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Bro. Otis Fisher
First thing I want to know is, how long have they been celebrating the Passover? When was the first Passover? Anyone have an idea? Yes. Well, when was that? How many years has it been? I take it most of you were not there.
Are you guessing? Well, somewhere between 50 and 5 ,000 years. But they're getting ready now to celebrate the last one. All of those years, it has come down to this feast. Chapter 22, verse 1. Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover.
This chapter gives a sad and sorrowful relation of the chief priest's conspiracy against the life of our blessed Lord. The person making this conspiracy, the chief priest, scribes, and elders, that is, the whole Jewish Sanhedrin, or general council, they all laid their malicious heads together to contrive the destruction of the holy and innocent Jesus.
The chief priests and scribes thought how they might kill him, for they feared the people. What did the people have to do with it, David? So it must be political. The great mass of people seemed to have been convinced that Jesus was at least a prophet, and he was sent from God, and it is likely they kept steady in their attachment to him.
The multitude, who are represented as clamoring for his blood, at the crucifixion appeared to have been a mob stirred up by the chief priests and Pharisees. Now we have one of his own, one of the twelve.
The writers of the Bible are very particular when they say Judas, that you know what Judas they're talking about, because there was another Judas that was a half-brother of our Lord. Then entered Satan into Judas, surnamed Iscariot, being of the multitude of the twelve.
Satan entered, but not fully. Now let's look at the stages that he undergoes. First, covetousness. Jesus was his master. The Lord, well let me ask you, did the Lord know what was going on, Russell? He was aware of Judas and everything he was going to do?
Well, he's letting together strength by entrusting him with the bag, and the bag was equal to our treasure. In the discharge of that most sacred trust, he became a thief. Awful words. He became a thief.
Appropriating his contents from time to time for his own use. Satan, this gives us a little insight to Satan. Satan seeing this door into his heart standing wide open. Now, Satan sees everything, but he doesn't know anything.
He determines to enter, but cautiously. Now, get a lesson for yourself through this. First, merely putting it into his heart to betray him. That's where he starts. Satan finds the door open, and he puts it in your mind to think certain things, suggesting the thought to him that by this means he might enrich himself.
This thought was probably converted into a settled purpose, as far as Judas was concerned, by what took place at Simon's house. Perhaps, or mercifully held back for some time, the determination to carry it to its immediate effect was not consummated until, sitting at the Paschal table, Satan entered into him.
He could not have entered had Judas not opened the door. Satan cannot enter into your heart unless you open the door. Effectually, his conscience was stifled, only to rise again to be his tormentor. And what lessons can we learn from this?
Satan cannot make you do anything. He puts lots of worldly things around, hoping that we will accept one of them, but he cannot force you to do anything. Verse 4,. And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them.
So he goes and looks in the look of the chief priests and the captains, those in authority, and he's looking for a way to betray the Lord. But please notice, he went his way. Russell, could Judas have gone any other way?
Did he know that? David, his way, had been assigned to him from before the foundations of the world, but it just now come to light. But he was responsible for doing it, because he decided to do it, because he did it because he wanted to.
Five. And they were glad and coveted with him, coveted to give him money. Money, money. A powerful influence over the human heart, and the hope of obtaining even a small sum, may awaken the most corrupt desires, and lead to the commission of most horrid crimes.
Money. I had a good friend. He's dead now. I think I told this story once before, but let me relate it again. We were remodeling our house, painting, putting on storm windows, not the place where we live now, but another place.
And I was still commuting to Dallas. I'd leave before sun up and come home after dark, and this man offered to keep his eye on it for me, and I told him I'd give him 2 of the contract price if he would just be there and just be my spokesman.
Well, he says, sure, but you won't pay me anything. I'll do it because I want to. Well, it went on, and the job was finished. He'd done a good job, and I paid him 2 of the contract price, and he took it, and he told me later, he says, Otis, when we made that agreement, I didn't have any idea to take that money, but when you placed it in my hand, things changed, and that's what happens.
The money can change things. And he promised and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude. They, I'm sure, were concerned, as it was stated, about the multitude, and they were making sure that Judas knew that they could not arrest him in front of the multitude or they would have the whole multitude on them, and they didn't want that.
So you seek out someplace private or relatively private where we can arrest him for 30 pieces of silver. That was the fine payable for manslaughter or a maid, servant, accidentally killed and equal to about $25 in our money.
A goodly price that I was priced at of them. That's as far as I'm going to go, but the main lesson I want you to learn is that Satan can't make you do it, and if we keep the commandments in front of us, if we keep the word of our Lord in front of us every day, all of the time, then this won't happen to us.
We don't know what's ahead of us. We do know where we're going and what we're going to see, what we're going to ultimately accomplish. All right, is there any questions now from anybody? Russell, will you dismiss us, please?