I Can't but I Will Week 3 - I Can't Forget

Opening Text

Joshua 24:19–21 NLT

Then Joshua warned the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy and jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. If you abandon the Lord and serve other gods, he will turn against you and destroy you, even though he has been so good to you.” But the people answered Joshua, “No, we will serve the Lord!”

____________ Forgetting bad habits

I love to play golf…but it’s the most frustrating sport I’ve ever played.

There are countless mechanics that are involved in a golf swing

If one of them is off…your shot can go one of a thousand different ways that negatively impact your experience.

My father in law is a much better golfer than me...

He will usually try and help me correct something when we play.

In order to fix the problem of a malfunctioning golf swing…you have to forget the habit that is causing you to mess up mechanically.

It is significantly easier to learn what to do than it is to forget what you’ve done.

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Living today from yesterdays perspective

It’s not hard to find people have who live out the entirety of today from the perspective of yesterday.

Back in my day

When I was in High School

Often the greatest hindrance to entering into a present relationship with Jesus is the willingness to lay down the life we are leaving.

Today I want us to realize that we share one of the reasons Joshua gave to the nation for not being able to serve the Lord

We can’t serve the Lord because we can’t forget.

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If you want to serve God…Here’s what you have to do

As Joshua responded to their declaration of determination he gave them their action steps.

Joshua 24:23 NLT

“All right then,” Joshua said, “destroy the idols among you, and turn your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”

His encouragement was if you are going to follow God…then you have to destroy the gods you are trying to bring with you.

These gods were essentially keep sakes that they had gathered from every place they had been.

Every territory they passed through posed a threat to their heritage.

Understand that with every opportunity comes a new form of opposition.

Seasons of victory often don’t give way to seasons of rest…they often give way to seasons of greater opposition.

The nation had broken their covenant with God not by walking away from Him but by letting the cancer of the surrounding culture purmiate their homes.

If they were going to step into their future…they had to be willing to lay aside the keep sakes of their past.

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The Idols of Failures and Successes

While we may not have garnered a collection of idols from the lands we have traveled over the decades…we do have things that we have to lay aside if we are going to step into our next season.

We have a collection of past events that end up garnering our focus and our worship.

Many of us sacrifice at the altar of our past.

This of course often manifests in a past that is so broken and evil that we do not feel qualified to follow Jesus

We let the drugs, sex, substance abuse, sexual perversion, profane habits…etc have the power to dictate our current lifestyle.

But there are some who don’t fully surrender to Christ not because they are unwilling to lay down their failures…but rather because they are unwilling to lay down their successes.

If the enemy cannot use shame to keep you from God…He will attempt to use pride.

DON’T DWELL HERE AT THIS POINT!!!!!!!!!

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Textual introduction of Judas

We can see this reality play out in one of the individuals who lives in the narrative of Jesus time on earth.

John 6:67–71 NLT

Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.” Then Jesus said, “I chose the twelve of you, but one is a devil.” He was speaking of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, one of the Twelve, who would later betray him.

Judas is one of the most sobering individuals in the entire Bible.

He is proof that you can walk in close proximity, enjoy unprecedented intimacy, and still fall short of God’s standard and forfeit your relationship with God.

I quickly want to look at two things that Judas could not forget and as such could not serve the Lord.

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1. Judas could not forget His Self

I understand this text may seem like an odd place to open up our conversation about Judas because it is near the tragic end of his story.

But there is one nugget at the end that I want us to evaluate.

We are given Judas identification as “the son of Simon Iscariot.”

Many of us read this passage and other identifying passages and just assume Judas had the last name “Iscariot”

We see the door hanger on their home that says “The Iscariots”

The issue with this is that there is no such a thing as surnames in Jewish culture.

If there is a surname included it is often a locational indicator more than a family identier

With this in mind we see that Iscariot simply means “Man of Kerioth.”

So Judas constant identification association with Kerioth is an indication that he was constantly being identified by where he was from.

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The Lone Judean

The fact that Judas was from “Kerioth” is an indication that Judas was from Judea.

In the culture of the jews in Jesus time this was an indication that He was a “pure bred” jew.

The Jews from Judea looked with disdain towards the other mixed lineage groups that would be scattered around them.

This is the context of “the good Samaritan”

Judas was the only disciple from Judea (with the exception of Matthew (who had his reputation tarnished by the fact that he was a tax collector.)

…the rest were all from Galilee.

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The Group of Galileans

The entire group that followed Jesus were misfits from the half breed part of the country.

Through a societal lens they were “less than.”

The disciples themselves distinguished Judas differently because of His wholeness as being from Judea…

so much so that he was the only disciple that they handed position to.

John 12:6 NKJV

This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

Judas gladly accepted his honorable role.

Be careful how much you believe your own hype!

He loved the responsibility of being in charge of the money…

So much so that he spoke with disdain about those who mismanaged the finances of the company.

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They left their old life

Every other disciple had to leave their old life behind…

they had to leave where they were from and the identity they had inherited there.

Peter, James, and John stop fishing

Luke doesn’t practice medicine

Matthew leaves his tax collecting ways

But Judas continues to draw interest from his Judean heritage and practice his financial wizardry.

They were willing to leave their past because it was a negative…But Judas held onto his because of it’s positive nature.

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I Like to Keep my Good Parts

Many of us are incapable of serving God because we are unwilling to surrender our good parts.

We want God to remove our grit and use our gift.

The truth is I am not fully surrendered to God until I have surrendered my gift back to him.

WHEN I’VE SURRENDERED A GIFT TO SOMEONE…I DON’T GET TO GET MAD IF THEY CHOOSE NOT TO USE THE GIFT I GAVE THEM!

When I’m living a surrendered life it means I’m ok with my abilities going unaccessed at times.

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Judas liked honor going where it was due

Judas believed when a person was worthy of honor…they deserved to receive their honor.

So he gladly accepted the honor that was given Him as a Judean…

but He also believed Jesus deserved honor.

Don’t get it twisted…Judas loved Jesus.

I believe Judas betrayal of Jesus was actually Judas way of trying to expedite the process.

Judas commited the sin of not letting God accomplish his purpose in his time.

Judas wanted the right thing the wrong way.

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God’s will, God’s way, in God’s time

It’s important that we learn to surrender to God’s Will..God’s Way..In God’s Time.

When you try to force God’s plan into your time frame you end up with a hybrid product that is not effective or fulfilling.

My story of sitting in the office in Metropolis

This is the best it will be when you are the one opening the doors.

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The tragic ending of Judas story.

I believe it was Judas standing as Judean that made him feel he knew better and therefore should be in charge of the strategic rise of Jesus.

When Judas comes to find out that his plan backfired and now Jesus is being crucified he is overcome with guilt

He goes out and hangs himself to deal with the guilt of his actions.

Judas enacted this plan because he couldn’t forget himself…

But the real tragedy is that in the end Judas couldn’t forget his sin.

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2. Judas couldn’t forget his sin.

The most tragic part of Judas story is the fact that he never got to see the end of the story.

Judas mistake was not a cancellation of his future or God’s purposes for His life.

We will never know what could have been if Judas had simply repented.

One thing we don’t often talk about is the fact that Judas was not the only one who betrayed Jesus that night.

Peter commited repeated betrayals throughout the events of that night.

The other disciples with the exception of John all betrayed Jesus.

They were equally as guilty of the wrong of betraying the savior, and yet all of them played a role in the furtherance of the kingdom after the resurrection.

Committing a sin is not what cancels your purpose…It’s choosing to let that sin define your future.

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Could Judas have been Paul?

I read one commentator who makes the assertion that if Judas repents…He may have a ministry that parallels that of the Apostle Paul.

He had the societal foundation for effectiveness…but He couldn’t forget his self long enough to surrender or his sin long enough to repent.

We see in the life of Paul the polar opposite of this approach and it results in one of the most effective ministries in history.

Philippians 3:12–14 NKJV

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Some of us are being called to lose our memories today...

When you confess, believe, and repent…you are a new creation.

The only one who remembers your sins is you and the enemy.