 pieces of silver. 30 pieces of silver. In other words, a slave. That's what he would pay for
a man's slave if his ox gored or killed that other man's slave. That's what Christ was valued
at, 30 pieces of silver. The third thing I want to mention
about this betrayal is the woe. If you turn back with me to Mark
chapter 14 again, the woe that Judas brought upon
himself. Verse 21, I read this first part
of it just a moment ago, the son of man indeed goeth as it
was written of him, but now, but woe, to that man by whom
the son of man is betrayed. Good were it for that man if
he had never been born. The woe which Judas Iscariot
brought upon himself. Now some people we know would
try to blame God for this betrayal, that they would try to blame
God for the sin of Judas. But the Apostle James makes this
clear, and we should understand this. This was Judas' sin. James said, let no man say when
he is tempted, tempted to sin, I'm tempted of God. For God cannot
be tempted with sin, neither tempteth he any man with evil. It was Judas' wicked heart that
followed the temptation that Satan, no doubt, presented to
him to betray the Lord Jesus Christ. It may have been the
sin of pride. May have been the sin of pride
in Judas because he was publicly rebuked by the Lord just before
this for what he said about that woman. The Lord Jesus Christ
said, let her alone. She's done a good work on me.
It may have been pride to be reprimanded like that. before
the other disciples. It may have been covetousness,
which the Apostle Paul says is idolatry, because as John said,
he was a thief. But whatever sin it was, whatever
temptation it was that was presented to Judas, this must be clear. It was his sin. It was Judas's sin, this sin
of betraying the Lord. It was not a surprise to the
Lord Jesus Christ. We know that. Before this, much
earlier, he had told his disciples, have not I chosen you 12 and
one of you as a devil? It didn't take the Lord Jesus
Christ by surprise, no. Someone would say, well preacher,
wasn't that ordained of God? Absolutely. Absolutely. Because we know that God works
all things after the counsel of His will. That's not the question. Was His sin, His betraying the
Lord, ordained of God? Absolutely. That's not the question. The question is, what was His
motive? the motive that Judas had. What
was his motive? And I can't tell you for sure
what it was, but I can tell you for sure what it wasn't. I can tell you for sure it wasn't
because he knew that somehow he had seen the secret things
of God He had seen what God had ordained, and he was just doing
what God had ordained for him to do. I can tell you that. The same thing that Peter said
about those on the day of Pentecost, by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, Christ was crucified, yes, but you have
taken What you did was by wicked hands. In other words, the motive,
what Judas did here wasn't because he somehow knew what God had
ordained that he would do, but he did what his wicked heart
led him to do. And he did what he wanted to
do. It's not like, you see, men are
not puppets. We know that. We know God ordains
everything that comes to pass. We know that. I mean, from the
minutest, from the tiniest insect that's crawling wherever it is
tonight or today, that's ordained of God. To the men that sit in
places of power and rulership in this world, their thoughts
and their laws and everything that they do also is ordained
of God. Doesn't make it right. Not before
God, but it's ordained. What those men did in crucifying
Christ was not right. They did evil, but they did what
God had ordained. And they did it freely. They
did it because of the wickedness, the evil in their hearts. And some people will say, well,
Judas did what he was predestinated to do. Well, I just say this,
I would not tarnish that word predestination and that wonderful
truth of predestination by saying that. Because there are four
times in my Bible where I read the word predestinate or predestinated,
and it never has to do with evil. It always has to do with good
things, wonderful things, glorious things, and things I don't believe
anyone could find any fault with. For instance, the first time
in Romans chapter 8, for whom he did foreknow, he also did
predestinate. For what? To sin? Oh, no. To be conformed to the
image of His Son. Can anything be better than that?
Can it? To be made like Christ? Nothing wrong with that. And
then the next time, a couple of verses down, we read, For
whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate. and whom he
did predestinate, them he also called, and them he called he
also justified, and them he justified he also glorified. Find any fault
with that? I don't think so. And then of
course in Ephesians, The third time, having predestinated us
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will. Predestinated to be a child of
God? Thank God for predestination.
You see, all of us, by nature, we were all headed in the same
place. To the same place, rather. And
if God gives us what we deserve, that's where we will end up.
You say, where is it? Hell. I'm a firm believer in
this statement because I know it's true. Everyone whom the
Lord saves has only God to thank. to praise, to bless, praise God. God saved me. And everyone who's
lost has only himself to blame. Everyone. Think of the privileges that
Judas had. Three years or a little more,
three years he accompanied The Lord Jesus Christ, he heard him
teach and he saw him work miracles. And yes, he himself was given
power to work miracles and to preach. He was an apostle. He was given that power. But what the Lord Jesus Christ
said about Judas is true of every person who leaves this world
unsaved. Good were it for that man if
he had never been born. Think of the privileges that
all of us have had. We live in a country where the
Bibles, someone mentioned the printing press, I believe it
was Daniel the other night, the Gutenberg printing press. What an amazing invention that
was. before every copy of the Bible
had to be copied by hand. And then that printing press,
and how the word of God, and then the translation of, I can't
read Greek. I can't read Hebrew, can you? It's in my language. And I lived
in a country where education was free, and God gave me the
mind. allowing me to be able to learn
to read. Not every person born in this
world has a capacity even to learn to read. God gave me that. Think of the privileges, the
privileges. If anyone betrays Christ in the
sense of not seeking his face and seeking his salvation and
seeking forgiveness from him, the privileges that Judas had,
the privileges that we have had. Several years ago, my primary
care physician sent me to a cardiologist. He wanted me to take a stress
test just to make sure I was alive, I guess. But anyway, I
mention this because the cardiologist, when I was talking to him, he
said, kind of strange, is that he said, he said, you are a Christian,
I think he said minister, you are a Christian minister and
Dr. so and so who sent you to me,
he's a Muslim and I'm a Hindu. And my first thought was, and
I said it, I said, it's obvious we can't all be right. And he said, that's true. And
so I had the opportunity to speak the gospel, witness the gospel
to him about Christ. But his excuse or complaint or
whatever, he said, do you mean to say that if a person lives
in the backwoods of Africa or someplace like that, and they
never hear the gospel that they are going to be sent to hell?
I said, yes, that's exactly what I believe, that there is only
one way, and Jesus Christ is that one way. But, and I didn't
have the time to expound on this, but there are degrees of punishment,
we know that. Not everyone, the scriptures
reveal, will be punished to the same extent. But someone like
Judas, someone like Judas, who walked with the Lord and heard
him teach, can you imagine the punishment that will be meted
out to him? And the same thing, I believe,
not as much maybe, but anyone in the United States of America,
and Brother Ralph Barnard, he used to say, people, men are
responsible for not only what they hear, but what they could
have heard. And there's a preacher somewhere preaching the gospel here in
this country, somewhere, and men need to find him. They need
to find him and go and listen. It's an awful thing, as far as
I'm concerned, to think about the loss of a man's soul. What shall a man give in exchange
for his soul? It grieves me to think that anyone
who comes into this building and sits under my voice and my
preaching will one day die and go to hell. But I know this, unless you believe in Jesus Christ,
unless you know Him, and I don't mean just in your head, just
have a knowledge of Him, but unless you have a living, vital
union with Jesus Christ, when you leave this world, that's
what's going to happen. Now, I'll just close with the
second subject, but It impresses me if you still have your Bibles
open here to Mark chapter 14. Mark tells us that these two
disciples, he doesn't tell us who they were, it was Peter and
John, I believe, but he does tell us this, they found, notice
that in verse 16. Verse 16, and his disciples went
forth and came into the city and found, as he had said unto
them. He said, you're going to go into
Jerusalem, see a man bearing a pitcher of water. They found
that man. You follow him, turn into the
house he turns into, and the man who owns that house, you
tell him the master. wants to eat the Passover with
his disciples in the room that you've prepared. And they found
it just as the Lord Jesus Christ had said. And I emphasize those
words to all of us here today. The Lord Jesus said, whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that I shall give
him shall be in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting
life. Drink, he said, whosoever thirsteth,
let him come unto me. Come unto me and drink. You go
to Christ, you look to Christ, you believe in him, turn to him,
you're going to find He will do exactly what he said. Believe on him and be saved. His word is true, always has
been, always will be. His disciples, they found just.
And when you come to die, you're going to find His words is going
to be just like He said, I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee. Yea, when you walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, He will be with thee. And when
you open your eyes in glory, you're gonna find it just like
he said, whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. May the Lord bless the thoughts
and words here today. Let's turn to number 323. More
love to thee.