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amen so we'll be back in titus one but if you want to go back to mark 14 i'm going to continue on through mark 14 and this morning we looked at verses one through nine with mary and her breaking the alabaster box of ointment made an application there and then tonight i just want to look at verses 10 through 21 where we start to deal with the story about jesus betrayal by judas and everything that's kind of encompassed there of course in mark it's kind of like the rest of the book of mark it's just kind of one you know event after the other really you're just getting the being told what happens you're not getting a lot of detail in the book of mark often but of course there's parallel passages that kind of make up the rest where we can kind of fill in some of the details tonight and we're going to start there in mark chapter 14 again looking at verse 10 it says and judas iscariot one of the 12 went unto the chief priests to betray him unto them now again it's probably it's worth pointing out that this is happening right after jesus has you know essentially rebuked the response of the disciples to the pouring out of that alabaster box of ointment that's spikenard as the bible says which was very precious very costly and if you remember from this morning from early on a chapter they had indignation within themselves they're upset and they're saying you know this could have been sold for 300 pence but we know that their true motives there was because at least for judas was because that he was a greedy person the bible says that he had the bag meaning you know he held the money for jesus's ministry and also that he was a thief so he's already in the process of dipping into the offerings as it were or whatever funds that jesus and his disciples had to kind of live off of and to conduct their ministry you know we already know at least that much about judas that he's a thief and that's important to keep in mind because we're going to see tonight that there's two things that motivate people to betray others or to get off the right track or to do things that are ungodly and those two things are silver and then satan silver and satan and judas kind of falls prey to both of these things and firstly we'll see that he betrays christ for silver that's really what he was at least initially from his own heart attending to do here and it's coming out again from a place of perhaps jealousy or anger or resentment over the fact that he's seeing he's being rebuked over the fact that this costly spike nard was you know poured out upon jesus maybe he's thinking you know you could have exchanged that and brought us the money you know you could have brought us some more of that gold and silver and we could have put it in the bag that kind of a thing and when they heard it of course in verse 11 they were glad and and promised to give him money so he goes under the chief priests and they're trying to betray him if you remember in the beginning of the very beginning of the chapter it says that they by craft the jews stopped by craft to put him to death right so this is very convenient for them they're trying to find a way in to jesus ministry and to catch him at a time when he doesn't expect it unawares and when there aren't other people around you can't do it in public they can't do it when when jesus is preaching publicly because of the fact that they feared the people and how they would react so they're they're looking for opportunity and it just so happens that judas comes to them and says hey you you're looking for a chance to get jesus i can get you in i can be your inside man as it were so when they hear it they're glad and promised to give him money and he sought how he might conveniently betray him so then you have some you know the passage of some time here it says in the first day of the unleavened bread when they killed the passover the disciples said unto him where wilt thou that we go to prepare thou that thou mayest eat the passover and he sent forth two of his disciples and saith unto them go ye into the city and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water follow him whithersoever he shall go go in saying to the good man of the house the master saith where is the guest chamber where i shall eat the passover with my disciples and he will show you a large upper room furnished and prepared there make ready for us the disciples went forth and came into city and found us he had said unto them and they made ready the passover and in the evening he cometh with the 12 and they sat down and did eat and jesus said verily i say unto you one of you which eateth shall betray me so this is kind of you know this portion of the chapter that's kind of theme that's what we're kind of dealing with here christ's betrayal judas's betrayal of christ rather so he's saying look you know judas is going out he's covenanting with the jews to betray him and then you have the the scenario in which it takes place all that comes to pass and he even flat out says at the dinner table at the last supper one of you which eateth with me shall betray me and they began to be sorrowful and say unto him one by one is it i and another said is it i and he answered and said to them it is one of the 12 that dippeth with me in the dish the son of man goeth as is written of him but woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed good were it for that man that he had never been born that's a pretty bold statement and that's because you know betraying christ is a pretty bold thing you know often in our lives we're probably going to have people that are disloyal to us we're going to have people that betray us in some sense to some degree or another but none of that will ever compare to the fact that jude it will compare to the way in which jesus was betrayed by judas i mean to betray the christ to betray the son of god to pray to betray or to uh betray the lord jesus christ himself that takes an extra level of boldness that takes that's a that's a whole nother level of betrayal that's a whole nother level of wickedness and it should surprise us that that's even possible you would wonder like how is that even possible how could somebody that is one of the 12 disciples himself turn upon the lord jesus christ himself how how could somebody be so brazen to do that and there's two reasons silver and satan now if you want to uh keep something in mark 14 we might come back and look at a little bit of the beta but you can go over to uh uh we'll just go back to titus chapter one titus chapter number one i'll just read you from matthew 26 where we get a little bit more of the details here it says in verse 14 that one of the 12 called judas iscariot went unto the chief priest and he said to them what will you give me and i will deliver him unto you and they coveted him for 30 pieces of silver so that's the the price that he betrayed christ for just 30 pieces of silver and from that time he sought opportunity betray him now this is of course fulfillment of scripture this is something that was prophesied zachariah chapter 11 if you think it good give me my price and if not forbear so they wait for my price 30 pieces of silver so judas's betrayal of christ is something that's actually prophesied in old testament scripture and even when we get into the books book of acts we see the apostles pointing that out right that they're actually saying hey this is what was written okay this is what was spoken of by the prophet jeremy now you're there in titus i'm not really going to try and get into all that tonight i really just want to focus on you know what is it that would compel somebody to be so brazen so bold to betray christ you know i understand it's a very well-known story it's one we've heard many times but it should never cease to shock us it should never uh cease to shock us that there's somebody that would actually betray christ for 30 pieces of silver or any price at all whatsoever and it's an important lesson to learn because in ministries you will that you will have people that will turn on pastors and other people and attack okay this is something that we need to understand judices are real even though to this day i mean why is the bible taking so much time to you know point out judas his actions how it came to pass you know what his motives might have been the bible is trying to communicate something to us it's trying to let us know that judices are real but this is something we have to deal with even to this day this is not something or you know once in a lifetime phenomenon or just a once in history phenomenon that just happened happened in christ ministry look if it happened in christ ministry then why wouldn't we expect to happen in our own ministries and people are always taken off guard when this actually comes to pass when they actually see somebody who is a judas creep in to a church and then turn on either the church itself or a man of god and actually betray you know somebody that they before had sworn loyal to loyalty to who had expressed love and admiration for they'll actually turn on that same individual and it catches people off guard and it shouldn't it should not surprise us and yet until it happens until you see it firsthand you know it will and the first time you see it perhaps even the second or third time you see it you're going to be shocked and then eventually it'll just become you know a matter of course then you'll just say well you know this doesn't surprise me at all this is what the bible teaches and this is something we've seen happen repeatedly you know some churches are never going to see it because they're not doing anything for god there there's no reason for the devil to send a judas in their midst because they're not they're they're not doing anything or very little they're not they're not a threat to satan okay and i know i've talked about this recently i've already kind of preached on this topic a little bit and so excuse me if i repeat myself i'm a little redundant tonight but you know i'm just going through the book of mark okay and it it just if i if i maybe planned a little bit better i would have just shut up a couple weeks ago and waited to preach us now but here we go again all right and and i think it's worth repeating because it's an important doctrine it's an important fact of scripture that judices will creep in among us that there will be people that will betray us and that's nothing new look we we probably have all experienced even like little micro judices in our lives little mini betrayals right maybe not obviously none of us is going to experience betrayal to the level that christ did okay but you know we've probably all been let down by a friend we've all probably all been you know had somebody turn their back on us or you know when we're in need when we're down when we need their support it's just not there and that's that's a betrayal in and of itself you know i just i was reading recently in a in a book another book and the statement was made is that if a man wants to keep friends he should never test them and i thought you know that's and that's from a secular author that's just somebody you know just a novelist writing this and i thought man even the world gets this about friendship that if you want to have a lot of friends we'll just make sure you don't test any of them because that's when true friendship is tested isn't it you know that's when loyal untested loyalty is not really loyalty at all you don't know who's loyal until they actually test it you know and really there's only one kind of friend you know a faithful friend is the only kind of friend that there is okay we've probably all experienced that at least you know had had people that we thought were our friends turn out to not be our friends to turn on us and now i'm not going to say that every person does that is a judas in the sense that they're you know an evil reprobate you know son of perdition okay but we can at least take that away from this and it shouldn't surprise us when we do see judices of a greater magnitude which are there as actually the emissaries of satan that are there to actually attack and bring down a church that's trying to do a good work or at least attempt to bring down a church that's doing great things for god so the first thing that we see that motivated judas tonight is the silver right that's what's coming out of his own heart he's seeing the alabaster box being broken he's seeing that precious ointment and it's just you know he's boiling over with anger because he's a greedy person he's a thief he has the bag he's just thinking about money he's that's his motive right that's in his own heart and look that's something that any of us can have in our hearts you know that's why the bible warns so strongly about covetousness jesus said take heed and beware of covetousness why for a man's life consisteth not of the things which he possesses right covetousness is something that can creep in it's something that's in our hearts already with something we have to be on guard against you know i don't think that that was some great you know spiritual tactic of satan with judas at this point it was just judas is kind of a useful idiot so to speak he's already got the covetousness in his heart and so he's making himself kind of a useful vessel for satan he's kind of left himself open for to later be inhabited by satan himself right that's what it takes to betray christ ultimately i mean yeah he's going to the jews he's going to the pharisees and the scribes saying you know covenant with me and i'll betray him but to actually carry that act out to actually you know he as well-intentioned as he was or not well intentioned however you know firmly convinced that he wasn't going to be able to do that it actually took satan entering him to actually carry that out but you know he went ahead of his own heart and said i will betray christ for 30 pieces of silver see this is why you know this is kind of a good illustration of what a reprobate is a reprobate is somebody that has already you know they become reprobate because they have hardened their heart against god like with pharaoh before god hardens pharaoh heart in the time of moses the bible says that pharaoh had already previously hardened his own heart right and you see the same thing kind of play out with judas say it doesn't seem fair that judas you know is just you know automatically become a reprobate but wait a minute okay he out of his own heart decided to go and covenant for 30 pieces of silver and once he's making that deal now the lord is saying well now we're just going to let satan enter into you and you're actually going to fulfill scripture because you know that's what was for you know god foreknew that these things were going to take place and that's why he's able to prophesy of these things right but again the point being that reprobates become reprobates they because they start themselves down that path they take those first steps they're the ones that choose to not acknowledge god right that they don't even want to attain god in their knowledge and then they're because you know then they are given over right we all know romans one okay even as though they do not like to retain god in their knowledge so god gave them over to a reprobate mind you know they started it basically that's what you see happening here what was his initial motive silver money covetousness greed now it's interesting that this is something that you know and this aspect of of judas's betrayal is something even we as god's people even as pastors especially are warned against okay if you look at titus chapter one verse five for this cause i left the increte that thou should a sudden order should have set in order the things that are wanting and ordained elders in every city as i had appointed thee if any be blameless the husband of one wife having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly for a bishop must be blameless as a steward of god not self-willed not soon angry not given to wine no striker and notice not given to filthy lucre not given to filthy lucre and you ask yourself well what's filthy lucre that's basically an old way of saying dirty money okay dirty money now filthy lucre is kind of defined if you want to jump down to verse 10 it says for there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers especially they have the circumcision whose mouths must be stopped who subvert whole houses teaching things which they ought not for filthy lucre's sake okay so what is filthy lucre filthy lucre is when we profit by preaching things which we ought not right teaching things which we ought not people who are getting into the ministry just so that they can make money from it because you know if you teach the right things like if you teach things which you ought not you know people have itching ears there's people out there they want to have their back scratched they want to have their ears tickled and they'll go to the church that's going to tell them the things that they want to hear they want to have that cathartic experience they want to go to a church and be told everything's fine you're okay don't worry about it they want to be told things that they ought they want to have things taught to them which ought not be taught right and that and so when a person is in the ministry for those with those motives they're in it for filthy lucre's sake and notice that's something that is a requirement of a bishop of an elder that they are not to be given to filthy lucre the temptation is to stop preaching the whole council the word of god you know we could probably build the church and help and get it to grow a lot quicker you know if we just change some things right you might you might have to change me you know swap me out for the you know the cool guy or whatever and get somebody up here who's going to you know get away from that this old archaic hard to understand king james bible right get you a new version up here more updated you know get get one that's easier to understand which is a stupid argument the king james bible is perfectly understandable folks people have been reading it for hundreds of years we all read it every day and look i don't you know we're not exact i don't know that we all have any like ivy league scholars in here you know and only they're capable of understanding the word of god i mean it's just a lot of commonplace blue work blue collar types and just you know people of you know average intelligence not insulting anybody right some are you know maybe some of you are or just you know really smart i don't know you know but i'm what i'm saying is like we all don't we all understand the bible we could pick it up my kids can pick up a king james bible and understand it just fine and some people say well you know you got to get a different bible like this guy someone's telling me for service mark ward right is this the mark ward that does the man in the streets in santa in santa cruz california that guy i don't know whoever this guy is you know he's saying that someone's telling me and look i get it this i'm expressing this third hand but i i feel like i have a credible source on this one that this guy is saying that you know it's a sin to hand out a king james bible to your child because it's they can't understand it well my answer to mark ward is well maybe you can't understand it because you're not maybe you're not saved maybe that's your problem maybe maybe you're having such a hard time understanding god's word because you don't have the spirit of god maybe that's your problem maybe your problem is that you're a natural man and you receive not the things of the spirit of god neither can you know them for they are spiritually discerned the bible says maybe that's the problem because you know god's people who have the holy spirit pick up the king james bible and it moves them it speaks to them it has power and it's and you know and that so it should go without saying that it's understandable look i'm not saying that there aren't words in there that might be hard for us to understand go read any book that's you know besides you know something written by dr soos and there's going to be words in there that you don't understand you go pick up you know that's called literature that's the point that's one of the points of reading so that you actually get smarter so you actually have to look up what a word means and try to retain it and understand it in context i mean that's just that's called reading in general i'm never going to read any book that that has a word in it that i can't understand well you know you're not going to get much out of the reading other than just cheap value you know cheap entertainment you know people want to print you know get rid of the king james bible you know and let's get rid of the old-fashioned hymns and let's turn this place into a rock concert and and and get a preacher up here who is just only going to tell you the things that you want to hear right and we will probably you know what we could probably pack this place out have to go get a big maybe buy a facility you know and you could get a lot of filthy lucre coming in the door you wonder sometimes how some of these false churches and how some of these fake churches and how how some of these compromises manage to have the ministries that they do and the funds that they do because they're preaching things which they ought not for filthy lucre's sake i mean it's right there in the scripture that's why the bible in in the qualifications for the bishop here is saying look if you're going to be god's man if you're going to be a bishop if you're going to be an elder a pastor a man of god you can't be somebody that's in it for money for the filthy lucre's sake because you'll end up preaching things which you ought not you know and it's interesting here in titus that he says they teach things which they ought not meaning they're saying things that they shouldn't right they're they're teaching things that they aren't true unbiblical so that they can get money right but you know what's interesting is that it doesn't say that the the problem is that they're teaching things they're not teaching things that they should be teaching now that is a problem isn't it you know there's some places there's some churches where the everything the pastor's saying is great it's right but the the other side of that problem is when they're teaching things when they're not teaching things that they should be teaching now i'll say this if a pastor's not teaching things which he should be teaching if he's holding back, if he's sparing the word of God with the flock, I'm not going to say that that pastor's in it for Filthy Lucre's sake. Because that might not be his motive. His motive might just be maybe he's just afraid. Sometimes I'll listen to other preachers and it's like they're getting on a topic and you can tell it's making them very nervous. And it's like, man, that's like any other Sunday around here. And I get it. I remember what it's like for me, too. And I first started because it's one thing to sit out there and listen and say, amen. But then when you're the one that's got to get up and start saying it, and make everybody go at you or whatever, you know? That's why Isaiah, I believe Isaiah was a Jeremiah, he said, be not afraid of their faces. Don't be afraid of their faces. You start to understand that when you're seeing a sea of faces out there Sunday morning, Sunday night, Thursday night. And you've got to start preaching all the things that you ought to be preaching. So I understand I don't agree with it. I don't think it's right. But if a pastor is going to hold back, that doesn't necessarily mean that he's in it for filthy lucre's sake. It's when people are teaching things which they ought not to teach. That's when you start to see the false prophet, those that are in it for filthy lucre's sake, and even amongst those that are preaching things which they ought not preach. I wouldn't even go so far as to say that all of them are reprobate, right? I would just say that they're in it for the wrong reasons, that they're in it for filthy lucre's sake. Now when they start preaching damnable heresy, then we know that straight up they're just a false prophet. Through and through. But again, because this is something that's being told to Titus, when you're picking out the pastor, when you're going to ordain an elder, make sure they're not going to preach things which they ought not for filthy lucre's sake. They're not to be given to filthy lucre. If you would, go over to 1 Timothy chapter number three. This is something that's brought up more than once. If you go to 1 Timothy chapter number three, verse one, it says, this is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach, not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous, right? So it's kind of being redundant there. Not greedy of filthy lucre, not somebody who's covetous. And even when Moses was picking out his officers to help in the office of a bishop, was picking out his officers to help in his ministry back with the children of Israel, he had to find men that were what, hating covetousness. The same was true of, I believe, the Levites as well. People that are gonna be in ministry, people that are gonna be leaders of God's people cannot be covetous people because they're supposed to be an example. You say, well, it's okay for me to be covetous because I'm not the pastor. But again, you pick people that have these attributes because they are to be in samples unto the flock. They're supposed to model the way that we live our lives. And we ought to take heed and beware of covetousness in our lives, not be given to people, people that are given to greedy of filthy lucre. This is what got Judas. You know, and it's real easy to bag on Judas, right? To get after the guy who betrayed Christ. I mean, he's an easy target, and rightfully so. I mean, he's a devil, he's wicked. He's the son of perdition. And you know, Jesus said it would have been better if he hadn't been born. That's, you know, there's insults, and then there's insults. And if I ever walk up and try to insult somebody by saying, you know, it would be better if you had never been born. I mean, that's a pretty harsh insult, but that's what Jesus said. And look, we can all pile on Judas tonight, but the fact is, you know, at least we share in part some things with Judas. If we're not careful, covetousness can take over our lives. You know, he's a greedy person. What about us tonight? What about us? Do we, are we covetous? Are we greedy? Or, you know, would we perhaps, you know, sell out when we compromise for money? Same thing is said of the deacons here. Let her say, likewise must the deacons be grave, not double-combed, not given much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre. So why is Titus, and why is Timothy being told three times that when they're looking for leaderships in the church, they're looking for positions of leadership to look out for people that are not, to look for people that are not greedy of filthy lucre? Because it's something that we can all fall prey to. You know, silver and money, you know, can change people's attitude, perspectives, outlooks. It can become the driving force in their life, where, you know, life just becomes all about money. If you would, go to 1 Timothy chapter number six, 1 Timothy chapter number six. So what motivated Judas tonight? Silver and Satan. Now that first one, you know, even as God's people, is something that can get to us if we're not careful. If we're not on guard against these things, if we don't take heed, as Jesus said, and beware of covetousness, understand that it's a possibility, it's something that can even get to us. Look at 1 Timothy chapter six, verse six, but godliness with contentment is great gain if we brought nothing into this world, and assert that we can carry nothing out. Having fruit and raiment, let us be there with content. I mean, that's a strong statement. You got food, and you got clothes on your back? What else do you need? Well, we would probably all have a list of things. You'd be like, well, let me add to that. You know, I'll be content if I have food, raiment, and a house, because it doesn't say, I guess you might be able to chalk that up as raiment, you know, shelter, maybe, but raiment in the Bible is clothing. I could see if you wanted to make the case for clothing, but even the son of man hath not where to lay his head. Paul even talks about the fact that he was exposed to the elements, that he went without a place to sleep sometimes, right? That they were wandering about, and often. God has promised to take care of the things that we have the most need of, which are food and clothing. And beyond that, everything else is just gravy, and just bonus, just icing on the cake. But we would have a hard time with this today. Yeah, food and raiment, but what about a house? What about health insurance? What about dental insurance? What about life insurance? What about a pension? What about retirement? What about a nice car to drive? What about wifi, and cell phones, and video games, and entertainment, you know, all these things. We'd say, yeah, if I had all these other things, you know, food, raiment, and all this, then I can be content. Then I'll be content. But the command here is, hey, food and raiment, be content with that. You know, that's a hard saying in 21st century America, in the modern world at large. We know there's a lot of people in this world, that is all they have, or very little else. They don't have a whole lot more. And you know, often those people are some of the happiest people. Isn't that ironic? They appreciate the least when they have, you know, less than a lot of other people do. Having food and raiment, let us be there with content. Now look at verse nine. But they that will be rich, fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. Now let me point out here in verse nine, it says they that will be rich. Right, and they're not rich, but they want to be. They will, that's their will. They will to be rich. Their life is about getting rich. That's what they've made their life about, getting money. That's what they want to do. And the Bible's warning us that those that will be rich, what they end up doing is falling into a temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. A lot of times people that will be rich, end up becoming rich. They make their life about getting wealth, and that's exactly what they get. Look, I'm not saying there's anything sinful about succeeding, about prospering. God gives us the strength to gain wealth and to succeed in business and other things. But if our life is just about seeing how much we can get, how much money we can have, the Bible's warning us that we're actually gonna fall into temptation and a snare. Because what you're gonna find out about money is that there's only two types of money in this world. There's no money and not enough money. That's it. Say, what kind of money is out there in the world? There's no money and there's not enough money. There's probably nobody on this earth, no matter how rich they are, would probably say, I have enough money. Because the more they make, the more they spend. Their lifestyle goes up. Now they gotta maintain a certain lifestyle. They don't have enough money. They need to keep making more money. And that's what happens here. When people just desire to become rich and to just have wealth in life and just make their life all about money, they get that and then what happens often is the opportunity for other sins open up. Before they couldn't afford this sin, but now they can. Before, this sin was off limits because they couldn't afford it. But now they have money for the coke habit. Now they have money for this addiction. Now they have money to go down to that club and get involved in all that ungodliness. And it actually ends up drowning them, the Bible says, in destruction and perdition. And perdition is a very strong word. It's talking about eternal damnation. Now I don't know that, obviously, that's not gonna apply to the believer. But people who forsake, who are gonna reject the gospel so that they can obtain riches, they will actually up damning themselves. Verse 10, very famous verse, we all know it, for the love of money, not money, but the love of it, is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. And who are we talking about tonight? Judas. I mean, that guy is the poster boy of this verse. They want money and it's the root of all evil. It's the root of him going so far as to betray Christ. That's where it started, was money. His love of money. Because he's a thief, he has the bag. He just wants money. He's willing to go so far as to betray Christ. Money truly is the root of all evil. And you know what? He erred from the faith. He became the son of perdition. He drowned himself in destruction and perdition and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. I mean, that guy is in hell right now. And the Bible talks about how there are greater punishments. And I believe that applies to hell. That there's gonna be certain degrees of punishment even in hell. And I'm telling you something. It wouldn't surprise me if the hottest seat in hell was reserved for Judas. Maybe he's just a close second to Satan when he ends up there in the anti-Christ. And notice, again, they drowned themselves in destruction and perdition. They pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Go to Luke 22. So what's the motive for Judas? His motive was money, but what did it lead to? Destruction and perdition. He had the love of money. He wanted to be rich. That's all he cared about. And it ended up drowning him in destruction and perdition. Because this is the second factor in Judas' betrayal of Christ. He had silver, and then he had Satan. Where he actually, because of his greed and his love of money, is drowned in perdition and becomes the instrument and tool of the devil himself. Literally Satan enters into his body. Look at Luke 22, verse one. Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover, and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill him, for they feared the people. So you can see how that ties in. They're trying to do this secretly, and Judas is gonna be their boy. Then entered Satan into Judas Iscariot, Judas surnamed Iscariot being of the number of the 12, and he went his way and commuted the chief priests and captains how he might betray them. So his love of money, his desire of the silver, his desire to get gain, opens himself up to literally being entered in by Satan, possessed of Satan. I thought about, that might be a good sermon to preach on Thursday, on devil possession, because it's Halloween. There you go, there's a sermon idea. I don't believe that we're here to perform exorcisms or anything like that. I think people get way too carried away with a lot of this stuff. But I'm not, it would be unbiblical to sit here and deny that people being possessed of the devil is a biblical thing. I believe that we probably do run into people all the time that are possessed of the devil. I mean, we see it all the time. Look, I'm not gonna say every single person out there that's exhibiting odd behavior on the streets, he's homeless and things like that, are devil-possessed. It could just be the drugs, it could be some kind of chemical imbalance, some kind of psychological problem. But let's also not discount the reality of Satan. This is the point I was trying to make the other night, is that too many of God's own people today, they just seem to be not vigilant on this. They just seem to forget that we have an adversary called the devil, walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. The devil's real. And it's not like he was, yeah, he was around in Jesus's day, and he's gone. Satan's still here, as I said the other night. He's somewhere on earth right now, plotting and planning. He's very real, and what happened to Judas is he was actually entered into being possessed by Satan himself, not some other devil. It took Satan himself entering into him to carry out this betrayal. But how did he end up becoming that place? I believe it's because he was open to it because of his love of silver, because of his love of money. He was willing to betray Christ, and that's why Satan was able to use him. It goes on in verse five, and they were glad, the covenant had given money. And he promised and sought opportunity to betray unto them in the absence of the multitude. Go back to Mark 14, Mark chapter number 14. So that kind of helps us answer the question as to how did somebody go about doing what Judas did? Verse 16, the disciples went forth and came to the city and found as he had said unto them, and they made ready the Passover. And they entering, excuse me, and in the evening, he cometh unto the 12, with the 12. And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, verily I say unto you, one of you which eateth me with me shall betray me. One of you that eateth with me shall betray me. And look, I get it, we've all heard the story, we've all read it, and we all know it. But man, that should hit, that should sting a little bit when we read that. When we read that, we should be asked, how, how does, and to us, that's a perfectly natural reaction. How in the world does anybody betray Christ? How does this happen? And that's the natural reaction of people who are just good, decent people that aren't reprobates, that aren't Judases. And we have a hard time at first, until we experience these things and see these things happen and play out, we have a hard time understanding this. We have an understanding time that this is even possible, that there's people like this in the world, but I'm telling you, there are. There are people that are literally tools of Satan, that the devil can enter in. And as I said the other night, those people might not even know that they are, because we read it in the story. Jesus says, you know, one of you is gonna betray me. And look at verse 19, and they began to be sorrowful. And said unto him one by one, is it I? And another said, is it I? And he answered and said unto them, it is one of the 12 that dippeth me in the dish. And we know that when Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, asked it, he said, thou sayest. Even, you know, Judas had asked that. I don't know what I just said. Have I said Simon or what? But it was Judas that even he said, is it I? Right, and Jesus had to say to him, thou sayest. There's people out there that are Judases and don't even know it. And that's why, you know, we should never go on a type of witch hunt. You know, because sometimes you preach this and everyone starts kind of eyeing each other. Right, is it thou? Or they might be freaking out and going, well, is it I? You know, now maybe Judas was just saying that, you know, you could make the argument, well, he's just saying that because everybody else was saying it. Like maybe he did know full well that he was a Judas. Could be. You know, I would say that could be a possibility. Maybe I'm wrong about that. Maybe Judas does know he's a Judas. But you know, maybe if you have to ask, like maybe if you're wondering, if you're wondering if you're Judas, you're probably not. I would guess. You know, if you're going like, well, how could anybody do this? Am I a Judas? You know, that's probably a good sign that you're not. Right? Because reprobates don't even like to retain God in their knowledge. They're not really worried about, you know, their standing with God and man. They're not really worried about, you know, how they're gonna be perceived. They're not really worried about whether or not they're a Judas or not. You know, but Judas did ask, you know, is it I? And I believe it's a possibility at least that there's people out there that are tools of Satan and don't even know it. And they're actually, can be put in a, Satan can work, whether it's Satan himself or one of his little minions that actually work and coordinate and get people even into good churches. You know, I remember years ago when we had up in Faithful Word in Tempe, when there was that whole blow up over the Trinity, when false doctrine was being taught, damnable heresy, in fact, concerning, you know, the deity of Christ. When you're changing who God is, according to scripture, that's damnable heresy, folks. That's another Christ, okay? And people that are teaching that are, I believe, especially if there are people that are going to ministry, on all likelihood, Judases, false prophets, reprobates. You see, that's strong language. Well, you know, if the shoe fits, wear it. But I remember at that time, like, because that was one of the first times I really saw something like this take place, where there was actual Judas, and I believe probably even multiple Judases, in a sense. And you wonder, like, how could this happen, how? You know, and part of you is kind of dull because you think, well, are we really that important? Like, Satan's paying that close of attention to us? The answer is yes. You know, the answer is yes. And I understand that, you know, God has chosen the base things of this world to confound the things, you know, which are mighty, the foolish things which are wise. But, you know, the reason why we get on Satan's radar is because God hath chosen those things, and God does use ministries, that to the world would appear, you know, weak, and just not very effectual, perhaps, or, you know, maybe they don't have all the, you know, beautiful buildings and all these things, but if it's a church that's getting the work of God done, it's on Satan's radar. That's what he cares about. Let me tell you, Satan's not worried about the Roman Catholic Church tonight. But you would think, well, if Satan's gonna attack anybody, it'd be the churches with those big, beautiful, you know, buildings and all the stained glass and this and that and all, you know, clearly Satan's after them. No, the reason they have all those things is because Satan has a lot of money, because they are actually the emissaries of Satan. They are the false prophets. They are preaching a false gospel. And sometimes it's hard to wrap your hand around the fact that just, you know, a little old us, our church, that's just doing soul-winning, just preaching the Bible, just normal, everyday folks, would actually be the target of Satan. Say, is that really possible? Yes! If not us, then who? Who else is he gonna target? I'll tell you who's gonna target the church that's, you know, on fire for souls, preaching the gospel, preaching the word of God, reaching out, trying to do something big for Christ. That's who Satan's gonna pay attention to. That's who he's gonna coordinate and get people into those churches. Because as I said the other night, the devil's been around a long time, and he knows how to work, and he knows how to plot and scheme. It's the wiles of the devil, the planning, the scheming, that you have to look out for. He sets his trap, and sometimes it takes a long time. And I absolutely believe that Satan, and back then even, had coordinated certain individuals to get in that church in a certain time to try to spring a trap and stop a church. And he failed. And when we see those attacks happen, you know, let's not rule out the devil. And look, you start talking like this, and people laugh at it. You know, people wanna say, oh, you're the church lady from Saturday Night Live. Could it be Satan? Right? They mock at that. That's, you know, that was that gag, right? That was that skit. Could it be Satan? Right? Look, if people wanna laugh at that and make fun of it, but it's a reality. You know, I'm not the church lady up here tonight. Satan is real. This is what the Bible says, that we have an adversary, the devil. That, you know, he is firing his darts, the fiery darts of the wicked, that he does attack. And he, you know, the Bible's showing us these things for a reason. And it's warning us. And the story about Judas, you know, one, look out for the love of money. It'll drown you in destruction. It'll take you down a road you never even imagined going down. It'll open up all kinds of avenues for sin. It'll get you off the course of serving God. It'll take you out of the service of God and shelve you permanently many times. And not only that, you know, the only thing we can learn is that Satan is real. We see the dangers of silver, but let's also acknowledge the reality of Satan tonight, that he attacks ministries. And look, we don't have to be in Jesus Christ's ministry, you know, like this. We don't have to be one of the 12 disciples to come and attack. If we're serving God, if we're serving the Lord Jesus Christ, we will come under the attack of Satan. You know, and it would be, and I don't believe that we, our church here is under that attack right now. But that doesn't mean that Satan isn't already working. That is already trying to start to maybe, you know, formulate a plan of how he's gonna stop this church. Try to find a way in, find a weak link, try to get to us. Try to cause a division. Try to cause it to split the church, end the church, whatever it is. And I'm just saying tonight, if we continue to do the work that we're doing, it will happen. And as the church grows and as people come and people get, lives change, people get on fire for God, and we start seeing more and more labors, those prayers are answered, and the labors are sent into the harvest, the Satan will take note and he will begin to attack if he's not already planning already. Now again, let's not go around and start trying to figure out who the Judas is among us. Because I would be surprised if it's anybody in this room. Right? And look, we've dealt with that before, where people, there's been people that have been in this church years ago that were convinced that other church members are reprobate Judases. You know, and that's a bad attitude. That's not striving for the unity of the faith, my friend. When you're starting to like finger other church members and say, I'm pretty sure this guy is a Judas, and telling other, it's like, I'm pretty sure you might be the Judas. And when you're the one that's pointing the finger and saying this person's a Judas, now you know who I'm worried about? You. I'm worried about the person doing the pointing, not the person being pointed at at that point. Because that would be a very Judas-like move to try to divide a church. You know, well let me just like, you know, get everybody upset about this one person. It's wicked. And it's funny, that same person who's like that is online right now railing against men of God. Big surprise that that person was one of the biggest rebels that I've had to deal with in ministry. And if you know, you know. I'm not saying that guy's a Judas, but I'm just saying, you know, he's a bigger problem than anybody he's ever fingered and pointed out and said, well that guy's the problem. I don't know how I got on that, but I did. Oh, I was saying, you know, it shouldn't surprise us if Judas has come at this church. But let's not go around trying to figure out who it is. That would be a very Judas-like move, right? Actually, you know what, I changed my mind. Let's all take a vote. Let's just go around and who thinks that so-and-so, I'm just kidding. That'd be stupid, right? Well, you know, don't you do it either. And not that I'm worried about anybody here doing that. But it surprises us as we say, how could anybody do this? How could somebody betray Christ, right? He said, one of you that which eateth with me shall betray me. And this goes back to the Psalm 41, verse nine. Yea, my own familiar friend whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. That's a prophetic of Judas. You know, he lifted up his heel, the same guy that sat down to eat and meet with him. Look, the Judases aren't gonna come to us, you know, wearing a t-shirt, you know, or a name tag, hello, my name is Judas. You know, they creep in. The men, they creep in unawares. They infiltrate. And you don't know who they are until they spring their trap. And then it's obvious. All I'm saying and I only try to get us to understand is that when that trap is sprung, don't forget the sermon. Don't forget Mark 14. Don't forget what the Bible has taught us that these people are real. Because you know, people, they sleep on this doctrine. They forget about this. Everything's going great. The ministries are going great. The churches are going fine. There's no problems. It's been years since we've had any upheaval. And then all of a sudden there's this big blow up and it's like everybody forgets Satan. Everybody forgets the Judas. Everyone forgets that there's a thing called satanic attack. You know, let's just, I was gonna read from John 13, but if you wanna go to Philippians chapter number one, Philippians chapter number one, I'll wrap up there because that kind of ties with my point here. You know, Jesus, you know, and he handed the sop, it says in John 13 to Judas. And then the Bible says, Satan entered into him. You know, Satan had to help Judas carry out these things. It was already in his heart. He already wanted the silver. He was already a thief. He was already somebody that was willing to betray Christ, but it took Satan entering into him to make it come to pass. The son of perdition is what he's called in John chapter 17. You know, I should have had you go to John six, but I'll just read you from John six and verse 64. It says, but there are some of you, okay, this is in John six, he said, there are some of you that believe not for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed and who should betray him. You know, Jesus knew from the beginning of his ministry that Judas was a devil. Judas Iscariot was gonna be the one that fulfilled these prophecies, the one that lifted up his heel against him. And he's gonna be the one that would betray him and sell him to the Jews. But you know who didn't know? Was the disciples. The disciples did not know that. Look, we cannot know who the Judas is. All I'm saying tonight is don't be surprised, you know, when the mask is lifted, when it's peeled back, when the attack comes, it'll be, and then it'll be really obvious. It'll be really obvious who the Judas is when he makes his move. And then by all means, let's call out the Judas for the Judas that he is. By all means, let's mark and avoid these individuals that turn out to be these Judases. But not before then, because you can't know. That's why it's so stupid to go around and try to, you know, suspect people. You can't know that. There's no way you could know. Are you in Philippians chapter one, look at verse 27. It says, only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your fears that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving for the faith of the gospel. You know, that's what we're supposed to be worried about here. And again, tonight, this is just a word of warning. As we're just making our way through the book of Mark, we're just going through this passage here. Hey, word of warning, Judas is real. Okay, Satan is real. Covetousness in our own heart and the temptation to just forsake the work of God for money is real. Okay, those things are all real. That's a word of warning. What we should be doing is trying to stand fast in one spirit with one mind, striving for the faith of the gospel. Do that and the Judases will come. Like a moth to the flame, they will come. That's why I believe he says in verse 28, and nothing terrified by your adversaries. You know, it's no surprise that the Philippians, who are standing in faith in one spirit, right, that they are, with one mind, striving for the faith of the gospel, it's no one of the people that are working to accomplish God's will on earth. To preach the gospel, those that are striving for the sake of the gospel, it's no surprise that they're the ones that have adversaries. So how do you know they have adversaries? Because he's warning them. He's saying, don't be terrified by your adversaries. And then nothing terrified by your adversaries, meaning they have adversaries. In churches that are doing this, this church, other churches that are striving for the faith of the gospel, they will have adversaries. Which is, to them, the adversaries, an evident token of perdition. They're Judases. I mean, what would cause a person to go against Christ and his ministry? They're a Judas. They're a reprobate. Same thing, when you see people come against ministries that are trying to get the work of God done. I mean, what kind of a person goes out of their way to attack a man of God, attack his family, to go after a church? What kind of person does that? The worst kind of people. The worst kind of people. Look, the world's full of all kinds of people that don't believe the Bible. There's atheists, there's agnostics, people that would scoff and mock tonight and call me the church lady, say, oh, you think there's a devil behind every bush? You know what, but those same people, they'll laugh and scoff and mock, but then they go about their lives. They're not obsessed with the church. They're not obsessed with a ministry. They're not obsessed with the man of God. They just kind of laugh like, what? Y'all are crazy. And then they just go about their life. Look, they're unsaved. I'm not saying that that makes them some morally virtuous person. I'm sure they have sins of their own and everything. That doesn't make them a Judas. That doesn't make them an unsaved reprobate. When you start attacking a church, when you have to go after a ministry, that's how you know you have a reprobate. That's how you know you're dealing with the scum of the earth. Those are truly satanic people. Those are the type of people that actually become adversaries of ministries. And it's an evident token of perdition. What's a token? It's like a sign, right? This is a token. Like it's an indicator. It's a signet. It's something that is indicative of something. It's a token. It's a proof, right? When you see people that are adversaries of churches and men of God and ministries, what that should be to you is an evident sign, an evident token of their perdition, of their eternal damnation, of the fact that they are a reprobate. But unto you of salvation and that of God. That's encouraging. You say, man, I don't know, Judases, attack, you know, people turning on each other. I don't know if I wanna be a part of this. Well, you know what? You can go find some church. Well, they're not doing anything. And it'd be nice and quiet, nice and peaceful. No one's ever gonna attack. And you know what else it's gonna be? Boring. It's gonna be boring. Look, I'm not saying it's some kind of entertainment, but at least it's not just this, at least it's exciting. And so, I mean, can we at least admit it? Because he says here, hey, to them it's an evident token of salvation, but of you, salvation, and that of God. You know, not just your eternal salvation of your soul, but of the working of God. Hey, when the devil attacks the Bible, you know, it says that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. Though no weapon formed against us shall prosper. That we have, you know, the shield of faith that we can quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, that we have the armor of God. You know, it's exciting to don that armor and to be in the midst, because then you know you're doing something for God, and you know God is gonna come through. I mean, that's exciting. When you see God move and see God step in and God protect and God deliver, you know, that's, hey, that's, to them it's an evident token of perdition, but to us, salvation, and that of God, that God's gonna see us through and God's gonna save us. You know, go through those attacks, go through those storms, go through those trials, and watch you come out the other side, you know, as gold, like Job said. I shall come forth as gold. When I am tried, I shall come forth as gold. And that could go for a whole church, that could go for a whole ministry, not just individuals. Obviously it applies to individuals, but you know what, when our church, as we continue to do the work of God, as we continue to strive together for the faith of the gospel, don't be surprised when the Judas' show up, when there is the adversaries, don't be terrified. All it is is an evident token of their perdition. It means, hey, we must be doing something right. If we're under attack of Satan, I'm just saying, well, praise the Lord, wear that like a badge of honor. I'm being attacked. This church is being attacked, great. When the, you know, if and when it ever comes to it, if they pick at us, if there's some line out there of a bunch of, you know, fruit loops out there trying to, and calling us, hate church, calling me, hate preacher, and all these other things, they're, you know, hating the word of God and the preaching of it, that just means we're doing something. And it doesn't matter what anybody else has to say about it. Look at verse 29, for unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. And I like how he puts it, it's given to you, like it's a benefit. Hey, not only is it given to you to believe on him, to be saved, but you know, but wait, there's more, you also get to suffer for him. And we say, well that doesn't sound like a good deal. Well, you know, Paul said that he would gladly suffer. You know, to know him and the power of the resurrection. You know, he counted all, James said, count it all joy when you go through manifold temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience, and patience hope. Look, it's a privilege to suffer for Christ. You know why so many people don't suffer for Christ? Because they're not doing anything. Because they don't need to. You know why some churches will never come under the attack of Satan? Because they're not doing anything. It comes with the territory and the Bible saying here, look, it's something that's given to us on the behalf of Christ, it's a privilege. So that's, you know, that's the message tonight. You know, we're talking about Judas. Two factors when it comes to the story of Judas' betrayal. The silver, look out for it folks. That's where it started for him. You know, the love of money is the root of all evil. And you know, if past people who were men were gonna be ordained in the ministry, one of the requirements is that they have to look out for filthy lucre, you know, and it applies to all of us. It applies to everybody. You know, Jesus didn't say, take heed and beware of covetousness unless of course you're saved. No, it's still there. You know, it's real, that temptation is real. But you know, also, and most people probably get that. Everyone's like, that's an easy one to believe. Everyone's like, yeah, I get that. But maybe the bigger, the harder one to swallow tonight is the harder pill to swallow is the reality of Satan and his attack. Don't sleep on this, don't forget this. It's real. It's something that will happen to anybody that's endeavoring to serve Christ. But it's no reason not to. Let's go ahead and close in a word of prayer.