Message Outline
Sunday
March 21, 2004
“The
Tale of Two Sinners: Judas
and Losing Hope”
John
13:21-27; Matthew 27:1-5
Theme:
How many times have we missed out on experiencing
God’s grace through renewed hope because we gave up too
quickly? Perhaps
that is the greatest lesson we learn from the tragic end
to Judas’ very promising life.
A.
Remember the childhood taunt, “Quitter, quitter,
pumpkin eater . . . “
1.
Don’t know what pumpkins have to do with quitting
2.
But ever since then I have had an aversion to
anything involving “quitting.”
B.
Throughout life we are faced with the temptation to
lose hope
and quit.
1.
Church roles are filled with people that have lost
hope and quit their active involvement in living out their
faith through the local church
2.
Last week a soldier made headlines when he
surrendered to the authorities after going AWOL following
a tour of duty in Iraq.
3.
How many of us are tempted to go spiritually AWOL
after being battered about by the disappointments and
failures of our lives?
C.
Judas is remembered by most as a betrayer of Christ,
but Judas’ real fault was not so much the mistake he
made, but allowing that mistake to drive him to despair,
and ultimately death, before he could experience the
wonderful gift of God’s grace.
1.
Betraying Christ was bad
2.
But he ultimately betrayed himself when he lost
perspective and lost hope.
What
can we learn from the tragedy of Judas’ loss of hope?
In John 13 and Matthew 27 we see:
I.
The Destructive
Impact of Betrayal
A. When we are betrayed
B.
When we betray God
C.
When we betray ourselves
II.
Evidence
of God’s Grace
in the midst of failure
A.
The significance of the sop — Jesus’ continued
friendship towards Judas (see John 13:26-ff)
B.
Judas’ ability to be touched by the pains of
conscience
III.
Remorse
without Repentance
A.
Remorse without
repentance
leads only to hopeless condemnation
B.
Remorse with
repentance
opens up the doors to hope and grace
How
would Judas’ (and our) life be different if we have the
courage to hang around
for tomorrow, for it is in God’s tomorrows that we find
grace and hope?
