March 29, 2025 • 46 mins
Today's episode of Sunday Service by Pray.com features Adam Mesa.
Betrayal can leave us at a crossroads, and this sermon explores the allure of material wealth, the testing of our faith, and the transformative power of redemption. Pastor Adam takes us through poignant biblical stories that show the contrast between Judas's despair and Peter's hope, encouraging us to walk in obedience to God's calling.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray, And when he rose up from prayer
and must come to his disciples, he found them sleeping
for sorrow looked twenty two forty five, O, my lord,
when you entered into the garden of Gyssimone and needed
the support of your disciples, they had no idea what
(00:21):
you were facing. They knew your heart was sorrowful and
must have felt the heavy oppression weigh on you. You
asked them to pray as you wrestled with the cup
of your approaching death. You sweat drops of blood as
you prayed. The cup might pass from you, but if not,
(00:43):
you surrendered to your father's will and agreed for his
will to be done. When you rose up from prayer,
your disciples were so overcome by your distress they became
overpowered by grief and fell into a deep sleep. You
had to face this pivotal moment of agony alone. My
(01:05):
heart bleeds for you, my precious Lord. I can't imagine
how great your suffering must have been before you face
the humiliation of the cross. Lord, don't let sorrow overwhelm
me and cause me to abdicate my authority to prayer. Forly,
call for heavenly help it is in those times of
(01:25):
trouble I need to keep my spirit alert and not
be overcome by oppression. Strengthen me, Lord, and don't let
me slumber when you need me the most in Jesus name. Amen.
Thank you for listening to today's Daily Prayer for more
(01:47):
inspiration and an incredible message from our feature pastor stay
tuned to pray dot COM's Sunday service.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Well, I'm excited to jump in a message. We're in
a series called Inside the Tomb. If any of you
guys brought your physical Bibles or you like reading it
on your phone, could you turn to Luke chapter twenty two.
That's where we're gonna be at today and we're doing
this series leading up until Resurrection Sunday called Inside the Tomb.
If you joined us for Christmas, we called it Inside
the Manger, and it looked into the prayers of the Manger.
(02:24):
This one is inside the Tomb that not only looks
inside the prayers around the tomb, but also the reality
that it was essential that Jesus would go to the tomb.
It was for God's redemption that Jesus would go on
the cross be in the tomb for three days and
resurrect three days later, and so we all can see
(02:45):
a piece of us go inside the tomb where God
can hold and God can redeem in our life. And so,
if you have Luke chapter twenty two, would you join
me in standing on your feet as we honor God's
word today as we read together. Here's what it says
concerning Jesus. It says, now the feast of unleavened bread
drew near, which is called the Passover, and the chief
(03:08):
priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him
to death, for they feared the people they want to.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Put to death Jesus.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Then Satan intered Judas called a scariot. Satan intered Judas
called a scariot hmm, who.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Was of the number of the twelve.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
He went away and conferred with the chief priests and
officers how he might betray him to them.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
And they were glad and agreed to give him money.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him
to them in the absence of a crowd. Let's pray
this morning, God, We pray that as your word goes
for today, Lord, may you speak to us today. Lord,
None of us came here this morning to hear the
opinions of man, the philosophies of man, or even the
doctrines of man. God, we came here fully to hear
(03:59):
from you, Lord, So I pray that as your spirit
goes forth, Lord, may it radically transform us anew, May
we grow in our relationship with you, and may we
leave this place better than we came in today because
your work was at hand.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
We thank you Lord in Jesus' name.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Amen, as you're seated, I want you to nudge someone
next to you and tell him get behind these satan.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
You are ready for that one. Huh.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Some of y'all said that to your spouse with a
little bit too much joy. You're not saying it to
the person You're just stay. In a matter of fact,
get behind the satan. It's something we should regularly remind
ourselves because in a few moments we'll read the passage
that that comes from. But as we read today, we
(04:47):
see an instance where Judas is Scariot, one of Jesus's
twelve disciples, decides that he's gonna betray not only what
we would know Jesus as which our Lord and savior,
but to him it would also be one of his
best friends. This is someone that's spent three years with
(05:08):
Jesus almost every single day. He had heard every prayer
that Jesus had prayed in public. He had heard every
sermon Jesus had ever preached, he had seen every miracle
that Jesus had performed, and he would also have an
opportunity to partake in the things that Jesus would do.
And yet he still got to a place in his
life where he allowed Satan to enter him.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
How does that happen? How does that happen?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
How does Satan enter a person who has had so
much time spent around Jesus.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
You may never thought or asked that question before, but
I read that statement and go, how is this possible?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Many of you and I we have so much faith
in Jesus and we didn't even see these things with
our own eyes.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
This young man sees everything with his.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Own eyes, and yet he still betrays Jesus and he
still leaves a door open for Satan to enter, Because
how many of you guys know, if Satan enters you,
it's because the door was open.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
How does that happen?
Speaker 2 (06:24):
How does that happen to someone that Satan sees a
door that he can open. How does temptation happen, Well,
many of us we may know because we've maybe been
a product of some type of temptation before.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Temptation happened. For me just this past Friday.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
This past Friday, I go I go on a date
night with my wife and it's about eleven o'clock at night.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
It was a long movie.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
So we get home late and I go back at
eleven o'clock night to continue to study for this sermon today.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
And so my wife wanted to do a date night.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Normally off Friday afternoon is my study time to continue
for the weekend. But I thought, okay, we get a babysitter.
My wife wasn't on a date night, so that's what
I'll do. So I put pause on studying and we
went out to the movies and we came.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Home at about eleven.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
She goes upstairs to lay in bed and go on
her phone and hang out on Instagram and other things
like that.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
I go into the kitchen and I go back to work.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
I'd be continued to study for this weekend, and so
I'm back to studying, and next thing you know, as
I'm studying my iPad that I'm using to type at
dings and I can see a text message from her and.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
She says, I want chicken nuggets.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Now for me. I've been doing so good. I've been
losing weight, I've been eating better and so and so
she says, I want chicken nuggets. I'm thinking to myself,
we don't need chicken nuggets. I don't need chicken nuggets.
But like a good husband, I say, would you like
me to order you.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Some chicken nuggets?
Speaker 2 (07:48):
She texts me actually says no, no, no, no, no, I shouldn't
have any chicken nuggets.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Okay, well that's that. I go back to studying. I'm
going Luke chapter twenty two and I'm reading next thing.
You know.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Another text message come about four minutes later, But French
fights do sound bombed.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
I respound back to her.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
I said, would you like me to get you a
combo from McDonald's.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
She said, no, no, no, no, no, I shouldn't. I shouldn't.
I shouldn't.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
And then I mess her back and I say, because
now the thoughts in me and I'm like that does
actually kind of sound fire?
Speaker 3 (08:23):
That like it's not I wasn't interested in it fifteen
minutes ago.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
But now that you progressing this thought, and so I said,
I told her, what if I eat it with you,
would you want something? She goes, hmm, dot dot dot
dot dot. So I said, okay, I'll order it. So
there I am on my door dash. I'm ordering a
two large number tens ten piece of chicken nugget with
large French fries.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
And and it's taken some time.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I'm continuing to study, and all of a sudden the
food gets to my door. I get the notification. I
go to for my front door. I grabbed the chicken nuggets.
I run upstairs to tell Ashley that the food is here,
and sure enough, she's asleep.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
It's midnight, so I say, hey baby, She shrugs me off.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
So here I am downstairs now, sitting on my table
with something I didn't originally want, with two large ten
piece chicken nuggets that are wafting in my face the
French fries, and I think to myself, all right, well
here we are, and so I want to be a
good steward of my finances.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
So now we're eating.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Now it's twelve oh five am with no sound, no TV,
no nothing, just a Bible open and the iPad I'm
not looking at, just eating chicken nuggets. And then I'm
thinking to myself, why am I doing this? I'm like,
why did I get How did I get here?
Speaker 3 (09:51):
I go to bed at one am.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
She leans over, She goes, did the McDonald's ever get here?
I said yes, She said, I'm hungry. I said, threw
it away. Came an hour ago. She goes, Okay, good night.
She just turns around, goes to sleep. But that, but
that tends to be kind of how temptation comes. It
comes as a creeping thought, comes as a creeping suggestion.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
It comes it comes just as a just as a notion,
a statement, a word, a phrase.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
And and you just start thinking about it and you
start taking It doesn't come out right away. If Ashley
texts me he said, like, let's let's be unhealthy tonight.
Let's go get some McDonald's and we are talking to
we would have both said no, let's not do it.
But it started with HM, our boys had chicken nuggets
for dinners. Them the kind of look good. And so
now now I way wants some chicken nuggets. And it
(10:41):
goes from chicken nuggets to a large fry to a
large soda. What happens so thought, It's just one little
moment where you convince yourself it won't.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Be all that bad.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
And that's how temptation starts to play. And what we
have to recognize with the life of Judas. Judas had begin,
through his decisions and his statements, begin to leave a
door open where Satan believed that he could manipulate him
for something greater. Many of us like to think that
the moment that Judas was born, or the moment that
Judas became one of Jesus's disciple, that Satan had a
(11:15):
target on Judas's back.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
No, Satan probably more than likely, and we'll see it
here in a few moments.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
He more than likely would have had a target on
every disciple's back and tried to temp one after another
after another after another. But once they were steadfast towards
Jesus and steadfast towards Jesus and the character matched who
they were, say, you would say, okay, I can't use Thomas, Okay,
I can't use Levi, Okay, I.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Can't use it. And then we're gonna see through some of.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
The actions that Judas would act and betray himself as
Satan started to say, oh, I may have found someone,
may have found someone. Satan even tried with Jesus when
Jesus started his ministry, he was in the desert for
forty days. Satan even tried Jesus. Satan didn't even know
if Jesus was strong enough. So if he tried to
(12:02):
tempt Jesus and didn't think he said, Jesus just bowed
down to me and I'll give you the world, because
he thought Jesus wanted to rule the world. Jesus didn't
want to rule the world. He wanted to save the world.
And that's what Satan missed out on. He did not
understand that about Jesus's earthly ministry. And so what happens
is is we see a moment where Satan actually is
(12:23):
trying with some.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Of the other disciples as he did with Jesus.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
And it's a moment where Jesus is talking to his
disciples and he tells his disciples that he's going to
go to the cross and he's gonna suffer many things
and he's gonna die.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Well. Peter, who still at this moment in.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
His life, wants Jesus to overthrow the Roman government in
Jesus to set up an earthly kingdom. He tells Jesus, no,
I don't want you to die. And here's what Jesus
responds with. It's in Matthew sixteen twenty two, verse twenty four.
It says from that time Jesus began to show his
disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many
(12:58):
things from the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Be killed, and on the third day be raised.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying,
far be it from me, Lord, this shall never happen
to you. But he turned, speaking of Jesus. He turned
and said to Peter, get behind me.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
Satan, you are a hindrance to me.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
For you are not setting your mind on the things
of God, but on the things of man. You're not
setting your mind on the things of God, but you're
setting your mind on the things of man. Now, in
that moment, someone would naturally have to ask himself, did
Satan enter Peter to make that statement? No, No, that
(13:44):
was Peter's own thought. It was coming out of a
pure place. But the difference is is Peter's statement was
in alignment with Satan's mission, and so we have to
understand the difference.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
But both differences exist.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
There is a moment that through the compulsion of our
own sin, through our own righteousness, that we can leave
a door open for Satan to use and manipulate.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Then there's another side of us where Satan is not
involved at all.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
It's just your mind frame and your thinking is in
alignment with the mind frame and thinking of Satan. Right,
And so though there may come from an innocent place,
that doesn't mean that it's still not in union with
what Satan's trying to do. And so people try to
do that with music all the time. Pastor, can I
(14:32):
listen to this kind of music and still be innocent?
Theoretically yes you can, but you have to understand that
with that kind of music there's a mission behind it.
And so can you listen to that music innocently? Sure,
you could almost do anything innocently if it's not sin.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
But does that not mean, though, are you in mission?
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Could you by listening to that music someone else hear
it and it take them somewhere else who's not as
strong as you. Yeah, So that's what's happening with Peter.
Peter pulls him aside so he doesn't say it in
front of the other disciples, which also show that Peter
has a respect for Jesus.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Judas didn't do that stuff.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
We'll see in a few moments Judas made public declarations.
Peter gave private questions to Jesus. There's a difference, and
so he pulls him aside, and we see that his
philosophy is in union with what Satan's trying to do,
which is trying to keep Jesus from this mission. Satan
doesn't know at this moment the clear picture of what
Jesus's mission is. So that's why Jesus is saying, your
(15:34):
motive is in alignment with it, even though Satan doesn't
know what he's trying to accomplish. He just doesn't want
me to be king. But Peter, by you not wanting
me to go to the cross, I have to go
to the cross. So therefore your heart is in alignment
with Satan's heart. And then you hear a moment. There's
a moment when then Jesus during Holy Week and on Passover,
(15:54):
Jesus tells Peter there's gonna come a moment where you're
gonna deny me. People are gonna recognize you to be
on trial. I'm gonna be sentenced soon to be put
to death. People are gonna recognize you for being with me,
and you're gonna deny me. Peter says, I'll never do that.
You're my boy, Jesus. I'll never I'll never deny you,
and Jesus says you will, but it's okay when you do.
(16:17):
I need you to continue to come back, and I
need you to feed my sheep. I need you to
take care of my sheep. This is gonna happen, and theologians.
We don't know whether Peter denied Jesus because he was
afraid that he'd be arrested next, but more than likely
the most accurate depiction is because Peter was the one
who cut the soldier's ear off when they arrested Jesus,
and Jesus healed the ear because Peter thought it was
(16:40):
go time. He thought it was time to fight the
Romans now, So more than likely, Peter was still upset
that the picture of what he wanted Jesus to do
wasn't clear yet, so he wanted Peter wanted war Jesus
wanted forgiveness, and so at the time Peter would have
denied Jesus potentially out of this anger that Jesus wasn't
(17:02):
wanting to go and fight Rome. So he's like, no,
I'm not with him, I'm not a disciple of his.
And it just so happens at this time, according to
Luke twenty two sixty one, that Jesus is across the
courtyard about one hundred yards away, and when Peter denies
Jesus one more time, what happens is Jesus now makes
(17:24):
eye contact with him one hundred yards away. He couldn't
hear Peter, but by the spirit, Jesus knew. And at
that moment, it says, and the Lord turned and looked
at Peter, and Peter remembered the saying of the Lord,
how he had said to him before the rooster crows today,
you will deny me three times. And he went out
and he wept bitterly. What do we see in this
(17:48):
fact that Peter is not being used by Satan? He's
not being used by Satan because this word that's being used,
he remembered, and he left and wept bitterly. It's a
sign of repentance. Pentance means to turn away from. So
when he recognized it, he wept and he turned away
from which shows that in his own decision making process,
(18:09):
when he would recognize that he's falling short, he would
run back to God for forgiveness. He wept when he
recognized how he fell short, He wept and he ran
and he went to God.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Where's Judas? Judas didn't do those things.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
And here's what we have to see today is values
are created in crisis, and they are tested in crisis.
Values are created in Christ had tested in crisis. I've
been in church for a very long time and I've
almost never heard this before. I've never heard someone come
(18:46):
up to me after a service and say, hey, pastor
out it, it's so nice to meet you. And I say, hey,
what brought you to church? And I rarely ever hear
this where they say and it's their first time or
their second time, they're new in church.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
They rarely ever say, well, you know what, recently I sold.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
My company and I'm just doing so good financially. And
me and my wife we just celebrated an anniversary and
we are so good. And my kids they all just
got full right, scholarships, and our family is so good,
and so we just looked at each other one day
and was like, hey, going to church would just be
a cherry on top to all this good stuff. Almost
(19:22):
no one ever says that they're like, well, I first
started coming to church.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
Because my marriage is in ruins.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Well, I first started coming to church because I don't
know what I'm doing in life. I first started coming
to church because I don't know how to raise these kids.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
I first started.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Coming to church because I lost a family member and
it made me think about these things.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
There's always some thread.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Ninety percent of the time for the first initial entry
way in, there's some type of crisis that starts to
ask us the question should a relationship.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
With God be of value?
Speaker 2 (19:57):
But here's the thing, it isn't only until the X
crisis happens that will test that new found value and
new found value. I mean people all the time, oh
oh right, hear okay, because I lost my job, I'm
going through it and I'm just and I'm and they
for six months, they are at church three times a week,
four times a week, they're at prayer, that at everything,
(20:19):
and then and then they just stop. And then I'll
see them at Victoria Gardener say hey, I haven't seen
you forever.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Oh, you won't believe what happened.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
I got a job and and that girl I was
dating we got married.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
And I said, oh, did you move somewhere?
Speaker 2 (20:34):
No, no, I'm still living across the street from the church.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Well where you been, friend? Oh? I just I didn't.
I didn't. I don't need it as much anymore.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
So there the trick is in that statement, God in
a relationship with Jesus was not the value what you
were getting out of it was the value you And
crisis again, and going through a positive form of the
crisis begins.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
To show why am I really here?
Speaker 2 (21:08):
And for Judas, who was with the disciples, hanging around
the disciples, prestigious with the Disciples, when it came time
to turn in Jesus, he showed that his value was money.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
So it's very potential that more than likely.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
The area that Judas grew up in could have been
an impoverished area. For whatever reason, he loves money and
he feels like he never has enough, because the scriptures
later tell us on in a few moments, we'll read
that he always used to take a little bit at
a time from Jesus's money bag, because he was the
treasurer of the disciples, and so Jesus would get one
(21:45):
hundred dollars, Judas would help himself to a nice little
tithe himself. For whatever reason, his value was money over Jesus.
But the only reason why he rocked with Jesus was
because Jesus served value. And when Judas as a smart man,
he begins to see everyone starting to turn on Jesus
(22:06):
and he says, it's a matter of time before Jesus
don't have these crowds anymore.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
He thinks to himself, how can I get that one
last come up off of Jesus?
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Because chrisis revealed his true value, and for Judas his
true he very much well. Could have loved Jesus, could
have had a great relationship with Jesus.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Could have hung out.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
I mean, he was at dinner with Jesus the night
that he went and betrayed him, such as didn't. It
doesn't mean he hates Jesus. It just means he has
a bigger value than Jesus. And so Christis reveals to us,
and so here's some things that we see that Satan
will begin to see into Judas that he feels like
he can start to use him. There's three things that
(22:51):
they're very applicable to us. Is he sees that within.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
Judas, Judas lacks character, Judas lacks care, and Judas lacks conduct.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
And it's the expression of these things that Satan is
watching all of the disciples looking for which one. The
Bible says that Satan moves around like a devourer Warren,
like a lion looking who kee can devour.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
So that's what Satan's doing to all the disciples.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Can I try, Peter, No, he actually loves him, He
actually believes he's Lord. He just has a skewed perception
of what she's here to do. I can't use him.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
I can't. Oh, I see this dude still.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
In a little bit of money here and there. I've
been hearing his comments lately. So we see that character
is a moral and ethic quality defining individual's values. Care
show is a showing place of empathy and compassion, actively
attending to others well needs, which Judas didn't do. Conduct
behavior in line with godly actions, involving integrity, respect, and
responsibility for one's action.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
I want you to look at character for just a moment.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Billy Graham says this, when it comes to character, when
wealth is lost, nothing is lost.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
When health is lost, something is lost.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
When character is lost lost, all is lost. Someone who
loses their character has lost it all. Judas was one
of those individuals. Want you to look at Judas's statement
when a woman comes.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
To worship Jesus with a year's worth of her wage
of hew.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
Many of us know this verse ourselves, but it says
this in John twelve, verse four. But one of the
disciples Judas is Scariot, who was later to betray him, ejected,
why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
To the poor? It was a worth a year's wage.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
He did not say this because he cared about the poor,
but because he was a thief, and as keeper of
the money bag, he used to help himself.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
To what was put in it.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
But guess what, John, by the inspirational Holy Spirit, he
fills that in for us.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
So we can read it and we can go, oh,
that dog, Judas.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
But if you were around Judas, you actually would have thought.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
He was very righteous.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
When Judas is there and there's a woman breaking perfume
that's worth a year's wage on Jesus's feet, and Judas goes,
this woman could do so we could our ministry could
do so much more for the poor if she just
sold this perfume.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
How dares she?
Speaker 2 (25:16):
You know, Jesus is just gonna go wash his feet
after such a waste of perfume. We could have resold that.
You know how many people that could have fed, and
there would have been other people and disciples there going
you so right, Judas, I can't believe her.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
Why would Jesus even let her do that? That's ridiculous. Ah.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
While his words say one thing, but his heart says another.
Because what his heart is really saying because he's the treasurer.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
So if she gave that to Jesus for the ministry,
Jesus would.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Have said, God, bless you, thank you so much here, Judas,
can you go sell that for the work of the ministry.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
And Judas would have.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Been like, God, yeah, I got you, Jesus. That's fifty
k right there. They'll never miss five k missing. Judas
knows that in his heart, But his words and what
society hears has made Judas you so right.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
But God knows his heart.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
So where we have to recognize is a self centered
faith produces a self righteous attitude.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
Self centered faith, the me me me faith. Guess what,
you will be.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Consistently trying to show everyone around you how much you
have figured it out.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
When your faith is centered around.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
You, your own development, your own joy, your own purpose,
your own happiness, and nothing about anyone else, then you
will begin to have a self righteous attitude, and you
will make comments about everything. You will make comments about
people around you. You will make comments about church. You'll
make cause it just will come out. It just could
come out of you easy. Can you believe she said that?
(26:59):
Can you believe she dressed this way? You know, don't
mind how I talk to my husband. The way that
girl dress is ridiculous. It's self righteous attitude. Look at
this person all while I'm not being obedient in this
space myself and.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
So immediately self centered faith.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
The me me me mentality, the me me me faith
that Judas was living.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
The more that Jesus's ministry grew.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
The more that Judas's pockets grew, and the moment that
he sees Jesus' ministry probably not gonna grow no more.
The moment he tried to get one more big payday,
because the clearer you start to think about you, the
actually more disfigured life begins to be. And so for Judas,
he fell for these lives because he kept looking at
(27:47):
himself for so long he stopped fixing his eyes on
Jesus and the work of Jesus, that he started to
only view himself. You know, Papulo Picasso is one of
the world's greatest painter, definitely in our day in the
nineteen hundreds, and a Picasso is a euphemism for a
great artist. We say someone's a regular Pablo Picasso when
(28:07):
they're a great artist. Well, Pablo Picasso, over his years
he did a set of around ten to eleven self portraits.
And what's amazing is most art historians think it's incredible
that you'll see when Picasso was fifteen years old, he
used to draw himself really clearly.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
But you get all the way towards the bottom right.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
That was his last self portrait he ever did of
himself at the age ninety years old. And so he
went from a point where when he was younger he
saw himself very clearly, very innocently, but as he got
older he actually towards his nineties, and some of this
went with his abstract painting, but it was really as
(28:46):
he stepped more and more into older age and realized
his mortality. Most art historians believe that as he got
older he saw himself less clearly, because as he would
paint himself, he'd in at fifteen and twenty, he was
very innocent, so he saw himself very clearly. But as
he got older he added all his memories and all
(29:08):
his stories, and it was so much so that all
he could do is kind of just draw himself into
a rock. Because the longer that we fixate on ourselves,
the less clear it becomes, and the more that line
is fudged, and the more that line is tott And
the point of the Gospel and the point of the
(29:29):
Cross is for us to fix our eyes on Jesus
and the work of the Cross and the work.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
Of his resurrection.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
You want to see your life more clearly, you have
to stop looking at your life and start looking at
Jesus's life.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
Judas didn't do that.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
He looked at Jesus's life and thought everything that would
benefit him, and so he lacks character in it shows
and Satan can see that.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
Satan sees what his morals are. Satan was around.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
When he saw Judas pocket those coins, and he's saying
to himself, Okay, wonder what I could do with that
second thing that we can see the enemy sees is.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Judas lacks care. Judas lacks care.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Corey ten Boom, a Dutch author but also a Holocaust
survivor someone who survived concentration camps as a Christian, said,
you can never learn that Christ is all you need
until Christ is all you have.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
A lot of times we.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Want Jesus and Jesus and Jesus, and but the reality
is is if you want Christ to be all you need,
then he has to become all that we have, all
that we hold, and all that we trust. Because then
when we see Jesus with clarity in that way, then
that is the place where Satan has no foothold, and
(30:52):
you can actually live a life where Satan is in
behind you and not in front of you. That Satan
is under your foot and not over your head. It's
when we start living in that space. Matthew chapter twenty
six to fourteen to sixty says this about Judas. Says, though,
then one of the disciples who was called Judas is
Scariot went to the chief priest and said, what are
(31:13):
you willing to give me if I hand over Jesus.
At this time, he doesn't even know if he's going
to hand over Jesus. He wants to see how sweet
the deal is going to be first, so he says,
what are you gonna give me if I give Jesus
to you? And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver,
and from that moment, Judas began looking for an opportune time.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
To betray Jesus. Started with one thought.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Here was the thought for Judas, I wonder how much
they would give me if I turned Jesus in. He
was undecided whether he would do it or not. But wooh,
when that deal was sweet, he couldn't resist it. And
Satan was working through every crevice of that deal. He
was working through every Pharisee, he was working through every Sadducey,
He's working through every conversation of Judas, looking for a
(32:01):
moment when Satan could say I can enter him and
now it's my game time. And it just started with
one thought, I have a question for you. I got
this beautiful self portrait of mine.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
See this look at that handsome man. That's a good
looking guy. Look. Look, look, let me ask you guys
a question.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
You think you think if I took this piece right here,
would you say that I'm still all there?
Speaker 3 (32:28):
Yeah? Okay?
Speaker 2 (32:29):
What if I took this piece right here? Would you
still say that I'm all there?
Speaker 3 (32:35):
Okay? What if I took this piece right here? Would
you say I'm all there? Oh? So it's fifty to fifty.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Now let's see if I took let's just take the tattoos, right,
let's just remove the tattoos.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
Would you still say that I'm pretty much there? Yeah? Okay? Here,
yeahs and knows?
Speaker 2 (32:50):
Okay, Now, well, what if I start taking like this
right here, like my eyes, let's remove I got great eyes,
but let's remove those.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
Now I just got the small would you start? Am
I all there? Oh? It's getting clearer now right.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
A lot of us tend to think that sin and
the time to turn around is at this point, But
really it all started downhill with one white piece, one piece,
just one piece.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
Of me, was enough to say that was not bad.
I still feel like me.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Just one night out, just one drip, just one smoke,
just one relationship, just one time just one thought. Nobody's around,
nobody's here. It won't hurt nobody, it won't affect nobody.
And we wonder what happens. Why we say, well, that
wasn't all bad, and how about another piece? How about
another piece? And then at some point, when you've revealed
enough of your say it self didn't satan?
Speaker 3 (33:48):
And the enemy can come and say.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Let's start taking some bigger pieces. And you've already showed
the enemy you don't know how to stop. You've already
showed the enemy that you don't know to put these
pieces back together, because only.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Jesus could put these back together.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Peter went back to Jesus to put his pieces back together.
Speaker 3 (34:08):
Judas did it.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Judas hung himself after he did what he did because
he couldn't live with the guilt, not because he had repentance,
but because he didn't want to face anybody for what
he did. And so there's a difference between regret and repentance,
just like there's difference between and I'm sorry and I
will you forgive me.
Speaker 3 (34:27):
We've all heard it before, Okay, I'm sorry. You don't
mean that. We know you don't mean that. You're just
saying it.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
There's a difference between repentance and forgiveness than just regret
and sorrow.
Speaker 3 (34:39):
Hey my bad, I see I hurt you. It's my fault.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
Would you ever do it again? What does it matter? Like, oh,
what does it matter? Because it's not coming from a
place of repentance. And so for Judas, what started with
one piece, which was just a dollar or two from
Jesus's bag, was.
Speaker 3 (34:53):
Enough that as he kept it consistently.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
And now Satan is hearing his words about what these
wom and his other comments, he's going, oh, this is
a guy I can use.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
So I want to encourage you to be careful.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
If you've ever heard this statement before, if you ever
said this statement before the enemy made me or Satan's
all involved in this, you maybe.
Speaker 3 (35:13):
Have said it or heard it before. And it's actually
a very.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Dangerous statement to make, because what you're saying is that
the Satan saw something in you that he felt like
he could use. You have to be very cautious. Now
we've seen it. There is an opportunity where Satan does try.
He attempts, he tries, he attacks, he makes effort. But
just like Romans eight says, if you're full of the spirit,
(35:36):
he'll have no effect. So therefore he'll give up and
he'll move on. But if you're someone that he likes
to tap dance on, then it means you gave him
a dance floor. And if he's dancing, then you gotta say, God,
I gotta repent.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
You gotta put these pieces back together, because.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
The only ones that Satan enters and uses are the
ones who crack the door open. And the way we
find freedom is to say, Jesus, I repent. I need
you to carry all of this.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
I can't do that. You gotta rid the self centered faith.
I can't do this on my own.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
And the last point we're gonna share is and he
reveals to us what his conduct is like. And we've
seen through Judas how he conducts himself as a disciple
of Jesus.
Speaker 3 (36:24):
He did not represent Jesus well, nor did he lead well.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
Philippian Chapter one twenty seven says, whatever happens, conduct yourselves
worthy in a.
Speaker 3 (36:34):
Matter of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
To conduct ourselves worthy, our actions must be conducted away
worthy of the claim that we say that we follow
Jesus has to match.
Speaker 3 (36:45):
Our conduct has to match that call.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Francis of an Ec, one of the great Saints, says, Priest,
the Gospel in all times, and when necessary, use words,
which means your conduct preaches the Gospel, whether you recognize
it or not. Your conduct speaks louder than your words.
Saint Francis would say, the way you live your life
will preach for Jesus or against Jesus. It will rid
(37:13):
the enemy of his attempts at thwarting you, or it'll
give the enemy encouragement to lean towards you. Because the
enemy loves messing with the world, but he sure loves
messing with people who claim to follow God, because that
gives God the worst pr possible. People who call themselves Christians,
who don't act like Christians.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
That's who Satan wants. And that's why Satan.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
Used one of Jesus's disciples, not a random person, one
of his inner circle, because what better way to stop
Jesus than one of his friends.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
What better way to make Jesus look bad.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
Than someone who says they follow him. And so that
is the person he's looking for. And so that's why
Philippians encourage us that we have to live this life
even when it's hard and when temptation comes. The Bible
talks about taking every thought captive so that you would
not give a place for the enemy, so that you
(38:09):
would not give a foothold for the enemy. James Chapter
four says, submit yourselves therefore to God resists the devil,
and he will flee. Resist him, and he will flee.
In other words, he's gonna attempt. He's gonna try, but
if you resist him, he will go. If you don't,
he'll set up a base camp, and he'll look for
(38:31):
an opportune time, like.
Speaker 3 (38:32):
He did with Judas. And so we need to periodically go.
Speaker 2 (38:36):
And the Bible talks about when we take community to
reflect in our hearts and see what sin exists and
confess it so that it could leave. It's a moment
of cleansing to allow the spirit at work in our lives.
And you never know how much it will bless someone.
I'll close you with this before we leave. You know,
last week we celebrate a special moment where or of
the widows in our church, Nicole, and she was here
(38:58):
for service. She was so blessed. She heard story for
the first time. I thought she heard it this week,
but she did it. We featured a story last week,
if you were with us and one of our dear members, Nicole,
she lost her husband before he even turned forty and
she's now raising her three children. And we brought her
on stage and she had a great story of faith
and trust in God, and we honored her by sowing
(39:21):
a seed into her life. But what happened was if
you got many of you remember if he didn't. It's
on our YouTube channel you can you could go rewatch it.
But she tells a story on how God showed a
moment of goodness in her life where her husband had
passed and her car was going to be repossessed because
she couldn't make the payments for the vehicle. And so
(39:41):
the tow truck driver comes to repossess her vehicle. She
falls on her knees and she pleads out to God
not for her car to be taken. The man resonates
with that. He tells her, you know, my name is Gabriel.
I was named after the angel, and so he had
compassion on her. And so he said, here's the number
to the banker of the bank that's trying to repossess
(40:02):
your car. Give him a call to borrow. See what
they could work out with you. He said, I'm gonna
get on the horn and I'm gonna get on dispatch,
and I'm gonna tell everyone that your house has been
taken care of. So if they get another call to
leave it alone, it's been taken care of. It's being
figured out to leave your car where it is. And
so she said, thank you so much. Well, last week,
one of our members in our church says, I have
(40:24):
a friend named Gabriel who's a tow truck driver, and
I think I've heard him say a story like that before.
And so he goes on our YouTube channel. He pulls
her testimony and he sends it to Gabriel.
Speaker 3 (40:37):
He says, hey, bro, is.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
This story about you? And Gabriel says, yes, that is me.
I remember that night. And he tells his friend, this
video has changed me so much because I was just
about to give up.
Speaker 3 (40:57):
I'm going through some things.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
I'm having such a hard time, and this is just
a reminder from God that I have to keep going.
I shouldn't give up, and I'm gonna trust God through
it all. What happened over a year ago to one
woman who was pleading to God when that very man
needed encouragement himself. The Holy sphere said, I'm gonna bring
(41:22):
it a back around this a Uno reverse card.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
He said, I'm gonna bring it back to you.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
The very grace that you showed this woman is gonna
be the very grace that I'm gonna show.
Speaker 3 (41:32):
You through her story, that you have impacted someone.
Speaker 2 (41:37):
What was just a normal night of him towing vehicles,
and guess what, when tow truck drivers leave repossessed cars,
they lose money, So he also lost out on money
as well. What turned out to something that he felt
like was gonna be a loss, but he just felt
like he was doing a good thing to someone. Over
a year later, he'd be sent a video where tens
(41:58):
of thousands of people would.
Speaker 3 (41:59):
Be in uraged by his story.
Speaker 2 (42:03):
And the story of God's goodness, which was just enough
for him to keep going. I don't know about you,
but that day when the world said to repossess the car, he.
Speaker 3 (42:13):
Said, Satan, get behind me. Quit. When he was in
a moment this past week where he.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
Was just gonna give I don't know if that was
gonna give up hope. I don't know if that was
just gonna stop working. I don't know what that was,
But that very video was a moment where Jesus said,
you said get behind me a year ago. I'm getting
him behind you right now where God can interject in
his mercy. Are we willing to do like Paul says,
which is to say, fight the good fight of faith
(42:41):
because it's a fight.
Speaker 3 (42:43):
Are we willing to resist the devils.
Speaker 2 (42:44):
Where he could flee because it's found oftentimes in our
character and our care and our conduct, where the Satan
will try to find a foothold, Or it's enough that
your faithfulness to the Cross, your faithfulness to focus on.
Speaker 3 (42:58):
Jesus, then he'll say you resisted, he'll flee.
Speaker 2 (43:04):
Seasons where Satan feels to be throwing everything at you
is only.
Speaker 3 (43:07):
Seasons when you're faithful to Jesus. It's not a lifetime.
Speaker 2 (43:11):
There's freedom, there's victory, and there's mercy, and there's hope
found in the Cross. So I want to encourage you
today as we go to close and leave this place together.
If you've never confessed Jesus Christ as your personal Lord
and savior, if you've never got to a place where
you said, God, I'm ridding everything that views me about me,
(43:31):
and I'm completely surrendering it.
Speaker 3 (43:33):
I'm giving it all to you God.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
It's only through Jesus's death and resurrection that you and
I can truly find freedom. Why is it found only
in Jesus, Because Jesus is the only one on earth
who walked this earth, who died on a cross for
you and I, who was put in a tomb, suspected
to be dead forever, and three days later would resurrect
(44:01):
and spend forty days on earth reiterating the resurrection of
God and the goodness of God and the forgiveness of God.
For you and I not to listen to and say, oh,
that's nice, but for you and I to receive, for
us to receive, the gospel is only there when.
Speaker 3 (44:18):
We receive it.
Speaker 2 (44:20):
It's not something that exists in making a sign of
a cross or wearing a cross. The gospel is those
who take it and wear it for themselves. Say Jesus
your forgiveness, You're death and resurrection as for me. So
I encourage you in this moment. If you've never given
your life to Christ, whether you're in the courtyard, cafe
or in this room, don't wait another day before you
(44:42):
choose Jesus. One day all of us will stand before God.
I pray it's a long time till anyone here stands
before God.
Speaker 3 (44:49):
But we do know the reality. There will be a day.
There's only one thing that's one hundred percent in this world.
It's the fact that.
Speaker 2 (44:55):
All of us will die at some point, and all
of us will stand before God.
Speaker 3 (45:00):
The beauty about the work of.
Speaker 2 (45:01):
Jesus is there any There's an eternity secure in the
hands of the Savior in Jesus's work. And not only
will God give us a promise in the future. God
gives us a promise here on earth. His work of
the Cross is not just for heaven one day. It's
also here for life, to give you a peace, a grace,
a mercy, and a hope like you never thought was possible.
(45:22):
To give you a rest from the work of your
life like you never thought was possible.
Speaker 3 (45:26):
That's the goodness of God. So I encourage you in
this place.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
Don't wait another day before you receive Jesus as your savior.
Would you all do me a favor in this moment,
Would you bow your head and close your eyes. We're
all gonna say a prayer out loud right now, But
some people are gonna be saying this for the first time,
or they're gonna be rededicating their life. So I encourage
you as we say this today, We're gonna be affirming
the work of God in your life. So would you
(45:50):
join me in saying this right now, Dear Lord Jesus,
in this moment, I confess you as Lord and Savior.
I repent to my sins, and I believe in this moment,
and I confess in this moment that I'm committed to
follow you for the rest of my days in Jesus' name.
Speaker 4 (46:20):
The podcast The Bible in a Year with Jack Graham
is a moving and inspiring Biblical audio experience that will
help you master wisdom from the world's greatest book. In
each episode, you'll learn to apply Biblical principles to everyday life.
Speaker 2 (46:34):
Each cinematic episode is a journey through the Bible's most
profound stories that will strengthen your appreciation of the Word
and inspire you to keep learning.
Speaker 4 (46:44):
Listen to The Bible in a Year with Jack Graham
on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Let us pray, And when he rose up from prayer
and must come to his disciples, he found them sleeping
for sorrow looked twenty two forty five, O, my lord,
when you entered into the garden of Gyssimone and needed
the support of your disciples, they had no idea what
(00:21):
you were facing. They knew your heart was sorrowful and
must have felt the heavy oppression weigh on you. You
asked them to pray as you wrestled with the cup
of your approaching death. You sweat drops of blood as
you prayed. The cup might pass from you, but if not,
(00:43):
you surrendered to your father's will and agreed for his
will to be done. When you rose up from prayer,
your disciples were so overcome by your distress they became
overpowered by grief and fell into a deep sleep. You
had to face this pivotal moment of agony alone. My
(01:05):
heart bleeds for you, my precious Lord. I can't imagine
how great your suffering must have been before you face
the humiliation of the cross. Lord, don't let sorrow overwhelm
me and cause me to abdicate my authority to prayer. Forly,
call for heavenly help it is in those times of
(01:25):
trouble I need to keep my spirit alert and not
be overcome by oppression. Strengthen me, Lord, and don't let
me slumber when you need me the most in Jesus name. Amen.
Thank you for listening to today's Daily Prayer for more
(01:47):
inspiration and an incredible message from our feature pastor stay
tuned to pray dot COM's Sunday service.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Well, I'm excited to jump in a message. We're in
a series called Inside the Tomb. If any of you
guys brought your physical Bibles or you like reading it
on your phone, could you turn to Luke chapter twenty two.
That's where we're gonna be at today and we're doing
this series leading up until Resurrection Sunday called Inside the Tomb.
If you joined us for Christmas, we called it Inside
the Manger, and it looked into the prayers of the Manger.
(02:24):
This one is inside the Tomb that not only looks
inside the prayers around the tomb, but also the reality
that it was essential that Jesus would go to the tomb.
It was for God's redemption that Jesus would go on
the cross be in the tomb for three days and
resurrect three days later, and so we all can see
(02:45):
a piece of us go inside the tomb where God
can hold and God can redeem in our life. And so,
if you have Luke chapter twenty two, would you join
me in standing on your feet as we honor God's
word today as we read together. Here's what it says
concerning Jesus. It says, now the feast of unleavened bread
drew near, which is called the Passover, and the chief
(03:08):
priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him
to death, for they feared the people they want to.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Put to death Jesus.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Then Satan intered Judas called a scariot. Satan intered Judas
called a scariot hmm, who.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Was of the number of the twelve.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
He went away and conferred with the chief priests and
officers how he might betray him to them.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
And they were glad and agreed to give him money.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him
to them in the absence of a crowd. Let's pray
this morning, God, We pray that as your word goes
for today, Lord, may you speak to us today. Lord,
None of us came here this morning to hear the
opinions of man, the philosophies of man, or even the
doctrines of man. God, we came here fully to hear
(03:59):
from you, Lord, So I pray that as your spirit
goes forth, Lord, may it radically transform us anew, May
we grow in our relationship with you, and may we
leave this place better than we came in today because
your work was at hand.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
We thank you Lord in Jesus' name.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Amen, as you're seated, I want you to nudge someone
next to you and tell him get behind these satan.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
You are ready for that one. Huh.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Some of y'all said that to your spouse with a
little bit too much joy. You're not saying it to
the person You're just stay. In a matter of fact,
get behind the satan. It's something we should regularly remind
ourselves because in a few moments we'll read the passage
that that comes from. But as we read today, we
(04:47):
see an instance where Judas is Scariot, one of Jesus's
twelve disciples, decides that he's gonna betray not only what
we would know Jesus as which our Lord and savior,
but to him it would also be one of his
best friends. This is someone that's spent three years with
(05:08):
Jesus almost every single day. He had heard every prayer
that Jesus had prayed in public. He had heard every
sermon Jesus had ever preached, he had seen every miracle
that Jesus had performed, and he would also have an
opportunity to partake in the things that Jesus would do.
And yet he still got to a place in his
life where he allowed Satan to enter him.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
How does that happen? How does that happen?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
How does Satan enter a person who has had so
much time spent around Jesus.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
You may never thought or asked that question before, but
I read that statement and go, how is this possible?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Many of you and I we have so much faith
in Jesus and we didn't even see these things with
our own eyes.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
This young man sees everything with his.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Own eyes, and yet he still betrays Jesus and he
still leaves a door open for Satan to enter, Because
how many of you guys know, if Satan enters you,
it's because the door was open.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
How does that happen?
Speaker 2 (06:24):
How does that happen to someone that Satan sees a
door that he can open. How does temptation happen, Well,
many of us we may know because we've maybe been
a product of some type of temptation before.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Temptation happened. For me just this past Friday.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
This past Friday, I go I go on a date
night with my wife and it's about eleven o'clock at night.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
It was a long movie.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
So we get home late and I go back at
eleven o'clock night to continue to study for this sermon today.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
And so my wife wanted to do a date night.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Normally off Friday afternoon is my study time to continue
for the weekend. But I thought, okay, we get a babysitter.
My wife wasn't on a date night, so that's what
I'll do. So I put pause on studying and we
went out to the movies and we came.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Home at about eleven.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
She goes upstairs to lay in bed and go on
her phone and hang out on Instagram and other things
like that.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
I go into the kitchen and I go back to work.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
I'd be continued to study for this weekend, and so
I'm back to studying, and next thing you know, as
I'm studying my iPad that I'm using to type at
dings and I can see a text message from her and.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
She says, I want chicken nuggets.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Now for me. I've been doing so good. I've been
losing weight, I've been eating better and so and so
she says, I want chicken nuggets. I'm thinking to myself,
we don't need chicken nuggets. I don't need chicken nuggets.
But like a good husband, I say, would you like
me to order you.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Some chicken nuggets?
Speaker 2 (07:48):
She texts me actually says no, no, no, no, no, I shouldn't
have any chicken nuggets.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Okay, well that's that. I go back to studying. I'm
going Luke chapter twenty two and I'm reading next thing.
You know.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Another text message come about four minutes later, But French
fights do sound bombed.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
I respound back to her.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
I said, would you like me to get you a
combo from McDonald's.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
She said, no, no, no, no, no, I shouldn't. I shouldn't.
I shouldn't.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
And then I mess her back and I say, because
now the thoughts in me and I'm like that does
actually kind of sound fire?
Speaker 3 (08:23):
That like it's not I wasn't interested in it fifteen
minutes ago.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
But now that you progressing this thought, and so I said,
I told her, what if I eat it with you,
would you want something? She goes, hmm, dot dot dot
dot dot. So I said, okay, I'll order it. So
there I am on my door dash. I'm ordering a
two large number tens ten piece of chicken nugget with
large French fries.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
And and it's taken some time.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I'm continuing to study, and all of a sudden the
food gets to my door. I get the notification. I
go to for my front door. I grabbed the chicken nuggets.
I run upstairs to tell Ashley that the food is here,
and sure enough, she's asleep.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
It's midnight, so I say, hey baby, She shrugs me off.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
So here I am downstairs now, sitting on my table
with something I didn't originally want, with two large ten
piece chicken nuggets that are wafting in my face the
French fries, and I think to myself, all right, well
here we are, and so I want to be a
good steward of my finances.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
So now we're eating.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Now it's twelve oh five am with no sound, no TV,
no nothing, just a Bible open and the iPad I'm
not looking at, just eating chicken nuggets. And then I'm
thinking to myself, why am I doing this? I'm like,
why did I get How did I get here?
Speaker 3 (09:51):
I go to bed at one am.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
She leans over, She goes, did the McDonald's ever get here?
I said yes, She said, I'm hungry. I said, threw
it away. Came an hour ago. She goes, Okay, good night.
She just turns around, goes to sleep. But that, but
that tends to be kind of how temptation comes. It
comes as a creeping thought, comes as a creeping suggestion.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
It comes it comes just as a just as a notion,
a statement, a word, a phrase.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
And and you just start thinking about it and you
start taking It doesn't come out right away. If Ashley
texts me he said, like, let's let's be unhealthy tonight.
Let's go get some McDonald's and we are talking to
we would have both said no, let's not do it.
But it started with HM, our boys had chicken nuggets
for dinners. Them the kind of look good. And so
now now I way wants some chicken nuggets. And it
(10:41):
goes from chicken nuggets to a large fry to a
large soda. What happens so thought, It's just one little
moment where you convince yourself it won't.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Be all that bad.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
And that's how temptation starts to play. And what we
have to recognize with the life of Judas. Judas had begin,
through his decisions and his statements, begin to leave a
door open where Satan believed that he could manipulate him
for something greater. Many of us like to think that
the moment that Judas was born, or the moment that
Judas became one of Jesus's disciple, that Satan had a
(11:15):
target on Judas's back.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
No, Satan probably more than likely, and we'll see it
here in a few moments.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
He more than likely would have had a target on
every disciple's back and tried to temp one after another
after another after another. But once they were steadfast towards
Jesus and steadfast towards Jesus and the character matched who
they were, say, you would say, okay, I can't use Thomas, Okay,
I can't use Levi, Okay, I.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Can't use it. And then we're gonna see through some of.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
The actions that Judas would act and betray himself as
Satan started to say, oh, I may have found someone,
may have found someone. Satan even tried with Jesus when
Jesus started his ministry, he was in the desert for
forty days. Satan even tried Jesus. Satan didn't even know
if Jesus was strong enough. So if he tried to
(12:02):
tempt Jesus and didn't think he said, Jesus just bowed
down to me and I'll give you the world, because
he thought Jesus wanted to rule the world. Jesus didn't
want to rule the world. He wanted to save the world.
And that's what Satan missed out on. He did not
understand that about Jesus's earthly ministry. And so what happens
is is we see a moment where Satan actually is
(12:23):
trying with some.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Of the other disciples as he did with Jesus.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
And it's a moment where Jesus is talking to his
disciples and he tells his disciples that he's going to
go to the cross and he's gonna suffer many things
and he's gonna die.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Well. Peter, who still at this moment in.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
His life, wants Jesus to overthrow the Roman government in
Jesus to set up an earthly kingdom. He tells Jesus, no,
I don't want you to die. And here's what Jesus
responds with. It's in Matthew sixteen twenty two, verse twenty four.
It says from that time Jesus began to show his
disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many
(12:58):
things from the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Be killed, and on the third day be raised.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying,
far be it from me, Lord, this shall never happen
to you. But he turned, speaking of Jesus. He turned
and said to Peter, get behind me.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
Satan, you are a hindrance to me.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
For you are not setting your mind on the things
of God, but on the things of man. You're not
setting your mind on the things of God, but you're
setting your mind on the things of man. Now, in
that moment, someone would naturally have to ask himself, did
Satan enter Peter to make that statement? No, No, that
(13:44):
was Peter's own thought. It was coming out of a
pure place. But the difference is is Peter's statement was
in alignment with Satan's mission, and so we have to
understand the difference.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
But both differences exist.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
There is a moment that through the compulsion of our
own sin, through our own righteousness, that we can leave
a door open for Satan to use and manipulate.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Then there's another side of us where Satan is not
involved at all.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
It's just your mind frame and your thinking is in
alignment with the mind frame and thinking of Satan. Right,
And so though there may come from an innocent place,
that doesn't mean that it's still not in union with
what Satan's trying to do. And so people try to
do that with music all the time. Pastor, can I
(14:32):
listen to this kind of music and still be innocent?
Theoretically yes you can, but you have to understand that
with that kind of music there's a mission behind it.
And so can you listen to that music innocently? Sure,
you could almost do anything innocently if it's not sin.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
But does that not mean, though, are you in mission?
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Could you by listening to that music someone else hear
it and it take them somewhere else who's not as
strong as you. Yeah, So that's what's happening with Peter.
Peter pulls him aside so he doesn't say it in
front of the other disciples, which also show that Peter
has a respect for Jesus.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Judas didn't do that stuff.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
We'll see in a few moments Judas made public declarations.
Peter gave private questions to Jesus. There's a difference, and
so he pulls him aside, and we see that his
philosophy is in union with what Satan's trying to do,
which is trying to keep Jesus from this mission. Satan
doesn't know at this moment the clear picture of what
Jesus's mission is. So that's why Jesus is saying, your
(15:34):
motive is in alignment with it, even though Satan doesn't
know what he's trying to accomplish. He just doesn't want
me to be king. But Peter, by you not wanting
me to go to the cross, I have to go
to the cross. So therefore your heart is in alignment
with Satan's heart. And then you hear a moment. There's
a moment when then Jesus during Holy Week and on Passover,
(15:54):
Jesus tells Peter there's gonna come a moment where you're
gonna deny me. People are gonna recognize you to be
on trial. I'm gonna be sentenced soon to be put
to death. People are gonna recognize you for being with me,
and you're gonna deny me. Peter says, I'll never do that.
You're my boy, Jesus. I'll never I'll never deny you,
and Jesus says you will, but it's okay when you do.
(16:17):
I need you to continue to come back, and I
need you to feed my sheep. I need you to
take care of my sheep. This is gonna happen, and theologians.
We don't know whether Peter denied Jesus because he was
afraid that he'd be arrested next, but more than likely
the most accurate depiction is because Peter was the one
who cut the soldier's ear off when they arrested Jesus,
and Jesus healed the ear because Peter thought it was
(16:40):
go time. He thought it was time to fight the
Romans now, So more than likely, Peter was still upset
that the picture of what he wanted Jesus to do
wasn't clear yet, so he wanted Peter wanted war Jesus
wanted forgiveness, and so at the time Peter would have
denied Jesus potentially out of this anger that Jesus wasn't
(17:02):
wanting to go and fight Rome. So he's like, no,
I'm not with him, I'm not a disciple of his.
And it just so happens at this time, according to
Luke twenty two sixty one, that Jesus is across the
courtyard about one hundred yards away, and when Peter denies
Jesus one more time, what happens is Jesus now makes
(17:24):
eye contact with him one hundred yards away. He couldn't
hear Peter, but by the spirit, Jesus knew. And at
that moment, it says, and the Lord turned and looked
at Peter, and Peter remembered the saying of the Lord,
how he had said to him before the rooster crows today,
you will deny me three times. And he went out
and he wept bitterly. What do we see in this
(17:48):
fact that Peter is not being used by Satan? He's
not being used by Satan because this word that's being used,
he remembered, and he left and wept bitterly. It's a
sign of repentance. Pentance means to turn away from. So
when he recognized it, he wept and he turned away
from which shows that in his own decision making process,
(18:09):
when he would recognize that he's falling short, he would
run back to God for forgiveness. He wept when he
recognized how he fell short, He wept and he ran
and he went to God.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Where's Judas? Judas didn't do those things.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
And here's what we have to see today is values
are created in crisis, and they are tested in crisis.
Values are created in Christ had tested in crisis. I've
been in church for a very long time and I've
almost never heard this before. I've never heard someone come
(18:46):
up to me after a service and say, hey, pastor
out it, it's so nice to meet you. And I say, hey,
what brought you to church? And I rarely ever hear
this where they say and it's their first time or
their second time, they're new in church.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
They rarely ever say, well, you know what, recently I sold.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
My company and I'm just doing so good financially. And
me and my wife we just celebrated an anniversary and
we are so good. And my kids they all just
got full right, scholarships, and our family is so good,
and so we just looked at each other one day
and was like, hey, going to church would just be
a cherry on top to all this good stuff. Almost
(19:22):
no one ever says that they're like, well, I first
started coming to church.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
Because my marriage is in ruins.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Well, I first started coming to church because I don't
know what I'm doing in life. I first started coming
to church because I don't know how to raise these kids.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
I first started.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Coming to church because I lost a family member and
it made me think about these things.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
There's always some thread.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Ninety percent of the time for the first initial entry
way in, there's some type of crisis that starts to
ask us the question should a relationship.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
With God be of value?
Speaker 2 (19:57):
But here's the thing, it isn't only until the X
crisis happens that will test that new found value and
new found value. I mean people all the time, oh
oh right, hear okay, because I lost my job, I'm
going through it and I'm just and I'm and they
for six months, they are at church three times a week,
four times a week, they're at prayer, that at everything,
(20:19):
and then and then they just stop. And then I'll
see them at Victoria Gardener say hey, I haven't seen
you forever.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Oh, you won't believe what happened.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
I got a job and and that girl I was
dating we got married.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
And I said, oh, did you move somewhere?
Speaker 2 (20:34):
No, no, I'm still living across the street from the church.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Well where you been, friend? Oh? I just I didn't.
I didn't. I don't need it as much anymore.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
So there the trick is in that statement, God in
a relationship with Jesus was not the value what you
were getting out of it was the value you And
crisis again, and going through a positive form of the
crisis begins.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
To show why am I really here?
Speaker 2 (21:08):
And for Judas, who was with the disciples, hanging around
the disciples, prestigious with the Disciples, when it came time
to turn in Jesus, he showed that his value was money.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
So it's very potential that more than likely.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
The area that Judas grew up in could have been
an impoverished area. For whatever reason, he loves money and
he feels like he never has enough, because the scriptures
later tell us on in a few moments, we'll read
that he always used to take a little bit at
a time from Jesus's money bag, because he was the
treasurer of the disciples, and so Jesus would get one
(21:45):
hundred dollars, Judas would help himself to a nice little
tithe himself. For whatever reason, his value was money over Jesus.
But the only reason why he rocked with Jesus was
because Jesus served value. And when Judas as a smart man,
he begins to see everyone starting to turn on Jesus
(22:06):
and he says, it's a matter of time before Jesus
don't have these crowds anymore.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
He thinks to himself, how can I get that one
last come up off of Jesus?
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Because chrisis revealed his true value, and for Judas his
true he very much well. Could have loved Jesus, could
have had a great relationship with Jesus.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Could have hung out.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
I mean, he was at dinner with Jesus the night
that he went and betrayed him, such as didn't. It
doesn't mean he hates Jesus. It just means he has
a bigger value than Jesus. And so Christis reveals to us,
and so here's some things that we see that Satan
will begin to see into Judas that he feels like
he can start to use him. There's three things that
(22:51):
they're very applicable to us. Is he sees that within.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
Judas, Judas lacks character, Judas lacks care, and Judas lacks conduct.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
And it's the expression of these things that Satan is
watching all of the disciples looking for which one. The
Bible says that Satan moves around like a devourer Warren,
like a lion looking who kee can devour.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
So that's what Satan's doing to all the disciples.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Can I try, Peter, No, he actually loves him, He
actually believes he's Lord. He just has a skewed perception
of what she's here to do. I can't use him.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
I can't. Oh, I see this dude still.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
In a little bit of money here and there. I've
been hearing his comments lately. So we see that character
is a moral and ethic quality defining individual's values. Care
show is a showing place of empathy and compassion, actively
attending to others well needs, which Judas didn't do. Conduct
behavior in line with godly actions, involving integrity, respect, and
responsibility for one's action.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
I want you to look at character for just a moment.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Billy Graham says this, when it comes to character, when
wealth is lost, nothing is lost.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
When health is lost, something is lost.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
When character is lost lost, all is lost. Someone who
loses their character has lost it all. Judas was one
of those individuals. Want you to look at Judas's statement
when a woman comes.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
To worship Jesus with a year's worth of her wage
of hew.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
Many of us know this verse ourselves, but it says
this in John twelve, verse four. But one of the
disciples Judas is Scariot, who was later to betray him, ejected,
why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
To the poor? It was a worth a year's wage.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
He did not say this because he cared about the poor,
but because he was a thief, and as keeper of
the money bag, he used to help himself.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
To what was put in it.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
But guess what, John, by the inspirational Holy Spirit, he
fills that in for us.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
So we can read it and we can go, oh,
that dog, Judas.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
But if you were around Judas, you actually would have thought.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
He was very righteous.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
When Judas is there and there's a woman breaking perfume
that's worth a year's wage on Jesus's feet, and Judas goes,
this woman could do so we could our ministry could
do so much more for the poor if she just
sold this perfume.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
How dares she?
Speaker 2 (25:16):
You know, Jesus is just gonna go wash his feet
after such a waste of perfume. We could have resold that.
You know how many people that could have fed, and
there would have been other people and disciples there going
you so right, Judas, I can't believe her.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
Why would Jesus even let her do that? That's ridiculous. Ah.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
While his words say one thing, but his heart says another.
Because what his heart is really saying because he's the treasurer.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
So if she gave that to Jesus for the ministry,
Jesus would.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Have said, God, bless you, thank you so much here, Judas,
can you go sell that for the work of the ministry.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
And Judas would have.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Been like, God, yeah, I got you, Jesus. That's fifty
k right there. They'll never miss five k missing. Judas
knows that in his heart, But his words and what
society hears has made Judas you so right.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
But God knows his heart.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
So where we have to recognize is a self centered
faith produces a self righteous attitude.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
Self centered faith, the me me me faith. Guess what,
you will be.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
Consistently trying to show everyone around you how much you
have figured it out.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
When your faith is centered around.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
You, your own development, your own joy, your own purpose,
your own happiness, and nothing about anyone else, then you
will begin to have a self righteous attitude, and you
will make comments about everything. You will make comments about
people around you. You will make comments about church. You'll
make cause it just will come out. It just could
come out of you easy. Can you believe she said that?
(26:59):
Can you believe she dressed this way? You know, don't
mind how I talk to my husband. The way that
girl dress is ridiculous. It's self righteous attitude. Look at
this person all while I'm not being obedient in this
space myself and.
Speaker 3 (27:15):
So immediately self centered faith.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
The me me me mentality, the me me me faith
that Judas was living.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
The more that Jesus's ministry grew.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
The more that Judas's pockets grew, and the moment that
he sees Jesus' ministry probably not gonna grow no more.
The moment he tried to get one more big payday,
because the clearer you start to think about you, the
actually more disfigured life begins to be. And so for Judas,
he fell for these lives because he kept looking at
(27:47):
himself for so long he stopped fixing his eyes on
Jesus and the work of Jesus, that he started to
only view himself. You know, Papulo Picasso is one of
the world's greatest painter, definitely in our day in the
nineteen hundreds, and a Picasso is a euphemism for a
great artist. We say someone's a regular Pablo Picasso when
(28:07):
they're a great artist. Well, Pablo Picasso, over his years
he did a set of around ten to eleven self portraits.
And what's amazing is most art historians think it's incredible
that you'll see when Picasso was fifteen years old, he
used to draw himself really clearly.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
But you get all the way towards the bottom right.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
That was his last self portrait he ever did of
himself at the age ninety years old. And so he
went from a point where when he was younger he
saw himself very clearly, very innocently, but as he got
older he actually towards his nineties, and some of this
went with his abstract painting, but it was really as
(28:46):
he stepped more and more into older age and realized
his mortality. Most art historians believe that as he got
older he saw himself less clearly, because as he would
paint himself, he'd in at fifteen and twenty, he was
very innocent, so he saw himself very clearly. But as
he got older he added all his memories and all
(29:08):
his stories, and it was so much so that all
he could do is kind of just draw himself into
a rock. Because the longer that we fixate on ourselves,
the less clear it becomes, and the more that line
is fudged, and the more that line is tott And
the point of the Gospel and the point of the
(29:29):
Cross is for us to fix our eyes on Jesus
and the work of the Cross and the work.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
Of his resurrection.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
You want to see your life more clearly, you have
to stop looking at your life and start looking at
Jesus's life.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
Judas didn't do that.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
He looked at Jesus's life and thought everything that would
benefit him, and so he lacks character in it shows
and Satan can see that.
Speaker 3 (29:58):
Satan sees what his morals are. Satan was around.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
When he saw Judas pocket those coins, and he's saying
to himself, Okay, wonder what I could do with that
second thing that we can see the enemy sees is.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Judas lacks care. Judas lacks care.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Corey ten Boom, a Dutch author but also a Holocaust
survivor someone who survived concentration camps as a Christian, said,
you can never learn that Christ is all you need
until Christ is all you have.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
A lot of times we.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Want Jesus and Jesus and Jesus, and but the reality
is is if you want Christ to be all you need,
then he has to become all that we have, all
that we hold, and all that we trust. Because then
when we see Jesus with clarity in that way, then
that is the place where Satan has no foothold, and
(30:52):
you can actually live a life where Satan is in
behind you and not in front of you. That Satan
is under your foot and not over your head. It's
when we start living in that space. Matthew chapter twenty
six to fourteen to sixty says this about Judas. Says, though,
then one of the disciples who was called Judas is
Scariot went to the chief priest and said, what are
(31:13):
you willing to give me if I hand over Jesus.
At this time, he doesn't even know if he's going
to hand over Jesus. He wants to see how sweet
the deal is going to be first, so he says,
what are you gonna give me if I give Jesus
to you? And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver,
and from that moment, Judas began looking for an opportune time.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
To betray Jesus. Started with one thought.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Here was the thought for Judas, I wonder how much
they would give me if I turned Jesus in. He
was undecided whether he would do it or not. But wooh,
when that deal was sweet, he couldn't resist it. And
Satan was working through every crevice of that deal. He
was working through every Pharisee, he was working through every Sadducey,
He's working through every conversation of Judas, looking for a
(32:01):
moment when Satan could say I can enter him and
now it's my game time. And it just started with
one thought, I have a question for you. I got
this beautiful self portrait of mine.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
See this look at that handsome man. That's a good
looking guy. Look. Look, look, let me ask you guys
a question.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
You think you think if I took this piece right here,
would you say that I'm still all there?
Speaker 3 (32:28):
Yeah? Okay?
Speaker 2 (32:29):
What if I took this piece right here? Would you
still say that I'm all there?
Speaker 3 (32:35):
Okay? What if I took this piece right here? Would
you say I'm all there? Oh? So it's fifty to fifty.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Now let's see if I took let's just take the tattoos, right,
let's just remove the tattoos.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
Would you still say that I'm pretty much there? Yeah? Okay? Here,
yeahs and knows?
Speaker 2 (32:50):
Okay, Now, well, what if I start taking like this
right here, like my eyes, let's remove I got great eyes,
but let's remove those.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
Now I just got the small would you start? Am
I all there? Oh? It's getting clearer now right.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
A lot of us tend to think that sin and
the time to turn around is at this point, But
really it all started downhill with one white piece, one piece,
just one piece.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
Of me, was enough to say that was not bad.
I still feel like me.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Just one night out, just one drip, just one smoke,
just one relationship, just one time just one thought. Nobody's around,
nobody's here. It won't hurt nobody, it won't affect nobody.
And we wonder what happens. Why we say, well, that
wasn't all bad, and how about another piece? How about
another piece? And then at some point, when you've revealed
enough of your say it self didn't satan?
Speaker 3 (33:48):
And the enemy can come and say.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Let's start taking some bigger pieces. And you've already showed
the enemy you don't know how to stop. You've already
showed the enemy that you don't know to put these
pieces back together, because only.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Jesus could put these back together.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Peter went back to Jesus to put his pieces back together.
Speaker 3 (34:08):
Judas did it.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Judas hung himself after he did what he did because
he couldn't live with the guilt, not because he had repentance,
but because he didn't want to face anybody for what
he did. And so there's a difference between regret and repentance,
just like there's difference between and I'm sorry and I
will you forgive me.
Speaker 3 (34:27):
We've all heard it before, Okay, I'm sorry. You don't
mean that. We know you don't mean that. You're just
saying it.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
There's a difference between repentance and forgiveness than just regret
and sorrow.
Speaker 3 (34:39):
Hey my bad, I see I hurt you. It's my fault.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
Would you ever do it again? What does it matter? Like, oh,
what does it matter? Because it's not coming from a
place of repentance. And so for Judas, what started with
one piece, which was just a dollar or two from
Jesus's bag, was.
Speaker 3 (34:53):
Enough that as he kept it consistently.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
And now Satan is hearing his words about what these
wom and his other comments, he's going, oh, this is
a guy I can use.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
So I want to encourage you to be careful.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
If you've ever heard this statement before, if you ever
said this statement before the enemy made me or Satan's
all involved in this, you maybe.
Speaker 3 (35:13):
Have said it or heard it before. And it's actually
a very.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Dangerous statement to make, because what you're saying is that
the Satan saw something in you that he felt like
he could use. You have to be very cautious. Now
we've seen it. There is an opportunity where Satan does try.
He attempts, he tries, he attacks, he makes effort. But
just like Romans eight says, if you're full of the spirit,
(35:36):
he'll have no effect. So therefore he'll give up and
he'll move on. But if you're someone that he likes
to tap dance on, then it means you gave him
a dance floor. And if he's dancing, then you gotta say, God,
I gotta repent.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
You gotta put these pieces back together, because.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
The only ones that Satan enters and uses are the
ones who crack the door open. And the way we
find freedom is to say, Jesus, I repent. I need
you to carry all of this.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
I can't do that. You gotta rid the self centered faith.
I can't do this on my own.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
And the last point we're gonna share is and he
reveals to us what his conduct is like. And we've
seen through Judas how he conducts himself as a disciple
of Jesus.
Speaker 3 (36:24):
He did not represent Jesus well, nor did he lead well.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
Philippian Chapter one twenty seven says, whatever happens, conduct yourselves
worthy in a.
Speaker 3 (36:34):
Matter of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
To conduct ourselves worthy, our actions must be conducted away
worthy of the claim that we say that we follow
Jesus has to match.
Speaker 3 (36:45):
Our conduct has to match that call.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Francis of an Ec, one of the great Saints, says, Priest,
the Gospel in all times, and when necessary, use words,
which means your conduct preaches the Gospel, whether you recognize
it or not. Your conduct speaks louder than your words.
Saint Francis would say, the way you live your life
will preach for Jesus or against Jesus. It will rid
(37:13):
the enemy of his attempts at thwarting you, or it'll
give the enemy encouragement to lean towards you. Because the
enemy loves messing with the world, but he sure loves
messing with people who claim to follow God, because that
gives God the worst pr possible. People who call themselves Christians,
who don't act like Christians.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
That's who Satan wants. And that's why Satan.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
Used one of Jesus's disciples, not a random person, one
of his inner circle, because what better way to stop
Jesus than one of his friends.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
What better way to make Jesus look bad.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
Than someone who says they follow him. And so that
is the person he's looking for. And so that's why
Philippians encourage us that we have to live this life
even when it's hard and when temptation comes. The Bible
talks about taking every thought captive so that you would
not give a place for the enemy, so that you
(38:09):
would not give a foothold for the enemy. James Chapter
four says, submit yourselves therefore to God resists the devil,
and he will flee. Resist him, and he will flee.
In other words, he's gonna attempt. He's gonna try, but
if you resist him, he will go. If you don't,
he'll set up a base camp, and he'll look for
(38:31):
an opportune time, like.
Speaker 3 (38:32):
He did with Judas. And so we need to periodically go.
Speaker 2 (38:36):
And the Bible talks about when we take community to
reflect in our hearts and see what sin exists and
confess it so that it could leave. It's a moment
of cleansing to allow the spirit at work in our lives.
And you never know how much it will bless someone.
I'll close you with this before we leave. You know,
last week we celebrate a special moment where or of
the widows in our church, Nicole, and she was here
(38:58):
for service. She was so blessed. She heard story for
the first time. I thought she heard it this week,
but she did it. We featured a story last week,
if you were with us and one of our dear members, Nicole,
she lost her husband before he even turned forty and
she's now raising her three children. And we brought her
on stage and she had a great story of faith
and trust in God, and we honored her by sowing
(39:21):
a seed into her life. But what happened was if
you got many of you remember if he didn't. It's
on our YouTube channel you can you could go rewatch it.
But she tells a story on how God showed a
moment of goodness in her life where her husband had
passed and her car was going to be repossessed because
she couldn't make the payments for the vehicle. And so
(39:41):
the tow truck driver comes to repossess her vehicle. She
falls on her knees and she pleads out to God
not for her car to be taken. The man resonates
with that. He tells her, you know, my name is Gabriel.
I was named after the angel, and so he had
compassion on her. And so he said, here's the number
to the banker of the bank that's trying to repossess
(40:02):
your car. Give him a call to borrow. See what
they could work out with you. He said, I'm gonna
get on the horn and I'm gonna get on dispatch,
and I'm gonna tell everyone that your house has been
taken care of. So if they get another call to
leave it alone, it's been taken care of. It's being
figured out to leave your car where it is. And
so she said, thank you so much. Well, last week,
one of our members in our church says, I have
(40:24):
a friend named Gabriel who's a tow truck driver, and
I think I've heard him say a story like that before.
And so he goes on our YouTube channel. He pulls
her testimony and he sends it to Gabriel.
Speaker 3 (40:37):
He says, hey, bro, is.
Speaker 2 (40:38):
This story about you? And Gabriel says, yes, that is me.
I remember that night. And he tells his friend, this
video has changed me so much because I was just
about to give up.
Speaker 3 (40:57):
I'm going through some things.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
I'm having such a hard time, and this is just
a reminder from God that I have to keep going.
I shouldn't give up, and I'm gonna trust God through
it all. What happened over a year ago to one
woman who was pleading to God when that very man
needed encouragement himself. The Holy sphere said, I'm gonna bring
(41:22):
it a back around this a Uno reverse card.
Speaker 3 (41:25):
He said, I'm gonna bring it back to you.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
The very grace that you showed this woman is gonna
be the very grace that I'm gonna show.
Speaker 3 (41:32):
You through her story, that you have impacted someone.
Speaker 2 (41:37):
What was just a normal night of him towing vehicles,
and guess what, when tow truck drivers leave repossessed cars,
they lose money, So he also lost out on money
as well. What turned out to something that he felt
like was gonna be a loss, but he just felt
like he was doing a good thing to someone. Over
a year later, he'd be sent a video where tens
(41:58):
of thousands of people would.
Speaker 3 (41:59):
Be in uraged by his story.
Speaker 2 (42:03):
And the story of God's goodness, which was just enough
for him to keep going. I don't know about you,
but that day when the world said to repossess the car, he.
Speaker 3 (42:13):
Said, Satan, get behind me. Quit. When he was in
a moment this past week where he.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
Was just gonna give I don't know if that was
gonna give up hope. I don't know if that was
just gonna stop working. I don't know what that was,
But that very video was a moment where Jesus said,
you said get behind me a year ago. I'm getting
him behind you right now where God can interject in
his mercy. Are we willing to do like Paul says,
which is to say, fight the good fight of faith
(42:41):
because it's a fight.
Speaker 3 (42:43):
Are we willing to resist the devils.
Speaker 2 (42:44):
Where he could flee because it's found oftentimes in our
character and our care and our conduct, where the Satan
will try to find a foothold, Or it's enough that
your faithfulness to the Cross, your faithfulness to focus on.
Speaker 3 (42:58):
Jesus, then he'll say you resisted, he'll flee.
Speaker 2 (43:04):
Seasons where Satan feels to be throwing everything at you
is only.
Speaker 3 (43:07):
Seasons when you're faithful to Jesus. It's not a lifetime.
Speaker 2 (43:11):
There's freedom, there's victory, and there's mercy, and there's hope
found in the Cross. So I want to encourage you
today as we go to close and leave this place together.
If you've never confessed Jesus Christ as your personal Lord
and savior, if you've never got to a place where
you said, God, I'm ridding everything that views me about me,
(43:31):
and I'm completely surrendering it.
Speaker 3 (43:33):
I'm giving it all to you God.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
It's only through Jesus's death and resurrection that you and
I can truly find freedom. Why is it found only
in Jesus, Because Jesus is the only one on earth
who walked this earth, who died on a cross for
you and I, who was put in a tomb, suspected
to be dead forever, and three days later would resurrect
(44:01):
and spend forty days on earth reiterating the resurrection of
God and the goodness of God and the forgiveness of God.
For you and I not to listen to and say, oh,
that's nice, but for you and I to receive, for
us to receive, the gospel is only there when.
Speaker 3 (44:18):
We receive it.
Speaker 2 (44:20):
It's not something that exists in making a sign of
a cross or wearing a cross. The gospel is those
who take it and wear it for themselves. Say Jesus
your forgiveness, You're death and resurrection as for me. So
I encourage you in this moment. If you've never given
your life to Christ, whether you're in the courtyard, cafe
or in this room, don't wait another day before you
(44:42):
choose Jesus. One day all of us will stand before God.
I pray it's a long time till anyone here stands
before God.
Speaker 3 (44:49):
But we do know the reality. There will be a day.
There's only one thing that's one hundred percent in this world.
It's the fact that.
Speaker 2 (44:55):
All of us will die at some point, and all
of us will stand before God.
Speaker 3 (45:00):
The beauty about the work of.
Speaker 2 (45:01):
Jesus is there any There's an eternity secure in the
hands of the Savior in Jesus's work. And not only
will God give us a promise in the future. God
gives us a promise here on earth. His work of
the Cross is not just for heaven one day. It's
also here for life, to give you a peace, a grace,
a mercy, and a hope like you never thought was possible.
(45:22):
To give you a rest from the work of your
life like you never thought was possible.
Speaker 3 (45:26):
That's the goodness of God. So I encourage you in
this place.
Speaker 2 (45:29):
Don't wait another day before you receive Jesus as your savior.
Would you all do me a favor in this moment,
Would you bow your head and close your eyes. We're
all gonna say a prayer out loud right now, But
some people are gonna be saying this for the first time,
or they're gonna be rededicating their life. So I encourage
you as we say this today, We're gonna be affirming
the work of God in your life. So would you
(45:50):
join me in saying this right now, Dear Lord Jesus,
in this moment, I confess you as Lord and Savior.
I repent to my sins, and I believe in this moment,
and I confess in this moment that I'm committed to
follow you for the rest of my days in Jesus' name.
Speaker 4 (46:20):
The podcast The Bible in a Year with Jack Graham
is a moving and inspiring Biblical audio experience that will
help you master wisdom from the world's greatest book. In
each episode, you'll learn to apply Biblical principles to everyday life.
Speaker 2 (46:34):
Each cinematic episode is a journey through the Bible's most
profound stories that will strengthen your appreciation of the Word
and inspire you to keep learning.
Speaker 4 (46:44):
Listen to The Bible in a Year with Jack Graham
on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Matthew Potter
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