The Giving Part 2: Judas the Betrayer, a Balanced View of the Sovereignty of God

Video: https://youtu.be/hWL7pCt_mWs

[Music] the giving is a balanced view of the sovereignty of God God's sovereignty is vitally important for us to know God yet it's God's sovereignty taught as a system of theological thought which can lead to a person reading into the biblical text an outside concept that is foreign to the writers intention the context and the inspired words the outside system threatens to divide the church even pitting Christian against Christian this grieves our heart for our brothers in Christ sometimes we don't know the difference between being a prophet and a jerk and I think that's a huge failure and we will do better together with diversity in the midst of a fundamental unity we'll do better together than separate that the only way scripture alone can be scripture alone is if it is self-authenticating his word is the ultimate standard like I know something not simply through reasoning not because the church tells me so not because of a confession but I know something is true I can have certainty about that because God has spoken the atonement has become a dividing line for Christians for those who hold to the teaching that Jesus did not die for everyone Judas becomes an example of a biblical obstacle against their doctrine John would there be any cautions that you would have for this new reformed new Calvinist movement you referenced earlier oh yeah reformed people tend to be thoughtful that is they come to the Bible and they want to use their minds to make sense of it and and the best want to make sense of all of it not pick and choose and say I don't like that verse that sound like an Arminian verse we'll put that over here well no no you fix your brain you don't fix the Bible so being that kind of person that we were prone to to systematize and fit things together those kinds of people me are therefore wired dangerously to begin to idolize the system we need something deeper we need something more thoughtful we need something more biblical I have been to Bible conferences and seminars all over the planet for obviously many many many years I've never heard anybody preach on Judas at a Bible conference or any other isolated special event he's not the subject that people want to deal with so it's not likely that anybody would ask me to come somewhere and preach on Judas that is enough for me I'm satisfied with that not only having preached on it then going back and writing commentaries on the same thing he has occupied a huge huge place in my life and it all really started when I was a seminary student because I was very fascinated by Judas fascinated that he could develop in that environment that that anybody as monstrous as Judas could arise in the Fellowship of Jesus seemed to me inconceivable and so when I was given the responsibility to write my graduate dissertation in seminary I chose to write on Judas Judas is he a stumbling block does how Jesus treated Judas revealed the universal nature of the atonement if the giving of the Father includes Jesus dying for Judas what would this reveal to us about God's character these are important questions that we will consider in part two of the giving well let's take a close look at Judas place within the twelve chosen disciples Jesus chose twelve disciples and he called all of them his apostles and when day came he called his disciples to them and chose twelve of them whom he also named as apostles as the disciple of Jesus Judas was sent out to preach the gospel of the kingdom and to do miracles these twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them do not go in the way of the Gentiles and do not enter any city of the Samaritans but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of real and as you go preach saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand heal the sick raise the dead cleanse the lepers cast out demons freely you received freely give notice it was the twelve that Jesus sent out Judas was among the twelve according to Matthew 10 verse 4 Judas was given authority over sickness and the enemy just as the other apostles received that authority jesus said that the twelve were sent out as sheep in the midst of wolves behold I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves Judas was sent out as a sheep and he was warned to be as shrewd as a serpent and is innocent as a dog how did Jesus treat Judas Jesus treated Judas with love just as he treated the other apostles even though jesus knew that Judas would betray him when many of Jesus disciples left him at the end of John 6 after Jesus spoke about his coming down from heaven eating his body and drinking his blood Judas still stayed with Jesus but for reasons other than faith when Jesus asked if the Apostles would also like to go away Peter answered Lord to whom shall we go you have words of eternal life we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God here Peter spoke for all the Apostles by saying we have believed but Jesus corrected him by exposing the hidden nature of one of them do not believe Jesus knew from the very beginning who were the ones that would not believe and which one would betray him jesus answered them did I myself not choose you the twelve and yet one of you is a devil Jesus accepted the responsibility for choosing the one who would be exposed as a devil nevertheless even knowing that one of his disciples was a devil an opposer of God and not a true follower of the Father Jesus treated Judas with uncompromising love when the hour had come he sat down and the Twelve Apostles with him and he said to them with fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer but not only did this event look backwards in time but in the economy of the Providence of God it was looking forward to the future to the final Passover to the perfect Passover when the perfect Paschal Lamb would be sacrificed and so Jesus gathers his disciples in the upper room and as he's going through the Seder as he's going through the Liturgy of the Passover he changes it and can you imagine how significant it was for any Jew after the Passover was originally instituted to have the audacity to change the liturgy of it well the only person in the world who had the HISP had the authority to make such drastic changes to the liturgy was Jesus himself because the Passover was about him he is the Paschal and he is the one invested by God with the authority to give a new understanding and new meaning to this Old Testament sacrament as it were that what is happening here in terms of the work of Christ is not simply the fulfillment of Passover but it's the end of the Old Covenant because in that Upper Room the New Testament church was born most people think that the church was born on the day of Pentecost I don't I think the church was born there in the Upper Room when Jesus Institute's the New Covenant they obviously understand that the use of the verb to be can also frequently mean this represents and when you're going through a liturgy and Jesus takes an element that had symbolized one thing in the past now he indicates it symbolizes something new namely not the giving of the Paschal Lamb of old but the giving of his own body his own life and then we were told that in like manner after they had supped he took the cup they drank the cup for different times in the Seder in this occasion Jesus again changes the liturgy and he said this is the cup of the New Testament which is in my blood which is shed for the remission of your sins now before the Feast of the Passover Jesus knowing that his hour had come that he would depart out of this world to the father having loved his own who were in the world he loved them to the end even as an unbelievable Judas was still in the care of Jesus and Judas experienced the servanthood of Jesus Jesus showed love towards his disciples by washing their feet the night before he would be given as the Lamb of God on the he got up from supper and laid aside his garments and taking a towel he girded himself then he poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded although Jesus acted in love towards Judas Jesus said that not all the proposals were clean Jesus already knew who was going to betray him as a spy he said all of you except one are clean our Lord is aware of all of this he knows that the devil is commiserating with Judas he knows that verse 11 of chapter 13 says he knew the one who was betraying him he knew the betrayal was in motion present tense it was ongoing for this reason he said not all of you are clean he had just told the disciples they were clean they were redeemed they were saved they were regenerated they had been fully washed but not all of them what Jesus does next is absolutely amazing what did he do for Judas you would give the the first piece of bread to the honored guests and hey Judas had been allowed by our Lord to be in the position on his side where the honored guests would sit and so our Lord in a gesture of amazing honor to Judas gives him the morsel as if he were some honored guest a mark of special affection John says Satan entered him John thirteen two and twenty seven Satan entered him and Jesus said go do what you do quickly get out and Judas leaves and they have the Passover with Judas gone the entire account becomes clear as we compare all of the Gospel accounts of the Last Supper in the book of Matthew Jesus gives a command while they were eating Jesus took some bread and after a blessing he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said take eat this is my body and when he had taken a cup and given thanks he gave it to them saying drink from it all of you for this is my blood of the Covenant which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins Jesus reveals that the bread that he has just broken is his body and he commands all of them to drink from the cup why it is because he said it is the blood of the Covenant did Judas partake of the bread and the wine did Judas obey the command that Jesus gave for him to eat and drink the sign of the Covenant mark and Luke tell us the rest of the story as they were reclining at the table and eating and Jesus said there truly I say to you that one of you will betray me one who is eating with me they began to be grieved and to say to him one by one surely not I and he said to them it is one of the twelve one who dips with me in the bowl for the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of him but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed it would have been good for that man if he had not been born while they were eating he took some bread and after a blessing he broke it and gave it to them and said take it this is my body and when he had taken a cup and given thanks he gave it to them and they all drank from him and he said to them this is my blood of the Covenant which is poured out for many once again it is written that Jesus commanded them to take the bread he also gave the cup for them to drink and they all drank from it who is the blood of the Covenant given form Jesus stated that it is poured out for many because Jesus gave the cup for all of his apostles to drink the term poured out for many must include Judas by the testimony of Jesus and John a discussion of the term many will be dealt with later in this section now you might think that perhaps Judas was not with Jesus and the other disciples during the institution of the New Covenant however Luke the author who wrote the time ordered account wrote this and when he had taken some bread and given thanks he broke it and gave it to them saying this is my body which is given for you do this in remembrance of me and in the same way he took the cup after they had eaten insane this cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood but behold the hand of the one betraying me is with mine on the table notice first that Jesus said the cup which is the New Covenant in his blood is for you this is personal and it is inclusive for all who were commanded to drink notice also that after Jesus gave the bread and the wine calling it the New Covenant in his blood he said but behold the hand of the one betraying me is with mine on the table jesus clearly identified that Judas was there with him when he commanded them all to partake Judas was with Jesus as all the disciples partook of the sign of the new covenant the Book of Luke distinctly identifies Judas hand with Jesus's on the table after Jesus gave the cup of the New Covenant for his twelve disciples to drink is it possible that Luke did not have these important words in their proper order let's take a look at this concern carefully trusting that God's Word does not contradict itself Luke identifies the way that he chose to compile his account in as much as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the world it seemed fitting for me as well having investigated everything carefully from the beginning to write it out for you in consecutive order most excellent Theophilus Luke's purpose was to write out a consecutive ordered account of the events that happened concerning Jesus and the gospel that is his testimony we can believe Luke because he wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and so the spirit testifies that Luke's Gospel is in consecutive order how was the book of Matthew written the book of Matthew was not written in a chronological order instead it wrote about similar events arranged together although this is a different style this does not mean that either account is in error and neither account should be discounted both Gospels are true because they were written by the Holy Spirit who moved different people as authors yet the result was still inspired and without error the college press NIV commentary writes this about how Matthew is organized Matthew's story is organized around several narrative blocks comprised of events that are interconnected according to a particular emphasis or theme Matthew starts his gospel in this way the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the Son of David the son of Abraham the Greek term book or record means a compilation of the known facts regarding something or someone it is not necessary for the facts to be in chronological order let's look at several witnesses who agree that Matthew does not list his events in chronological order the first witness shows Matthew is a topical source matthew has arranged his account of the life of Christ in a topical giving a series of miracles sermons or controversies without presenting them in the order in which they occurred Luke's Gospel appears to be more chronological in nature the second witness identifies that Matthew is not chronological but uses events out of order to set the stage Jesus teaches about the cost of following him according to the harmony of the Gospels this crossing of the lake didn't actually occur after the events just recounted Matthew chose to include it here to set a stage for the events in the remainder of the chapter the third witness is a Calvinist source which confirms the uniqueness of Matthew style in ordering his literary material the method of Matthew is unique as he tells the story of redemption he does not consistently follow the order of time but he groups similar events or teachings which may be logically related and so heightens the effects Luke by way of contrast follows the order of time the words of Jesus are true Jesus words are not in dispute Jesus only told the truth and his witness can be believed let's look at the actual words of Jesus recorded in the Gospel accounts to affirm that there are no discrepancies at all when we consider the style of writing and in the same way he took the cup after they had eaten insane this cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood but behold the hand of the one betraying me is with mine Luke's account is orderly and in the ordered telling of the events Jesus establishes the covenant in his blood saying it is for you in the plural and Jesus then establishes the location of Judas with him at the table Jesus himself said that the cup is his covenant in his blood and that it is poured out for you again plural and Jesus also said that the one who is betraying him is there with him the betrayers hand is on the table with Jesus the statements are in order and they are true the words of Jesus in Matthew are also true and they are connected to the next activity in Matthew we see the words of Jesus correctly quoted but they are words that are topically connected and not with Jesus words in the immediate context of Judas before this is my blood of the Covenant which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins but I say to you I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's Kingdom after singing a hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives then jesus said to them you will all fall away because of me this night for it is written I will strike down the Shepherd and the Sheep of the flock shall be scattered but after I have been raised I will go ahead of you to Galilee there is no doubt that Jesus said the words in verse 29 but it is obvious that these words were not said at the same time that Judas was there but some time later the words of Matthew are absolutely correct and they are not in doubt however Matthew's placement of jesus promised that he will drink the fruit of the vine with you in his father's kingdom is a word of comfort to the rest of the disciples whom jesus said in verse 31 would be scattered Judis wasn't scattered but the eleven were Matthew connects verses 28 and 29 because both verses are about the wine that he gave verse 28 was spoken to the 12 at the time that he told them all to drink of his covenant verse 29 is about the wine that will be served by Jesus in the coming Kingdom Matthew aptly connects the wine of his death and the new wine of the kingdom because Jesus serves them both but the statements were said at different times Matthew is true to his purpose of connected topics his purpose was not to be chronological in Matthew 26 verses 31 and 32 Jesus assures his remaining 11 disciples that although he says they will be scattered when he has struck down they will not be lost or abandoned in verse 29 he assures the eleven that make up this little flock that he will indeed drink of the fruit of the vine with them in the kingdom none of them will be lost in verse 32 he assured the 11 that he will without fail go ahead of them into Galilee so that they will not be left alone he will meet them in Galilee Matthew's version using the words of comfort from Jesus are connected to the soon-to-be scattered flock in Matthew these words are used for assurance to the remaining disciples Matthew's account is different from Mark's account and it is also different from Luke's it is not different because one account is in question however it is because the words were stated at a different time than the words quoted in Luke Matthew and Luke quote Jesus words for a different reason in Luke chapter 22 and verse 18 Jesus words are about the end of his earthly life and the coming of the kingdom of God the coming of the kingdom of God is certain to occur even though the hand of his betrayer is with him on the table the betrayal will not stop the kingdom from coming but the betrayal will fulfill the event that was prophesied which would take Jesus to the cross the cross must come first before the kingdom can come the cross was in the plan of the Father all along for his giving of the son for I say to you I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes but I say to you I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's Kingdom Jesus could not say the words of Luke 22 verse 18 and the parallel words of Matthew 26 verse 29 at the same time that his betrayer was with him because he would not be drinking wine with Judith in the kingdom Jesus had already expressed his woe to the one who would betray him Jesus had prophesied that Judas would be lost forever and he would not be in the kingdom another important consideration is to prove Luke chapter 22 verses 20 and 21 are in consecutive order that this is the construction of the grammar which does not allow us to switch the order of the events in Luke and in the same way he took the cup after they had eaten saying this cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood let behold the hand of the one betraying me is with mine on the table Luke shows that the cup followed the giving of the bread because he says in the same way he took the cup then verse 21 starts with but but is a logical contrastive coordinating or adversative conjunction the two sentences are tied together so that you cannot have the cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant is my blood separated from quote but behold the hand the one betraying me is with mine on the table not only does the grammar not allow us to separate the two sentences that clearly show Judas was with Jesus when Jesus commanded his twelve disciples to eat and drink of the New Covenant bread and wine but the contrastive must follow what it is contrasting jesus said the cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood Jesus is getting ready to pour out his blood for the forgiveness of sins yet the very one who has just partaken of the Covenant sign in communion with Jesus is the same one who is betraying Jesus one lays down his life because of his great love and the other turns away from the life giver for thirty pieces of silver and his own love of money it is not possible to have the verse a quote but behold the hand of the one betraying me is with mine on the table end quote and make this come before quote this cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood the saying is attached to what precedes it Luke consistently gives his account in consecutive order and the grammar in the Last Supper account reinforces this order Luke makes an exception with John the Baptist's story as Luke chooses to move past John to the importance of Jesus however even in Luke chapter 3 verse 20 where the story ends with John the Baptist in prison the account is a chronological account of John the Baptist and moves on to a chronological account of Jesus through the rest of his gospel historically Luke is seen as chronological Arthur right in the Gospel according to st. Luke in Greek after the Westcott and Hort text writes this it is certain however that st. Luke intended his work to be as far as possible a formal history he is made a serious effort to put our Lord's life on a historical foundation that it might take its place amongst the records of secular history it becomes important therefore to discover his chronological conclusions John MacArthur in his the MacArthur Study Bible comments about Luke's order it is clear that he regarded his account is authoritative an orderly account Luke's account has predominantly ordered chronologically but he does not follow such an arrangement slavishly yes Luke's account is ordered chronologically and his chronological account of John the Baptist is the rare time when he sums up the lesser story to move on to the ordered account of Jesus when Luke returns to John the Baptist it is in a chronological order within the story of Jesus all of the Gospels come together to produce one United witness Matthew Mark and John do not identify Judas as leaving before communion and Luke clearly and irrefutable shows that Judas did not leave until afterwards this was when Jesus gave out the bread and the wine Luke's ordered account is not just reliable but his sentence construction and word usage do not allow Judas to be gone before the bread and the wine are given the implications here are clear Jesus initiated the first communion and he not only included Judas but he commanded all of them to eat and to drink of it what will you do with this information can you accept the text for what it says or will you allow your traditions to contradict Jesus clear words James white correctly says when your tradition is contradicted by the Bible you need to see the Bible text in its context immediately you see an explosion of what we need to jump over here can you go over there instead of let's positively walk through what this text says first in context those who believe the words of Jesus in the ordered account of Luke must accept that Judas was there at the time of the Last Supper however for Calvinists the words of Jesus brings them to a crossroad if on one hand they believe that Jesus told the truth and that the Bible is faithful to record his words in chronological order in the Book of Luke then Judas becomes a stumbling block to their doctrine if you hold to Calvinism or the doctrines of grace as a doctrine you love you will have to choose whether a doctrine is more important than holding to the inerrancy of the Bible we became obsessed but sometimes zeal has its consequences it can be very easy for us to to be divisive this is the only way I can put it and and basically look at other people who are not Calvinists like they're not even Christian I don't even know if you say you're not reformed on even though if you save like and that and that's just that's immaturity did you can see a fundamental contradiction in agustín's writings that evidently he couldn't see and I've often wondered you know when I'm dead and gone not that anyone's gonna care but if someone takes the time to work through what I've written and what I've done well the same situation prevailed for me so I wanted to illustrate that we need to have a level of humility if someone as universally acclaimed as bright as agustin could have a rather glaring contradiction right in front of him what about us [Music] contradiction did Jesus die only for the elect and that is that he would save all his elect and only his elect he entered once for all into the holy places not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood thus securing and eternal redemption it did not accomplish that on behalf of everybody because there are people who will die in their sins and end up spending eternity under the wrath of God sadly Jesus never said that he would only die for some sinners rather the Father purpose that all of us would be in the same spiritual condition in desperate need of a savior Romans 11 says for just as you once were disobedient to God but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience notice the reason that is given for God's mercy God's mercy to the Gentiles is declared by Paul because of the disobedience of the Jews it is because of their disobedience Paul states and not because you were unconditionally chosen as the elect Paul continues so these also now have been disobedient that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy for God has shut up all in disobedience so that he may show mercy to all Jesus Christ came into the world and was appointed before the world's began representing all the elect of God and all the ages of history and in our place he would not only represent us but substitute himself for us there is no legal fiction whatsoever there is no sleight of divine hand when Calvin has say that Jesus didn't die for all they have no testimony from the father or the son that limits the sacrifice of Jesus to only some sinners instead they are forced into a conclusion about the extent of the death of Christ that is determined by the doctrine rather than by God's purpose the father's testimony is expressed by Jesus when Jesus commanded Judas to partake of the Covenant sign of his death Jesus pulls the rug out from a man-centered reasoning that the blood of Jesus could only be shed for the saved Jesus spoke God's truth about the precious purpose of his blood the father's intention is to show mercy to all and God cannot contradict himself [Music] the celebrity ISM that that we see in this this resurgence of Calvinism is is really dangerous and if if it's not corrected I think what we will see is what happens with every other fad is that once the once the big shots die off everything else is going to kind of die off with them and and and that would be that would be tragic celebrity ism and a love for a 500 year old system should never replace the life-giving words of Jesus we must be united as Christians around Jesus and the truth that he revealed when a man's doctrine contradicts Jesus a man's words will ultimately fall to the ground and the fad will fade everything that can be shaken will be shaken and the truth from Jesus will survive and today we're going to look at the resurrection and it may seem a little bit strange to speak of the resurrection of Christ as part of his work because the whole event of his resurrection was one in which Jesus was completely passive he didn't raise himself from the dead but rather he was raised by the power of the Holy Ghost from the dead well RC sprawled denies that Jesus raised himself from the dead his denial contradicts the testimony of Jesus now I understand what went on there in the resurrection the first thing we have to realize is that when Jesus died on the cross he was really dead and when he was buried in the tomb he was really dead [Music] Jesus was in the temple in John too as he drove out the money changers who were selling oxen sheep and doves Jesus poured out their coins and overturned their tables telling them to stop making his father's house a place of business the Jews then said to him what sign do you show us as your authority for doing these things Jesus gave them the sign that they asked for jesus answered them destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up notice that Jesus said I will raise it up this is a prophecy about the resurrection of Jesus at first the Jews didn't understand him they said it took 46 years to build this temple and you will raise it up in three days the Jews first thought that Jesus was talking about the literal temple in front of them but John states that Jesus was speaking of the temple of his body did Jesus fulfill his promise to the Jews did Jesus raise his own body from the grave Jesus could not lie and he could not be a false prophet we know that the disciples believed Jesus because John writes so when he was raised from the dead his disciples remembered that he said this and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken what was the word that Jesus had spoken Jesus said that his body was destroyed because of the Jews he would raise that body up in three days he didn't raise himself from the dead the disciples believed Jesus but did the Jews to whom the sign was given understand that Jesus would resurrect his own body they absolutely did understand him but they didn't believe him Matthew 27 verse 62 to 66 documents that the Jews understood about the sign that Jesus gave them now on the next day the day after the preparation the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate and said sir we remember that when he was still alive that deceiver said after three days I am to rise again therefore give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day otherwise his disciples may come and steal him away and say to the people he has risen from the dead and this last deception will be worse than the first Pilate said to them you have a guard go make it as secure as you know how and they went and made the grave secure along with the guard they set a seal on the stone notice that the Jews admit that Jesus said he would rise again but they did not believe in him so they called him a deceiver clearly these Jews understood that Jesus meant his resurrection after his death they now remembered his words and they understood how his prophecy could cause them a problem they reasoned that if the disciples of Jesus steal his body and claim that he had been raised from the dead as he said that would cause them a big problem so they secured the grave and waited for the fourth day to come when his prophecy would have failed did the resurrection happen just as Jesus said yes the resurrection had to happen through Jesus exactly as he said because Jesus said that he is the resurrection and the life all resurrections come through him Paul writes in Romans 1 verse 4 about Jesus Jesus was declared the Son of God with power through his resurrection the Trinity is at work through the resurrection of Jesus because the father raised Jesus the Holy Spirit raised Jesus and Jesus raised himself without Jesus there is no resurrection he's david rude [Music] Lizzy world the easy words of all blessing in honor Oh easy world heeey [Music] it is vital that we trust the words of Jesus any man who contradicts Jesus is not an authority that we can trust you will have to choose whether a doctrine is more important than holding to the inerrancy of the Bible and holding to the words of your Lord and Savior for if Jesus the one who is the way the truth and the life said that his death was for all of the twelve and that all should partake then there is at least one person than Jesus died for that did not end up saved so self attestation is a claim concerning the nature of Scripture itself that it is god-breathed that it is the very speaking of God and that it exists therefore on a completely unique level because if Scripture is what it claims to be they honest us if as as the Risen one said have you not read was spoken to you by God in reference to the Pentateuch the oldest of the Old Testament books if it is they honest us then it has to by nature be self attesting what is what is the highest authority [Music] they listen to this reformed teaching which is adult conversation you realize wow this is like night and day compared to this other stuff no as I said I sure don't want to end up in hell the problem with Calvinism is claim that Jesus died only for the elect is that any Christian may not actually be one of the elect but maybe self-deceived thinking they are safe yet they may wake up in hell because Jesus didn't die for them no as I said I sure don't want to end up in hell but one thing I know for sure that if I do if I've deceived myself all these years and if I'm one who says well Ward Lord didn't I do this and didn't I do that and he looked at me and said please leave I don't know you and he sends me to hell one thing I can promise you that I'll be a weeper not an Asscher because I know anything about theology I know that if he sent me to hell for night I could make no just complaint against him no complaint why not because they believed that the Father from eternity past unconditionally elected some for salvation and he passed by all the rest of humanity without sending Jesus to die for the ones pass by the ones passed by have no savior no hope and no just complaint what is what is the highest authority because if Scripture is what it claims to be they honest Asif as as the Risen one said have you not read what was spoken to you by God what did Jesus say why did Jesus offer his body and his blood for Judas Jesus offered what was his to give his body and his blood before Judas why he did this because it shows that Jesus was going to die for the sins of Judas as well as for the sins of the other apostles those who say that Jesus died only for those who will be saved have to face the words of Jesus in Luke 22 verse 21 Jesus did not go to the cross for the sins of only his elect sheep he died for Judas too why did Jesus die for Judas when Judas would end up dying in his sins there are two reasons why Jesus would die for Judas even though Judas would be lost number one God set a standard to show us what qualifies as the greatest love jesus said that there is no greater love than this greater love has no one than this that one lay down his life for his friends did Jesus measure up to this standard did Jesus lay down his life for his friends absolutely Jesus fulfilled the law about loving God and loving one's neighbor as oneself he had to completely fulfill the standard of the law as he is our perfect Savior so let me ask you a question was Jesus a friend to Judas well we know that Judas was no friend to Jesus but in spite of the betrayal of Judas Jesus showed his love to the end by dying for his friend Jesus was the true friend of Judas Judas the traitor knew where it was because many times Jesus had left there with his disciples so Judas went to the garden and taking with him a group of Roman soldiers and some temple guards sent by the chief priests and the Pharisees they were armed and carried lanterns and torches [Music] Judas the traitor thief unfaithful unworthy immediately Judas went to Jesus and said hail rabbi and kissed him and Jesus said to him friend do what you have come for then they came and laid hands on Jesus and seized him Judas is the greatest example of lost opportunity that ever existed he had like the rest left all to follow Jesus into the kingdom his motives were all wrong he was motivated as it turns out by greed and avarice and ambition and material things and money you know when the mob came to come to arrest Jesus and Judas came up to kiss him do you remember how Jesus addressed Judas what do you say to him friend there is an element here of seeing the demonstration of the loving patience and mercy of Christ Jesus called Judas friend the word said to Judas was so fitting because of the truth of his faithfulness shortly after Jesus called Judas friend he would lay down his life for his friends number two the failure of Judas cannot limit the faithfulness of God just because Judas would rebel against Jesus and then Judas would die in his sin Judas did not have the power to limit God's faithfulness second Timothy chapter 2 verse 13 tells his wife if we are faithless he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself Jesus absolutely cannot deny himself he cannot be faithless even when many are faithless he must remain faithful but what about those who were in Hell before Jesus died Jesus still died for them he cannot deny himself he must remain faithful even in the face of unfaithfulness of any sinner sinners who ended up in hell cannot limit his death just because they chose to deny the light that was given to them if you say that God cannot be faithful even with the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus because of the unfaithfulness of people then you've limited the sovereignty of God it is not a waste of the blood of Jesus when he dies for an unbeliever who ends up in hell why because he is in control and sinners are not by Jesus showing the greatest form of love to those that he calls friend but who are in reality his enemies he has shown his glory by exhibiting the ultimate example of the faithfulness of God God is the faithful sovereign who cannot be limited by the unfaithfulness of others and he goes on to say that then Satan entered Judas surnamed Iscariot who was numbered among the twelve Satan entered Judas twice the first time was what RC sproule referenced from Luke 22 verse 3 and so he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captain's how they might betray him to them and so he promised and sought opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of the multitudes that were told here that while the Feast of the unleavened bread is being prepared the time of Passover at that very time the leaders are entering into conspiracy to do away with Jesus and they enter into a bargain with one of the twelve Judas Iscariot that Judas might betray him the next time that Satan entered Judas was after Jesus instituted the Covenant in his blood given the responsibility to write my graduate dissertation in seminary I chose to write on there Judas is regarded as the most thoroughly despicable and contemptible of persons who who ever lived to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver and then before the crucifixion narratives can even begin to be told before even Jesus trial at the throne of Pilate Judas is dead driven to suicide by monstrous guilt tortured in the throes of his own self execution he can't even hang himself effectively either the rope broke or the branch broke and acts 1 says he was smashed on the rocks beneath the precipice from which he had hanged himself we are hours before that horrendous suicide that cast him into eternal hell and so he concocted a plan to sell Jesus out to betray his presence to the Pharisees who wanted him dead and he would sell him for the price of a slave thirty pieces of silver when Judas does what he does this will not shock God this will not somehow provide some kind of detour in the plan this will not put up a barrier and the purposes of God when he does what he chooses to do he will fulfill Scripture I do not call you servants any long because servants do not know what their master is doing instead I call you friends because I've told you everything I heard from My Father you did not choose me I chose you that appointed you to go and bear much fruit Judas was chosen and appointed to bear much fruit as were all the rest of the disciples Judas was not appointed to betray Jesus instead Judas an unrepentant sinner was allowed to betray Jesus with the full knowledge of Jesus who knew his heart from the beginning yet even though jesus knew his heart he called judas friend because Jesus told him everything he heard from his father Judas received the exact same words of life that all the other apostles received Judas treachery was his own Judas did what he did by his own will and by his own choice and when he did what he did it full filled Scripture Judas took his own life by his own choice but didn't Jesus died for many and not for all Jesus did die for many however many is a synonym for all it is never a synonym for few in fact in Romans chapter 5 verse 15 the term many is connected to all who died because of the sin of Adam and the same word is used for the grace of Jesus Christ given for the same many the bday classic on records that when the article is used with many as the many it is whatever appears in the context as a whole in Romans chapter 5 verse 15 the many is the whole of the human race but the free gift is not like the transgression or if by the transgression of the one the many died more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ abound to the many was Judas predestined to be lost if the concept of Calvinism predestination means that Judas was predestined from eternity past to be lost then he would have always been predestined to be lost even as a baby in his mother's womb however the words of Jesus showed that this is not the case with Judas the son of man is to go just as it is written of him but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed it would have been good for that man if he had not been born the term good in the phrase it would have been good for that man means in the original Greek better for him a greater advantage it would be a greater advantage for Judas if he had not been born what was Jesus referring to that would have been a greater advantage for Judas the term born in the Greek in Matthew 26 verse 24 means to give birth in this instance it means that Judas would have had a greater advantage if he would have died in his mother's womb and had not been born his death as a preborn baby would have been a greater advantage to him if the teaching of an eternal decision to predestined Judas to hell from eternity past is true then there never would have been an advantage for him to have died in his mother's womb in that event Judas would have gone to hell even before he betrayed Jesus but Jesus who has never lied said that dying before Judas was born would have been an advantage for him Judas was not set up without a choice to go into perdition Judas is not a surprise to Jesus it's really critical that the disciples knew that so that they literally don't have to reassess everything they've ever believed about Jesus this does not undermine his authority validates Scripture hair is today's hard question guys and ladies and gentlemen why did Jesus choose Judas to be one of his disciples yeah I believe here that first of all it's a fulfillment of prophecy so I totally agree with pastor here that it had to be somebody but you know always my heart was so Lord what was really your heart for Judas then the heart of the Lord for Judah was the same for him for Peter because Peter did not actually commit a less dramatic sin as Judah did but the only difference here one has chosen to repent and the other did not really so the longing of the Lord was will you repent yeah what about Peter did he kill himself done the same thing hadn't done it for money but he'd done it in a sense he was saying this isn't the Christ this he was giving them the same attitude that Judas gave them when he was willing to sell Jesus Peter was a betrayer and we could see how it happened he boasted too much he prayed too little that verse 75 says Peter remembered the words which Jesus had said before a [ __ ] crows you will deny me three times he went out and wept bitterly he didn't kill himself but it says in Luke 22 61 and the Lord turned and looked at Peter when Judas and Jesus eyes met in the darkness of Gethsemane Judas kissed him with a kiss of hate the kiss of a hypocrite when the eyes of Peter met the eyes of Jesus he was crushed he was shattered he was devastated and broke down in genuine tears of true repentance crushing sadness led Judas to suicide without repentance crushing sadness led Peter to duration with repentance and the difference was the way they looked at Christ the way they responded to Christ for Peter the vision of Christ drew him to repentance what was the difference Peter loved Jesus Christ he left him jesus said to Peter and Peter Satan desires to have you that he can that he might sift you like wheat Satan desires to have you he's come and asked permission to go after you but when you are converted strengthen the Brethren what was the guarantee that he would be converted that he would survive that Jesus said this one line I have prayed for you that your faith fail not you might say for Peter the vision of Christ drew him to heaven for Judas the vision of Christ drew him to hell he is in outer darkness forever the day is gone the night has come eternal night fell on Judas he was the son of perdition they Jesus teaches that he was prophesied that he had to do what he did Judas acted verse 30 he had no choice Sovereign Lord did Judas have to betray Jesus Jesus doesn't say this instead jesus warned Judas about the consequence of his treasonous plan jesus said the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of him but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed it would have been good for that man if he had not been born the words of Jesus revealed that Jesus was predestined to die on the cross but the end of Judas was not predestined once again the the the person whose viewpoint on this I value the most is person by the name of Jesus because he rose from the dead and because of that I take his perspective on things and Jesus clearly identified Judas as one who would have had an advantage if he had died in the womb by these words Jesus reveals that Judas was not predestined for hell Judas was not compelled by God to betray Jesus as if he had no other option if Judas was predestined to sin against Jesus and this was God's plan for his life then there would never have been any other option for Judas and Jesus would have given a false testimony about a greater advantage for Judas if he had died in the womb Judas was compelled by his own greed and his unrepentant works resulted in his last act of turning his back on God instead of turning towards him Judas went away and took his own life Jesus died for Jews so that he would have life while God planned to use a betrayer to bring about the death of Jesus God could not unconditionally predestined Judas to hell because God cannot deny himself his character is faithfulness and his love is far beyond what we could ever conceive Jesus did not die on the cross so that the father would love us Jesus died on the cross because the Father loves us if you are a Calvinist I would like for you to consider these questions if Jesus died for Judas as Jesus said when he commanded Judas to partake of the bread and the wine and Jesus said his death was for you plural when he gave the elements how would Jesus be any less of a perfect Savior just because Judas would not believe can the unbelief of Judas removed the faithfulness of God will you consider that Jesus was the true Savior of the world and that the term world must include will you consider that the death of Jesus on the behalf of the sins of Judas was an act of perfect love but that the act of dying for Judas did not necessitate his salvation what does Paul say when it comes to I delivered to you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins that's the language of substitution Jesus is a perfect Savior because he fulfilled the greatest call to love by dying for his friends he is also a perfect Savior because he accomplished on the cross something that could not be limited by any sinner no sinner who was in hell before Jesus died or who would go to hell after Jesus died could limit the greatest love given on the cross the giving is the sovereign Savior Jesus 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