(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

So, this is going to be kind of a little bit of a longer sermon. We're going to look at a lot of scripture this morning, and keep something there in John 13, but go over to Acts chapter 20. I want to preach to you about something this morning that really is an important subject, and I really hope everybody sits up and straightens up and listens to this because it's something that we really need to take heed to this morning, and that's the fact that there are going to be people who infiltrate churches with the express purpose of causing harm to the church. Now, this is something that's kind of fallen out of fashion in a lot of churches, and a lot of churches won't even preach this, or a lot of churches probably don't even believe this, but this is the truth of the scripture. This is what we were warned about over and over again, is that people will try to creep into churches unawares with the express purpose of causing harm. It sounds, I remember when I first learned it, and I heard it preached, I was kind of empty, like it couldn't really be that bad. After having been around for a while and seeing it happen multiple times, I'm telling you, it's not in the scripture just for filler. It's not just a coincidence that the Bible brings this up, like we saw here in John 13 and elsewhere that we're going to look at this morning. People really do do this, and we'll examine some of the reasons why this type of thing takes place, but Paul, if you'll notice, in Acts chapter 20, even he warned of infiltrators that were going to come. Of course, he's giving his last words here to the elders at Ephesus, and he says in verse 22, and now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things which shall befall me there. Say that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me, but none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of grace of God, and now behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching unto the kingdom, excuse me, verse 25, and now behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Wherefore, I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. And he says in verse 28, take heed therefore unto yourselves. He's saying, look, I'm going away, you're not going to see me anymore, and these are his parting words, and what does he say? He's warning them. He's saying, take heed to yourselves. Listen to what he's about to say. And to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood, for I know this. He did not speculate, he was not hypothesizing, he said, I know this, 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. You say, oh, that was just in Paul's day. That was just to the early church. This is written down. God didn't have to include this in the Bible. Do you think God include everything that Paul said in the Bible? No. The things that he wrote that Paul said are of the utmost importance to us today. And Paul here is warning these men, and God, through Paul, is warning us, that even as it was then, so is it now, that grievous wolves shall enter in among us, not sparing the flock. And that any wise shepherd is going to protect the flock from such. And he says, also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. And I've seen this firsthand. I've seen people come up in church and start teaching damnable heresy, and gather a contingent of people with them, and then when they're found out, they all leave together. This type of thing happens. Paul, he was wise to this, and he's warning them, because he's already dealing with infiltrators in his day. Why do you think he said, I know this? Because he's already dealt with it. Go over to 2 Corinthians chapter 11, 2 Corinthians chapter 11, 2 Corinthians chapter 11, I'll begin reading in verse 22, he said, Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more, and labors more abundant, and stripes above measure, and prisons more frequent, and deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes, save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep, and journeyings often, and perils of water, and perils of robbers, and perils of my own countrymen, and perils by the heathen, and perils in the city, and perils in the wilderness, and perils in the sea, and what's the last one here, and perils among false brethren. Why is Paul able to say, I know this will happen after I leave, because he's already dealt with it. Because he's already been in perils among false brethren. Go over to Galatians chapter 2. This is something Paul was familiar with. This is something that we need to be familiar with in the New Testament church. And look, people will get up, and they'll preach this, and they'll tell people this, they'll show them from the Bible, and people will still walk out the door this morning thinking, that's not really going to happen. And I don't know why that is. Maybe people just think, well, you know, we're just a small church, you know, we're not really causing any waves, you know, are we really that important that the devil's going to target us? Yes. We are ambassadors for Christ. Of course he's going to target us. Who else is he going to target? And I know somebody made the observation, and I agree with this, as more and more churches pull back from soul winning, as more and more churches stop preaching the word, as more and more churches compromise, the devil's got more people on his side. He's got more ammunition, he has to spend less time worrying about them. Look, the devil doesn't just stand around kicking people when they're down. He's not so worried about. He's not worried about the lazy, backslidden, carnal Christians of the world. He's already got them. He can just get them going and let the world do the rest. He can just get them going and let their own flesh just take over from there, and he can go on about his business, and go get somebody who's actually trying to do something for God. So, yes, the devil really will target this church. It has happened, and it will happen. Look at Galatians chapter 2, verse 1. Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them the gospel which I preached among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run in vain. Look at verse 3, but neither Titus, who was with me being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised, but that because of false brethren, unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. Look, Paul's saying, I know this will happen because he's already dealt with it. He's been in perils among false brethren, and he's saying, look, and he recounts this exact experience when he's dealing with these Jews that had creeped in and were trying to bring them back into bondage under the law by teaching circumcision. And he calls them false brethrens, and how were they brought in? Unawares. They didn't wear a name tag that said false brethren. They creeped in, and nobody even knew they were there. They just assumed they were like everybody else, and they began to spread their heresy. So because of the fact that we see Paul warning us that this type of thing is going to happen, that God has taken the time to include this in the scripture for our own benefit, we should be on guard today against infiltrators, or at least be aware of the fact that it's going to happen and not let it surprise us when it does, because it's going to happen. Go over to 2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3. Don't let infiltrators take you off guard. Don't let it surprise you when you find out some brother or sister was false, that they were really a wolf, that they were really a heretic, that they were really just trying to do harm to the body of Christ. Look at 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 1. This, know also that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, posters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection. Truth breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. From such turn away." And what do these people do? Look at verse 6. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with diverse lusts, ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of truth. These wicked people, what do they do? They creep in. This is how they operate. Let's jump down to verse 13. We'll begin in verse 12. It said, yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. Before Christ comes, folks, it's going to get worse, not better. This warning that infiltrators are going to creep into our church and try to do damage is something we need to take serious heed to because of the fact that it's going to get worse and worse. It's not going to get better. There's going to be more and more and more of them. It's going to happen more often and more frequently. Even Jesus had an infiltrator named Judas. I'm sure everyone in the room is familiar with that name, Judas. And that's somebody we can look at in scripture and we can learn what these people are like. What do they do? How do they operate? Why are they there? What are their motives? And that's what I want to preach to you about tonight, or this morning, is the characteristics of a Judas, the characteristics of a Judas. Go back to Matthew chapter 10. We'll be back in John 13 several times this morning, so keep something there. The first thing I want to point out about Judas when we're looking at the characteristics of a Judas, somebody who would creep in, somebody who would be false brethren, somebody who would seek to do damage to the body of Christ, is that Judas is in the ministry. Judas is involved in the work. Judas gets right in there and is mixing it up with him, right with the disciples. He's being sent out. He's knocking the doors. He's handing out the bread. When the miracles are being performed, he's right in there with them. Look at Matthew chapter 10 verse 1, and when he had called unto him his 12 disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Now the names of the 12 apostles are these. The first, Simon, who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the publican, James the son of Alphaeus and Labias, who was surnamed Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. I mean, he's named in the disciples. Jesus picked them out. One of the things that I always find, you know, particularly, I don't know if amusing is the word, but of note anyway, is that whenever some Judas is found out in our church and is kicked out, people like to attack the character of the pastor. Well, why? You're not a very good judge of character. How did you not see that coming? Well, how about the fact that Jesus picked them out? Jesus picked them out and knew what he was. He knew it from the beginning. He picked them out on purpose, and he knew he was a Judas. I believe that. How about the fact that all, you know, the other 11 disciples, none of them figured him? And we'll look at that here in a minute. Judas will be in the ministry, behind the pulpit, in the pew, he'll be out knocking the doors, he'll be reading the scripture, he'll be leading the songs, he'll be singing next to you, he'll be right in the midst of us, and he won't even know it. Judas will be in church. That's one of the major characteristics of a Judas. Look at 2 Peter chapter 2, 2 Peter chapter 2. It's all throughout the scripture, we're warned about this, and yet people still are caught off guard when it comes. People are still surprised when a Judas pops up in church, when he's finally unveiled, when their mask is finally removed, when they finally out themselves for the Judases they are, people are still gasping, shocked by the fact that there's a Judas there when it's all through the Bible. He's just warning us and warning us and warning us. 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 1, but there were false prophets also among the people, referring to Israel when they came out of Egypt, there were false prophets among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you. There's going to be false teachers among us, what are they going to do? Who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that brought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction. They're going to come in, they might even get on staff, and then they might start teaching some stupid doctrine about how Jesus is the Father, and then they'll get out it and everyone will go, whoa, didn't see it coming. I'm not saying we should be on a witch hunt looking, trying to figure out who it is, but it shouldn't surprise us when it happens. He says right here, look, they're going to be among you, they're going to bring in damnable heresies, they're going to deny the Lord that brought them. Jump down to verse 13, he says, and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, so they count it pleasure to riot in the daytime, spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you. They're going to feast with us, they're going to be amongst us. Look, a characteristic of Judas is the fact that he's in church, that he'll be among us, and we won't even know it. We won't know who it is until they reveal who they are. Go over to Matthew chapter 26, Matthew chapter 26, I'll read to you from Jude chapter 1, it says in verse 12, parallel passage with 2 Peter 2, these are spots in your feast of charity when they feast with you. Two different passages were warned that these false brethren, these heretics, these people that want to creep in and teach damnable heresies and bring harm to the body of Christ, shall be with us. Next characteristic of a Judas that I want to point out this morning is the fact Judas is a reprobate. You say, what's a reprobate? Reprobate means he cannot be saved, he's beyond hope of salvation. And that's, you know, that's another doctrine that has fallen out of fashion that could stand to be preached again, to remind us again that such a thing exists. The Bible says, reprobate silver shall men call them, for the Lord hath rejected them. That's the meaning of reprobate, to be rejected, rejected of God. Even if they do not like to retain God and their own knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. Three times in Romans 1 it says, God gave them over, God gave them over, God gave them up. God turns people over to reprobate mind. That's another sermon, and if you don't understand that doctrine, you know, we need to get to the bottom of that, that's another sermon. But let me just tell you right now, that infiltrators, Judases that creep into churches are reprobate people. Reprobate people. Now let me look carefully, I'm not saying that every single person that gets kicked out of church for sin or whatever is a reprobate. But I am saying that people that creep in and teach damnable heresies, who are there just on a vindictive war path to bring harm to the body of Christ, are reprobate. This was, look at Matthew chapter 26 verse 20. It says in Matthew chapter 26 verse 20, Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve as they did eat, and he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began to say every one of them unto him, Lord, is it I? 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 had been written of him. Catch these next words. But woe unto that man by whom the son of man is betrayed, exclamation point there. It had been good for that man if he had not been born. He didn't say, and when I'm betrayed, forgive him. And when I'm betrayed, you know, let him tell him it's okay that he can repent. No, he's saying it'd be better for that guy never been born. Why? Because he's a reprobate. Because he's been given over. Because hell is his destination, and it'd be better not to be born than to go to hell. He says in verse 25, Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said. Go over to John chapter 6, John chapter 6. I'm telling you, reprobate people creep into churches to do harm to the body of Christ. Whether it's through teaching false doctrine and damnable heresies, whether it's to spread lies, whether it's try to attack the man of God and his family, whether it's to draw away disciples after them, they creep into churches, they creep into houses to lead people away captive. That's what they're there to do. They do as much damage as they can. And we'll get into why here in a minute. He says in John chapter 6, look at verse 66, 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 the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered them, Have I not chosen you twelve? And one of you is a devil. He spake of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he that should betray him, being one of the twelve. Judases creep into churches, Judases will be in ministry, Judases are reprobate often, and Judases have ulterior motives. Go over to John chapter 12. Why would they do that? Why would they creep in? Well, there's several different reasons. John chapter 12, verse 1, I'll begin reading John 12, 1. Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper, and Martha served him, but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him. Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This is another characteristic of a Judas. They're hyper-spiritual. Jesus said, you have the poor with you always. You have not me with you always. Well, I know I appreciate what you're doing there, Mary, for Jesus, but you really should have sold that and given to the poor. He's saying it in front of everybody. Look at verse 6, he said not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the bag and bare what was put there in. They creep in to steal money. I mean, look at all these false prophets that are preaching lies that are just multi-millionaires. The Kenneth Copelands, the Joel Olsteins, yeah, the Joel Olsteins. They're going to preach lies to you. The Kenneth Copelands, and you name them. All these people that they get in the ministry, they have these huge mansions, they fly around all over the country in their private jets. They're there to fleece the flock. They're there because they want the bag. They don't want the 300 pence for the poor. They want it for themselves. And it says he was a thief. I mean, he's dipping in the offering plate. I mean, that has got to be one of the scariest things, I mean, I can't imagine what has to go through a person's mind to think, I'm going to steal right out of the offering plate. And you say, well, that doesn't happen. I'm telling you, it's happened. I know for a fact it's happened. People have been found out in this church and run off for the, you know, the damnable heretics they were. Their office gets cleared out, and you find three 100 dollar bills conveniently located in a stack of paper. That's odd. They get called on it, and they're, ugh. That's what they do. That's one of the reasons. Why would they creep in? Because they have ulterior motives. They're not there to serve God. They don't love the Lord. They don't care about people. They don't want to hear his word. They're there to steal and do many other things. Go over to Matthew chapter 26. When you get to Matthew 26, keep something there as well. We're going to come back to Matthew 26. So John 13 and Matthew 26. I promise I won't make you keep a bookmark anywhere else this morning, so your hand doesn't cramp up. Matthew chapter 26, I'll begin reading in verse 6. Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment and poured it on his head as he sat at meat. So this is the parallel passage. But as when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment may have been sold for much and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble you, the woman? For she hath wrought a good work upon me. For you have the poor always with you, but you have not me always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, and she did it for my burial. Very, I say unto you, Wherever soever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this that this woman hath done be told for a memorial of her. Then one of the twelve called Judas Iscariot after he says, Why would we give this to the poor? Because he's a thief, didn't like to see the waste of the money that he could have been getting for himself. It says, verse 14, that one of the twelve called Judas Iscariot went unto the chief priests and said unto them, What will you give me? And I will deliver him unto you. And they covet unto him for thirty pieces of silver. That's all he counted the Lord worth. That's all that he mattered to him, just thirty pieces of silver, and he betrayed him just like that. It says in verse 16, And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him. Again, these Judases, they creep in because they have ulterior motives. Another characteristic of a Judas is that they're hyper-spiritual. And we already pointed that out in verses four and five of John chapter 12, where he's going on, Why didn't you give it to the poor? Why did Judases creep in? Because they have ulterior motives. Because they're there to cause harm. Maybe they can't get in the counting room, maybe they can't get near the offering plate, maybe they'll never have the checkbook in their hand, maybe they'll never have the bag near enough to them where they can try and swipe money out of the offering. Maybe they're just there to cause harm. Look at Luke chapter 12, Luke chapter 12, I know we're turning a lot of pages of scripture to this morning, but we need to listen to this, this is important. This type of thing happens, don't let it catch you off guard. Luke chapter 22, Luke chapter 20 verse 1, Now the feast of unleavened bread withdrew Nigh, which is called the Passover, and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill him, for they feared the people. Verse three, Then entered Satan into Judas, surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve, and he went his way and communed with the chief priests and captains how he might betray him unto them, and they were glad and covenanted him to give him money, and he promised and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude. He's sitting there seeking opportunity to betray Christ. People come into churches, they creep in, these Judases come in, and they're just seeking for an opportunity to cause harm to the ministry. Why do they come in? Why would they waste their lives doing that? They have ulterior motives, they want to steal, they want to get as close to a leadership position and take money, or they want to just get in there and get in good with everybody, and look for opportunity to arise that they can just cause harm to as many people as they can. You say, why would anybody do that? Are there really people, and see, we are good people, the good people in church, they can't wrap their minds around this. This concept is foreign to them, because it's not in our heart. We don't understand the mind of a reprobate, because we're not one. We don't understand what goes through the mind of a reprobate, because we're not reprobates. We have the spirit of Christ, and we assume that we always try to give people the benefit of the doubt, and think that they're good people, and we take people at face value, as we should. We can't understand why people would do this. Why would they want to creep into a church and steal money? Why would they want to just spend their lives trying to bring harm to the church? Why would they do that? And we need to take heed to this, because of the fact that churches by their very nature are soft targets, because there's this major concept in the Bible called forgiveness and compassion, and we've probably heard of that. And they know it. These devils know it. And they know that Christians give people second chances, third chances, fourth chances, that they're forgiving, that they're kind, they're compassionate. I mean, if they're actually trying to live by the book and do what Jesus told them to do, that's the type of people that they know where churches are filled with. It makes them a soft target. They creep in, and they can beguile unstable souls. They can get to children. And I'm not even going to get into that this morning. That's another thing they try to do. Get into the churches with children's ministries. You know why we don't have a children's ministry here? Because evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, and churches that have these big giant children's ministries are just leaving themselves open. And they can take precautions, they can do everything they want, but you're just leaving yourself open for people to creep in, and I've seen it. I ran a bus route, and I remember I had this creep come out of the apartment complex. I want to ride your bus. I said, you're sitting right up front, right behind the driver. You can come to church, but you're sitting right there. And he got on, and just the guy, you could just tell, was a creep. He was there for nothing good. And as soon as the bus pulls up to the church building, he gets out and walks home. Because he realized that ain't going to happen here, bud. That's a whole other sermon, okay? I'm not even going to get into that this morning, but why would they do that? Why would they creep in and try to hurt people and steal money? Who would waste their life trying to just creep into a church and spend years in a church waiting for an opportunity like Judas to betray? I'll tell you who'd do it, is reprobates. And I'm going to go further with it, I'm going to say Judases, another characteristic of a Judas is that they're under demonic control. And this is probably where I'm going to lose some people, but this is the truth. And this is something that I am convinced of. This is something that somebody brought to my attention several years ago, when we had a big blow up, and the disgraced deacon, Tyler Baker, was found out to be a oneness heretic and run out of church with all his cronies. A brother came to me, and we were just trying to understand how this happens. And he says, don't you think that the devil could bring people together in a church? Don't you, let me ask you that question this morning. Don't you think the devil has enough power in the world to bring people together in a church and get them together and wait for an opportunity? And here's the really scary thing, I'm going to get ahead of myself, they don't even know it. That's the truly eerie thing about it. Because we have it in our minds that everyone that's under demonic control is going to vomit pea green soup and their heads are going to turn around like a swivel and say grotesque things because we watched The Exorcist or something. You've seen too many Hollywood movies if that's what you think demonic possession is about. Now does that type of thing happen? Do people go berserk and act crazy and do wild, unexplainable things under demonic possession? Yeah. You know, we see the man, the demoniac of Gadara, you know, wandering in the tombs, no man can bind him because he's so strong, he's cutting himself to stones. We think that's one aspect of it. But I'm telling you, the devil is subtle, and the devil can use people, they can get under demonic influences, and he can use them without them even knowing it and put them into churches and just wait. And not bother him, leave him alone, and then when he sees an opportunity just turn him on. I'm convinced of it. I mean, I don't know how else you explain a lot of the things that I've seen in church. But let's go to the scripture. Look at verse 3 of Luke chapter 22, are you still there? Then Satan, then entered Satan into Judas. I mean think about Judas, he's walking with the Lord for three years, he's seeing all these miracles, he's partaking in the works, and then just like that he betrays him for 30 pieces of silver just overnight like that? And it took Satan entering into him to get him to do it. And I don't think he even understood what he was doing when he was under that influence. We'll see that later as well. I'm telling you, people get under demonic control. You find out about people who come out and are just attacking the church like it's going on now, and I don't like to be vague to people who don't understand everything, but that's kind of what I'm alluding to. And one of these particular individuals, it was literally a witch, literally a witch at one point, as recently as within the last five years, six years, was literally married to a Satanist. Her oldest son is literally a Satanist, and they're busy trying to attack the church after they've gotten thrown out. And another guy went around telling everybody in the church about all of his transcendental meditation he used to do, how deeply involved and new age he was. You think maybe when you're involved in that stuff you might just pick up a devil? When you're a Satanist? When you're into this transcendental meditation? And look, I'm not saying anybody that's ever done it, if you've got your seer stones or whatever, you burn some incense or something once and it's a meditating that you're suddenly possessed. But I'm saying people that get deep into the occult, do you think maybe, just maybe, when they're worshiping Satan, it might be possible that they pick up a devil along the way? For sure. I'm telling you, people come in and they don't even know it. They're being used by the devil. They're under demonic control. Go over to John chapter 13, where I had you keep your place. I'm sending in Matthew 26, go over to John 13, keep something there all morning. John 13 verse 1, Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And supper being ended, the devil having now entered and now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him. It took Satan to get him to do what he did. He had to enter into his heart. Look at verse 21, 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 his disciples looked on one another, doubting of whom he spake. You know, the Judases go unrecognized. Even when they have Satan entered into their heart. Even when they've been plotting and scheming. Everybody around them just doesn't even see it. He said, verily, verily, I say unto you, one of them shall betray me. The disciples looked on one another and went, it's Judas. I got five shekels that says it's Judas. That's not what they did. They looked and it says, doubting of whom he spake. Who could possibly be? You know what? I doubt Judas would have been the last guess because he was just hyper spiritual. Judas who cared so much for the poor? Judas who Jesus entrusted with the church money? Him? Impossible. Doubting of whom he spake. And unfortunately this is the attitude that people have. And that's why we ought to preach this. Understand this type of thing happens. People creep in and do this stuff. And a lot of them, I'm not saying every time, but often I'm not going to rule out the possibility that they're being used by the devil. Maybe not Satan. I mean, Satan's making sure it gets done right, so he's personally getting involved here. But one of the many angels that he took, you know, that follow him, that are on his side of things, that his minions, that he can get to do his dirty work. Those are the people that are being affected. That's who is affecting the people today, I believe. Look at verse 27. After the sop, Satan entered into him. It's like over and over again. Satan's coming into Judas, he's in his heart, he's entering into him. It takes demonic control for people to do some of these things. It happens. And they go unrecognized by others. John chapter 13, look at verse 21. When Jesus said thus, he was troubled in spirit. Let's jump down to verse 26. Jesus answered, he it is to whom I shall give the sop. Well, let's back up. Verse 25. He then, lying on Jesus' breast, saith unto him, Lord, who is it? Just John. He's, you know, he's right up against Jesus. And he says to him privately, because Peter, if you read, you know, he's beckoning him in verse 24. Peter, therefore, beckoned him that he should ask who it is. John, ask the Lord who it is, because we don't know. So John, who is it? And Jesus just says, and they're all there at the table, he says, he it is to whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it. A real cryptic answer. Oh, you want to know who it is? He might as well just stood up and said, it's Judas. Duh. He says, I'll tell you what, I'll dip the bread and the sop, and I'll give it to him. That's who it is. Wow, wow, that's cryptic. Verse 26. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the sop, Satan entered into him, then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. I mean, you'd think at this point, he would have gotten on their radar. Oh, he said, and then he did, and now he's telling him to go do whatever he's going to do. But do they make the connection? Even after that, Judas has them so fooled that even after Jesus says, it's to him that I give the sop. That's who it is. And he does it. And they're still like, I don't know if that's him. Because Judas is just so good. Judas is so smooth. He says all the right things, he acts the right way, he dresses the part, he looks the part. It just couldn't possibly be him. Look at verse 28. Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. For some thought because Judas had the bag that Jesus had to buy those things which he had need of against the feast, or that he should give something to the poor. He then having received the sop went immediately out, and it was night. Go back to Matthew chapter 26, keep something in John 13, go to Matthew 26. They would sooner suspect themselves, the 12 disciples, than they would of Judas. That's how good he was. Verse 21, 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? You want to know who it isn't, it's the guy who's wondering if it's him. One of the sure signs that you're not a reprobate is if you're even wondering if you are. People email the church, and people ask, they say, you know, I'm really worried that I might be reprobate, you know, I know it's all by faith, and I prayed the prayer, you know, but I still got the sin in my life, and I just think that maybe I'm a reprobate at this point. And I always tell them, look, if you're even wondering if you're a reprobate, you're not. Reprobates don't even want to retain God and their knowledge, the Bible says. They would rather forget the Bible and anything about it. They don't sit around pondering whether or not they're saved, okay? But I mean, that's what these guys, and that's what most Christians do. They'd sooner question themselves than somebody else, and say, well, am I a reprobate? Am I a Judas? Am I the one that's sneaking into church? Is the devil using me? And he answered and said, he that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. You see, Judas here, he's just, he said, how could he do this? How could a Judas creep in and do all this? And go so undetected that to the point where even the Lord is saying, basically just shooting off a flare gun that just goes, and it just says Judas in the sky. I mean, you just could have had like a big, one of those big arrow boards with flashing red lights with it just pointing at him. And they still wouldn't have gotten it, they would have been, was it me? How is that possible? Because Judas played the part so well that no one suspected him. You know, and that makes a lot, I mean, think about even the illustration of the undercover cop, you know, the guy who's going to bust up the motorcycle gang for, you know, their racketeering and drug smuggling and everything that they're into, all their illegal crimes. You think the undercover cop shows up with a high and tight haircut and the cop stash and a badge on? I'm just here to ride Harleys. No, what does he do? Gets the hair out, gets the leather jacket on. He plays the part, goes along, gets deep undercover when he's trying to make that sting. That's what Judases do to churches. They sneak in, they play the part, and again, the scariest part of it is that they might not even know they're doing it. They don't go, is it I? They just, they don't, whether they know it or not, and I'm saying probably some of them do know what they are and probably get some kind of sick, deranged pleasure out of what they're doing, but I really think some of them are just being so manipulated by the devil, they don't even realize what they're doing. That's why they're so good at playing the part, because they really think that maybe that's what they are. They really are what they make themselves out to be. Go over to Matthew chapter 13, we'll be wrapping up here in a minute. Matthew chapter 13. And here's the thing, you preach a sermon like this, and you want people to be aware of what's possible and what, not if, when, this type of thing happens to not be taken surprise by it, because it will happen, but what you don't want to happen is for people to start going on a witch hunt, saying, well, I'm going to find out who the Judas is. No, you're not. Hey, if the 12 disciples couldn't figure it out with Jesus telling them, what makes you think you're going to? You're not going to find out who the Judas is until the Judas reveals himself for what he is. I mean, you go read the Gospels, you know, go read John, Judas, which betrayed him, and Judas is scared, which also betrayed him, Judas is scared, which also betrayed him. But that's all 20-20 vision. That's John writing down and saying, oh, after all this happened, we realized that Judas was, in fact, the betrayer. That wasn't foresight, that was hindsight. And when a Judas comes up and reveals himself, that's when you'll go, oh, and you'll connect all the dots. Say, well, this makes sense now. Now, I will say this, you might get a gut instinct about somebody, might have a red flag, but that doesn't necessarily make them a Judas. Maybe they're just people that have issues or problems. Don't go on a witch hunt, but don't be so gullible and naive to think that Judases won't creep in to do these things. Look at Matthew chapter 13, verse 24, I'm going to show you why you can't just assume somebody's a Judas and go after him. He said in verse 24, another parable put he forth unto them, saying, the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servant said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? They're saying, you want us to go get the tares out? Look that we know there's tares, we should go find out which ones are which and get them out of there. But what does the man say? But he said, in verse 29, Nay, but lest ye gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them. Look, even, you know, people can have, you know, very legitimate reasons to suspect somebody of being a Judas, maybe they've even done Judas-like things in the past. But then they're, you know, they play their cards right, they say the right things and they get back in and they're doing everything just so and you kind of have to give them space and then new people come along, they don't know anything about these people, and you have to watch them befriend these people and you're like, well, I hope they know what they're getting into. We can have these suspicions about people, but here's the thing, I can't just go running over to those people and say, hey, I need to warn you about those people. That'd be like me trying to run out and tear the tares out with the wheat. And those people just get offended, like, why would you say that about them? What do you mean? Oh, I look like the back biter, now you would look like the the railer. You have to let them both grow up together, unfortunately. So why is that? Why would somebody just not take your word for it? Because here's the thing, tares, if you actually go Google it after church, go look up tares and wheat, they look the same. They're so similar, you can barely tell them apart at all, often. So when I walk up to some wheat and say, hey, this guy is a tare, look out, he's going to look over and says, he looks like wheat, what are you talking about, you jerk? And he's going to get tore up too. You have to let them both grow up together, you can't just grow on a switch hunt and try to tear up all the tares and get them out of there. You have to let people, the Judases, reveal themselves over time. They will out themselves in time, whether they know what they are or not. Go back to Matthew chapter 26 verse 20. You say, well I believe you brother Corbin, I know Judases are real, I know they creep into churches, I know they do all these things and sometimes often they might even be under demonic control, but do you really expect me to believe that they don't even know that they're a Judas? Well I would argue that Judas didn't even know he was a Judas. The greatest Judas of all time didn't even know he was a Judas, unless he was just plain dumb. Look at Matthew 26 verse 20. Now when the even was come, he was sat down with the twelve, and as they did ye, and he said, Verily, 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? And he said, He it is that dipeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The son of man goeth, that is written of him, but woe unto that man by whom the son of man is betrayed? It had been good for him if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, it's me. Is that what he said? That's a question. Master, is it I? He's asking the same question as everybody else. Is it I? And he said unto him, Thou hast said. Go over to Matthew 27, we'll close here. I'm telling you, I don't even think Judas knew he was a Judas. That's why Satan had to enter into him to get to the things that he did. When it's all said and done, Judas realized he was a Judas after the fact. It's not until Judas has done the devil's work that he realizes what he's done. What was his reaction? Regret. Look at Matthew 27, verse 1. When the morning was come, all the chief priests and the elders and the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. So they've already arrested him. Judas has already come to the garden with all the Pharisees and with their torches and their staves to arrest him, and he betrays them with a kiss. You know the story. And it says here, when the morning was come, all the chief priests and the elders and the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. And when they had bound him, they led him away and delivered unto the Pontius Pilate, the governor. Verse 3. 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. He realizes what he's done. He looks and he sees, look, Jesus is condemned. I've betrayed Christ. I've betrayed Jesus. And he says he repented himself. He's turning and saying, look, I changed my mind. I was wrong. And he brought again the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. He wants to give back the money. He's feeling guilty. He's sad about what he did. He's realizing what he did. Verse 4, saying, I have sinned and that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, what is that to us? See thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went and hanged himself. I'm telling you, Judas didn't know he was a Judas until after the fact. He still had enough conscious left to feel bad about what he did to the point where he even threw the money. And we know the story. Verse 6. And the chief priests took the silver pieces and said it is not lawful for it to put them into the treasury because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel and bought with them the potter's field to bury strangers. Wherefore that field was called the field of blood. So they go by the field where Judas hangs himself and they say that's where we'll just bury strangers that we don't know what else to do with. And it's called the field of blood unto this day, meaning the day that this was written. So that's the message this morning. And you may not believe that Judases will come, but they will. Don't let it surprise you. And you know what? Just like that field of blood, when it finally happens, when you finally see it, when you see it flesh out in real life, you'll never forget it. Once they manifest themselves, it's going to be like that field of blood in your mind. You'll say, that's what happened, I remember that. It'll be that way unto this day. Once it happens, you'll never forget it. Let's go ahead and pray.