Misusing God’s Wealth: The Judas Mistake

0:00:00 – (Steve Gray): Hey, why did Judas betray Jesus? Well, he got demonized, right? Oh, but it started a long time before that because of his mindset. And he would not let his mind be transformed. I’m going to tell you more about it on the More Faith, More Life podcast.

0:00:17 – (Steve Gray): You were made for more than the status quo. I’m Pastor Steve Gray, and this is the More Faith, More Life podcast. This podcast is for Christmas Christians with an ambitious heart who want to be more for their family, do more with their career, and see more of God’s promises in their life. I’ve spent many years as a worship artist, minister, nonprofit leader, bold truth speaker, and most importantly, father and spouse.

0:00:42 – (Steve Gray): When I was in my early 40s, I was craving more. More from God and more from life. I’d done everything I was supposed to do. My life was good, but it wasn’t good enough. So I spent the following years diving into the word of God and searching for the biblical principles that would bring me closer to God and help my purpose and life flourish. That’s what I want to share with you. In every episode, you’ll get practical tools based on real life experiences that you can put into action to redefine your faith and ultimately your life.

0:01:17 – (Steve Gray): So if you’re ready to do more, subscribe to More Faith, More Life and hear an unfiltered biblical truth every week. And it’s time to be an experience more.

0:01:28 – (Steve Gray): Hello everyone, and welcome to another More Faith More Life podcast with my wife Kathy. I’m Steve. And of course we always want to remind you to subscribe to tell your friends about it and go find some materials. We’ve got them here, right here. Mighty Like Gideon, the newest book. But there’s other books that have been written over the years that you can get there. And the reason I want you to read them is because there are things in there that we put in there that I did not see in other books.

0:01:55 – (Steve Gray): You know, maybe people knew them, but I didn’t see people writing and sharing the deeper things. And like Mighty Like Gideon doesn’t just talk about Gideon, it goes other places. And the one of the more fun things that I’ve taught on is then you think, you know, Jonah and the Big Fish or Jonah and the Whale or whatever. And so the story that they get told and that the kids get told doesn’t have the impact of, of what really, really took place.

0:02:21 – (Steve Gray): And so you may never hear it any place else. So you know that he got on a boat with sailors to run from, you know, getting away from God and because he’s trying to get away from God. Okay, but why was there a storm? This is just. It’s in the book. I mean, I just say. I’m just giving an example. Okay, Okay. A storm came up because now this is what you won’t get. Because Jonah didn’t want to preach what God wanted him to preach.

0:02:52 – (Steve Gray): It’s not that he didn’t want to preach at Nineveh because he. He must have been a good preacher wherever he goes. He didn’t want to preach what God told him to preach. And that what. That caused the storm that would have swept the sailors away and they would have all died. They. They were throwing stuff over. But these are professional sailors and they know this storm is terrific. And why? Because Jonah wouldn’t preach what God wanted him to preach.

0:03:20 – (Steve Gray): So how did they solve it? You know where they solved it? Get rid of the preacher that won’t preach what God wanted to preach. So they threw him overboard. Now those sailors are sad about it. They don’t like it because they’re pretty sure he’s going to drown and he should have. But that’s where the big fish comes in. So they bring the big fish in with no motive. Of God. Yes. Is saving Jonah and giving him another chance. And he does repent of it and he does go preach it.

0:03:46 – (Steve Gray): But. But they don’t get why there was a storm that threatened innocent people. They make it all about Jonah and the fish, but there’s innocent people going to die if the preacher doesn’t preach what God told him to preach. That’s in the book. More details. That’s why I want you to get this material. I’m going to guess, Kathy, that most people that are listening today had the light on that never came on, had no idea going like, of course. But we skip over it and we get. We get him in the pretty fish and out on the land and yay.

0:04:21 – (Steve Gray): So anyway, that’s why I wanted to do that. Now, today we’re going to go to another parable. I think, Kathy, we’re going to end our parable series after today and start another series on how to read your.

0:04:32 – (Kathy Gray): Bible for all how you study your Bible and how you get sermons. All those powerful jewels and gems you’ve got.

0:04:40 – (Steve Gray): Start that next week.

0:04:41 – (Kathy Gray): A lot of years.

0:04:41 – (Steve Gray): Yeah. Okay. Next podcast. But today we got. We’re going to go to a parable and we. One more. There’s more in there, obviously, but from Luke, we picked some out and we’re going to Luke, chapter 19 verse 11. So if you want to do what we’ve been following the pattern we’ve been doing, and you read us just, just the intro to it.

0:04:59 – (Kathy Gray): Yes, sir. Okay. Luke 19, verse 11. While they were listening to this, he, Jesus went on to tell them a parable because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to at once. Then he said, a man of noble.

0:05:17 – (Steve Gray): No, we wait there. Let’s stop there.

0:05:18 – (Kathy Gray): We’re going to stop there.

0:05:19 – (Steve Gray): Yeah, let’s stop there and talk about that. Because it’s the location. Jerusalem. There’s a general.

0:05:25 – (Kathy Gray): Yeah.

0:05:26 – (Steve Gray): Religious knowledge that is wrong, but it was general that the Jerusalem people thought the kingdom of God was going to come immediately. Okay. Now doesn’t mean every part of Israel thought that, but it’s like, you know, people have phrases today that they use in certain parts, like the truth hurts. Well, the Bible says the truth will set you free. But general people will use the other one and say the truth hurts.

0:05:54 – (Steve Gray): And it’s just a general phrase. So this is just general knowledge. Now, would you like something really interesting? I don’t. I’ll just take the time to do it. Okay, sure. Location. What city? The end.

0:06:04 – (Kathy Gray): Jerusalem.

0:06:04 – (Steve Gray): Jerusalem. Okay. And they had an expectation that the kingdom was going to come immediately or very quickly.

0:06:12 – (Kathy Gray): Yeah.

0:06:12 – (Steve Gray): Okay. How many apostles did Jesus choose? How many? The original apostles.

0:06:19 – (Kathy Gray): 12.

0:06:19 – (Steve Gray): 12. Where were they from?

0:06:24 – (Kathy Gray): Israel.

0:06:25 – (Steve Gray): Israel?

0:06:28 – (Kathy Gray): What do you mean?

0:06:29 – (Steve Gray): Okay. Eleven of them.

0:06:31 – (Kathy Gray): Yes.

0:06:31 – (Steve Gray): Grew up in Galilee. Galilee.

0:06:33 – (Kathy Gray): Oh, right.

0:06:35 – (Steve Gray): Grew up in Jerusalem.

0:06:39 – (Kathy Gray): Wow.

0:06:41 – (Steve Gray): He was not from Galilee.

0:06:42 – (Kathy Gray): Oh.

0:06:43 – (Steve Gray): And so he had a mindset that the kingdom is supposed to come immediately. So when Jesus, you know his name. Judas.

0:06:50 – (Kathy Gray): Yeah.

0:06:51 – (Steve Gray): When Jesus says, no, I’m going to be crucified and killed, I’m going to die, they’re going like, he can’t. He can’t get it because he’s going like, this isn’t. This isn’t how it happens. You’re supposed to be. If you’re the Messiah, you usher in the kingdom. Right now, that’s Jerusalem thinking. Okay. And so his betrayal turned into demonic. Right. Devilish. But his mindset that he would not change to the field.

0:07:15 – (Steve Gray): What he wouldn’t go with. What trust Jesus to get. No, no, it’s going to be a different way. And that’s what this parable is about. It’s a different way than you think. Jerusalem. But he’s the only one that did not grow up in Galilee. So the other boys, they didn’t have to, you know, he’s telling them stuff and they. It was Hard for them, too, some of it. But they didn’t have to get over as much. And I believe at least that he never could get over it. And that’s why some of the betrayal, though demonic and needed to be done, was his mind could not wrap around a dead Messiah, a crucified Messiah, because then the kingdom has just left us.

0:07:52 – (Steve Gray): It’s not right. So I think that fit into it now. Now, how important is this parable? So important, because now he’s talking to the people of Jerusalem who think the kingdom is going to come quick. And so what does he say next?

0:08:05 – (Kathy Gray): He said a man of noble birth went to a distant country, and before he went, he called 10 of his servants and gave them 10 Minas. Put this money to work, he said, until I come back.

0:08:19 – (Steve Gray): Okay, so there’s two parts to this. The first part is Jesus uses an incident, actual historical incident, that all these people would know about, okay? Because King Herod went to Rome to try to find favor with the Romans and left the people in charge of Jerusalem and his kingdom while he went to Rome, other people weren’t put in charge. Okay. I don’t know. I can’t remember what happened in Jerusalem, but I know he was basically rejected in Rome. They didn’t give him the power he wanted.

0:09:01 – (Steve Gray): They just didn’t. And so it was kind of a failure mission. But a nobleman, Herod, went on a journey and left the people in charge. Now, it didn’t work out for him. He returned. Okay. To see what. Okay, that’s a common one. They know. But now Jesus is actually talking about himself. Right? But that’s a story they would have known. So it wouldn’t have been an odd story. Wouldn’t have been like, what are you talking about?

0:09:27 – (Kathy Gray): Okay.

0:09:28 – (Steve Gray): Oh, yeah, people do that. Okay, so in our case, though, the nobleman then would be Jesus, and he’s going to go on a long journey and in and leave. So that means what he’s saying, it’s not going to be instant. I’m going to go away. I’m still the Messiah, but I’m going to go away. So the timeline has changed. When I go away, as I go away, I’m going to give you gifts, I’m going to give you opportunities. We call it talents and sometimes minus. And money. You can call it money, but I’m going to gift you with certain things, and I want you to then. Well, what’s he say he wants him to do?

0:10:06 – (Kathy Gray): Put this money to work.

0:10:08 – (Steve Gray): Put it to work. Okay, so whatever your abilities, talents, money, wisdom, song and Dance. Whatever, whatever God’s given you, you need to put it to work right. While he’s gone. So that now we have a totally different mindset, right? For Jerusalem, it’s I’m going away and you’re, you’ve got work to do to maintain the kingdom while I’m gone. Very much like Herod did. Okay. While I’m gone. Okay. But Jesus now is going to just, I guess we could say, prophesy a little bit and say, but so, so he gave one.

0:10:48 – (Steve Gray): He gave one person. Well, wait a minute, how many, how many people? Wait a minute, I think we’re going to. How many people in this, in this version did he give money to?

0:10:57 – (Kathy Gray): 10. 10. And he gave each one. One Mina.

0:11:01 – (Steve Gray): So he gave it to 10 people?

0:11:02 – (Kathy Gray): Uh huh.

0:11:03 – (Steve Gray): Now the story switches to how many people?

0:11:08 – (Kathy Gray): What do you mean?

0:11:09 – (Steve Gray): How many people is the story about after the 10? One. One. He had 10 and he got.

0:11:14 – (Kathy Gray): And then he talked to more of them.

0:11:16 – (Steve Gray): No, not that. So he gave what, what, what about the guy? He gave 10, that got 10 more, right? Read it and tell me what that.

0:11:23 – (Kathy Gray): Okay, so the first one came and said, sir, your Mina has earned 10 more.

0:11:28 – (Steve Gray): And this is when the noble turns, right? Yeah. Okay. And then the next one was what?

0:11:35 – (Kathy Gray): And then he earned five more. And then so the Lord said, I’m going to give you five cities. Yes, yes. And because you’ve been trustworthy in a very small matter.

0:11:50 – (Steve Gray): And then the next one.

0:11:51 – (Kathy Gray): And then he said, here’s your Mina. I’ve kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. I was afraid of you because you’re a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.

0:12:04 – (Steve Gray): Okay, we’ll back up to that in a minute. Now you can answer my question. How many people did he give money to?

0:12:10 – (Kathy Gray): 10.

0:12:11 – (Steve Gray): Where are the other seven?

0:12:13 – (Kathy Gray): Yeah. Oh, what? The others didn’t do anything, I guess.

0:12:18 – (Steve Gray): They’re not even in the story now. They’re not even in the story. Only then when he came back, they came to these three. Came to him, okay.

0:12:27 – (Kathy Gray): Yes.

0:12:28 – (Steve Gray): The others like took the money and ran, I guess.

0:12:30 – (Kathy Gray): Right?

0:12:31 – (Steve Gray): There’s no, they’re not in the story. Ten people got something.

0:12:34 – (Kathy Gray): Yes.

0:12:34 – (Steve Gray): Seven disappear in the story. At least three do the, @ least the right thing and come back and report in.

0:12:42 – (Kathy Gray): Yes.

0:12:42 – (Steve Gray): And one says, see, I got, I got, I got. Did he give him 10? I got you 10 more.

0:12:50 – (Kathy Gray): Give you 10 cities.

0:12:52 – (Steve Gray): Yes. And then five said, look, I got you five more. Five cities. And they get approved because while the noble was gone, they duplicated. And what they had, they duplicated themselves. They duplicated the money, and you just duplicate the kingdom of God and people, that’s what Jesus wants while he’s gone. So there’s a lot of activity needs to happen while he’s gone. Okay, so most people missed that. There were 10 realizing seven bailed out and maybe took the money. And he never. We don’t hear well.

0:13:25 – (Kathy Gray): They had said they hated him and they sent a delegation after him saying they don’t want. We hate him and we don’t want.

0:13:31 – (Steve Gray): We don’t want him to tell us what to do to rule over us. Okay, but then. Then the story switches from the two who did really good.

0:13:38 – (Kathy Gray): Yes.

0:13:39 – (Steve Gray): And it switches to the one who then got afraid.

0:13:43 – (Kathy Gray): Yes.

0:13:43 – (Steve Gray): And why did he get. Okay, we’re talking about mindsets here. Why did he get afraid?

0:13:49 – (Kathy Gray): It says, because you are a hard man. You take out what you didn’t put in and you reap what you did not sow.

0:13:57 – (Steve Gray): Is that true? No. The three guys, they’re the ones that reaped where they did not sow. This guy got one and he reaped one without sowing it. So he’s accusing this nobleman and he’s called a nobleman on purpose. He’s supposed to be like an honest guy, but anyway, he’s accusing someone else of who he is. And so his fear overtook him. Because this is what people think. They think when they look out at life, they think other people think like they think.

0:14:32 – (Kathy Gray): Yes.

0:14:33 – (Steve Gray): Remember what I said?

0:14:33 – (Kathy Gray): Yeah.

0:14:34 – (Steve Gray): I said a few times through the years, who are the people that are most afraid they’re going to be robbed?

0:14:46 – (Kathy Gray): Robbers.

0:14:47 – (Steve Gray): Robbers. Because they think like robbers.

0:14:49 – (Kathy Gray): Right.

0:14:50 – (Steve Gray): Or a thief or somebody’s going to break in your house or whatever. Killers, people who kill people are afraid they’re going to be killed and they live with that fear. So he took his mind and forced it on somebody else. And people do that all the time. I don’t like it. They do it in churches a lot, since that’s our realm. I’m sure they do it to others, but they do it. They have fears and distrust and suspicion of leaders and spiritual leaders. What if it’s a cult? What if it’s. What if they’re going to lead me astray? What if they’re just in it for the money?

0:15:22 – (Steve Gray): Okay. So they take that which is going off inside of them and they put it on that leader.

0:15:27 – (Kathy Gray): Right.

0:15:28 – (Steve Gray): But what did they just do? They just threw a good Leader away.

0:15:31 – (Kathy Gray): Right.

0:15:32 – (Steve Gray): This nobleman was a. Yeah, a good. Look what he’s doing.

0:15:35 – (Kathy Gray): Yeah, he’s doing good.

0:15:37 – (Steve Gray): He’s doing good.

0:15:37 – (Kathy Gray): Yeah.

0:15:38 – (Steve Gray): But so it’s not this, the harsh treatment that the guy who had won and he gets thrown out and everything. It seems harsh. If it had been another way, if he had just appealed to him a different way, but he appealed to him by making an accusation to the guy who just gave him the one, the giver. So that means Jesus is getting accused of being a bad person when he’s not. And that’s, you know, he’s being called of the devil. You are of Beelzebub.

0:16:09 – (Steve Gray): You are a hard man. You don’t do the right thing. You cheat people, whatever. So that projection on Jesus is where the crime really was.

0:16:18 – (Kathy Gray): Right.

0:16:18 – (Steve Gray): But it still goes back to while he’s gone. They were supposed to multiply.

0:16:23 – (Kathy Gray): Yes.

0:16:24 – (Steve Gray): So he hid it in the ground where nobody could steal it or take it. So that when the nobleman shows up, he still got something to give. He didn’t desert, I guess, with the others quite the same way. But he did have a wrong idea of Jesus. Well, of the nobleman who means people in this crowd have a wrong idea of Jesus. There’s people that are going to get 10, they’re going to get more. There’s another that’s going to get five more. And there’s going to others that do nothing but just hang on to what they got.

0:16:52 – (Steve Gray): And then I guess we could say there’s others that are going to desert and come back and be angry. Okay, so there’s quite a crowd here. Yeah. Now, right now what I want to get into, though, is we talked. I want to get into God’s government a little bit. And God’s government is not human. And human government in our country today, we have a big push that hopefully will end not, you know, it’ll not happen, but there’s a big push. But it’s not. Didn’t just start.

0:17:24 – (Steve Gray): Okay, we have it. In our country, you give to the people who don’t have. Right. So if a church, since that’s our realm again, if the church wants to raise money, sometimes they have to create a need to say, we, we don’t have enough money. We don’t have enough money. They used to do this all the time. We don’t have enough money to keep the lights on, to pay for the air conditioning. We need your money to help us keep the building open and the people go, oh, well, if there’s a need, if there’s a Need, then I’ll give.

0:17:57 – (Steve Gray): But if you tell them every, which is the philosophy I use, everything’s going great. God’s good, God’s great. And you bless the things of God and God will bless you. And that’s what happened to those other two guys. Yeah, they got five more and they’re going to get blessed more. Okay, so God’s kingdom is flipped in ours. So people give out a need. All the ads on TV about people in need, which is okay.

0:18:27 – (Steve Gray): It’s okay. I mean, it’s obviously scriptural to give people who are in need.

0:18:30 – (Kathy Gray): Yes.

0:18:30 – (Steve Gray): But the kingdom of God from God’s vantage point, works by faith. And so here’s what happens then. So the guy has one, right? And we would maybe feel sorry for him and say, well, if we. We can’t do anything because if we take it away from him or whatever, he won’t have anything. But that’s what God did. God took the one. And now that he had, and now he’s got zero. And God gave it to the one who had the most, not the least.

0:19:02 – (Steve Gray): He gave it to the one who had the most. Why? Why would God do such a thing? Because God wants to advance the kingdom. And so he gives gifts and blessings. We could say money, but just wisdom, revelation, whatever is going out, all good gifts are coming from down from heaven, Right. He gives them to the people that will increase his kingdom and do more with it. So isn’t that what he said to him who has.

0:19:30 – (Steve Gray): So we’ll go to the guy of 10, he’s got 10 now, or even 10 cities to him who has more will be given, not less. Now we have a movement in our country to him who has will take it away from them and will give it to the one who has not. So that we all have the same. That’s not God’s kingdom. No, but people think it is. People think God’s kingdom is, you’ll go to the poor, you’ll go to the needy, you’ll go to the only has one. He doesn’t have very much and will take from everybody has more. And we’ll just spread it out so everybody’s got the same amount or equal to.

0:20:04 – (Steve Gray): And that’s fair. That’s not God. And. But people think it is. And people that think it is, even our politicians who think that way. Boy, do they need to hear this lesson.

0:20:16 – (Kathy Gray): Yes, they do.

0:20:17 – (Steve Gray): Or a preacher who. Who knows this lesson. Because what happened was the one who had. They took it away and gave it to the one who had the Most, not the least, because the one who has the most is the one who’s going to do more. And God’s after advancing the kingdom, and while he’s gone, we’re to do that. And then when he comes back, he’s going to check on us to see what we have done with what he gave us. Right. That’s also in there.

0:20:44 – (Steve Gray): And so there’s a lot more after that about the people that didn’t want him to be king and all that and what happens to them. But what we need to hear is that what I just said, people going to church need to realize if they want to prosper in God. And I’m not saying men don’t give to the needy. That’s scriptural to give to the poor. Yes, but that’s for their sake. That’s not an investment. That’s out of compassion. Okay.

0:21:10 – (Steve Gray): If you want to invest in your life and have God invest in your life, you take what you have, be faithful what you have, and show God you can be faithful with whatever you have. And then the ones who squander, they lose what they have and God gives it to somebody else. So always remember this, Kathy. Every day somebody who could do something is losing what they had. And every day it’s going to somebody else.

0:21:41 – (Steve Gray): That means when we’re faithful, we’re not stuck on this level. We’re going to graduate through life because there’s people God gave stuff to, to do and they’re not using it and he’s not going to waste it on them. He takes it away and, and gives them to the one who has more because they’re going to do more with what they get. When they get more, they’re going to do more. And that’s God’s kingdom and that’s Jesus. Lesson. Now, the beautiful lesson that I gave you on the disciples with Jerusalem and Galilee and their mindset, right?

0:22:11 – (Steve Gray): So we have a mindset we need to get rid of. Our mindset is God gives to poor and he helps the needy and that’s about it. And he probably is against rich people, probably because Jesus talked about riches, you know, but it’s what you do with them. And as we said how many hundreds of times, you know, the root of all evil is not money, it’s the love of money. The love of money when we’re supposed to be loving God.

0:22:38 – (Steve Gray): But if you can love God and have money at the same time, you can actually get more blessings from God. And it might, it won’t be just money. This is just the Parable. But you can get more. So we have to get rid of that mindset that, you know, I have to be broken down and have nothing and lose it all. And then God will help me. No, because if you’re all. If you. If you’re losing it all, then no matter how much it gives you, you’re going to lose it again.

0:23:03 – (Steve Gray): That’s like somebody who’s lost everything and they don’t have a penny and they say, what’d you do? I did a bunch of stupid stuff, but can you give me some money? And I go, well, you know, I’d like to know you’re not going to do stupid stuff anymore. I want to give this to somebody that’s going to do something with it. Now if they’re going to shut your lights off or you’re going to lose your car, okay, we’ll help you.

0:23:23 – (Steve Gray): That’s compassion and love. But investment is. God invests in those who have and he. Because he knows they will get more to glorify him with. That’s the parable. It’s big, though. It’s bigger than that. It’s not just about the money. It’s about that mindset. Yeah, big stuff, though. And that’s why I say one of them to get the book and follow us and listen to us, because we’re just getting jewels that fit our lives today and don’t rob us because of a mindset of religion.

0:23:54 – (Steve Gray): Like the truth hurts, which is not even, you know, God helps those that help themselves. That’s not in the Bible either. I’ve had. I’ve actually had people thumb through the Bible looking for that scripture.

0:24:06 – (Kathy Gray): Find it.

0:24:06 – (Steve Gray): Right. It ain’t there. But we want to, so. So we want to help people by getting a new, fresh kingdom mindset in the truth. And then it will set you free and it’ll be a joy and you can advance in the kingdom along with the kingdom.

0:24:23 – (Kathy Gray): Hallelujah.

0:24:23 – (Steve Gray): You agree with that?

0:24:24 – (Kathy Gray): I agree. Beautiful.

0:24:25 – (Steve Gray): That’s good. Parable.

0:24:26 – (Kathy Gray): Beautiful.

0:24:27 – (Steve Gray): I love talking about it. So I hope it helped you today. And maybe you want to turn to your Bible and look at it. And next week though, we’ll start about reading the Bible and putting lessons together and things I’ve been doing all these years. Till next time. Bye. Bye.