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Amen. So Matthew chapter 27 is the story of Jesus's trial and crucifixion. Of course, this is the Wednesday before Easter Sunday. So we're going to talk through this story this evening, see what we can take from it, and focusing on a very specific idea or a very specific philosophy this evening, I want to look specifically at the betrayal of Christ, the betrayal of Jesus Christ, and see what we can learn from that. So we just read Matthew chapter 27. Let's look back at Matthew chapter 26. So I want to show you this evening all the different ways that Jesus was forsaken and betrayed in this last moment, these last moments of his life on earth, or his life before his crucifixion. Look down at Matthew chapter 26, and the first area that I want to focus on is his betrayal by Judas Iscariot. His betrayal by Judas Iscariot. Look down at Matthew 26 verse 21 where Jesus points out to everyone that he is going to be betrayed by one of his very disciples. Look at verse 21 of Matthew 26 where the Bible reads, and as they did eat, he said, verily I say unto you that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceedingly sorrowful and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of Man goeth as it is written of him, but woe unto that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It had been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas which betrayed him answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said. So Judas Iscariot, Judas of course, is one of the disciples here. He was one of the twelve. He was with them the entire time, and he literally sold Jesus out. I mean, he literally sold Jesus out for money. The Bible says that he held the bag. You know, he was the treasurer of the group. You know, you could say he was greedy or whatever, but go back to verse 14 of chapter 26 where the Bible, you know, points out and lists this betrayal. In verse 14 of chapter 26 it says, Then one of the twelve called Judas Iscariot went unto the chief priests and said unto them, What will ye give me? And I will deliver him unto you. He goes to the chief priests. He went to them. He sought them out. He's looking for an opportunity to make some money here, to make a deal, to enrich himself. And they covenanted with him for 30 pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him. Now, Judas Iscariot is an interesting character, especially to me, because coming from my background, the Lutheran or even the Catholic background, you know, backgrounds that don't teach eternal security. They teach that you can lose your salvation. Judas Iscariot is the example that these false religions will use for someone who loses their salvation. Okay, now I'm going to prove to you this evening in a short Bible study before we get back into the sermon about how the Bible is very clear that Judas was never saved. Jesus knew Judas was never saved. As a matter of fact, this was one of my kind of epiphany moments that, you know, turned me to believe the gospel was proving wrong this one example that Lutherans, in my case, use all the time. They use Judas. There's books written on it. There's theological books that use Judas as an example against eternal security. But when you start reading the Bible, it's very clear the situation with Judas. Turn to John chapter 6. In John chapter 6, real quickly here, we see a story where Jesus is talking to a multitude of disciples. He's talking to a lot of disciples, not just the 12. And he's telling the story of, you know, he's telling the idea that he is the living bread and that whoever, you know, eats of this bread, you know, will never, you know, need bread again. And people are like thinking he's speaking literally and they're like, we're supposed to eat this guy. And they get all weirded out. And some of them actually leave Jesus. Look at verse 60 of John chapter 6. The Bible says, many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, this is in hard saying. Who can hear it? These are the guys that are, you know, like, we're supposed to eat him? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, doth this offend you? And what if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, they are life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believe not and who should betray him. So this is a reference clearly to Judas. Verse 65. And he said, therefore I said unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my Father. Look down at verse number 70. Now you say, well maybe he wasn't talking about Judas. Well look at verse 70. Jesus answered them, have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? Clearly, and he spake of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who should betray him, being one of the twelve. So look, he knew Judas was a devil, he knew Judas was going to betray him, he knew that one of his twelve disciples was not saved, was not believing in him. Can you be any more clear than that? He knew that some believed not, then a few verses down, it's like one of the twelve is the devil, then he just names him. It's Judas Iscariot. The Bible just names it. So look, here's another thing. Judas ends up killing himself in Matthew chapter 27. Go back to Matthew chapter 27, and look at verse number five of Matthew chapter 27. So we see that Judas Iscariot was never saved, Jesus knew it, this was not a surprise to Jesus. Okay, we'll get to why that was in a little bit. But look at verse five of Matthew 27. The Bible says, and he cast down, well look at verse three, then Judas who had betrayed him when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. So, he was never saved. This is a super interesting verse right here by the way. He saw, why did he go there? Why did he go there? Because he felt bad. Why did he go back to the chief priests? Because he suddenly believed on Jesus now? No. Because he saw that he was what? He saw that he was condemned. This is proof by the way that, I mean, and this is something if you're a soul winner and you go out soul winning, not the point of the sermon, I'm not going to rabbit trail it, but look, reprobates know they're going to hell. And this guy knew that he was condemned. He knew he was done. So what did he do? He tried to go make it better through what? His what? His works. He repented of this sin. Proof again that you can't get saved by repenting of any sin, especially even this one. But he saw that he was condemned. He saw that he was condemned. You know what that means? He saw that he was damned. He saw that he was going to go to hell. He saw that he was done. And he goes to the chief priests and he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went and hanged himself. Okay? So he's saved. He just got saved. For the people that think Judas, the opposite people, right? They don't think he lost his salvation. The people that think he got saved right at the end. Like yeah, because that's what people do. You get him saved and they go kill themselves. That's what they do. Right? I mean, that happens all the time. We're out soloing and get somebody saved and they kill themselves. No. That's not what happens. Right? It's the opposite. Look, here's the thing. I mean, I know there's saved people in the Bible that have committed suicide. Let's look at it. Go to 1 Samuel chapter 31. But look, I'm telling you that Judas' suicide is evidence again that he was not saved. Okay? Because he killed himself over guilt. He killed himself because he knew that he was what? He knew that he was condemned. Okay? Now, look, not too many people who are saved kill themselves over being condemned. I mean, what in the world? That doesn't even make sense, the sentence I just said. Okay? But look at 1 Samuel chapter 31. King Saul killed himself. Right? He committed suicide. Look at verse 3. So here the Philistines, you know, they're sent against him. They're sent against him. This is chastisement from God that Saul is under here. And the Philistine army is sent against him. Verse 3. And the battle went sore against Saul. And the archers hit him. And he was sore wounded of the archers. So let me first of all say this. He was dying already here. He was sore wounded. That means this guy's been hit with arrows. He's going to die. He's mortally wounded is another way of looking at this. Verse 4. Then Saul said unto his armor bearer, draw thy sword and thrust me through therewith because I feel guilty that I have lived such a horrible life. No. Lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through and abuse me. But his armor bearer would not for he was sore afraid. So his armor bearer wouldn't kill him. He wouldn't lay his hand on God's anointed. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell upon it. Saul killed himself. Saul killed himself. He killed himself so he wouldn't be tortured and abused by the enemy. And look, he was dead anyway. He was dead anyway. Look at Judges 16. Samson committed suicide. Samson committed suicide. And look, we know for a fact that in Hebrews chapter 11 Samson, I mean he's a judge. He's saved. He's in heaven. So Samson committed suicide. Look at verse 28. And Samson called unto the Lord and said, O Lord God, remember me I pray thee and strengthen me I pray thee. Only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood and on it which was borne up, one with his right hand and the other with his left. And Samson said, let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might and the house fell upon the Lord's and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew to his death were more than they which slew his life. We just did a Bible study on this, but basically his suicide, his death was to avenge himself and kill his enemies and do something with one, you know, last moment of a wasted life basically. Because look, Samson was pretty much dead as well. He was captured by the Philistines. They put out his eyes. He was chained up. He was in a prison, grinding away. Look, this guy was dead. He was just like, God, let me do something great to avenge my enemies with this last moment of my life. This is hardly the suicide of Judas, in both cases. So look, not too many. I'm not saying it could never happen or somebody couldn't be depressed and kill themselves that is saved. Okay, that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that the way that Judas went out is just more evidence that he was not saved. Plus, he knew he was condemned. I mean, hello, right? So anyway, there's not an example in the Bible of anybody other than a condemned man who went out like Judas. It's not in the Bible anyway. Alright, so look, Judas was never saved. Judas never got saved. There was no salvation to lose. He was never saved and Jesus knew it the whole time. You say, even when Jesus, you know, chose him to be a disciple, he knew it? Yes, he knew it. Why? So why, I mean, why would Jesus choose a traitor? Why would he choose a devil? Think of that. Look, I mean, Jesus knew. It's not like Jesus was fooled. He wasn't fooled by Judas. But look, folks, this plan was set in motion from the beginning. This plan, Jesus, look, and this is a big problem with churches. This was the problem with the Jews. This is the problem with churches today that teach that, you know, Jesus is to be our great example and all this. And which, you know, Jesus is to be an example. But look, Jesus did not come here to rule and reign. Jesus did not come to rule and reign. Not on this trip anyway. Not on the one that we're reading about. He came here to die. He came here to die. To be that perfect sacrifice and Judas was a tool. Judas was a tool. You say, well, you know, what about free will? Isn't it free will? Yeah, it's free will. It's free will. It's both. It's both. Judas was not believing. Judas was, you know, a reprobate that couldn't believe, that wouldn't believe, that was condemned on his own free will. But he was used by God to carry out God's plan. That's how brilliant God is. Just like, think about this, just like how God can judge his own people using a heathen empire like Babylon. He can take a heathen empire like Babylon and use it to judge his own nation. And you say, well, and then God goes and judges Babylon later on. And then God, anybody who took advantage of Israel during that time of judgment, because God's like, hey, I'm punishing them. I'm judging them. Any of these other nations that took advantage, he judges them later too. So God uses, you know, wicked people, wicked empires to carry out his plan all the time. Judas was a tool. And that's why, you know, we know, those are the reasons that we know Judas was an unsaved devil. Go back to Matthew 26. Oh, here's another one. Let me give you just one more. Go to Matthew 26, 24, as if that's not enough, right? Because you say this, I just thought of this, you say this about, you know, people who are saved all the time, right? You say this statement, right? Jesus says in verse 24 of Matthew 26, the Son of Man goeth as it is written of him, but woe unto the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It had been good for that man if he had not been born. Because you say that, you say that about saved people all the time, right? Look, I don't care what kind of life that you have on this earth, you can't say that about anybody that's gotten saved, okay? I mean, I gave, you know, I was out soul winning and we gave the gospel to a lady just three weeks ago, two weeks ago. And I remember, I mean, I'll never forget this because I knew this lady. First of all, she believed everything. She got saved. It was a huge moment for her. She was, I mean, she was emotional about it. She couldn't believe it. I mean, she did believe it. But I mean, my point is it was, this woman got saved. But you look at this woman and she was in a bad place. She was in a bad place with bad people. And you know what? I just kept thinking to myself, you know, this lady, and you just kind of know that in a situation like this, I just knew that this lady's life was not going to be good. This lady's life was likely not going to change. This lady's life was not going to be good. She was not living a good life. She certainly didn't have a good past. And you know what? Her life on this earth, maybe it's kind of like you feel like you get to some people just in the nick of time, just in the nick of time, not so they can turn their lives around, but just so, you know, they're still with it enough to even, to actually believe. And that's what this lady was. And she gets saved. And I'm just like, I walked away and I'm just like, at least she's saved. You know, I mean, I can't say about that lady, no matter how terrible her life is or how terrible it turns out or what happens to her or whatever, I certainly can't say it's better that she had not been born because she's going to heaven. You can't say that about somebody that's been saved. But Jesus said it about Judas. Because look, if you're going to live a life on this earth and you're going to be an unbeliever and you're going to grow up to be an adult and you're going to live a wicked life and you're not going to get saved, look, it would be better if you were never born. It would be better if you were never born than to grow up and to live a life where you don't end up believing on Jesus Christ and, you know, no man, no man coming to the Father but by me. I mean, everybody thinks, oh, nice people and all this. What about the nice people who never heard of Jesus? It doesn't matter. No man. No man. We just had to explain this today. No man will come to the Father. But look, if you're going to live a whole life, I don't care how good of a life you live, you're upper middle class, whatever, you don't get saved, it would be better if you were never born. Because we're talking about an eternity in hell. I think maybe sometimes we go out and we give the gospel so much that maybe we take for granted the seriousness of that. I mean, we're talking about an eternity in hell. I don't care how much fun you have on this earth. It's not worth it. So that's what Jesus is talking about here. That's what Jesus is talking about. Look, Judas was not saved. He never got saved. He never lost his salvation. There was nothing to lose. There was nothing to lose. Judas was damned. But not because, look, you know, so Judas betrayed Christ. Let's get back to the sermon. Judas betrayed Christ. That's obvious. He was never saved. He was put there to betray Christ. Jesus knew it. It was part of the plan the whole time. Who else? Turn back to Matthew chapter 26. Who else? Actually, go to John 18. Peter. Peter started out this event of Jesus's arrest and all this, you know, Peter started out pretty strong. Actually, in this event, he didn't end well, but he started out pretty strong. Look at John 18. You know, basically you have the arrest of Jesus, you know, listed in Matthew, but look at John 18 identifies the person that actually struck the ear off of the soldier as Peter. Look at verse 10. The Bible says, then Simon Peter. This is when they come on him in the garden to arrest him. Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and smote the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. Now go back to Matthew chapter 26 verse 51. The Bible says, and behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck a servant of the high priest and smote off his ear. So we see, you know, putting, you know, especially with the story, by the way, especially with the story of, you know, the arrest, the crucifixion, and the resurrection of Jesus. I mean, you could, you really got to like put in all the gospel stories and figure out what happened when and who did what. But that's why we're given the four gospels, by the way, so we can piece all these things together. But look at verse 51 or 52. Then Jesus said unto him, this was Peter, we know from John 18, put up again thy sword into its place, for they all that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot pray to my father and he shall presently give me more than 12 legions of angels? He's saying to Peter, he's like, look, man, this is the plan. He's like, if I wanted to get out of this and fight, I don't need you and your sword. Like I've got, you know, God. But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled that thus it might be? He's saying, this is it right here. This is why I'm here. In that same hour, said Jesus to the multitudes, are you coming out against me with thief, against a thief with swords and stays for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple and you laid no hold on me. So he kind of gives a jab to them there about how sneaky they're being about all this. And then verse 56, we see that it wasn't just Peter that betrayed Jesus, that turned on Jesus. But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him and fled. They all ran away. They all ran away. It wasn't just Peter. Now look at verse 69 of Matthew 26. This is now Jesus has been arrested. He's in front of the high priest. Now Peter sat without in the palace and a damsel came unto him. Jesus has already told Peter, you're going to deny me three times. You're going to deny me. This is when it actually happens. Now Peter sat without in the palace and a damsel came unto him saying thou also was with Jesus of Galilee, but he denied before them all saying, I know not what thou sayest. So she comes up to him. She says, you know, Jesus, you've been with him. And he says, no, I don't know what you're talking about. And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him and said unto them that were there, this fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again, he denied with an oath. This time he did it with an oath. You know, we know how important those are, right? He's like, no, I swear by whatever he said that I don't know him. He just keeps getting more and more adamant that he doesn't know Jesus. And again, he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. And after a while came unto him, they that stood by and said unto Peter, surely thou art also, art one of them for by thy speech be reath thee. Then he began to curse and swear saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him before the cock crow, thou shall deny me thrice three times. And he went out and he wept bitterly. So like in general, in general, this was a tough time in Peter's life. You know, in general, Jesus told him he was going to deny him. He, he did it like hours later. And, you know, he didn't really shine until later in his life. But Jesus already had shown himself, you know, look, he ran to the, you know, he did go to the tomb, go to John chapter 21. So Peter denied him. And then, you know, Jesus, Jesus rises from the dead. And Peter, he kind of messes up even again. You know, he's denied Jesus. And then, you know, Mary to cut to the story, Mary Magdalene goes out first in the morning, and she sees the empty tomb, she runs back and she tells Peter and John, and then, you know, they run there and they see he's gone, and they leave. They leave. And then, you know, the women go and then they see the angels and the angels talk to them and then they actually see Jesus. But look, Peter, go to John 21. Are you there? Peter, after he went to the tomb, just think about where this man must have been. Think about where this man must have been personally. He goes to the tomb. Jesus is gone. Granted, there was no angel there or anything at that time. They just saw the tomb was gone. It says they didn't know, they didn't know what to think of it, and they went home. That's what the Bible says. But Peter, in John 21, look at verse number one. The Bible says, after these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. So Jesus had already shown himself on the road to the two disciples at this point. He had already showed himself that evening to the disciples in the room. And then later, after these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. This is the third time that Jesus has shown himself to the disciples. There were together Simon Peter and Thomas, called Didymus, and Nathaniel of Cana and Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Peter saith unto them, I go a-fishing. They said unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth and entered into a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Later, you know, they soon realized it is Jesus. And, you know, Peter goes to him. But look, Peter basically quit the whole thing. Peter, even after he saw the empty tomb, he was so down for what he had done. He basically, he quit the whole thing, and he went fishing. And look, he took some people with him. He took some people with him. So look, he abandoned Jesus. He felt bad about it. He quit. And look, let me tell you something. I mean, I don't know. If you've noticed this throughout your life, maybe the longer you've seen men of God in the Christian life, look, some of the best have quit. Some of the best have quit. You know, one thing, look, the ministry is tough. I will tell you that. And look, I guarantee you, if you're not in the ministry, you take it for granted. I did. It's something that I took for granted. I mean, Peter quit for a while here. It's something that you take for granted. You know, so look, let's go back to Jesus being abandoned. Jesus being abandoned by everybody. Look, so Peter, Peter abandoned Jesus. The disciples, they fled, you know, from the soldiers. So Jesus was abandoned. He went to the cross. And look, I mean, think about, just think about this for a second. I mean, the worst thing, I mean, the best thing for me, the best thing about going through hard times, just think about a hard time in your life. Men, women, you know, kids, you probably haven't had too many hard times compared to maybe some of the older people. But look, a hard time is always made better when you have someone there to support you. I mean, that's one of the nicest things, one of the nice things about being married is that no matter what hard time I'm going through, I know my wife is always there to support me. I know that, you know, if my wife is going through a hard time, she knows that I'm always there to support her. And I mean, that's a great comfort. We know what we know here, no matter what kind of times we're going through. Think about the last year. The last year, actually, you know, aside from the news and all that, the last year has been pretty normal for me because of you, because of you all. I mean, look, it's been difficult because of just different challenges in my life and maybe your lives with getting plugged in to a new church. But here's the thing, as far as all this, you know, coronavirus stuff going on, look, we're all here to support each other and we never stop supporting each other. So it's made the whole thing pretty normal. Who can say that? Who can say that? Turn to Ecclesiastes chapter four. So we see that, you know, hard times, hard times in your life can be made much better by your brothers and sisters in Christ, your spouse, your children, people that are around you, that are surrounding you to love and support you. It's a big deal. It's a big deal. Look at Ecclesiastes 4 and verse 9. The Bible says, I mean, the Bible tells us this. It says, two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor. And here's the big one right here. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him that is alone when he falleth, for he hath not another to help him up. Look, you shouldn't go hiking by yourself. No, I mean, people go hiking by themselves and no one ever sees them again. There's no one to help them when they fell. I mean, that's the literal sense. But I mean, look, I mean, the whole thing, just the application is spiritual. It's physical. It's like, look, if two are better than one, we're stronger together, folks. We're stronger. Look, if two lie together, then they have heat. But how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two show with stan him. Somebody's coming up against you. Hey, they got to deal with me too. You know, two show with stan him and a three fold cord. Okay, three is even better. The more, the better. I read some stupid article today on like the ideal number of friends. I got like three sentences in and I'm like, this is dumb. Some secular study on the ideal number of friends. And then they go list off, you know, like what kind of friends, like Facebook friends, workbook friends, work friends. I mean, none of those are friends, by the way. But look, a 50 fold cord, a 30 fold cord is not going to be easily broken. That's why if you look at people that have had such a hard time this last year, and you haven't had that hard time, it's because, you know, you got a lot of cords supporting you here. But look, look, here's the thing. Jesus had no cords. Jesus had no cords. Jesus had no support. Turn to Hebrews chapter 13. See, at the end of the day, here's the thing. At the end of the day, with you, turn to Hebrews chapter 13 and look at verse, well, I'll tell you what verse to go there. Just get to the chapter. Here's the thing. At the end of the day, if all your friends go away, if you never got married and you have no spouse to support you and nobody likes you because you're a jerk or whatever, and you have no friends, say you're saved and you're just a jerk. You don't go to church. You know, you don't have any brothers and sisters in Christ that are really your friends. You're not plugged in anywhere. You're not married, you know. And, you know, just, I mean, think about maybe you're a prisoner of war or something and you're saved and you just get thrown in a cell by yourself for years and you have nobody to support you. I mean, you're like, that's terrible. Look at Hebrews 13 verse 5. The Bible says, let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have for he has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Look, no matter what situation you're in, you have this. You have this promise from God that he will never forsake us ever. Now go to Matthew chapter 27. Matthew chapter 27. Now, Peter fled. The disciples fled. Everybody fled. And yes, there were some people afar off, you know, watching him die on the cross. But then, but then this. Look at verse 46 of Matthew chapter 27. In about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. That is to say, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? Jesus had been betrayed by everyone and here at the end, he is forsaken by God himself. God himself forsakes him, turns his wrath upon him. You say, what? He was completely alone at that moment. You ever felt completely alone? You ever felt like you were just completely alone? Let me tell you something, not like this you haven't. And look, you never will. God looked at, Jesus felt forsake by God the Father because God looked at him as the sin of the entire world at that moment. The wrath of God abided on him. And it will never abide on you. Thus, you will never feel this. You will never, you can read it, but you will never understand this. We can read it and I can expound it to you, but you will never understand it. You will never feel anything close to it. He was completely alone. He was completely forsaken. Peter, the disciples and Judas, that was the easy part. He was forsaken by God. But look, that was the plan. So you never have to go through it. So you never have to be forsaken by God. Now look, you say, it's terrible. You read these stories every year. You read the story of Jesus's arrest and his crucifixion. And you say, it's terrible for these people to leave Jesus. You say, I would have stood by him. You say, I would have stood by him and I'm super brave and I just would have died with Jesus. And you know, turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Let's see. Let's put you to the test tonight. Go to Hebrews chapter 10 and look at verse 26. Same thing when you read the Old Testament and you're like this stupid nation again. They keep doing this again and again. Go to Hebrews chapter 10. Go to Hebrews chapter 10 and look at this. Look what the Bible says here. Look at verse 26. The Bible says, for if we sin willfully, first of all, you ever done that? You ever sin willfully? What does that mean? You ever know you're doing something you're about, you ever know like, you ever stand in there five minutes before you do something and be like, I know this is wrong. And then you do it anyway? Saved person? You ever do that? You're like, I'm saved. I would never do that. You're a liar, is what you are. When you sin willfully, this is what you do. After that, we have received the knowledge of the truth. The remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. That means you lose your salvation. Look at Hebrews chapter 9. What does this mean? First of all, what does this mean? If we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, the remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. Go to Hebrews chapter 9 and look at verse 11. The Bible says, but Christ, look, Hebrews is modeling, is showing you the whole model of Christ. It's showing you how everything in the Old Testament that was done, that was done for a reason, it was a perfect picture of what was really to happen with Christ. It was like, it was like the mock-up. You know what a mock-up is? Or it's like a rehearsal for the real thing. And the real thing was Christ. Look at Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 11. But Christ, it talks about, you know, the priests and doing the sacrifices and all these things. And what are they? They're nothing but a picture. They were a picture of what was to come. But Christ being come and high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building. Look, it's the temple also was a picture. It was a picture. Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood. He entered in what? Underline this. Once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us all. Eternal, by the way. Now look at verse 28. So Christ was what? Once offered. Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him, shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Look, he was offered once. When you got saved, your sins were washed away. Look, every time you get saved, it doesn't require Christ to be crucified again. That's what Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 26 means. There is no more sacrifice. It's done. It's done. You say, well, what about sinning willfully? Well, keep reading. Let's look at verse number 27, Hebrews chapter 10. But look, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. God's saying, I'm not going to sacrifice my son again for you, you disobedient child, is what he's saying. He's like, I'm not going to put my son through that again, you arrogant, disobedient child. You say, why are you being so mean? Well, let's keep reading. But a certain fearful looking of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. Look, there's judgment for you in this life, folks. It's going to devour people that are unsaved. It's going to send them to hell. But there's judgment for you, too, if you despise Moses' law. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment. Suppose that he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God. Just draw an arrow from, if you sin willfully, you trodden underfoot the Son of God. You're like, I wouldn't have abandoned Jesus. I wouldn't have abandoned Jesus. I'd have stood by him. Peter. Every time you sin willfully, you're trotting the sacrifice of Jesus under your feet. And have counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing. Whoa! You're saying, you sit there and you think five minutes before you go do something. Look, I'm not talking about getting in the flesh and hitting your hand with a hammer and, you know, cursing or something. I'm talking about thinking about something. I'm going to do this and I know it's wrong. And then you go do it as a saved person. You're counting the sacrifice of Christ as an unholy thing. And hath done, it gets worse. It gets worse. And hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace. For we know him that says, vengeance belongeth to me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge the wicked, unsaved reprobates. Is that what it says? The Lord shall judge all these people in this world that don't believe on him. No, it says the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. Look folks, if you are sinning willfully, you are trotting Christ underfoot, you are calling his sacrifice that we celebrate this week an unholy thing, you say that's not what I mean. That's what you're doing. Who cares what you mean? That's what the Bible says. And you know what you're doing? You're despising the grace. You're taking the grace. You're like, I'm saved. I'm saved. I can do whatever I want. You're taking that. First of all, you're trotting Christ underfoot. You're despising. You're spitting in the face of the grace that God has given you. You are calling the sacrifice of his only son an unholy thing. And you know, it's a fearful thing for you. If you do that, because you're gonna fall into the hands of a living God. He's not gonna send you to hell, but he's gonna judge his people. Do you understand what this says now? So you're hard on Peter, you're hard on the disciples, hard on the nation of Israel. But look, you know, this is why you must come to a church that preaches against sin. This is why if I decided or anybody decided to go into the ministry and have a church where they're just going to tell people like, you know, you guys are great and you're awesome and just be worldly. It's fine. Just be like the world. Public school's awesome. I mean, just, you know, teach your kids the Ten Commandments and everything will be fine. You know, but isn't that these churches? Isn't that these churches? Look, even the churches, even the churches with the right gospel in Fresno, I'm thinking of one in particular in my mind right now. I've met the pastor. I've met the pastor's wife several times out soloing. They're saved. But, you know, they're running a fun club there. And you say, why? Because, look, I don't want to bring people. I mean, what in the world? Let's get a bunch of people saved and then, you know, not teach them what the Bible says so they can just face nothing but fiery judgment. And then, you know, I'll be held accountable for that. You know, I don't think so. You know, let's teach people to get saved with the right gospel. And then let's, you know, let's despise God's grace. Let's teach the right gospel. Let's just get right up to that point of salvation. Got it? And then let's just run grace crazy. I mean, what in the world? I mean, what kind of character is that? What kind of character is that to take the best thing you could ever be given and then just trodden the person that gave it to you under your feet? And then just use them. Just use the deal. You said, hey, you said I could have this car and, you know, and it's nothing. You just wreck it and just do whatever and just, you know, you just take advantage of that person for the rest of their life. I mean, look, first of all, you're just going to put all those people under judgment. And second of all, it's just, you know, you're just turning the sacrifice of Christ, which is the best thing that's ever happened in the history of the world, into like, you just, into an unholy thing. I mean, that encourages people to have a church that preaches the right gospel. Look, most of them don't even preach the right gospel. I'm not even going there. But look, to have a church that preaches the right gospel and then it encourages people to basically be worldly and live like the world is just encouraging people to trodden Christ. Encouraging people to take advantage of grace. It's horrible to even think about it, especially as we think about the great sacrifice of Jesus. Look, we will never be in a position like Jesus was in. Completely forsaken by everybody, including God. Ever. Completely forsaken by all. The least we can do, especially this week as we remember, the least we can do is not take it for granted. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.