Grace Bible Church
Pastor Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Friday
February 21, 2020
Character trait #1: Judas was not only a traitor; he was also a hypocrite because the very things that Judas despised in others is the very thing that he did himself.
Character trait #2: Judas accused others of being greedy when in reality, he was the greedy one who was also filled with envy and jealousy.
Character trait #3: Judas was also a thief, stealing or robbing funds from the Lord’s money box, which exposes that Judas was full of avarice or greed;
JOH 12:6.
Character trait #4: Judas was a liar, not someone who tells lies every so often, but he was a liar as his father (the devil) was.
Character trait #5: Judas was a loser and like all losers, he judges and criticizes all who he can for self-promotion.
These character traits are one of the reasons why we need to learn and master the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ more than any of the other divine attributes.
The best way to illustrate this principle is to look up the two words as they are used in our Term Book which is the word ‘divine’ and then the word ‘attribute.’
Divine refers to that which is godly.
Attribute refers to that which the godly possess.
The sins of Judas are many, he was not just a traitor, the first sin was greed.
We read about the greed of Judas in JOH 12:1-9.
Every time the average believer hears the name Judas Iscariot, they immediately focus on the betrayal of Judas against our Lord.
He seeks to blind and deceive every believer who loves our Lord and he tries to exploit our weakest link.
In the case of Judas, it was money.
The devil couldn’t motivate Judas to murder Christ but was tempt Judas and his motivation of greed so that Judas betrayed Christ to those who would eventually see to it that He was murdered.
The betrayal itself was not an act of violence. Ironically, it was an act of affection.
Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, a sign of friendship.
The betrayer, Judas Iscariot had given them a sign, saying “The One I shall kiss is the Man; seize Him.” And he came up to Jesus at once and said “Hail, Master!”
We all have weaknesses and the devil exploits these weaknesses.
Unlike Judas, who was not even a believer, Satan entered into him because he was the only one of the twelve that did not believe in our Lord.
Satan cannot enter any believer physically, but what he can do is enter into each of us through doubt and distraction, which eventually lead to actions that are destructive for us and those around us.
He enters into marriages, into friendships, anywhere there is good, you will find him trying to turn good into evil.
Most of our sins are not sins of violence, but sins of affection gone wrong.
- After all, who is it that we sin against the most?
- Our families and our friends, the one with whom we are the closest.
While we may never take up a weapon to hurt someone in physical way, we all use our mouths and our minds as weapons to inflict emotional harm on others.
In some way, we all betray friends, confidences, courtesies and in so doing, we all betray Christ.
The greatest sin of Judas was not greed, giving into the devil or betrayal, the greatest sin of Judas was his failure to repent.
It was his failure to believe in the Lord’s ability to forgive him and to love him again.
When Judas saw that He was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood.”
The door to repentance is open to everyone, no matter what we’ve done.
It was open to the harlots and tax collectors that Jesus forgave and embraced.
It was open for Peter, who three times denied Christ.
It was open to the thief on the cross. That door was even open to Judas.
The elements of Judas’ betrayal are foreshadowed in the fall of mankind.
The first sin of Adam and Eve was greed.
They wanted the one thing that God told them they were not to have, to partake of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
They betrayed God in eating from the tree.
When confronted, they lied, rather than repenting.
Had they repented, would the outcome to the story been different?
There is an old English adage that says “Still as of old, man by himself is priced. For 30 pieces of silver, Judas sold himself, not Christ.”
When we betray others we are really betraying ourselves.
It wasn’t betrayal that doomed Judas and it isn’t betrayal that is going to doom us.
Repentance means changing direction, from the direction that takes us away from Christ, to the direction that takes us toward Him.
Repentance is the key that opens the door to salvation. It could have for Judas. It still can for us.
Prin: When the Lord’s disciples were enlightened at the washing of the feet, then the impious Judas was darkened by the disease of greed, and delivered You, the Righteous Judge, to lawless judges.
The original Greek phrase is theios [divine] koinonos [Nature] which literally refers to the nature of divinity or a god or something super-human.
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. I’m proof ‑ Public Sinner Number One!
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners and that Paul was the literal proof that he was Public Enemy Number One,….and he needed the healing power of God.
Our Lord taught the disciples the importance of impersonal love and the relationship that we have with one another.
When it comes to people and relationships with others, it’s important to note the principle of Guarding Ourselves.
ACT 20:28 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
Did the Old Testament saints believe that their sins were forgiven?
Did they look forward to the cross?
Why do we read in the Old Testament PSA 65:3 Iniquities prevail against me; As for our transgressions, Thou dost forgive them.
ISA 43:25 “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.
JER 33:8 ‘And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me, and by which they have transgressed against Me.
MIC 7:18 who is a God like thee, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?
MIC 7:19 Yes you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
PSA 103:12, As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
ISA 38:17c For You have cast all their sins behind their back.
Jeremiah wrote; For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.
PSA 103:10, He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
PSA 65:3b, As far our transgressions Thou dost forgive them.
PSA 85:2, You did forgive the iniquity of Your people; you did cover “All” Their sin.
In EZE 16:63 the Lord said to people who were involved with the grossest sins you could imagine “I will forgive you for ALL that you have done”
Why do we read in Psalm 32:5 I acknowledged my sin to Thee.”
PSA 38:18, For I confess my iniquity (sin).
JER 3:13 ONLY acknowledge your iniquity.
PRO 28:13 He who confesses and forsakes them (sins) will find compassion.
DAN 9:20 Confessing my sin.
MAT 3:6 and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
JAM 5:16, Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
As Paul warns, “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock.”
As the wise man said, Solomon, “Above all else, guard your heart” Pro 4:23.
In JOH 3:30, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
Never think that in humbling yourself that you are a weak person and that you have less power for the production divine good.
On the contrary, in humbling yourself you are imitating and using the same means that TLJC used.
You are walking in His way and therefore in the truth, and you are in the right state to receive life and impart it to others.
He came down to the level of men by the Incarnation.
2CO 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
The beginning place for all of us, then, is to learn humility from TLJC.
He was “meek and humble in heart” not the least bit concerned about protecting His dignity or position.
Compassion for others comes from being humbled and grows through our own suffering.
It is doubtful that God can use anyone greatly until he’s they have been hurt deeply.
When earthly comforts fail us He gives “eternal encouragement.”
Pain moves us closer to God and we gain His perspective on our broken dreams; we get His comfort; “by his wounds we are healed,” Isa 53:5.
We’re made more human and humane, more kind and empathetic.
By our wounds others are healed.
Compassion comes from worship and operating in impersonal love.
Compassion is ultimately a gift from God.
It is the fruit of intimacy with the God who cares for us, 1PE 5:7.
1JO 4:19, We love, because He first loved us.
Murphy’s Law states that: Things will get worse before they get better.
“Sorrow upon sorrow” is the lonely, invisible burden of every worker, and sometimes the hardest tests are further along.
Suffering happens because there are things to be done in our character that can only be accomplished through strenuous effort.
HEB 5:8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.
PHI 1:29 Because to you it has been graciously given with reference concerning Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer on behalf of Him,
PSA 126:5 He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying {his} bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves {with him}.
PSA 126:6 So those who went off with heavy hearts will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing.
We’re inclined to concentrate on the ordeals we go through, but God chooses to look forward and anticipate its effect.
God deals with our unworthiness in His mysterious love, breaking it down and refining it, making us wiser, more willing to let go of what we want, more sensitive, less talkative.
PSA 66:10, For Thou hast tried us, O God; Thou hast refined us as silver is refined.
PRO 17:3, equates refining with what goes on in our right lobes, the refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the Lord tests hearts.
ISA 48:10, “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.”
ZEC 13:9, “And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ And they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.'”
He is indeed the “Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God,” 2CO 1:3.
HOS 5:15, I will go away {and} return to My place Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.