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ARE YOU A
JUDAS?
Matthew 26:18-25
I. Knowing who you are.
A. New and controversial biography
about Ronald Reagan.
Story of Governor Reagan walking
down sidewalk with an
aide
when a tourist runs up to him.
"Victor Damone! Victor Damone! Will you please sign an
autograph
for me?"
Reagan dutifully signed on her
paper, "Vic Damone."
When they were alone again, the
aide turned to Reagan and said,
"Governor, why didn't you
tell her who you are?"
And Reagan replied, "I know
who I am."
B. Who are YOU, really?
1) We present an image to the
world.
a) Maybe even to ourselves.
2) But our lives may not measure
up to the image.
3) Greatest example of
two-facedness is Judas.
II. Who was Judas?
A. Jesus sincerely called him to be a
disciple.
1) Only way to do justice to
Jesus' character.
2) Jesus makes repeated appeals
to Judas.
B. He was trusted enough to be in
charge of their money. John 13:29
1) Greed was his downfall.
a) He was dipping into the
group funds. John 12:6
b) He criticized the cost of
pouring perfume on Jesus
without
seeing the beauty of the action.
Matt 26:8-14
1> He did cloak it
with concern for poor.
2) He sold out Jesus cheap.
a) 30 silver coins was cost
of a slave in Old Testament.
C. The betrayal was cloaked in
mystery.
1) His question and Jesus'
response probably whispered.
a) In Mark, general air of
bewilderment.
b) Matthew alone adds what
Jesus said to Judas.
2) "Yes" is somewhat
ambiguous. "You have said it
(but I won't)"?
a) Same expression at trial,
where it is taken as positive.
b) Gives Judas a jolt, and
still leaves air of ambiguity
for
others.
D. Judas never really belonged to Jesus.
1) He fell from apostleship but
never had a genuine
relationship
with Jesus.
2) Judas called Jesus
"rabbi" but never "Lord."
3) Jesus foreknew Judas'
betrayal, but did not predestinate it.
a) Judas' condemnation
resulted from his own choices.
III. Judas was not alone.
A. All the disciples thought they
were better than they were.
1) They shared in the Communion
with sincerity.
2) All said they would stand by
him, even die for him. Mark 14:31
3) None of them did in his hour
of need. Not one.
B. We tend to think we are better
than we really are.
1) We have excuses for any
inconsistencies.
2) We always compare ourselves
(favorably) with others.
IV. Hints of Judas tendencies.
A. There are always hints.
1) Judas revealed his character
when he dipped into money bag.
2) Our weaknesses can reveal a
lot about us.
B. Signs of hypocrisy.
1) Simple things like foul
language we use, depending on where
we
are.
2) How we react when we are under
stress.
3) How we treat people who can't
do anything for us.
a) Pay more attention to
those who make you look good?
4) Different behavior in
different settings.
a) Work, school, home,
church...
C. Moral choices we make can be the
starkest indicators.
1) When everything hinges on a moral
decision, which way do
you
go? [Consider big moral decisions
you made in past]
a) Not how you react in your
dreams, but in reality.
2) Do you react consistently, or
waver back and forth?
3) What secret sins do you harbor
right now?
a)
Just about everyone has their secrets...
V. Out of two, one.
A. Divided people are not happy.
1) The pieces find out about each
other and don't like it.
2) God doesn't like it, either.
B. God wants our wholehearted
devotion.
Leon Hebrink
was raised in a Pentecostal Church.
He was baptized at age 15 and
spent the next three years
traveling
as a youth evangelist and "Athlete with a witness."
To complete his spiritual education he
decided to go to a
Christian college.
What happened at this Christian
college?
He lived in the "Football
Dorm" and was introduced to drugs
and
alcohol.
And he loved it.
For a while he tried to keep
one foot in both worlds.
Church on Sunday, Bible Study on
Wednesday and party, party,
party
the rest of the week.
After a failed marriage and a shot
at a teaching and coaching
career,
Leon continued to waver back and forth in his faith.
He got a job at the same college
he had attended, and became
very
cynical with the frauds on campus.
They put up a "holier than
thou" facade while living like the
devil
when no one was looking.
A better job opportunity came up -
managing a sports bar.
Leon spent about five years riding
the wave of wealth, drugs,
and
women.
All the while he was witnessing to
people about the reality of
Christ, the Bible, and
salvation.
He still rejected the church or
any Christian institution but
told many people about Jesus
over a glass of scotch and a
line
of coke.
His life was becoming a huge mess.
About 5:00 a.m. one morning Leon looked in the mirror while
trying
to scratch one more spoon full of coke out of his vial.
This was after a 3 day
"bender."
What he saw looking back at him
was a dead man.
He knew he was dead spiritually
and he sensed he would soon be
dead
physically, either from drugs or guns.
Leon decided to move far away from
anyone he knew and seek a
teaching
job again.
In a matter of a few months he was
teaching physical education
in
Miami, Florida, of all places.
A drug dealing bar manager living
in Miami in the mid-80's -
not a
formula for a successful rehabilitation.
But he tried.
The first part of his return
journey was primarily back to
physical
health.
He ran along the ocean and hit the
gym regularly, lost 70 pounds
and
made some huge lifestyle changes.
Then he had to work up enough
courage to step into a church.
This was hard and he bounced
around a lot from church to church
and
meeting to meeting.
Leon was usually in church 2 or 3
times a week but seldom
in the
same one more than twice.
At 4:00 a.m. one morning the Lord spoke to him as clear
as
could
be.
"Leon, where have you
been? What about the call you
answered
when
you were 14?
Will you still serve me?"
Leon thought, no way, God could
never use me now.
But the sweet spirit of the Lord
convinced him that God can and
would
forgive him as well as use him to work in His Kingdom.
He decided to go to seminary and
become a pastor.
It all just about blew up in his face when Leon faced the
scrutiny
of the seminary admissions board.
Some of them had seen him on TV
ads for his bars just a couple
years
earlier.
Some churches in the area were
just as leery of him.
Then came
the pastor of a Baptist church.
The message was loud and clear:
"We love you, God loves you, repent and come back home."
After discipling
with him for a few months the pastor offered
Leon a ministry position at the
church.
Now ten years later Leon is the
Senior Pastor of First Baptist
Church (ABC) in Lansing,
Michigan.
Leon is grateful that God worked a
miracle in his life.
He is also grateful a church
finally refused to soft-sell him
on the
truth or accommodate his sin.
It called him to repent, to become
one consistent person.
I give you that same challenge
today...
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