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please turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 27 Matthew chapter 27 I'll begin reading in verse 1 when morning came all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put him to death and when they had bound him they led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor then Judas his betrayer seeing that he had been condemned was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders saying I have sinned by betraying innocent blood and they said what is that to us you see to it then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went and hanged himself but the chief priests took the silver pieces and said it is not lawful to put them into the Treasury because they are the price of blood and they consulted together and brought with them or bought with them the potter's field to bury strangers in therefore that field has been called the field of blood to this day then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the Prophet saying and they took the thirty pieces of silver the value of him who was priced whom they of the children of Israel priced and gave them for the potter's field as the Lord directed me amen let us pray our Father in heaven we thank you for the written word we thank you that its profitable to us for doctrine for correction for reproof for instruction and righteousness and then as well it sets before us in all of its glorious detail the gospel of our salvation we thank you what are for what our Lord Jesus Christ went through on our behalf we thank you that in the fullness of the times you sent him forth born of a woman and born under the law to redeem those under the law and God as we see this played out in the passion narrative in Matthew's Gospel may we stand in awe and Wonder may we indeed adore and praise and glorify this one who is altogether lovely in chief among ten and he'd cause us to love cause us to to glorify cause us to in honor you in all things and Lord fill us with your Holy Spirit as we come to the Scriptures now may the spirit guide us and lead us and direct our thoughts as we consider this passage and for any and all who have come here this morning may today be the day of salvation those outside of Christ we pray that they would end the day praising God Most High may it be the case that you'd open hearts and effectually call sinners unto yourself through the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ and as well father we pray this for your glory and for your honor and for your praise do forgive us now for our sins and our transgressions wash us and cleanse us in purify us and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well we have seen in our studies in Matthew's Gospel very recently this Sanhedrin hearing of this preliminary hearing of sorts before the Sanhedrin the Lord Jesus has been found or accused rather of having been a blasphemer in chapter 26 verses 57 to 67 and then the narrative shifts and shows us Peters denial three denials follow Peters three naps in the Garden of Gethsemane and now we resume the proceedings with the Sanhedrin when we come specifically to verses 3 to 10 we'll note that their thematic or they deal with particular themes rather than chronology because in verse 5 the chief priests and the elders are in the temple Judas is at the temple at one in one form or another and so it's not strictly chronological after the Sanhedrin make this decision to take Jesus to Pilate they take Jesus to Pilate so it's not chronological but it is somatic and I think we ought to ask the question why is it here or what function does it serve and I think it does various things specifically verses 3 to 5 in the first place it shows us the fulfillment of Christ's words that's very important for Matthew that affirms and confirms and authenticates who Jesus Christ is remember Jesus said that Peter would well he's just shown us how Peter denied him also Jesus has said announced or foretold that one would betray him and now this fleshes out that fulfillment secondly we see a high contrast here very specifically between Peter and Judas and will draw some of that out in our application this morning thirdly the narrative continues to emphasize the responsibility the culpability of the Jewish leaders and we will see that in two places in verses 3 to 10 and then fourthly it shows the fulfillment this narrative of Old Testament prophecy that's precisely this reference to the Prophet Jeremiah in verses 9 and 10 and then of course fifthly it answers the question that's not found answered in Mark Luke or John Luke relates it in Acts chapter 1 but in the other gospel narratives we don't know what happens to Judas and so verses 3 to 10 in Matthew 27 answer the question what happened to Judas now this morning we're only going to take up verses 1 to 5 verses 6 to 10 especially his quotation there from the Prophet Jeremiah which is actually Jeremiah and Zechariah will require a bit of a time to explain so we're just going to look at verses 1 to 5 under two main considerations first the murderous decision of the Sanhedrin in verses 1 and 2 and then secondly the miserable end of Judas Iscariot in verses 3 to 5 so let's look first at this murderous decision in verse 1 of chapter 27 when morning came now it was in the early morning hours when they had this preliminary hearing when they were with Jesus that recorded in chapter 26 verses 57 to 67 so now it comes to morning or to daybreak and it's well known it's been observed that this is when the the Roman prefect sore the governors did their work so you wanted to get there at daybreak to present your prisoner so that the the proceedings could take place now this a second trial but rather it is their particular decision and this has been their desire all along all the way back in Chapter 12 they plotted to destroy Jesus more recently in chapter 26 verses 3 to 5 they plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill him certainly when we read that that that such section rather in 2657 267 we see twice there that their desire is to execute the Lord Jesus Christ and so now it is not a second hearing is not a second trial but they're plotting together and I think one of the reasons why is they need to build their case they need to bolster their case because if they present Jesus to Pontius Pilate as a blasphemer most likely Pontius Pilate is not going to execute him for that particular charge in fact Artie France makes this observation a charge of blasphemy which was the basis of their verdict would carry no weight and Roman law they needed a charge which was sufficiently political and sufficiently alarming to the occupying power to ensure a capital sentence in other words they don't want him to go to prison they don't want him to lose some privileges in the Empire they want him to be crucified they want him to be capitally punished they want him to be put to death how do they do that verse 11 shows us or demonstrates to us they highlight the Royal side of Messiah shed in other words when Christ says in chapter 26 verse 64 it is as you say I am the Messiah I am David's son I am the one the son of man coming on the clouds of power I am that one written of concerning the urn the Old Testament prophecies there's a royal site involved and so the Sanhedrin plays that up so that Jesus will be perceived as a threat to the Roman Empire when you compare Luke chapter 23 verses 1 & 2 they really get it going there because they say this man teaches that persons ought not to pay taxes so you see why pilots getting on board in turn of wanting to do away with this particular man now pilot throughout maintains the innocence of the Lord Jesus Christ but nevertheless it couldn't just be a charge of blasphemy so no doubt verses 1 and 2 are dealing with that particular time they've had the preliminary hearing in verses 57 to 67 in chapter 26 now they're applauding together they are consulting together they're building their case and they make this decision now to bring him to Pontius Pilate now notice that in this deliverance in verse two it is a fulfillment of Jesus words in chapter 20 at verse 19 when he is specifying why he must go to Jerusalem the last section he says and be delivered deliver him to the Gentiles this is Psalm 2 verse 2 being played out right before our eyes we see the rulers of the nations we see the leaders we see them all conspiring together against Yahweh and against his Christ the Apostles see this they recognize this they pray in light of Psalm 2 in Acts chapter 4 this is a grand scale cosmic conspiracy against the living and true God and His Christ and we see it right in this particular narrative now notice they bind Jesus we'd already been bound at one point when he went to Anna's house but here specifically from the Sanhedrin to Pontius Pilate I think there's two reasons for this practically so he wouldn't escape or be rescued they're gonna leave the confines of Caiaphas palace and they're gonna march him to Pontius Pilate he doesn't or they don't want Jesus to escape they certainly don't want anybody to come and break him out so they bind him as well think about the psychological impact this will have on Pilate when they present Jesus bound you bind a man are you handcuffed a man who is a threat who is a danger it it creates an image it asserts guilt prior to anything ever transpiring so I think those are the practical reasons so that he wouldn't be escaped he wouldn't be rescued and it would create this impression that he was already guilty but theologically we have the binding of the Lord Jesus Christ I love out and made this observation he says as Isaac was bound before he was laid upon the altar so was the great anti tight bound before he was brought as a lamb to the slaughter and delivered up to the Roman governor Origen says they bound Jesus who loosens them that are bound and the language delivered him to Pontius Pilate we have seen in our studies in Matthew's Gospel this word delivered is a very theologically charged word it's applied to these religious leaders it's applied to to Judas Iscariot it's applied to ultimately God Most High in the prophet Isaiah because Yahweh was pleased to bruise him and we'll see how that underscores the entirety of the passion narrative but then it mentions specifically this Pontius Pilate now the term governor is a general term that the specifics was a prefect and a prefect had command over auxilary troops of about a thousand men and they governed smaller provinces and Pontius Pilate answered to this to the leggett in Syria and specifically he would have lived in Caesarea maritima but we it would be in Jerusalem during these feasts remember they were very scared about uproars taking place so Pilate his auxilary troops would be in this particular city at this particular time now it's recorded and our gospel narratives bear witness of this that Pilate was extremely brutal to the Jews Josephus and Philo are not Philo the other the Roman one Tacitus record that he was an extremely brutal man and as I said in Luke chapter 13 you see that very thing as well and that's caused some to consider what we find in the passion narrative a bit a bit inconsistent if he's so brutal to the Jews why doesn't he jump on the fact to execute Jesus I mean as we'll see pilots always a bit reserved pilots not fully into this if you will well perhaps because Jesus isn't the sort of threat that they have made him out to be perhaps because Pilate knows that if he messes up and he gets reported to headquarters we'll be moved or removed so he's walking delicately walking this fine line so in the money and he's very brutal in his history or in his career but he comes across almost as spineless and full of cowardice and full of whimper II and the passion narratives I think they can be squared he's got a lot of external pressure he doesn't want to lose his job and so he engages with these Jews according to their particular plan so that's the miserable decision of the Sanhedrin in verses 1 & 2 let's move now to the miserable end of Judas Iscariot and verses three to five note the connection in verse three then Judas his betrayer seeing that he had been condemned again it's a thematic length but it's a strong somatic link knowing that Jesus had been condemned this overtakes him knowing that all of these things had transpired this overtakes him now we might ask the question what did he think was going to happen what in the world did he think was going to happen did he think they were gonna just slap him on the hand and tell him not to act like Messiah anymore he would have heard Jesus prophecies concerning his coming death in Jerusalem Matthew 16 Matthew 17 Matthew 20 he would have seen the opposition that the religious leaders posed to Jesus all throughout Jesus history and career they would have seen these things and so when it gets to this particular point he sees now that Christ has been condemned and he sought-- starts to have this sort of pang in his conscience again France I think it explains it well he says the actual occurrence of what he had been had willingly set in motion has at last brought home to him the enormity of what he has done I mean man goes to kill himself in this particular passage now I'm not going to preach this morning that he repented and that he has everlasting life some commentators do that some persons put him in heaven I don't believe that's the case at all but even this reprobate was seized with some sort of a pang and his conscience at having done what he's done I think that really is a reproof to any and all of us who never feel the sense of our own sin I'm not talking fetal and some mystical nebulous weird way but we engage in things and we don't ever consider the consequences of such things we engage in activities and we don't think well what's it going to be like down the road the quote Matthew pull a couple of times this morning he says sin is sweet in the mouth but it's bitter in the belly and that's what's happened here to Judas a reprobate a wretched man and a godless man the man responsible for handing over the Lord Jesus Christ to these murderous thugs that then present him over to the Roman Roman prefect what's happening with Judas in this particular instance notice his mental state the remorse in view demonstrates that this was not repentance see genuine repentance does not drive a man out to hang himself and we'll consider that in just a moment the King James Version is a bit hunt' unhelpful at this particular point it says it repented him there's actually two different words used terms of repentance like what we see when sinners are converted and what's happening here remorse is a good way to sort of capture the the meaning here calvin says he says that Judas repented not that he reformed but that the crime which he had committed gave him uneasiness as God frequently opens the eyes of the reprobate so as to begin to feel their miseries and to be alarmed at them and John Gill adds it was not such a repentance by which he became wiser and better you see this remorse led him to destruction it didn't produce better nests or goodness he Gill says but it produced an excruciating tormenting pain in his mind by which he became worse this is a bit of a terrifying scene I think in this particular section again some of us are some of you perhaps have never felt your own sin I've never thought twice about the fact that you transgress a holy God's law that you do not conform to that that righteous revelation of who God is and what he demands of his creatures you've treated the 10 commandments as if they're 10 suggestions you know if you want a better life a happier life more more sort of sort of wholeness then don't have other gods before me but but it's just a suggestion you need to understand that you have rebelled against a holy God a God who has commanded his creatures in a particular way so at least on the one hand Judas feels a sense of remorse but we ought not to be led to think that if this remorse was in fact repentance notice his particular action he brings back the thirty pieces of silver to the temple and then notice words he declares that he has sinned by betraying innocent blood isn't that an amazing statement the mouth of Judas the betrayer I have betrayed innocent blood you will see that in Luke's Gospel in Luke 23 on three occasions specifically if you're taking notes you can jot this down verses 4 14 and 22 you know what Pilate says three times in that section I find no guilt in him now Pilate wasn't a he randori he reigned he was governor from about eighty 26 to eighty thirty-six ten years pretty good pretty long career he had probably seen it all he had probably seen all sorts of things again he's not the king he's over a particular a small ish area but nevertheless he has seen it all and yet when he meets Jesus Christ he says three times I I find no guilt in him Judas Iscariot says the same thing I have betrayed innocent blood listen to Gil here he says so God in His all-wise Providence ordered it that a testimony should be born to the innocence of Christ from the mouth of this vile wretch that betrayed him to cut off the argument from the Jews that one of his own disciples knew him to be a wicked man you see what Gil is saying God has so orchestrated saw things that even this wicked vile wretch confesses the in Cinci of Jesus price so later generations of Jews can't say well you know one of his disciples those who knew him best gave evidence against him no he gave evidence quite the contrary that one of his own disciples knew him to be a wicked man and as such delivered him into their hands for though Judas might not believe in him as the Messiah and the Son of God at least have no true faith in him as such yet he knew and believed in his own conscience that he was a good man and a righteous and innocent one now remember that I said that this is going to show this whole narrative is going to show the culpability of the religious leaders what do they do when they hear this claim from Judas that he's innocent that brings us to consider the remorse or rather the response of the religious leaders they show no remorse do they who's more to be applauded in this narrative at least up to this particular point Judas knows what he's done is wretched he knows that it's terrible such that he's going to take these thirty pieces of silver and cast them either into or in the temple we'll deal with that in just a moment Judas at least feels the pangs in their car in his conscience these Jewish leaders show no remorse whatsoever note their response to Judas in verse four he said I have sinned by betraying innocent blood and they said what is that to us you see to it you know what that means essentially so what we don't care it doesn't fit our narrative we plotted way back in Matthew 12 to destroy him we don't let pesky things like facts get in the way of that you see the conspiracy here you see they're raising the fists at y'all went in against his Christ they will have blood that the claims that Jesus is innocent notwithstanding so what you see to it interesting same language that Pilate will use later on you see to it it's everybody trying to do they're all trying to pass the buck of responsibility at this particular juncture but these men these religious leaders the highest council in Israel at the time both lazy ass tickly civilly these men say we don't care we want to be rid of this troublemaker you want to see the animosity and the wretchedness and the wickedness of men I suggest that Matthew 27 verses 1 to 10 is a great place to go to you will see the account of Judas and those of you who are young those of you who continue to pursue sin those of you who have no remorse no repentance those who continue to plunge headlong into wickedness look at sins rewards in this passage you're all all your friends say oh it's so fun to do this or to do that it's so fun to look at porn it's so fun to engage in this sort of thing this this rebellion it's so Fonda to smoke this or to drink this or to shoot this this is sins and Paul says the wages of sin is death for any of us that think that somehow sin is a kind taskmaster I think 27 1 to 10 illustrates just the opposite it does demonstrate with Matt Matthew Paul says it's sweet in the mouth but it's bitter in the belly it drives this man to go out and hang himself but the culpability of these religious leaders the highest religious functionary Porter the highest civil court in the land says so what we don't care we're not going to pursue this we're not gonna ask questions we're not going to ask this betrayer what it means that he claims that he's innocent doesn't fit the narrative doesn't fit what we want doesn't fit our desire or our design we want blood from this man and we will get it so you see to it yourself I don't that they essentially say you you you deal with it on your own one commentator says what brutal counsel from religious men guy comes to you and he's remorseful and he's hurting and he wants to get rid of the thirty pieces of silver that he got ill gotten Li and you say well you go you go tend to it you go see to it yourself it's terrible religious counsel from these particular men but notice it should matter to them if their prisoner in a capital case is innocent it should matter to them to hear all the facts to see they're not interested in the facts they're not interested in due process they're not interested in doing things righteously they're complicit in the execution of the only righteous man that ever lived on the face of the earth Bruner says what does this have to do with us denies justice to Jesus mercy to Judas and any kind of responsibility before God that in the context where he suggests there in the temple itself to engage in those Micah 6:8 activities now notice thirdly the end of Judas in verse 5 then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went and hanged himself now if you have the King James tradition you will have he did this in the temple if you have a modern translation you will have into the temple there's a reason why but before we go to that reason why isn't it intriguing that verses 5 to 10 focus on the money really I mean the overarching theme obviously is Judas's wickedness and wretchedness and the vile nature of man that would lead someone to betray the Son of God shows us the culpability of these religious leaders but it's these thirty pieces of silver that are mentioned in verse five with reference to Judas getting rid of them the thirty pieces of silver in verses six to eight with reference to the Sanhedrin deciding what to do with them and then the thirty pieces of silver in terms of Old Testament prophecy and their significance in verses 9 to 10 so it's this attempt to get rid of the money and once the money has gotten rid of to apply or to explain it but if you look back at verse verse 6 rather I'm sorry verse 5 but he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple that's the King James of the New King James tradition was that suggests that he's in the temple Judas ain't supposed to be there the way that Matthew uses the language temple for Matthew as it's used here typically means the building where the holy place and the Holy of Holies is there's another word that means the whole temple precinct the complex everything associated with the temple but the language here suggests in this rendering in the temple causes some problems and that's probably why a variant reading crept into the tradition can't have Jesus a Judas in the temple that's just not the place that he's supposed to be so some manuscripts and now the the the modern versions reflect that he threw it into the temple so the idea is is that he's outside of the temple he takes that thirty pieces of look of silver and he casts it into the temple I think da Carson I don't think he accepts either particular reading but in favor of the in the temple in favor of the fact that Judas is now in the temple where he's not supposed to be Carson says in the narrow sense of this word temple the building containing the holy place and the Holy of Holies Judas would normally not have been allowed to enter that may be just the point it's over for Judas Judas knows it's over Judas doesn't care at this point decorum honor respect outward compliance with the law we got a desperate desperate man and he's acting that way that may be just the point feeling damned already he has nothing more to lose in desperation he runs into the temple proper and flings down his money before he can be stopped this alternately incriminates the religious leaders who are not supposed to allow the likes of Judas in the temple I actually think in the manuscript evidence UBS ultimately favors in - not for any compelling reasons but more preferential I think Judas was in the temple I think Carson whether it's just an explanation to give a an explanation of that reading and how it was there I think he's right see this is sins and you don't ever think when you're young you don't think it when you're old do you when I commit this sin here's gonna be the bitter consequences if any of you do this you know talk to me afterwards tell me how you now you managed tell me how you actually put this into practice I know we're supposed to but typically you know you've come to a fork in the road in your day like date day time date or night time and it's cent so you're looking at me like we don't send pastor Butler well then you know just just humor me for a moment you come to that fork in the road you're gonna choose a sinful decision do you think through the consequences do you think through if I smoke this or if I drink this or if I have sex with this or I've I do this here's gonna be the wretched reprehensible consequences of that typically I don't think that we do I mean it may come for a moment we suppress it we put it down we say well I like the sweetness in my in my mouth I don't want to think about the bitterness in my tummy I don't want that look it's in Zend here this is a desperate man this is a man who is gone this is a man who has betrayed the Son of God an innocent man this is a man who has taken the coins taken the change and cast it down in front of the chief priests and elders this is a man who is now going to go out and hang himself because of his misdeed now I'm not suggesting to all you young people if you do such-and-such it's going to necessarily mean that some day you're gonna go out and hang yourself I am NOT suggesting that at all but what I can tell you a life of obedience to God lived in the context of saving faith in Jesus Christ never produces a man who goes out and hangs himself because of despair kids take a lesson from Judas and not just kids but adults take a lesson and see the end of sin see the consequences see the miserable effects see them all passing the bar Judas throws the thirty pieces of silver the Sanhedrin says it's not lawful for us to put them into the Treasury will investigate this next week certainly they didn't have problem with the lawfulness of taking out of the treasure to bribe Judas to begin with but now they've got this pang of conscience that they can't put this loot back into the Treasury that's legalism that is that is swallowing camels and straining at gnats 101 it's not lawful for us to put it into the Treasury but didn't you take it out of the Treasury to bribe Judas in the first place you think that somehow because now you feel a little bad well I don't even think that's what they're doing it's this same thing we see in John 18 they don't want to enter the praetorium why because it was Passover time and they didn't want to be defiled that's the essence of legalistic petty camel swallowing not straining religion they don't want to enter into the Praetorian while they have bound a man they're going to deliver up to the Praetorian for a capital sentence of crucifixion I'm sorry your ceremonial observances do not impress me one bit the fact that you don't want to defile yourself going into this Gentile place and all the while committing the act of murder or at least a conspiracy to murder it's the same thing it's not lawful for us to put it in the Treasury this fastidious commitment to the ceremonial law when they reject a sixth word see why it's so offensive when we live like them how does Jesus upbraid them he says you tithe the mint and the anise and the cumin but you neglect the weightier matters of the law justice and mercy and faith we do that to brethren all the time don't we we're superfast idiots and we're super uncharitable and if they don't jump through our hoops we're gonna write them off I jokingly said to one of my own brothers this morning he had a different Bible and he said don't judge me I said I'd do judge Hill he has this kind but he didn't have it with him it was a joke I don't Jochem whatever bible he wants to bring to the house of god is fine as long as it's a real Bible phones aren't Bibles we are fastidious though aren't we we're pharisaic we are Sanhedrin like well it's not lawful for us to put this money back into the Treasury you've just conspired to commit murder that doesn't trouble you that doesn't bother you that doesn't perplex you it's the matter here the obvious point in Judas's throwing away the money whether it's in to the temple or in the temple is he tries to distance himself from the money and hence the responsibility in the death of an innocent one the leaders do the same things not lawful so we'll buy this potter's field interesting they still use the money don't they so does Pilate 27:24 I am innocent to the blood of this just person formerly the people ultimately accept the responsibility in verse 25 his blood be on us and on our children so Judas gets rid of the money and now he gets rid of himself he goes out and he hangs himself notice he departed and went out this is how we know it's not true repentance this is how we know it's just remorse he departed and went out not unto God not to a throne of grace not to the master that he's just betrayed but he has gone out and departed to hang himself see the movement of repentance is always God word the movement of repentance is always Christ word it's not suicide word the suicide of Judas demonstrates that his remorse was not repentance Westminster Shorter Catechism asks what is repentance unto life the answer repentance unto life is a saving grace whereby a sinner out of a true sense of his sin Judas had that he was remorseful he confessed his sin he felt bad there was some apprehension or some knowledge or some true sense of his sin there but the Catechism goes on to say and an apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ see repentance apprehends the mercy of God in Christ whether repentance can explain that or not whether expla repentance can explain Westminster Shorter Catechism 87 or not whether it understands fully the ramifications of apprehending the mercy of God in Christ repentance goes to Christ it's not true is that the case for any and all of you here that have by God's grace repented know something of Westminster Shorter Catechism 87 know something of what it is to be a Peter rather than a Judas isn't that what it's all about now I know we we sort of mess up when it comes to repentance we think that you know I stopped eating this bad food I've repented from my sin of gluttony I stopped smoking or I stopped doing those are fruits of repentance repentance happens up in the head it happens up in the mind we judge the fruits of repentance and hearing were led astray not everybody that stops smoking as a Christian not everybody that stops engaging in gluttony or sexual immorality as a Christian sometimes people out there just changed their lives for better longevity or better health or whatever it might be you see brethren faith and repentance or two sides of the same coin and they're both with reference to how we view God now they've a change of heart with reference to who Jesus is he is the Lord he is Savior he is the innocent one it is his blood we desperately need for washing and cleansing and purification and we repent we have a different view of sin we no longer want it we no longer want to drink it in we no longer want to play with it and get around it and be nourished by it no we have a change with reference to to this sinful practice so what Judas does not have is an apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ and then as well we see this not only in the the 17th century confessions of faith to see it not Apostles Creed what's confessed there I believe in the forgiveness of sins see that's repentance David and the psalm says out of the depths I have cried to thee O Lord hear my voice he said if you Lord shuts mark matiz oh lord who could stand you know something of strict justice he knows something of holiness you know something of righteousness he knows something of being in a government or under the government of a holy and just God he says if you should mark iniquities O Lord who can stand but there is forgiveness with thee that thou may us be feared that's an early version of the Apostles Creed wherein David says I believe in the forgiveness of sins you see that's the beauty of this whole transaction God grants to us what we desperately need to come to him you've heard that our minions feel when they preach the gospel o accept Jesus into your heart open the door of your heart and let him in isn't it wonderful that it's just the opposite isn't it wonderful that is absolutely opposite it's God who accepts us in the beloved it's God who opens the heart and the effectual call it is God who makes men willing in the day of his power it is God who raises dead sinners it is God who gives them faith it is God who gives them repentance it is God who does everything from first to last in the matter of man's salvation brethren if you were here this morning praise God that though your sins be like Judith's you've been forgiven though your sins are crimson scarlet wretched wicked you've been forgiven praise God brethren that we're not Judas's praise God brethren that there is faith there is repentance praise God there is a fountain open for sin and uncleanness prophesied by Zechariah in this new covenant era and as the hymn writer says drawn from Emmanuel's veins when sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains praise Almighty God we're not Judas's judaai perhapses the plural form praise God and if you're not a believer if you don't have faith in repentance guess what I can't give it to you but the god of this Bible can the god of this Bible does the God of this Bible says look to me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is no other this Christ stood up on the last great day of the feast and he said if any man thirst let him come to me perhaps this morning under the power of God by the Ministry of the Holy Spirit you started to understand something about sin you might be saying well I'm not as bad as Judas yeah you are listening to a sermon by ralph davis last night and he mentioned lady huntington lady huntington lived in the 18th century and she was a big fan of the preachers at that time George Whitfield being one of them lady Huntington was a real Christian a real believer so what she would do is and she was a higher member of society so she would gather all of her friends together the aristocracy and the sort of ruling class and she'd get them all together and have brother Whitefield preach and of course brother Whitfield would say such on untoward things as you know you're as vile or you know you're vile and guilty and sinful and so lady Huntington's one of her friends says to her I I just cannot stomach that kind of preaching I cannot stomach that kind of an approach that would that would equal or or level us with the common cursed dweller of the earth and Davis points out if you don't know that of yourself most likely you're not converted just rereading and thankfully so a book by Martin lloyd-jones the preachers and preaching you know what happened to him when he went to preach at Oxford the the lady the wife of the president said you know I really like your preaching dr. Lloyd Jones because you you preached to us like we're sinners think about it everybody else is there like the scholar polished never sang and so on and so on never you letting spittle fly but everything just right treating them like they're somehow the upper cross boy Jones comes in that says you're miserable wicked sinners that stand in need of the Lord Jesus Christ embrace it wife why fight that why say okay okay I I didn't actually betray Jesus I didn't feel those thirty pieces of silver okay you didn't do the specific act that's envisioned here you've sinned same sins Judas in youth sin I know we like to delude ourselves I'm not as bad as everybody else you may not be in terms of actual practical application of the violation of the Decalogue but at the root the very heart of your being guess what they're with Judas you're with this Sanhedrin you're with the kinds of people that say so what you see to it we don't care we want to carry out this execution I can't grant you faith in repentance pastor cam can't grant you faith and repentance but God Most High can and God's Word in the gospel is to look unto Jesus to believe what it is what it said concerning our Lord Jesus Christ he lived he died he was raised the third day all those who look to him in faith will have everlasting life learned something of sin in this particular narrative and don't be remorseful and not repentant but by God's grace repent he betrays he departs he goes out but it's not with an apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ and there is no confession with the Apostles preached Apostles Creed what I want to I want to do a few things by way of application but just before we go we ought to realize that in Acts chapter 1 verses 18 and 19 there are mispelled out a bit differently and you know this is troubled som'n I think the majority of good commentators the majority of conservative commentators harmonised the two accounts and I think it's pretty simple to do in the Acts account he fell and his entrails gushed out common responses he was hanging on a tree the limb either broke or the rope broke his body falls onto the ground and it splits open and his entrails gush out I realized that's not Sunday morning noon talk but Acts chapter 1 tells us that's what happened again see the grim consequences of sin this is one of those areas where we get we get offended by what Luke says in acts 1 but we don't get offended with the sin that takes us to acts 1 we don't get offended with the reality this man betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ this man engaged in suicide this man's body collapsed or fell and broke open and his entrails gushed out we get more offended at the way loot tends to record those sorts of things than at the sin that brings sinners to that particular juncture and then as well it says that he purchased the field again I think that's very simple to reconcile in Matthew they purchased the field with the money that was rightfully Judas's so it can be said that Judas acquired a field you don't need to jump ship we don't need to say there's contradictions their difficulties there's a there's difficulties there's things that require some some thought and some reflection and some good commentators if you're you know a simpleton like me but you can harmonize the accounts and I suggest that that's the way to do it but in conclusion by way of application a couple of things first the wickedness of the Sanhedrin again I think that's something conspicuous in Matthews agenda their formal decision to turn Jesus over to Pilate for execution the utter disregard the complete disregard of Judas is reference to the fact that Jesus is innocent that's unconscionable brethren if you've never really thought through this and pondered this if you've never taken into consideration the fact that the the judging body the adjudicatory body in Israel at this time heard that the man that they had capitally sentenced to death is innocent I'm not suggesting they're gonna bow down and say okay that's worship Jesus but at a minimum shouldn't they give it a day or two let let the weekend pass they're driven they've got craze they they they've got there's frenzy and this madness they've got to get it done remember it's Friday it's Friday morning that's why at daybreak they're at pilots place they're knocking they're presenting the case because they've got to get Jesus dead before the Sabbath this is their time frame again wouldn't it have been nice to just say wait well we should just wait to the weekend you know take in this new data no no they're driven they're full of a frenzy to destroy the Lord Jesus Christ secondly the wretchedness of Judas Iscariot we've seen his decision to betray in chapter 26 verses 14 to 16 the execution of betrayal in chapter 26 verses 47 and following and here we have seen the miserable and of Judas Iscariot so I suggest there are four lessons we need to take away from this first the presence of remorse does not mean the presence of repentance the presence of remorse does not mean the presence of repentance you understand just because you feel bad doesn't necessarily mean you're saved just because you feel remorse doesn't mean you've closed with Christ just because you you you you felt something something of the bitterness of that sin in your tummy doesn't mean you're a genuine believer doc trial I think says it well it is possible for a man to feel his sins to be sorry for them to be under strong conviction of guilt and expressed deep remorse to be pricked in conscience and exhibit much distress of mind and yet for this not repent with this heart how does Jesus start his ministry in acts Matthew chapter four repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand again I don't think Jesus says stop smoking stopped or anything stop doing this stop doing that because you know then you'll be fit and ready for the kingdom of heaven you need to have a change of mind you need to come to the Savior the king of heaven and you come to the Christ you rethink your priorities you need to rethink your life it's not just a matter of adding Jesus onto your already complete life this is what bugs me in some churches is when they preach Jesus as if he's just a help to a more full life I would hope they wouldn't even preach that that's disgusting it's like the sign many years ago Steve Lawson told me saw when he was downtown it was a sign that said things go better with Jesus Jesus has been slogan eyes to the level of coca-cola things go better with coke things go better with Jesus I am NOT here this morning to tell you that I am here this morning to tell you whatever remorse whatever hey take whatever pain whatever hardship you feel about sinning against God against parents that does not necessarily mean that you're saved you need to repent not add Jesus to an already almost great life but to utterly change the way you think to believe on Christ as revealed in the gospel and to repent to forsake to not see Christ as an addition but to see him the way the bride does in the Song of Solomon how does she exclaim his bootys he is almost altogether lovely but my house and my car and my boats and my motorcycle you know that that really holds it out for me Christ is altogether lovely how does the bride describe her beloved in the Song of Solomon he is chief among what among ten thousand that's not the language of adding on Jesus that's not the language of coca-cola theology that's the language of radical revolution so language of the Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter three who essentially tells these people that are being plagued by Judaizers if there was ever a man who could boast of his religious resume it was me if there was ever a man who could say I earned my way to heaven it was Paul he was born the stock of Israel tribe of Benjamin circumcised the eighth day as far as Paul's religious resume was concerned it was jot and tittle perfect what was he saying but what things were gain to me these I count loss you see Christ isn't an add-on for Paul Christ isn't an app on Paul's phone Christ is everything such that even now everything I count loss I count dung I count something that is no better than to be thrown to the dogs I count lost why for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord you see if you're sitting under preaching that says take Jesus the way you would a bottle off the shelf and drink it to enhance your life that's bad preaching Christ is not an addition Christ is everything secondly we ought to appreciate the presence of privilege does not equal a conversion to Christ we asked the question was Judas privileged yes he was most privileged he was a disciple again not internally he went out from us but he was not of us because if he had been of us he wouldn't have gone out from us but he was externally a disciple he was even an apostle what's he do with those privileges does he receive them does he act upon them does he thank God for having given them no he rejects it he doesn't improve upon them and I submit that you young people have privileges today that that many of us adults didn't have almost said old people then many of us adults didn't have we didn't get schlep to church every Sunday we didn't get put into a Sunday School where we were taught the catechism we weren't given the opportunity to come on Wednesday night here here Bible studies on the Old Testament so that we can actually know what's in the old doesn't we weren't given those sorts of privileges I mean any of us converted in later years probably would say I would love to go back in time or if I could go back in time and be a godly coming into a home where I was taught when I was shaped where I learned and what I didn't have to unlearn a whole host of wickedness in my you know when I came to Jesus Christ you've got privilege I dare say it you've got great amounts of privilege what are you doing with the privilege is it constant rebellion whining constant rumbling constant complaining the parents come in the mornings time to get up to church hey I want to get a judge praise God there's a church you get to go to praise God you get to hear the gospel praise God you got man who may not be the most you know effective or may not be the razzle dazzle guys that everybody likes we try to keep you safe in the word and doctrine that would be our tagline if it were up to me we try to keep you safe you're gonna get more bells and whistles elsewhere I guarantee it and don't think I don't know that oh your church your church your church yeah I've heard it all for twenty long years I know what our problems are chief is right before you there's bells and whistles out there there's rigmarole out there there's bigger budgets out there there's better condition yeah there's all of that but you know what we try to keep you safe we try to tell you that you're safe not by your works not by your privilege not by your goodness but by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone and we seek to point you to that Christ on a regular basis that's privileged you got parents who read scripture to you parents who take the time to make sure that you know what the gospel is parents who buy you clothes so that they can bring you to the church parents that that invest their lives in you you know ungrateful kids can be I mean parents do everything and then kids say so you don't love me are you kidding me for 15 years I bought you shoes and you're gonna tell me I don't love you not that my kids ever did that thanks be to God Almighty kids what are you doing what the privileges you know what you should do with the privileges don't leave this place today till you believed till you've looked til you've lived till you've seen this one is all together lovely and chief among 10,000 don't put it off well I need to think about this I need to think this through what's to think about God's a holy God he's been a punished miserable sinners you're a miserable sinner but God has provided Sahn to save such miserable sinners the deliberation is over belief privileges are to be improved upon thirdly the pursuit of sin and in this case particularly riches is the cause of great destruction remember what Judas was he liked to hold the money box didn't he because he was so generous and so benevolent and liked to just spread the love wherever he went now John tells us he was a thief the psych cycle what Hanul is an analysis that goes behind the betrayal of Judas you know what what drove him to this place huh you know maybe his parents didn't treat him right or maybe he had these issues or these these longings or this em he was a thief thievery undealt with leads to this sort of thing the consequences of sin is not good proverbs 10 speaking specifically to money says treasures of wickedness profit nothing but righteousness delivers from death you hear that treasures of wickedness profit nothing but righteousness delivers from death Spurgeon comments with reference to Judas his thirty pieces of silver when he sold his Lord he little thought what would be done with the money received as the price of betrayal in the fullest sense possible he was guilty of the blood of the Lord that blood was upon him not to seal his pardon but to confirm his condemnation and then finally with reference to Judas the contrast with Peter again I think they're put in close juxtaposition so that we will make this observation both of them were disciples both of them had heard their Lord say that one would deny one would betray both of them are given narratives to show how the Lord's words were fulfilled both of them went out remember Peters in the courtyard at Caiaphas says and after he betrays the Lord he hears the he goes out he departs he he weeps bitterly but based on Peters subsequent career we know that he went out and he had a clear apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ Jesus we know that he would confess with the Apostles Creed I believe in the forgiveness of sins Judas goes out and he hangs himself judas goes out and he destroys them destroys himself both of them fulfill Old Testament prophecy but only Peter ultimately is the repentance wine and then finally before we leave we should appreciate the fact that this fulfills Old Testament scripture certainly Judas does in particular as verses 9 and 10 will make clear certainly Peter does in terms of you know Zechariah chapter 13 but this particular scene fulfills what happens in the life of David so why is that important because the confession of Christ in 2664 hinged upon being the son of David it is as you say I am David son I'm ultimately David's Lord and I'm David's son I am the one the Old Testament prophets wrote concerning you see what happens to the greater son happened to the lesser son only David's betrayer was a man by the name of a hit off Elle and it came at a time when there was usurpation in the kingdom David's own son Absalom had made a ploy for the throne and he was very successful by the way very successful this was a successful coup and so I hit the fill at one time it advised and it counseled David and then David crosses the brook Kedron to go to the Mount of Olives john 18:1 tells us that David's greater son crosses the mark Iran to go to the Mount of Olives to go to Yosemite if you will David hears that a hit the fell is the training camp Jesus know that Judas is betraying him then a heifer fell rallies up the troops in 2nd Samuel 17 and plots a means by which he can stop David isn't that what Judas does in 26 14 to 16 when a hit the fellows counsel is not listened to however in 2nd Samuel 17 he goes home and he hanged himself what do you have in the life of David you have a snapshot of the life of Jesus what do you have in Matthew's Gospel you have fulfillment you have Christ affirming you have Matthew telling no screaming at us this is Messiah this is the one he's the one in whom all the promises of God are yin a man don't resist this don't reject this don't cast it off remember what it says concerning Judas in acts 1 not only 18 and 19 but in verse 25 it says when he died he went to his own place the ingenuity of some common traders common traded the taters try to say well that's matthias taking the place of Judas no its Judas going to his own place he'll destruction damnation don't be a Judas be a Peter anyone who repents anyone who believes anyone who looks unto this son of David who offers full free gracious merciful salvation let us pray father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for what our Lord went through on our behalf truly is incredible and amazing what great love you have for us so our confession rightly points out you are most loving you can't increase you can't diminish we rejoice in that reality we rejoice and what we see written out in the Word of God we rejoice to see your mercy and your grace toward us and that while we were yet sinners Christ died we thank you that you've effectually called us you've given us faith and repentance you've given us life and immortality through the gospel we do pray God for any and all here that our unconverted we pray that they would take these things to heart they would listen to these things they would reflect upon these things and perhaps not outwardly as bad as Judas certainly inwardly as bad as Judas may they see this may they own it and may they go to that one who is altogether lovely that one who is chief among 10,000 and may you grant them a clear apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ and may they confess with David in the Apostles Creed I believe in the forgiveness of sins go with us now we pray grant us a blessed Sabbath day to rest to enjoy you to enjoy one another and bring us together tonight that we may praise you and we ask these things through Christ Jesus our Lord amen