was just basically just worthless, you know, there's no point, and I notice that's the
same with this book, and it's the same with a lot of people. Most churches today do not
have a proper interpretation of who Judas Iscariot is. They have a weird idea of who
Judas is, and you know why? Because most churches are filled with false prophets, and false
prophets are the worst people in the world. There is not a worse person than a false prophet,
and you have to understand that bad people exist in our society. There are really evil,
very wicked people that live on this planet, and without understanding that that's who
Judas is, you end up starting to sympathize, oh, we can all be Judas. No, that's not true.
There are certain people that are so much more wicked than a normal person, and we have
to understand there's a special category of people that exist on this planet that are
a Judas Iscariot type person. Now, here it says very clearly he's the betrayer. Obviously,
it's within human capacity for all of us to be a betrayer in some sense, but not of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Go to Matthew chapter 26. Go to Matthew 26. Let's learn more about Judas
from what the Bible clearly says. Now, point one, and I don't, I'm not going to keep track
of all these points, because there's a lot of character attributes I want to point out
about Judas, but think about this. Judas was sent out to be what? A preacher. So just
because someone's a preacher doesn't mean they're a good person. If Judas can go out
being preached and preaching the Bible, anybody can preach the Bible. Now, obviously, whatever
preaching he had was total garbage, because he didn't understand the Bible. He wasn't
even saved, but that exists today. There's a lot of people going out there preaching,
and just because they're a preacher, claim to be Christian, claim to be a minister, claim
to be a prophet, doesn't make them a good person. They can, in fact, be the most rotten
person. It doesn't really change anything. Of course, these people, they preach with
feigned words, as the Bible describes. What is feigned? Fake, meaning they don't really
believe it. This is why you see a lot of pastors, a lot of preachers will say, I preached for
ten years, and then I realized it was all fake. No, you were fake the whole time. You
were just doing it to get a paycheck. You were an imposter the whole time. Of course,
people will just do it to get a paycheck. I had read some article one time about pastors,
how a lot of them, if you kind of look at what our society has done, is they'll take
someone that's young that wants to be a pastor, and they'll put them in Bible college. And
then they go to Bible college, and then they train at a church, and then essentially just
become a pastor. Well, here's the thing. What if they decide not to be a pastor in the future?
What kind of job can they get? Nothing, because they have no skills, they have no history,
they have no experience. So what ends up happening is a lot of these pastors, I think they did
a poll, like a secret poll, like 50% of pastors said they don't want to pastor, and they would
likely want to quit, but they can't get another job. So they just keep pastoring because they
have no other way to make money. And it's like, what kind of a sad, pathetic loser just
pastors, not even wanting to pastor, just to get a paycheck? But that exists. I mean,
it's not just a few people. We're talking, according to this poll, it was like a high
percentage of them are admitting it openly, like, I would quit, but I can't get this high
paying of a job. They'd have to go work at Walmart. They'd have to go work at Target
or something. You know, that's why, to me, it's a better model that the people that want
to become a pastor to learn how to be successful in the world first, and then become a pastor,
so that way it's not like you're just forced into being a pastor or something like that.
No one should ever be forced to be a pastor or doing against their will or not having
the desire to preach the Bible. That's going to create a bad scenario for churches and
preachers. So Judas, though, he's sent out. He's not really into it. He's just preaching
because that's what he's been chosen to do for now. But let's see more about his character.
Matthew 26, look at verse 14. Matthew 26, verse 14. The Bible says, Then one of the
twelve called Judas Iscariot went on to the chief priests and said unto them, What will
you give me? And I will deliver him unto you. And they covenanted with them for thirty pieces
of silver. If you're just faking and preaching the Bible, then eventually you're going to
get burnt out and you're really not into it anymore. So basically, what does he do? How
can I make money out of this deal? Okay, I'll just sell out the Lord Jesus Christ.
And he ends up just going to the chief priests. Notice in the Bible, he does not have them
come to him. He goes to them first. So he's the one willing to go and make money off of
betraying the Lord Jesus Christ. And what kind of a cold psychopath can just go and
just talk to the most devilish people, the chief priests and the Pharisees, the people
that are fake, and just be like, What are you going to give me for him? I mean, that's
pretty cold-hearted there. We can see that this guy has no real affection for the Lord
Jesus Christ, no real interest in the person that's been ministering to him, leading him,
feeding him, teaching him. It's been his master for the last three and a half years. You're
just willing to just sell him out for a buck? What kind of character does this individual
have? None. There's no character whatsoever. And we see, though, the driving force for
him is covetousness. He just wants money. He's about money. And there's always a common
denominator between wicked people like a Judas Iscariot and a covetous attitude, a desire
for money, and stealing money. There's just this unholy alliance between people that are
very wicked and theft, and specifically theft even from church or religious-type activities,
which is probably the worst type of theft. But it says in verse 16, think about this,
And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him. He's not even doing the deed one
time. He's going and making the deal, and now he's lying in wait against his own master.
Because it's one thing to sell someone out, but it's another thing to just continually
be a double agent. Think about that. He's now going to go back to Jesus, ready to just
sell him out at any moment. Think about how you have to have just very low character to
be willing to just hang out with Jesus. This guy loves you. He's your friend. I mean, you're
an imposter. He's really just a mischievous person, a mischievous person where he's just
trying to set a trap, trying to figure out how to betray the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean,
this guy is going beyond an average just evil here. Normal people can't do this. You
can't just lay in wait for people that you love, you care about, people that are ministering
on you. You're going to feel like a terrible person the next time they do something good,
the next time they compliment you, the next time you help you, you're like, man, should
I really betray this guy? But it's like, Judas Iscariot, he is just like dead. He's cold
as a stone. He's just in there, just cold as ice, just ready to just, I'm ready to betray
the Lord Jesus Christ. I just need to get a buck out of this deal. Look at verse 21,
same chapter, and as they did eat, he said, verily I say unto you, that one of you shall
betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful and began every one of them to say unto him,
Lord, is it I? Now, notice what it says in verse 22, that they were exceeding sorrowful.
This is talking about the other 11 disciples. The idea that they would betray the Lord Jesus
Christ hurts them so much. They feel, it says exceeding sorrowful, meaning that they're
just like, man, I would feel like the worst person ever if I ever hurt the Lord Jesus
Christ, showing that they're incapable of doing it. Because look, folks, they already
feel bad about it and they haven't covenanted with the Pharisees to do it. I mean, think
about how you would feel if you already are sad about betraying the Lord Jesus Christ
and you haven't even done anything after you've already done it. I mean, you've already
gone and coveted, said you're going to do this, showing that Judas probably has zero
emotion here. I mean, he doesn't really care. And to continue with this idea, I mean, look
what it says in the next verse. It says, and he answered and said, he that dippeth his
hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The son of man goeth as it is written
of him, but woe unto that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. It had been good for
that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, master,
is it I? He said unto him, thou hast said. Think about this. He's saying like, everybody's
like, is it I? Is it I? Jesus is saying nothing. And then Judas is like, is it I? Thou hast
said, what happened? Jesus literally just called out Judas to his face. Wouldn't you
be a little nervous when you know, you're the betrayer and you know, you've already
coveted against him. And then you're like, is it me? And he's like, you just said it.
You're just like, uh, but, but here's the thing. Judas is still unfazed by that. Judas
is still going along with it. Judas has just gotten called out and he still doesn't care.
Why? Because the man is a psychopath. He has no emotions at this point. I mean, he just,
he doesn't even care at all. He doesn't care about other people's feelings. You know, you
have to understand about a psychopath is they're not necessarily completely devoid of emotion.
Their emotions are only selfish though, in the sense that they don't have empathy. They
don't have sympathy. They can't feel bad for others. They don't relate to others. Of course
they can feel and experience pain for themselves, but they're not going to experience and feel
pain for others. They're only sad when they get caught. They're only sorry for themselves.
And it's a fake type of emotion. And to just be called out in front of everybody by the
Lord Jesus Christ, and then to still go forward with your plan just shows how this guy has
zero care, zero emotion. I mean, you and I, it's impossible. I wouldn't be able to even
go covenant with them. Then let alone sit here and have Jesus Christ calling me out
in front of everybody. I would feel terrible. You wouldn't be able to go through with it.
It's just not a possibility for a normal person to do this. And it shows the brazenness of
Judas Iscariot. Now, keep your finger here. Go to Luke 22. Let's compare this with another
case. And of course these stories are brought up in other passages in the Bible, but I'm
not going to go to all of them. I'm just going to go to ones that are maybe a little bit
different here. But if we go to Luke 22 for a second and look at verse number 47, and
this is a little bit further in time, but I just want to point it out because it kind
of shows the brazenness of Judas Iscariot. And it says in verse 47,
And while he yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas one of the twelve
went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said unto them, Judas,
betrayest thou the son of man with a kiss? Think about this. Every time Judas acts, Jesus
calls him out about it before he even does it. And then he still does it. Meaning what?
He has no feeling, no emotion, no shame. What is brazenness? Brazenness is no shame. And
if you think about shame, what is shame? It's a painful emotion of guilt, or a painful emotion
for a shortcoming. But when does Judas, I mean Judas is getting called out in front
of everybody multiple times and he still doesn't care. You know what he does? He still
goes up there and just plants a kiss right on the Lord Jesus Christ. And notice Jesus
called him out for it. Hey, are you betraying me with a kiss? And it's just like, he doesn't
even care. He just does it anyways, showing the brazenness of this individual. Go back
to Matthew 26 for a moment again. And so we see, what's the character of Judas Iscariot?
He's fake, he's covetous, he's mischievous, he's brazen. I mean this guy has no normal
human emotion. All of the other disciples are exceeding sorrowful. They feel terrible
about even the idea that they could betray the Lord Jesus Christ, even though in their
mind they're thinking, I never would. But they're just so terrified that somehow that's
true about them. They're terrified of the idea that they would ever do something to
hurt the Lord Jesus Christ or to go against him, even though we all know they wouldn't
go to this extreme. Obviously Peter denies Christ a few times, but that's extremely different
than what the Lord Jesus Christ is having happened to him by Judas Iscariot here. And
what happened whenever, you know, if you study the Bible, when Peter denied Christ the third
time in the cock crew, the Bible says that Jesus looked at him and then Peter went out
and wept bitterly. So he felt terrible as soon as he got called out. He wasn't like
Judas Iscariot where when he gets called out about, are you going to betray me with a kiss?
And then you just walk kisses anyways. It's just like, what kind of psycho are you? You
just will just hurt me right in front of being called out and you just don't even care about
it whatsoever. Matthew 26 verse 47. Matthew 26, look at verse 47. And while yet spake
lo Judas, one of the twelve, came and with him a great multitude of swords and staves
from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign
saying whomsoever I shall kiss, that same as he, hold him fast. And forthwith he came
to Jesus and said, Hail, master, and kissed him. And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore
art thou come? Then came they and laid hands on Jesus and took him. Now, not only is this
guy brazen, but think about what he's doing. He's flattering Jesus. Hail, master. He doesn't
mean that. He's still so fake. But he'll say all the right things. He'll try to make you
feel good. Oh, hail, master. Hey, buddy. Hey, aren't we pals? He'll be your buddy all the
way until he puts the knife in your back. And then after you put the knife in your back
and you're like, did you put a knife in my back? Of course I wouldn't do that. He's like,
are you twisting it? Of course I wouldn't twist it. I mean, he's never going to stop.
He's never going to give up. He's just going to hurt, hurt, hurt, flatter, flatter, because
this guy has no empathy for others. He doesn't care about other people. He's the epitome
of selfishness. And he's destroying the Lord Jesus Christ. Go to Matthew 27 and look at
verse 1. Matthew 27, verse 1. Now, of course, when I say that they have no empathy or sympathy,
I'm kind of an emotion when you think about others, whereas you can still have selfish
emotions. Look what it says in Matthew 27, verse 1. When the morning was come, all the
chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.
When they had bound him, they led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate, the governor.
Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself
and brought again the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I
have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, what is that to us?
See, they out to it. And it says in verse 5, and he cast down the pieces of silver in
the temple and departed and went and hanged himself. Now, here's the thing. Was Judas
upset about the decision he had made? Yes. Did he change his mind and think, I shouldn't
have done this? Yes. That's what the word repent means here. In a sense, you could even
argue he repented of his sin because he threw the money back. But you know what? Repenting
of your sins doesn't get you into heaven. And even better for this man if you'd never
been born. And notice what the Bible clearly says in verse number 3. When he saw that he
was what? Condemned. Condemned. You know, we have a great verse in John 3, 18 that talks
about he that believeth on him is not condemned. But you know what? Judas noticed, I'm condemned.
I didn't believe in this guy and I'm not going to believe in this guy. And he's really
Jesus. Uh-oh. Big problem. Seeing that he's condemned, knowing that he's going to go to
hell no matter what, he just ends up killing himself. And you know who cried about that?
No one. Some people get mad about this idea like, how dare you as a minister wish for
someone to kill themselves? Well, Judas did and no one cried about that one. In fact,
I'll show you in the Bible how the Bible actually gives that instruction. The Bible actually
wanted that to happen unto Judas and so it's not making me feel sorry that he did that
and of course that sorrow is not a empathetic or sympathetic feeling. Does he mention here
that he's sad about what happened to Jesus? How can he help Jesus? Oh, I betrayed Jesus.
What can I do to help Jesus? What can I do to help the other disciples? What can I do
to help anybody else? No, when he just saw that he was condemned, he felt sorry for himself
and then he just killed himself. Even in this moment, does he show any empathy, love or
compassion for any other individual at this point? He's still selfish in this moment.
He still only cares about himself and he's not trusting in the Lord. He's just recognizing
how rotten of a person he is. Now, if you would, go to 2 Corinthians for a second. Go
to 2 Corinthians, chapter number 7. Let me warn you that just because someone pretends
to be sorry or is even truly sorry does not mean that they're a good person. People can
feel sorry for themselves all day long and that doesn't make them a good person. You
know, Pharaoh felt sorry for himself about all the bad things that happened to him but
you know what? It didn't make him any better of a person. He was still a rotten person
to the court. You know, Bill Clinton gave a fake apology about lying to the American
people and committing adultery but you know what? He was only sorry that he got caught,
folks. Bill Clinton wasn't sorry. You really think that was the last woman that Bill Clinton
committed adultery with? Absolutely not. Do you think Bill Clinton started doing righteous
things in the government after that? Do you think he started working for the American
people? I've got to get back to work for the American people. You've got to continue ruining
America. I mean, that guy wasn't sorry about anything. Fake apology. Fake politician. The
guy's a liar. The guy's a scumbag. He's married to one of the worst women to ever walk this
planet. I mean, this guy only feels sorry for himself. His life is a train wreck. He
married Hillary Clinton. You can't get much worse than that, folks. The devil would be
like, I'm not interested in that. Okay. I mean, that's just, you're condemned, buddy.
Bill Clinton's just afraid to make his wife mad because then he'll commit suicide. But
2 Corinthians chapter number 7, it says in verse number 10, for godly sorrow worketh
repentance to salvation not to be repented of, but the sorrow of the world worketh work
death. So according to the Bible, there is two different kinds of sorrow. There's a godly
sorrow and a worldly sorrow. And Judas Iscariot only had the worldly sorrow. He didn't really
have any genuine sorrow. He just felt sorry for himself, which is how you can usually
tell someone gives a fake apology. Go if you would to John chapter number 6 for a moment.
Go to John chapter number 6. So we've learned a lot about Judas already. He's the traitor.
He's the betrayer. He's a fake preacher. He's covetous. He's mischievous. He's brazen.
He's full of flattery. He only feels sorry for himself. I mean, there's nothing good
about him. Jesus already said that we've learned about that it would have been better if the
guy had never been born, indicating a clear picture of the fact that the guy's not saved
or going to be saved because no matter how bad your life is or the evil that you go through,
going to heaven makes it all worth it. You know, the sufferings of this present time
are not worthy to be compared to heaven and to be compared to the glory which shall be
revealed as the Bible describes. So no matter how bad our life can get, it's just a small
little speck in a eternity. No one would ever be able to argue that someone who's saved,
it would have been better if they had never been born. It's only for those that are destined
for hell. And those people, it would be better that they had never even been born whatsoever.
And the Bible makes it clear here in John 6 what we're really supposed to think about
Judas. Now look at verse 60. Many, therefore, of his disciples when they had heard this
said, this is a hard saying, who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples
murmured at it, he said unto them, Does this offend you? Verse 62, What? And if ye shall
see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before. It is the spirit that quickeneth,
the flesh provideth nothing, the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they
are life. But there are some of you that believe not. So Jesus Christ knew when he was preaching
to the multitudes, he's preaching to a lot of his disciples, that not everyone actually
believed in him. People were offended. And of course, what are they offended at? Well,
he said clearly in this chapter that he's the bread that came down from heaven. So he's
saying I'm God and I came down from heaven and God manifests in the flesh and of course
those who didn't believe he was God were offended by this. They were like, this is blasphemy.
How can this guy claim to be God? Because they didn't believe he was God. And Jesus
is saying, hey, I already recognize some of you don't believe. The only reason you're
offended is because you don't believe. Because someone who believes that Jesus is God has
no problem with the fact that Jesus came down from heaven. The only reason you have a problem
with a guy claiming he came down from heaven is because you don't believe he's God. And
of course, Jesus is saying there's some of them that don't believe. Look at the next
sentence. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should
betray him. So he's saying, hey, there's people from the beginning that believe not and are
going to betray him. Who's that? Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot from the beginning did not
believe. From the beginning was the betrayer. From the beginning was the traitor. Of course,
that's why Jesus picked him, folks. Jesus is not going to pick a saved guy to be the
betrayer. He would never do that. He's got to pick an unsaved guy from the beginning,
the guy that believed not, the guy that was never going to believe, and he has him in
his inner circle so as to fulfill God's prophecy that the Lord Jesus Christ would be betrayed.
And so Judas was one of those chosen for that specific purpose. Verse 65, and he said, Therefore
said I unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my Father.
From that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Then said
Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom
shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that thou
art that Christ, the Son of the living God. So Peter believes, Peter's not of the disciples
that don't believe. Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve? And one of you is
a devil. So one of them doesn't believe what Peter just said. Who is it? It was Judas Iscariot.
Because in the context, you have to understand that Jesus had more than twelve disciples.
He had twelve that he had handpicked, but there was other people there with him. And
so when he preached, some of those disciples that didn't believe and everything, they just
left. But now he's isolating it to the last twelve. He's like, Hey, you twelve, are you
going to go away too? And he's like, No, we all actually believe. And he's like, But wait
a minute, there's still one here that doesn't. Because he doesn't want his twelve disciples
to get confused and think, Oh, everybody that's bad walked away. No, no, no. Someone
stuck around. And let me tell you something. Even in this church right now, there could
be a Judas Iscariot. You can preach as hard as you want. You can preach the Bible as clear
as you want. And sometimes there will be an individual that's just, I'm going to stick
around and they're a devil. And you know what? It happens to every one of the biblical preachers.
You have David's inner crew, sons of Belial, Jesus's inner crew, sons of Belial. There's
always going to be infiltrators. There's always going to be wicked people. The Apostle Paul
preaches and makes it abundantly clear that there are infiltrators in their churches at
the time that he's there. He says he's certain of it. And I'll show you verses on this in
a moment. But we understand that Judas Iscariot was a devil. He didn't believe. He wasn't
sincere. He never trusted Christ. It wasn't like he started out good and then just went
bad. He started bad and ended bad. I mean, he was a devil at the beginning. He's a devil
now and he's a devil whenever he betrays the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing changed. Go to
John chapter 12, John chapter number 12. Now, of course, when you hang around God's people
and you don't believe and you're not there sincerely, you can end up doing things that
you maybe you didn't even think you were capable of by demon possession. And, of course, that's
what happens with Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot, of course, he's fake, he's bad, but then he's
even opening himself up to go even further down a dark road that he wasn't even realizing
he's capable of. And, you know, the Bible talks about the reprobate mind in Romans chapter
1, kind of this downward spiral that individuals that hate God go down and the Bible says they're
filled with all unrighteousness. So someone that's rejected of God or reprobate, they
may not be filled yet. They could just start off with being an atheist, start off with
the rejection of God, but they're in a process of being filled. And if they just keep going
down that road forever and ever, I mean, they're going to end up being at the end where they're
capable of all evil, everything imaginable that's wicked and bad, they're going to be
able to do that. And this is like Judas Iscariot. John chapter 12, look at verse 4. Then saith
one of the disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him. Why was not
this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared
for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the bag and bear what was put therein.
Simon said, Jesus, let her alone against the day of my burying, hath she kept this
for the poor always he have with you, but me, he have not always. So Judas Iscariot,
anytime there's something dealing with money, this is when he speaks up. You know, Peter,
he likes to speak up and say like, hey, we believe Jesus is the son of God. And, you
know, I'll die with you. When does Judas speak up? Hey, why aren't we given more money in
the bag? You know, and of course, you know, he does it in a sly, cunning manner, crafty
and in a cunning manner, subtle. Why don't we help the poor here? What are we doing?
You know, that's a little too fancy, guys. We should sell this. You know, how dare the
Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, if you're really a problem, why are you wasting this much money
on what you're doing? This ointment is, it's 300 pence, guys. I mean, think about how
many poor people we can help with this. Not that he cared for the poor. And how many preachers
get up and make a little special, please give money to the children in Nicaragua. Have you
seen the little poor kid in Africa? You know, how, you guys are driving your nice, can you
really have that nice car? Sell your nice car and give it to the little kid in Nicaragua.
Not that he cares about the kids in Nicaragua, because he's going to steal more money from
the church, folks. And look, there's so many Judases out there and they're all about money
and giving money and pretending like they care about the poor. Here's a group of people
like that, Democrats. Democrats always claim to care about the poor, but you know what?
They're liars. They're fake. They're just like Judas Iscariot, who'll give you a sob
story and claim, let's give reparations to black people. I mean, how many countries are,
I'm sorry, how many states are trying to pass legislation? California wants to give all
this money to black people in reparations. Not that they care about black people, but
that they're going to steal from those reparation payments. They're going to pay themselves
a whole bunch of money or they'll end up, they own businesses that are targeted towards
black people and they're just trying to line their pockets because they know they're going
to go spend $200 on Air Jordans. They're going to go to Kanye West concert and buy a $250
sweatshirt from Kanye. They know that if they give these people money, those people are
going to give them all of their money. And so they take advantage of them. They rip those
individuals off. Not that they really care about black people. Hey, if you care about
black people, why don't you preach them the gospel? If you care about black people, why
don't you educate them? If you care about black people, why don't you actually go in
their neighborhood and talk to them and hang out with them? They're not going to do that.
Just let's give them money. You know, not that they really care about those individuals,
but because they just want to steal from them. They just want to steal from the pot, from
the bag. And we noticed that he's a thief. The Bible just clear thief. Let me tell you
something. Thieves can exist and can be saved. You know what? There's a special breed of
people that are willing to steal from church, and those people are almost always just super
wicked individuals. Someone that's willing to steal from church is just an extra level
of evil. I mean, those people are just so wicked. I mean, I can't even stand the thought
of someone wanting to steal from a church. I mean, what institution can you have no heart,
no character? You just think, of all the institutions I'm going to steal from, a church? I mean,
that just shows you're content for God, you're content for the gospel, you're content for
the word of God, no fear of God whatsoever. I mean, how can you be traveling? You're traveling
with Jesus Christ, and you have the bag of money, and you're stealing from that bag?
Talk about a low life, folks. I mean, there's not really, you can't get much scummier than
this particular individual. Go to John chapter 13, and look at verse number 2. John chapter
13, and look at verse number 2. And supper being ended, the devil having now put into
the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him. Notice that the devil is influencing
Judas Iscariot. He's putting bad ideas into the heart of Judas Iscariot. And of course,
when you show yourself to be wicked, the devil will notice that. And he'll be like, hey,
I got this pawn in here, I got this minion of mine in this inner circle, so I'm gonna
feed him some ideas. Hey, hey, you know how you like money? He's like, yeah. He's like,
what if you sell out Jesus? I heard there's some people who are willing to pay for that.
And they're like, I don't care, I just want money. I mean, the love of money is the root
of what? All evil. All evil, folks. This guy is super wicked. Now, it gets worse for
him. Look at verse 21, same chapter. When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit
and testified and said, verily, verily, I say unto you that one of you shall betray
me. Then disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake. Again, why are
they doubting? It's because it's inconceivable to them that anybody would betray the Lord
Jesus Christ. I mean, it's just someone that's a pure-hearted person can't even fathom doing
this. It's inconceivable. Like, what are you talking about? Someone would do that? And
I remember I went to Faith Ward Baptist Church, I was training with Pastor Anderson, we were
going through the pastoral class, and it was a hand-picked class. So it's kind of like
the disciples here, where if you wanted to be in the class, it was by invitation only,
and you had to meet certain criterion, like you had to already have, be married for so
many years, having two children, been faithful, already having a lot of skill. Like, it wasn't
just anybody. You had to be, like, super close to even possibly being a pastor, hand-picked,
handful of people in the room, and I remember the first class, he's just like, most of you
are going to fail. There's probably a bunch of bozos and Judases in the room. And I remember
sitting there thinking, like, who in this room is a bad person? I was like, what is
he talking about? I couldn't even believe it. I was just sitting there thinking, like,
is it I? You know, I'm like, oh, man, what is he saying? But you know, in hindsight,
what's crazy about that is, you know what's in the room? Garrett Cursway, Tyler Baker,
you know, Elliot Ray, I mean, it's just like, oh, okay, obviously. Pastor Anderson knew
more than I did. And you know, it's not like Pastor Anderson knew they were bad. He just
knew what the Bible said on the subject. He studied who Judas was, and he realized, you
know, the wicked people always try to get the way, weasel their way up to the top, and
they always try to fake their way all the way to the top, and that's all they care.
They don't care because they actually want to be a pastor or love the Lord or do right.
They just want to weasel their way to the top for money, for selfish gain, because they're
just wicked people. Now, if we keep reading in this chapter, he says in verse number 23,
Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter
therefore beckoned to him that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. Then he
lying on Jesus' breast sayeth on him, Lord, who is it? I think it's funny. They're just
so obsessed with this. They're all just like, who's the traitor? And you know what? I get
it, but like maybe calm down a little bit, okay, folks? Because I even feel like it's
in our church. They're like, everybody is just so, like, I want to figure out who the
traitor is, you know. Pastor Shelley said this to Judas. I already have, here's my list.
What's your list look like? You know, it's like calm down, folks. It'll happen if it's
going to happen, okay? You don't have to be on a witch hunt here. Verse 26, Jesus answered,
It is to whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop,
he gave it to Judas and scared it to the son of Simon. Now think about this. He's like,
hey, who's the betrayer? He's like, the one that I hand this to. And then he hands it
to Judas. You would think that'd be pretty obvious, right? But somehow the disciples,
they still couldn't understand it. They're still just like, that was weird. Like, what
in the world? And notice what has happened. He hands it to him, and when he had dipped
the sop, he gave it to Judas and scared it to the son of Simon. And after the sop, Satan
entered into him, then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. So think about
the setting. Jesus is telling them, someone's going to betray me. Someone's going to betray
me. Judas is like, is it I? And he's like, thou sayest it. And then he's like, who is
it? The one I'm going to give the sop to. Here, Judas. And then he's like, that thou
doest, do quickly. And then he just leaves. Now think about this. The disciples are still
like, I don't know what's going on. You know why I think that they're like this, though?
Because here's what some people had said. They had said, oh, he's so convincing he tricked
them even. I just think that a pure-hearted person has a hard time believing that anybody's
wicked. And look, I've seen this where someone goes bad and you talk to their friends or
acquaintances and you're trying to convince them like, this guy's bad. At first they don't
believe you. And that's okay. It's not that the person was really convincing. It's just
that you're such a good-hearted person, it's hard for you to believe that anybody's really
that bad. And I think our human nature is to try and just give people the benefit of
the doubt in a lot of situations. And so it's hard for us to ever believe someone's
as bad as Judas. And so it's just inconceivable. They try to rationalize it and say, there's
something else going on. There's no way someone's going to really betray him. And it's just
so hard to believe. And so, of course, they can't quite see it. But notice what happens
to Judas. Demon possession. Satan himself entered into Judas Iscariot to accomplish
this task. And I don't know exactly all the reasons why. Perhaps the devil himself is
worried that Judas isn't going to get the job done. So he's like, I'll do it myself.
But when you are a devil, when you are wicked like this, you're opening yourself up to be
taken advantage of by demons, be taken advantage of by devils. And it's another proof text
that Judas was never saved. Let me tell you something. Someone who's saved cannot have
Satan enter them. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. The Holy
Ghost is not going to let some demon come in and start taking over the driver's seat.
That is not biblical. That's a false doctrine. Someone who's saved can be influenced by the
devil. You can let the devil whisper in your ear. Peter is influenced by the devil. The
devil whispers in his ear, gives him bad ideas. But let me tell you something. You're going
to always be in the driver's seat when you're saved. You're locked into the driver's seat.
But when you're unsaved, when you don't have the Holy Spirit, you can literally be kicked
out of the driver's seat. You can let someone else come in. It's similar to how alcohol
works. And that's why they call it spirits. Why? Because sometimes when you have someone
get drunk or someone gets intoxicated, it's like there's someone else driving all of a
sudden. And people will do things that they can't even imagine they did. They won't even
remember. It's called blacking out, where you can get so drunk and so wasted that you
wake up and you don't even remember what happened in the last 12 hours, 20 hours, or whatever
time period, and people have to tell you, and you can't even believe it. And people
have committed murder, adultery, fornication, sodomy, when blacked out, because they don't
even know what's going on. I mean, think about what happened with other men in the Bible.
Think about the men that blacked out in the Bible, a lot. All of a sudden you wake up
and your two daughters impregnated and there's not another man anywhere. Think about how
long that took them to figure that one out. It's like, I just don't know what's happening.
Immaculate conception? I mean, Noah. Noah got drunk with wine. What happened? His son
took advantage of him, the disgusting predator pervert. And, of course, there's predators
out there waiting, and they want you to get in a state of weakness so they can take advantage
of you. And if you're saved, here's the thing. A demon could never do that to you, but you
know what can? Jack Daniels. Captain Morgan can get in there and you can have the same
effect. That's why you should stay away from alcohol 100%. Not even touch the stuff. It
does no benefit to you. It can only harm you and destroy you. The Bible says not even to
look at it in Proverbs 23. And, of course, if you don't want demon possession, you know
what? Get saved. If you don't want any kind of possession, stay away from drugs and alcohol.
We see the brazenness of Judas Iscariot. No shame. He's just filled with greed, filled
with the love of money, and he allows the devil to take over his body. Go if you would
to Jude now. Jude chapter 1. So we've read a lot about Judas. And we have the understanding
that there's a certain group of people out there that are just wicked to the core. And
there's no rescuing them. They're not going to get saved. They'll never be saved. The
Bible tells us that we actually war against them. Look at Jude 1, verse 1. It says, Jude,
the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, them that are sanctified by God the
Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called. Mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied.
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful
for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith
which was once delivered unto the saints. Now, what is contend? It's like fight. For
fighting. Who are we fighting? Verse 4. For there are certain men crept in unawares who
were before of old ordained to this condemnation. Ungodly men turning the grace of our God into
the lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Is this a saved
person? How many descriptions do you need? Notice what it says. Denying the only Lord
God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Did Judas Iscariot believe in Jesus? No, he denied the Lord Jesus
Christ. He did not believe in him. Notice that the Bible says that these individuals
are ordained to condemnation. Judas noticing that he was condemned. Ungodly. But Judas
turning the grace. What is the grace of God into lasciviousness? Well, you have to understand
that God, there's nothing stopping him from taking any individual who sins and just immediately
killing them. I mean, God can do whatever he wants. The wage of sin is death. I mean,
there is not a sin that does not have the punishment of hell. And there's nothing stopping
God from killing anybody from committing any sin at any point in time. So, why do we continue
to live through God's grace? Even an unsaved person is living by God's grace. But men who
did not get an immediate punishment and decide to, instead of believing in Jesus and trying
to live a reformed life, do what? Let's party until he throws me into hell. And they turn
the grace of God into lasciviousness and they allow the remaining portion of their life
to just be a life full of debauchery, evil, and wickedness because, you know what, they're
taking advantage of God's grace. They're making a mockery of God's grace and they deny
the Lord. These are those individuals. And he's saying that these individuals have crept
in unawares. What's unaware? They're incognito. They're in secret. Just like Judas. Judas
is unaware. No one of the disciples are just like, obviously, this is a betrayer, you know.
In hindsight, they're writing these books where they're like, Judas is scaring the betrayer.
But that's not how he was introduced out soul winning. Here's my silent partner, Judas
the betrayer. You know, they didn't know that yet. And what you have to understand is there
are certain people in our world that have crept in, they're pretending to be Christian,
they pretend to love the Lord, but you know what, they're fake. They're fake. And you
know what, I may never or may not catch it. God knows. And God's going to make it clear.
This is why we earnestly contend for faith. This is why we preach the doctrines that we
believe. This is why we have a sharp contrast with those who have false doctrine. We're
calling people out. We're holding people accountable for their actions. We test the spirits. The
Bible says to try the spirits whether they are of God because there's many false prophets
that have gone out into the world. So this is why we ask questions. You know, pastors
that won't answer questions about what they believe, that's suspicious. The Bible demands
us to try the spirits and to test the spirits and to say, what do you believe about salvation?
I mean, a pastor that won't tell you what he believes about salvation is suspect. In
fact, I would almost argue he's probably not even saved if he's afraid to tell you what
he believes. Because someone who's saved has no problem giving the glorious gospel of Jesus
Christ to anyone that asks him. That's the whole job I have is to give the gospel. Why
would I be embarrassed to give the gospel to somebody? You know why people are afraid
to tell you what they believe about salvation? Because they believe in work salvation. Because
they believe something fake or false about the word of God. Why do these individuals
not want to argue about which Bible they use? Because they know they're wrong. Why do they
not want to tell you how to explain the preacher rapture? Because they're wrong. These people
don't want to be tested and tried on their faith. That's why it's so hard. People that
believe false doctrine, it's so hard to get them to want to even talk about it. Because
they know they're going to look like an idiot so quick because the truth is so sharp. And
we're supposed to contend with these individuals. Look at verse 11 here, and we're going to
see the same attributes. What were some of the attributes that we had of Judas? Well,
look at verse 11. Woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain and ran greedily
after the error of Balaam for war. Greed. That reminds me of someone, Judas. Running
after what? Greed. Look at verse 12. These are spots in your feast of charity when they
feast with you, feeding themselves without fear. Talk about Judas Iscariot. He's sitting
there eating with Jesus, and he's calling him out, and he's still just, whatever. No
fear, coveted with the Pharisees, still hanging out with Jesus, no problem. Just no fear.
Clouds they are without water, carried about of winds, trees whose fruit withereth, without
fruit twice dead, plucked up by the roots. Look at verse 16. These are murmurers, complainers,
walking after their own lusts, and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's
persons in admiration because of advantage. Having men's persons in admiration because
of advantage is kind of a tongue twister, but really, I think it just summarizes flattery.
It's flattery in the sense that they pretend to like certain people that are popular, have
credibility, so as to take advantage of them. Who would be that person? How about Jesus?
How about Judas Iscariot flattering Jesus and taking advantage of who Jesus is for what?
For some kind of personal advantage. And that's of course who Judas Iscariot was, and a lot
of these individuals are like that. They'll flatter presidents, governors, police, the
mayor, whoever it is, just to get advantage, but they don't really like those individuals.
They don't really even care about those individuals, but they simply just want to get some kind
of advantage and they flatter them. Not only this, it says their mouth speaketh great swelling
words, meaning that they just, they speak a lot of feigned words, fake. This is like
him going out and preaching. When he preached, it was just great swelling words. He's the
king of all the kings who are able to speak and say nothing at the same time. Great swelling
words. Have you ever noticed a preacher will talk for 30 minutes and say nothing? And you're
like, wow, how did you do that? It's like Jordan Peterson. Every time Jordan Peterson
talks, it's like just great swelling words of vanity. He like said almost nothing, and
you get more confused by hearing him speak. This is like Judas Iscariot. Now, we also
have one in verse 19 that I thought of. It says, these be they who separate themselves
sensual having not the spirit. You know, in the separation aspect, you kind of will eventually
have these individuals distance themselves from the group. They may leave or they may
even try to draw away disciples after themselves as the Bible describes. Go to 2 Peter chapter
2. But of course, they're always in this a cult of one. And these people are very recognizable
because what you'll notice is they're the only guru. They'll have their own little platform,
their own little online ministry, and it's not like you should listen to me and all of
these other people. It's like only me. Only I have the right answer. There's no other
church that's right. There's no other good preachers. There's no other good. They're
in a cult of one, and this is a very common experience that you have with these individuals
where they leave and they're like, well, I'm smarter than that guy, and then they're smarter
than everyone pretty soon. No one's right. I see this all the time. There's a billion
people that have gone to our style of church, and then they leave, and they're just like,
every church is wrong. That's a cult. When every church is wrong, you're a cult. You
know what? If this church died tomorrow, there is plenty of great churches you can go to.
There's still plenty of great men that you can listen to. The Bible says in the multitude
of counselors there is safety. It's silly when someone's just like, I'm the only person
that believes this. Every red flag inside should flip up inside of you. Anything that
I believe, I've always found plenty of other people that believe it, and I would raise
the flag for myself. I would be like, if I'm the only one that believes this, there's something
weird going on. There's some kind of an issue that I have, and so you have to be really
careful of any time you have a strange or diverse opinion, doctrine. The Bible warns
you about having those kind of things. That doesn't mean the majority's always right,
but you know what's pretty much always wrong? When you're the only person that believes
it. That's a really, really dangerous position to be in, and of course, Judas is kind of
the only one of the disciples that's not a believer. He's the only one going against
Lord Jesus Christ. He's an occult of one. Now look at 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 1. 2 Peter
chapter 2 verse 1, But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall
be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the
Lord that bought them, and bringing upon themselves swift destruction. I like this verse so much
because he's saying even though Judas Iscariot existed, don't think that this is a one-off.
The false prophets that exist in the Old Testament, don't think that was a one-off. No, no. They
exist now. They're among you, is what he's saying. He's not saying like this is all,
this is just happened in the past or something like that. No, no, no. It's a common experience
that we're all going to have to go through. And he says in verse number 2, And many shall
follow their pernicious ways. Pernicious means dangerous. So he's saying many people end
up even falling for these bozos, weirdos, and false teachers. Verse 3, And through covetousness
shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you. Sounds like Judas, huh? Covetousness,
he's using feigned words, he's fake. Go to verse 13, And shall receive the reward of
unrighteousness as they that counted pleasure to riot in the daytime spots they are and
blemishes sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you. Notice
again he doesn't care about feasting. Verse 14, Having eyes full of adultery and that
cannot cease from sin, beguiling unstable souls, and heart they have exercised with
covetous practices. Judas was in a covetous practice. What was Judas' covetous practice?
He was always taking money out of the bag. He was in a pattern, he was in practice of
constantly taking money out of the bag, and of course it just always escalates. You still
a little bit, you can't be satisfied. You got to still a little more, and then a little
bit more, and then a little more. And then you get to the old point where you're selling
out the Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn't get worse than that. That is the epitome. Now
there's a lot more Bible I could go to, but for the sake of time I want to spend a few
minutes talking about this stupid book for a second since I highlighted it. But I read
one of these sermons and it was called Judas Iscariot, a Study of Character. And it was
by a guy named Joseph Parker. Joseph Parker was one of England's most popular preachers.
That should give you an indication that he's bad. Largely self-educated, Parker had pulpit
gifts that soon moved him into leadership among the Congregationalists. He was a fearless
and imaginative preacher. So this guy is what's considered a Congregationalist in England,
one of the most popular preachers. Let's see what he had to say about Judas Iscariot. We
always think of him as a monster. Yeah, that's what I think of him. But what if we ourselves
be at least in possibility as monstrous and as vile? No. I mean, what's the point of
me deciding, am I as bad as the devil? Am I as bad as Judas? I mean, it's just stupid.
So I kept reading, unfortunately. Now at one point he quoted a verse. And you know what
I've noticed about all these sermons? They almost never have a Bible verse in them.
But he finally quotes John 6.70, have not I chosen you twelve and one of you is a devil?
You would think that would have been an indication, ding, ding, ding, not someone I'm going to
pretend like I'm like. Okay. But he then says later, he says, in him, talking about Judas,
there was a preeminent capacity for plotting and attempting the foulest mischief. So at
least he's recognizing what Judas did was arguably the worst thing imaginable. But he
then says later that we don't know if that could have not been ourselves. No man fully
knows himself. Wait a minute. I know that I have eternal life. I know that I'm a son
of God. I know that I can't lose my salvation. Yeah, do I know everything I'm capable of
doing? Not necessarily. I could sin a lot of bad ways. But you know what? I'm never
going to do certain sins. Like I'll never be a fag. I already know that in myself.
You know, I've already figured that one out. And you know what? I'm never going to stop
believing in Jesus. And you know what? I'm never going to betray the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, I know I'm capable of murder and adultery and sin and wickedness and drunkenness
and every sin that's natural to man, it's possible for me. It's a temptation. It's on
the table. But you know what's not on the table? Being Judas Iscariot. You know what's
not on the table? Being a pedophile. You know what's not on the table? Being a rapist sodomite
faggot. That's not on the table, folks. And you know what's not on the table? Betraying
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's nonsense. So then he says this in his little stupid sermonette.
Which of us can positively separate himself from Judas Iscariot? Me? Okay. And honestly
say he was a kind of human nature different from mine. Well, you know why he doesn't seem
different to you? Because you're a false teacher. That's why. Because you know what? In Romans
1, it makes it clear there's a different kind of nature. The one of reprobates who have
vile affections. And he's like, how dare you separate yourself from those people? I didn't.
God did. He says they're brute beasts. That's a different kind of nature. I couldn't read
anymore of this sermon. It was terrible. Okay. So then I read a second sermon by J. Stewart
Holden. J. Stewart Holden. Now, if this is an indication, it might not be bad. It starts
out with he's the vicar of St. Paul's church. He was an Anglican preacher. And I thought,
Anglican. And these guys are in the 1800s, early 1900s. His sermon is just called Judas
Iscariot. He says in the beginning portion of his sermon and the mother talking of Judas'
mother is, I'm sorry, he's talking about how Judas Iscariot changed the name forever and
no one ever wanted to be called Judas again. And I was thinking like, that's a fair point.
I've never met someone named Judas Iscariot. I've never met someone with the last name
Iscariot and I've never met someone named Judas. There's a reason why, folks. But he
says, and the mother is not yet born who would ever allow her child to be Christend Judas.
So he's saying at that present time, there wasn't a woman on the planet that would dare
name her child Judas Iscariot. Now, in the culture we have today, I don't know if that's
still true, but it's mostly true. I still haven't seen it. Then he says this, although
we know nothing of the actual event of his calling by the master, he's talking about
how Judas was called to be a disciple. Wait a minute, I thought there were verses that
tell us about him being called. Whatever. He says, what experiences led up to it? What
influences had been working at work urging him to link up with Jesus and the new movement?
It is quite evident that Judas was entirely sincere. What? He says there is no evidence
at all that he was from the first self-seeking hypocrite. How is this guy reading the Bible?
Didn't you read the Bible with me today? There was zero evidence indicating that he wasn't
sincere or a hypocrite at the beginning. Wow. It says, it is fair to assume that he was
moved by a blameless and noble enthusiasm. This is the kind of sermons that people preach
that everybody gets real excited about. He says, Judas was as much in earnest and as
disinterested in joining the group as any of the others. So he's just saying, whatever
emotion Peter, James, and John had about joining Jesus was the exact same emotions that Judas
and Gary had. They're all the same. False. Now then, this is a verse he quotes after
that. It had been good for that man if he had not been born. Okay. He says this, it's
really a terrifying story for what happened to him might happen to any of us. No, it's
not going to happen to us. This is the kind of junk that's being taught. And look, I've
heard this. You say, this is a straw man. I went to a Southern Baptist Sunday school
class where I heard this junk in person. You know, why preach the sermon, Pastor Shelley,
so you'll never fall victim to the stupidity? Now it starts to make sense, though, why he
has these views. Listen to this statement. Well, it all began by Judas failing to make
an entire surrender of himself to the master at the start. He simply didn't leave all when
he joined him. You know, lordship salvation isn't new, folks. 1800s, he didn't surrender
all. You have to be willing to give it all. And Judas just didn't give it all. That's
why he didn't get saved. No, he never believed, folks. No one gave it all. What person could
get up and just say, I've given it all? Every thought I've ever had is perfect with Christ
now. I've given him all of my money, all of my time, all of my effort. I'm never sinning
again. None of y'all are saved, man. Don't want to be like Judas now, do you? Better
surrender it all. No, that's just work salvation. And it's actually pretty hardcore if you think
about it. He said he wasn't wholehearted. Sincere as far as he went, he didn't go far
enough. So Judas Iscariot, according to this preacher, was very sincere. He just wasn't
sincere enough. Look, this is what's being preached in churches all over this state,
all over this country, all over this world. You have to be sincere. How sincere do you
have to be? I mean, think about Judas Iscariot. If he believes that Judas was sincere, think
about what Judas did do. He left his job and he's following Jesus every day. He's preaching
every day. That wasn't enough. You know what? None of us are going to make it. I don't preach
every day. Then he quotes Psalm where it says, my own familiar friend whom I trusted, whom
I did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. Okay, that was a good verse.
Then later he says, for how many give Christ less than the whole of their lives? Everyone.
I mean, this is the type of junk that's being preached everywhere about Judas Iscariot.
We have to realize, folks, that the reason why Judas is in hell today is because he never
believed in Jesus Christ. It wasn't hard for him to be saved. And the reason why he fell
was because he wasn't a believer, not because he wasn't working hard enough or giving enough
for all these. No, no. There's just bad people out there. And you know what makes them bad?
It's not that they weren't sincere enough. It's that they're not sincere at all. There
are wicked people in our culture, in our society, that only want destruction. This makes me
so mad. Republicans want to try and reason with these people. They want to believe, oh,
you're just, you know, if we just gave you the right argument, you would come to our
side. No, they'll never come to your side. There is unreasonable and wicked men, according
to the Bible. Go to Acts 20. We'll finish there. Go to Acts 20. There's so much more
that could be said, but what I really want to do is go to Psalm 109, where the Bible
makes it abundantly clear how everybody actually should feel about Judas. Let his days be few.
That's what David said. Oh, how dare you say that someone's days should be few. You know,
David wanted him to kill himself. David wanted Judas Iscariot to die. He preaches all that.
Not only he wanted him to die, he wanted his wife to be a widow and his children to be
fatherless and no one to stretch forth a hand towards his children and for them to be vagabonds
and for his name to be mud for all of eternity and for no one to ever name a child again
Judas Iscariot. That's how David felt about it. Yet today, you say that about someone
and everybody freaks out. You're a hate preacher. Well, okay, I guess David's a hate preacher.
I guess Jesus is a hate preacher. I guess the apostles were hate preachers because they
brought it up in Acts chapter 1, too. Well, look at what the apostle Paul says in Acts
chapter 20. It's a good warning for all of us. He says in verse 28, take heed therefore
unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers
to feed the church of God which he hath purged with his own blood. For I know this, that
after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after
them. The apostle Paul said, I've set up all these churches and he's talking to the leaders.
He's talking to the pastors of these churches and he's saying, look guys, bad people are
going to be in your churches for sure. For sure bad people are coming in and notice what
they want. They won't spare the flock. You can't talk them off a ledge. You can't pet
the wolf and be like, nice wolfie. You know, he's so sweet. Let's turn this wolf into a
nice one. There is no nice wolf. The wolf will devour and he's not going to spare the
flock. And he says, not only are you going to have bad people in your churches, some
of you are bad. Some of you are bozos. Some of you are evil, wicked people. And you know
what, we as God's people should not be so innocent and naive to just think everyone's
a good person. Judas Iscariot exists. And sometimes it's easy, even for me, to want
to forget about it, to see no evil, to pretend like evil doesn't exist in our society, pretend
like bad people don't exist. But you know what? You know what that does? It creates
bad people. By you being unwilling to recognize bad people, you allow bad people to exist.
You know, how many people are afraid to say that Jews are wicked and that they exist?
Why is it that the Jews just keep getting away with all their wickedness in our country?
No one will point out the wolf. Why is it that the Sodomites are going around terrorizing
our culture? Because no one will call out the wolf. Why is it that there's so many false
teachers in our country? Because people are afraid to call out the wolves in our society.
You know what? We as God's people should not be afraid to identify the wolves. And you
know what? You need to go to a church where the pastor will call out the wolves, call
out the Judas Iscariots, test the spirits and try the spirits. And we need to be people
that are not going to just be so gullible. But he said, Hail Master. But he cared about
the poor. But he just seemed so sweet. No, no, no. When Jesus hands him the sop, it's
like, oh, bye. It's when Jesus is like, here's the guy. You know, we need to accept that
people are bad. And if leadership calls people out for being bad, you should respect that
opinion by default. And our churches had to call people out. And to this point, I don't
know really that our church as a whole has called people out, and we were wrong about
it. And it's by the grace of God. And you know what? We're going to keep doing it. And
we're going to keep getting more and more enemies, and I'm fine with that. But you know
what? The last thing I want is wolves in this room, wolves in this church. And we should
be willing to accept the fact that there's a Judas among us, could be, will be, and that
we will deal with them appropriately. And we're going to say, let his days be few. Let's
close in prayer. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for giving us so much clear instruction and
warning us about evils that are out there, telling us how we can identify the Judas Iscariots,
telling us how to be warned about false teachers and false prophets. I pray that we wouldn't
be so gullible, we wouldn't be so simple-minded, that we wouldn't be naive about these issues,
but rather we would be diligent. We would earnestly contend for the faith that we would
be men, that we would be strong, that we would be willing to call people out, that we would
be willing to fight against the evil that's in this world. We know that we need strong
men to stand up and to call out the evil and to be willing to fight against it, and I pray
that you would encourage the men in this room to do so. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
All right, for the final song, song number 174, song number 174, my Jesus, I love thee.
My Jesus, I love thee. That's song number 174, my Jesus, I love thee. 174. 174 on the first.
My Jesus, I love thee. I know thou art mine. For thee I am.
For thee all the follies of sin I recite. My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art thou.
If ever I love thee, my Jesus, tis now. I love thee.
Because thou hast first loved me, and purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree.
I love thee for wearing the thorns on thy brow. If ever I love thee, my Jesus, tis now.
I love thee in life, I will love thee in death. And praise thee as long as thou lendest me
breath. And say when the dead do, lies cold on my brow. If ever I love thee, my Jesus,
tis now. In mansions of glory and endless delight, I'll ever adore thee in heaven so
bright. I'll sing with the glittery crown on my brow. If ever I love thee, my Jesus,
tis now.