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A Picture of the Best of Us - Part 1 of 2

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• All right, let's open our Bibles today, if you would please, to Matthew 26. Matthew 26, and we're going to be looking at this passage not only this Sunday, but next Sunday as well. So this is going to be a two-part message, and the title is, "A Picture of the Best of Us." A Picture of the Best of Us. So if you look in Matthew chapter 26, and I want us to read verses 3 through 5. 3 through 5.

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• "Then assembled together the chief priests and the scribes and the elders of the people unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and consulted that they might take Jesus by subtlety and kill him. But they said, Not on a feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people." Everyone has heard the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. And we certainly all recall the proverb.

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• It happens to be in Proverbs 25, verse 11, where the Bible says, "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." So the proverb is a picture itself. We may visualize apples of gold framed with a silver frame. And so he says a word spoken in due season and fitly spoken is just as beautiful. Amazingly, when we all have our pictures taken, we always desire the one that makes us look the absolute best. That is for sure. And also many times I've heard people say when they're getting their picture taken, "Make sure you take my good side." Well, I like one side happens to be better than the other, but the truth is many times our pictures do not flatter us, and we're not eager to take or receive pictures that make us look bad. And so we just search for one that makes us look really, really good. Years ago

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• I heard—or I didn't hear, I read—about an old hillbilly that was out in the mountains and he found a piece of broken mirror. They lived so far back in the mountains that he didn't even know what a mirror was. But he found this piece of broken mirror and he looked at it. He liked it so well, he took it home and he hid it. And he would go in the room where he hid the mirror and he'd come back smiling, just smiling. And his wife watched him day after day do that and she got suspicious. And she thought, well, maybe he was stepping out on her. So one day he went in the room, looked in the mirror, came out smiling, walked out of the house. And when she saw him go down the lane, she ran in that room and searched and searched and finally found that old piece of mirror. And she looked into it and she said, "So that's the old hag he's been running around with." So so many times the mirror just simply does not do as good, and neither do our pictures, that is for sure. One way we know that the Bible is indeed the Word of God is because of all the pictures of mankind, and the pictures of sin are not flattering whatsoever.

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• They present to us a wicked, depraved picture, and consequently, there's nothing good in man. Now, if man wrote the Bible apart from God and apart from the Holy Spirit, then clearly everything is going to be praising man and all of his goodness and all of his efforts and all of his good stuff, but no, it doesn't do that at all. It doesn't present anything good in us because there's nothing good in us. That's why the Apostle Paul said in Romans 7, "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing."

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• So we have two pictures actually in Matthew chapter 26. We have a picture of Judas, and we also have a picture of Peter mainly, but the other disciples are involved as well. And I think both of these pictures are very telling. They're very revealing. And when you and I look at these pictures, I think we can see clearly our own lives in them. So first of all today, I want to bring you what I'm going to call a picture of betrayal. A picture of betrayal. So the powers that be in Matthew chapter 26, that is the ruling elite or you might say the cabal, have already determined to murder the Lord Jesus. They've consulted together. They've taken counsel that they might kill him, and they're looking for the best way to dispatch him. And they want to make sure that they do it in such a way that they do not upset the people.

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• For instance, go back to verse 3: "Then assembled together the chief priests and the scribes and the elders of the people unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and consulted that they might take Jesus by subtlety and kill him. But they said, Not on a feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people."

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• Now it's interesting when you read this, that here are the chief priests, here are the scribes, here are the elders—here were individuals who were responsible to know God's law and enforce God's law, and here they are consulting, conspiring, and planning to violate the very law of God that they should be upholding. Interestingly, you're going to see this, that here, these that are in power and authority tend to think that they are above the law, that they can do whatever they would like to do.

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• Now I want you to hold Matthew 26, but I want you to look in John chapter 11. John chapter 11, and let me show you the idea that is prevalent today and you can see it revealed even in these wicked, wicked men. John 11, verse 47 and 48: "Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? For this man doeth many miracles."

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• In other words, we can't deny them. "And if we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him." In other words, we've got to do something. Now, look at this: "And if we don't do something, the Romans shall come and take away both our place and our nation." Now, I want you to notice the word "place" is put before the word "nation." They were more interested in losing their place than they were in losing their nation. Now, the Greek word for "place" is the word topos. In fact, we get our English word "topography" from here. Topos means place, graphe means writing. So topography is just simply place writing. So the word topos actually means any place or any portion of space that is marked off. It refers to an inhabited place, a city, a village, a district. But here's the second thing that it means.

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• It also means the condition or station held by one in any company or assembly. That is, it refers then to their power and their authority and their position. So they're saying we need to get rid of Jesus, because if we don't, we're going to lose our power and our position.

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• Now, when you and I think of betrayal, we normally think of individuals. We think of people like Benedict Arnold. We think of people like the Rosenbergs. There's many other people that we could probably mention. But usually when we talk about traitor, we're thinking primarily of Judas, and Judas is specifically called a traitor in Luke chapter 6, in verse 16. The Bible said, "...and Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, who also was the traitor." So the Bible specifically calls Judas the traitor. Now, there are other

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• traitors as well, that is for sure. But the truth is that betrayal and treason often begin at the top level and descend to the bottom where individuals are used. Probably most people have heard countless sermons on Judas, but there are few people who have heard sermons on conspiracy and the treason of the ruling elite here in Matthew chapter 26—the high priests, the scribes, and the elders. Now we have an old saying, and it goes like this: "Nothing happens by accident in politics," which means that everything is planned and premeditated and purposed. And so we see this in our text as well. Because we can only see it in our text, we can see it in our history, we can also see it in our government. Because the Bible says in Matthew 26, there in verse 5, "But they said, Not on a feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people." In the words of the individuals that planned and precipitated the murder of Jesus

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• Christ wished to remain anonymous, and they wanted to make sure that his murder took place without fanfare and without them being noticed whatsoever. In other words, they were going to protect themselves, they were going to protect their positions, and they were going to make sure that no attention was drawn unto themselves.

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• Now if you look back at verse 4 of Matthew 26, he said, "And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtlety and kill him." Wow. Now the word "subtlety" here is the Greek word dolos. Not doulos—doulos means slave or servant—but dolos, and here it means craft, deceit, or guile. So they consulted that they might take Jesus by craft, by deceit, by guile. Here's an interesting thought: as I was studying for this message, the thought hit me—have you ever considered that Judas may have failed in his attempt to betray Christ if there had not already been a conspiracy to murder Christ by those in power and authority? It's interesting that this was a top-level conspiracy. Judas knew that these individuals hated Jesus Christ. Judas knew that Jesus Christ had spoken against their traditions. He had spoken against their violations of the word of God. He had spoken against their misinterpretations of the law of God. Judas knew that these people were very eager to get rid of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so Judas did not go to those who loved Jesus Christ.

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• He did not go to the friends of Jesus Christ. He did not go to those who worshiped Jesus Christ. He went to those who hated Jesus Christ. Now the high priests, the elders, and the scribes, in betraying the Lord Jesus Christ, also betrayed their own nation. In treating Christ with treason, they also committed treason against their own nation, because in doing this, they actually delivered their nation over into the hands of the Romans. Now, Judas, in his betrayal of Jesus Christ, committed treason as well. I would encourage you to listen to—if you've never heard it, if you have heard it, I would encourage you to re-listen to—the message I preached a few years back on the Bible and treason. In that message, I delineate what is known as biblical treason, constitutional treason, and also religious treason as well. Now, so we already see verses 3 through 5 that they're planning to murder the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I want to call your attention to verses 6 through 13 and look at this passage and just ask yourself this question: How does this passage fit in with what precedes it and what follows it?

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• In verse 6: "Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. And when his disciples"—that's plural—"saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman?"

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• "For she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her."

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• Now, the question you would have to ask is this: Why was this incident inserted at this particular point? Well, first of all, let me tell you that it introduces what you and I would call the law of contrast. There is a vast contrast between Mary and between Judas. They are extreme opposites. Mary was freely spending in love. Judas was willing to sell his master for money. Mary is willing to give everything, and Judas is willing to betray Jesus Christ for anything. Secondly, this gives our Lord an opportunity to rebuke his disciples.

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• He is letting them know that he's not going to be with them always, but the poor would be with them always, and they could do to the poor what should be done at any time, but they could not do so with him because he's not going to be there. Now, I want to give you a quote by John Calvin. I want you to listen carefully, and then I'm going to show you the scripture. I'm going to disagree with him on one little point, but I want you to listen carefully. He says this: "This also is not unusual with the evangelists, when a thing has been done by one, it is attributed to many persons if they give their consent to it. John says that the murmur proceeded from Judas; Matthew and Mark include all the disciples along with him." Now Mark does not—that's where I disagree. Okay, I'll show you that from the scripture. "The reason is that none of the others would have ever dared to murmur if the wicked slander of Judas had not served for a torch to kindle them.

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• But when he began under a plausible pretext to condemn the expense as superfluous, all of them easily caught the contagion. And this example shows what danger arises from malignant and envenomed tongues, for even those who are naturally reasonable and candid and modest, if they do not exercise prudence and caution, are easily deceived by unfavorable speeches and led to adopt false judgments. But if light and foolish credulity induce the disciples of Christ to take part with... What shall become of us if we are too easy in admitting murmurers who are in the habit of carping wickedly at the best actions?

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• We ought to draw from it another warning, not to pronounce rashly on a matter which is not sufficiently known. The disciples see what Judas said, and as it has some show of plausibility, they're too harsh in forming a judgment. They ought, on the contrary, to have inquired more fully if the action deserved reproof, more especially when their master was present, by whose decision it was their duty to abide.

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• Let us know, therefore, that we act improperly when we form our opinions without paying regard to the word of God. For Paul informs us that no man liveth to himself or dieth to himself, but we all must stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Wherefore, we must give an account." One last sentence. Listen to this: "And though there was a wide difference between Judas and the others, because he wickedly held out a plausible cloak for his theft, while the rest were actuated by foolish simplicity, still we see how their imprudence withdrew them from Christ and made them companions with Judas." Wow. So let's put this together now.

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• If you look in verse 8 of Matthew 26: "But when the disciples saw it, they had indignation." So everyone is included here. If you'll turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 14, Mark chapter 14, and let's read verses 3 through 6. Mark 14, verses 3 through 6: "And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves." Did you see that? "And there were some"—there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, "Why was this waste of the ointment made?

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• For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor." And they murmured against her. So Matthew said "the disciples." And now we see in Mark, chapter 14, it says, "And some that had indignation."

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• Now, "some" could be a minimum of two. It could be 50%, it could be 90%, but it's "some." So it could be as little as two, but it could be far more. But if you'll look in your Bibles now to John chapter 12, I think you're going to put two and two together. Look in John chapter 12, if you would, beginning there with verse 3. John 12, verse 3: And here the Word of God says, "Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.

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• Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein." So Judas is the instigator. Judas is the man who is the thief. Judas is the man who did not care for the poor. He did not care for the needy. He cared only for himself.

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• He was not a compassionate individual. He was selfish. He was covetous. He was uncompassionate. He was not a loving individual whatsoever. No, no, no. Judas was a wicked, ungodly man. The height of his wickedness, the height of his ungodliness is this: he stole not only from his friends, but also from the Lord Jesus Christ. Wow. Judas was a thief. He bare the bag. He started this row because he wanted the money. He wanted to handle the money. He wanted to swindle the money. And unhappily, some of those disciples agreed with him without thinking, without seeking direction from the Lord Jesus Christ. So now here's my question.

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• I want you to think with me, and I'm going to tie all this in together. So please listen to me. We know that Judas stole from the Lord Jesus Christ and from his friends. Here's my question: Would you steal from the Lord Jesus Christ? And I can hear the answer, I can hear it being a resounding no. But here is the absolute truth: We do steal from the Lord Jesus Christ.

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• That is true both of saved and the unsaved alike. I will show you if you will turn in your Bibles to the book of Malachi chapter 3, the last book in the Old Testament. I want you to look, if you would, at Malachi chapter 3, and let's begin reading there with verse 8. Malachi chapter 3, in verse 8. Look at what our Lord asks. This book, Malachi 3, verse 8: Here's the question: "Will a man rob God?" And he says, "Yet ye have robbed me." So the answer: yes, a man will rob God. "But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee?" Here's the answer: "In tithes"—notice that is plural—"and offerings"—that is plural. He said, "Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation." Note, if you would now, individuals make up a nation, and so if the individuals in that nation are stealing from God and robbing God, the nation is guilty of doing so. Okay, now look in verse 10: He says, "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you

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• out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts." Now, let me ask you this question—by the way, before I ask the question: Do you realize that there were three tithes in the Bible? There was the Levitical tithe, which was 10%. There was the tithe of rejoicing, which was 10%. You can read about that in Deuteronomy 14, but that 10% tithe you spent on yourself.

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• That's what they used for those seven annual feasts that they went to in Jerusalem. And then the third tithe was a poor tithe. It also was 10%, but it was only taken once every three years. So actually what these people were doing were tithing 23 and a third percent per year. That's why when you get to the New Testament and they were adding the Roman taxes, and then the tax collectors were stealing and getting more than others, so it was probably pretty much like our day—50, 60 percent, you know, that was being gone. Now, so here's my question. I want you to listen to it: What is a tithe? I'm not asking 10%. I'm asking, what is a tithe? Here's the answer: A tithe is God's tax for the use of his earth.

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• Let me go a little bit further. The tithe is owed to God by the saved and the unsaved alike, because both receive of and enjoy his bounties and his blessings. So everyone is responsible to tithe. Why? Listen to me: because it is a recognition of God's sovereignty, of God's ownership, that everything in this world belongs to him. How many times does the Bible say that? "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." Everything belongs to Him. So when we tithe, it is a recognition of God's sovereignty, of God's ownership of everything. Now listen to me.

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• For a Christian, for a believer, it's more than that. So let me show you: look in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 26. Deuteronomy 26, because here we're going to discuss what it actually means. Look at this: Deuteronomy chapter 26, and let's begin reading there with verse 12. Deuteronomy 26, in verse 12: He says, "When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes"—there it is, plural—"of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled." I told you the festival tithe or the tithe of rejoicing is Deuteronomy 14. And he says, "Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God"—look now what you are confessing when you tithe—"I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither

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• have I forgotten them. I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me." And Lord, I am obedient.

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• Now look what he says in this prayer and also in this confession: "Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey." Hang on. "This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul." Hang on. Look in verse 17: "Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice. And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; and to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken."

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• Now, notice if you would please in verse 17, there's the word "avouched," and in verse 18, there is the word "avouched." It's interesting here: these people are tithing and declaring that they're obeying God in doing this, and they're seeking God's blessing. And then he, God, says, "Thou hast avouched the Lord this day"—that is the day of tithing—"to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments." And then in verse 18, "the Lord hath avouched thee."

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• So you've got an avouchment going on on two sides. On one side, it is the person who's doing the tithing that is avouching that God is his God. And on the other side, you have the person who is tithing being avouched by God as being his. So what in the world does the word "avouch" mean? The Hebrew word is the word amar, and it means to speak, to utter, and to avow.

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• Moreover, it has the emphasis of being a declaration or a matter of fact, a thing that can be proven. Another way to say it, it is to authenticate and to affirm. So here's what God is saying: that when we are tithing in obedience to Him, when we're recognizing Him as the sovereign and as the owner, then we are authenticating, we are avouching that we're His people because we are obeying Him—I'm not just in the tithing, but in our lives as well. And God says, when you do this, then I'm going to avouch you to be my people. Now, let me tie this together because think it through: we're talking about Mary and we're talking about Judas as well in Matthew chapter 26.

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• You see, money seems to be the touchstone in a lot of people's lives. You must remember that money in and of itself is not evil. Money's not the evil. First Timothy chapter 6, in verse 10, tells us it is the love of money that is evil: "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." So I want you to think now about the implications that I'm going to share about money and the contrast between Mary and Judas. So before we go there, I want you to turn right on back to Deuteronomy chapter 6, and then we're going to go to 1 Chronicles 29. But I want you to look in Deuteronomy chapter 6. Verse 4 is known as the Shema Israel. We'll read that and then read verse 5. Look at verse 4, Deuteronomy 6: "Hear, O Israel:

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• and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee"—that's verse 3, I was reading—"that floweth with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord." That's the Shema Israel. And now here's verse 5: "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." Now when you and I hear the word "might," we normally equate that word with force, strength, power, and ability. And that certainly is included. We're to love him with all of our power, all of our might. That's true. But I want you to look now in 1 Chronicles chapter 29 and see how the word "might" is used. 1 Chronicles chapter 29, and let's begin reading there with verse 1. 1 Chronicles 29, verse 1: "Furthermore David the king said unto all the congregation, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great"—we're talking about building the temple.

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• He says, "for the palace is not for man, but for the Lord God." And now look what David says in verse 2: "Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the brass for things of brass, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance. Moreover"—look at it now—"because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house." Oh, look at what he gave: "Even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls." He goes on—if you read the entire chapter, I've got a message.

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• I figured out one time of everything that David gave, it was in the millions. I mean the millions. Now here's what he said in verse 2: "Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold." Now what David and his army did was this: when they won battles, especially against the heathen, they took the gold, they took the silver, they took the precious stones, and dedicated it to God, gave it to him. So there was a great store of silver and gold and precious stones and everything there for the building of the temple. But David said, "Ha! Because of my own proper affection for the house of God, I've given over and above that of my own proper good." So when he said, "I prepared with all my might," he was literally saying, "I prepared with all my money." So David's might was his money. Above that, it was his love and affection for God and his house that made him so generous. Now

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• I want you to go back in your Bibles to Matthew 26, and I'm trying to piece this together for you. So if you look at Matthew chapter 26, Mary, like David, loved our Lord and was willing to sacrifice everything. Judas, who did not love him, was willing to betray him and sell him for anything. In fact, he was willing to sell him very cheaply. Now, I want you to see a picture of the best of us. Here is a picture that is not very beautiful whatsoever. This picture is true not only of a fallen man; it is also true of a redeemed man. Look, if you would, in Matthew 26, in verses 14 and 15. After our Lord rebuked the disciples, verse 14: "Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me?

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• and I will deliver him unto you. And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver."

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• Now I want you to note something. Judas went to them. They did not come to him. He went to them and said, "What will ye give me? I'm willing to betray him, but I want something for my betrayal. What will ye give me?" And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. Have you ever wondered about the thirty pieces of silver? Judas just asked, "What will ye give me?" They said, "We'll give you thirty pieces of silver."

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• That was a demonstration of their absolute contempt for Jesus Christ. It revealed their hatred of Jesus Christ, their low estimate of Jesus Christ. How can I say that? Let me show you. Hold Matthew 26 and look back in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter 21 and verse 32. Exodus chapter 21 and verse 32. Look at this: Exodus 21, verse 32. Look what he said: "If the ox shall push a manservant"—that is a slave—"or a maidservant"—that's a slave—"he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, or thirty pieces of silver, and the ox shall be stoned." So if my ox got out and killed a slave, man or woman, I had to pay the owner of the slave thirty pieces of silver. And the ox was to be killed. That is what they offered Judas for Jesus Christ—the price of a slave. Now, if you look in your Bibles to the book of Zechariah chapter 12—which is right before the book of Malachi, next to the last book in the Old Testament—Zechariah chapter 12.

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• Look, if you would, in verses 12 and 13—I'm sorry, Zechariah 11. Zechariah 11, it is in verses 12 and 13: "And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them"—sarcastically. "And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord." Hmm. So here's the prophecy that our Lord was going to be sold for thirty pieces of silver. Someone has written a couplet concerning this, and here is the little couplet: "Still as of old, man by himself is priced. For thirty pieces Judas sold himself, not Christ." You've heard that old saying, "Every man has his price." What's that mean? It means every man is willing to sell himself and sell other people out for

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• the right amount. But we're not selling others; we're selling ourselves. Here's a quote by Albert Barnes. He says, "And it is not unlikely that this sum was fixed on them to show their contempt of Jesus, and that they regarded him as of little value. There is no doubt also that they understood that such was the anxiety of Judas to obtain money, that he would betray his Lord for any sum." Wow. Now when you go back to Matthew chapter 26, I want you to look at what happens. Judas is gone now to those who hate Jesus Christ and said, "What will ye give me?" And they said, "We'll give you the price of a slave. We'll give you thirty pieces of silver." Wow. Look, if you would, now at verse 16: "And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him." From that time, he sought opportunity to betray Him. Now, the word "opportunity" is a very important word. It is the word eukairia, from eukairos.

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• Eu means good or well. Kairos is the Greek word for time. So the word actually means a good time. I'll explain it. We talk about euthanasia—eu, Greek for good or well, thanatos, death. The word euthanasia just means a good death. So when it says he sought opportunity, he sought a good time; it meant he sought a seasonable time. He sought a good time. He sought a right time. He sought an opportunity that he could do this without being detected and without being discovered particularly. In other words, he was going to do that which was right and suitable for himself.

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• So let me point this out. Judas was no different than the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes. What did they want to do? They wanted to do this discreetly. They did not want to call attention to themselves. They did not want an uproar. "We're not going to do this on a feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people. We're going to do this by opportunity. We're going to do this the best way that we can escape and get away with it." So Judas now is conducting himself exactly as the ruling elite. He's seeking the best opportunity. May I remind you that your enemies will always seek the best opportunity for themselves. And we do have enemies. Even God himself has enemies. And your enemy is not going to do what he's going to do in your presence when you will catch on very quickly, or say this to your best friend. No, no, no. No, he's gonna gossip about you. He's gonna slander you. He's gonna lie to you and lie about you when you're not around, when you cannot defend yourself. And he's gonna take the best opportunity.

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• Listen, muggers and rapists and robbers do not look out for your benefit. They look out for their benefit. They're gonna take a seasonable time for themselves. They're not going to do that for you. So neither the rulers of Jesus nor Judas consider Jesus Christ. They only consider themselves. They didn't care what happened to Jesus Christ. The rulers wanted him dead; Judas wanted the money. Fine. So here they are with this horrible picture before us. Now I want to take the rest of my time and make some applications, because here's the first one—and I know

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• this is in your mind. So I want to answer it. You're going to ask, "How in the world can this be a picture of us?" And we can understand how this picture could apply to the reprobate. We can understand how this picture could apply to the unsaved. But how can it apply to Christians? How can this be a picture of the very best of us? Well, first of all, most people do not remember, but you should remember, your confession at your baptism. Do you realize the earliest baptismal confession consisted of three words? "Jesus is Lord." I baptized a lot of people. When I get them in the water, the very first thing I ask is this: "Do you confess Jesus Christ as Lord?" Sometimes they say, "Yes, I confess Jesus Christ as Lord," or they just simply say, "Jesus Christ is Lord." You must remember that the word "Lord," kurios in the Greek, literally means boss, owner, master, sovereign. And so what you're doing when you are baptized, you are confessing that Jesus Christ is your Lord.

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• He is your boss. He is your owner. He is your master. You're to be in submission to him. You are to obey him. And by the way, let me point out a lot of times, most people tend to think that baptisms are nothing more than rituals or ceremonies. And no, no, no, it's not that. When you consider in the first century, if you were a first century Christian and you were being baptized and you said, "Jesus is Lord," you know what you just said? Do you realize what you just did? You just declared war against Julius Caesar or Anthony Caesar, Octavian Caesar, whoever is Caesar at that particular time, because Caesar had on his coin, "Caesar is Lord." You're saying, "I'm at war now with the state. I'm at war now with the Caesar cult. Caesar is not Lord; Jesus Christ is Lord." Hmm. And so I'll tell you this: Christians were put to death in the Roman Empire not because they were Christians, but because they refused to say "Caesar is Lord." You see, in the Roman Empire, you could believe in Christ if you wanted to. You could

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• believe in Baal, you could believe in Aphrodite, you could believe in whoever you wanted to believe. They had, quote unquote, freedom of religion, so to speak. Ah, but that freedom was based upon the fact that once every year you raised your hand and you swore by the genius of Caesar and you said, "Caesar is Lord." And Christians refused to do that. And thus they were executed as traitors and treasonous individuals to the Roman government and to the emperor particularly.

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• And may I remind you of another passage. By the way, in First Timothy chapter 6, the Apostle Paul tells Timothy to remember that good confession which you confessed before so many witnesses. He's talking about his baptism. Yet at baptism, he said, "Jesus is Lord." Moreover, when you get to First Corinthians chapter 6, verses 19 and 20, what's the Bible say? What? "Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God? Ye are not your own; ye have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are his." So the point I'm making right now: We belong to Jesus Christ. Now I want you to think: How does this apply to us?

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• How is this a picture of us? Judas betrayed Jesus Christ for money. That is wicked, that is wrong, that is ungodly. But we're worse than Judas. How can that be? Well, we don't betray Christ for money, but we betray him for the lust of our flesh and the lust of our eyes and the pride of life. In other words, we're willing to swap Jesus Christ for something that will satisfy us.

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• You know, there's a passage in Isaiah chapter 43, in verse 24, where God says, "Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities." Hmm. So we betray Christ when we sin. I'm going to show you this even fuller. Secondly, like Judas, we seek an opportunity to betray Christ. We seek an opportunity when folks will not know what we're doing. Let me show you: look in your Bibles, look in your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 7. Proverbs chapter 7, and I tell everyone, especially every man—every man, young men, middle-aged men, old men—you ought to read Proverbs 5, 6, and 7 on a regular basis, because there are warnings to men to keep themselves pure. And look, if you would, in Proverbs 7, begin there with verse 5, and

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• by the way, verses 1-4 is talking about God's commandments, God's law, binding them upon your fingers, writing them upon the table of thine heart. And it says in verse 4, "Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman." Look in verse 5: "That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words. For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, and beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night." Let me ask you a question: Why did he go in the twilight? Why did he go in the evening? Why did he go in the black and dark night?

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• Why did he not go in the midday or mid-morning or early afternoon? And the answer is: opportunity. He wanted opportunity to sin without witnesses, without being caught, without people seeing him. Listen, when we sin, we don't get on the news and broadcast, "Look, we're going to sin this coming Saturday," or "We're going to sin this coming Friday night." No, no, no, we don't do that. When we sin, we try to get it where it can be hidden. We look for an opportunity that will suit us. Now, let me show you: I want you to look in your Bibles again to the book of Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament. Look in Malachi chapter 2. Watch this carefully. Malachi chapter 2. Hang on. Malachi chapter 2, because this really hits the nail on the head. Malachi chapter 2, and let's begin reading there with verse 13. Malachi chapter 2, verse 13: God says, "And this have ye done again"—the words "have done"

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• it before, they've done it again—"and this have ye done again, covering the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping"—you'd think that that would be good, but no, not in the context, watch—"and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more." In other words, God doesn't regard them or their offering or receive it with goodwill at your hand. "Yet ye say, Wherefore?" That is, "What's wrong, God? Why won't you receive this? Look, I'm crying. Look, I'm screaming. Why won't you do this? Why won't you receive it?" God says, "Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet she is thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant." Now the word "treacherously" there is the word bagad in the Hebrew, and it means to act treacherously, to act deceitfully, to deal treacherously, to be faithless, and to act deceitfully.

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• So let me put it to you very pointedly. It means to betray your spouse. God said, "I'm not listening to you because you're traitors. You're betraying the wife of your youth."

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• Now, let's try to understand the principle. It's not merely adultery and fornication in which we betray Christ. Every time we sin, we betray the Lord Jesus Christ. We trade His law for our law. We trade His will for our will. We trade His word for our word. We trade His way for our way. In other words, we're saying in essence, "Lord, I do not want you to be my Lord. I do not want you to be my boss, owner, master, sovereign. I don't want you telling me what to do. I want to live the way I want to live." And so what we're doing when we sin, we are betraying Christ. And we're not betraying him for money like Judas; we're betraying him for our own lusts. We trade his deliverance for our enslavement. So what we need to do is this: we need to see sin as treason. We need to see sin as betrayal. We need to see my sin, your sin, our sin, the sins of the ruler, and the sins of the nation as the way God sees them. And what did he say in Jeremiah 44, in verse 4? He said this: "Howbeit

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• I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate." So God hates idolatry. God hates sin. Here is a sad picture. When we sin, we're acting like Judas. We're not only acting like Judas; we're acting like the reprobate rulers who conspired to murder the Lord Jesus Christ. We're showing contempt for him. Our Lord said in Luke 6, in verse 46, "Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" The Lord's—if Jesus Christ is our Lord,

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• we should obey Him. When we sin, we're saying, "No, you're not my Lord. I am my Lord. I do as I please." I began this message by saying a picture is worth a thousand words. We need to see the true picture that our sins are a betrayal of Jesus Christ and his word. I think it would have a grave effect upon each of us if we actually saw ourselves in the mirror as Judas, as the rulers. Judas sold him for money. Today we sell him for the lust of our flesh, the lust of our eyes, and the pride of life. It's a picture of the best of us, because each of us have been guilty before God of betraying the Lord Jesus Christ. What a picture.

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• One that is not very pleasant to look at. One that I do not wish to see in the mirror, because it reveals the depths of our depravity and the wickedness of our lives. When you come to the realization of the truth of Romans 8, that your flesh hates God, and there is a constant battle that you must fight, else you're gonna be looking in the mirror and seeing that old hag. That's not a very pretty picture. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee this day.

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• We thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth. And Lord, what a picture. What a picture you give of the best of us. And yet, Lord, sometimes we refuse to see it. But Lord, help us, help us, enable us, empower us not to betray the Lord Jesus Christ, not to sell Him to satisfy the lust of our flesh, the lust of our eyes, and the pride of life, but to be conscious of the wickedness of our sin and the wickedness of sin in general, that we may turn from it and give the honor and glory in Christ's name. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T22:27:51Z