The Sorrow That Doesn’t Belong To Salvation | Matthew 27:1-10

Scripture

• Matthew 27:1–10

About this sermon

Introduction: It is not accidental that the sorrow of one of Christ’s disciples is described, followed by the sorrow of another. IT IS TRUE THAT BOTH OCCURRED IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO ONE ANOTHER IN TERMS OF TIME. BUT IT IS ALSO TRUE THAT MATTHEW CHOSE TO DESCRIBE THE GRIEF OF BOTH, PLACING THEM BACK-TO-BACK. He wants us to see something. There is a comparison that he wants us to see. The first disciple was genuine. The second disciple was an apostate. The first disciple was a lover of Christ. The second was a lover of money. The first disciple betrayed his master out of sinful weakness. The second betrayed his teacher out of Satanic worldliness. The first disciple was sorrowful in a way that led to repentance and life. The second was sorrowful in a way that led to empty remorse and death. WE SEE TWO KINDS OF SORROW. And it is the second that we set our attention on tonight. Tonight, we think about the sorrow that doesn’t belong to salvation. This is an issue of tremendous importance to consider. We noted in the previous passage that one of the marks of genuine salvation is sorrow over our sins. The sins of a believer are a cause of great grief to the believer. Sometimes, as in the case of Peter, it is shocking sorrow — it is coming face to face with your capacity for failure — and the aftermath is deeply bitter. This is a TRUE MOURNING over our sins. It is a mourning explained by genuine faith. The result is that mourning is not the end. It is a SORROW that leads to repentance and obedience. It is a sorrow that leads to Christ. It is a sorrow that belongs to salvation. Matthew tells us that Judas Iscariot ALSO KNEW SORROW after his great betrayal of the Lord Jesus Christ. Judas knew grief, and it was exceedingly bitter. BUT HE DID NOT KNOW JESUS TRULY. GENUINE FAITH WAS ABSENT. His sorrow did not lead upward. It did not look to God and His Son. There was no hope PRESENT IN HIS MIND AND HEART for the need that he had of forgiveness. IF YOU DO NOT LOOK TO CHRIST, THERE IS NOWHERE ELSE TO LOOK AND NO ONE ELSE TO HELP. Judas also came face to face with himself, but then he was LEFT TO HIMSELF. THE SINNER, LEFT TO HIMSELF, MEETS WITH SOMEONE DESERVING OF THE WRATH OF GOD, WITH NO POWER TO CHANGE THAT STATUS. The result is despair. I. THE DECISION REGARDING JESUS (vs.1-2) As we noted in previous sections, this was the Jewish phase of His trials come now to a conclusion. To dot their I’s and cross their t’s, they waited until morning before the Sanhedrin pronounced their final decision. Then they bound him and led Him away to Pilate. But Matthew now turns his attention to something else. What ever happened to Judas? He agrees to the most heinous act of betrayal in the history of the world. In fact, he did not just agree to it, HE ARRANGED IT. But what happened afterwards? II. THE DESPAIRING REVERSAL OF JUDAS (vs.3-5) What happened is a sad testimony to the nature of man in his estrangement from God, but also a testimony to the nature and character of the deceiver. Satan, the god of this world, the ruler of the darkness of this age, LOVES to lie to men in a way that promises them some kind of pleasure or gain, sometimes giving them pleasure for a season, but in the end, HE IS A MURDERER. Man, in his estrangement from God, not only walks according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, he believes the devils lies because they accord with his own sinful desires. BUT IN THE END, MAN HAVING CHOSEN WHAT APPEALS TO HIS OWN HEART, DISCOVERS THAT WHAT HIS HEART AND FLESH LONG FOR ARE THE VERY THINGS THAT LEAD TO DESTRUCTION. A. WHAT JUDAS SEES (vs.3a) He sees Jesus condemned. B. WHAT JUDAS FEELS (vs.3b) He feels remorse. Note this, feeling remorse for sin does not necessarily mean that someone is regenerate. It is possible to feel great sorrow, great regret, great shame, great bitterness, over your sin EVEN WHEN YOU ARE ESTRANGED FROM GOD. Judas felt this over Jesus. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, BECAUSE THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE SAVED SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY FEEL SORRY OVER WHAT THEY HAVE DONE WRONG. BUT JUDAS A GREAT WARNING TO US. There are at least two things we need to know about feelings of guilt by which we can distinguish the sorrow that Judas knew from the sorrow that believers know. 1. GODLY SORROW SEES SIN IN A WAY THAT BELONGS TO SALVATION. 2. GODLY SORROW SEES THE SOLUTION IN A WAY THAT BELONGS TO SALVATION. There really are two differences here. How we see the sin itself, and how we understand the hope for such sinners. C. WHAT JUDAS DOES (vs.3c-4a) What does Judas do? He attempts to return the money. Why?

Topics

• Salvation