I'm Lydia and here we're just waiting for some people to join. It's been hardly to evening. I guess I'm sitting on the floor. How is everybody doing? How is everybody doing? What's everybody up to? Aside from watching the stream. How's everybody been? You can chat in the chat that over there. Chat that over there. I've personally had a day and a half in my water. How's your course going? It's going well. I'm working in groups about work is hard for me but it's part of the assignment so you've got to do what you have to do and if I want to go into the film industry I'm gonna have to get over this whole working in groups thing. You've got to do what you have to do and if I want to go into the film industry I'm gonna have to get over this whole working in groups thing.  I'm sorry that you got ill on your last year. I'm coming back after two years of deferring on a completely different course because the course I was originally doing they stopped doing that so I've had to move on to a different degree. Your mac or sleeps in unless plugged into power of course your mac or sleeps in unless plugged into power of course it will. Are you happy now that book? I have zero viewers. I'm doing the live stream today so the video means I've got another film. I'm currently going through a depressive upload. Maybe I should share it. Try and show it to her. I'm okay. How are you? It has been a long time. A very long time. I'm glad you're doing okay. For me this week it's been a blur. Are you black in London now? Yeah I am. Yeah that sounds good. Are you following the new account? I'll write it in the chat just in case. Is anyone got any questions? There's a hair or some video ideas that I've got why I stand by Lavender Oil.


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Jessica Russett from Fixed Securities is joining us. Jessica, great to see you there today. Just talk us through what we are seeing in the bond market because it certainly does get... You know, we've seen these geopolitical risks easing. How much is that flowing through to bonds right now? Hi, Leanne. Thanks for having me. That's right. So it seems that in the lead-up to Easter, we did see these geopolitical risks come through. We had a safe haven play. And at the moment, it seems to be more risk-on at the moment and there's less of demand for bonds at the moment. So we had the outcome of the US election over the weekend, or the referendum. There was also that failed North Korean missile as well. And so there is very much these tensions are easing and we had US Treasury bond yields higher. The 10-year was a basis point higher and that closed at 2.25%. And are we seeing Aussie yields following those US yields higher? Yeah, that's right. So they have also moved higher as well. So we had the Aussie government five and 10-year, two and three basis points higher, respectively. And we've got at the moment the five years is just over 2% and the 10 years is just over 2.5% at the moment. So they're coming off their lows for the month, which were just pre-Easter. So once again, those geopolitical risks, it was a safe haven just before Easter. And so now we're seeing that ease and they're moving higher as well. OK, excellent. The RBA board meeting minutes. Of course, they were in focus today. How much has that played into the market? Because obviously, high household debt concerns, inflation. There's a whole paragraph that are dedicated to their concerns around inflation. What was your view on those minutes and how did we see that the market reacting? Yeah, sure. So there actually wasn't too... Anything too surprising coming out of those minutes? There wasn't really that much different language or user rhetoric or anything along those lines. We have seen at the moment the Aussies come off just a little bit. We also have iron ore down at the moment. That could be a reaction to that as well. But I think at the moment, the RBA's hands are really quite tied with the housing at the moment, the overheating market in both Sydney and Melbourne. So really until that situation cools, I think they're very much limited in what they can do in terms of rate cuts at the moment. Speaking of rate cuts, well, of course, we talk about rate increases in the US, and it seems like the probability of a June Fed hike is decreasing. Seems like there's a few factors really working against US rate increases, not least of all, clarity on Trump's tax reform. Yeah, that's right. So there seems to be some factors that are actually out of the Fed's hands that are working against them. The possibility of a June hike is down to 47%, and that was from 60% over the month. And also in December as well, that's also the possibility of that down as well to 37% as well from 56%. So just looking at that, we can see that the market's losing confidence that they're actually going to go ahead with these rate increases. And part of that is due to, as you mentioned as well, the belief and the clarity that President Trump will be able to get these tax reforms and the infrastructure spending across the line. And also as well, we've had some weak data recently out of the US as well over the weekend. We had really poor CPI come in that was disappointing. And also the Fed has spoken about normalization of its balance sheet, where it will be shrinking its holdings. And so as a result of that, that's naturally going to see yields increase because of the less demand for these bonds.


This study examined the impact of various spatial structure elements on carbon emissions in the city of Chengdu. It found that the overall carbon emission efficiency was highest in the centre and lowest on the sides, due to differences in density, functional mix, land use, and traffic structure. Additionally, the impact of each element varied depending on the development stage of the area. Therefore, it is important to develop differentiated urban planning strategies based on the characteristics of the development of each zone. This article was authored by Qian Feng and Bo Zhu.


Here's a key to breaking free from sin. Is there a sinful habit from which you're struggling to break free? I can assure you that no matter how long you've dealt with this issue, you can be free. The Bible says, I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. The more of God's word that you receive, the stronger you'll become in overcoming temptation.


But today we're looking at Luke chapter 22. We're gonna be looking at the betrayal of the Lord Jesus Christ. I chose to entitle this particular installment for sale one savior, because that's what you see taking place here. You see Judas who's gonna sell out the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what we're gonna look at as we look at the first six verses in Luke chapter 22. Let's begin reading at verse one. I'll read to verse six and we'll get into our study for sale one savior. Now the feast of unleavened bread drew near which is called Passover and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill him for they feared the people. Then Satan entered Judas, surname to scariat, who was numbered among the 12. So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains how he might betray him to them. They were glad and agreed to give him money. So he promised and sought opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of the multitude. Now as it says here in verse one, the feast of unleavened bread drew near. Matthew when you cross references gives us a little more information. Matthew chapter 26 for those of you who keep notes it's found in verse two, Matthew 26 verse two. And he says that Jesus had said, you know that after two days as the Passover and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.  We need to remember something as we look at this. We need to remember that the Lord Jesus Christ in his ministry was always on his father's timetable. It wasn't something that he constructed for himself and it wasn't something that was constructed by man on his behalf. The timetable that the Lord Jesus Christ was on was his father's, it was his father's schedule. From the beginning of his ministry he was moving according to his father's plan. You see this all the way back in John's gospel in chapter two when the Lord Jesus Christ was there at the wedding feast of Cana of Galilean. And when his mother had approached him and had spoken to him and had said to him there, they have no wine and Jesus had responded and he had said in verse four of chapter two of the gospel of John, woman what does your concern have to do with me? My hour has not yet come. So from the very beginning of his ministry you can track this especially through the gospel of John. Jesus made it very clear that he was on his father's timetable. He was on his father's schedule. John again in chapter seven repeats this in verse 30 when it says they sought to take him but no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. So Jesus was on his father's timetable. Well now the hour has come and he's ready to lay down his life according to the plan of his father. Again, man isn't deciding when he's going to die. His father had made that decision on his behalf. When you study John's gospel in chapter 13 at verse one it says before the feast of the Passover when Jesus knew that his hour had come he said he should depart from this world to the father having loved his own who were in the world he loved them to the end. And so he knows that his hour has come and it's time for him to go back to the father. All through his ministry Jesus has made it clear he has specifically stated that he was to die as a substitute as a sin substitute and the Bible makes it clear that he came to voluntarily lay down his life. He did that in order that he might redeem and in order that he might save man. He did not do that to start some new philosophy. He did that for salvation. One of the things that the Holy Spirit has been really pressuring my heart about is interesting because this upcoming Saturday at the men's conference each one of us who are speaking receives a topic to share on and my topic is being filled with the spirit. And so it's something that's fresh in my heart. It's something that's fresh in my mind and it's something fresh in my experience because I have to tell you something has taken place in the last 38 years of my walk with the Lord that is very evident and that is very simply put that people are beginning to substitute head knowledge for knowledge of God in the deep spiritual way. And even those of us who were part of Calvary Chapel Ministries that are world famous, churches like ours are world famous and you may or may not know this perhaps you do in the event that you don't. Calvary Chapel is world famous for being a movement of people who walk in the spirit and who love the word of God. They may not register with you or cause a reaction within you but that's the truth. When I first got saved I was part of what was called the Jesus movement and everything related to what we were doing was Jesus Christ, everything. That's why we were called Jesus freaks. That's why we're called Jesus people. That's why it was called Jesus music. There was no such thing as contemporary Christian music. That was something that was invented by people. It wasn't something that was started by Spirit-filled Christians who said, listen, we're gonna make this the number one worship song. For me, to be honest with you, I still have a real difficult time with that and maybe it's cause I'm just an old goat. I don't know but I think about it and I say how can you have a chart that says this is the best song for worshiping Jesus and yet we do and we have awards called double awards now and we have big productions so that we can make people who are supposed to be humbly worshiping God into superstars. It's really gotten backwards as far as I can see. It's really much of it I have to confess is very worldly. The attitude is very worldly. I get all the time I have people writing me letters and emails now that I have an email address on my webpage I get personal emails where people wanna come out and wanna do music and they ask for things like I just recently some group was saying, we'd like to come out and it's gonna cost you X amount of dollars and if you have me I wanna have this kind of water and it's just an amazing thing. I'll give you some water.  You gotta be kidding me. Come on, come on. Give you a glass of water from the tap.  That's what I drink. You can do it too. Anyway, I'm in a feisty mood, forgive me. But I think about it. This is something to think about. I need the Holy Spirit working in my life and Christianity is not simply a philosophy in a sense of like Socrates had philosophy Aristotle had a philosophy and a variety of thinkers through history had philosophies. You know, it isn't like that at all. Christianity is a way of life that is energized by the power of the Holy Spirit and it's a way of life that is connected to God through Jesus Christ who laid his life down for me. And if I don't embrace and realize that, then it's all a sham, it's all just pretend. If I don't hunger and thirst after righteousness, if I don't have a desire for the things of God, if I don't wanna walk worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ, then it's all just a game. It's not real. It's not real. But when you say, oh Lord, fill me with your spirit like the thirsty deer pants after the waterbrooks, so panted my soul after thee, oh Lord.  That all comes not by just playing church. It doesn't come because I went through some religious ritual that all comes because I'm connected to God. It comes because I've got a relationship with God through the Son, Jesus Christ. And so Jesus made it clear all through his ministry from the beginning to the very end that he was gonna lay his life down voluntarily for us. He was gonna pay a price that we couldn't pay. God's demand for me, if I'm to enter into his kingdom and if I'm to have fellowship with him, his demand for me is perfection. In my sinfulness, there's no way that I can have fellowship with God. He has to make it possible for that to take place and he does that, he does that through his son, Jesus Christ, who came and kept his father's, his father's law, his commands perfectly, something I can't do. He laid his life down for me. In John, in chapter 10, verse 17, Jesus said it this way. He said, my father loves me because I laid down my life that I may take it again. And so we know that the Lord Jesus Christ laid his life down voluntarily for us. And this is what we're looking at here as we are gonna be examining verse by verse Luke chapter 22. So again, notice in verse one how he says, the feast of unleavened bread, drew near, which is called Passover. Passover is the feast that is celebrated in remembrance of Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage. It's found as it has been inaugurated in the Old Testament book of Exodus in chapter 12. And during this time in Passover, a lamb would be slain. It would be eaten on the 14th day of the month of Nisan which is the first month of the Jewish year. And it would be done so in memory of the day on which their fathers, preparing to depart from Egypt, were commanded by God to slay and eat a lamb and to sprinkle their door posts with its blood that the destroying angels seeing the blood might pass over their dwellings. Now the feast of unleavened bread, well when you look at that, Passover lasted only one day, but it was immediately followed by the seven days of unleavened bread. And so Passover and the feast of unleavened bread would be combined into an eight day feast. The eight days were called Passover. Sometimes it was referred to as the feast or days of unleavened bread. And that's what we're looking at here. Now Passover is the normal time when sacrificial lambs are slain. That Passover is intended to point us in what is called a type is to point us to Jesus Christ. That's what Passover is for, the blood that is placed over the door posts, the lamb that is slain and the conditions of that lamb and all of that is a picture of Jesus. In John in chapter one verse 29, we read the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world in reference to Jesus Christ. And so he laid his life down for us and he poured out his blood for us in order that we might be redeemed. Now Peter said it this way, you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. And so Jesus Christ fulfills the type that pass over a lamb, Jesus fulfills that and he is that lamb of God who taken away the sin of the world and that blood that was placed on the door posts that was to ward off if you will or to keep the angel of death from entering into that house.  And so this is the season when the lamb is being slain and obviously Jesus in fulfillment of that is about to be taken and crucified and that's the picture here. So he tells us that the feast of unleavened bread drew near which is called Passover. Verse two, the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill him for they feared the people. This is a secret meeting that they're having. A secret meeting of the Jewish High Council referred to as the Sanhedrin. Matthew talking about the same event records in Matthew 26 verses three and four that the chief priests, the scribes and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest who was called Caiaphas and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill him. So they're plotting to take the Lord Jesus Christ. They wanna do so through deception. They wanna somehow see if they can trick him into being taken captive. It reminds me of Psalm two when it says in verses one through three, why did the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves. The rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying, let us break their bonds and pieces and cast away their cords from us. That's what's taking place there. They're plotting together.  You see, after Jesus had raised his friend Lazarus from the dead, Caiaphas began to plot his death. If you take notes, John records in chapter 11 verses 47 through 50, a meeting that took place. And in that passage it says, the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. What are we accomplishing, they asked. Here's this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. Then one of them named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up. You know nothing at all. You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than the whole nation perish. Now, he wasn't saying Jesus is the Lamb of God who take away the sin of the world. He wasn't saying that he was voluntarily laying his life down so that that Caiaphas and the rest of those in the room would be redeemed. He wasn't saying that at all. He was simply saying, look it, I'm worried about my place in society. I have a great job, a great position, if you will. A lot of people respect me. I live in a palace, I live very well. I don't wanna leave that, I don't wanna lose that and that's gonna take place because people see Jesus Christ as some radical revolutionary here and he's stirring up this nation and the Romans are gonna get upset and we've gotta do something about it so it's better to sacrifice one guy than to lose everybody and that's really what he's saying there. Now, the question has to be asked and I wanna develop this and take a couple moments to do this. The question has to be asked, what motivated Jesus being turned over to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate? Well, we find the answer in Mark 15 verse 10. What was the motivation?  We read that he was concerned because everyone will believe in him but what was motivating this? Well, according to Mark 15 verse 10, Pilate knew that the chief priests had handed Jesus over because of envy. Because of envy. Envy, that's almost a virtue today but it was the motivating sin that God Jesus crucified, envy. What is envy? I mean, I have to define it. Envy is a resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage. A resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage. Envy. He has something that I want and I think I deserve that. I'm entitled to that. If he worked hard, you know, he got up early, worked all day, stayed late, didn't miss work, began to rise up through that company from being the guy who used to deliver things to being the guy who's managing things to being the guy who's now the vice president, to becoming the guy who's the president, to becoming the guy who becomes a shareholder, to become the guy, the CEO. Well, I think that I should get what he has even if I haven't worked as hard as he has. I should have what she has. Even if I haven't gone to college, even if I haven't sacrificed, even if I haven't studied, I ought to have what they have. That's called envy and our nation is filled with it. It's filled with it. Now, there's a difference between a healthy ambition which simply can be a desire to do the best that you have because what you've been given to you has been given to you by God and therefore I want to do the best that I can with the gifts that he's given to me and I give all glory to him for any advances that I might have, any advantages I might gain. Not because I desire to be known but simply because I want to do all things as unto the Lord Jesus Christ and there's a difference between that and then being able to gain things because of diligence and because God is simply blessing you. Not done out of greed so much as with the proper attitude of saying, listen, I've received certain gifts and I just want to use them to the full. I strongly believe that quite a number of people are very much, what's the word, satisfied with less than they can do, just kind of coasting or getting through. You know, as long as it's not too much of a challenge, I'm fine with that. Sometimes contentment is not truly contentment at all. It sometimes is apathy. It sometimes is laziness. It's sometimes just a lack of motivation. There's quite a number of people like that today, of course, always have been people like that. I used to tell my kids whatever your hand stretches forth to do, do with all your might. Whatever it is, you know, whatever it may be, do all as unto the Lord, whatever it may be. I still tell them that. Just do it as unto the Lord, you know, whatever it may be. If it's going to school study, if it's working your job, work hard. Be the best employee on the job. Be the best student in the class. Be the best that you can be. You may not be the smartest guy, but you might be a good and hard worker and do the best that you can. I think there's nobility in that. I think that that's the way America became great. And that's most certainly how God blesses us in many ways. We simply do all that we can for his glory. But then again, there's the one with the envy.  And I'm willing to do almost anything to get it. And that's what God Jesus delivered, this resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by somebody else. And this great desire to have whatever it is that they have. And that's what they wanted. And that's what motivated these people to betray Christ into the hands of, into Pilate, in order that Pilate might have him put to death. In Proverbs 14, verse 30, the Bible says, a sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones. God help us. God help us as believers to be very careful that we don't yield to the temptation to become envious of our neighbors. You know, there's an old saying, I learned it in one of my classes. We know the first portion of this saying, one of my professors said this. He said, you know that saying envy loves company, rather misery loves company, misery loves company. He said, that's not true. And I thought, what do you mean? Misery loves company. That's an old saying. He says, no, misery loves miserable company. Because if misery liked company, if somebody was happy sitting next to misery, misery would be upset because that guy's happy. Now what will make a miserable person happy is another miserable person next to him. And in a sense, there's probably some truth to that. You know, how do you feel?   Do you ever wake up grumpy? I used to, now she just sleeps in, you know, but she's not here. Well, she is, but she'll forgive me. Actually, I'm the grumpy one, that's the truth. But the bottom line is we need to be aware of the fact that there are certain things that are extremely serious. In this particular case here, these chief priests and these scribes are desiring to kill Jesus Christ and they're looking for a way to do it and the reason they want to do it is because there's envy in their heart. But notice in verse two how it says, they desired to kill him, but they feared the people. They wanted to kill him, but they were afraid to. Mark in chapter 14 tells us that they said, not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people. This is a fact, Jesus was extremely popular and he posed a great threat to the religious authorities. On one occasion, and because Jesus' popularity was growing so enormously, it's recorded in John 7 at verse 32, on one occasion the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him. They wanted him arrested, so they send the officers that were assigned to them. They were actually what were called temple officers and all it was like their own police force and they sent these officers to take him. But in John 7.45 it says, the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them, why have you not brought him? And the officers answered, no man ever spoke like this man. He was incredibly popular. Mark tells us the common people heard him gladly and so they are concerned, these people are concerned about how people will react if he is openly arrested. He had just entered into the city to people praising him and crying out Hosanna and he was a tremendously popular figure and all and so they're asking amongst themselves, how is it that we're gonna be able to take him? We hope to do so secretly because we don't wanna stir up the people because they'll riot. And so what happens? Verse three, Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot who was numbered among the 12, so he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains how he might betray him to them. They were glad and agreed to give him money. So he promised and sought opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of the multitude. And so what happens is the need for the authorities for the opportunity to arrest Jesus was met by the treachery of Judas. And I want you to notice here, Satan entered Judas and so his treachery is the direct result of Satan influencing and possessing him. You see in John's Gospel chapter 13 verse two, it says the devil put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him. As a kind of a side note, it would seem Satan actually possessed him but he did so on two occasions. He does so here even as we read in verse three, Satan entered Judas. And so we have it here when Judas goes out to form an alliance with the religious authorities but you also see this in John 13 verse 27 at the last supper when he goes out, when Judas goes out to complete the agreement because in John 13, 27 it reads after the piece of bread Satan entered him and Jesus said to him, what you do, do quickly. And so he is taken by Satan. Now this doesn't clear him of any fault on his own. I mean you can read this and say, well look at, he betrayed him because Satan possessed him. Satan found a willing accomplice. Judas of all people in history had the greatest advantages, advantages that you and I don't possess. He walked with the Lord Jesus Christ as an apostle. Jesus gave to him words that aren't recorded in scripture, things that were given simply to his inner circle of man. He was highly regarded by the other apostles. He had advantages that you and I don't possess. Jesus gave to him authority. He would go out and preach with the other apostles. He went out and performed miracles with the other apostles. This is somebody who had first hand experience with Jesus in ways that we only read about. He was there for so many miracles where Jesus three times raised dead people to life. He was there when Jesus would walk on water. He multiplied the fish and the loaves. He was there for so many of these miracles that we see recorded. This is one who could be next to Jesus Christ and speak to him at a campfire and ask him any question that was on his heart and get a solid answer from God himself. Think about that for a minute. Sometimes we say poor old Judas. No, it wasn't poor old Judas. Judas was a betrayer. His heart was in complete agreement with Satan. And what makes it interesting, I want you to see this, and it makes it worse, is that Luke makes it clear, Judas, and I want you to see how he says it, Judas was numbered among the 12. That tells us how deep this is. So you see, this is not an obvious enemy. We know that the Jewish religious authorities who had rejected him, they most definitely are obvious enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ. And these are people who are very openly in opposition and are very openly antagonistic towards him. I mean, they would approach him, they would argue with him. We have seen it through the Gospel of Luke as we've studied verse by verse through it. How many times they would be trying to catch him out of his words. They were trying to find some accusation. They could let, these were people who were 100% in opposition. They were enemies. They wanted him dead. There's no doubt about that. And Judas would be there with the others when Jesus would be speaking to these religious authorities. And he stood there as if he was one of Jesus' friends. Judas would go with Jesus when he celebrated festivals, religious holidays. Judas was there in ways that nobody else had been. And that's why, though he appeared to be a friend, he was simply a betrayer. The Psalmist in Psalm 41, verse nine, writes, even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. Who ate my bread? I have friends and I have acquaintances. I have friends who come over our house and Marie makes them a great meal. We sit at the dinner table and we talk for hours, drink coffee, have dessert, have more dessert. You have friends like that, special friends. Friends that you love so much that your kids, though not blood related, grow up calling them aunt and uncle. You know, aunt Jeanette, uncle Randy, dear friends, not blood, no way really an uncle or an aunt, but they are in many ways and they're called that. Some of you have that, we have that. They're so close, they're like blood. They're like brothers, they're like sisters. And you make them a meal and you serve them. And they're the ones that you laugh with and share memories with and hang around with and take vacations with.  When I was going through a series of losing my memory, I lost my memory on three different occasions. On one occasion I had lost my memory and this is a few years ago now and I was sitting in my front room and there's a knock on the door and door opens up, Marie opens up the door and in comes Mike Callahan and in comes Randy Walls and come and sit there across from me looking at me and that look of concern in their face. Randy especially, those are friends, those are friends. Friends that you have sat down and eaten with friends that you drink coffee with, friends that you've known for many years. Randy and I have been best friends for 27 years. It's a long time, almost 28. It's a long time to know somebody. He remembers Marie pregnant with my baby Anna. He remembers Joseph as an infant. Goes back that far, right? You've got friends like that, don't you?  You look at pictures of things in the background, you look at them and you say, man, that was 20 years ago. You got ugly, didn't you?  You know, when did you get white hair? You remember when you used to have hair?  Friends, put yourself in this place for a minute. I'm trying to draw a picture for you to see that. This wasn't an enemy. This was not somebody that you would have normally said, well, of course he betrayed Christ. This was Judas. This was his friend, his close friend. In Psalm 55 verses 12 through 14, the psalmist said, it's not an enemy who reproaches me. Then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me, who has exalted himself against me. Then I could hide from him. But it was you, a man, my equal, my companion, and my acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, walked to the house of God in the throng. It was you. You ever say that? You ever feel that? I have, have you? Said it was, listen, if it's an enemy, I expect that. If it's someone who hates me, expect that. I'm not surprised that that guy hates me. Why wouldn't he say that about me? Why wouldn't he dislike me? He hates me. He's my enemy. I mean, what am I supposed to do? But it's not like that. It's you. We fellowshiped together. We went to church together. We enjoyed the presence of God together. It's you.  That's what Judas is doing. And that's what hurts. We're hurt by the ones we love the most. And he was numbered among the 12. Now, when it says, by the way, this is just a sidelight, Judas surnamed Iscariot. Most of you already know this. I have mentioned this to you, but perhaps some don't know this. Iscariot is not his last name. Sometimes you see that. Judas Iscariot, you think Judas. Is this his first name Iscariot? Is this his last? You've got your first. You've got your last name. Iscariot is Ischkariot in Hebrew. In Hebrew, Isch is the word for man. Kariot is a city. So this is Judas. The man of Kariot is what his name is. He's from the city. So this is a way of identifying him. Incidentally, out of the 12 apostles, 11 of them were from the north. Only one was from the southern area of Israel, and that is Judas. Judas was unlike the other 11. He was a man from another place. Judas Iscariot. And so what happens? Well, verse four, he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains how he might betray him to them. And they were glad and agreed to give him money. So he promised and sought opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of the multitude. So he goes to speak to the chief priests because they have official authority. Here's something to think about for just a moment. Why? Judas, why did you, why did you betray Jesus? You know, theologians have speculated over the years, over the centuries really. Why? What motivated him? Do you know that there are some who actually postulate that he turned Jesus in to the Jewish authorities because he wanted to force his hand? Some have said, they wanted, they say that Judas wanted to force Jesus to exert his authority and demonstrate himself to be Messiah through the power that it would require for him to save his life. That's just not true, but there are theologians who have postulated that. The more likely answer is a more simple one. Judas, more than likely, betrayed Jesus simply out of avaricious greed. It's interesting, but when you look at the other gospels, when you look at Matthew chapter 26 verses six through 13 or Mark chapter 14 verses four through nine and you look at John chapter 12 verses one through eight, all of them insert in this particular portion of scripture the time that Jesus was anointed by Mary of Bethany. And you know the story, Jesus is there, she comes in, she anoints him with the very costly oil, oil of spikernard, and as Judas sees her come in with that very costly perfume, he begins to calculate the value of it. And he even says something, he says, this perfume, well one, why are you wasting it? This perfume could have been sold for 300 denarii, for 300 days wages, and the money could have been given to the poor. Now that's what Judas says, and when he is saying that, he actually stirred up the other apostles who came into agreement with him, thinking that worshiping Jesus Christ is a waste. Think about that one for a minute, because there are people that would tell you, you're giving your gifts to the Lord, your financial gifts to the Lord, you're wasting your money. That's the spirit of Judas. That's what Judas said. He said, why was this not sold? This is a waste, is the way he put it. He was upset. Now why were you so upset, Judas? Well, I want to couch my avarice, I want to couch my greed with religious talk. But John tells us in chapter 12 verse six of his gospel, Judas was a thief. He had the money box, and he used to take what was put in it. And what he did is he calculated that instantly, he was the treasurer, he calculated the value of that, and he thought, that is so much money, I could have, I could have ripped some off, and they wouldn't even know how much I had. I could use it whenever I wanted. When my kids were small, I had, I still do, I would save change. You know, I put it in a little jar. And I noticed that it was, I was missing some change. So I asked the most likely person, Marie? Have you been using the change? No, not a long story made short, one of my kids said, you know, well, there's so much change in there, my goodness. I mean, what's the big deal, right? So no, no, no, no, you don't do that, you don't take from that. There's a lot of nickels and quarters in this jar. Who's gonna know? And that's kind of how he was. Who's gonna know? And man, he's just calculating in his mind.  I could be spending it on whatever I want and nobody'd know. So what does he do? He couches it in religious language. But John says, no, he didn't care for the poor. He was a thief. And so what happened is he stirred up the apostles. And when he did that, Jesus openly rebuked him. And that's why he immediately went to betray him. And Jesus in John, rather in Luke, in Luke chapter 16 verse 13 said, no servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he'll be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. You can't serve two. You can't have two master passions. You cannot be an angels fan and a Dodgers fan simultaneously.  Both? No, you can't. You can't have both. And that's just common sense. And that's the whole point. So you have to make a choice. And so he's made his choice. He's made a choice to worship money. And so what happens is he wants to sell out Jesus Christ. He goes there in verse four and he confers with them how he might betray them. Betray him to him. And so verse five, they were glad and they agreed to give him money. They promised and sought opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of the multitude. And so they agreed to give him some money. So he got his money. It would seem that greed drove him to betray the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 26 verse 15 records that Judas asked them, what are you willing to give me if I deliver him to you? And they counted out to him 30 pieces of silver. That's what it costs for sale one savior. What will you give me for him? What are you willing to give me? We will give you 30 pieces of silver. Well, 30 pieces of silver is the value of a slave. Exodus 21 verse 32 reads, if a bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay 30 shekels of silver to the master of the slave and the bull must be killed. It must be stoned to death. 30 pieces of silver, that's how much value Jesus had. So what's he doing? He promises to betray him. In this particular agreement, both parties are satisfied. Judas gets his money. The authorities get Jesus without a problem. But this also answers the question that Jesus asks in Mark chapter eight, verse 37, when he asks the question, what would a man give in exchange for his soul? How much is your soul worth, Judas? And Judas's answer, 30 pieces of silver. It's amazing how we sell ourselves out cheaply. What's eternity? The loss of eternity worth? I don't wanna stop drinking. I don't wanna stop the life that I'm living. I know I'm miserable, but I just don't wanna stop it. We claim, well, we just can't help ourselves and that's probably true to some degree, cause you can't. The Christian life is not a hard life to live, guys. It's an impossible life to live without the power of the Holy Spirit.  So you got a problem if you don't have him. For Judas, for Judas, I want what I can have right now. I'd rather have 30 pieces of silver than fellowship with God. I'd rather have 30 pieces of silver than heaven. I'd rather have a little money in my pocket than eternity. I'd rather have that. So I'll sell out my relationship with God for pocket change. And my value of the Lord? There is no value. There's no value in my heart towards him at all. That was Judas. And what he did is he made a choice. He made a choice to betray Jesus into the hands of the authorities. He got what he wanted. He got his money. They got what they wanted. They got Jesus Christ. And they did it through a friend.  You name mean dogs, Judas.  His name shall be Judas. I don't think so. I don't think so. Judas Jr., I don't think so. That's not a name we give to our kids because that is a name that every person in a Christian nation knows. It's a name you would never give to anybody because to be called a Judas is one of the worst things that you can be called because that Judas is a betrayer. It's like the story of that guy in Israel watching as a man is leading some sheep. But in front, it's a goat. And the sheep are following that goat. So he asks, where are they going? And the man says they're going to the butcher. Well, why are they following that goat? He says, you don't know what that goat is called? That goat is called a Judas goat because he's leading them to their slaughter. That's where the name, that's the power of that name. A Judas goat, betrayer, seller out of God himself. None of us want to be called a Judas. So we take lessons from him and we say, Lord, what would it profit me if I gained the whole world and lost my soul? What would I give in exchange for my soul? No, Lord, I'm not willing to sell out. I'm going to remain strong with you.