WHBC
07/21/2024 - Bro. Kason Kuykendall
- Ms. Pearl, good to see you. I didn't know you were here. Glad you're here with us. And I'm glad to be with you this morning. I was yesterday, we had some, well, we had kind of a leak behind the bathtub and so me and Wes were there and we were kind of ripping some bathroom stuff out and I got a call from Brother Charles. It's never good when you get a call from Brother Charles on a Saturday and he said, "Hey, I just want to check "and see if you've got a sermon ready "because you remember we had a guest speaker coming in." And I said, "Well, you know, not really." He said, "Well, the guy that was coming, "you know, the planes are landing, they can't fly out "and so he won't make it tomorrow "and so we're back to normal." And so I said, "Okay." And I started, you know, thinking my mind was in a tizzy trying to figure out what are we gonna do now and we were working and I was praying and I came to something that I'm excited about but I'm gonna tell you, it's gonna be different than normal. Okay, it's gonna be less of a sermon and more of a case study and today I don't have PowerPoint, didn't have time to make PowerPoint so you gotta find your Bible, okay? If you've got a Bible or if it's on your phone, you know, whatever you've got, that's perfectly fine but we're gonna be looking at more scripture than we normally do. We're gonna do a case study of two individuals that you know well but I hope to show them to you in a way that's different than maybe what you've looked at 'em up to this point. And the reason I came to this is for the last two weeks, many of you have been here for the last two weeks, we have been looking at the different ways that people receive the word of God. We looked at the parable of the soils, then we looked last week that if you really receive the word of God, you will be authentic, you'll be obedient and you will be faithful. Well today I wanna show you an example of that, an example of how folks receive the word of God differently. And so we're gonna be in Matthew 26 for the most part but like I said, there's gonna be some moving and some flipping around. These are two familiar men and the context is right before Jesus goes for his arrest, his mock trial and eventually even his crucifixion. And because the light is so brightly upon Jesus, you might miss two other characters in the story. Both of these men that we're gonna look at were personally called to follow Jesus. Both of these men answered that call and they followed 24/7 every day, every night. They both declared their devotion publicly to the Lord Jesus, they were both trained by Jesus in the way of great discipleship. They were both students of Jesus in that all day teaching of his. They saw his miracles, they saw his power over disease, his power over demons, even his power over death. They listened as Jesus spoke and he taught with so much authority. No one had ever spoken like that before. They watched the way that he carried himself with such grace and such selflessness. They looked into his eyes and they saw the love that radiated day after day after day. They saw his might and they were confronted with their own sinfulness. They were reminded constantly that they were fallen and they were in need of a savior. Both of these men were sent out to preach. They both became preachers and they preached that the Messiah Jesus was the savior of the world. But both of these men were taken over by Satan. Both these men betrayed Jesus and they betrayed him publicly and strongly. As a result of this, both of these men were sad, they were filled with sorrow and they had great agony in their heart. One of the men was so agonized that he killed himself taking his own life and the other was so agonized that he repented. One of them in spite of the wicked things that he had done is honored today and his name is Peter. The other one is highly dishonored today, highly full of shame and his name is Judas. One of these men belonged to Christ and those of us who go to heaven will see him. The other one, the Bible tends to point out that he is gonna spend eternity in hell. He ended his life by suicide and that in itself was a failure. Bible says that when he went out and he went to hang himself, something happened, the limb broke, the branch broke, he fell and his body was disemboweled on the rocks. Even his death seems to be a failure. So we see these two individuals, these two men that had the same experiences in life but they are so, so different. Their lives could not have been more similar and their ends could not be more different. And the question I want us to consider this morning is what made the difference? What made the difference in the life of Peter versus in the life of Judas? What's the change that came for Peter that did not come for Judas? You say, well, maybe it was what they did. Well, salvation is not by works. If it was, they would be the same because both of these men carried out the same works. Well, maybe it's by knowledge. Salvation is not by knowledge. Both of these men had the same knowledge. They heard the same words from the mouth of Christ day after day after day. So surely it wasn't works and surely it wasn't knowledge. And it's the same thing that we face today because I believe in churches all across Texas today, all across our nation today, there are folks who are represented by Peter and there are folks who are represented by Judas. They come and they hear the same message. They hear the same words. They take part in the same time of worship, the same doctrine, the same truth, the same fellowship. They serve together, they worship together, they evangelize together, they go out together. But at the end of the day, there's something that's very different. And so the question for us is are we a Judas or a Peter? Now with that in mind, get your Bible, let's get ready. And like I said, we're gonna look, it's a case study. We're gonna investigate the final life of these two men. So we're gonna start in verse two of Matthew 26. Hope you have it, you find it right there in front of you. Jesus in verse two is preparing his followers. You'll see the end of verse two, the son of man will be delivered up and crucified. And so Jesus is preparing his followers. Hey, get this straight. I don't want you to be alarmed. I don't want you to be dismayed. I am going to be crucified. I know that's hard for you. We're good friends. We've spent a lot of time together and you seem to have this misunderstanding that it's going to lead to a great earthly kingdom. It's not going to. I am going to be crucified and I am going to die. And so he's trying to level the ground for his disciples so they are not totally beside themselves in the events that are coming. And he's been doing that for the last several passages you will look at. You'll see that he's trying to prepare them. And then when you get to the next section, look at verse six and following, you'll find Jesus at this man's house. He's at this man's house and they're relaxing together, probably having a meal there together. And in comes a woman. And she's got a vial probably around her neck with this very expensive perfume. Think in our day, it would be thousands upon thousands of dollars. One of her most prized possessions, very expensive. And she comes and she finds Jesus and she begins to pour out this very expensive liquid on the body of Jesus. It was an act of lavish love and dedication and surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. But I want you to look at verse eight. Matthew 26, look at verse eight. And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant saying why this waste for this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor. Now, are any of you, I mean, you're just kind of basic, right? You want the facts. That's a pretty good point. Why do you pour out all this expensive ointment and let it just soak up through the ground? That money could have been used for something. We could have sold it. We could have given the money to the poor. It could have been used in a much better way. That sounds legitimate, right? Y'all with me everybody shake your head. Sounds legitimate. It sounds noble. Sounds like a good cause. Why are we wasting this? This doesn't seem right. This makes no sense. But who is it that said it? You see, in Matthew it says the disciples, but who is the one who really brought this up? If you go to John chapter 12, you're gonna see that it is no other than Judas. Judas is the one who begins to confront this. And he says, well, wait a minute, why are we wasting this? Why are we wasting this money? We could have used this money. This money could have been used for the kingdom of God. And in this, we see the first revelation of his heart. Why are you wasting this? We could have used it, but listen to me, Judas did not care about the poor. He didn't care about the kingdom of God. John 12 verse six tells us, he said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief in having charge of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. Here's this man and they trust him because the disciples put him in charge of the money, right? Now, to put someone in charge of the money, that means you trust him. And so Judas is very highly trusted. They probably look at Peter and they say, we don't trust that guy a whole lot. And look at the other disciples, not so much, but Judas, he's a good guy. And so he carries the money bag. He's the treasure for the group. And here we read that he would help himself to the money and he would steal from the money bag. And so when he sees all this money being poured out onto the ground, his heart begins to break because he's thinking, I want that money, I could have used that money. And so in pretense, he says, what about the poor? What about helping others? But really, he just wants to help himself. You see, it goes on to say that this was an appointment for the burial that's coming up. This is what is in the mind of Judas. He has followed Jesus for the last three years. And he has followed because he believes it's going to lead to some sort of power. He's gonna be on this earthly kingdom. He's gonna be at the side of Jesus. He's gonna get power. He's gonna get prestige. He's gonna become very wealthy. Folks will look at him and they will remember Judas. That's his expectation all this time. But now things are starting to change. Jesus keeps talking about death. Well, that's not what he had in mind. Where's the kingdom? Where's the money? Where's the power? It's like his life is leaned up against Jesus. Picture a ladder that you're climbing. He's climbing this ladder, but the ladder is leaned up against Jesus and Jesus is about to die. And if Jesus dies, that means he's wasted the last three years of his life. And what does he have to show for it? Where's he gonna go next? How's he gonna have money? Where's the power that he wants? Where's the finances that he wants? Everything around him is falling apart and Judas is very upset about it. He's angry. And so he wants to take as much money as he can because he's about to have a fresh start. And so the greed within him starts to come up and he says, I've gotta get something out of this because I've wasted so much of my life. So he's in a panic. He's got whatever's in the bag and that's all he's got. He's crushed, his ambitions are smashed, he's disappointed and he's angry at Jesus. He's thinking in his heart, this is not what I signed up for. I wanted a better life. I wanted money. I wanted people to look at me and have some sort of respect that I've never felt before. And as he realizes, that's not the way it's gonna come about. He's really, really afraid. Now look at verse 14. He goes right out of this and look what he does next. Then one of the 12, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priest and he said, what will you give me if I deliver him over to you? And they paid him 30 pieces of silver. From this point, he sees the money wasted on the ground. He goes to the religious leaders. He knows that they have been looking for an excuse to find Jesus and to trap Jesus. They can't do it in the daytime because Jesus is so popular, there are people all around and it will lead to a revolt. So they've got to find him at nighttime, but they don't know where he is. And so Judas goes and he says, here's what can happen. I can deliver Jesus into your hands, but I want some money out of it. And so they begin to negotiate and they come to a price of 30 pieces of silver. You see, well, how do they come to that price? 30 pieces of silver was the price of a common slave. And so they decide it's worth the price of a slave and the transaction takes place. Can you picture, they begin to count out the pieces of silver and as the money bag gets a little bit heavier, the heart of Judas beats a little bit faster. And he says, this is what I want. This is what I've come for. And so Judas gets the money and it says in verse 16, from that moment he saw an opportunity to betray Jesus. After this, Jesus is with his disciples. They're having a meal before the Passover, now look at verse 20 and 21. Again, Matthew 26, verse 20 and 21. And when it was evening, he reclined at the table with the 12. And as they were eating, he said, truly I say to you, one of you will betray me. Now, this is the first moment of this. I know that we know the story and so it's no big deal to us. But can you imagine as Jesus is with his closest friends? I mean, these guys have stuck with him through good times and through bad times, every day, every night, they've been there. And Jesus says, hey, this is what I'm telling you, you're going to fall away. You're going to betray me. They were shocked, they were dismayed. What are you talking about? You'll deny him, you'll walk away and they each begin to say, surely not I, Lord surely not me, it's not gonna be me. I wouldn't do that to you. Now look at verse 23, and he answered, he who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man, by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been better for that man if he had not been born. Judas who would betray him answered, is it our rabbi? And he said to him, you have said so. Now John tells us that Satan entered him and that Jesus said, go quickly and do what you're going to do. But we realize this, we read, that Judas is the one who will betray. And then Jesus takes the disciples. They go out to the garden. The disciples say he takes Peter, James and John a little bit further there to be praying for Jesus. Jesus goes and he prays, he's an agony about what is to come. He knows the crucifixion is coming. He has stress and anxiety upon his heart and upon his life. And in this context, this is where Judas comes. It says in verse 45, then he came to his disciples and said to them, sleep and take your rest later on. See the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going, my betrayer is at hand. And while he was still speaking, Judas came one of the 12 and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs from the chief priest and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign saying, the one I will kiss, this is the man sees him. You gotta pause for just a second. There's some evil in that, isn't there? There's some evil in the heart. What's the sign? I'm gonna kiss him. That's how you know. And he came, verse 49, and he came up to Jesus at once and said greetings rabbi. And he kissed him, that's in the plural. He kissed him a few times there. And Jesus said to him, friend, do what you've come to do. Then they came and they laid hands on Jesus and they seized him. They seized him, they led him away to be put through this mock trial to be spat upon, to be beaten within the inch of his life and then to be taken to the hill to be crucified. But when you picture that moment as Judas walks up to Jesus, Judas the one who is slept close to Jesus night after night after night. They had been as close as two people could possibly be. They have worked together. They have had countless meals together. It seems that there's this deep connection, this deep friendship, this deep relationship that this bond has been created between the two. But Judas walks up and he kisses the Lord and Savior and he betrays him. But what happened next with Judas? Look at the next chapter, verse, chapter 27, beginning in verse three. And then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned. He changed his mind and brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priest and the elder saying, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. And they said, what does that to us see to it yourself? And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed and he went out and hanged himself. A horrible tragedy of Judas. He's damned, he's damned forever. And I believe that Judas is the greatest tragedy of human history because the opportunity that was squandered, because of the unparalleled privilege and the ultimate wasted opportunity. Here's a man who is greedy, he's a materialist, he's a money lover, he's full of greed and self-indulgence and self-promotion. And despite the fact that he was confronted with the truth day after day after day, he would never receive the truth into his heart. His heart was hardened, his heart was calloused. He heard the greatest preacher ever speak day after day after day, but it was never enough. He was confronted with his sin over and over and over again, but it was never enough. He lived for himself, he lived in selfishness to the very end of his life. And he knew it wasn't right. He had this regret, he had this remorse at the end of it, but you will not find repentance in the life of Judas. There's a difference between remorse and repentance, amen? There's a difference between regret and repentance. He had so much opportunity more so than anyone else of the day, he was there with Jesus constantly, but he missed it. He missed the point of who Jesus is, and that's Judas. Well, there's another, I told you we're doing a contrast of two. So then there's Peter, go back to 26, we're in the same context, go back to 26 and look at verse 31. Well, we saw this section a moment ago, then Jesus said to them, you will all fall away because of me this night, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. He said, you're all gonna fall away. Verse 33, Peter speaks up, and he says, though they all fall away because of you, I never will. I love Peter because he's so bold. Don't you love folks who are bold and confident? Peter looks at all the other disciples and he sees all these weak individuals. And he says, Jesus, he'll probably fall away, he'll probably fall away, he'll probably fall away, but listen, I will never fall away. Jesus, I am committed to you till the end, there's nothing in my life that could ever pull me away from you. Jesus, I will never betray you. Now, do you think Peter believed that? Do you think he believed what he was saying? I think he did, I think he believed. Look, I'm committed to you. There's nothing that would happen that would lead me to fall away from you. His intentions, they're genuine. He's looking at Jesus, this man, and he loves Jesus. He cares for Jesus, his heart beats for Jesus. And so he says, hey, they may fall away, but me and you to the end, I will be there for you. Even if I have to die with you, verse 35 says, I will not deny you. And then all the other disciples said the same thing. Here, here, amen, sign me up for that. We are with you to the end. We don't have time to get into it, but talk is easy, isn't it? Talk is easy. Where they come and they take Jesus away and then Peter follows closely. Because he loves Jesus, he wants to keep his eyes on him. He wants to make sure and just be aware of what's happening. So all the disciples flee, but it seems that we get the idea that Peter stays close enough. He wants to follow and see what's happening with Jesus. And so he finds himself in this courtyard area. And he's trying to blend in with the folks, but at the same time, he's keeping his eye on this trial and on the events that are happening with Jesus. It goes down in verse 69 and it says, Peter was sitting outside the courtyard and a little servant girl came up and said, you are with Jesus the Galilean. But the Bible says that Peter denied it before them all saying, listen, I don't know what you mean. And he's backing away from the girl. I don't know what you mean. And he's making some space. And then he finds him another spot. And it says, he went to the entrance and another servant girl came and said to them, this man was with Jesus. And again, he denied it, but this time with an oath. I don't know the man. I promise you, I don't know this man. I swear, I don't know this man. And after a little while, the bystanders came up and said to Peter, certainly you two are one of them for your accent gives you away. And then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, I don't know the man. He said, I don't know the man. Then he said, I swear, I don't know the man. And then he said, listen, I blankety blank. Do not know this man. He's serious about it. There's a progression that's getting stronger. He wants to push off all these words that say he's connected to Jesus. And as soon as he says that, the Bible says, immediately the rooster crawled. Right after Peter denied Jesus on three occasions, the rooster crawled. Now two men, both of these men betrayed Jesus. One felt remorse and the guilt and the sadness and the sorrow led him to suicide. That's serious. That means it broke his heart in such a way. But what about Peter? Peter's done the same thing. He didn't do it for money. He did it to save his own hide, but he's done the same thing. He had the same attitude. He had the same motives. But look at verse 75. And Peter, remember the saying of Jesus, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. And he went out and he wept bitterly. As soon as he said it the third time, I'm telling you, I blankety blank don't know the man. The rooster crows, and all of a sudden he remembers, that's exactly what Jesus said. And his heart begins to break and the Bible says he begins to weep bitterly. But there's something that you'll miss in Matthew's account and that's very important. Look at, go to Luke 22. I want you to see it if you got your Bible. Flip over to Luke 22. Luke gives us a special detail that you're likely to miss if you're not looking for it. Luke chapter 22 verse 61. It's the same story. It's the same context, but listen to what it says. It says in the Lord turned, okay. After the rooster crows, the rooster just crowed and that would happen at about three o'clock in the morning, okay, middle of the night, the rooster goes cockadoodle do. And all of a sudden Peter realizes what he's done. In Luke 22 it says, and the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter, remember the saying of the Lord. And how he had said to him before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times. And he went out and went bitterly. Do you see that? Here he is. And he is just denied for the third time. Listen, I promise you, I don't know this man. The rooster crows and immediately he looks up. And as he looks up, he looks to Jesus because he realizes this is what Jesus said I would do. And as he looks up towards Jesus, something happened, something huge happens. Jesus looks over in their eyes lock. You ever had that happen where your eyes just lock with somebody? And it's like you can see inside their soul in that moment. And it may be very brief. It may be just for a few moments, but it seems like time stands still during that moment. And Jesus is looking into the eyes of quite possibly his best friend. And Peter is looking back. And all of a sudden it's too much. And Peter realizes what he's done. And his heart breaks and tears begin to stream down his cheek, down his face. And they begin to run faster than he's ever cried before. And he can't stand to look anymore. He turns away because the guilt is on him so richly. And he runs as far away as he can and he begins to cry and he begins to weep. And he feels so broken. The look of Jesus changed everything. Now, Judas looked in the eyes of Jesus also. Can you imagine when Judas was walking up to betray Jesus? It's pictured almost like he has a smile on his face and he's walking up greetings, rabbi, greetings teacher. And he looks him in the eye, then he gets right up close to his face and he kisses he wound the cheek. He had the eyes locked with Jesus too, but it didn't do anything for Judas. It didn't change him. He was fine to go and betray him for a little bit of money. It did nothing. His heart was hardened. His heart was built with stone. But the look from the eyes of Jesus, it changed everything for Peter. It broke his heart. It let him realize what he was doing. When Judas and Jesus eyes met, Judas kissed him with a kiss of hate, the kiss of a hypocrite. But when the eyes of Peter met Jesus, he was crushed, he was shattered, he was devastated. Sadness later led Judas to take his life, but the sadness later led Peter to restoration and repentance. After Jesus was crucified, he resurrected. And in John 21, he finds Peter. Remember this, he finds him again. He's fishing, he don't know what he's doing. All he wants to do is go fish, some guys like that. We're getting a hard spot, we want to go just throw a line out. So he's out and he's throwing his line out. Jesus comes up, they eat together. And Jesus had one question for Peter. Remember where that question was? Peter, do you, do you love me? That was the question. He didn't come up and say, Peter, you big bozo, I told you you would do that. How'd you do that? It's not what he did. He didn't come up and say, Peter, I am so disappointed in you. I thought we were closer. He didn't do that. He didn't come up and he had one question that he asked three times. Peter, do you love me? And Peter, yes, Lord, I love you. Then feed my sheep. Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord, I love you. Then feed my limbs. Peter, do you love me? Lord, you know all things you know, I love you. Then feed my sheep. And do you know what Jesus was saying? This is what matters. What matters in this Christian life? Because if we're not careful, we can make it really hard and we can make it really difficult and we can get a task list that we try to check off and try to say, I need to do this and I need to do that and I need to do this. And we can make it so complicated. But when Jesus comes and he finds Peter, this is what matters. Peter, do you love me? That's what matters. What's the difference between Judas and Peter? Here's the difference. The difference is that Peter loves Jesus. That's the difference. It's not that Peter did a whole lot more works. They did the same works. It's not they had deeper knowledge. They had the same knowledge. The difference is that Peter loves Jesus. What's the greatest commandment in the Bible? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. The seconds like it love your neighbor as yourself. You see, when we learn to love Jesus, to love the Lord, it will change everything else in our life. And so I want to ask you this simple question. Do you love Jesus? Do you love Christ? Do you seek to honor Jesus? Do you seek his glory? Does your heart have an affection towards him? Do you desire to please him, to exalt him, to honor him, to worship him, to commune with him, to gather with others who love him and believe in him? In your life, do you truly love Jesus? That's really what matters. That's what it all comes down to. This book, this is a story of how much God loves us. John 3, 16 is well known because it's that key passage for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. This whole book is a book where mankind bought in the sin and we mess it all up and the rest of the book tells how God is fixing our problem. He loves you. He loves you so much and the question is, do you love him? The question is not, do you have a lot of works? Remember in Matthew seven on the day of judgment, many will say, Lord, I did all these mighty works but then they will hear the words depart from me, you work of lawlessness, for I never knew you. It's not about works, it's not about knowledge, it's about what the Lord has done for you. He loves you, he cares for you. Have you responded in love for him? I wanna ask you to close your eyes and bow your head, it's real simple. I know we've looked at a lot of verses and it's been a weird service and we flipped all through the Bible and maybe you're thinking, my fingers hurt from flipping so many pages but it really is very simple and it comes down to this. Are you a Judas or are you a Peter? It's a tale of two sorrows, two men who messed up badly. You've messed up badly, I've messed up badly. That's not the point. We've all done things we're not proud of. We've all done things wrong. Listen, God is greater than that. He's greater than my failures or your failures. He's greater than my sin or your sin. What it comes down to is the way that we respond to him. The way that we receive him, the way that we love him with all that we are. And so you're thinking right now, do I really love Jesus? Not do you come to church, not do you anything else, do you love Jesus? I want you to pray in this moment. Lord, would you show me our relationship? Let me know where we stand Lord. And if you don't, if you don't love him, if you don't have that relationship, today's the day, today's the day. Lord, thank you for this time. Thank you for your many, many blessings Lord. Thank you for these who have been a tenant of God during this little bit different of a sermon guide. Lord, I pray that you've spoken to our heart and that we've seen that the difference in everything in life is love, that we love you. Lord, it's not that we mess up or we don't mess up. We're all gonna mess up. The difference is the way we respond to you. So Lord, I pray if there's one here who's not saved, or that they will respond and love to you. If there's some here who have been backsliving God, they're not living the way they should. I pray that today that we've motivated to make some changes. So I may be looking for a church that'll love you. I pray that maybe they'll join God. I just pray that your will will be done and we thank you in advance in Jesus' name we pray.