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REDEEMING REGRET "The Story of Judas" - March 5, 2017 - Senior Pastor Scott Christenson

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suppose you heard today I want to talk with you a little bit about Judas and I I've been thinking about this message for the last week or so I've had for rattling around in my brain that I that I can't get out my mind and they may seem a little strange at first but they've actually form the outline of my message and so let me just start by sharing these four little sentences with you and then we can talk about them a little bit okay here's the four sentence of four sentences I love Judas I hate Judas I am Judas I need Scalia my whole message I love you let's talk about first of all I love and that sounds strange I mean what do you mean you love Genesis just like one of the worst guys of all time  Judas betrayed our lord Jesus for money and not even very much money so you don't get much worse than that so how can you love Judas  what ports I don't love him for that right I don't love what he did at all what he did was what I mean is if I search my heart and what's going on inside of me as we hear his story read again I realize that in fact love Judas for this one reason  and maybe you do too cutest makes me feel a whole lot better about myself true so bad in comparison I think I look pretty good if I don't have Judas why don't often feel very good about myself I'm at I look at my and I can be pretty disappointed  I'm not the husband that I would like to be I'm not the father I would like to be I'm not the pastor like to be on or the friend in almost every aspect of my life I look and I often think to myself I could be a lot better than that can I should be better than that and I wish I was better than that but I'm not have nothing helps me out of that funk more than Judas  because I can look at you this and all these terrible awful things that he did and I tell me to myself well at least I've never done that  because June is not only betrayed Jesus Judas betrayed Jesus intentionally with forethought and purpose I don't know if you've ever noticed before but look carefully here at what Matthew 26 says it says that one of the 12 the one called Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests and ask what are you willing me if I had him over to you  stop do you see what that's telling you it's telling you betraying Jesus was judas's idea not the other way around satispie Trail idea all cooked up and then they went to Judas and tempted him and pressured him and threatened him until he finally no Judas conceived this Judas wanted to do initiated this  so this was not just a sign of weakness this was an intentional premeditated and when I realize that I feel a whole lot better about myself I mean don't you I love you too semi under his story a little more and I realize not quite that simple because one of the things that is truly scary about this story isn't even put the fact that what he did came as a total surprise to everyone no one except for Jesus saw this coming at all like The Ultimate Guide to all of us he was not fat to the other disciples in fact the office house were the gospels we learn that The Chew what's the treasurer of the disciples he was the one who collected and took care of an extended the money that they used to sustain sells it around in Jesus this is a critical detail I think because what kind of people do people picked to be the treasurer of their little group it's always someone who is smart and trustworthy and reliable if you have suspicions about somebody's character even a little bit of Suspicion the last thing on Earth you would do make them the treasurer for your Judas may be pure evil to all of us by the way you see this very clearly at the Last Supper remember Jesus says to them I tell you the truth and how did they react to that did it all suddenly turn to Judas with Annoying plants that just said knew that sooner or later you were going to do something like this  not a single person did that that wasn't even remotely on their radar Judas was the last person they would have thought would have done something like that here's how the Gospel of John recordes this moment at the Last Supper it says so Jesus told him told Judas what you're about to do do quickly but no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him of all people and that's why I say second point  I hate you  and I don't mean I hate what he that although I do hate what I mean by this is I hate you this because Judas exposes to me that my real sinfulness is always on the inside not the outside here's another sample from the life of Judas that that comes much earlier and in John chapter 12 a Jesus is having dinner with some of his good friends Lazarus and Mary and Martha you remember that Mary in the midst of dinner breaks open this bottle of expensive perfume and she begins to anoint Jesus feet with and then John says this but one of his disciples Judas Iscariot who was later to betray him objective why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor it was worth a Year's wages reflecting now on these events fuel many years later John as this comment he says but he did not say this because but because he was a thief  as Keeper of the money bag he used to help himself so what was put into  I hate you this does Judas acidic my own  could you see the real problem with you and me isn't even what we do wrong or what we fail to that's right  that's all it was this really wouldn't be that big of a problem Shin but it's much more serious than that the real problem is never with her hand it's always with our hearts  even when we do the right things extra we can still be very far from God and his ways internal  is Isaiah says even all are Deeds are like filthy rags  righteous I was thinking about this I remember years lower former church I belong to we we had this great idea that we were going to celebrate how many marriages today that are struggling and failing and we thought you'll maybe our people could benefit from from having some better role models for marriage  we need a lift up for the congregation some good examples of marriage for people how did just so happen we had a handful of couples in our congregation at that time who had been married for like 50 years if you don't look for the group together let's make some videos of these couples have them share their stories and their their secret marital success  and all the sound of really really good  until I started looking at the actual list names of people who had been married for 50 years or more  because I knew these couples pretty well and not a one of them had a marriage that I thought anyone would want to emulate with every single one of them it was well known to everyone in the congregation that while they may have cut it out 50 years together they really didn't love other very much  so they really didn't treat each other very well  so we scrap the whole idea that sounds like Judas doesn't it  you're not me outside everything look great the inside did not match up at all and the scary truth friends is that turn all feel like that and we are like that  that's my third point because as I think more I realize more and more I am we all are and I actually where Matthew wants to lead us eventually  we didn't read this first earlier but right after math Utah news about Judas coming and betraying Jesus with a kiss he says one more thing that's very interesting Jesus is arrested in blood is it Matthew ends the story like this then all the disciples she Matthew won't let us get away with reading judas's story and then feeling really good about ourselves in compare Ono all the disciples deserted him and Flynn and of course when you may not have done exactly what you did did but really the truth is you're not all that different and where you really see this best I think again is at the Last Supper I got to tell you I've read this story may be like many do you like a thousand times in my life but this time around I noticed something about this story that I've never seen before and I don't know how I've ever missed it because I had always thought that what happened at the Last Supper was this that you just stood up and said I tell you the truth one of you betray me and then they also surely not not what you thought happened  snot that's not what they all said  it's what they all said except for Judith take a very careful look again Jesus says I tell you the truth one of you will betray me and then verse 22 says they were very sad how to say two in one after the other surely not I Lord first 25 says then Judas the one who would betray him said sure you see it there's a very small but critical Prince between what you said and what everyone else said Judas was the only one who wouldn't call Jesus everyone else said surely not I Lord but you just said surely not I rabbi and you know what else read through all four of the gospels in their entirety and you'll find out never once does Judas ever call Jesus not why is this important  what because Lord of course means master Fred Lord me I'm acknowledging that you're in charge of me if you're The Horde that I do what you say you call the shots  simply means teacher no respect should be sure it's someone I listen to it someone whose opinions I considered maybe strongly consider what a rabbi is bottle  if I don't like what the rabbi has to say can I just go and do what I want and isn't that what we all do with Cheese's  we respect him we listen to him we consider his app maybe even strongly  what's on so often we go and do whatever we want whether Jesus would like it or not Jesus wants us to be married before we sleep together all that that's so old-fashioned Jesus wants to go to worship every single week because he realize how busy people are today generously and sacrificially I mean people Jesus wants me to share my is it with non-christians on so we justify adding a thousand different ways but the bottom line is we're not doing what Jesus wants worse than that we don't even care  please just a rapper but he's not the Lord Jesus see we may hate you email of Judas but the one inescapable fact is that we are and that's why final point I need Judas  in Saudi  because Judas is story shows of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that no one else's does  because you see there's at least one small but critical detail in judas's story that you may never have noticed before even if you rented a thousand times so here it is this is Matthew 26 verse 49  says going at once to Jesus Judas said Rabbi and kissed him Jesus replied friend do what you came it's not in What Judas says to Jesus but it would Jesus says to him  Jesus calls Judas friend do what you came snow remember if Jesus is the one person here who is not in the dark  Jesus knows exactly what is how do you know what exactly what you just has done even better than Judah stuff  he knows that's his close friend and Confidant the one trusted with their money and livelihood has not only betrayed him  he has set in motion a series of events that no one's going to be able to who won the Jesus knows full well is going to soon lead to his torture and excruciating death what does Jesus call him friends for my friends we need Judas because if Jesus can Paul Judas his friend even after all he's done then you can also know this for sure there is no sin you could ever commit no temptation you could ever fall into no failure you could ever cause that will also be met with an offer of Grace from Jesus  Judas was still his friend are still his friend no matter who you are no matter what you've done no matter how you feel Citrus judas's story teaches us something else vetiver does not derail God's plan and purpose not one single bit come with me back to the Last Supper One Last Time Matthew 2623 says this Jesus replied the one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me  but the son of man will go just as it is written about him in other words yes Jesus is being betrayed by his close friend yes this looks like total disaster he has nothing anyone can do to stop it now but everything is still going to go exactly as God wants it to go some friends if you had been there in those moments that's not what you would have thought at all what you want to talk Judas betrays Jesus every good thing that's been happening in our lives just now going to be sabotaged and destroyed the world is over now we have no future who the f*** fix it now and you would have been totally wrong because no matter what Judas does or fails to do the son of man will go just as it in other words God's plan and purpose prevails no matter what it doesn't depend on you doing everything right and it's not derail even if you do everything wrong even if you mess up and lose your job  even if your marriage fails even if you struggle with an addiction your home lights and never quite tickets even if you're not the mom or dad that you'd like to be and should be even if you don't give a prayer worship reserved like you really a dog purpose and plan prevails anyway  it's not all the pain on you and it cannot be real are you son of man will go just as it is written about  of a more hopeful message God proclaims it to us today in the most unexpected place of all the story of Judas let's power has been praying

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REDEEMING REGRET "The Story of Judas" - March 5, 2017 - Senior Pastor Scott Christenson

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