Feb. 23, 2020 - Betraying the King

18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ 19 I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he.

· Even at THIS time – Christ was living life – focused on INCREASING others faith – In Him!

And now – our text for today…

John 13:21–30 ESV

21 After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. 23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side, 24 so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. 25 So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” 28 Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. 29 Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. 30 So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

In the larger context, we see that at this time Jesus was dealing with something many of us have probably walked through – Betrayal

· Being betrayed can be one of the hardest things to walk through…

· Trust is – broken

· Confidence is – shattered

· Friendship – wounded

Like I said – most of us have probably walked through this….BEING betrayed…

· But have we considered that we will live our lives – MOST OFTEN (more often than not) – as the Betrayer?

· We MORE THAN LIKELY fail to comprehend how often we EXCHANGE the glory of God for lesser things!

· See – it’s hard for us to understand how FAR we fall short…

· How OFTEN we sin

· And how MUCH we prefer other things to God

And so it’s something that we see here in our text today that I want to focus in on.

I want to look at how SIN births itself in us…

· Regarding Judas - I do not believe that when Judas first started following Jesus – that he intended from day 1 – to eventually BETRAY Jesus…

· You ever fall into a sin – and think – WELL – I didn’t plan on that happening today!

· AND YET – sin happens!

· In our text today – we see a familiar story here of Jesus…

o Explaining to the disciples who will betray Him

o And them not understanding Him….

· What I want to focus on is

John 13:25–27 ESV

25 So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”

· What I’d like to focus on is this verse (27)…

· A natural question that arises from our text here in John, is this:

o The bible tells us that Satan entered Judas – therefore – was Judas accountable for his decision?

· And so today - I’d like to look at how SIN works…

· Like I said, I don’t think Judas initially started following Jesus to one day BETRAY Him!

· YET – this is what happened!

· So I want us to see how SIN operates…

· Because some people EITHER – want to BLAME GOD for their sin…

o In that He is sovereign…

o OR - they want to blame Satan (the devil) for their sin. ( The devil made me – do it!)

NOW – we ALL need to understand this…

· BECAUSE – we’re all SO PRONE to fall – and Be JUDAS in this life…

To do this – we’re actually going to jump to the book of James…

· Now as we read this – think about what Judas did…

James 1:13–17 ESV

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

· We’re going to see 4 aspects of reality today that will shape how we understand SIN…AND help us understand why JUDAS did what he did…

1. The Nature of Evil

2. The Nature of Man

3. The Nature of Lust

4. The Nature of God

Now ALL of this will play into JUDAS and what happened with him in our passage in John…

SLIDE: The Nature of Evil

The Nature of Evil

1 Peter 5:8 ESV

8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

· The Bible talks extensively about the reality of evil in the world.

· From the very beginning we read about the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”,

· We read about the Sons of Israel doing evil in the sight of the Lord

· We read about the execution of the Son of God.

· There are 53 verses in Proverbs alone that mention the word “evil”. The Bible makes it clear, as if we didn’t already know, that evil is real.

Looking at verse 13,

James 1:13 ESV

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

· God is invincible to all that evil would even try and throw at Him.

· So God being tempted by evil is an impossibility. It CANNOT happen!

· And This says something about evil.

· It means that the very nature of evil, renders it COMPLETELY foreign to God.

· As far as the east is from the west, so exists God and Evil.

He is aware of it, but unaffected by it.

The prophet Habakkuk knew this when he said:

Habakkuk 1:13 ESV

13 You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?

All of this just BEGINS to paint a VERY grim picture of evil and what it is:

· An abomination to the Lord (Proverbs 15:26)

· Absolute absence of God (Proverbs 11:19)

· Absolute absence of hope (Proverbs 24:20)

· Evil’s end is destruction (Proverbs 11:19)

a VERY grim picture of evil

~The Nature of Evil~

SLIDE: The Nature of Man

The Nature of Man

· A second powerful truth we see here in James is The Nature of Man

*Tenley – Touching Trey’s head when he’s trying to sleep (“Daddy, stop touching me”)

· We’ll see that our NATURE renders us to be – BLAME THROWERS…

James 1:14 ESV

14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

· Just by looking at the choice of words used here, we can see what James is saying.

· “Each one is tempted”….no one is immune to this.

· EVEN the first man created owned a blame thrower.

Genesis 3:11–12 ESV

11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

· *We always get upset when we see someone with great potential just throw it away right….

· like athletes…or young kids

· They have this unbelievable potential,

· sky’s the limit

· Greg Robinson - ??

· we get angry at that.

· THINK ABOUT ADAM!! TALK ABOUT POTENTIAL!!

· Remember – Adam was a guy who was created, in a perfect relationship with God, WITH PERFECT DESIRES…and what does he do? …..”oooohh an apple.”

Genesis 6:5 ESV

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

· REMEMBER - Every human being is tempted…no exceptions.

· AND we see with the present tense that is used here v5,

· that this is a continual, inescapable process…and it happens when a person is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

Notice the 2 words near the end of verse 14. “his own”

· Guess who’s responsible for how I respond to my desires? I am.

· Guess who’s responsible for how you respond to your desires? You are.

· What tempts me may not tempt you…and what tempts you may not tempt me.

I need to be concerned about what tempts me.

You need to be concerned about what tempts you.

THIS IS the nature of man…We are NEVER-Saturated sponges in the OCEAN of Evil…

SLIDE: The Nature of Desire (Lust)

The Nature of Desire (Lust)

A third powerful truth we see here in James is the Nature of Desire (Lust)

James 1:15–16 ESV

15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

· It’s interesting that James begins here to describe lust (desire) in terms of childbirth…

· a process that sees lust give birth to sin, which then brings about death.

· So the process is this: Lust, Sin, Death.

I’m going to borrow John MacArthur’s take on how this process plays itself out in more detail.

So if we were going to FOCUS in even more on the Lust-Sin relationship, we’d see these STEPS play out…

SLIDE: Desire, Deception, Design, and Disobedience.

Desire, Deception, Design, Disobedience

SLIDE: FROM DESIRE TO SIN: Desire

From Desire to Sin

1. Desire:

Before our conversions, we were all slaves to our desires (lusts).

Ephesians 2:1 ESV

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

Ephesians 2:3 ESV

3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

What is a desire?

- It develops deep within us, expressing a want to acquire something that we do not have.

- We each may desire different things

o iPhones

o New house, new car

o New Technology

o New Gibson guitar

o A large pizza from Angelos

This is what DESIRES are...

SLIDE: FROM DESIRE TO SIN: Deception

From Desire to Sin

2. Deception:

· Once we consider and start to think about a desired object,

· we then start to justify having it.

· This is where deception kicks in.

· Think about a fish…it sees the bait, and becomes so desirous of that bait that it doesn’t even consider the dangers.

Often times we are so inclined by our fallenness to disregard any dangers resulting from our desires, that we go right for the bait!

This is the Nature of Deception!

SLIDE: FROM DESIRE TO SIN: Design

From Desire to Sin

3. Design

· After we’ve desired an object and rationalized getting it, we begin to make plans to make it happen.

· At this point we are pursuing our lusts (desires) until they’re satisfied.

SLIDE: FROM DESIRE TO SIN: Disobedience

From Desire to Sin

4. Disobedience

If we allow the process to continue, design will lead the disobedience, which is sin, and sin brings forth death.

· *Through his faith in Jesus Christ, a Christian is saved from spiritual and eternal death. But if he persists in sin, he may pay the penalty of physical death. Because some believers in Corinth were partaking of the Lord’s Supper unworthily, they brought judgment on themselves and:

1 Corinthians 11:30 ESV

30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

They died.

Because of this, James pleads with his readers…

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

That’s the Nature of DESIRE (LUST)

SLIDE: The Nature of God

The Nature of God

First thing, God does test His people (Abraham, Israel:)

Exodus 16:4 ESV

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.

· BUT He never tempts us (dangling carrots of sin in front of us to see what we’ll do).

· He doesn’t try to lure people into sin.

James 1:17 ESV

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

· So because God is wholly righteous and just…

· Because He is completely foreign to evil…

· He cannot and does not in any way or to any degree have any part in tempting us to sin.

· What comes from God is not sin, but only “every good thing given and every perfect gift”.

· HIS WORKS REFLECT HIS CHARACTER.

· And we see this phrase here “The Father of Lights” >

o this term was an ancient Jewish title for God…

o referring to Him as the creator, as the giver of light, in the form of the sun, the moon, and the stars as described in Genesis.

o Yet we see here in verse 17 it says, “with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

· Unlike those created sources of light, this creator of light has NO VARIATION or shifting shadow.

The sun’s emission of light varies, the stars emission of light varies, but with God there is no variance, ONLY COMPLETELY CONSISTENT PERFECT HOLINESS.

· And so when we read about man’s heart (ONLY EVIL CONTINUALLY)

· we can say of GOD (ONLY PERFECT HOLINESS CONTINUALLY) – Amen for that!!

1 John 1:5 ESV

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

SO – when we think about JUDAS betraying Jesus…

- Did the DEVIL make him do it?

Here’s what we know…

· Evil is real! - - Evil seeks to DESTROY truth – goodness – Holiness

· We also know that MAN – is – by NATURE – EVIL

· And when we think about DESIRE – Evil desires that which is NOT God – to BE God

And so when you put these truths together…

We see that Mankind, by nature, seeks to destroy God. To diminish God.

· So was Judas responsible for his actions?

· YES – they were HIS OWN desires…

We ALL have been betrayed….and we ALL have played the part of Betrayer…

And those choices were our own!

SO as we leave today – what can we do to COMBAT against BETRAYING God…being the kind of person who betrays others…

How do we FIGHT temptation…

SLIDE: Hide His Word in Your Heart

Fight Temptation

· Memorizing Scripture is a powerful weapon in resisting temptation.

· When Jesus was being tempted in the wilderness, what did He do?

· He quoted Bible verses back to Satan. This is why Jesus said,

Matthew 4:4 ESV

4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

There is real power in the Word of God, so why not tap it?

JUDAS – Didn’t trust that Jesus was the Son of God…

SLIDE: Flee from Temptation

Fight Temptation

· Judas never did this…

· I don’t think Judas considered Money a temptation…

· He simply LOVED it!

· He didn’t FLEE from it – he PURSUED it…at ANY cost!

1 Timothy 6:11 ESV

11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

SLIDE: Pray Your Way Out

Fight Temptation

This might sound way too simple, but it’s biblical and was part of that which Jesus taught the disciples in their learning how to pray

Matthew 6:13 ESV

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

· Having a daily relationship with God in prayer is essential because you are fighting three things in resisting temptation: the world, the flesh, and Satan and his demons.

SLIDE: Know Your Weaknesses

Fight Temptation

· We all have an Achilles’ heel, meaning that every one of us has vulnerable spots.

· Many of these might be the same as others, but each of us has probably one area that we are most susceptible.

· Alcohol

· drugs

· pornography

· Food

· Gossip

· Anger

· Anxiety

· Control

· Lust

· Spiritually – we FIGHT for JOY in God…pray for JOY in God…

· Practically - We must learn our weakest areas and determine not to go there and to avoid going to places where that sin or substance might be more available.

SUMMARY

Why We Betray God

1. The Nature of Evil

2. The Nature of Man

3. The Nature of Lust

4. The Nature of God

3. (Desire, Deception, Design, Disobedience)

We Fight Temptation:

Hide His Word in Your Heart

Flee From Temptation

Pray Your Way Out

Know Your Weaknesses

Let’s pray

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