I believe that a lot of people that are not saved, that are false teachers, false prophets or whatever,
I believe that a lot of them know that they're bad, but I believe that a lot of them don't necessarily know that they're bad or how bad they are.
You see, when a person is unsaved, they are open to being a pawn for the devil.
Now, when we're saved, we have the Holy Spirit living inside us. Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world.
And so, as Christians, we're not going to be demon-possessed or anything like that.
But unsaved people do get demon-possessed. But even if they're not demon-possessed, they could often be manipulated by the devil
and unwittingly be a pawn in his plan and fulfill his agenda without even knowing it, without even realizing that that's what they're doing.
Because you wonder to yourself, you know, why do bad people infiltrate churches or why do they do these horrible things and why would they pretend to be a good person?
And look, you can preach this stuff until you're blue in the face and people don't get it. Until they see it for themselves. And even then, they often don't get it.
But when you point out to them, hey, this person that's been going to our church for years, actually that person was a false prophet, that person was an infiltrator, that person was a Judas Iscariot, that person was false brethren.
They'll say, no, there's no way. I mean, that guy, he, you know, I knew that guy. I was soulding with that guy. You know, he wasn't a phony. He was the real deal.
Why would someone do that? Why would someone go to a church for years and they don't even believe the truth or they're a false teacher?
There are a lot of reasons why. But one reason is that the devil just has them there and they're just fulfilling the devil's will.
Whether they're conscious of that or not, they're fulfilling the devil's will. Whether they realize it or not.
Now, a perfect example of this is Judas Iscariot. And to sit there and, of course, Judas Iscariot was also ultimately fulfilling God's will.
And even the devil ultimately fulfills God's will. That's why the devil, that's why God lets the devil out of hell on purpose at the end of the millennium to go out and deceive the nations.
Because ultimately, all things work together for good to them that love God in the end. Okay?
Including all the devil's attacks on you. God's going to turn that around and use that for good in your life. Okay?
But look what the Bible says here in Ephesians, chapter 2, and then we'll get into the example of Judas.
But in Ephesians, chapter 2, it says in verse 1,
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past ye walked, according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in times past,
in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
The Bible's talking about here people that before they were saved, that they are doing what?
They are walking according to the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
What's that spirit that's at work in the children of disobedience? Is that the Holy Spirit? No.
That's the spirit that's of the devil. And that spirit works in the children of disobedience.
The prince of the power of the air is the devil. And the Bible's saying that we walked according to his plan.
We were on his program. We were doing what he wanted to do. And there's a spirit at work in the children of disobedience.
And it says, among whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh.
So we think, oh, I'm just fulfilling the lusts of my flesh. I'm just doing what I want to do.
I'm just going to do what I want to do. God's not going to tell me what to do. My parents aren't going to tell me what to do.
Church isn't going to tell me what to do. I'm just going to follow my flesh, my lust.
But you know who you're really following? When you do that, you're actually following the devil.
So you think you're following your own lust. The Bible says you're walking according to his plan,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
So unsaved people are fulfilling the devil's will, even if they don't set out and say, man, I'd like to worship Satan.
They do it. They do his will. They do his bidding. They are his pawns. He manipulates them.
He brainwashes them through the media and through false teachers and liars that will manipulate them,
brainwash them, and then he'll send them into churches as infiltrators to do damage.
Judas Iscariot. I mean, I can't emphasize this enough. I mean, Judas Iscariot is an important character in the Bible
that we all need to understand because this is a guy that Jesus at the beginning of his ministry says,
have not I chosen you twelve and one of you is a devil?
He knew from the beginning who it was that didn't believe in him.
He knew from the beginning who it was that would betray him. And this devil was with them for three and a half years.
Now, three and a half years might not seem like a super long time.
But here we have church three times a week. Right?
We have church three times a week and church lasts a little bit over an hour, maybe an hour and a half.
Okay, three times a week and then we go soul winning a few times and maybe you show up to this soul winning time or that soul winning time.
Okay, Jesus and the apostles were together every day. I mean, they are going out every day full time.
Okay, this is all they do, folks. This is not just something that they do on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights and Sunday nights.
No, the apostles are out with Jesus and with each other for three and a half years.
This is what they do full time. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. I mean, they are out doing it.
Does everybody understand what I'm saying?
So, yeah, they were with Judas for three and a half years. They were intensely with Judas for three and a half years.
It would be like the equivalent of going to church with somebody probably for twenty years just seeing them on Sunday morning or something.
Okay, and Judas was a devil. He was literally demon possessed. He did not believe in Jesus Christ.
He was stealing from the offering and no one suspected him. No one knew that he was bad except Jesus.
And, in fact, when Jesus says at the Last Supper,
You know what they are all saying? Is it I, Lord? Is it I? None of them said it's Judas. Or is it Judas?
They thought it was more likely to be them than Judas.
And, in fact, when John leans over to Jesus and says, Lord, who is it?
Because John was right next to Jesus leaning on him literally at the Last Supper.
He leans into Jesus and says, who is it, Lord? And he says, it's the one that I'll give the sop to after I've dipped it.
He dips the sop, hands it to Judas. I mean, he just told him, I'm going to dip the sop and give it to him. That's who it is.
Dips the sop, hands it to Judas, and says, that thou doest, do quickly. Judas gets up and walks out of the room.
Wouldn't you think at that point, okay, we just solved that mystery?
It was Professor Plum, you know. There it is. It's Judas. He's our guy.
Folks, they still didn't know. They did not have a clue.
Even when he hands him the sop, that thou doest too quickly, they said, oh, he must be going to buy something.
You know, we have to buy something for the Passover.
They still did it. I mean, that's pretty interesting.
And then people say, well, how did you not know these people were bad?
How come you didn't realize they were bad when you spent so much time with them?
Did I spend three and a half years with them every day?
Well, if so, I still wouldn't have figured out Judas.
They didn't figure out Judas. They didn't think Judas was bad.
And you say, well, three and a half years, okay, what about Absalom?
Absalom for decades is lying, hypocritical, pretending to be something he's not, a total phony for decades.
The devil is a patient individual, okay?
He will just slowly attack at the foundation, slowly chip away at things, creep in, creep in, change the water like the boiling water with the frog in it.
He'll keep on turning up the heat and so forth.