FAITH BIBLE CHURCH - www.faithbiblechurch.net

RAY RUSS - PASTOR-TEACHER

MATTHEW: THE KING HAS COME, WEEK 181

TITLE: THE SUICIDE OF JUDAS

TEXT: MATTHEW 27:1-5

INTRODUCTION: (1) IN THE YEAR 2000, THERE WERE ALMOST TWICE AS MANY SUICIDES IN THE UNITED STATES THAN MURDERS.

* ACCORDING TO STATISTICS FROM THE FBI, THERE WERE 15,507 MURDERS IN THE U.S. IN THE YEAR 2000.

** WHEREAS ACCORDING TO THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEALTH STATISTICS 29,350 PEOPLE COMMITTED SUICIDE, A STAGGERING NUMBER.

*** IN FACT, IN THE YEAR 2000, SUICIDE WAS THE 11^TH LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH IN THE U.S.

**** AND THE TRAGEDY, HEARTACHE, PAIN AND DESPAIR CAUSED FROM SUICIDE TO FAMILIES AND FRIENDS WHO HAVE LOST LOVED ONES THAT WAY CANNOT BE MEASURED.

(2) THE GRIEF AND SORROW IS ALMOST UNBEARABLE, AND WITHOUT COMFORT FROM GOD’S GRACE IT WOULD BE UNBEARABLE AS SOME OF YOU KNOW FROM FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE.

* THERE ARE SO MANY QUESTIONS, REGRETS AND WHAT IFS AND WHY OF IT ALL. IT TRULY IS A GREAT TRAGEDY AND MY HEART GOES OUT TO YOU TODAY THAT HAVE LOST LOVED ONES THAT WAY.

** YET, BECAUSE EVERY HUMAN BEING IS MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD AND IN THAT SENSE BELONGS TO HIM, NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO MURDER ANYONE, EVEN HIMSELF.

*** SUICIDE IS SELF-MURDER AND IS REBELLION AGAINST GOD’S SOVEREIGN RIGHT OVER LIFE AND DEATH.

**** BECAUSE OF THAT, SUICIDE IS AN ACT OF SIN, A CLEAR VIOLATION OF THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT, “YOU SHALL NOT MURDER” IN EXODUS 20:13, AS IS ABORTION ON THIS SANCTITY OF LIFE SUNDAY 2003.

(3) NOW THE SCRIPTURES RECORD A TOTAL OF 4 SUICIDES, 3 IN THE O.T. AND 1 IN THE N.T.

* IN THE OLD TESTAMENT KING SAUL AND HIS ARMORBEARER COMMITTED SUICIDE IN I SAMUEL 31:4&5 AS THE PHILISTINES WERE READY TO CAPTURE THEM.

** THEN IN II SAMUEL 17:23, A MAN NAMED AHITHOPHEL COMMITTED SUICIDE BY HANGING HIMSELF.

*** AND THEN IN OUR TEXT TODAY, IN MATTHEW 27:5, JUDAS ISCARIOT COMMITTED SUICIDE BY HANGING HIMSELF.

**** AND JUDAS ISCARIOT, BECAUSE OF GREAT GUILT IN BETRAYING JESUS AFTER HE SAW THAT JESUS HAD BEEN CONDEMNED, WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO HANDLE THE GUILT AND RATHER THAN TURNING TO JESUS, HE WOULD TAKE HIS OWN LIFE.

(4) AND JUDAS WILL HAVE REMORSE, GUILT AND COME TO DESPAIR, BUT WILL NOT REPENT OF HIS BETRAYING JESUS, AS WE’LL SEE IN OUR TEXT TODAY.

* AND TODAY BY GOD’S GRACE, WE’LL STUDY THIS TEXT THAT TALKS ABOUT THE SUICIDE OF JUDAS ISCARIOT IN RESPONSE TO SEEING THAT JESUS WAS CONDEMNED.

** BECAUSE OF THAT, I’VE SIMPLY TITLED OUR MESSAGE TODAY, “THE SUICIDE OF JUDAS.”

*** AND UNDER THAT TITLE WE’LL LOOK AT 2 POINTS,

THERE ARE 3 ON YOUR OUTLINE, WE’LL ONLY COVER TWO. NO. 1 THE STRATEGY OF THE SANHEDRIN TO HAVE JESUS PUT TO DEATH, VV. 1&2 OF MATTHEW 27; NO. 2 THE SUICIDE OF JUDAS, VV. 3-5; AND LORD WILLING, NEXT WEEK WE’LL LOOK AT NO. 3 THE SANCTIMONY OF THE TEMPLE AUTHORITIES, VV. 6-10, SPEAKING OF THEIR HYPOCRITICAL HOLINESS IN QUOTE KEEPING THE LAW WHEN IT CAME TO THE 30 PIECES OF SILVER AS BLOOD MONEY THAT JUDAS RETURNED.

**** AND WITHOUT FURTHER INTRODUCTION, WE’LL JUMP INTO OUR STUDY TODAY IN MATTHEW 27:1-10, BY STARTING TO LOOK AT OUR FIRST POINT, THE STRATEGY. LOOK AT MATTHEW 27:1 PLEASE.

I. THE STRATEGY, (READ V. 1)

A. NOW THE SANHEDRIN, THE JEWISH HIGH COUNCIL, NEEDED A CAREFUL STRATEGY FOR PURSUING THEIR CASE AGAINST JESUS.

* AND THEY HAD ALREADY AGREED ON A GUILTY VERDICT BEFORE CAIAPHAS THE OFFICIAL HIGH PRIEST AT THAT TIME, AND THE SENTENCE OF DEATH HAD ALSO BEEN PASSED.

** BUT NOW THAT WOULD NEED TO BE MADE OFFICIAL.

** FOR CHRIST’S FIRST TWO RELIGIOUS TRIALS TOOK PLACE AT NIGHT. AND BY JEWISH LAW THAT WAS ILLEGAL.

**** SO THEY WOULD NEED TO MEET DURING THE DAY TO LEGITIMIZE THEIR VERDICT OF DEATH AND COME UP WITH A STRATEGY OF HOW TO GET THE ROMANS TO GO ALONG WITH IT.

1. AND 3 ROMAN TRIALS WOULD FOLLOW. (SHOW THE SLIDES ON JESUS’ SIX TRIALS HERE AND GO OVER THEM.)

* NOW WITH ALL OF THAT IN MIND, MATTHEW 27:1&2 COVER THE THIRD RELIGIOUS TRIAL OF JESUS BEFORE THE SANHEDRIN.

** AND AS WE GO BACK TO MATTHEW 27:1, THE PHRASE “NOW WHEN MORNING HAD COME” REFERS TO THIS 3’D RELIGIOUS TRIAL ON THE DAY JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED.

*** AND AGAIN TO LEGITIMIZE THEIR VERDICT OF DEATH DURING THE NIGHT, THEY MET FIRST THING IN THE MORNING, THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND ELDERS – THE SANHEDRIN AND TOOK COUNSEL, CAME UP WITH A PLAN, CAME UP WITH A STRATEGY TO PUT JESUS TO DEATH.

**** FOR YOU SEE AS ISRAEL WAS UNDER ROMAN RULE, ALL CAPITAL PUNISHMENT HAD TO BE APPROVED AND IMPLEMENTED BY ROMAN AUTHORITIES.

2. IN FACT JOHN 18:31 SAYS IN MAKING REFERENCE TO THE FIRST ROMAN TRIAL BEFORE PILATE – “PILATE THEREFORE SAID TO THEM, “TAKE HIM YOURSELVES, AND JUDGE HIM ACCORDING TO YOUR LAW.” THE JEWS SAID TO HIM, “WE ARE NOT PERMITTED TO PUT ANY ONE TO DEATH.”

* SO THE JEWS DID NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO PUT JESUS TO DEATH, SO THEY NEEDED A STRATEGY TO GET THE ROMAN GOVERNOR ON BOARD.

** AND LUKE 22:66-71 GIVES US MORE INFORMATION ON THAT. AND AFTER THAT THE SANHEDRIN SENDS JESUS TO PILATE, WHICH LEADS US TO V. 2 OF MATTHEW 27. (LOOK AT V. 2 PLEASE).

B. READ V. 2. NOW V. 2 HERE MARKS THE START OF THE FIRST PHASE OF THE CIVIL SECULAR TRIAL OF JESUS BEFORE PONTIUS PILATE.

* AND AS THE SANHEDRIN REACHED THEIR GUILTY VERDICT OF JESUS, THEY BOUND JESUS BECAUSE IN THEIR MINDS HE MIGHT TRY TO ESCAPE, WHICH HE WOULD NOT, HE WAS FULFILLING THE PLAN OF HIS FATHER.

** BUT THE JEWS, TO BE SAFE, BECAUSE THEY SAW JESUS WALK OUT OF THEIR MIDST DURING OTHER DIFFICULT TIMES, HAD HIS HANDS TIED OR FASTENED TOGETHER AND DELIVERED HIM UP TO PILATE THE GOVERNOR.

*** NOW PONTIUS PILATE HAD BEEN THE ROMAN GOVERNOR OF JUDEA SINCE A.D. 26 WHEN TIBERIUS CAESAR WAS EMPEROR, AND CONTINUED TO GOVERN UNTIL A.D. 36.

**** AND JESUS WAS TAKEN TO THE PRAETORIUM, THE OFFICIAL PROVINCIAL RESIDENCE OF THE GOVERNOR AT JERUSALEM.

1. AND THAT WILL START THE CIVIL TRIAL OF JESUS AND THE DETAILS OF THIS TRIAL WILL PICK UP IN V. 11.

* BUT BEFORE THE DETAILS OF THIS TRIAL, MATTHEW WILL INSERT IN HIS GOSPEL AT THIS POINT THE SUICIDE OF JUDAS AND THE SANCTIMONY OF THE TEMPLE AUTHORITIES.

** AND I’LL GIVE YOU A REASON WHY I BELIEVE MATTHEW DOES THIS AT THIS POINT UNDER OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, THE SUICIDE OF JUDAS, LOOK AT V. 3 PLEASE.

II. THE SUICIDE OF JUDAS, (READ V. 3)

A. NOW AT THIS POINT IN MATTHEW’S GOSPEL HE INTERRUPTS HIS ACCOUNT OF JESUS’ TRIAL TO RECOUNT JUDAS ISCARIOT’S EARTHLY DEMISE.

* AND MATTHEW IS THE ONLY GOSPEL THAT TELLS US ABOUT THESE THINGS, ALTHOUGH LUKE WILL MENTION JUDAS ISCARIOT’S DEATH IN ACTS 1:18&19.

** NOW THE QUESTION COMES UP AT THIS POINT, WHY DOES MATTHEW INSERT THIS HERE ABOUT JUDAS?

*** THE ANSWER IS CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER. AND NORMALLY MATTHEW IS MORE THEMATIC RATHER THAN CHRONOLOGICAL IN HIS GOSPEL.

**** BUT IT APPEARS THAT THIS PART OF THE STORY PROPERLY FITS HERE CHRONOLOGICALLY.

1. FOR MATTHEW SAYS IN V. 3, “THAT WHEN JUDAS WHO HAD BETRAYED HIM (JESUS) SAW THAT HE HAD BEEN CONDEMNED.”

* NOW FOR JUDAS TO SEE THAT MEANS HE MUST HAVE BEEN HANGING AROUND LUKE PETER DURING THE RELIGIOUS TRIAL OF JESUS.

** AND AS HE SEES JESUS WALK OUT OF THE MEETING OF THE SANHEDRIN BOUND AND CONDEMNED, HE FELT REMORSE (SO CHRONOLOGICALLY THIS FITS HERE).

*** NOW AS JUDAS SEES THIS, IT REALLY HITS IN WHAT HE DID IN BETRAYING JESUS FOR 30 PIECES OF SILVER.

**** AND IT MAY HAVE BEEN THAT JUDAS THOUGHT IT WOULD NEVER COME TO JESUS BEING CONDEMNED, WE DON’T KNOW FOR SURE.

2. BUT WHEN HE ACTUALLY SAW THE RESULTS OF HIS BETRAYAL, IT HIT HIM AND HE FELT REMORSE AND IT MOVED TO HIM TO RETURN THE 30 PIECES OF SILVER THAT HE HAD BEEN PAID TO BETRAY JESUS.

* NOW ON THE SURFACE, THIS MAY LOOK GOOD, THAT JUDAS IS COMING TO REPENTANCE, IN FACT THE KJV TRANSLATES THAT JUDAS “REPENTED HIMSELF”.

** BUT THE OTHER MAJOR TRANSLATIONS PROPERLY TRANSLATE THIS GREEK VERB AS “REMORSE” OR “WAS REMORSEFUL”.

*** AND JUDAS ISCARIOT’S REMORSE WAS NOT REPENTANCE OF SIN, BUT EMOTIONAL REMORSE.

**** HE FELT GREAT GUILT AND DESPAIR OVER WHAT HE DID, HE SOLD OUT AN INNOCENT MAN THAT WAS PERFECT.

3. HIS LOVE OF MONEY LED HIM TO DO ONE OF THE MOST DESPICABLE THINGS THAT ANYONE HAS EVER DONE.

* AND FOR THE FIRST TIME, HE SAW THE FRUIT OF HIS BETRAYAL, HIS HARD, SEARED CONSCIENCE WAS PRICKED.

** BUT THIS WILL NOT LEAD HIM TO THE SAVIOR. HE JUST WANTS TO GET RID OF THE GUILT, AND NOT TURN TO CHRIST WITH GODLY SORROW THAT LEADS TO GENUINE REPENTANCE AND FAITH.

*** FOR II CORINTHIANS 7:10 SAYS: (READ IT).

**** AND JUDAS HAD THE SORROW OF THE WORLD, I GOT CAUGHT, I DON’T LIKE THE WAY I FEEL, HE REGRETTED WHAT HE DID.

4. AND HE WANTED TO ESCAPE THE CONSEQUENCES OF WHAT HE HAD DONE. HIS EMOTIONS WERE INVOLVED, BUT NOT HIS WILL, THAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REMORSE AND REPENTANCE.

* AND PROOF THAT JUDAS’ SORROW WAS UNGODLY AND SELFISH IS SEEN IN THE FACT THAT HE MADE NO EFFORT TO DEFEND OR RESCUE JESUS AND THAT HE DID NOT TURN TO JESUS, BUT ULTIMATELY TO SUICIDE.

** BELOVED, HIS ACTIONS SHOW THAT HE DID NOT REPENT. HE HAD NO DESIRE TO VINDICATE OR SAVE JESUS BUT ONLY TO SALVE CONSCIENCE, WHICH HE ATTEMPTED TO DO BY RETURNING THE 30 PIECES OF SILVER TO THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND ELDERS AT THE END OF V. 3. (AND THE SCENE CONTINUES IN V. 4. LOOK AT V. 4 PLEASE.)

B. READ V. 4. NOW AGAIN ON THE SURFACE THINGS ARE LOOKING UP FOR JUDAS, FOR HE SAYS TO THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND ELDERS, “I HAVE SINNED BY BETRAYING INNOCENT BLOOD.”

* BUT HAD JUDAS BEEN CONCERNED ABOUT FORGIVENESS FOR HIS SIN AND HAD HE REALLY BELIEVED IN THE LORD, HE WOULD HAVE APPROACHED JESUS, NOT THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND ELDERS.

** AND A LOT OF PEOPLE CONFESS THEY ARE SINNERS OR THEY HAVE SINNED, SOME THAT ARE NOT CHRISTIANS, BECAUSE THAT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT MUST LEAD TO ACTION, TURNING FROM IT AND TURNING TO THE ONE THAT FORGIVES THEM OF IT, THE SAVIOR JESUS, AND RESULTS IN A CHANGED LIFE OF FOLLOWING JESUS, AT TIMES AFAR OFF LIKE PETER, BUT AT LEAST FOLLOWING HIM.

*** BELOVED, JUDAS HOPED TO SOOTHE HIS GUILT SIMPLY BY RETURNING THE BLOOD MONEY.

**** JUDAS RECOGNIZED CHRIST’S INNOCENCE, WHICH IS QUITE A TESTIMONY TO THE SINLESSNESS OF CHRIST, FOR REMEMBER JUDAS TRAVELED WITH JESUS FOR OVER 3 YEARS.

1. AND YOU COULD TRAVEL WITH ME FOR 3 DAYS AND SAY, HE IS NOT INNOCENT, BUT AFTER TRAVELING WITH JESUS FOR 3 YEARS, HE COULD DECLARE HIS INNOCENCE.

* YET DESPITE HIS CONFESSION, JUDAS HAD NOT CHANGED HIS MIND ABOUT WHO JESUS WAS OR ABOUT HIS OWN NEED OF SALVATION.

** HE HAD SIMPLY BECOME AWARE OF THE WICKEDNESS OF WHAT HE HAD DONE AND WANTED RELIEF FROM THE OVERWHELMING GUILT THAT NOW TORMENTED EVERY PART OF HIS BEING.

*** THE MONEY HE HAD WANTED SO BADLY NOW BURNED IN HIS HANDS LIKE A LIVE COAL.

**** AND THEN IN THE LAST PART OF V. 4, THE RELIGIOUS LEADER’S REPLY TO JUDAS WAS ONE OF GREAT SENSITIVITY AND LOVE. (AND I’M USING SARCASM).

2. FOR THEY DISPLAYED THEIR HEARTS BY SAYING, “WHAT IS THAT TO US? SEE TO THAT YOURSELF.”

* THERE WAS COLD INDIFFERENCE ON THEIR PART, DON’T BOTHER US ABOUT YOUR GUILT. WE GOT WHAT WE WANTED, DEAL WITH IT, THAT’S YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.

** DON’T BOTHER US WITH THIS. AND THESE LOST MEN WERE ONLY CONCERNED ABOUT GETTING RID OF JESUS, NOT DEALING WITH SOMEONE THAT WAS SUICIDAL.

*** IN FACT, JUDAS WILL GO OUT FROM THEM AND TAKE HIS LIFE. LOOK AT V. 5 PLEASE.

C. READ V. 5. NOW IN UTTER DESPERATION AND FRUSTRATION JUDAS THREW THE MONEY INTO THE SANCTUARY OF THE TEMPLE AND DEPARTED.

* THE MONEY WAS A HOT POTATO THAT CAUSED HIM GUILT SO HE GOT RID OF IT. THAT WAS THE FIRST WAY HE DEALT WITH HIS GUILT.

** THE SECOND ACTION IN DEALING WITH HIS GUILT WAS BY TAKING HIS LIFE, “HE WENT AWAY AND HANGED HIMSELF.”

*** AND IN THIS IRRATIONAL MOMENT, JUDAS THOUGHT THAT DEATH WAS A WAY OF ESCAPE FROM HIS GUILT.

*** BUT DEATH DOES NOT RELIEVE GUILT; IT MAKES IT PERMANENT AND INTENSIFIED BEYOND COMPREHENSION.

**** FOR JESUS REPEATEDLY DECLARED HELL IS A PLACE OF ETERNAL TORMENT, AND MEMORIES IN HELL OF LOST OPPORTUNITIES AND GUILT ARE MAGNIFIED.

1. AND BELOVED, JUDAS TODAY CRIES OUT IN HELL IN THE ETERNAL PAIN OF HIS UNDIMINISHED GUILT.

* GUILT AND PAIN DOESN’T END AT DEATH FOR A PERSON WITHOUT CHRIST, IT GROWS AND IS MAGNIFIED AND THERE IS NO RELIEF IN A PLACE WHERE THE WORM DIES NOT AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.

** AND THE TRAGEDY FOR A LOST PERSON IS NOT ONLY THEIR DEATH, BUT THAT ETERNAL DEATH STARTS AT PHYSICAL DEATH.

*** AND TWO THINGS BEFORE I MOVE ON TO OUR CONCLUSION TODAY.

**** NO. 1 ACCORDING TO ACTS 1:18, WHEN JUDAS COMMITTED SUICIDE AND THIS IS PRETTY GROSS, HE FELL HEADLONG AND “BURST OPEN IN THE MIDDLE AND ALL HIS BOWELS GUSHED OUT.”

2. NOW ALTHOUGH THIS ACCOUNT IN ACTS 1:18 AND THE ONE IN MATTHEW REPORT DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT’S DEATH, THEY ARE COMPATIBLE.

* FOR IT APPEARS THAT HE MUST HAVE HANGED HIMSELF FROM A WEAK LIMB OF A TREE ON A HILLSIDE, AND WHEN THE LIMB BROKE UNDER HIS WEIGHT HE FELL DOWN THE SLOPE AND WAS CRUSHED ON THE ROCKS BELOW. SO THERE IS NO CONTRADICTION.

** NO. 2 THE QUESTION COMES UP HERE, AND I’VE BEEN ASKED THIS, CAN A TRUE CHRISTIAN COMMIT SUICIDE?

*** AND MY ANSWER IS YES. I BELIEVE THAT A PERSON CAN GET TO A PLACE WHERE THEY ARE NOT THINKING RATIONALLY THROUGH PHYSICAL, SPIRITUAL OR EMOTIONAL PAIN, AND IN AN ACT OF CONFUSION AND DESPAIR TAKE THEIR LIVES.

**** NOW IN REALITY ALL SIN IS IRRATIONAL, IT’S NOT THINKING RIGHT, AND SUICIDE IS SIN, IT IS TAKING THE PLACE OF GOD AND USURPING OUR WILL WHEN WE DIE. IT IS AN AFFRONT TO GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY AND HIS PURPOSES.

3. AND I BELIEVE IT IS A HEINOUS SIN. AND IT IS NEVER, LET ME REPEAT, NEVER THE RIGHT THING TO DO. IT IS WRONG, IT IS SINFUL, IT OFFENDS GOD, AND IT HURTS THE FAMILY IN A DEEP WAY THAT CAUSES A HUGE WOUND.

* AND I BELIEVE THAT A TRUE BELIEVER WHO DOES THAT WILL LOSE THEIR REWARD AND BE SAVED SO AS YET BY FIRE, I CORINTHIANS 3:15 (READ IT).

** NOW CERTAINLY I CANNOT BE DOGMATIC ABOUT APPLYING THAT VERSE TO SUICIDE, FOR IN REALITY WE DO NOT HAVE A CLEAR CONCISE BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATION THAT DEALS WITH THE ISSUE OF A CHRISTIAN COMMITTING SUICIDE AND WHAT HAPPENS TO THEM.

*** BUT REMEMBER THERE IS ETERNAL CLEAR TRUTH THAT APPLIES FOR ALL TRUE BELIEVERS THAT THERE IS NO CONDEMNATION FOR THOSE IN CHRIST, ROMANS 8:1.

***AND THAT NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM HIS LOVE, ROMANS 8:35-39.

**** THAT ONCE WE ARE IN THE FATHER’S HAND, NO ONE CAN PLUCK US OUT, JOHN 10:27-30, THAT THE LORD KEEPS US BY HIS POWER AND WE PERSEVERE THROUGH HIS PURPOSE, PHILIPPIANS 1:6, II TIMOTHY 4:18 AND I PETER 1:5.

4. AND ON AND ON I COULD GO. BUT SOME SAY, THAT AT THAT POINT, THAT PERSON REJECTS CHRIST. WELL LISTEN, WE REJECT CHRIST EVERY TIME WE SIN.

* WE REJECT HIS WILL FOR OUR WILL. AND GOD HATES ALL SIN, AND THERE ARE NO LITTLE ONES, FOR HE IS ABSOLUTELY HOLY AND IS OFFENDED BY THEM ALL.

** BUT THERE ARE SOME SINS THAT HAVE GREATER EFFECT THAN OTHERS. FOR EXAMPLE, I JOHN 3:15 SAYS: (READ IT AND ILLUSTRATE IT, ROOT AND FRUIT AND EFFECT). ALSO ILLUSTRATE MATTHEW 5:28.

*** NOW SUICIDE IS THAT KIND OF SIN, IT EFFECTS OTHERS AND HAS FAR REACHING EFFECTS FOR THE TESTIMONY OF CHRIST.

**** AND SUICIDE MAY REVEAL ALONG WITH THEIR LIFESTYLE THAT THAT PERSON WAS NOT A TRUE BELIEVER. FOR NOT EVERYONE WHO PROFESSES TO KNOW CHRIST KNOWS HIM – MATTHEW 7:21, TITUS 1:16.

5. BUT FOR A TRUE BELIEVER, WITH A LIFE OF FRUIT AND A PATTERN OF OBEDIENCE, CERTAINLY THEY CAN COME TO A POINT OF LISTENING TO THE VOICE OF SATAN OVER GOD, AND WHEN THEY ARE NOT RATIONAL AND THINKING RIGHT AND IN AN ACT OF SIN TAKE THEIR LIFE.

* NOW AGAIN, I WANT TO BE CLEAR HERE, GOD HATES THAT SIN, AND IT IS NEVER EVER RIGHT. AND IF YOU HAVE THOUGHTS OF DOING THAT, TALK TO SOMEONE IMMEDIATELY AND BE ACCOUNTBLE AND GET BIBLICAL COUNSEL AND SUPPORT. (DO IT BEFORE YOU GO HOME TODAY. AND IF YOU HAVE CONFUSION ABOUT WHAT I’VE SAID, TALK TO ME.)

** SUICIDE IS NEVER EVER THE RIGHT WAY TO GO, THE RIGHT CHOICE. AND IN THE CASE OF JUDAS, WHO WAS NOT A CHRISTIAN, IT STARTED AN ETERNITY OF TORMENT. IT ONLY MADE THINGS WORSE.

NOW I WANT TO WRAP UP OUR STUDY TODAY BY MAKING A COUPLE OF APPLICATIONS.

(1) NO. 1, THE MONEY JUDAS ISCARIOT WANTED SO BADLY, WHAT HE LONGED FOR, WHAT HE THOUGHT HE HAD TO HAVE TO MAKE HIM HAPPY, WHEN HE GOT IT, DID NOT SATISFY HIM, IT BURNED IN HIS HANDS LIKE A LIVE COAL.

* AND HERE’S THE APPLICATION: SIN NEVER BRINGS THE SATISFACTION IT PROMISES.

** INSTEAD OF HAPPINESS IT BRINGS SORROW, AND INSTEAD OF PLEASURE IT PRODUCES PAIN. IT POISONS WITH GUILT THAT CANNOT BE RELIEVED APART FROM GOD’S FORGIVING GRACE.

*** SO DON’T BE DECEIVED BY ALLURING ATTRACTION. IT WILL BRING TEMPORARY HAPPINESS, BUT IT WILL CUT THROUGH YOUR HEART IN THE END AND BRING EMPTINESS AND DISSATISFACTION, READ HEBREWS 11:24-26.

**** SIN NEVER SATISFIES, IT DESTROYS, IT’S A THIEF, IT’S NEVER WORTH IT. AND YOU KNOW YOUR TEMPTATION TODAY IN YOUR LIFE, IT MAY BE IMMORALITY, GREED, POWER, THINGS, YOUR WILL OVER GOD’S WILL WITH TIME AND TALENTS, ETC.

- THOSE THINGS WILL NEVER SATISFY YOUR SOUL, READ PSALM 107:9.

(2) NO. 2 AND OUR LAST POINT, JUDAS DID NOT COME TO TRUE SAVING REPENTANCE. AND LET US BE DISCERNING ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REMORSE AND REPENTANCE.

* AND LET US NOT BE GUILTY OF WATERING DOWN THE GOSPEL TODAY BY COMMUNICATING A GOSPEL WITHOUT REPENTANCE WHICH LIKE FAITH IS A GIFT OF GOD.

** AND REPENTANCE IS NOT SEPARATE FROM FAITH, BUT A PART OF GENUINE SAVING FAITH. IT IS AT THE CORE OF SAVING FAITH.

*** IT IS A RECOGNITION OF ONE’S UTTER SINFULNESS AND A TURNING FROM SELF AND SIN TO CHRIST.

**** AND FAR FROM BEING A HUMAN WORK, IT IS THE INEVITABLE RESULT OF GOD’S WORK IN A HUMAN HEART.

(3) AND BELOVED, THAT’S THE MESSAGE WE PROCLAIM, READ ACTS 20:21, ACTS 17:30, LUKE 13:3, LUKE 24:47&48, AND II CORINTHIANS 7:10.

* AND FOLKS, IT IS VERY CLEAR FROM SCRIPTURE THAT WE ARE TO CALL PEOPLE TO REPENTANCE AND FAITH. LET US CLEARLY AND FAITHFULLY DO THAT WITH PASSION.

** AND IF YOU HAVE COME IN TODAY AND DO NOT KNOW CHRIST AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR, WE CALL YOU TO REPENTANCE AND FAITH AND IT’S EITHER REPENT OR PERISH. (LET’S PRAY).