Welcome to An Orderly Account with Pastor John Stewes as he continues a journey through Luke's orderly account of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Church of the King strives for biblical worship, which views the Lord's Day as the time when God meets His people to renew His covenant with them. Covenant renewal is characterized by God's calling us to worship, a time for the confession of our sins, the hearing of God's forgiveness based on the finished work of Christ on the cross, the new life and His resurrection, presenting our offerings, approaching the throne of grace and prayer, and His teaching us from the Word of God. Now, here's Pastor Stews. We will remain standing this morning for the reading of God's word. Our reading this morning takes us into the 22nd chapter of the Gospel of Luke. The reading will begin at verse one. Here now, the word of the Lord. Now, the feast of unleavened bread drew near, which is called Passover, and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Jesus, for they feared the people. Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. And so he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains how he might betray him to them. And they were glad and agreed to give him money. And so he promised and sought opportunity to betray Jesus to them in the absence of the multitude. This is the word of the Lord. Thank you, God. And this is the second point that we must understand if we're to be truly comforted today. God is in control and he knows what he's doing. Now, that might seem pretty simple. If I asked for a show of hands, I'll bet everybody would raise their hands. I agree with that. Amen, brother. Right. But at the same time, it is often the hardest concept to remember when things get tough in our day-to-day living. In other words, it's real easy to say and to confirm intellectually and to study and to write papers and to have confessions and everything else that God is in control and He knows what He's doing. But we are all often quick to falter when something tough or unexpected happens. The loss of a young child brings the questions of why did this happen? Remember, Jesus Himself wept at the tomb of Lazarus. Knowing that God is in control and that God knows what He's doing does not mean that we don't weep over things that are tragic. It doesn't mean that we can't ask why. However, our why should always be asked in the same spirit as Mary's how when she was presented with something that was beyond her understanding. In properly asking why, we can actually be admitting our humble position as creatures. if we are truly looking to God for His understanding. Saying to God that we cannot begin to understand how He actually works all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. But for this morning, we need to simply see and understand that the betrayal by Judas did not catch God. by surprise. It wasn't a surprise. In fact, those verses that we talked about that give us the story early on show that it was no surprise to God. In Matthew 26, we read, Now as they were eating, Jesus said, Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. And they were exceedingly sorrowful. And each of them began to say to him, Lord, is it I? And he answered and said, he who dipped his hand with me in the dish will betray me. The son of man indeed goes just as it was written of him. No surprise, but woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. It would have been good for him that he had not been born. Then Judas, who was betraying him, answered and said, Rabbi, is it I? And Jesus said to him, You have said it. All things in God's plan are going forward just as had been planned, including the betrayal of Judas. Now remember, this does not make what Judas did a good thing. Jesus said it would have been better that he had never been born. Judas carried the weight of his sin both in the tragic end of his life and now for all eternity in the lake of fire. All of Judas' life, however, was a part of God's eternal plan. His ministry, His betrayal and His tragic end. Now, it's pretty easy to see how those last two fit into God's plan. The betrayal led to the cross. He is punished for his sin. Good lessons. But we may not have fully considered or wondered about that first. What about the ministry of Judas? You see, using the language of Jesus in John chapter 15, Judas was truly a branch that was cut out of the vine. Judas is someone that we must keep front and center whenever we think about or discuss apostasy from the faith. Judas really was in the covenant. He was a circumcised Jew. We talk about union with Christ. He was called to be a disciple by Jesus himself. He was empowered by Jesus through the Spirit of God to serve as a disciple. Jesus appointed 12 to be his disciples, and those 12 included Judas Iscariot. In Mark 3, we read this about the disciples. that Jesus appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out devils. Shortly thereafter, He sends these disciples out to minister and listen to the words again from Mark 6. And Jesus called the twelve to Himself. Judas was one of those twelve. and began to send them out two by two." We don't know who went out with Judas, but I'll bet he really thought about it after he found out the end of the story. He sent them out two by two and gave them power over unclean spirits. So they went out and preached that people should repent and they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them. Again, there were real people out there that repented and were saved from the preaching of Judas. There were people out there that were healed of diseases, probably still alive when the end of the story came. Can you imagine what they thought when they heard that Judas was the one that betrayed Jesus? You see, Jesus did this. He did this knowing that one of the twelve would betray him, knowing what this man's end would be. Now, I'm sure some of you are saying at this point that all of this is not very comforting. I did say this is going to be a message that we should take comfort for. So you've got to bear with me on this. Because I understand that we can certainly argue from a human standpoint that we could never as Christians have assurance of our salvation if one of the very disciples of Jesus, who was empowered by the Holy Spirit, who saved people, who healed people, who walked with our Lord for three years, if He can fall from grace, what hope do I have? That's a natural reaction. But we need to consider two very important things in this account of Judas. First, this does bring comfort. It brings comfort in one of the most difficult areas of our Christian walk. When we encounter that tough situation where someone that we were sure had their name written in the Lamb's Book of Life turns away from the faith. It's at those times that we need to be reminded that we do not ever truly know the heart of another saint. But God does. There are no surprises for God. There can be surprises and disappointments for us, but not with God. Not only does God know, but He has a good reason for what has happened. even if it is totally beyond our understanding in this life. We need to understand that. There is a reason. Just like the disciples were shocked to find out there was a betrayer in their midst, that shock grew to panic later that night when they saw that it was actually Judas who brought the soldiers to arrest Jesus. They couldn't understand. But afterwards, they saw that he was God's instrument in carrying out the greatest salvation that we needed. So when we come against these times and when it tears at us and we think, what is God doing? That's where the comfort comes, that these things are not surprises to God. But you see, the second part of this comfort comes from remembering that Judas knew as well. Am I saying that Judas knew from the beginning that he would betray Jesus? No. But you see, we know, having read the end of the story, that he was never a true sheikh. And thus, he never really heard the Savior's voice. He never heard with ears of faith. He was identified by Jesus and the Gospel writers from the very beginning as a wolf in sheep's clothing. Judas went the way of all sinners who follow their father, the devil. Judas, at times, would have been proud of being a disciple. Ah, but you say, wait a minute. So were James and John. You know, they wanted to be on the right hand and the left hand of Jesus. Got all the other disciples really mad at him for that. But you see, the difference is that John and James ultimately humbled themselves under the rebukes of Jesus and learned to obey his voice as his apostles. Judas did not. Some have argued, I think rightly, that Judas did not understand what was going on and what the implications of what he was about to do really were. And you could certainly argue that all of the other disciples were pretty messed up most of the time as well. But again, the sheep in God's Kingdom are not perfect and they are not the smartest, but they do hear the Savior's voice coming under conviction when they are wrong and continuing to grow in grace. Even when we come to the final betrayal of Jesus, we can wonder about the other disciples as well. Did they not desert Jesus in the garden later that night? Did not Peter deny Jesus three times before the rooster crowed that very night? Again, with the eleven sheep, we see them broken by their sin, with the best example being Thomas, who eight days later cried, My Lord and my God! to say nothing of the repentance that Peter must have shown when he had a private meeting with Jesus that we don't even have recounted for us. But on the other hand, Judas, Judas, even when the outcome of his wicked actions became clear, continued to harden his heart and ultimately killed himself in a field of blood. rather than repent. You see, once again, we have that picture that is given to us so clearly in the Old Testament in the lives of Kings Samuel and David. When Samuel was confronted by his sins, he always was full of excuses. You don't understand. I only meant, what about? You know all the lines. He was full of excuses and took things more and more into his own hands, where he ultimately found himself in the final hours of his life having the last supper of the damned at the witch's house in Endor. Now, King David, on the other hand, certainly committed many sins. I'm sure he'd rather not have all the ones listed that are listed in the Bible. But King David was always broken when he was confronted with those sins. We see him confessing them as he did in Psalm 51. And King David ended his life knowing that he walked before God as a righteous man. That's a pretty bold statement for somebody who lived King David's life, don't you think? But you see, he knew that. And he could boldly say that because he knew the grace of God and anticipated the work of Jesus. So, for us to have real comfort, we must remember the lessons from the lives of Samuel and Judas are real warnings. They are real warnings. It is right to say, and to wonder at times, if a king of Israel, if a disciple of Jesus, can fall from grace, what about me? Those warnings are there for us. But we must also remember that King David and the eleven faithful disciples also knew that they were sheep who heard the shepherd's voice. They knew this despite all of their sins and shortcomings. In other words, they knew their true standing before God, and so should we. Judas knew that he did not want to give up his pride and desire for control. He knew that for his entire life. Judas knew that stealing from the money bag was wrong, but continued in that sin until in the end he was tempted to take the thirty pieces of silver for the very life of Jesus. Judas knew that Satan had taken control of his life. He'd left that door open. And even when he saw the results, refused to cry out to Jesus for forgiveness. Judas sought to keep things under his control. It's my life. I'll do it my way. If Jesus wants to cooperate, I'm happy to hang around with Him. but I'm in control." And he kept that until his final act of control, when he took his own life. However, we, whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, also know. Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice. Jesus did not say that His sheep would be perfect or never be tempted to act like wolves. He said they would hear his voice, even when it is a strong voice of rebuke, like the prophet, prophet Nathan, who had to go to King David and declare, You are the man. You're angry enough at this man in the story that you think he should be taken out and killed. David, that's you. And it broke David's heart. We as sheep have the confidence to claim Paul's promise to the saints in Rome that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. You see, if we don't understand the difference between Saul and David, If we don't understand the difference between Judas and the other eleven apostles, that verse means nothing. Because there are some who walk according to the flesh rather than walking according to the Spirit. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law, the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. If you're a sheep, if you've heard the Savior's voice, you won't turn into a wolf. Will we sometimes be haunted by our own consciences or even Satan himself whispering to us, oh, I'm pretty sure you're just like Judas. I think it's only a matter of time. Only a matter of time. We will. We would not be fallen creatures living in a fallen world if we said that never happens. So yeah, there will be doubts. And when the sheep doubt, they should cry with that Father who brought His demon-possessed Son to Jesus to be healed. And Jesus said, if you believe all things are possible, and the Father said, I believe, help thou my unbelief. When we have doubts, when we're not sure if we have enough faith, we don't try to go out and make more or to squash those doubts. We cry to Jesus, help thou my unbelief. That is why our covenant renewal worship is so important week after week, reminding us of God's great love as He comes, forgiving the sins that we confess, strengthening our faith through word and sacraments, preparing us for another week of service as He commissions and sends us out. We come week after week as the joyful sheep who hear the Savior's voice. Our hymn of response this morning is one that rightly comes in the week that we remember St. Patrick of Ireland. But it's also one that should remind us of how to remove those doubts that our flesh, the world, and the devil want to fill our minds with. St. Patrick lived in a pretty tough time. They had pagans there. The whole country was pagan. But they had pagan rituals and religions Everywhere. They had sexual immorality that was running rampant. They had general debauchery. Kind of sounds like America today. But you see, Patrick knew, as we should, that he and the other saints could not stand in their own strength. There was no hope of success if they did it. They couldn't stand around wondering if they were strong enough. They couldn't stand around wondering if they really had prayed the prayer of salvation correctly. They had to have confidence. And Patrick knew that salvation was in Christ and Christ alone. So he wrote a powerful hymn to strengthen himself and the other saints. And it has not only come down to us through the centuries, but it still has a message that will guard and keep us as sheep. in the midst of wolves. We too must bind ourselves to the strong name of the Trinity. As sheep who hear the Shepherd's voice, we should seek to bind ourselves to Him in His incarnation, His baptism, His death on the cross, His bursting forth from the spiced tomb, His riding up the heavenly way and is coming at the day of doom or judgment. Is your heart willing this morning to bind your life to Jesus? Well, if it is, then you are a child of God. You are a child of God who has heard the Father's voice and the Father's desire, the Father's will is that you stay close to His Son, Jesus, who has promised that you will never be taken out of His hand. Let's pray. Thank you for listening to Pastor John Stewes of Church of the King. Join us next week at the same time as the journey through Luke's orderly account of the gospel of Jesus Christ continues. You're invited to join us for Sunday worship at 11 o'clock, where biblical worship is characterized by the active and vigorous participation of the entire congregation. Church of the King is a pro-life, pro-family church where all baptized children participate in worship, including the Lord's Table, on a weekly basis. To learn more or to hear this message in its entirety, visit orderlyaccount.com or call 916-451-5660. Still life and sing more.