Are You a Judas? | How Corruption Happens in the Heart

In this episode, we break down a hard truth:
 👉 Being close to Jesus doesn’t mean your heart is surrendered to Him.

Judas walked with Jesus, saw the miracles, heard the teachings, and still betrayed Him. Why? Because corruption doesn’t happen overnight, it happens subtly, through compromise, hidden sin, and a heart that never fully surrenders.

This message challenges you to examine your own heart:

•  Are you following Jesus for who He is, or for what you can gain? 
•  Are you producing fruit, or just maintaining appearances? 
•  Have you mistaken proximity for relationship? 

Jesus makes it clear, not everyone who appears to be “in” truly is.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You know, we often sometimes refer to people in our own lives as a Judas if they betray us. How is that possible that you are operating in and under the power of God and under the anointing of God, but you can still at the end of your life be really only known as someone who betrayed the Messiah? He was chosen by Jesus to be one of the disciples. So it wasn't like, you know, he was just this random uh person that shows up on the scene and betrays Jesus. And yet he could still betray Jesus in the end. There was never really a heart change. His heart was never really transformed to the point that his life would reflect the proximity that he had with Jesus. And so I want to take a look at um at Matthew 13 because this is where Jesus uh teaches the parable about um the seed. We don't even see repentance after the betrayal. Welcome back to Truth Measure Podcast. Thank you again for joining me. Today I want to talk about Judas. Um, you know, we just celebrated Resurrection Sunday and um the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. And um, you know, Judas is the one who betrayed him. He was a disciple of Jesus, but yet he betrayed him. And so I want to talk about you know who Judas is. Um you know, we often sometimes refer to people in our own lives as a Judas if they betray us or you know they are um a friend who hasn't been loyal or shown themselves to be loyal to us. Um and so I started looking at, you know, Judas and his background and his life and what we know about him from the Bible, and really asking God, like what, you know, aside from the fact that he is the one who betrayed him, um, what is it about Judas that you know we we can learn from as Christians? Um, what are you trying to teach us through Jesus or through Judas? Because Jesus could have been betrayed by anybody, right? He could have been betrayed by one of the Romans or um, you know, someone that wasn't close to him, but I feel like there's something about this relationship between Jesus and Judas that we can learn from as Christians, and uh so I want to talk about that today. So, what we do know about Judas is that uh again, he was one of the disciples, he was chosen by Jesus to be one of the disciples, so it wasn't like um you know he was just this random uh person that shows up on the scene and betrays Jesus. No, he was chosen by him to be one of the disciples, and in Matthew, um, Jesus talks about how when with the disciples, the 12 disciples that he chose, he commissioned them and anointed them and gave them power and authority to go out and preach the kingdom of God, to heal the sick, to raise the dead, to um basically uh share all of the things that they they were being taught by Jesus with others, right? He commissioned and anointed them to do that as disciples. And so Judas, being one of the chosen 12 disciples, received that same teaching as Peter and the others. And so, you know, by by all accounts, Judas was operating in the same manner, the same gifting, the same power and authority that the other disciples were operating in. He was going out and teaching and preaching and healing and um delivering people, you know, delivering people from um sickness and um all sorts of things. And yet he could still betray Jesus in the end. Um, how is that possible? How is that possible that you are operating in and under the power of God and under the anointing of God, but you can still at the end of your life be really only known as someone who betrayed the Messiah? Um, we know that Judas was pretty much an ordinary person that you know the Bible doesn't go into any uh detailed background about you know who he was um or what his profession was, but we know that he was entrusted to be basically like the treasurer. Um, so the money that Jesus and the disciples received to support the ministry, um, Judas was over that. He was he was in charge of handling and guarding and um uh holding the money, right? And so we know that at some point he starts stealing, um, which is wild to me because here you are with Jesus, all of your needs are met, everything that you um, you know, could desire uh in terms of food, clothing, shelter. I mean, you've literally just seen Jesus feed thousands with um five fish and two loaves of bread, like you're not needing anything. And yet, here you are stealing the money that is supposed to be uh supporting and going for the support of the ministry. And so we with that though, you have to think if if Jesus put him over the money, right? Made him a treasurer, what background did he have that sort of set him apart from the other disciples? Um, you know, just from reading the Bible, it doesn't sound like Judas started out being um disloyal, it doesn't sound like he started out, you know, with these improper um motives, but we we eventually learn that that's exactly what happens. You know, he's he's stealing the money. Um, and so that is indicative of the fact that even though he was with Jesus, even though he was hearing the teachings of Jesus, he was seeing the miracles that Jesus was uh performing, there was never really a heart change. His heart was never really transformed to the point that his life would reflect the proximity that he had with Jesus, right? And so, yes, he was he was again operating in the same power and authority as the other disciples, but secretly he's stealing the money, he's he's a thief. Um, and in one passage, in uh I believe it's either in Matthew or Luke, it describes him as being full of the devil. Um, and this is before he betrayed Jesus. And so you have to ask yourself, what is it or how is it that you could be getting all of this information, you could be getting all of this valuable knowledge and teaching and still not be transformed. And so when you start to think about that, I really believe Judas' life is is almost a cautionary tale. Um, you know, and a few few weeks ago, I did a podcast talking about how, you know, Jesus uh talks about in the um end there's gonna be, you know, false teachers and false prophets, and that's how you know we are in the last days. And and for some people, it will uh at the end of their life when they you know stand, you know, before God in judgment, he will say, I never knew you. Um but yet these are the same people that are out preaching, teaching, prophesying in his name. How is that possible? How is that possible that we can be so close to Jesus or appear to be so close to him in how we live our lives, the giftings that we're operating in, but yet there's no fruit, there's nothing in your life um that is bearing fruit to show that you are being transformed, transformed and changed by your your relationship or proximity to Jesus. And I think that you know, again, it just goes back to the heart, it goes back to heart issues. If Judas could be with Jesus, see the miracles, and yet still not be able to control his desire to steal or still have something in him, you know, prompting or um enticing him to steal. Like, why wouldn't he go to Jesus about that? Why wouldn't he go to Jesus and be like, you know what, Lord, um, I see you out here healing everybody, I see you out here delivering folks. I got a stealing problem. I'm just gonna be honest with you. Because he had to, he had to know that Jesus knew he was stealing. Like, you are literally with the Son of God, Son of Man. You know he's all-knowing, all-powerful. You know he knows that you're stealing. And so why wouldn't you just just go to Jesus and be like, I got a problem? Please deliver me. Please set me free, you know. Um, I have this issue and I need help. I can't stop stealing, you know, and just admit how much, how more different rather would Judas's story have been had he humbled himself and been honest with Jesus about something that Jesus already knew he was doing anyway. Um, now, granted, you know, the Bible um, we know that Jesus had to be betrayed, he had to be crucified, right? And so um that could that plan could not be be stopped. It was going to happen. But Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray him and still chose him to be one of the disciples. That is interesting to me too, because you know, the Bible talks about that many are called, but few are chosen. Judas was chosen to be one of God's disciples. Out of, you know, all of the men that could have been chosen, he chose one that was going to betray him. And he knew before the betrayal that Judas was going to do it. So, why would Jesus choose Judas to be a disciple, to be someone that he poured his heart into, to be someone that he shared his secrets and shared the mysteries of the kingdom of God with when he knew that Judas was going to betray him? And I can't help but think about how we, you and I, are chosen by God and we're ultimately given a free will. You know, um, God's plan is not that anyone should perish, it's not that anyone should um die and go to hell and be separated from him forever. That's not the plan. The plan has always been to redeem man back to God. And so knowing that that's the plan, but also knowing that we have free will, you know, you can understand that yes, Jesus can extend the olive branch to Judas, um, knowing that he was going to betray him the same way that God extends mercy, salvation, and grace to us, and it's it's free, it's ours for the taking. Salvation is free. All we have to do is believe, and yet there are some that don't believe. Or you believe, but your heart is never fully transformed, your heart is never fully um surrendered to God in a way that your life is bearing fruit of what you say you're about, what you say you believe in, what you say uh and who you say you serve. And so I want to take a look at um at Matthew 13 because this is where Jesus uh teaches the parable about um seed. And so before I get into this, um and and reading this, it really came to life for me when I started gardening. So about three years ago, I started gardening with my daughter. I thought it would be something fun for us to do together and you know, plant and watch things grow. And so uh, what's the first thing you do when you start gardening? You go out and buy all these expensive plants and flowers, you know, beautiful things that you're just like, oh my gosh, my garden is gonna be beautiful. And you just buy in whatever, right? Um, you're not, well, at least I know I wasn't researching the types of flowers or plants that were um going to be most suitable for my garden where I live, you know, and and all of those things. But I was happy, I was excited, so I just went out and bought a whole bunch of stuff. And before we could start planting those um flowers and things that I bought, my husband first had to go in and break up the soil because where I was going to plant at, um, there was a small garden there, but it hadn't been used. So the people that lived uh in the house before us, um they didn't really take care of it, you know, probably um years before, had planted some things there and then just sort of left it alone. So there were there were a lot of rocks there, the soil was hard. Um it just wasn't suitable for for life. And so my husband had to go in and till the ground and pull up all the rocks and break up the soil, and we had to put down new soil and fertilizer and all these things to get the to get the soil ready for what I was going to be planting. And so after that was done, um I went in and planted my flowers, and I'm like, okay, great, can't wait to see the bloom. Well, to my surprise, um I want to say maybe a few weeks, um maybe a month later, um, everything started to die. So all of my beautiful flowers were starting to die, withering away, uh, and I was very disappointed because I was like, I thought I did everything correct. Not to mention the fact that flowers are expensive, um, especially if you're getting, you know, nice ones and things like that. Um, yeah, it's a nice little penny. And so everything was gone. And so I was like, okay, how did this happen? Um, I thought I did, you know, by preparing this, so I thought we did everything correct. Well, come to find out, there were other rules that went into gardening, such as um making sure that the flowers that I planted had enough space for the roots to grow out. Um, there were some plants that needed to be positioned um not as like directly in the sun, uh, because it gets hot here in Southern California. And so it was just too much sun for them, and they weren't getting enough water. The soil wasn't getting enough water because um as soon as you know I would would uh water the sprinklers would come on, the sun is out, you know, early in the morning and is hot, and so the the plants aren't getting enough water, the soil isn't getting enough water to um for the plants and flowers to survive. Um then I found that some of the plants were too close to other plants. Um, some of the plants were not suitable for the time of year that I planted them. So it was like all these different things that I had knew nothing about. All I thought was, okay, we we put some soil down, put some fertilizer down, I planted my flowers, and boom. No. And so having that sort of real life experience really makes Matthew 13 come alive, right? And so I want to read this. Um, Jesus is talking to the crowd, um, and he's teaching them about the sower and the seed. And so um he says in uh 13, in chapter 13, verse 5, um, actually, let's start at uh let's start at verse 4. So he says, and he sowed some seeds fell on the fell by the roadside, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they had not much soil, and at once they sprang up because they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched. Oh my gosh, that's the exact same thing that happened to me. And because they had no root, they dried up and withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them out. Sounds very much like you know, the roots not having enough room to spread out, me planting the flowers too close to each other, all of those things. Other seeds fell on good soil and yielded grain, some a hundred times as much as was sown, some 60 times as much, and some 30. So here Jesus is telling the pair telling this parable to the crowd of what happens when a sower goes out and sows seed, and if the soil is not good, what happens to that seed? In some cases, it gets ate up by the birds, in some cases uh it gets scorched, again, like what happened with me, um, or weeds choke it up, and so that seed is never able to take root, it's never able to produce unless it is planted on good soil. And so as you read further in chapter 13, um, the disciples come to Jesus and they're like, Why are you giving them these parables? Why are you giving them these these stories? And Jesus' response to them was because they have ears and they can hear, but they're not hearing. They have eyes, but they really are not seeing. They're not understanding the word that is being given to them. And so he's basically like, I have to talk to them in illustrations and parables so that they can understand what I'm saying to them. But you, my disciples, blessed are you because you can actually hear and you can you can see and you understand with your heart the secrets and mysteries that I explain to you about the kingdom of God. And so I can I can give you more sophisticated um or talk to you in a more sophisticated way because you you get it, you understand not just hearing to hear, but you're under understanding and hearing with your heart what I'm teaching you. The crowd, they're not getting that. And so, as Jesus is breaking this down, Judas is among these disciples that he's talking to. Again, Judas is is one of the 12, he's one of the main guys. And so, as Jesus is explaining this parable of the seed and the sower, and he's explaining it to the crowd, Judas is hearing this. Judas is also hearing Jesus explain that look, I I'm I'm giving it to the crowd in this way because they're not mature enough. They're not mature like you, um, in the sense that they understand secret things, they understand mysteries, they understand the kingdom of God. But I have endowed you with power. You have the authority to go out and preach the message of the kingdom of God to other people. And so you have been anointed to understand uh the things of God in a way that the crowd of people that was following Jesus did not. And so, as I'm reading this, I'm like, this was another opportunity for Judas to be like. You know, Lord, actually, I don't understand. Like, I know you think I understand, but I don't. You know, he could have, he could have come to Jesus and been like, you know, explain it to me differently. Help me understand in the way that you're, you know, giving it to the people. But I really feel like it had to have been Judas's pride, right? Because again, that that's all part of the heart issue. It had to be pride, it had to be a lack of humility operating in him when again, he's this close to Jesus. He's he's hearing the teachings, he's right there alongside of him. And yet, we don't see anywhere in scripture where he has where he goes to Jesus and is like, I'm struggling, man. You know, I I know that you chose me as one of your disciples. I know you have um entrusted me with great things, but I'm struggling and I need help. And I, you know, I'm I'm still dealing with all these other things. He doesn't do that. And how many of us are the same way? You know, we go to church every Sunday, we go to Bible study on on Tuesday and Wednesday, you know, we're involved in the things at our church, you know, you serve in the choir, you serve on the extra board, you serve in the kids' ministry, you help with the youth. You're you're doing all the things that Christians are supposed to do. You're probably even operating in your gift because we know that gift giftings come without repentance. So whatever gift God has given to you, He doesn't take that back. So, you know, if you can sing, you can sing. If you can preach, you can preach. If you have the gift to teach and to be able to um, you know, break down information for others in a way that they can understand, that's a gift. Um, if you have a gift for you know working with kids or just working with people, because that's a gift in itself, you could still be doing all of those things, but still have heart issues going on that you never bring to Jesus because are you afraid? Are you too prideful to admit that you got these issues going on? Are you um ashamed? Is there a level of shame there? But the thing is, is Jesus, God, he already knows what's going on, he knows what's in your heart. You know, the Bible says that man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at our heart. So he already knows the issues of our heart, he already knows the things that we're dealing with. He's waiting on us to come to him with those issues to say, look, I've got I've got this problem. I have a problem fornicating. I like it. Like, just be real. Because God already knows, he already sees what you're doing. The same way he saw G Judas stealing the money that they are supposed to be using to support the ministry, right? And to support them while they're out preaching and teaching to everybody, Jesus knew he was doing that. And not once do we see in the Bible where Jesus called him out on it. Not once do we see in the Bible where Jesus is like, Judas, where that 50, where them $50 at? I mean, they weren't dollars back then. I don't, whatever money they use back then. But we're where we're $50 short. Where is it? He never called him out. He we never hear where Jesus um even identifies Judas as being the one that's going to betray him until the um the Last Supper, where Jesus tells him, What you gonna do, go do it quickly. I already know what you got going on. Please hurry up and do it. But we don't see any instance where Jesus specifically calls Judas out. He says, one of you, he says to disciples, one of you will betray me. And there are all the other disciples like, Who is it, Lord? Is it me? You know, but Jesus didn't be like, No, it's it's him. And I I I believe that although Jesus knew Judas was ultimately going to be the one to betray him, there was still a part of Judas that could have been redeemed, that could have been um redeemed had he admitted what he was doing, the problems that he was having with his heart, and had come to Jesus in humility. How different the story of Judas would have been. Jesus would have still been crucified because we know that that was the plan he had to be crucified. But Judas's story could have looked different. Even after Judas betrayed Jesus, what if he would have came back to him and been like, God, oh my, I'm sorry. I repent. We don't even see repentance after the betrayal. And so when Jesus talks about um this soil, the soil is our heart, right? And this is what he is describing and explaining to the people is that when the seed, the word of God is like a seed, when that comes into your heart, uh you hear it, um you're you you go to church again and and you you're receiving, but you're not really receiving. If your heart isn't good, your heart isn't um open to receive correction. It's not open to receive um uh, you know, basically where God is trying to redirect things that you have going on in your life. You're not open to that. And for whatever reason, it could be pride, it could be, again, shame, it could be um, you know, just you thinking that you know everything. You know, one of the, I feel like one of the most dangerous um things is education when it comes to um trying to to understand why God does things. And what I mean is, you know, our intellect sometimes can get in the way. Because, you know, we go to school, we go to college, we learn all these different things. You you take psychology classes, you take social work classes, um, you know, you take science classes, biology, physics, all those things. And so you gain all this knowledge. And sometimes there's a hubris that comes with that because you're like, well, I know this, this, this based on what I learned in school. And if what I'm being what I what I'm being taught or what I'm what I think I'm understanding about um what the scripture is saying, if it doesn't align with my education, then it's questionable. Um, it sometimes looks like us taking the Bible and weighing it against all of these different um disciplines of knowledge and thought instead of understanding that the Bible is where it begins, right? Everything begins and ends with God. It says that um, you know, God is the beginning and the end, he's the alpha and the omega. And so all of the disciplines that you could have um learned from school or whatever, then those things are contradicted, right? Those things aren't truth, those things are fallible, fallible. You know, psychology, um, science, all of those things are based on man's understanding, right? God gives us knowledge, knowledge comes from God, sure, of course, but those disciplines are based on man's thoughts. The Bible is the truth, right? And so if that's what we we stand on, sometimes we can allow ourselves to um not be malleable when it comes to correction if it doesn't fit with what we think we know about the world and our understanding of life, right? And that's where the hu the hubris comes in, that's where the pride comes in. Because who are you to say that things should be this way if the Bible is saying it should be another way, right? And so a lot of um theologians uh and commentaries when when talking about Judas and and why he was um not able to be transformed, even though he was you know in close proximity with Jesus, um, a lot of the the thoughts and comments have to do with the fact that where where Judas um Judas was from. So Judas was from a city known as Karyoth. I think I'm saying that right, or something like that. Karyoth, but it was a city in uh Judah, and we know Judah means praise, and so that in and of itself is interesting that Judas comes from a place of praise, but this particular area um was very political, and so unlike the other disciples who came from um other towns and things like that, that wasn't so political, um, some of the thoughts are that Judas, because he came from a political area, he had this idea of who Jesus should be, who the Messiah would be, that the Messiah would come in and basically overthrow Rome. You know, he would come in as a um a conqueror, if you will, you know, and overthrow the Roman government. And so when Jesus didn't do that, when he came in as gentle as a lamb and he came in talking about sacrifice and humility and meekness, that Judas was like, I'm not with that. You know, that that doesn't really um sit with my understanding of what the Messiah is going to do when he comes. Because again, you know, everybody had been waiting on the Messiah. Um, they had been waiting on this savior. And so a lot of you know, people had ideas of what that savior would look like, similar to, you know, uh how things are in our our country, you know, when it comes to government. You know, what what do we think the president should look like in terms of how he should behave, you know, what um agenda he should have, and what you know um things he should be be caring about, what his platform should be. We have ideas of what our leaders should look like, right? And so it's not it's not far-fetched that that the Jews would have had an idea of what their Messiah would look like. And so for many of them, Jesus did not look like who they thought he would be. You know, when they saw Jesus performing miracles, they were like, isn't that Joseph's son, the carpenter? Like, this isn't, he's not fitting the image of who we thought Jesus would be. And so a lot of commentaries believe that, again, that sort of um framework of what Judas thought Jesus would look like was influenced from you know the area that he came from. And a lot of that had to do with why his heart wasn't able to be um changed or why he sort of turned from Judas or from Jesus. Um we see when when Jesus goes to the house of um Mary and Martha, and Martha pours the oil on Jesus' feet, and Judas is like, we could have used that oil, you know, and sold it and fed the poor. Um and the and it goes on to explain that you know Judas really didn't care about feeding the poor. He was thinking, like, we could have sold that oil, and that would have meant more money in in the pot that I'm over, and I could have, you know, taken off a uh got me a little larger cut. And so even in that, we see that his heart was not, I mean, it was so far gone from from Jesus at that point that the next next time we we see things happening is like he's he's betraying Jesus. And so, how do you get from again being chosen, coming from a place of uh a place of praise where you're acknowledging God, you're acknowledging who he is, you come from that, but yet you end up being the very one who betrays his son. It's because your heart, your heart was never able to receive what you were teaching, what you were being taught, rather. And so, as I said, this is really a caution, Judas's life is really a caution to all of us to make sure that our heart stays in a place to where we can not only receive what we're hearing, but that the seeds that are being being planted in us can actually bear bear fruit. Um, you know, the Bible says that a that we will know them by their fruit, right? And so a lot of people are like, you know, only God can judge me. That's a Tupac lyric that's not in the Bible. If you are saying that you're a Christian and you're professing Jesus, you're people should be able to judge and say, like, oh, well, do you sound like him? Do you look like him? Do you act like him? Can would I know, would I ever know that you, that there was something different about you, that you were a follower of Christ based on how you live your life? And does that mean that we have to be perfect? Of course not, because we know that even Peter, who was, you know, one of uh the disciples who God says, you know, I whom I love, he ultimately denied Jesus, right? But he repented, right? And he continued the work of God, he continued to build the kingdom after that. Um, so it's not about being perfect. And I don't think that, you know, even with the life of Judas, it's like, again, had he come to Jesus and been like, I'm struggling with with this overwhelming desire to steal, like I've just I want to steal and I've been stealing. And that's why why that's why the money is looking a little low. Jesus's response, had he come in humility and repentance, would not have been to turn him away. He chose Judas, he chose him to be one of his disciples, to be one that he entrusted with his secrets and with, again, the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Um back to Matthew 13, it says, Um, for this nation's heart has grown gross, and their ears heavy and difficult of hearing, and their eyes have been tightly closed, lest they see and perceive with their eyes and hear and comprehend the sense with their eyes, and grasp and understand with their heart and turn, then I should hit should heal them. And this um this is the amplified version. Um But what Jesus is saying, what Jesus is saying here is that you know, this the nation who is talking about the Jews, you know, their hearts are their hearts are just dull. Um the soil of their heart has become such that the teachings and things that that Jesus is trying to give them, they can't even receive it. But there's redemption because he says, if they will see with their eyes, if they will hear and comprehend and understand with their heart and turn, that's an important part. Like if you are going to church every day, if you're doing all the Christian things, checking all the boxes of you know being a good Christian, but there's no turning, there's no repentance, there's no turning for the things that you're doing that you're struggling with. How can how can God heal you if if you yourself won't acknowledge what you're doing and then repent and turn? It's not just it's not enough to just say sorry, you know. Um I I use my kids as an example because really they they teach me so much. But um, you know, my son, he's like in this phase right now where everything he does, sorry, sorry. And he says it so much that I'm like, don't even say sorry no more because you're not sorry. I have to sit you down and explain to you what sorry means because you're just saying it at this point and there's no conviction behind it, right? You just oh, sorry, you're using it like you think it's a get out of jail, uh, get out of jail free card. It's not. If you're saying sorry, but you're but there's no repentance, there's no turning in your actions, then you're just saying words. And that's what Jesus is talking about here. That you know, if once the word is able to really have effect in your heart, there's going to be a turning, there's going to be a repentance. Um, and Jesus says, I, and then I will heal them. So again, it's not about being perfect, it's not about um never sinning, it's not about not having desires for things that are are wrong, right? Because the Bible says that um, you know, we are we're we're carried away by our own temptations, right? So basically there are things that are going to tempt us. Having the temptation itself isn't necessarily bad, it's what you do. Like, do you act on the temptation? You know, when you feel in like you want to steal, like Judas, you you actually do it, or do you remind yourself that no, I shouldn't be stealing, you know, I shouldn't be coveting things that belong to other people? Thou shalt not steal is one of the commandments, you know. I'm trying, I'm saying that I'm a Christian here. I need to be be living by um these standards that that God has given us. Um, you know, when you want to do other things that you know are wrong, like what is your what is your thought process? Is there a conviction there? And and then if you fall, is there repentance? And so, you know, what we can learn from Judas is that again, you know, being being in proximity to Jesus doesn't matter if your heart is not good ground to receive the correction, the teachings and things that that he's giving us. And in in these days, through you know, our pastors and teachers and things like that, um, if you're not if you're not being transformed on the inside, the fact that you go to church every every Sunday, it doesn't matter. And the fact that you, you know, do good things, do good deeds, it doesn't matter if your heart, if there's no fruit um of the life that you you say you live. And so let's not be Judas, let's not be like Judas, and let's not throw away all of the things that we we get from God that He gives us in terms of our giftings, you know, the knowledge, the secrets that He shares with us. You know, the Bible says that He shares the secrets with His friends, He gives us understanding. The only way and reason that we are unable to understand the Bible and to understand the things of God and the mysteries of God is because He gives that to us. He gives us that understanding. And so let's not let all that go to waste, let it not all um be for nothing. You know, Paul says that um he actually the actually says, I beat my body, meaning, you know, I I crucify my flesh so that after I've gone out and preached and done all these good things, you know, to bring other people into the kingdom of God, that I myself do not miss out. Because that's exactly what happened with Judas. He was going out, he was he was ordained, he was um empowered to teach, to heal, to set free, to deliver, to do all the things that Jesus was doing. And yet in the end, we only really know him as being someone who betrayed the Son of God. It doesn't matter how you lived if in the end you don't have anything to show for it. You don't have anything to show for all the, yeah, you you did some good stuff back then. Oh, yeah, you was you, oh, they were they were great in high school. They was da-da-da-da-da. But at the end of your days, what does that look like? We want to finish the race well, and so I want to encourage you to finish the race well. What is in your heart that you need to get right? What are the things that you think you're hiding from God? Those secret things that you're dealing with that you think God doesn't know about. He sees it, he knows it, he just hasn't called you out on it, and that's the mercy of God sometimes, right? That's the The mercy and grace of God that He doesn't always call us out on our stuff in front of other people, right? Because again, Jesus could have very well been like, Judas, what were you doing the other day with those coins? He didn't do that. He didn't say, He didn't say anything to him, at least from yeah, nobody nobody recorded an account of Jesus saying anything to Judas about stealing, but he knew it was happening. He knew that he was going to betray him. And so we have we have free will. You know, Jesus is not going, God is not going to overcome our will. Um but if we love him and if we serve him, then give him those things that are are inhibiting you from really maturing as a Christian, from really living out the life of a Christian. You know, I had to really examine myself, you know, and it's not just a one-time thing. Like you're examining yourself daily. You know, Paul says, I beat myself daily, right? And so your flesh is gonna want to do what it wants to do. And so you're going to have to constantly be evaluating and analyzing and and doing the the work of, you know, where are areas that I could get right, and even asking God, you know, where are areas that um I could could be better, you know, and he'll show you. And then once he shows you, the the um ball is now in your court to make that change, to to repent and actually turn from what you're doing. Um so I pray that we don't be Judas, right? Because look where he got him. So until next time, thanks for joining.