[0:00] Now as some of you will be aware, we've been looking in previous weeks at the individuals that are addressed in the New Testament by name by Jesus. And we're going to be all together looking at nine, although we've of course discovered a couple of extra ones that he does address by name.
[0:18] And in the past weeks we've looked at Mary Magdalene and at Zacchaeus, at Saul, at which time the Lord also addresses Ananias, at Lazarus, and the Lord also speaks to Simon the leper on an occasion similar to Lazarus.
[0:35] And Martha, and Peter, and Philip, and now today as many of you will have gathered, we are looking at the tragic figure of Judas, who is the one, the only one of those addressed by name of whom we may be certain that he is in fact in a lost condition.
[0:55] Simon the Pharisee or Simon the leper, we would hope, may have been subsequently converted by the Lord's grace and certainly the Lord takes time with him to speak to him of the need for love and forgiveness and so on.
[1:11] And we must trust and hope that that may have had some benefit and some effect. But Judas, tragically we know to be lost. John 17 and verse 12, Jesus in praying for his disciples says, While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name.
[1:28] Those that thou gavest me, I have kept, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. In other words, the son of perdition, the reference to Judas, he is lost.
[1:42] Christ testifies and states him to have been lost. And this is the only conclusive statement that by our Lord, that Judas is completely lost.
[1:52] In my younger days, I used to long and hope that Judas might actually be saved and that his repentance would have been, you know, a genuine repentance and sufficient and so on.
[2:03] And I kind of hoped against hope. And one reason I did hope is because I thought there's hope for Judas that there might be hope for the likes of me. And most of the other texts that we have concerning Judas, of course, are not conclusive.
[2:18] If we think, for example, Jesus earlier in John's account of the gospel in chapter 6, says, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.
[2:34] Well, that's conclusive, surely, because Jesus calls him a devil. But then, okay, you look at Matthew chapter 16, where you have Jesus addressing no less a personage than Peter, where Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee.
[2:54] But he turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan. For thou savest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. Now, Jesus addresses Peter as Satan, and he also refers to Judas as a devil.
[3:07] So, Peter, we know we trust to have been saved. Judas, okay, is lost. But that verse would not itself be conclusive when you take the two together.
[3:18] Likewise, what we have in the Acts of the Apostles, in chapter 1, where Peter, in describing the need to make a replacement for Judas, he says about Matthias that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship from which Judas, by transgression, fell, that he might go to his own place.
[3:38] I think, well, that surely is conclusive. That's hell, surely. He's going to his own place. But it's not conclusive in and of itself, because you have to also take into consideration the whole counsel of God.
[3:50] And in Luke 22, of course, Jesus makes reference to his disciples. He says, This is verse 28 of Luke 22, the very chapter we were reading from earlier. It says, Now, if they're saying that to all the disciples, is to sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
[4:22] How many apostles are there? Twelve. How many tribes of Israel? Twelve. Surely that means they're all going to be there, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. That's got to be conclusive. And then, of course, it doesn't say sitting on twelve thrones.
[4:35] It just says sitting on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Except that then when you go to Matthew's account of the gospel, in chapter 19, where you do find that, of course, the Lord says precisely this.
[4:47] Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
[5:00] That would imply, Oh, Judas is going to be amongst the saved. But Jesus is addressing them collectively. And perhaps is addressing also what was still open to them all at that stage.
[5:12] John 17 verse 12 is conclusive. None is lost, but the Son of Perdition. That he, you know, that all the rest are saved.
[5:23] He might go to his own place, as Peter says, but the Son of Perdition is lost. Judas is lost. Tragic as it is. Disasterous as it is for him personally.
[5:35] Discouraging as it may be, for all of us who feel that we have betrayed the Lord at different times. Judas is lost. And the word that is used in Matthew's account to describe his repentance is not the word for the turning again of complete spiritual repentance.
[5:51] It's rather the word for remorse. It's the word for regret. Of course he was sorry that Jesus had been condemned. He almost certainly hadn't intended for him to be crucified.
[6:02] He had probably thought that by betraying him into the hands of the chief priests, Jesus would do something spectacular. That when the worst came to the worst, when the worst extremity happened, he would do some miracle that would deliver him out of their hands, that would show he was the Messiah.
[6:18] They would all acknowledge who he was. He would be crowned, as it were, to Messiah. And all Israel would follow him. And the Romans would be thrown out. And everything would be as it should be. And he, Judas, would have been instrumental in making that happen.
[6:32] But of course Jesus was condemned. And then crucified. And it was a disaster. And Judas, of course, was filled with remorse and regret. But it's not the word for spiritual repentance that's there in the original Greek.
[6:47] It's not for the turning again. The change of direction. The tragedy for Judas is not simply and merely the betrayal. Because Peter had his denial.
[6:59] And he still repented himself. And he still was restored to the Lord. What did Judas do? Judas' great sin was not even simply the taking of his life.
[7:09] Other characters in Scripture take their own lives. And it does not appear necessarily to be the thing that causes them to be damned. You know, we could debate the status of Saul the king.
[7:21] We would have to take it from the book of Judges that Samson is amongst the same. And yet Samson brought down the temple of the Philistines on his own head. Killing himself as well as killing the Philistines too.
[7:35] But he's not condemned for that suicide in itself. But what Judas does here is that with the pulling of the plug on his life, he pulls the plug on the only way of salvation.
[7:49] And he ended the only opportunity to be saved, which was to be restored to Christ. To be restored in faith. That's what was his undoing at the end of the day.
[8:03] Now, Judas, of course, as we say, he is lost. Christ is quite conclusive in that. Chapter 17, verse 12 of John. But it may not have been so.
[8:15] Somebody would have betrayed Jesus. Somebody would have been the means of his being arrested. But for each one of us as individuals, as I've said many times in the past, it didn't have to be Judas, and it doesn't have to be us.
[8:27] There are choices that we make, yes, under God's providence, which we choose to make. But we don't have to choose evil.
[8:38] The Lord gives us the opportunity. He gives us the means of escape. If only we will avail ourselves of it. So, the reason Judas is being talked about today is because he is one of those that Jesus addresses by name.
[8:53] Verse 48, Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the son of man with a kiss? It is the defining act of his entire life and reputation.
[9:07] But we'll come to that in a minute. First of all, Jesus addresses him by name, Judas. Now, Judas is a common enough name in New Testament Palestine, as you would expect.
[9:18] You know, we read in John 14, for example, where Judas said unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world?
[9:29] So, it's a common enough name there. Also, in Acts 15, those who join the apostles, we read in verse 22, then pleased that all the apostles and elders and the whole church were sent, chosen then of their own company, to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely Judas, surnamed Barsavus, and Silas, chief men among the brethren.
[9:51] Now, verse 32 again, we read likewise, Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words and confirmed them. And one of Jesus' own brothers, of course, is called Judas, chapter 13.
[10:08] Verse 55 of Matthew, we read, Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brethren, James and Joseph and Simon, and Judas and his sisters?
[10:19] Are they not all here with us? It's a common enough name throughout the New Testament, as you would expect, because the Jewish nation, of course, is technically those who are the members of the former kingdom of Judah.
[10:36] Judah, which dates its name from the fourth son of Jacob. And if we go back to when Judah was originally born, when Leah, the wife of Jacob, produced her fourth son in a row, she conceived again.
[10:50] This is Genesis 29, verse 35. And Bera's son, and she said, Now will I praise the Lord. Therefore she called his name Judah, and left Bering.
[11:01] Now, if you were to go to the original, the Hebrew, then it says, Now will I praise. And the word in the Hebrew, we would pronounce that word, Aoudah. Now will I praise.
[11:13] And the Lord, of course, Jehovah, or Yehovah, as it would be in the Hebrew, and she called his name Judah, which is a combination of J for the beginning of Jehovah, and the Aoudah.
[11:25] So Yehudah is how it would be, you know, praise Jehovah. So it's in there that the name of God and the praise of him, Yehudah, it would be, and of course we shorten it, Judah, we call it now in our own anglicized version.
[11:40] But it is designed to mean the praise of Jehovah. Oh, how tragic then, if one whose very name means the praise of Jehovah, praise itself, becomes a byword for treason, betrayal, the ultimate infamy.
[11:58] Because although it was a common enough name in New Testament times, and although subsequently, of course, and we've got the letter of Jude, later in the New Testament, and sometimes people will call their children Jude, which is, of course, a boy's name, and it's the same as the name Judah, or Judas, which is the Greek form of the Hebrew Judah.
[12:17] It was a common enough name that nobody's going to call their child Judas now, are they? I mean, no Christian, certainly, or anyone of Christian background, is going to want to associate their child with a traitor, and with ultimate infamy and betrayal.
[12:33] It has become a name that, to quote that former president, I think, Franklin Roosevelt, you know, that lives in infamy. It is a name that stinks in the nostrils of not only every Christian, but anyone who values that which is truth and integrity and righteousness.
[12:52] Nobody's going to call their child the name of a traitor. Judas is marked forever, that very name. And Jesus says, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss.
[13:06] But the name did not begin that way. It's a name of nobility, a name of thanksgiving, a name of, literally, praise to God. The name of the most significant, strongest tribe amongst the tribes of Israel.
[13:18] The name of an independent kingdom. The name of the province, which the Romans said, the province of Judea, called after Judea. It is a name associating with so much that is rich and good and positive.
[13:32] And yet, in that form, it now becomes associated only with betrayal. If we think of the act of betrayal, then, here we have it.
[13:44] Judas comes to Jesus. While he yet spake, behold, a multitude, and he that was called, Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him.
[13:55] This kiss, which pretends friendship. And that's the worst of all. It's not as if Judas came with all the men with the torch and said, that's the one. That's the one that refuses to take his place as Messiah.
[14:09] What a terrible man he is. I am his enemy now. And that at least will be open. It will be honest. It will be straightforward. It will still be betrayal to an extent, but the pretense of friendship right up to the end.
[14:22] If we look at the different gospel accounts, you know, we've got in John's account, for example, where Judas comes to Jesus. Judas also which betrayed him knew the place, for Jesus oft times resorted further with his disciples.
[14:38] Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, come of further with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye?
[14:51] They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said unto them, I am he. And Judas also which betrayed him stood with them. And as soon as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward and fell to the ground.
[15:04] Then asked he unto them again, Whom seek ye? They said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he. If therefore ye seek me, let these go their way. The place of Judas in John's account is comparatively minor.
[15:18] He's there in the background, but he's not the one. He doesn't plant the kits in John's account. He doesn't identify Jesus. Jesus comes forward to meet them. This center of Jesus taking control in John's account of the gospel there.
[15:32] But Judas just quite, quietly sort of fades from the sea. And that is one of the very few occasions in John's account where Judas is simply described by his name, Judas. As opposed to all the other occasions, it's either Judas Iscariot, always Judas Iscariot, and then Judas who's not Iscariot, it says, not Iscariot.
[15:51] And also Judas who also betrayed him. So there's always that extra name, that extra identity, that leaving of no doubt that this is the traitor. Judas who also betrayed him.
[16:02] Judas Iscariot. It's always there. One of these very few times when it's just Judas mentioned his own is then in John's account. We look at Matthew and we find in verses 47 of chapter 26, verses 47 to 50 here.
[16:18] We read, While he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he, hold him fast, and forthwith he came to Jesus and said, Hail, Master, and kissed him.
[16:40] And Jesus said, Undone friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they and laid hands on Jesus and took him. And in Mark's account of the gospel again, chapter 14, in verse 43 onwards, Immediately while he yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.
[17:03] And he that betrayed him and given him a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he, take him and lead him away safely. And as soon as he was come, he goeth straightway to him and said, Master, Master, and kissed him.
[17:19] Two or three verses in each kiss. Two or three verses and that's all it is. And his life is defined by that short, brief act of betrayal.
[17:31] The pretense of friendship is bad enough. The fact that maybe they wouldn't have known in the dark which one of these men with their, their, their, their, their sort of cloaks on and maybe their heads covered over for nighttime and so on.
[17:45] Which of them was Jesus? He goes straight to him. He identifies him and his life is defined by this brief act, this act that even in the scriptures, it's two or three verses at the most.
[17:58] This is the outcome, this is the, the, the thing that follows here when Judas does the ultimate defining thing of his life, not simply that he's a disciple of Jesus but that he is the one who betrays him.
[18:11] You know, we might have a job to remember all the twelve disciples. If you know, someone will say, right, okay, number of the twelve, decide to say, right, Peter, Andrew, James, and John, well, who else is that?
[18:24] Thomas, he's in there, Judas, obviously, and then we say, well, maybe Bartholomew and so on and Thaddeus. We're struggling to find the other ones but we know about the big four, Peter, Andrew, James, and John and we always know about Judas at the end.
[18:42] We never fail to remember Judas Iscariot because his infamy, is tied in with the fact that being the traitor, he was one of them.
[18:53] He had that privilege. He had that closeness to Jesus and still he sold it all out at the end. part of the tragedy of Judas' life is that as we see in Luke's account that we read from here, after he has kissed Jesus, then, you know, when Jesus said, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss, verse 48, where he is named, that's it, he disappears from the narrative altogether.
[19:23] In Luke's account, there's no mention of him at the high priest's house, there's no mention of him going into the temple and throwing down the money, that's in Matthew. Acts has the brief mention of his death, you know, how he fell headlong and all his bowels gushed out and so on, and this graphic detail that Peter gives in Acts chapter 1, but there's no further mention of him in Luke's account, he disappears from the narrative.
[19:46] Jesus says, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss, he calls him by name and that's it, he just vanishes into oblivion.
[19:57] Once the devil has his soul, it's as though he ceases to exist. Once he has done it, there's no more life, no more mention.
[20:08] In Matthew, he appears only briefly for that account when he throws down the money in the temple and his only mention after the act of betrayal is that act of despair and of subsequent suicide where he goes out and hangs himself.
[20:23] And as we've mentioned in Acts chapter 1 where Peter again mentions his death, but other than that, he simply disappears from the narrative. In Luke, in Mark, in John, there's no more mention of him at all.
[20:38] There is this final act of betrayal, but that's it. That by which he is defined, it is the last and defining act of his life.
[20:49] Because what little we have about Judas, almost none of it's positive that we have in Judas, of Judas in the gospel accounts, but when we piece together the other bits of the account, remember that when Jesus called the twelve to him, he called Judas as well knowing what would happen.
[21:08] When he sent them out two by two with authority to preach the gospel, to cast out demons, to heal the sick, and to raise the dead and to do all those wonderful miracles, Judas must have been paired up with somebody and we have nothing in the text or the narrative to suggest that Judas came back saying, you know, I wasn't able to cast out any demons at all.
[21:29] I wasn't able to heal anyone. I wasn't able to, when I tried to preach the gospel, it stuck in my throat. We don't have any account of that. As far as we must understand that along with all the other pairs of disciples that went out, Judas too was empowered to cast out demons, to heal the sick, to proclaim the gospel, to act the full part of a disciple of Jesus Christ.
[21:53] All these things he had right there with Jesus in the upper room, right there in the houses of the Pharisees where he would be being slagged off with all the other disciples by the Pharisees and the righteous people of the day and so on.
[22:06] He would be numbered with them. He would be the one that plucked the ears of the corn, going through the cornfields on the Sabbath just like the others. He would be terrified in the storm, in the boat, just like the others.
[22:18] He was there when it all happened, right through all the gospel matter and until the very end. He still could have preserved that relationship that he is defined for all eternity now.
[22:36] He is defined by what is effectively the last act of his life. Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss.
[22:48] When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said, and the Lord shall he smite with the sword and the man can move all the worst students he just disappears. It is the last act of his life.
[22:59] It is the defining act of his life for time and for eternity, eternal infamy, lostness. But if it is possible for Judas, having had it all and so close to Jesus and empowered with the Spirit and all that he had, if it is possible for him to throw it all away at the last minute, then it must likewise conversely be possible for one who has lived a life of unbelief and non-commitment and indifference and perhaps hostility or equity to the Lord at the last minute or in the last defining act of their life to turn to Christ and to repent and to believe and to be saved.
[23:46] We have, of course, again in Luke's account of the Gospel, the example of the thief on the cross who with his dying breath says, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom and that instance is absolutely true and it is given for our encouragement but I would just want to warn and counsel you against making that exceptional case as though it were the norm.
[24:13] Making that exceptional case something that we can just, oh, it's alright. Anybody can do it at the last minute. Look at that guy up there on the cross. He was dying and he was still saved.
[24:24] So if it's okay for him, it'll be okay for me. There is a difference between using the last and final opportunity that that criminal had to come to know Christ and to put their trust in him and being blasey about it and saying, well, that's all his time.
[24:42] It's okay. There's no problem because look at that guy. It was alright for him. Deathbed conversions may be genuine but they are rare.
[24:53] They are rare and they cannot be trusted in to be the norm. You don't know for sure that you'll have a peaceful deathbed where everything will be ordered and you'll have time to say, now maybe I should start thinking about my soul.
[25:09] For all we know, any of us may be taken from this world suddenly, violently, unexpectedly, without having had an opportunity to make our due preparation.
[25:20] How do we know that even if we live to be a hundred that we shall necessarily have our mind and our faculties by then? Whilst we have lucidity, whilst we have the clarity and opportunity to know right from wrong, salvation from damnation, a lost eternity from a glorified existence with the Lord, whilst we can recognize these differences, whilst we know the difference between being forgiven or being forsaken in a lost eternity, we must use the opportunity that we have.
[25:56] And whilst we have that opportunity, whilst there is life, there is still hope, there is still opportunity. You see, that's what Judas did ultimately against himself.
[26:08] He logically, we might have assumed, might have lived for another 20, 30, 40 years for all we know. We don't know what age he was, of course, but let's say he could have lived another 20 years.
[26:19] Now, what would have been the progress of the gospel if you think of the Acts of the Apostles 20 years on from the resurrection of Christ? How far had it spread from Jerusalem to Antioch to Cyprus to all the different places where these Jews had been gathered on the day of Pentecost?
[26:38] How far had the Apostles sent out delegations? How far, perhaps, had Paul and Barnabas and the others all brought in spreading the gospel around what is now Turkey and on to Greece?
[26:50] How much of the gospel power might have been revealed? How much might Judas have socked up and shared in if only he had not turned the lights out and pulled the black and thrown away the only opportunity of salvation that he had?
[27:12] You see, his last act defined his entire life and eternity. I would suggest to you that probably in each person's life there is something which will define their entire life.
[27:29] We can think of those things in earthly terms and say, well, the most important thing I ever did was to apply for this or that job and that's what made me the person that I am. I followed that career path.
[27:40] I defined myself by the job that I do and so on. Well, maybe there's people in history we can define them by perhaps a particular stage in their lives. We can define Winston Churchill not by all the length of years of his earlier political career some of which was a bit not very successful or not very great but by those few years in the Second World War when he was Prime Minister for which undoubtedly he was born and raised up for that hour.
[28:09] His life his entire public service is defined by that three, four, five year period. But other people Duke of Wellington Battle of Waterloo he lived a long life but that day that single day defined his entire life and existence.
[28:27] Most of us are not great men women. We don't change history but each of us will have something that defines perhaps our ordinary life but your life is not just earth it is not just time it is also eternity.
[28:44] What defines your eternity friend will be the status the nature of your relationship to Christ and that will be the case whether or not you accept him believe him and trust in him as your personal savior or whether you reject him or continue in a state of indifference because where you spend eternity will be defined by your relationship to Christ.
[29:11] What is so tragic about Judas and Jesus addresses here by name in the defining act of his life and time and eternity is that he has it all right up until that last night right up until that last day he is still and he said even when Jesus says to him you know that which you have to do do quickly and he went out and it was night Judas could still have had second thoughts he could still have said no I'm not going to go to the chief priest I'm not going to betray Jesus I'm not going to do it I'm going back into the upper room I've changed my mind he could still have done that right up to the last minute he could have said no we're not going across the Kidron I'm sorry guys take your torches and your staves and your swords back to the high priest I'm not going to do this and he could have changed his mind he had time he had opportunity right up to the last minute there is still hope and for you and for me and for every sinner right up until the last minute Christ is still there he still holds out salvation and forgiveness and grace unto us and your life and time and in eternity will be defined ultimately not by the job you do not by the gender you were born with or the clothes you wear or how high you rise in your career or how much money you have or what children you may or may not have or who you may or may not marry it will define you ultimately because of your relationship to Christ or lack of it because without that relationship to Christ without him as your personal saviour your eternity is lost but with him your life and eternity is transformed for each of us there is a defining act a defining person a defining opportunity and friend let me tell you without freedom of contradiction that defining act person opportunity moment is Christ your life will be defined by what you decide to do about Jesus of Nazareth your whole life just as it was for Judas just as it was for the rest of the apostles just as it is for every soul who has ever been saved indeed for every soul who has ever been lost for the whole of humanity their identity their time their eternity is defined according to their relationship to Christ you can make no more important decision than your decision for or against Christ but whatever you decide to do whatever your choice may be
[31:56] God will still be glorified in it we may think in terms of oh the enmity of man against God oh how terrible it is it's an insult to God don't worry about God being insulted God is glorified no matter what happens Proverbs 16 we read in verse 4 the Lord hath made all things for himself yea even the wicked for the day of evil if we read in James chapter 1 verse 20 for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God means that when man is wrathful and angry and so on he's not serving or pleasing God but rather we also read in Psalm 76 verse 10 surely the wrath of man shall praise thee the remainder of wrath shall thou restrain what does that mean it means that even man's anger or enmity or hostility against God will end up glorifying him will end up serving him and anything that isn't going to be put to that purpose he'll just restrain how can that possibly be how can enmity against God possibly be something that he would like or that would serve ok well let's use an example from the world if you'll forgive me for a worldly example let's say that you support a particular ok let's say you support one of the old firm ok let's say for example that you are you're a ranger supporter and you are absolutely besotted with your team and it's the cup final and there you are ready to ready to cheer on your team and you're waiting for a stealthy to turn out oh a stealthy that you can't stand and you want them to be you want to beat them you want to win but in order for that to happen what would be a terrible thing to happen well supposing their their bus went off the road before on their way you're handed and you said come on it's getting off for free
[33:52] I thought what's happening their bus is sitting in a ditch nobody's injured but now they can't get to the ground in time this is a disaster why because you want them there you don't want them either to be wheeled out in hospital beds with drips and so on and crutches and so on you want them fit and healthy and able to play you don't want them to be half asleep in the game you want to have opponents worthy of a name in other words you ranger supporter though you may be you want Celtic to arrive hale and hearty fit and ready to play you want them out there you want them there in front of you so that your team can play against the enemy and so they can beat them so that they can win so that they can do everything they can against you you want a hard game you want a good game just as long as you win at the end of the day what you don't want is for them to fail to turn up what you don't want is for them to come out hobbling on crutches or not able to play a decent game you want a good game you want a strong game you want a hard game as long as you win at the end of it but in order to have that glory of winning at the end of it you've got to have the opposition you've got to have the team you hate you've got to have them coming out you've got to have them playing against your side just as long as you win at the end in other words the people you think you hate are integral to the victory that you desire the people who are your enemies as you perceive them are integral to the necessity of you getting your victory your glory at the end the Lord has created let's leave the worldly example aside now and go back to the spiritual the Lord has created everyone who exists even those who are at enmity with him even those who are hostile against him they are an integral part of the equation they are a necessary part of the equation because the Lord demonstrates his triumph his victory his glory over sin and Satan and death and hell precisely because these enemies come at him with everything they have they throw their worst hatred at him they persecute his people they martyr his followers they slaughter
[36:18] Christians all over the world they would pull God down from heaven and kill him again if they could but they're not able to but their very enmity glorifies God's victory remember what he says to Pharaoh some of you will know we're looking at Exodus in the evening services Pharaoh was raised up precisely for that time that his power and might and glory and enmity against the Hebrews is used of God to show his glory in overcoming that power enmity hatred and wrath even the enmity of man even the wrath of man even the betrayal of man will ultimately glorify God who will use even his enemies to accomplish his ends if it hadn't been Judas somebody else would have amused of the Lord somebody else in enmity with him somebody else could have been a traitor that's in
[37:22] God's great plan that's in God's scheme of salvation God will always be glorified don't you worry about God's honour God will always win God will always have the victory regardless of the ramping and raving and enmity of man even the wicked have been raised up for the day of evil for the day of God's glory but what you and I have to be concerned with and what Judas ought to have been so concerned with is that betrayal that lostness that lack of forgiveness or reconciliation to God that lost eternity some people will be in a lost eternity millions will be in a lost eternity but friend it doesn't have to be you it didn't have to be Judas that's the tragedy of it all that's the tragedy of this one who by the time he came and kissed
[38:24] Jesus it was already over Judas betray a star of the son of man with a kiss and Jesus addresses him by name and by then it's all over friend for you and me it's not all over there is still time there is still opportunity and there is still an open door one way or another new life whether it is an entity with God or whether he's reconciled to the Lord he will glorify him he will have a victory but what would you rather be there will be enough billions for lost it doesn't have to be you and it didn't have to be Judas let us pray you