Service: Judas, Jesus and the Sovereignty of God - Part 2

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Sermon: 3 Essential Christian Truths - Part 3

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Open your Bibles to the Gospel according to Matthew, Gospel according to Matthew chapter 26.

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We're in a study that we call the Kingdom of God series at Apologia Church.

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It's an expositional moving through the Gospel according to Matthew. We're in Matthew 26 right now.

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As I said last week, we did a pretty hopefully comprehensive kind of sermon on Judas a couple of months ago, and then before we move forward, as Jesus is betrayed,

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I wanted to talk about this key text. The Lord Jesus makes a comment about the betrayal of Judas and about what is taking place right in front of them, and I think this particular text not only brings hope to the believer in terms of all the evil and brokenness of this world and God's control and sovereign control over it, but it also does raise some questions.

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How do we answer the complete and total sovereignty of God over every action in history, but also how do we actually make that work together with the responsibility of human beings and their own particular sin?

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And so we're in Matthew chapter 26, and we're going to start in verse 45.

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This is the Lord Jesus in the garden. He's prayed.

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The disciples are not able to stay up with the Lord Jesus, and now the hour has come.

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So Matthew 26, verse 45. Hear now the word of the living and the true

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God. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, sleep and take your rest later on.

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See, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

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Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand. While he was still speaking,

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Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs from the chief priests and the elders of the people.

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Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, the one I will kiss is the man.

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Seize him. And he came up to Jesus at once and said, greetings, rabbi, and he kissed him.

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Jesus said to him, friend, do what you came to do. Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him.

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And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.

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Then Jesus said to him, put your sword back into its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.

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Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?

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But how then should the scriptures be fulfilled that it must be so?

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At that hour, Jesus said to the crowds, have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to capture me?

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Day after day I sat in the temple teaching and you did not seize me, but all this has taken place that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.

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Then all the disciples left him and fled. As far as the reading of God's holy and inspired word, let's pray as his people.

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Father, we come before you humbled, Lord. This word before us is your word.

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It is Theanoustos. It is breathed out by you. It's true.

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Lord, all of our emotions, our feelings, our traditions, everything has to yield to this, your voice.

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And so, Lord, as we come to the word of God that you've preserved throughout history for your people, we ask that you teach us,

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Lord, by your spirit that you would guide our minds and our hearts, that you would change us, challenge us, transform us, renew us in our minds, all to the glory of Jesus Christ.

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Lord Jesus, we give you praise and honor and worship. We glorify your name. We come before you in worship and we thank you,

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Lord, for what we are studying now, everything you endured to purchase us. We pray that,

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God, by your spirit you would teach that you would cause your people to forget the teacher and remember what they've learned from you.

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In Jesus' name, Amen. So here we are. This is part two. Again, so go back and watch last week's message to get a fuller explication on this particular section.

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But again, this word in verse 56, But all this has taken place that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.

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That is key. It is foundational. It is powerful. This is a mess. Now, I know we look back,

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I mentioned this last week, we look back in a moment like this in hindsight and we know what's going on because we have

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God, the master storyteller, that's tied the whole story together for us. So we look back in the 21st century and we say as Christians, like,

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I know where this was going, so I'm kind of thankful for the betrayal of Judas, of course. But you have to think in terms of the disciples themselves, what they're witnessing, what do they understand?

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They know that Jesus, of course, keeps saying he's going to Jerusalem. He's gonna be crucified. He's gonna rise again.

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They're still kind of muddy about that, kind of confused. They're not seeing the big picture. They understand that the promises of the

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Messiah from the Old Testament are actually glorious and powerful. How is the king of the world, which was promised in the

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Old Testament, the one who's gonna draw all the nations to God, the one whom all the nations are gonna obey, the one that all the kings are called to obey, the one who's promised the ends of the earth and all the nations, the one who's gonna establish justice,

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Isaiah 42. How is he going to now be betrayed into the hands of sinners? How is he going to go through all this, be crucified, rise again?

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There's just, it's a mess and you got to make sure that you put yourself, as you read this, this is real history, put yourself in the shoes or the sandals of those early

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Jewish followers of Jesus. They're, they're enduring this moment. Now Jesus, of course, they know who he is.

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They believe in Jesus. They're coming to him for the right reasons. The crowds are leaving Jesus. They don't truly believe, many of them.

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The disciples do. They say things like, where are we gonna go? You have the words of eternal life.

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These are true believers, except Judas. They know why they're following Jesus. They know what they've come to him for.

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And in this moment, they're enduring what seems like a complicated mess that they can't really climb out of.

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It doesn't look, listen, grant this, it does not look like Jesus is the sovereign of the universe there.

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Remember that in your sickness. Remember that in your pain. Remember that in your trial.

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Remember that in your tribulation. Remember that when there's slander and sickness and disease and decay and death.

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It did not look like Jesus was the sovereign of the universe here either.

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But what does Jesus say in this moment? He's in the garden doing what Adam failed to do.

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He is going to the Father, clinging to the Father, yielding to the will of the Father. That is what our first parents didn't do in the garden.

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Jesus is having victory over Satan over and over again. And as Jesus is enduring this painful moment, knowing that he's about to receive in himself this death and this abuse and this torture and the wrath of God, Jesus has his eyes set on the faithfulness of the

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Father. He knows the story and where it's going. He's already told them where it's going.

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And in this moment, Jesus says the hour is at hand. This is what was coming.

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This is what he told them about. This is where all the scriptures were going. This is God's story. These humans that are involved, yes, it's painful.

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Yes, it's a complete mess. Yes, it seems totally broken. And yes, they are really guilty.

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This is coming from their hearts. This is their betrayal. This is their sin. This is all really happening.

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This isn't a bunch of robots playing a part in a story. This is really happening.

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They're feeling it. The disciples are feeling it. But you'll note where Jesus is. He says the hour is at hand.

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This is now where I'm going to be betrayed. And Jesus says when he confronts them that I've been with you teaching in the temple, are you coming out against me like this now?

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And he says, but all this has taken place that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.

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I mentioned last week, and this is key, this is a distinctive element of true religion.

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If you want to know where the true God is, where he's at, where he's operating, what his word is, this is the key issue.

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The sovereign and true living God declares the end from the beginning. He's truly in control of this vast universe and every human action.

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From the movement of the ants, to birds falling from trees, to death, disease, decay, victory, blessing, he's the sovereign.

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If you want to know the difference between man -made religion and the true God, it's found right here.

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God's in control. God's in control, I say it in the weekly prayer every week, over the desert and the garden, the blessing and the curse, the difficulties, and all what we call the good things.

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God is the sovereign. In man -made religion, they can't do this. And we need to constantly stress it because it is the distinctive between the true

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God and false idols. God says so. In Isaiah chapters 40 through 46, read that section.

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It's the throwdown between the true God, the only God, the one who says he doesn't even know of any other gods, the one, there's no gods before him, none after him.

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He says, remember, have your idols, have your false gods, the ones that you've built, the ones that you created out of my stuff.

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Think about that. People create false gods out of the things that the true God made, and they worship those instead of him.

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He says have your gods tell you the future. They can't because they don't talk, they can't think, they have no volition, they have no control over anything.

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And he says what? Have your gods tell you the past. And why? There's purpose there, because he's the one who controls all things.

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This is, right here, that biblical distinctive, right here. The true God controls all things, and even the mess they find themselves in, in this very moment, is something that Jesus says, the hour is at hand.

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Now is the time. Remember that in the life of Jesus, you remember how many times the

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Jews are trying to trip Jesus up in a question, or they pick up stones to stone Jesus, and somehow they're not able to get away with it.

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Somehow they're not able to kill Jesus. Why not? There's plenty of them, and one of him. How come

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Jesus is able to slip out of the crowd, and to disappear out of there, and get away from their murderous plot?

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How come? Because it wasn't his hour. Because here's the thing.

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Nothing happens in this world, or life, ever without divine permission.

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Nothing. Now watch. It is easy, on a Sunday, Lord's Day service, with the people of God, and worship before this word, to say amen and hallelujah, and we should, to that truth, that nothing happens in this world apart from divine permission.

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But brothers and sisters, in a moment like this, allow this moment of the mess of Judas, and his betrayal, and all this evil, to settle your hearts, where there are trials and tribulations, sickness, disease, decay, and death.

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Again, it's easy, on Sunday, to say amen, hallelujah, only by divine permission.

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But do you believe that when there's a loss of a job? Do you believe that when the account is empty?

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Do you believe that when there's slander? Do you believe that at the hospital bedside?

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You see, we can look back at the life of Jesus, and say that he says the hour has come, and this is happening because God promised it.

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It's his story. It's by divine permission. We can say we see it there, but brothers and sisters, this is for the people of God.

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This is the God who is, and this is how he rules the world. He is the one who controls all things, and Jesus, in the moment of this betrayal, and it looks like it's an absolute mess.

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Don't forget this. Not only does it look like a mess, it's clear that they thought that it was a mess.

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Why? What's the last verse? Then all the disciples left him and fled.

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How do you think they felt about the sovereignty of God in that moment? They went running. They tucked tail, and they ran away from Jesus.

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Peter just got finished saying, I'll never abandon you. I'll never betray you, and Jesus says three times, three times, and it's not long after that that they literally all abandoned

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Jesus. When he needs them the very most, they won't stay up to pray with him. When he needs them the most, they all leave him and betray him.

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But Jesus is the perfect image of God. What we were all supposed to be shows he maintains his deepest affections and trust for the

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Father. So this is an important moment. The biblical God is sovereign. I asked two questions last week, two questions.

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We dealt with the first question last week, and it was this. Number one, does the Bible teach that God is this kind of sovereign?

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The kind of sovereign that Scripture says that he is, that he declares the end from the beginning, that he's really sovereign over all things.

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He's not just working off contingencies. He's not learning things. He's the one that determines by divine permission what does and what doesn't happen in this universe, in his story.

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We talked about the sovereignty of God according to Scripture. Psalm 135 6, just some reminder verses, not all of them, and again, this is not exhaustive.

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Psalm 135 verse 6, whatever the Lord pleases, he does in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all the deeps.

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Psalm 115 3, but our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases.

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Isaiah 46 10, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, here it is, my purpose will stand, will be established, and I will accomplish all my good pleasure.

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Daniel 4 35, all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but he does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, that includes

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Judas, by the way, and no one can ward off his hands or say to him, what have you done?

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We don't like this, right? We don't like it even in modern -day evangelicalism.

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We don't like it. We don't like that kind of a sovereign God. Why? Because we think we need to protect God's reputation.

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Bad things happen in the world. Bad things happen in the world. Betrayal, evil, all those things happen in the world.

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We have to protect God's reputation by saying things like, he doesn't have anything to do with that. When good things happening, or good things are happening, we say, only

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God. When bad things are happening, we want to protect his reputation. We say, he's got nothing to do with that.

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Have you noticed that in Scripture God doesn't talk like that? He actually wraps himself up in the entire story and says,

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I did that. I'm the sovereign over that. You see, we want to protect God from people's evil decisions and the things that they do in the world, and God says, no, my purposes will be established.

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No one thwarts me. I plan, Judas. Isn't that what it says?

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The text says that, doesn't it? All this is taking place in fulfillment of the Scriptures. Well, who gave us the

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Scriptures? That's the very Word of God. That's God speaking. So God said that this is my plan.

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God said this is the story. Here's how it's gonna work out. And Jesus now is enduring the pain, the betrayal, and what?

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It's God's plan. He planned it. It's for his glory. So does the Bible teach that God is this kind of sovereign?

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The answer is yes. And we could just spend an entire Sunday, Lord's Day, just going through verse, after verse, after verse, after verse, after verse, where God talks about his sovereignty to the smallest detail.

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And as, of course, the late Dr. R .C. Sproul used to say, there is, according to Scripture, not a maverick molecule in the entire universe.

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Everything is sustained by, held by, grown by, planned by God. He's that kind of sovereign.

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But here's the second question. The second question I asked is this, is Judas even guilty?

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That's the gnawing question, right? You gotta ask it. Because if God had his story, he declares the end from the beginning.

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He says, I'll accomplish my purposes. Nothing and nobody can thwart me. It begs the question, kind of, right?

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And that's that, is Judas even guilty? Did he, was he made, was he sort of made to sin by God? Did God make

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Judas sin, or is he some sort of a robot? Is Judas even guilty? Did God make him sin?

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So I want to answer that question with Scripture. First point.

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Judas was aware of his own guilt. He killed himself.

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Judas was aware of his own guilt. Proof? He killed himself. No conviction.

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No repentance. See the difference between Judas and Peter? Peter betrays

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Jesus in a way, right? And fleeing from him, not like the betrayer Judas, but he flees from Jesus. He denies that he even knows

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Jesus. But what happens to Peter? Peter's a true believer. He trusts in Christ.

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He's restored by Christ. He repents of his sin, and he comes to Christ. That's what true believers do.

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Judas isn't really a believer. He has ulterior motives. He's there for different purposes in ministry.

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He's stealing from the ministry of money. He obviously has a different motive for being there with Jesus.

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And when Judas is confronted with this awful, wicked sin that he's committed, what does he do?

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Go to Jesus for forgiveness? No! He kills himself. Judas is aware of his own guilt, and for proof of that, go to Matthew chapter 27.

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Starting in verse 3, it says, Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, here it is,

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I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.

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They said, what's that to us? See to it yourself. And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed and he went and hanged himself.

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What does Judas say there? God made me do this? It's his fault? What's Judas say?

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He says, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. He knew what was in his heart.

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He knew what he planned for. Before they even sat down for the last supper, Judas had already gone into a plan with the chief priests to betray

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Jesus before he sat with Jesus at the supper. It was already in motion.

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It was in his heart. It's what he wanted to do. So as God's sovereign over the whole situation,

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God planned it, God decreed it, and Judas is guilty. Because he was doing what he wanted.

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He was doing what was in his heart. That's the first point. Number two, is Judas even guilty?

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Jesus acknowledges Judas' guilt and says, woe or a curse upon him.

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Look in Matthew 26, verse 24. Matthew 26, verse 24.

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The text says, the Son of Man goes as it is written of Him. There it is again.

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You seeing it? It seems like we have a theme here. It's all according to God's plan. The hour has come.

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The scriptures promise this. Jesus says, the Son of Man goes as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the

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Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.

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So we have Judas acknowledging his own guilt, Jesus acknowledging, even though this is part of the very plan of God, written by God, decreed by God, he says, what about Judas?

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Woe to him. It had been better if he hadn't been born. What's that mean?

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Jesus acknowledges the culpability of Judas. God isn't making Judas sin.

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Judas would have done worse. Judas was actually only allowed to do what he did by divine permission.

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We're going to see that in a moment. But before we do, go to Luke 22. Luke 22, just to buttress the point in how

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Jesus talks about God's sovereignty and the sin of Judas. Luke 22, verse 22.

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Here's what Jesus says. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined.

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There it is again. We have a theme. God is sovereign. God wrote this. God spoke this.

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God planned this. God decreed this. The Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed.

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So what's that again? God determined this, but woe to Judas. A curse upon Judas.

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For what? For his sin. He's culpable. He's guilty. God planned it.

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Judas is guilty. He's doing what he wanted. Next point, number three.

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Jesus had to first give Judas permission. Don't you love that? God planned this. Judas is guilty.

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But have you noticed that no one could do anything to Jesus without divine permission first?

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And we actually have an example in the text. If you look at John 13, 27, you'll see what the text says about Jesus' permission.

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John 13, 27, by the way, I've sort of made it a plan of mine that there are times, of course, where I'll just read a series of texts to you, but I really believe that as Christians we need to know our

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Bibles. You need to have your nose in the book or in your phones or whatever.

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You need to know where to go, and so you'll notice that I've sort of had a pattern of I will read series of texts, but at times

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I'm going to particular texts. I want you to start searching your Bibles, finding your Bibles, knowing where things are at in your

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Bible, because you will not always have me here with you. Amen? So John 13, 27, the text says, then after he had taken the morsel,

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Satan entered into him. That's Judas. Jesus said to him, what you are going to do, do quickly.

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So we have Judas ahead of time planning to betray Jesus. It's already in motion.

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Now he's at the table with Jesus. He's fully turned over to Satan. It's in his heart to betray

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Jesus. Satan fills Judas, gives him extra help for the betrayal, and what does

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Jesus say? He says, now go. And you have to see

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Judas and his experience and his sin as a microcosm, as a small example of what takes place in God's world.

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Yes, people sin. Yes, they're wicked. Yes, they devise evil plans. But they are only able to go out and accomplish what they accomplished by divine permission.

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And by the way, I know the question that raises, but believe me, you want that truth underneath you, because it means this.

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There is no meaningless or purposeless evil in this world. If you can say as a

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Christian, Romans 8, 28, God causes all things to work together for good for those who love him and those who are called according to his purpose, if you can recite that verse, then you believe what

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I'm saying. That God causes all things. All things? How about World War II?

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How about the Holocaust? How about Pol Pot? How about Mao?

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How about Stalin? How about Joe Biden? You believe that?

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Yes, God judges sinners in this world, and sometimes he judges sinners by giving them tyrants to rule over them.

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But they have enthwarted God. He's in full control over every single detail.

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And you'll notice in this moment that Judas wasn't able to make a move on Jesus ultimately without Jesus saying,

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Now you can. Because it's his time. Next point, number four,

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Jesus made it clear that nobody has power to do anything without divine permission. A great example is in John chapter 19.

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Go to John 19. John chapter 19,

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I'm sure you know this well. This is where Jesus is before Pilate, and in John 19 verse 8, it says, when

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Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, where are you from?

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But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, you will not speak to me. Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?

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Here he is now saying, I'm the man, Jesus. I'm the man. I've got power over you right now.

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I'm the one with authority over you. He's speaking that to the creator of everything in existence, including himself.

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I'm the boss. And Jesus says what to Pilate?

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He says, verse 11, Jesus answered him, you would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.

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So what you're going to do, the authority you have, is only wielded, first and foremost, under his authority.

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You've got no authority over me except that which is given to you by God. He's the one with the authority in this moment.

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And Jesus goes on to say, here it is again, therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.

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Jesus acknowledges again the culpability of anyone involved in turning him over. They're guilty.

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God's in control. Yes, Pilate, you have authority to crucify me, but only by divine permission.

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First, he is the one that determines whether you can or you can't. Brothers and sisters, that is a hope for the believer who is dragged down a street with their legs broken and thumbs broken and dragged up onto a platform, made a public spectacle out of.

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I'm talking about what happened in Edinburgh with the Covenanters, standing there with crowds reviling you because you simply will not say that the king has authority over the church.

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Christians like that in history have died pretty gruesome deaths, had their heads cut off, beaten with clubs, hanged, burned, set on fire.

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And what gives you hope in a moment like that? Because let's be honest, can we just be honest?

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It's got to feel in a moment like that. It's got to feel like God's not in control.

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It has got to feel like God is not the sovereign in this moment. It's got to feel like Pilate actually has a point.

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He's the one with the authority in the moment. He's the one ruling over this area. He does actually have the ability to tell these people to drag me down this street, to do the death march, and then nail me to a tree.

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Yep, seems like it's true. But how does Jesus speak to that? He says, the only authority you have is that which is given to you from above.

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If God determines it, then yes. And if not, you can't do anything.

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And that's why Jesus says, of course, you know, I can bring legions of angels. This is

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God's plan. This is his purpose. These people are culpable, they're guilty of their sin, but God is sovereign.

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So, how does this work together? God is sovereign and you're guilty. We're done.

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Let's go home today. Okay. I was tempted just to come up and do that.

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Since today was the ordination of Wade, say, well, we had a lot of time today, so let's just say God is sovereign and you're guilty.

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Let's go home. So, the question is, is

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Judas guilty? Jesus said he was, and that God planned it.

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Judas is guilty, and God planned it. So, how do we reconcile these things? Well, in history,

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Christians have had to engage these because the text is so clear. We've tried to engage these questions and try to bring them down in a way that we could fully understand, or at least start to comprehend, and in history, particularly during the time of the

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Reformation, as these questions became premier questions, Dr. Sproul mentions that they described primary causes and secondary causes.

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Here's what Sproul said. He said, underneath every action in human history is the sovereign

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God who upholds all things. Now, stop. These are deep, important spiritual things, so stop for a moment and let that kind of set, and think about its implications.

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Underneath every action in human history is the sovereign God who upholds all things.

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He upholds all things by the word of his power. You believe that? That Jesus carries everything along to its intended destination,

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Hebrews chapter 1. That he's the one controlling the entire universe, the cosmos, everything that takes place within this, that he upholds all things by the word of his power.

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Underneath every action in human history is the sovereign God who upholds all things. Just consider this,

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Sproul makes the point, that Paul says, and he quotes from actually pagans to make the point, in him we live and move and have our being.

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In him we live and move and have our being. So you're alive and you move and have your being in him.

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That means you can't move a muscle apart from him. God controls, you're traveling and you're arriving.

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You are sitting in this room today before the hearing of the word of God, because from eternity past,

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God determines to put you in that seat in this moment, for his purposes, to hear his word and either to be a recipient of the grace involved or its judgment.

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God's in control. Just consider that. Every detail of our lives controlled by the sovereign hand of God.

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Upheld by God. And so primarily, primarily, nothing moves in this world, nothing happens in this world apart from God first upholding you, so you could do it.

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Just consider the evil tyrants of human history, while they were perpetrating their evil,

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God was giving them breath. If they ate food, it's only because it was delivered by the hand of God.

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What does Jesus say? He says God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust.

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And so the heartbeat of Stalin was controlled by God. He couldn't have perpetrated the evil that he did apart from God sustaining him sovereignly.

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So underneath every secondary cause of us moving our arms, making decisions, traveling, underneath every secondary cause is first the primary cause of the sovereign

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God who upholds all things. So there are primary causes and there are secondary causes.

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There are things, of course, that Judas does, things that he wants to do, evil in his heart.

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But Judas couldn't have done what he did apart from God first decreeing it. Amen?

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Okay, so I think that this is seen best. If we're going to explain how do we tie these things together?

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God planned it, Judas is guilty. How do we tie it together? How do we explain it? I think the best way to explain it is with Scripture, is with the

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Word of God, because God is consistent in this area throughout the Old and New Testaments.

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And so to see it, I want you to go quickly to Genesis chapter 37. It's one of our favorite places to go in this discussion.

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Genesis 37. I want you just to pay attention. I'm not going to go through the entire story.

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I want you to pay attention to some key words from God surrounding the subject of God's purposes and man's sin.

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So, you know the story about Joseph. Hopefully, if you started reading the Bible or had a Bible reading plan, hopefully you at least got through Genesis.

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If not, work on your discipline. Genesis 37. Now, you'll note in verse 9 the story about Joseph and his dreams.

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It says, Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, Behold, I've dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.

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But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, What is this dream that you have dreamed?

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Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?

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You see, they understood the symbolism of the dream. Sun, moon, and stars bowing down and yielding before Joseph.

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They got it, and in particular, his brothers got it. Because in verse 11, it says, And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.

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So, note this. As God is telling us the story, this story is unfolding. We know the end now.

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But this story is unfolding. This is real history, real flesh and blood, real family relationships.

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And this happens. But you'll notice as they hear the story, they're motivated by jealousy.

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They're angry with Joseph. They're jealous of Joseph. And they hate that stupid coat.

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Right? You'll see right here in the text. They hate that stupid coat. In verse 12,

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Now his brothers went to pastor their father's flock near Shechem, and Israel said to Joseph, Are not your brothers pastoring the flock at Shechem?

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Come, I will send you to them. And he said to them, Here I am. So he said to him,

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Go now, see if it is well with your brothers. Now, watch. Verse 18. They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him.

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How you like, how you like that? You know, brothers, family, siblings, we can fight, we can wrestle, choke each other, you know, go and slap each other, do abusive things, and go running off to mom and dad crying about it, right?

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We do things like that. This is like next -level competition amongst siblings, right?

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They're jealous of their brother. They hate that coat. They see him afar off, and they conspire to kill him.

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They're guilty. They want to hate their brother. And it says, verse 19,

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They said to one another, Come, here comes the dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits.

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Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, lies, and we will see what becomes of his dreams.

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So that's what they want to do. Watch. What is in their heart? They want to throw their brother in a pit, they want to kill him, and they want to lie to dad and say that he was killed by an animal.

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They're jealous of their brother. They want to murder their own flesh and blood. Now, what does God do in this moment?

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It's in their hearts. It's what they want to do. And it says, verse 21,

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But when Reuben, that's where we get the name of the sandwich, heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying,

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Let us not take his life. And Reuben said to them, Shed no blood, throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him, that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father.

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So the text clearly says they're jealous. They're gonna lie. They want to murder their brother.

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And what does God do? God preserves Reuben. And God causes

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Reuben to be the voice of sanity in this moment, to hold back their brother's murderous plot.

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So how come Joseph didn't die that day? Didn't have permission. Reuben was the one that God controlled to say,

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No, this far and no further. So he goes into the pit, they sell him into slavery, they lie to dad, dip the coat in blood and say that he was murdered, and now his dad and his family have to endure this emotional loss of their own son.

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He's been killed. And you know the story, Joseph goes into Egypt as a slave.

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Then he has to deal with Potiphar's perverse wife. He's trying to live godly. He's trying to live righteously, even to the degree that Potiphar's wife is like,

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Come, lie with me. And he goes running off. Flee sexual immorality.

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Joseph's like, I got it. And he runs. And then he's righteous, in that instance, doesn't lie with Potiphar's wife, and what takes place?

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Any blessing? No. Then she lies and said that he tried to rape her. All this seemed like a mess.

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It is a total mess. And then Joseph is now in a dungeon, and then somehow as time goes by, and by the way, it was a lot of time, as time goes by,

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God exalts Joseph, essentially to second -in -command over Egypt.

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And then we find that God actually uses Joseph to preserve Egypt and the surrounding peoples from a famine that was going to occur.

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So God allows the murderous plot of the brothers to send Joseph into slavery into Egypt, to put him into a dungeon, and then to exalt him as the highest in Egypt, to save lives.

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And now the story goes, where Joseph's brothers, chapter 45, are now confronted with their brother that they tried to kill, that is now in command in Egypt.

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And I want you to know what's said here. When Joseph is finally now going to reveal himself to his brothers, so much time has gone by now.

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We're talking about years upon years upon years upon years of suffering.

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So many questions had to be in Joseph's mind at particular moments of pain and suffering.

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But in chapter 45 of Genesis, verse 1, it says that, this, then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him.

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He cried, make everyone go out from me, so no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.

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Now his brothers had to come to Joseph for salvation, to not die.

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And verse 2 says, and he wept aloud so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it.

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And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph. Is my father still alive? But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.

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They are shocked. The person they tried to kill, they sold into slavery that they thought nothing of.

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They flung him into a pit. They do not care, and now he is standing above them, and their salvation and their lives depend upon him.

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How does this take place? How are you in charge? And here's what it, verse 4 says, so Joseph said to his brothers, come near to me, please.

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And they came near, and he said, I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.

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Pause. Stop. Don't let him miss you. You did this. I'm Joseph.

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You sold me into Egypt. Evil. Jealousy. Lies. Murderous plot.

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And Joseph doesn't deny their culpability. He says, I'm your brother. You sold me into Egypt.

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And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here. There it is again.

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You sold me here. For God sent me before you to preserve life.

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For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.

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People are gonna starve without him. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.

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So it was not you who sent me here, but God. But wait a minute.

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They were jealous. They did lie. He says twice there, you sold me here.

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But he says, ultimately, it wasn't you who did it. It was God who sent me here.

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To do what? To preserve for you, you little sinners. A remnant.

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Your sin God used to bless your lives.

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To keep you alive. You couldn't thwart God. You thought you were being evil, and you were being evil.

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But who was the primary mover behind this? God was. And of course, finally, if you go to Genesis chapter 50, you know the scene where Joseph's father dies.

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If you want to memorize a text of Scripture that will help you with this discussion, I encourage you to go to Genesis 50, and if you look at verse 15, it says, when

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Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, it may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.

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Yeah, I just think, I don't know why that always amuses me. That after all of this, if you read the story, after all this, after he keeps telling them,

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God sent me here, don't be distressed, don't be upset, God did this, he's in control of the whole thing, family comes to Egypt now, lives are preserved, now dad's dead, and they're like, well, he's probably now gonna get us.

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Now is when he, because dad's not here, he's gonna use this as an opportunity to get us. And it says, so they sent a message to Joseph.

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Can you tell him this for us? Saying, your father gave this command before he died.

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Say to Joseph, please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.

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I wonder if he really said that. And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the

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God of your father. Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, behold, we are your servants.

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But Joseph said to them, do not fear, for am I in the place of God, as for you.

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You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today.

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So do not fear, I will provide for you and your little ones. Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

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You meant it for evil. It was in your heart.

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Yes, you're guilty. We're not removing that blame. You meant it.

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It was your intention to perpetrate evil. God meant it for good.

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Meant what? Meant what? Slavery, lies, murderous plots, pits, dungeons, pain, tears, hurt, famine.

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God meant it. In your heart, your intention was evil.

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God meant it for good. Equal. Notice that.

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Equal. You're guilty, your intention is evil, but in this God meant it for good.

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There is a primary cause and a secondary cause. God is always the primary cause, but he is not guilty of their sin.

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There's another section I would just point you to for later, go study it. Isaiah chapter 10 is a good example of how

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God uses even evil people and their plans for his purposes. But quick questions, ready?

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These are just quick ones. I'll go fast. What about free will? What about free will?

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Answer. Scripture doesn't teach that our will is free. There is only one being whose will is free, and that's

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God. Scripture teaches, John chapter 8, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.

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Slaves are not free. Jesus says if the Son sets you free, you should be free indeed. The Bible teaches that people who are fallen have an enslaved will, not a free will.

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We teach that the Bible teaches that human beings has a, human beings have a creaturely will.

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They're making willing choices. God is not making them sin. They are doing what they want.

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Next point, didn't God just look through time? I mean, isn't that really what he was saying when it says this is so that the scriptures would be fulfilled, what was written will be fulfilled?

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Isn't that God just looking through time? He saw what could potentially happen, so he looked through the corridors of time to determine, okay, this is going to happen.

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Answer, number one, God doesn't learn things. The concept of God looking through time to figure out what's going to take place would imply that God learns things.

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That would destroy his omniscience. God is all -knowing, and here's a trippy thing to think about. Are you ready for this?

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Stop and think about it. God has existed from all eternity, amen? Now, that in itself is incomprehensible.

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Forever ago, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Forever ago, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

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No start for God. It's hard for creatures to wrap their mind around that. Why? Because we have a beginning and we have an end.

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God never had a beginning and has no end. God is God from all eternity, and here's the trippy thing.

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He is omniscient, meaning all -knowing, forever. That means forever ago, God knew everything, and he doesn't have to stop to think about what's going to take place.

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He doesn't have to go through the file cabinets of his mind like you and I do. Someone says to you, hey, what'd you have for dinner last night?

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What do you have to do? You go, um, oh yeah, half the time when you get my age, you forget.

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You're like, I have no idea, but it was something. But you have to think, right? Like what happened ten years ago on this day?

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You're like, well, thank God for Facebook memories, because that's how I know what happened in my life. But God doesn't have to look through the file cabinet of his mind.

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He knows all things at all times from all eternity. Every detail.

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He doesn't have to access information, so the whole concept of God looking through time to see what might take place is

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God learning something, or God working off contingencies. That's not how the Bible tells us that God is.

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The Bible teaches us that he declares the end from the beginning, and it's his purpose that will stand.

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So in summary, God's decree gives shape to history.

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He determines what he allows or disallows in this fallen world.

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Example, the betrayal of Judas, by permission. The attempts to murder

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Jesus or stone him during his ministry, they weren't allowed. It was only when it was his hour that it come.

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He determines what he allows or disallows in this fallen world. Nothing happens without divine permission or decree.

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Therefore, every action in history has a divine purpose. Everything has purpose. Everything has meaning.

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There is no purposeless evil in this universe, and as again Sproul said, no maverick molecules. God's in control.

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For his people, for us, for believers, this truth, these promises mean graciousness from God, love from God, and good from God.

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Stop and think, brothers and sisters, just about that point. All things work together for good.

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All things. That means every foul, broken part of your life and mine, every foul and broken and dark part of your life, if you are in Christ, God causes all things to work together for good.

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That is, watch this, think about how it works. That's not just in your own experience and all the things that are collected behind you, that God uses to shape you and sanctify you, where that's brought you here today, but all things work together for good for those who love

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God. That means all the things that are happening out there that you have no concept of in the world. All things working together for good for those who love

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God. Those who are the called according to his purpose. He has purpose.

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For the non -elect, what do these truths mean? God's vindication and judgment.

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Whatever happens in history happens for a divine purpose, and if you're not in Christ, it would mean at least that whatever takes place in your life and in history takes place for God's vindication and judgment.

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So, Romans 8 28 is one of the most beautiful promises that we can rest on when we think about incidents, whatever they are, in the life of Jesus, in the life of Joseph, in the life of Moses, in your life and mine.

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God is the one who has a purpose. He decrees all things so that Jesus can endure this awful trial by knowing that the

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Father is sovereign over every detail, and nothing is happening to me right now apart from his purpose and his authority.

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Brothers and sisters, that is the hope of every follower of Jesus Christ, that God is causing all those things to work together for good, including betrayal like the betrayal of Judas.

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Let's pray. Father, I pray that you'd bless, Lord, the word that went out today for your glory and for your kingdom. We pray,

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Lord, that you'd continue to allow these truths to shape us, Lord, to make us courageous and to give us comfort and peace during trials in this fallen world.

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In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Now we're going to come before the table of the Lord as the people of God.