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Chapter number two, really the whole chapter is applicable to what I'm preaching about tonight But the part that I want to focus on and just read for you right now is just the first three verses where it reads But there were false prophets also among the people Even as there shall be false teachers among you who privately shall bring in Damable heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction and many shall follow their pernicious ways By reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of and through covetousness Shall they with fainted words make merchandise of you whose judgment now the long time linker if not and their damnation slumber if not go to Acts chapter 1 And the person I want to preach about tonight is Judas Iscariot now Judas Iscariot is one who was a false prophet who was among God's people The first New Testament church was basically Jesus Christ with his disciples and When he broke bread with them and when he took the cup he said this cup is the New Testament of my blood Is due in remembrance of me Jesus Christ called their group there a church. He said in Matthew 16, Matthew 18 he called the church and There was a guy in that church who was an imposter There was a guy in that group of 12 disciples that was a phony and it was Judas Iscariot He was not saved he's in hell today and he was the one of course betrayed Jesus under the Pharisees And we're gonna learn all about him tonight. There's so much to talk about him I had to cut a bunch of stuff out of this sermon because the Bible talks a lot about Judas So I'm just gonna hit the most important point, but let's start an axe check number one in verse 16 It says men and brethren this scripture must needs have been fulfilled which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David Spake before concerning Judas which was guide to them that took Jesus For he was numbered with us and then obtained part of this ministry now this man purchased the field with the reward of iniquity and falling headlong he burst asunder in the mist and all his bowels gushed out and On and on we're gonna come back to this part, but we see this man ended in a very bad way He was one of them. He's one of the disciples. He was numbered with disciples. Go back to John 6 Just go back a few pages But he ended up committing suicide He ended up hanging himself and then when he hung himself, I guess the rope broke or whatever He fell down a cliff and you know The graphic description is there in Acts chapter 1 of how his body ended up But in John chapter 6 the first thing I want to deal with because we want to understand tonight this character Judas Iscariot This is a lot of confusion about Judas The first thing I want to point out is that Judas Iscariot did not lose his salvation Some people will try to say oh you can lose your salvation. Remember Judas Iscariot No Judas did not lose his salvation because Judas was never saved in the first place A lot of people will try to say that he lost it, but I'll prove it to you Look at John chapter 6 the Bible says in John chapter number 6 and let's start reading in verse 63 It says it is the spirit that quickened the flesh Christ profiteth nothing the words that I speak unto you They are spirit and they are life, but there are some of you that believe not for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and Who should betray it? So he knew from the beginning who believed not and he should betray him keep reading Then he said therefore said I knew that no man can come unto be accepted were given unto him of my father From that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with them Then said Jesus unto the twelve will ye also go away now is Judas in that group of twelve Absolutely. So Judas is not one of the ones who walked away Judas is staying with them A lot of his other disciples have said, you know what we're out of here. We don't like what Jesus preached The twelve disciples are all still there He says to them. Hey, will you also go away? He says hey the door slings both ways if you guys want to believe take off watch what Simon says in verse 68 here It says in Simon Peter answered him Lord to whom shall we go thou hast the words of eternal life That's the good guy and we believe and are sure that there aren't that Christ the Son of the Living God watch what Jesus answers In verse 70 Jesus answered them have not I chosen you twelve and one of you is a devil He Spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon for he it was that should betray him being one of the twelve this is really early in Jesus's ministry and Jesus is already pointing out Judas Iscariot. He's not pointing about specifically but he's saying, you know one of you twelve I've chosen you twelve as my disciples one of you is a devil There are some of you which believe not he any that was when the bigger group was there But when he's just down to the twelve, he's saying one of them is a devil One of them doesn't believe one of them is going to betray So it's not that Judas was a good guy and he was saved and they lost his son You can't lose your salvation. Jesus said I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Jesus promised to us is I will never leave thee nor forsake me He said this is the promise that he had promised us even eternal life You can't lose yourself once you're saved the bible says verily verily I save you he that heareth my word And believeth on him and send me Half everlasting. I mean has right now everlasting life And shall not come into condemnation, but it's passed into the life. Jesus said whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die That's never Well, unless you no, no, there's no exception Once you're saved once you're in the family once you're born again Once you're a child of god You're his child just as my son will always be my son God's children will always be he'll he'll spank them But he's not going to throw them out of the family. We're his children. We're saved. We can't lose our salvation Judas was a devil And he was from the beginning. Jesus knew that he was a devil and he knew that he believed not And he knew that he was going to betray so judas did not lose his salvation Let's let's understand a little more about judas's character. Look at john chapter 12 john chapter number 12 So the first thing we see judas was not saved and what made him unsafe He didn't believe saying they believed not that's the only thing that makes anybody unsafe so here's a guy he's following jesus He's going through the motions He's actually one of the ones that jesus sent out to preach. So he's a preacher But yet he wasn't even saved and he knew he didn't believe He was a devil. He was a bad person So why was he doing it? Well, let's keep let's just go through this and let's see if we can understand some of the reasons why Because i'm going to show you a big reason why I think he's doing it Look at john chapter 12 verse 1. It says then jesus six days before the passover came to bethany Where lazarus was which had been dead. So this is right before jesus is going to be crucified. We're right at the end of his ministry here There they made him a supper and martha served But lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him Then took mary a pound of ointment of spiken art 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 sayeth one of his disciples judas is scary simon's son, which should betray him Why was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? So here's this woman she takes out this ointment She anoints the feet of jesus and judas is scary. It gets mad and says why wasn't this sold and given to the poor? I mean, why are you just dumping it out? Why are you wasting? Then they say well how much is uh, 300 pence? Well in the bible a penny was a day's wages Remember those day laborers that worked for the the husbandmen in matthew 22 or matthew 20, I believe They were given a penny for a day's wages. So this is like 300 days wages for like a laborer So we're talking about tens of thousands of dollars This is some really expensive stuff And she dumps it on his feet and judas begins to rebuke and say, you know, why are you doing that? What a waste it could have been given to the poor but look at verse six This he said not that he cared for the poor But because he was a thief and had the bag and bear what was put there Then said jesus let her alone Against the day of my burying as she kept this for the poor always you have with you But me you have not always and so we see here that judas was a thief Part of the reason why he might have been following jesus was just because he was basically handling the money And he was stealing from the money. He was basically stealing out of the offering plate He was stealing the the church's money and he had the bag and he was put there now Look, let's just take a break from judas and let's talk about Another judas for a minute. Okay our government today You know, okay basically claims to love and care about the poor Oh, man, we gotta take care of the poor. Hey, they don't care about the poor anymore than judas did they have the back They have what's put there in they take off the top That's why they want to talk so much about the poor and that was for free tonight So But it's very true And so they that's exactly what's going on. This is their life verse right here But anyway go to mark 14 and see another another angle of this story Because we're trying to understand judas's character. So so far we saw he's an unbeliever Doesn't believe in jesus does not believe on him Is not saved Jesus called him a devil now. We see he's a thief. He's stealing money So part of the reason why he's in this is for the money Now that's exactly consistent with what we saw in second peter, too When he talked about false prophets that would be among you. He said they're covetous. They'll make merchandise of you He said they love the wages of unrighteousness Have you ever heard the statement stolen sweets are sweeter who's ever heard that? stolen sweets are sweeter Stolen sweets are sweeter, you know, that's what people say because you know when you steal something it tastes better That's not really a good saying is it? But you know that somebody in the bible said almost that exact thing the wicked adulterous woman in the book of proverbs Who's trying to seduce the young man? She tells him stolen waters are sweet and she's trying to get him to commit adultery He's trying to get him to commit sin with her the wicked woman in the bible And so you see there are people who enjoy things more when they're stolen now a good person a righteous person Would rather pay their own way Buy things and they like the joy of paying for something and earning something but those who are wicked they enjoy stealing They'd rather steal That even if they could work for it the same effort they'd rather steal because stolen sweets are sweeter to them Okay, and so we see here that those in second peter chapter two it said they love the wages of unrighteous They're like balaam. They love getting paid to be a false preacher That's what it said in second peter two They love getting paid and getting the money that comes with preaching a false doctrine and preaching lies They're not in it for jesus christ. They serve not our lord. Jesus christ They serve their own belly and there are many false prophets and false preachers out there And they are not saved they preach another gospel, but they're in it for the money But then he said that even among you There will be people like that So we're not just talking about some other rule. We're not just talking about the catholic priest You know some phony religion We're not talking about, you know, some kind of a united methodist or somebody This is really far out from the gospel and the word of god We're talking about it could even be among a church you say well That's not going to be among a church if it's really a straight down the line Well, look, you can't get any more straight down the line than where jesus is the pastor You can't get any more fundamental than that When jesus is the pastor and simon peter is sitting on one side of you and the apostle john Is sitting on the other side of you you're in a pretty good church and yet Yet judas is there So when he said they'll be among you He means you You're not going to be better than that church They'll be in your crowd. They'll be in your church. They'll be at your feast feasting with you There will always be people who creep in unawares and they're bad people The bible teaches this why am I preaching about judas is scary It's a warning to you to be aware of judas because judas is still around today in many forms. There are many judices Look, if you would in mark 14 verse 3 It says me and bethany in the house of simon the leper as he sat at me jesus is saying now No deal there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious and she braked the box And poured it on his head and there were some that had indignation within themselves now, is that plural or singular? plural, right Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than 300 pence and have been given to the poor And they murmured against her and jesus said let her alone you see how this becomes infectious Judas was the thief and the liar. He starts saying this stuff and guess what it rubs off on the people around him So why is judas there when he's there for the money? Why is judas there to corrupt those around him? to corrupt others Into following his wicked ways. That's what we see there. Now. It's interesting go to matthew 26 because we see the same story I got so many notes tonight. I gotta shuffle them around here matthew 26 You know what I don't have it in my notes and I don't want to spend time on it go to uh, go to john chapter number Let's see here wrong place. Yeah, let's go to matthew 26. Sorry about that matt 26 Okay, put your finger in matthew 26 Oh, yeah, okay. I'm sorry. I just I have in my head that Things were a certain way and I think I just have my notes wrong. We'll come back to another time but one of the ones that I saw judas got rebuffed for The ointment thing and that's when he went out to betray jesus at that point and I I don't have it in my notes I'm, sorry, that's the point that I want to make but let's look at matthew 26 in verse 21 It says and as they did eat he said verily I say unto you that one of you shall betray me And they were exceeding sorrowful, you know because they think we're all friends now think about this We're you know as our church here. We kind of know everybody here. We know most people obviously There are visitors and new people but what if we were at a church service, right? Let's say it was like a wednesday night service and it was just really there weren't really any visitors It was just kind of the core people of our church Or maybe it was even on a soul-winning night or something just when really the die-hards are there And what if I just said, you know what there's somebody here tonight This uh, that said judas is scary There's somebody in this building right now That is crept in that's a false Devil, you know That would make you sorrowful because you look around and you think well he's my friend and he you know They're thinking, you know, I like this guy. I mean we've been together for three and a half years So they're really sad to hear that because here they are 12 disciples and they're all friends They've all been serving god and they've all been out knocking doors, you know going two by two like jesus sent them And this is shocking to them They're really sorrowful when they find out and watch this and began every one of them to say unto him lord. Is it judas? Is that what they said? No, they said what is it up? Did they suspect judas at all? No, is it I mean they would have been gone like No I think I know who it is No They didn't suspect anybody Because the other 11 disciples were all legit And judas they didn't suspect him at all because he fit in Perfectly they've been with them every day for three and a half years and yet they would even suspect themselves More than him. Isn't that amazing? I mean, they're like, isn't I? Why? Nobody said is it judas? Now watch this it said in verse number 23 and he answered and said he that dippeth his hand with me in the dish The same shall betray you the son of man goeth as it is written of him But woe unto that man by whom the son of man is betrayed It had been good for that man if he had not been born so he's facing a really bad punishment For uh betraying and forthwith he came or i'm sorry wrong verse, uh, it says In verse 25 then judas because remember they're all asking like is it I is it I? Then judas went to betray him answered and said master. Is it I he said unto him that was said Now go to john chapter Let's see here. I don't know why my notes are all goofed up this printer. I tell you I think it printed my whole nose like backwards It's going four three two one Go to uh, go to john chapter number 13 here John 13, okay. There we go On page one. Okay. John 13 21. Look at this said when jesus had thus said he was troubled in spirit And testified and said verily verily i've seen to you that one of you shall betray me Then the disciples looked one on another doubting of whom he spake so, you know, they started looking around each other like Who is it? Yeah, it's a really tense moment. They're all kind of you know, why are you looking at me love so long? Look over there, you know, they're all looking at each other And they're doubting of whom he's fake. They're just like we can't figure this out. Who is it? Now there was Leaning on jesus bosom one of his disciples whom jesus loved we know that's the apostle john later at the end of the book He says i'm that apostle, okay So they're all seated around the table Well, there's one decider that's right next to jesus John and john was so close to jesus that he was actually leaning on him. He was actually leaned up against him physically And jesus leaned up against john so he can basically talk to him quietly, you know, you just whisper right to jesus So he's leaned right up against him Simon peter verse 24 therefore beckoned to him that he should ask who it should be above his face So peter's like ask him Ask him to tell me, you know, so he makes a signal So basically john Leans over onto jesus breast, you know, that's just work for his chest. He leans up against him And said unto him lord, who is it? Jesus answered He it is To whom I shall give a sob when i've dipped it. So he says, okay, john, you know Whoever I hand the top to when i've dipped it, that's who it is. So he dips the sock hands it to judas, okay And it says, uh, he dipped the sock he gave it to judas scary at the sun of simon in verse 27 after the soft satan entered into him So after the soft entered into him satan entered into him Okay, that's just the food is what that soft is then sent jesus unto him that thou doest do quickly So john asked him who is it? Okay, it's the guy that i'm about to hand this off to dips it hands it to judas Judas eats it. He says that thou doest do quickly referring to betray again Now no Man, look at this first way. This will blow you away No, man at the table knew for what intent he spake this on him. John Still didn't put it together Even when jesus said it's the guy i'm about to hit put this off to dips it hands it to judas Judas says is it I? Thou has said You've said it And nobody at the table even gets it Because they just can't believe that it's judas You know, they're just in denial about it. Like he basically two different ways tells him it's judas And then he tells judas Do what you have to, you know, basically i'll put it into modern english he's basically saying, you know Whatever you're about to do just go do it quickly And he's talking about betraying him judas gets up from the table and walks out and none of the other 11 understand They just think oh he's out just buying something It says in verse 29 for some of them thought because judas had the bag that jesus had sent him to him Buy those things that we have need of against the feast so they should give something for him He said oh jesus is sending him on an errand, that's all no big deal Now look let this sink down into your ears Do you really think that you're able to identify the judas? They couldn't I mean are you getting what i'm saying here They could not and these are smart guys. These are great men of god These are spiritual guys who've been in the same church with this guy for three and a half years. They could not identify the judas And even it was probably who they least suspected because even when he pointed him out they still just couldn't believe it Now you need to let that sink in and not think to yourself well, but I know I can trust so and so I know so and so would never you know be a bad person. I really know this Yeah, you can't and you say well, you sound really cynical and pessimistic. Look i'm telling you something I'm preaching this because there's been a lot of people who've been harmed Because of trusting the wrong people And i'll tell you right now i've got six little children. I don't let my children out of my sight We're living in perilous times. I mean we're living in days when judices abound And when perverts abound and when false teachers abound and when and when predators abound and i'm going to take Story after story after story you hear about children being defiled In churches In schools places that are considered safe places The school classroom the sunday school class the church house the babysitter and i'm gonna tell you it's it's horrible It's sad that lives are destroyed and defiled because people just trust everyone You know and i'll tell you right now I would not leave a suitcase with a if I had a suitcase of a million dollars cash I wouldn't just I wouldn't leave that with somebody just because they were from church And you know what my children are worth more than that You know and so we got to be careful I remember when I went to a church before where they literally I mean we've been going to this church for a very short time They wanted us to go on an overnight Couples retreat and they wanted us. How old were our children at that time? Four and two or something or how old were they? Okay, so they're like two years old and six months I mean we had like these little kids like maybe they were three and one or two and whatever And we had these little kids and they wanted us to drop our kids off at this babysitter that we had never even known of The church wanted us to go on this couple's read and just leave our kids these people and they said oh, don't worry They're from church Oh, okay But you know people think that we're nuts about this I mean we've got you know Now that I pastor a church, you know, you know, we basically we all feel the same way here We we just have a policy. We don't drop our kids off We don't demand people to drop their kids. Oh your kids are going into this room over here and your kids are going to this room You know, but in other churches, this was something we had to fight Like literally somebody would take your kid and try to drag him into some class and i'm like no My kids are staying with me right here And then they get mad at you You know because you won't just relinquish your time. Well your child needs to go to the six-year-olds, you know, it's like no And you're pulling on But anyway the bottom line is we gotta be careful today the bible says be vigilant be sober your adversary the devil Walking about is a roaring lion seeking whom he made about go back to second peter chapter two if you would Now second peter chapter two This is where uh god's warning us further about these false prophets that are going to be among you that are going to creep in and You don't have to turn there turn to second peter two But in jude, it's a parallel passage with second peter two and sometimes you want to do a really interesting bible study Put second peter two and the book of jude side by side and study him and man a lot It's really interesting. It pretty much deals with the same thing. He sheds a lot of light compare second peter two with jude But in jude, he says there are certain men cracked in unawares And he talks about the same people he talks about in second peter two And look what it says that part of what they do It says it talks about Sodom and gomorrah and in jude, he talks about the the people of sodom giving themselves over to fornication And going after strange flesh and he said likewise these also defiled flesh So he says these people that creep in Are also perverted like unto sodom and gomorrah and he also mentions that they commit adultery in this in this portion And it also mentions it says they have eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin Let me find the place here that I was looking for It says in verse number 14 having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin beguiling unstable souls you see that beguiling Unstable souls on heart they have exercised with covetous practices. Sounds like judas, huh? Covetous wanting to steal money cursed Children, okay. And so we see here that these these people, uh They're perverted in many cases. And so this is why we need to be very careful and guard our children From predators today because it's a dangerous thing and the thing is, you know I think that predators love to come into churches and that's why you hear about it so much because there's such a trusting atmosphere Yeah, we just trust well you're from church we just trust you not at this church buddy Perverts are going to have a hard time in this church because we just we we literally like we have that door We have like rooms with doors on some we just rip the door off the hinges and just we did I love how this building is just open Just exposed, you know, there's no place to hide got that big window put in there and everything because You know We don't want people to be able to creep in and defile young people and it happens all the time It's really sad. It's it's it's horrible. And you say well this person, you know, I know this person I know these people I can trust them You know, it's like somebody just recently in this area was exposed as a Judas Iscariot And this exact person wanted to babysit our children when we first moved here Offered to babysit them several times Thank god, I didn't say oh this person's a pastor Oh, okay. Yeah, that'll be perfect that this is a really good family Because it's this it's a you know, independent of apathy. Hey turned out to be a Judas Can you imagine if you if you drop your kids off and then you find that out? And so i'm warning you tonight and you say well pastor Harrison, wait a minute Should we go on a witch hunt and expose Judas and unmask the Judas Iscariot? No, that's not what i'm saying because look is that what Jesus did? No, I think that the reason why Jesus let Judas be among them for three and a half years Three and a half years Is to teach us and show us. Hey, there's always going to be Judas He's always going to be there even in my church And so he's just showing us That he's there And to warn us because Jesus knew from the beginning. He couldn't just say hey get out of here. You're a phony get out of here He let Judas be there in order to teach us and also obviously that the scripture might be fulfilled That Judas might betray him and that fulfilled a lot of bible prophecy from the book of psalms But he's just teaching us too that Judas is always going to be there. Let me give you my motto And this isn't from the bible Although I do believe that it's biblically based my my motto is this Suspect no one trust no one. That's my motto, you know, i'm not going to go around suspecting everybody like, you know Oh You know are you judas, you know, I don't want to go through, you know, I I want to get people the benefit of doubt You know, I mean i'm not just out trying to expose judas and i'm going to figure out who the judas is in this church And you know you i'm watching you and whatever, you know, but at the same time I don't want to trust anybody You say well shouldn't we trust people? You know what the bible never teaches us to trust man. The bible says trust in the lord And it says it's better to trust in the lord Psalm 118 8 says it is better to trust in the lord than to put confidence in man Nowhere in the bible will it teach you trust man. Trust people trust your brother trust. No, he says trust no one Trust the lord only Trust him alone Because you can't trust man because you don't know who is the judas, you know, and you shouldn't go around suspecting everybody That's not what jesus was teaching And I also find it interesting that jesus put judas in charge of the money Now was jesus ministry a money-oriented ministry. No because if jesus really cared about the money It was a really money motivated Like it was all about the offerings and we're raising money for this and we're raising the fundraiser And we got the missions plan and the building plan and i'm not against raising money for those things But some churches become really money-oriented where that's the focus You know, and we've never we've never to this day raised money for anything in five and a half years we're thank you know We're thankful for that. We've never had a thermometer up and never raised the money And we just we have this philosophy just whatever comes in the offering we use it and if it doesn't come in we don't need it You know, it's free to preach the gospel. It's free to sing. It's free to win souls So basically the bottom line is jesus ministry was so not money oriented That he took the guy that he knew was the phony and said here you handle the money Because he didn't care Because god's not short on money Jesus didn't need the money. He said I don't care put judas in charge of it because that's the least important job Because that's the thing that matters the least to god. He said judas you handle the money because it didn't matter Think about this the streets are paved with gold In heaven, so the god the thing that we value on this earth more than anything the most precious thing that we think when it comes To money, you know gold a gold coin Is the most valuable money you can have right? Gold coins are worth thousands of dollars And that gold to god is just like dirt. It's just like asphalt. It's just like it's what you tread upon It just it's the bottom of the line It's the bottom thing in heaven And so that shows that we should never be money oriented as a church and you know The love of money is the root of all evil, right? It was the root of judas is scary. It's evil Started with the love of money and got worse from there And so jesus basically gave the job of handling the money to the guy that you know, basically He knew was phony. He didn't care And he's teaching us a lesson about that But look if you would to uh, matthew 26 again back to matthew 26 I'll show you a little bit later in in the chapter. This is where judas so we've seen judas Uh, you know get upset about the ointment Because he was a thief he had the bag he almost put there then we saw judas at the last supper Being pointed out by jesus as the betrayer Nobody can believe it. Nobody understands it Well now jesus and his disciples after they sing a hymn After they've taken the last supper together they go out to the garden of gift 70 And that's where jesus had gone a lot to pray and so forth And it says in verse number 46 rise. Let us be going behold. He is a hand that does betray And while he gets fake lo judas one of the twelve came and with him a great multitude with swords and staves From the chief priests and elders of the people so he went to them a covenant with them for 30 pieces of silver That he's going to betray jesus into their hands and they're really happy about it. They're like, oh great. This will be perfect We fear the people let's do it in the middle of the night So they come to get jesus in the middle of the night And it said in verse 48 now he that betrayed him gave them a sign saying The guy with the long hair, that's him. No, that's not what he said because jesus did not have long hair Bible says it's a shame for men to have long hair and the men of course have short But a lot of people paint paintings of jesus with long hair You know and the guy who painted it was a queer that's why Okay, you know these guys in the renaissance these girly men and they paint a guy that looks like them, you know You ever seen like if you go to like a chinese church, jesus is chinese you ever seen those? Or like in a black church. Jesus is black and in germany. Jesus has long hair and blue eyes, you know people envision him To look like that, you know, here's the thing. We don't know what he looked like. It doesn't matter what he looked like He's the savior of all men. It doesn't matter what color you are red and yellow black and white they're pressed inside So some long-haired effeminate guy guess what he's gonna paint A long-haired effeminate. Jesus, you know, I mean these jesus paintings a lot of them are just really effeminate and queer looking in the long hair And he's just a girly man, you know, and so here's the thing if jesus really had long hair Wouldn't he have just said hey, he's the guy who has long hair Apparently jesus looked like everybody else. He didn't look anything special The bible says in isaiah 53 when we shall see him. There is no beauty that we should desire You know, I don't think that there was anything that just stood out like a sore thumb about jesus He just looked like an ordinary guy because he's with 11 other guys and he can't even just point and say see he's this guy or Some people have tried to say that jesus was like a foot taller than all his disciples Josephus the historians that you know, that's not it's just made up stuff He was just an ad he looked like an average person and so therefore Judas had to give a sign because they don't even know they can't even recognize judas from his disciples at night So he basically says to him Whomsoever I shall kiss That same is he hold him fast So he's going to give him a kiss in order to expose him as jesus and forthwith he came to jesus and say hail master and kissed him And jesus said unto him friend Wherefore art thou come Then came they and laid hands on jesus and took him you say wait a minute pastor anderson. Why did he call him friend? You know, are you sure that he wasn't saved that he lost his salvation, right? Hey, you know why he called him friend because it was his friend I mean think about it. He'd been with him for three and a half years. He'd done everything for him He'd spent all that time with him And it's funny because the word friend jesus calling people friends I could and I don't know if this has anything to do with anything but I just thought this was interesting the only other time that I could find where you know Jesus calling people friend. It's always people that he doesn't like I don't know what that is, but you know, he calls judas friend and I don't know if there's any significance Maybe you say but remember the parable Where the people are complaining and moaning because they didn't get the right amount of money that they thought was fair You know where he gives everybody a talent even the people who worked one hour versus 12 hours He gives them all in town. He says to the guy who moaned about it. Hey friend, I do think no wrong And then the other time he uses friend is when there was a guy who's at the wedding feast And he doesn't have a wedding garment in matthew 20. Remember that girl and he says friend How cameest thou and hither without a wedding garment and then he gets cast into hell so Not exactly a term of endearment, I guess I don't know what he meant by friend But I I personally believe he's just calling him friend because it's just it's one of his friends I mean, it's just somebody that he's associated with and And he's been with him for three and a half years. So he says friend wherefore art.com he's saying hey, why are you here? Then came they and laid hands on jesus and took him go to chapter 27 of matthew matthew 27 verse 1 It says when the morning was come all the chief priests and elders of the people Took counsel against jesus to put him to death So he's been arrested in the garden judeus pointed him out betrayed him with a kiss And by the way, what does that teach us just because somebody's nice to you? Doesn't mean that they're a good person I mean, here's a guy who comes up and gives him a kiss But the bible says in the book of proverbs it says faithful are the wounds of a friend But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful You know, so beware just because somebody's nice doesn't mean that they're a good person So he's been arrested and he's been put on trial, you know, they have a trial in the middle of the night And jesus said to them he said, you know, why are you in the middle of the night? He said I spake openly the word. He said i've been ever taught in the synagogue in the temple He said, you know why you didn't take me then he said this is your hour and the power of darkness That's what jesus told him when they arrested, you know, you love this middle of the night stuff Arresting me in the middle of the night putting me on trial in the middle of the night because you're doing wicked deeds Because wicked deeds are done in the middle of the night good deeds are done out in the daylight And so they decided that they're going to put him to death. They put him on trial and condemned him to die And when they had bound him verse two, they led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. That's the roman governor Then judas which had betrayed him when he saw that he was condemned. So judas is watching this happen He watches jesus get condemned to death in this trial and when he saw that he was condemned He repented himself And brought again the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders saying i've sinned in that i've betrayed the innocent blood So he basically changes his mind When he sees jesus condemned to death, he's like, what have I done? And he takes all the money that he earned the 30 pieces of silver And he brings it to him and he says I've sinned I I did wrong. I don't want this money anymore. You know, I betrayed the innocent blood He basically realizes now that it's too late that jesus christ really is who he said he was Now you say wait a minute he didn't realize that for three and a half years Now all of a sudden he realizes that Well, let me get to that in a little bit But it says in verse four i've i've betrayed the innocent blood i've said and they said what is that to us? See now that they're like we don't care. So what that's your problem We're putting them to death We gave you your money get out of here So he's really upset so he cast down the piece of silver in the temple So he's trying to give them back the money and they won't take it. They're like no get out of here. We don't care. So he just Just throws it on the ground Just runs out of the temple And he departed And went and hanged himself. So how did judas end with suicide? He killed himself And then it says that uh, the chief priest took the silver pieces and said it's not lawful for to put them into the Treasury because it was the price of blood, you know all of a sudden they care about what's lawful They're putting they're putting jesus the lord jesus christ to death but these hypocritical phonies They have their own little rules that they go by Well, you know, we can't put this into the treasury because it's the price of blood Even though we're the ones who paid this guy that you know, give us an innocent person that we're going to kill It's like well, I hired this hit man to kill somebody but you know, I don't want to put this money in the offering place Total hypocrites total ponies You know no understanding of spiritual things and they took counsel And bought with them the potter's field to bury strangers in so they said let's just take this money and buy a piece of ground Use it for a cemetery and bury strangers in it. Wherefore that field was called the field of blood unto this day now You say did did judas go to heaven or hell well judas went to hell the bible's clear It'd be better for him if he'd never been born and Jesus said this and john said first of all, we already know that he didn't believe back in john 6 But jesus said in john 17 12 you don't have to turn there But it says while I was with them in the world. I kept them in my name Those that gave us me I have kept and none of them is lost But the son of perdition That the scripture might be fulfilled There's only two people in the bible that are called the son of perdition perdition basically means damnation So he's called the son of damnation. It's better for him that he was never born It says in acts chapter one that he killed himself and it says that he might go to his own place You know, he didn't go to heaven. He went to hell. He was a child of perdition It would have been better for him if he'd never been born But you see in uh, where did I turn i'm sorry or john I was reading from john 17 the only Two people in the bible that are called the son of perdition are judas and scarred and somebody tell me who else? The antichrist and second thessalonians chapter two is referred to as the sunrise also What's interesting the only two people in the bible who were actually possessed by satan? Judas iscariot and the and the antichrist one day will be possessed by satan Isn't that interesting because you know, there are all kinds of devils that possess people throughout the bible, but only Those two people does the bible mention personally satan Entered into them and took over their body and used it for that purpose So basically satan entered into him and uh, basically he betrayed jesus christ because that reason now you say So he went to hell did he go to hell because he committed suicide. No Committing suicide isn't what sent him to hell It's not believing on jesus christ to send now. Now you say wait a minute would a believer ever commit suicide You say are you only unbelievers commit suicide or is it possible for a believer to commit suicide? Let me tell you it's definitely possible For a believer to commit suicide and go to heaven turn back to first samuel chapter 30 because there were two men in the bible Who committed suicide who for sure went to heaven? And those two men are number one Saul king saul and number two samson. So let's look first at king saul This is where uh 31 31.4. Thank you All right. I'm, i'm mixed up tonight. Yeah, there we go 31.4 That's how i'm looking for first samuel 31.4 says this then sent saul unto his armor bearer draw my sword and thrust me through there With lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through and abuse me. So this is king saul. He's fighting a battle He's losing the battle And he's wounded and he doesn't see any path of escape. So he basically says to his armor bearer just kill me Thrust me through stabbed because he said I don't want these philistines to come and abuse me He didn't want to suffer a fate worse than death. And so he just said just kill me And his armor bearer was afraid to do it. So he basically took a sword Well, let's read it. It says but his armor bearer would not free was so afraid therefore saul took a sword and fell upon So who killed saul himself? And then look at verse five and when his armor bearer saw that saul was dead He fell likewise upon his sword and died with him now you say and then says so Died so saul died and his three sons and his armor bearer and all his men that same day together So how do you know, uh king saul's in heaven? Well, because earlier when he went to the witch at indore He goes to the witch and she's dealing with familiar spirits and devils Well all of a sudden samuel, he says conjure me up samuel. Don't call up samuel And she's doing her little crystal well all of a sudden samuel really shows up according to the bible and people will try to say Well, that wasn't really samuel. Well, the bible says it was samuel The bible says samuel said unto him who was saying and samuel's samuel rebukes him and says you're not right with god God has departed from you and he says tomorrow you're gonna lose that battle and he said tomorrow Shall thou and thy sons be with me? Now where was samuel? He's in heaven, you know, he was saying we know he was in heaven and he told saul tomorrow you're going to be with me Saul was saved. I mean earlier in saul's life when he first heard the word got preached by samuel The bible says he heard preaching and it says he became another man He said god gave him a new heart and he was turned into another man. That was when saul got saved And the spirit of the lord was upon him greatly but later in life. He got into all kinds of sin He did a bunch of bad things and he ended up killing himself But he still went to heaven because samuel said you're coming to be with me you say well, how else do you know to say well? luke 13 28 Says that all the prophets Will be in the kingdom of heaven The bible says that the scriptures came in old time as holy men of god spake as they were moved by the holy ghost And he said that the jews would weep In luke 13 28 when they saw abraham isaac and jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of heaven But they themselves cast out all of god's prophets of the old testament That were real true prophets of the lord Went to heaven according to the bible and of course saul was one of those prophets because many times Saul prophesied the spirit of the lord came upon people were really surprised and said is saul also among the prophets He said well, it was their father, you know, and they basically he was a problem But the bible is clear that he went to be with samuel. Samuel is with the lord. He went to be with the lord Here's another man that for sure went to heaven. They committed suicide samson The bible talks about samson in hebrews chapter 11 in the great hall of faith as being great men of faith And we know that he was saved. He had faith. He was saved by faith And Samson when he had his eyes burned out of his sockets because he had committed sin He had lusted after too many women So god basically brought that punishment upon him where he had his eyes burned out by the ballistines Remember they chained him up to the pillars and so they could make sport and they made fun of him and laughed at him Well samson prayed that god would give him the strength to tear down the building by knocking over the two pillars And his last words were let me die with the ballistines And he pushed in the pillars Brought down the building killing himself and everyone else He's a suicide bomber Because he killed himself and everybody in the building Okay And so he he committed suicide and you can try to say well that's not suicide. Well, it's suicide He said let me die with the ballistines and kill himself. Saul definitely killed himself. He fell on the sword Nowhere does the bible say if you commit suicide you're going to heaven And nowhere does the bible say that a believer will never commit suicide I've known people in my personal life. Like I knew a guy And I believe that this guy was saved. I don't know for sure that he was saved I know for sure. Saul was saved. I know for sure samson was saved, but I knew a guy I'm, not sure 100 if he was saved, but i've ever reason to believe that he was saved He found out that his wife had been committing adultery You know, that's a horrible thing to find out That's a shock, I don't know how I would deal with that you you don't know how you would deal with that That could be a real shocking thing to find out and he took his own life You know Not the right thing to do. He shouldn't have done that. It's a tragedy. It's a terrible thing to do But you know what? You can see how that happened The shock the depression and it might not have been premeditated Just he just couldn't handle it. Just couldn't take it took his own life That doesn't mean he went to hell folks if he believed on the lord jesus christ Which I believe that that man is years and years back I believe that that man did believe on jesus christ. I believe he's in heaven If he believed he's saved and saul's answer the same now who else committed suicide follow a hit the bell david's counselor a hit the bell I don't have concrete proof, but I believe that a hit the bell was probably saved Saul's armor bearer was probably saved, you know So there were people in the bible who committed suicide and went to heaven And there were people in the bible who committed suicide and went to hell, uh, this is one of them another one was Omri Brother garrett, am I right about that the guy who burned down his own house on himself was putting that off simra Not I knew it wasn't all right simra. Remember simra the king of israel right before arm, right? Simra tried to take over the kingdom. He rained for like seven days Because then the general arm ride that the general of the host He decided to do a military coup d'etat And so when simra is in the palace and arm rise coming to basically take over He basically, you know burned himself into a house and so, you know, probably a suicide there And so the bottom line is there's wicked people in the bible who were unsaved like simra was definitely not saved. Okay? Judas was definitely not saved so it's not the point People commit suicide. It's a horrible thing to do. No one should ever commit suicide. It's a sin. It's wrong. It's wicked It's it's it's hurtful to the people around you Obviously when people commit suicide, they do horrible pain and injustice to people around them, but it has nothing to do with salvation Judas went to hell because he did not believe on christ now Let me just deal with the last thing here before I close And there's a lot of talk about judas, but I want to just focus on this one point Why did judas Go to them and say i've betrayed the innocent blood He knew that what he'd done Was wrong at that point. Why did he not know that before? Okay. Well go to john 12 I'll tell you why I think so is because Is I believe that judas was a reprobate as well. Okay And and here's the thing, you know, i'm not going to repreach a whole other sermon right now because we're we're winding this sermon down on judas is scary, but There's it's a whole other sermon another self. I preached a sermon you can get the audio You can download it online the sermon I preached a few weeks back called becoming a reprobate Where I really just for over an hour Go into the subject of what biblically is a reprobate, you know, if you download that sermon It's real clear In the bible that people can people can come to a point where it's too late for them to get saved real difficult I mean like for example, the bible says if you add to or take away from god's word Remember revelation 22 18 19. He says your part will be blotted out of the book of life and out of the holy city And obviously he's talking about unsaved people Committing that sin and now they've lost all opportunity to ever get saved again Remember the blasphemy against the holy ghost The bible said that because the pharisees blasphemed the holy ghost and said that jesus christ had an unclean spirit And then he casted out devils by beelzebub the prince of the devils when they said that jesus told them He said all men are of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven of the men But the blasphemy against the holy ghost shall not be free neither in this world neither in the world to come He said you're in danger of eternal damnation. You have no forgiveness So it's very clear that it's possible for people to get to a point where they pass salvation when they commit certain things And the bible calls that person a reprobate because reprobate just means rejected People come to a point where they get rejected where god hardens their heart now remember pharaoh god hardened pharaoh's heart But at first pharaoh hardened his own heart When he kept rejecting god rejecting the truth Eventually god hardened his heart Because of the fact that it's possible for a person to lose their chance to get saved That's why if you're not saved you should get saved today And not say well, I need to think about it, you know, well, okay, you might just keep thinking about it And eventually you're going to get a hardened heart Hardened heart that's why the bible says now is the accept time now is the day of salvation People get to a point where they hear the gospel. They hear the gospel. They hear the gospel. They reject it. They reject it They reject it later later. I'm not interested don't care not worried about it God finally gets sick of it and says, okay Well your chances are over now for sure when a person dies without price, it's too late for them But even while somebody's on this earth, they can become too late, you know when they get a heart They just keep getting hardened and they actually Just become reprobate. God just says okay. Well, you're done Look at john 12 and this is very clearly laid out in john chapter 12 It says in verse 37 about the pharisees, but though he had done so many miracles before them Yet they believed not on him now wouldn't that apply to judas too? Judas saw a lot of miracles, didn't he? But yet he did not believe on christ That the saying of his eyes the prophet might be fulfilled which he spake lord Who had believed our report unto whom at the arm of the lord been revealed therefore what? They could Not believe why could they not believe? Why were they unable to believe because that his eyes said again, he had blinded their eyes who's blinded their eyes god He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart That they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart and be converted that I should heal them It's not that god chooses certain people to go to heaven and certain people go to hell. He offers it to everybody who still don't believe But people can come to a point where they can't believe because their eyes have been blinded their heart has been hardened Judas, I believe was at that point Because he'd seen so much You could not walk and talk with jesus every day for three and a half years while he's on this earth Hear his word preach you're either going to get saved Or you're going to get out You're not going to keep following him and not be a reprobate because if you just can keep hearing it keep seeing the miracles And you're still not saying You've hardened your heart. You're a reprobate and that's what was judas's story. He's a reprobate but here's the scary thing about it Judas knew that he was on his way to hell I believe I believe judas knew that he was going to hell Because when he said i betrayed the innocent blood, I believe I mean he said the innocent blood I think he's referring to the fact that jesus christ Was who he said he was he really was the son of god because after he's being accused of impersonating the the son of god And he knew it was the truth But it was just too late for him He was reprobating it was just too late and you know It's like esau it got too late for esau he found no place of repentance though. He saw it carefully with tears It became too late for him. And so there's a verse in the bible that I was talking about the dave about this Where paul is really talking really sternly to the corinthians. He's really been laying into the corinthians about a lot of Wickedness in their church a lot of problems in their church And when he gets into second christians 13 he warns him he says i'm going to come down there I don't want to have to clean house on you guys. He said I want to come in love I don't want to come with a rock. I don't want to come in anger He said I want to come and enjoy your fellowship. He teaches throughout second corinthians, but he says he gives a warning He says examine yourselves Whether you be in the faith, he's even questioning that some of them aren't safe He says examine yourselves whether you be in the faith Prove your own self and he says know you not your own selves how that Jesus christ is in you except you be reprobates now look There are a lot of people who don't have jesus in them that are not reprobates But to those people specifically who've been in that fundamental chart I mean that church in corinth there was a bible believing bible preaching soul-winning church. He said look I know you guys I've known you guys for years. I mean either you're saved or you're a reprobate, you know what I mean? Because then that's the thing when people can go in a church for 20 years That preaches the right salvation and the right word of god They're either saved or they're a reprobate Because they're either going to get saved or they've rejected it a thousand times You understand what i'm saying? And that's what he's explaining here. And so We need to be warned. There's a lot more we can say about judith We can bring up the fact that judith's number one anybody price Because if good an evil tree can't bring forth good for him actually good tree can't bring forth evil fruit So he did not he went out stolen. He went through the motions He preached to people but he's not really responsible for getting anybody saved We can examine the fruit of people to see whether that that tells us right away whether they're really saved or not saved But it's a warning tonight. Why preach on judas? Well, because it's a biblical subject a lot about the bible why preach about judas just to warn you not so you can be paranoid And you know worried about everybody in church judas who's the judas at paperwork Don't go around suspecting that's not what jesus taught that's not what he encourages disciples to do But just know in the back of your mind always that judas is there And be sober and be vigilant Don't leave your kids unattended. We don't just drop your kids off people just because they're from church Don't just trust people just because they're don't just assume that everybody's always right Don't try to expose don't try to figure it out, but just always beware and god warned us. He said they're going to be among you No matter how hard we try to make sure he's not going to be here. He'll be here But you know what? Let him be here Let him count the money You know what? I mean, and I joke around when people count the money. I say thanks to you Just you know, this is a joke and I mean that as a joke My wife gets really bad when I say that I always say that's so mean to say that to people when they count the offer and call them judas All right. I'm, sorry. I learned it from a friend that gave me that bad Let him count the money let him be among us We're saved we're going to heaven and you here today know that your heart is right with god You know that you believe on christ, you know that you're that you're you know legit, you know, just don't worry about the right You know, that's their problem Judas is going to hell, you know, and just be faithful serve god Don't let covetous enter in covetous and center in and just be aware of judas is the message tonight Let's put our eyes on that word of prayer father. Thank you so much for these warnings in the bible Dear god, they can really save us a lot of heartache and a lot of trouble If we would just be aware of the fact that there's judas out there And god, we don't we don't know who is saved we don't know who is is judas We know that you know, probably 11 out of 12 are good to go I mean there was only one judas out of 12 in your church. And so maybe you know, hopefully hopefully there's even less than that in ours and so we We love you dear god, and we thank you for warning us about judas and we thank you for your word We thank you for saving us and giving us eternal life as a free gift And thank you for this holiday that we celebrate the resurrection of christ in jesus name. We pray