I wrote this about 3 years ago when I'd thought God had called me to preach. Though now I don't believe he has (call it youthful zeal, probably too much youth and too little zeal) I really did feel led of God writing it. Its long but in my humble opinion worth reading.
Man the Betrayer
ISAIAH 33:1
Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! When thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
This verse was written during the time of rebuke and correction in Isaiah’s ministry, before “Comfort ye, comfort ye” was penned in chapter 40. As a nation Israel has displeased God, they had spoiled the blessing of God, having consumed them in their lusts. They dealt treacherously, betraying a God who had cared for them. Look back one chapter to Isaiah 32:6-7
6 For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
7 The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.
though this is a prophetic scripture Israel had done all these things.
The Lord Jehovah, who wanted nothing more than to bless Israel and multiply them, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey had been repented of, turned from, and his mercy and love betrayed.
The sin of betrayal, brethren, is a serious one, and as benefactors of Christ’s blood it is our duty and should be our desire never to be guilty of betrayal toward our Lord.
To better understand how this can be accomplished lets first look at the beginning of betrayal.
We have in Isaiah recorded for us the account of what occurred when Lucifer first betrayed God and fell from Grace. Isaiah 14:12-14:
12 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which dist weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend unto heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most high.
God created all angels for the purpose of serving him and for praising his holiness. When Satan fell Revelation 12:4 says that he drew “the third part of the stars” with him probably with the same subtle tongue he used to draw Eve away. John 8:44 says that Satan has been a murderer and a liar from the beginning, no doubt Christ was remembering, among many things, this event, this betrayal. Satan betrayed the God that loved him and created him but he also betrayed that third part of the angels who followed him, paying counterfeit promises all the way.
Here in Isaiah we have the first ever act of betrayal in history.
Betrayal has often been regarded as one of the worst offences a person can commit. For what it’s worth Dante, an ancient author, wrote a book in which he was (absurdly) led on a tour through all the levels of hell.
Upon reaching the deepest part of hell where the torment was the worst, Dante discovered that it contained Satan his angels and all those who where guilty of betrayal including Judas of course, Brutus and many others from through out the ages.
Of course the bible teaches us that Sin is sin and the lake of fire is going to be just as intolerable on one end as on the other but we can see here that the sin of betrayal is one that is deeply despised and intolerable even to fallen man. The punishment in militaries both modern and ancient for betrayal is death. A traitor to Rome wasn’t just killed, they where crucified, a process that we are all familiar with and as we know could last days.
I want to ask you tonight if you can think of a time in your life when you were betrayed. When you placed your trust in a person to keep a secret or just to be on your side and they maliciously did the opposite. If you can it’s still painful to think on.
Well When God is betrayed, Christian; it is painful for him just as it is for us.
Histories second act of betrayal was worse that the first because of who it was that betrayed God, and what that meant for the new creation. Go to Genesis 3 and we’ll see man’s betrayal.
1¶ Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 ¶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 ¶ And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 ¶ And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
When God created mankind he wanted us to be in perfect fellowship with him, he created us so he could love us and so we could love him back. Creation as God intended it was very good the bible says. But it didn’t last. Eve knew what God had said about the tree in the midst of the garden but still she chose to turn away from God. Adam was right there with her and he chose the same. Furthermore we can see in verse 12 Adam tries to blame his wife saying “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” Make no mistake you who are before me tonight that we are the children of this error; we are turncoats, defectors, and betrayers, every one. It’s in our blood and in our nature to sin and try to hide from God as Adam and his wife did that day.
Betrayal is a big deal to God, and if you can imagine, he doesn’t like to see you wearing the other teams colors one bit, especially if you are saved.
“How does one betray God?” you may be thinking, "I never go hand out Satan worshiper tracks or sacrifice animals or anything weird like that." The answer is the same today that it was in the Garden many thousands of years ago, it’s the same to the child of God and to the lost man. The Answer is SIN! SIN IS BETRAYAL.
Hebrews 10:26-31.
26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
28 He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
We will be held accountable for every time we bent the knee to the will of Satan. If you are lost here today then you need to pay special attention to verse 31 “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
I would like to call you attention to the fact that in the beginning we were on Gods side. He made us for his pleasure and to live in and tend the Garden of Eden. To be lost, especially if you’ve rejected the Gospel you are troding underfoot the blood of Christ, counting it an unholy thing. I must ask you lost person, lost children. Is the precious blood of Jesus not worthy to be saved by? Ask yourself that because if you choose to remain lost, make no mistake it is a choice, and that fiery indignation is saved up for you. Its like lighting a match, you either choose to light it, choose to be saved. Or you choose to stand there in defiance and betrayal toward our merciful father. The clock is ticking, if you die without Jesus you're spiting in his face. Then you’ll burn and burn and burn and burn and wish you’d repented.
For you who are saved here today praise God that you have no more need to fear hellfire but be wary nonetheless because it is still very possible for you to commit the sin of betrayal both to God and to man. Young people when you nurse infatuations for the opposite sex you are betraying your future spouse. Married people, when you look too long and too fondly you work the same destruction. When you fudge a little on the time card, when you don’t take stands out of fatigue, when you are inconsistent with your children, its betrayal. Many saved people have played the turn coat and it has wrought destruction and misery in their lives.
Go with me to II Samuel Chapter 11. We all know the story of King David and his sin with Bathsheba. How David failed to go to war with his men and subsequently sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheba. She became pregnant by him and David attempted to conceal it by calling her husband Uriah the Hittite back from the field and trying to get him to sleep with her which he wouldn’t do because his men where still at war. Uriah had spent the night outside the city walls. David finally said he could go but that he needed to take a letter back to Joab his commander.
After Joab read the letter he told Uriah that he was to go where the fighting was the most intense, near a wall where there were bowmen. Uriah was no ordinary soldier you see
1st Chronicles 11 mentions Uriah in a list of especially valiant men, nevertheless this wall is where Uriah the Hittite died. His men suddenly pulled back he was left exposed and he died having his body pierced by arrows. Its just speculation but I imagine Uriah died wondering what was written in that letter.
14 ¶ And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.
16 And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were.
17 And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also.
24 And the shooters shot from off the wall upon thy servants; and some of the king's servants be dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.
King David betrayed his servant Uriah.
David knew this man, I’m not saying they where best friends by any means but Uriah was with him for at least one of his campaigns against the philistines. I’d be willing to bet that Uriah did the kings bidding that day without a moment’s hesitation. Uriah probably thought the king was trying to bring him some special glory by trusting him to be where the fighting was the hottest.
Everything about the event recorded in II Samuel 11 is a betrayal. The Great King David, the man after God’s own heart, turned his back on God, on Uriah, on Bathsheba, on his child, and on his kingdom, and it tore his life apart. Tamar his daughter was raped by one of his sons shortly after, two children of his died, Absalom and the one by Bathsheba. David’s kingdom was also split by civil war.
When we betray God we always betray our best interest. If you betray God unto the damnation of your soul then the penalties are obvious. But even in out personal lives if we run from God we cheat our selves. Look at our Pastor.
He’s told us on many occasions that there was a time he was running from God after being called to preach. I look at him and I see a man who is in the center of God’s will for his life. He is pastoring a church that he loves. He is living in Alaska which he loves. He loves his wife and his kids. But where would he be now if he had continued in his betrayal? Who knows. Who cares?! because he’s here and I don’t think he’s going anywhere.
In order to us to keep from fulfilling our nature unto the betrayal of God I want to put us all in remembrance once again of the forces and devices in our lives that are going to betray US in an attempt to serve their ends and draw us away from God. We must know our enemies.
1) The first is one that we have already looked at tonight. SATAN, he’s been a liar and a murderer from the beginning right? We all should know what 1st Peter 5:8 says already.
Be sober, be vigilant because you adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.
My parents as baha’is don’t believe in Satan, and the end of this belief is there destruction. The French Poet Named Charles Baudelaire said “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn’t exist.” Satan is real, and his aim is to steal Glory from our God and to bring our lives and testimonies to ruin. When we, as James penned, are drawn away of our own lust, and enticed we must remember that if we sin it glorifies Satan in our lives. Our actions show who we love and who our master is much more than our words do.
Praise God that if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
James 4:7 says Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you. If you don’t want Satan to win in your life, if you don’t want to be a vessel for him then follow these words. SUBMIT TO GOD, RESIST THE DEVIL. This is a two step process that we can take to the bank.
2) The second great enemy we face in our lives is the world. Go with me to 2nd Corinthians chapter 6.
14Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. 18And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
The LORD Jehovah wants you, as an individual, to be his son or his daughter. If this is what we want then we must follow the command given. God wants us to lead Separated, holy lives.
I have heard the world described as “the force of collective sin of the people.” When you live among many people there is pull, a herd instinct that drives everyone to do the same thing, to fit in. If you add sin to this phenomenon then you get a real mess.
Make no mistake that we must fight this force not to hold ourselves from the world’s lines because they change but to hold ourselves to Gods lines because they don’t. The world hates this, every time you turn down a beer or an invitation or a job opportunity that would conflict with church the lost person is irked. They know that there is a God and that they are out of phase with him and they will hate you for reminding them of it.
John 7:7 “The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.”
Jesus said in John 15:19: “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”
1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
The world is ever changing, what it decides is acceptable changes by culture and by time period. That is why it is imperative that we not just keep our distance from the world but that we trust the scripture to show us what is black and what is white.
In the movie Gladiator the General Maximus had some important words for the cavalry regiment. He shouted “hold the line, stay with me” as the horsemen charged. If in our service we fail to do this then we are combat ineffective. We must hold the line and stay with Christ. An unorganized force is easily confused and picked off. This is part of why we won the revolutionary war; we targeted British officers, separating the troops from their commander. It works the same with us; if anything can separate us from Christ then it is only a matter of time before death takes us.
So how do we defeat the influence of the world?
Galatians 6:14
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” What happens when you crucify something? It dies; shamefully.
Crucifying the world unto yourself means that you quit caring about the things of world and regard it as dead. If something is going to come to dust, it should be regarded as dust. It also means that we die to the world, do dead men try to please others?
What it means to crucify yourself unto the world is that you kill your little image as “the cool guy who happens not to cuss” or “the pretty girl who happens to wear dresses a lot.” If the only difference you make between you and the lost people you work around is that you don’t cuss or you wear dresses then shame on you. If we are as concerned about our popularity as dead men then we’ll have no problem confronting the lost world with the law and their need of a savior.
3) Finally the last of the great enemies is found in the last place we’d want to find an enemy. Our own flesh is the third element in this unholy trinity.
Go with me to Romans 7:23. We see here that Paul says that in his body there is a war happening. “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”
The bible has a lot to say about our flesh and the doctrine of total depravity.
Romans 7:18: For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing…
Galatians 5:17: For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
1st Corinthians 9:26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 27But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
1st Peter 2:11: Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
We’ve been talking about traitors. And it should cause us to fear with great sobriety of spirit that with in the temple of our body there is a Judas. We must be vigilant over our selves because our natural person is evil.
I ancient days when people built strong tall castles to stay safe the only way to take one of these castles was to surround it, cutting off its supply lines and starving it. The way the siege of a castle is portrayed in books and movies is a lot more exciting that the reality, there was a lot of waiting involved. However, if you wanted to take a castle quickly you must have a man on the inside. It only takes one traitor in the castle to open the gates at night and let the enemy come pouring in.
Our flesh is like a castle with a traitor inside who we cannot see. The only way to keep him from opening the gate is to keep the word of God close at all times, so that when he acts we can see it and resist it.
Recall a sermon preached by Bro. Noah. He said “If you have run out of battles to fight then I go so far as to say that if you’re not being challenged to give up something of your self in your life then you are not serving Christ like you could.” Wordy but true ; )
The devil must be resisted, the world must be crucified, and the flesh must be fought. Know your enemy.
Now I speak to the lost people, and to the lost children of this church. If you enjoy anything about this life, if you eat anything from off you parents table, if you are Gods creation, which we ALL are and you remain lost then you are a traitor. Every time you are presented with the gospel and you say: when I’m older, not today or what ever excuse you use then you betray Gods love, Jesus blood, and the Spirits call. Not only that but you betray yourself. Ask any one who’s saved if they wished they would have waited another year. Go ask Brother Gerth what he would give up now to have known Christ at the age you are today.
Let’s look at what happens to Traitors.
Isaiah 14:13-15.
13For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Genesis 3: 17-19
17And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
I beg of myself and everyone here to betray Satan, stick him in the back. Suddenly and stubbornly refuse your pet sin, read daily and pray hourly. Satan could be using you so regularly that he counts you as dependable, blow his plans. If you need to get saved then do it, if you need to repent of sin in your life the DO IT!!
I remember when I was saved the overwhelming sense of betrayal, feeling that Christ shouldn’t have died for me but knowing that because he did the only way to keep from betraying him again was to believe on him to save me.
The last scripture I want to look at tonight is in the book of 1st Chronicles Chapter 12. This is when David was warring with Saul. Verse 8 says:
And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David into the hold to the wilderness. Men of might, and men of war fit for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains.
We need to pray that God would give us the Grace to repent of our sinful allegiances and Join with the men of this world who are after Gods own heart. This church knows very well that we are in a war. Paul said: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.”
