Handling Betrayal || Pastor Adam Mesa

Welcome to the ALC Podcast. Here at ALC, we seek the loss,

teach the found, and send the disciples. We truly hope you're encouraged by

this week's message. Well, I'm excited to jump in in a message.

We're in a series called Inside the Tomb. If any of you guys brought

your physical Bibles or you like reading it on your phone, could you turn

to Luke chapter twenty two. That's where we're gonna be at today, and

we're doing this series leading up until Resurrection Sunday called Inside the Tomb. If

you joined us for Christmas, we called it inside the Manger, and it

looked into the prayers of the Manger. This one is inside the Tomb that

not only looks inside the prayers around the tomb, but also the reality that

it was essential that Jesus would go to the tomb. It was for God's

redemption that Jesus would go on the cross, be in the tomb for three

days, and resurrect three days later. And so we all can see a

piece of us go inside the tomb where God can hold and God can redeem

in our life. And so if you have Luke chapter twenty two, would

you join me in standing on your feet as we honor God's word today as

we read together. Here's what it says concerning Jesus. It says, now

the feast of unleavened bread drew near, which is called the Passover, and

the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death,

for they feared the people they want to put to death Jesus. Then Satan

inter Judas called a scariot. Satan inter Judas called a scariot hm who was

up the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief

priests and officers how he might betray him to them. And they were glad

and agreed to give him money. So he consented and sought an opportunity to

betray him to them in the absence of a crowd. Let's pray this morning.

God. We pray that as your word goes for today, Lord,

may you speak to us today. None of us came here this morning to

hear the opinions of man, the philosophies of man, or even the doctrines

of man. God, we came here fully to hear from you, Lord.

So I pray that as your spirit goes forth Lord, May it radically

transform us anew. May we grow in our relationship with you, and may

we leave this place better than we came in today because your work was at

hand. We thank you, Lord in Jesus' name. Amen, as you're

seated, I want you to nudge someone next to you and tell them get

behind these satan. You are ready for that one hull. Some of y'all

said that to your spouse with a little bit too much joy. You're not

saying it to the person. You're just state in a matter of fact,

get behind the satan. It's something we should regularly remind ourselves because in a

few moments we'll read the passage that that comes from. But as we read

today, we see an instance where Judas is scary at one of Jesus's twelve

disciples decides that he's gonna betray not only what we would know Jesus as which

our lord and savior, but to him it would also be one of his

best friends. This is someone that's spent three years with Jesus almost every single

day. He had heard every prayer that Jesus had prayed in public. He

had heard every sermon Jesus had ever preached, he had seen every miracle that

Jesus had performed, and he would also have an opportunity to partake in the

things that Jesus would do. And yet he still got to a place in

his life where he allowed Satan to enter him. How does that happen?

How does that happen? How does Satan enter a person who has had so

much time spent around Jesus. You may never thought or asked that question before,

but I read that statement and go, how is this possible? Many

of you and I we have so much faith in Jesus and we didn't even

see these things with our own eyes. This young man sees everything with his

own eyes, and yet he still betrays Jesus and he still leaves a door

open for Satan to enter. Because how many of you guys know, if

Satan enters you, it's because the door was open. How does that happen?

How does that happen to someone that Satan sees a door that he can

open. How does temptation happen? Well, many of us we may know

because we've maybe been a product of some type of temptation before. Temptation happened

for me just this past Friday. This past Friday, I go on a

date night with my wife and it's about eleven o'clock at night. It was

a long movie, so we get home late and I go back at eleven

o'clock night to continue to study for this today, and so my wife wanted

to do a date night. Normally off Friday afternoon is my study time to

continue for the weekend. But I thought, okay, we get a babysitter.

My wife wants to go on a date night, so that's what I'll

do. So I put pause on studying and we went out to the movies

and we came home at about eleven. She goes upstairs to lay in bed

and go on her phone and hang out on Instagram and other things like that.

I go into the kitchen and I go back to work. I'd be

continued to study for this weekend, and so I'm back to studying. And

next thing you know, as I'm studying my iPad that I'm using to type

at dings and I can see a text message from her and she says,

I want chicken nuggets now for me. I've been doing so good. I've

been losing weight, I've been eating better and so and so she says,

I want chicken nuggets. I'm thinking to myself, we don't need chicken nuggets.

I don't need chicken nuggets. But like a good husband, I say,

would you like me to order you some chicken nuggets? She texts me

actually says no, no, no, no, no, I shouldn't have

any chicken nuggets. Okay, well that's that. I go back to studying

and I'm going Luke chapter twenty two, and I'm reading next thing, you

know. Another text message comes about four minutes later, but French fights do

sound bombed. I respound back to her. I said, would you like

me to get you a combo from McDonald's. She said no, no,

no, no, no, I shouldn't. I shouldn't. I shouldn't.

And then I mess her back and I say, because now the thoughts in

me and I'm like, that does actually kind of sound fire that like it's

not I wasn't interested in it fifteen minutes ago, but now that you progressing

this thought, and so I said, I told her, what if I

eat it with you? Would you want something? She goes, hmm,

dot dot dot dot dot. So I said, okay, I'll order it.

So there I am on my door dash I'm ordering a two large number

tens ten piece of chicken nugget with large French fries. And it's taken some

time. I'm continuing to study, and all of a sudden, the food

gets to my door. I get the notification. I go to for my

front door. I grab the chicken nuggets. I run upstairs to tell Ashley

that the food is here, and sure enough, she's asleep. It's midnight,

so I say, hey, baby, She shrugs me off. So

here I am downstairs now, sitting on my table with something I didn't originally

want, with two large ten piece chicken nuggets that are wafting in my face

the French fries, and I think to myself, all right, well here

we are, and so I want to be a good steward of my finances.

So now we're eating. Now it's twelve oh five am, with no

sound, no TV, no nothing, just a Bible open and the iPad

I'm not looking at, just eating chicken nuggets. And then I'm thinking to

myself, why am I doing this? I'm like, why did I get

How did I get here? I go to bed at one am. She

leans over, she goes did the McDonald's ever get here? I said yes.

She said I'm hungry. I said, I threw it away. Came

an hour ago. She goes, okay, good night. She just turns

around, goes to sleep. But that but that tends to be kind of

how temptation comes. It comes as a creeping thought, comes as a creeping

suggestion. It comes it comes just as a just as a notion, a

statement, a word, a phrase, and and you just start thinking about

it and you start taking It doesn't come out right away. If Ashley texts

me he said, like, let's let's be unhealthy tonight, let's go get

some McDonald's, and we are talking to we would have both said no,

let's not do it. But it started with HM, our boys had chicken

nuggets for dinners them the kind of look good, and so now now I

way want some chicken nuggets. And it goes from chicken nuggets to a large

fry to a large soda. What happens so thought it's just one little moment

where you convince yourself it won't be all that bad. And that's how temptation

starts to play. And what we have to recognize with the life of Judas.

Judas had begin through his decisions and his statements begin to leave a door

open where Satan believed that he could manipulate him for something greater. Many of

us like to think that the moment that Judas was born or the moment that

Judas became one of Jesus's disciple, that Satan had a target on Judas's back.

No, Satan probably more than likely, and we'll see it here in

a few moments. He more than likely would have had a target on every

disciple's back and try to tempt one after another after another after another. But

once they were steadfast towards Jesus and steadfast towards Jesus, and the character matched

who they were, say, you would say, okay, I can't use

Thomas, Okay, I can't use Levi. Okay, I can't use it.

And then we're gonna see through some of the actions that Judas would act

and betray himself as Satan started to say, oh, I may have found

someone, may have found someone. Satan even tried with Jesus. When Jesus

started his ministry, he was in the desert for forty days. Satan even

tried Jesus. Satan didn't even know if Jesus was strong enough. So if

he tried to tempt Jesus and didn't think he said, Jesus just bowed down

to me and I'll give you the world, because he thought Jesus wanted to

rule the world. Jesus didn't want to rule the world. He wanted to

save the world. And that's what Satan missed out. All he did not

understand that about Jesus's earthly ministry. And so what happens is is we see

a moment where Satan actually is trying with some of the other disciples as he

did with Jesus. And it's a moment where Jesus is talking to his disciples

and he tells his disciples that he's gonna go to the cross and he's gonna

suffer many things and he's gonna die. Well, Peter, who's still at

this moment in his life, wants Jesus to overthrow the Roman government in Jesus

to set up an earthly kingdom. He tells Jesus, no, I don't

want you to die. And here's what Jesus responds with. It's in Matthew

twenty two, verse twenty four. It says from that time Jesus began to

show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the

elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and on

the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke

him, saying, far be it from me, Lord, this shall never

happen to you. But he turned, speaking of Jesus. He turned and

said to Peter, get behind me. Satan, you are a hindrance to

me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God,

but on the things of man. You're not setting your mind on the things

of God, but you're setting your mind on the things of man. Now,

in that moment, someone would naturally have to ask himself, did Satan

enter Peter to make that statement. No, No, that was Peter's own

thought. It was coming out of a pure place. But the difference is

is Peter's statement was in alignment with Satan's mission, and so we have to

understand the difference. But both differences exist. There is a moment that through

the compulsion of our own sin, through our own righteousness, that we can

leave a door open for Satan to use and manipulate. Then there's another side

of us where Satan is not involved at all. It's just your mind frame

and your thinking is in alignment with the mind frame and thinking of Satan.

Right, And so though there may come from an innocent place, that doesn't

mean that it's still not in union with what Satan's trying to do. And

so people try to do that with music all the time. Pastor, can

I listen to this kind of music and still be innocent? Theoretically, yes,

you can, but you have to understand that with that kind of music

there's a mission behind it. And so can you listen to that music innocently?

Sure, you could almost do anything innocently if it's not sin. But

does that not mean, though, are you in mission? Could you by

listening to that music someone else hear it and it take them somewhere else who's

not as strong as you. Yeah, So that's what's happening with Peter.

Peter pulls him aside so he doesn't say it in front of the other disciples,

which also show that Peter has a respect for Jesus. Judas didn't do

that stuff. We'll see in a few moments. Judas made public declarations,

Peter gave private questions to Jesus. There's a difference, and so he pulls

him aside, and we see that his philosophy is in union with what Satan's

trying to do, which is trying to keep Jesus from this mission. Satan

doesn't know at this moment the clear picture of what Jesus's mission is. So

that's why Jesus is saying, your motive is in alignment with it, even

though Satan doesn't know what he's trying to accomplish. He just doesn't want me

to be king. But Peter, by you not wanting me to go to

the cross, I have to go to the cross. So therefore your heart

is in alignment with Satan's heart. And then you hear a moment. There's

a moment when then Jesus during Holy Week and on Passover, Jesus tells Peter,

there's gonna come a moment where you're gonna deny me. People are gonna

recognize you. I'm gonna be on trial, I'm gonna be sentenced soon to

be put to death. People are gonna recognize you for being with me,

and you're gonna deny me. Peter says, I'll never do that. You're

my boy, Jesus. I'll never I'll never deny you, and Jesus says,

you will, but it's okay when you do. I need you to

continue to come back, and I need you to feed my sheep. I

need you to take care of my sheep. This is gonna happen, and

Theologians we don't know whether Peter denied Jesus because he was afraid that he'd be

arrested next, but more than likely the most accurate depiction is because Peter was

the one who cut the soldier's ear off when they arrested Jesus, and Jesus

healed the ear because Peter thought it was go time. He thought it was

time to fight the Romans now. So more than likely, Peter was still

upset that the picture of what he wanted Jesus to do wasn't clear yet,

so he wanted Peter wanted war, Jesus wanted forgiveness, and so at the

time, Peter would have denied Jesus potentially out of this anger that Jesus wasn't

wanting to go and fight Rome. So he's like, no, I'm not

with him, I'm not a disciple of his. And it just so happens

at this time, according to Luke twenty two sixty one, that Jesus is

across the courtyard about one hundred yards away, and when Peter denies Jesus one

more time, what happens is Jesus now makes eye contact with him. One

hundred yards away. He couldn't hear Peter, but by the spirit Jesus knew,

and at that moment, it says, and the Lord turned and looked

at Peter, and Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had

said to him before the rooster crows, today you will deny me three times.

And he went out, and he wept bitterly. What do we see

in this, in this fact that Peter is not being used by Satan,

He's not being used by Satan because this word that's being used he remembered,

and he left and wept bitterly. It's a sign of repentance. Repentance means

to turn away from. So when he recognized it, he wept and he

turned away from which shows that in his own decision making process, when he

would recognize that he's falling short, he would run back to God for forgiveness.

He wept when he recognized how he fell short. He wept and he

ran and he went to God. Where's Judas? Judas didn't do those things.

And here's what we have to see today is values are created in crisis,

and they are tested in crisis. Values are created in Christ had tested

in crisis. I've been in church for a very long time and I've almost

never heard this before. I've never heard someone come up to me after a

service to say, hey, pastor out, it's so nice to meet you.

And I said, hey, what brought you to church? And I

rarely ever hear this where they say and it's their first time or their second

time, they're new in church. They rarely ever say, well, you

know what, recently I sold my company and I'm just doing so good financially,

and me and my wife we just celebrated an anniversary and we are so

good. And my kids they all just got full right scholarships, and our

family is so good. And so we just looked at each other one day

and was like, hey, going to church would just be a cherry on

top to all this good stuff. Almost no one ever says that they're like,

well, I first started coming to church because my marriage is in ruins.

Well, I first started coming to church because I don't know what I'm

doing in life. I first started coming to church because I don't know how

to raise these kids. I first started coming to church because I lost a

family member and it made me think about these things. There's always some thread.

Ninety percent of the time for the first initial entry way in, there's

some type of crisis that starts to ask us the question should a relationship with

God be of value? But here's the thing, it isn't only until the

next crisis happens that will test that new found value. And new found value,

I mean people all the time, oh oh right, hear okay,

because I lost my job, I'm going through it and I'm just and I'm

and they for six months, they're at church three times a week, four

times a week, they're at prayer, that at everything, and then and

then they just stop. And then I'll see them at Victoria Gardener say hey,

I haven't seen you forever. Oh, you won't believe what happened.

I got a job and and that girl I was dating we got married.

And I said, oh, did you move somewhere? No, no,

I'm still living across the street from the church. Well where you been,

friend? Oh? I just I didn't. I didn't. I don't need

it as much anymore. So there the trick is in that statement, God

in a relationship with Jesus was not the value. What you were getting out

of it was the value and crisis again, and going through a positive form

of the crisis begins to show why am I really here? And for Judas,

who was with the disciples, hanging around the disciples, prestigious with the

disciples, when it came time to turn in Jesus, he showed that his

value was money. So it's very potential that more than likely the area that

Judas grew up in could have been an impoverished area. For whatever reason,

he loves money and he feels like he never has enough, because the scriptures

later tell us on in a few moments, we'll read that he always used

to take a little bit at a time from Jesus's money bag because he was

the treasurer of the disciples, and so Jesus would get one hundred dollars,

Judas would help himself to a nice little tithe himself. For whatever reason,

his value was money over Jesus. But the only reason why he rocked with

Jesus was because Jesus served his value. And when Judas as a smart man,

he begins to see everyone starting to turn on Jesus and he says,

it's a matter of time before Jesus don't have these crowds anymore. He thinks

to himself, how can I get that one last come up off of Jesus?

Because chrisis revealed his true value and for Judas, his true he very

much well could have loved Jesus, could have had a great relationship with Jesus,

could have hung out. I mean he was at dinner with Jesus the

night that he went and betrayed him, such as didn't. It doesn't mean

he hates Jesus. It just means he has a bigger value than Jesus.

And so Christis reveals to us. And so here's some things that we see

that Satan will begin to see into Judas that he feels like he can start

to use him. There's three things and they're very applicable to us. Is

he sees that within Judas, Judas lacks character, Judas lacks care, and

Judas lacks conduct and it's the expression of these things that Satan is watching all

of the disciples, looking for which one. The Bible says that Satan moves

around like a devourer Warren, like a lion, looking who he can devour.

So that's what Satan's doing to all the disciples. Can I try,

Peter, No, he actually loves him, he actually believes he's Lord.

He just has a skewed perception of what Jesus here to do. I can't

use him. I can't. Oh, I see this dude still in a

little bit of money here and there. I've been hearing his comments lately.

So we see that character is a moral and ethic quality defining individual's values.

Care show is a showing place of empathy and compassion, actively attending to others

well needs, which Judas didn't do. Conduct behavior in line with godly actions,

involving integrity, respect, and responsibility for one's action. I want you

to look at character for just a moment. Billy Graham says this when it

comes to character. When wealth is lost, nothing is lost. When health

is lost, something is lost. When character is lost, all is lost.

Someone who loses their character has lost it all. Judas was one of

those individuals want you to look at Judas's statement when a woman comes to worship

Jesus with a year's worth of her wage of HEUW. Many of us know

this verse ourselves, but it says this in John twelve, verse four.

But one of the disciples, Judas is Scariot, who was later to betray

him, ejected, why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the

poor? It was a worth a year's wage. He did not say this

because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and

as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was

put in it. But guess what, John, by the inspirational holy spirit,

he fills that in for us. So we can read and we can

go, oh that dog Judas. But if you were around Judas, you

actually would have thought he was very righteous. When Judas is there and there's

a woman breaking perfume that's worth a year's wage on Jesus's feet, and Judas

goes, this woman could do so we could our ministry could do so much

more for the poor if she just sold this perfume. How dare she?

You know? Jesus is just gonna go wash his feet after such a waste

of perfume. We could have resold that you know how many people that could

have fed, and there would have been other people and disciples there going.

You so right, Judas, I can't believe her. Why would Jesus even

let her do that? That's ridiculous. Ah. While his words say one

thing, but his heart says another. Because what his heart is really saying

because he's the treasurer. So if she gave that to Jesus for the ministry,

Jesus would have said, God, bless you, thank you so much

here, Judas, can you go sell that for the work of the ministry?

And Judas want to be like, gotch Yeah, I got you Jesus.

That's fifty k right there. They'll never miss five k missing. Judas

knows that in his heart, but his words and what society hears has made

Judas, you're so right. But God knows his heart. So where we

have to recognize is a self centered faith produces a self righteous attitude. Self

centered faith the me me me faith. Guess what you will be consistently trying

to show everyone around you how much you have figured it out. When your

faith is centered around you, your own development, your own joy, your

own purpose, your own happiness, and nothing about anyone else. Then you

will begin to have a self righteous attitude, and you will make comments about

everything. You will make comments of people around you. You'll make comments about

church, You'll make call It just will come out. It just could come

out of you easy. Can you believe she said that? Can you believe

she dressed this way? You know, don't mind how I talk to my

husband. The way that girl dress is ridiculous. It's self righteous attitude.

Look at this person all while I'm not being obedient in this space myself and

so immediately self centered faith, the me me me mentality, the me me

me faith that Judas was living. The more that Jesus's ministry grew, the

more that Judas's pockets grew, and the moment that he sees Jesus' ministry probably

not gonna grow no more, the moment he tried to get one more big

payday. Because the clearer you start to think about you, the actually more

disfigured life begins to be. And so for Judas, he fell for these

lives because he kept looking at himself for so long. He stopped fixing his

eyes on Jesus and the work of Jesus, that he started to only view

himself. You know, Pablo Picasso is one of the world's greatest painters,

definitely in our day in the nineteen hundreds, and a Picasso is a euphemism

for a great artist. We say someone's a regular Pablo Picasso when they're a

great artist. Well, Pablo Picasso, over his years, he did a

set of around ten to eleven self portraits. And what's amazing is most art

historians think it's incredible that you'll see when Picasso was fifteen years old, he

used to draw himself really clearly. But you get all the way towards the

bottom right. That was his last self portrait he ever did of himself at

the age ninety years old. And so he went from a point where when

he was younger he saw himself very clearly, very innocently. But as he

got older, he actually towards his nineties and some of this went with his

abstract painting, but it was really as he stepped more and more into older

age and realized his more tenn Most art historians believe that as he got older,

he saw himself less clearly, because as he would pay himself, he'd

at fifteen and twenty, he was very innocent, so he saw himself very

clearly. But as he got older he added all his memories and all his

stories, and it was so much so that all he could do is kind

of just draw himself into a rock. Because the longer that we fixate on

ourselves, the less clear it becomes, and the more that line is fudged,

and the more that line is told. And the point of the Gospel

and the point of the Cross is for us to fix our eyes on Jesus

and the work of the Cross and the work of his resurrection. You want

to see your life more clearly, you have to stop looking at your life

and start looking at Jesus's life. Judas didn't do that. He looked at

Jesus's life and thought everything that would benefit him, and so he lacks character

in it shows and Satan can see that. Satan sees what his morals are.

Satan was around when he saw Judas pocket those coins, and he's saying

to himself, Okay, wonder what I could do with that second thing that

we can see the enemy sees is Judas lacks care Judas lacks care. Corey

ten Boom, a Dutch author but also a Holocaust survivor, someone who survived

concentration camps as a Christian, said, you can never learn that Christ is

all you need until Christ is all you have. A lot of times we

want Jesus and Jesus and Jesus and but the reality is is if you want

Christ to be all you need, then he has to become all that we

have, all that we hold, and all that we trust. Because then

when we see Jesus with clarity in that way, then that the place where

Satan has no foothold, and you can actually live a life where Satan is

in behind you, not in front of you, that Satan is under your

foot and not over your head. It's when we start living in that space.

Matthew chapter twenty six to fourteen to sixty says this about Judas. Says,

though, then one of the disciples, who was called Judas is Scariot,

went to the chief priest and said, what are you willing to give

me if I hand over Jesus. At this time, he doesn't even know

if he's gonna hand over Jesus. He wants to see how sweet the deal

is going to be first. So he says, what are you gonna give

me if I give Jesus to you? And they weighed out thirty pieces of

silver, and from that moment, Judas began looking for an opportune time to

betray Jesus. Started with one thought. Here's the thought for Judas. I

wonder how much they would give me if I turned Jesus in. He was

undecided whether he would do it or not. But wooh, when that deal

was sweet, he couldn't resist it. And Satan was working through every crevice

of that deal. He was working through every Pharisee, he was working through

every sadduce, He's working through every conversation of Judas, looking for a moment

when Satan could say I can enter him and now it's my game time.

And it just started with one thought. I have a question for you'all.

Got this beautiful self portrait of mine? See this? Look at that handsome

man. That's a good looking guy. Look, look, look, let

me ask you guys a question. You think you think if I took this

piece right here, would you say that I'm still all there? Yeah?

Okay? What if I took this piece right here? Would you still say

that I'm all there? Okay? What if I took this piece right here,

would you say, I'm all there? Oh, it's fifty to fifty.

Now let's see if I took let's just take the tattoos, right,

let's just remove the tattoos. Would you still say that I'm pretty much there?

Yeah? Okay here, yeahs and knows okay. Now, well,

what if I start taking like this right here, like my eyes, let's

remove I got great eyes, but let's remove those now I just got the

smile. Would you start? Am I all there? Oh? It's getting

clear now right. A lot of us tend to think that sin and the

time to turn around is at this point. But really it all started downhill

with one white piece, one piece, just one piece of me was enough

to say that was not bad. I still feel like me. Just one

night out, just one drip, just one smoke, just one relationship,

just one time, just one thought. Nobody's around, nobody's here. It

won't hurt nobody, it won't affect nobody. And we wonder what happens Why

we say, well, that wasn't all bad? And how about another piece?

How about another piece? And then at some point when you've revealed enough

of your say it self, didn't Satan, and the enemy can come and

say, let's start taking some bigger pieces. And you've already showed the enemy

you don't know how to stop. You've already showed the enemy that you don't

know how to put these pieces back together, because only Jesus could put these

back together. Peter went back to Jesus to put his pieces back together.

Judas did it. Judas hung himself after he did what he did because he

couldn't live with the guilt, not because he had repentance, but because he

didn't want to face anybody for what he did. And so there's a difference

between regret and repentance, just like there's difference between and I'm sorry and I

will you forgive me. We've all heard it before. Okay, I'm sorry.

You don't mean that. We know you don't mean that, you're just

saying it. There's a difference between repentance and forgiveness than just regret and sorrow.

Hey my bad, I see I hurt you. It's my fault.

Would you ever do it again? What does it matter? Like? Oh,

what does it matter? Because it's not coming from a place of repentance.

And so for Judas, what started with one piece, which was just

a dollar or two from Jesus's bag, was enough that as he kept it

consistently. And now Satan is hearing his words about what these women and his

other comments, he's going, oh, this is a guy I can use.

So I want to encourage you to be careful. If you've ever heard

this statement before, if you ever said this statement before the enemy made me

or Satan's all involved in this, you maybe have said it or heard it

before, and it's actually a very dangerous statement to make, because what you're

saying is that the Satan saw something in you that he felt like he could

use. You have to be very cautious. Now we've seen it. There

is an opportunity where Satan does try. He attempts, he tries, he

attacks, he makes effort, but just like Romans eight says, if you're

full of the spirit, he'll have no effect. So therefore he'll give up

and he'll move on. But if you're someone that he likes to tap dance

on, then it means you gave him a dance floor. And if he's

dancing, then got to say, God, I gotta repent. You gotta

put these pieces back together, because the only ones that say and enters and

uses are the ones who crack the door open. And the way we find

freedom is to say, Jesus, I repent. I need you to carry

all of this. I can't do that. You gotta rid the self centered

faith. I can't do this on my own. And the last point we're

gonna share is and he reveals to us what his conduct is like. And

we've seen through Judas how he conducts himself as a disciple of Jesus. He

did not represent Jesus well, nor did he lead well. Philippian chapter one

twenty seven says, whatever happens, conduct yourselves worthy in a matter of the

Gospel of Jesus Christ. To conduct ourselves worthy, our actions must be conducted

away worthy of the claim that we say that we follow Jesus has to match.

Our conduct has to match that call. Francis of an Ec, one

of the great saint, says, preach the Gospel in all times, and

when necessary, use words, which means your conduct preaches the Gospel, whether

you recognize it or not. Your conduct speaks louder than your words. Saint

Francis would say, the way you live your life will preach for Jesus or

against Jesus. It will rid the enemy of his attempts at thwarting you,

or it'll give the enemy encouragement to lean towards you. Because the enemy loves

messing with the world, but he sure loves messing with people who claim to

follow God, because that gives God the worst pr possible. People who call

themselves Christians, who don't act like Christians. That's who Satan wants. And

that's why Satan used one of Jesus's disciples, not a random person, one

of his inner circle, because what better way to stop Jesus than one of

his friends. What better way to make Jesus look bad than someone who says

they follow him. And so that is the person he's looking for. And

so that's why Philippians encourage us that we have to live this life even when

it's hard, even when temptation comes. The Bible talks about taking every thought

captive, so that you would not give a place for the enemy, so

that you would not give a foothold for the enemy. James chapter four says,

submit yourselves therefore to God resists the devil, and he will flee.

Resist him, and he will flee. In other words, he's gonna attempt,

he's gonna try, but if you resist him, he will go.

If you don't, he'll set up a base camp and he'll look for an

opportune time like he did with Judas. And so we need to periodically go.

And the Bible talks about when we take community to reflect in our hearts

and see what sin exists and confess it so that it could leave. It's

a moment of cleansing to allow the spirit at work in our lives. And

you never know how much it will bless someone. I'll close you with this

before we leave. You know, last week we celebrated a special moment where

one of the widows in our church, Nicole, and she was here for

service. She was so blessed she heard the story for the first time.

I thought she heard it this week, but she did it. We featured

a story last week if you were with us, and one of our dear

members, Nicole, she lost her husband before he even turned forty and she's

now raising her three children. And we brought her on stage and she had

a great story of faith and trust in God. And we honored her by

sowing a seed into her life. But what happened was if you got many

of you remember if he didn't. It's on our YouTube channel. You can

you could go rewatch it. But she tells a story on how God showed

a moment of goodness in her life where her husband had passed and her car

was going to be repossessed because she couldn't make the payments for the vehicle,

and so the tow truck driver comes to repossess her vehicle. She falls on

her knees and she pleads out to God not for her car to be taken.

The man resonates with that. He tells her, you know, my

name is Gabriel. I was named after the angel, and so he had

compassion on her. And so he said, here's the number to the banker

of the bank that's trying to repossess your car. Give him a call to

borrow see what they could work out with you. He said, I'm gonna

get on the horn and i'm gonna get on dispatch, and I'm going to

tell everyone that your house has been taken care of. So if they get

another call to leave it alone, it's been taken care of it's being figured

out to leave your car where it is, and so she said, thank

you so much. Well, last week, one of our members in our

church says, I have a friend named Gabriel who's a tow truck driver,

and I think I've heard him say a story like that before. And so

he goes on our YouTube channel. He pulls her testimony and he sends it

to Gabriel. He says, hey, bro, is this story about you?

And Gabriel says, yes, that is me. I remember that night.

And he tells his friend, this video has changed me so much because

I was just about to give up. I'm going through some things. I'm

having such a hard time and this is just a reminder from God that I

have to keep going. I shouldn't give up, and I'm gonna trust God

through it all. What happened over a year ago to one woman who was

pleading to God when that very man needed encouragement himself, The Holy Spirit said,

I'm gonna bring it a back around this a Uno reverse card. He

said, I'm gonna bring it back to you. The very grace that you

showed this woman is gonna be the very grace that I'm gonna show you through

her story that you have impacted someone. What was just a normal night of

him towing vehicles and guess what, when tow truck drivers leave repossessed cars,

they lose money. So he also lost out on money as well. What

turned out to something that he it felt like was gonna be a lost but

he just felt like he was doing a good thing to someone. Over a

year later, he'd be sent a video where tens of thousands of people would

be encouraged by his story and the story of God's goodness, which was just

enough for him to keep going. I don't know about you, but that

day when the world said to repossess the car, he said, Satan,

get behind me. Quit when he was in a moment this past week where

he was just gonna give I don't know if that was gonna give up hope.

I don't know if that was just gonna stop working. I don't know

what that was. But that very video was a moment where Jesus said,

you said get behind me a year ago, I'm getting him behind you right

now. Where God can interject in his mercy. Are we willing to do

like Paul says, which is to say, fight, the good fight of

faith, because it's a fight. Are we willing to resist the devils where

he could flee? Because it's found oftentimes in our character, our care,

and our conduct, where the Satan will try to find a foothold, Or

it's enough that your faithfulness to the Cross, your faithfulness to focus on Jesus,

then he'll say you've resisted, he'll flee Satan. Seasons where Satan feels

to be throwing everything at you is only seasons when you're faithful to Jesus.

It's not a lifetime. There's freedom, there's victory, and there's mercy,

and there's hope found in the Cross. So I want to encourage you today

as we go to close and leave this place together. If you've never confessed

Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and savior, if you've never got to a

place where you said, God, I'm ridding everything that views me about me

and I'm completely surrendering it. I'm giving it all to you God. It's

only through Jesus's death and resurrection that you and I can truly find freedom.

Why is it found only in Jesus Because Jesus is the only one on earth

who walk this earth, who died on a cross for you and I,

who was put in a tomb, suspect it to be dead forever, and

three days later would resurrect and spend forty days on earth reiterating the resurrection of

God and the goodness of God and the forgiveness of God. For you and

I not to listen to and say, oh, that's nice, but for

you and I to receive, for us to receive, the gospel is only

there when we receive it. It's not something that exists in making a sign

of a cross or wearing a cross. The gospel is those who take it

and wear it for themselves. Say Jesus your forgiveness, You're death and resurrection.

As for me. So I encourage you in this moment. If you've

never given your life to Christ, whether you're in the courtyard, cafe or

in this room, don't wait another day before you choose Jesus. One day

all of us will stand before God. I pray it's a long time till

anyone here stands before God. But we do know the reality there will be

a day. There's only one thing that's one hundred percent in this world.

It's the fact that all of us will die at some point, and all

of us will stand before God. The beauty about the work of Jesus is

any There's an eternity secure in the hands of the Savior in Jesus's work.

And not only will God give us a promise in the future, God gives

us a promise here on earth. His work of the Cross is not just

for heaven one day. It's also here for life, to give you a

peace, a grace, a mercy, and a hope like you never thought

was possible. To give you a rest from the work of your life like

you never thought was possible. That's the goodness of God. So I encourage

you in this place, don't wait another day before you receive Jesus as your

savior. Would you all do me a favor in this moment? Would you

bow your head and close your eyes. We're all gonna say a prayer out

loud right now. But some people are gonna be saying this for the first

time, or they're gonna be rededicating their life. So I encourage you as

we say this today, we're gonna be affirming the work of God in your

life. So would you join me in saying this right Now, dear Lord

Jesus, in this moment, I confess you as Lord and Savior. I

repent to my sins, and I believe in this moment, and I confess

in this moment that I am committed to follow you for the rest of my

days in Jesus' name. Amen. We really hope you enjoyed the message,

and if you said yes to Jesus, we just want to say congratulations and

give you a free devotional to help you walk out your faith. Click the

link in the description or head over to grow dot Faith for download your devotional.

Oh and be sure to subscribe and share this podcast with your friends.

Thanks for listening to ALSC podcasts, and we hope you tune in again.