Sermon #84                                                                 Series: Matthew

 

            Title:                REMEMBER JUDAS

            Text:                Matthew 27:1-10

            Readings:      Off.      Bobbie Estes            Aud.    Buddy Daugherty

            Subject:          Judas’ Repentance and Suicide

            Date:               Tuesday Evening - June 4, 1996

            Tape #            S-60

 

Introduction:

 

            The title of my message tonight is Remember Judas. My text is Matthew 27:1-10. If you will, turn to that passage and just hold your place there for a moment or two. Before we read the text, I want you to listen carefully to what I am going to say.

 

            As you read the Bible, you cannot help noticing that there are numerous examples of men and women who appeared to fear God and and walk with him, who in time forsook him altogether and perished under his wrath. There are multitudes in hell today who were once considered the saintliest of the saints. Lot’s wife, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, Achan, King Saul, Ananias and Sapphira, Demas, and Diotrephes are all names that ought to sound as alarms in our souls. These all, like the multitude in John 6, though they professed to be disciples and were considered by all, except the Lord himself, to be his disciples, “went back and walked no more with him.” These are all beacons placed before us to warn us of the danger of hypocrisy and carnal security. All is not gold that glitters. “They are not all Israel which are of Israel.” The simple fact is...

 

Proposition:

 

Many who profess faith in Christ and are confident that their faith is genuine shall betray and forsake Christ in time and perish under the wrath of God in hell.

 

            No one more fearfully and glaringly demonstrates this fact than Judas, the son of perdition, our Lord’s betrayer. He is the principle subject of this paragraph. Here we are told of a man who was once numbered with the apostles of Christ, 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 exist in this world, who, after he had betrayed the Son of God, repented, confessed his sin, and made restitution for it, went out and committed suicide, perishing under the terror of God’s justice and wrath. Today that man who once was thought to be such a great man, such an eminent believer, burns in hell, suffering the wrath of God! I pray that none of us shall follow him. Read Matthew 27:1-10 with me.

 

            When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: (2) And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. (3) 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 priests and elders, (4) Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. (5) And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. (6) And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. (7) And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. (8) Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day. (9) Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; (10) And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me."

 

Divisions:

 

I want to show you seven things in this message. May God the Holy Spirit be pleased to speak by me this hour to your very hearts, for Christ’s sake.

1.      The Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God.

2.      “All things are of God.”

3.      The Lord Jesus Christ was totally innocent of the trumped up charges laid against him.

4.      A person may experience much, know much, and do much that appears to be genuinely spiritual and yet perish at last.

5.      There is a repentance that needs to be repented of.

6.      The things of this world give no comfort to an immortal soul leaving this world.

7.      No sinner is so great a sinner as that sinner who sins against light, and knowledge, and privilege.

 

I. The first thing to be learned from this passage is the fact that this Book, THE BIBLE IS THE INSPIRED, INERRANT WORD OF GOD.

 

            I stress this fact again because I want you never to entertain the thought that there may be some error in this Book, or that it is not to be depended upon implicitly. We recognize that this Book alone is inspired. This Book alone is God’s Word. This Book alone is authoritative. This Book alone is our rule of faith and practice. This Book alone is able to make us wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

 

2 Timothy 3:16-17  "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (17) That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

 

2 Peter 1:21  "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."

 

Revelation 22:18-19  "For 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: (19) And if any man shall take away from the words of the 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 which are written in this book."

 

A. Many infidels shake their fingers at Matthew 27:9 as an example of a mistake found in the Bible.

 

            Learned infidels are only educated fools; and their folly is evident when they attempt to discredit the Word of God. If you read your Bible carefully, you know that the quotation attributed to Jeremiah the prophet in verse nine cannot be found in the Book of Jeremiah. It is found in Zechariah’s prophecy. Does that mean that Matthew made a mistake? If so, the veracity and inspiration of the Bible falls to the ground. Find a mistake in this Book and our faith is destroyed. Prove that this Book is not verbally inspired, and Christianty is proved to be a lie!

 

            But Matthew did not make a mistake! He wrote exactly what the Holy Spirit inspired him to write. That which we have written in Jeremiah’s prophecy is not all that Jeremiah spoke or even all that he wrote. No doubt Zechariah quoted Jeremiah’s words in his prophecy, as they were handed down to him. How do we know? We know that because the Holy Spirit here tells us that he did! There are, of course, other examples of this in the Scriptures. God has placed many stones of stumbling in this Book over which blind and ignorant men stumble into hell.

 

·        Paul’s Quotation of Christ - (Acts 20:35) "I have showed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive."

 

·        Enoch’s Prophecy - (Jude 1:14) "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,"

 

B. The chief priests and elders bound Christ and delivered him into the hands of the Gentiles (vv. 1-2) because the Scriptures must be fulfilled.

 

            Our Lord had prophesied that he must be delivered by the Jews into the hands of the Gentiles. Therefore the Jews did what they did because the Scriptures must be fulfilled.

·        Acts 4:27-28

·        Acts 13:27-29

 

1. As Isaac was bound to the altar of sacrifice, so the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom Isaac was a type, was bound for us, as the Lamb of God, to the altar of sacrifice.

 

            He was already bound with the cords of love to his elect, bound by his own will to redeem us. Otherwise, he would have broken these bonds more easily than Samson broke the bonds of the Philistines.

 

            “We were fettered with the bond of iniquity, held in the cords of our sins (Pro. 5:22); but God bound the yoke of our transgressions upon the neck of the Lord Jesus (Lam. 1:14), that we might be loosed by his bonds, as we are healed by his stripes.”                                                                            (Matthew Henry)

 

2. It was prophesied from Israel’s earliest days that Shiloh would not come, that the Messiah and Redeemer promised in the Old Testament would not come, until the sceptre of civil government had departed from Judah (Gen. 49:10).

 

            This prophecy was manifestly fulfilled by this act. These enraged Jews would never have turned Christ over to Pilate to be crucified had it not been for the fact that they were now no longer a nation with civil authority. Two years before this event the Romans had stripped them of their last remnant of national power. They had no legal power to put a man to death. If Christ were to be legally murdered by them, the Romans would have to do it. Thus God Almighty arranged for the fulfillment of his Word to the letter!

 

II. Secondly, our text is a vivid illustration of the fact that “ALL THINGS ARE OF GOD” (2 Cor. 5:18).

 

            The finger of God was in this matter. The hand of God ruled the whole affair. Nothing was left to chance, fate, accident, or the will of man. The Jews were not in charge here. Pilate was not in charge here. The Gentiles were not in charge here. God Almighty was in charge! The betrayal by Judas, the council of the Jews, the deliverance of Jesus into the hands of the Romans, the spinelessness of Pilate, and the barbarianism of the soldiers and the people, were all under the total rule of our God. These wicked men, while doing only what their wicked hearts and wills desired, did nothing but that which God Almighty ordained and arranged for the redemption of his people and the glory of his own great name!

 

Psalms 76:10  "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain."

 

III. 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.

 

            I cannot imagine any evidence that would be more compelling to honest men of our Redeemer’s total innocence than the fact that even when the Jews were trying to hire false witnesses to testify against him, Judas was totally silent. If there was anyone who could have given evidence against the Master, Judas would have been the man. He was one of the Lord’s chosen apostles, one of his constant companions for more than three years. Judas heard everything he taught in public and in private. If our Lord had done anything amiss, in word or in deed, Judas would have known it. And it would have been in his own interest to tell it. After all, if he could produce one incident of evil against the Master, his betrayal would have been justified.

 

            Why did he not do it? Why was he silent? Why did neither the Jews nor Pilate call him to their courts and question him? There can be only one answer given - Judas did not bear witness against Christ because he knew nothing against him. Wicked, base, and vile as he was, the apostate apostle knew that Jesus Christ was an innocent man, holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.

 

            This is a matter of great importance. The Holy Spirit takes great care to give us proof upon proof that our Redeemer is the Lamb of God who, by virtue of his eternal deity and perfect humanity, was able to take away the sins of his people.

 

Hebrews 7:22-27  "By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. (23) And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: (24) But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. (25) Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. (26) For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; (27) Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself."

 

IV. Fourthly, Judas shows us that A PERSON MAY EXPERIENCE MUCH, KNOW MUCH, AND DO MUCH THAT APPEARS TO BE GENUINELY SPIRITUAL AND YET PERISH AT LAST.

 

            I frankly do not know how to say what needs to be said here forcefully enough. Salvation is an experience; but it is much more than an experience. Salvation involves knowledge; but it is much more than knowledge. Salvation produces good works; but it is much more than good works. In these departments, you and I do not come close to reviling Judas. This man was not only an apostle, but probably the most highly esteemed of all the apostles. Until he betrayed the Master, he was never once, in so far as the Scriptures tell us, reprimanded for anything. Judas seems to stand head and shoulders above the rest. But Judas was a lost man. He never knew God!

 

            Salvation is Christ in you. Salvation is a living union of faith with the Son of God. Salvation is a heart work, a work of God in our hearts. Salvation is not something you can muster. It is not something the preacher can bestow. It is not something parents can bequeath. “Salvation is of the LORD!” Salvation is the surrender of a sinner to the utter rule, dominion, and will of God by faith in Christ. When you come to know Christ, the last Adam, you willingly do what the first Adam refused to do - You bow and surrender to God as God, acknowledging his right to be God and thus to do what he will.

 

·        Luke 14:25-33

 

V. Next, Judas shows us that THERE IS A REPENTANCE THAT NEEDS TO BE REPENTED OF.

 

Matthew 27:3-5  "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 priests and elders, (4) Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. (5) And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself."

 

            Look at verse three for a minute. “When he saw that he was condemned.” It appears that Judas thought this would never happen. He probably thought the Lord Jesus would, by some miracle, escape from the Romans, as he often had from the Jews. It may be, in fact, I think it is very likely, that Judas never dreamed that the Son of God would be crucified as a result of his betrayal. He did what he did because he saw a chance to make a little money by kissing the Master, by a pretentious act of love and devotion!

 

            But when he saw what the results of his betrayal were, “when he saw that he was condemned,” he was utterly horrified, and tried to undo the mischief of his crimes. We are plainly told that Judas “repented himself.” He confessed, “I have betrayed innocent blood.” He even made restitution of the money he had taken. But Judas’ repentance was a fearful example of that repentance which needs to be repented of.

 

2 Corinthians 7:10  "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death."

 

            This matter deserves special attention. Multitudes, I fear, have a form of repentance that, like Judas’, will bring them at last to hell. Solomon warns us that many " shall they call upon God but he will not answer; they shall seek him early, but they shall not find him" (Pro. 1:28).

 

            Judas repented not because he had seen the glory of God in Christ, but because he was terrified at the prospect of God’s wrath. He wanted salvation, but not the Savior. He wanted mercy, but not the Master. He wanted grace, but cared nothing for the glory of God. Jesus Christ will not be a fire escape! There is a great difference in being afraid of God and fearing God. There is a great difference between an awareness of guilt and the conviction of the Holy Spirit. True repentance is the gift of God’s goodness, not the fear of his wrath.

 

·        Romans 2:4

 

VI. Sixthly, Judas stands as a beacon to warn us that THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD GIVE NO COMFORT TO AN IMMORTAL SOUL LEAVING THIS WORLD.

 

            “The treasures of the wicked profit nothing” (Pro. 10:2). The money Judas wanted so desperately, the money he earned so dearly brought him nothing but bitterness and sorrow. I suspect that Judas is still trying to cast it away! “What shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”

 

VII. Lastly, Judas teaches us that NO SINNER IS SO GREAT A SINNER AS THAT SINNER WHO SINS AGAINST LIGHT, AND KNOWLEDGE, AND PRIVILEGE.

 

            He went out and hanged himself. What a sad, sad tale the life of Judas is! Here is an apostle of Christ, a preacher of the gospel, a table companion of Peter, James, and John, hanged by his own hands! He came to the very Door of heaven, handled the Door, and showed others the Door; but he went to hell! Be wise and REMEMBER JUDAS!

 

Proverbs 29:1  "He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."

 

Application:

 

            Let me ask each of you to carry these searching questions home with you, as I shall - What is the state of my heart? REMEMBER JUDAS! Am I resting upon a profession of faith? REMEMBER JUDAS! Am I clinging to this world? REMEMBER JUDAS! Am I trifling with the things of God? REMEMBER JUDAS! Judas is a beacon to warn us. REMEMBER JUDAS! Lest you make shipwreck of your soul. God help you ever to REMEMBER JUDAS!