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THE JUDAS SPIRIT: TREACHEROUS BETRAYAL BY THOSE IN LEAGUE WITH THE DEVIL
Every real Christian is subject to everything experienced by the Lord Jesus, one of which is cold betrayal. This is always done by someone close, usually a trusted one.
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THE JUDAS KISS
The reason it works so well is because one’s defenses are down. One has no reason to put up a shield against friends, family members, or Christian associates. In this sense the victim is essentially defenseless. His or her sense of loyalty, good faith, and thinking and believing well of others, without which one cannot have good relationships, is the very thing taken advantage of by the Judas spirit and the person aligned with it. However, this does not mean the victim was not necessarily wise or watching. It does not mean the victim of betrayal was not being exactly what the Lord wanted him or her to be or was not walking with the Lord. One may wonder, then, is this is true, why the Lord did not warn them before the attack.
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In reality, there are often clues along the way that are certainly acknowledged but usually not taken as seriously as they should be, but again, to take them too seriously can damage the relationship, a relationship the victim appreciates and protects. There is thus a fine line. Potential Judases, as deceiving and conniving as they are, sometimes reveal themselves for what they are in relatively minor ways. Sometimes their outer packaging slips a tad. Sometimes their mask fails to hide completely. They may say or do something that arouses suspicion but because they are such excellent liars, something the victim can’t quite conceive of since it is so diabolical, they manage to stay above any suspicion that may otherwise reveal them for what they actually are.
Now, some people, a relative few, have their suspicion motors running at high speed much of the time. Others are never suspicious. Most people, however, with regard to close personal relationships, have a healthy mindset which allows for suspicion but are not focused on it. It kicks in when it is called for, when something appears off and when things don’t quite add up. But even then it is likely that these are mere general warnings that don’t have actual merit. Such warnings let a person know the system is running properly.
Those who are always suspicious have likely been burned to a high degree at some point, maybe several times, and feel they are forced to always be on high alert. Those who are never suspicious are those most vulnerable to attack and are often the kind of people who are easily taken advantage of. These may be placed in that general group that contains the naïve, the gullible, and those more easily prone to indoctrination. Interestingly, along with these are people of status so sure of their beliefs they believe it ridiculous to second guess their station in life. Why they are so trusting without testing is too broad a subject to discuss here but could be due to never seeing any reason to be guarded. It could even be because they perceive guarded people, even those only slightly such, as paranoid. Still, allowing for suspicion is a vital part of one’s defenses. Most people learn at a young age that some people can be trusted and others can never be. Defending oneself is a vital component of life and part of the way God made us.
Regarding the Lord’s betrayal, it may not be the best of examples in that it never surprised Him but He did allow for it. He did this in part to show what is possible and what one should watch for. He was obviously wise and knowledgeable enough to know all about the man Judas Iscariot, his makeup, and his motivations; he was never fooled by Judas. But the other disciples were, at least in part. One or some of them may have known Judas before the Lord chose him. Some of them didn’t take long to figure out that Judas was certainly a man to be suspicious of. They knew he was a thief, for example, though this knowledge may not have come until later in the Lord’s ministry. They knew he was a lover of money. They also must have known that he was highly religious in the Pharisaical sense. In fact, Judas was actually a type of the unbelieving Israelites who rejected the Lord Jesus as Messiah. Hence, the Judas spirit and the antichrist spirit are closely aligned.
I think he probably was a Pharisee though a stealthy one. Considering how he so easily met with temple insiders to betray the Lord suggests he apparently had close relationships with some who worked in the temple. These might have been long term or may have only arisen after he became a disciple by spies who desired to cultivate an inside spy. And Judas, due to his own concerns about the Lord and his lack of full commitment to Him likely granted him access to the intrigue of the evil inner circle where others had none. For example, no other apostle had any such relationship. All the others had given their hearts and lives wholly to the Lord and this cut them off from any worldly relationships on the outside.
So this is a clue. If one has a potential Judas in one’s life then one likely has an unhealthy friendship with the world to some degree manifested through friends or family. This may be hard to understand for many Christians but the student of the New Covenant Scriptures is very aware of such passages as the following:
“Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you.” [2Corinthians 6:17]
You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. [James 4:4]
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. [1Peter 2:9-10]
According to the latter passage, whether or not we receive mercy is contingent upon leaving the world of darkness, joining up with the people of God, becoming God’s own possession, and serving as a spiritual priest of the Lord. (This must include real repentance.) According to the former passages we must be separate from the world, never be a friend of the world, and not touch what is unclean. Whoever fulfills these requirements will be welcomed into His kingdom by the King Himself, will be a friend of God, a member of His holy nation, and again, will receive mercy. One will never have to be concerned about being betrayed by such people.
One will not have to worry about being betrayed by non-Christians either because real Christians have no spiritual relationships with non-Christians. Therefore, the Judas people will appear somewhere in the middle. They are those who have one foot in the world and give the appearance of having the other foot in the kingdom. This may appear impossible but on the other hand some people are flakes. Some people are commitment-challenged. Some people are a mile wide and an inch deep. Unreal Christianity is rife with such people.
It kind of reminds one of the present condition of the Mississippi River. The Mississippi has not been this low in a very long time. There are vast stretches that are only about five feet deep. Stuff that has been forever under water is now being revealed. An old ferry barge over a century old has been exposed. Human remains have been found. There have been other discoveries. One can now walk across large swaths of exposed river bottom. Upstream barges cannot get their crops to market. What is more, there is little hope for the necessary rain beyond the immediate future. This sounds like those virgins who neglected to keep their oil lamps filled. It reminds one of the corruption of hidden sins never repented of or dealt with that hide beneath the surface waiting to be revealed when the masquerade comes off.
And this is reminiscent of the Judas spirit living within or around a potential traitor who keeps his or her treachery well-hidden by high enough water until the time of their strike. And though the river is muddy, it is up to his or her potential victim to see the signs, to look overboard once in a while, do some catfish noodling, and maybe partake of a scuba dive or two. Even then it is sometimes not possible to avoid attack because the devil is sly and Judases are good liars and very deceptive.
SOMETIMES CHRISTIANS GO SOUTH
Generally, people don’t lose their religion all at once. It is most often a gradual thing. It usually has something to do with not repenting of a certain sin and allowing it to fester and turn into a problem. When sins are small they can much more easily be dealt with. If not they have a tendency to propagate. It seems that sins have little seeds attached that grow into new sins. If not dealt with, such sins become a bumper crop and overcome the ability of the person to deal with them. Because the person likes the sin at least to some degree he or she thus coddles the sin instead of KILLING IT. Then the next phase kicks in when evil spirits are attracted to the darkness. Evil spirits love sin. They love darkness. They love corruption. This is why, when someone possesses such a ponderance of unrepented sin, they also open themselves up to demon oppression or possession. And according to the account of that tomb-dwelling demon-possessed guy in the country of the Gerasenes on the other side of the lake (see Luke 8:26-39), it is possible for a person to be possessed by thousands of demons at the same time, kind of like a mass of flies of a particular kind. (The term Beelzebul is actually a derogatory takeoff on the ancient deity of the Ekronites, the lord of the flies.)
Because Judas Iscariot never dealt with his minor sins they compounded and became major sins. Then, evil spirits were attracted to him. The temple insiders were also attracted to him and saw an opening to use him to murder the Lord. But guess what? Things got so bad and so out of hand within Judas due to his embrace of sin, his bitterness, his anger, and his frustration with his inability to change the Lord or manipulate Him that he not only attracted those guys but also attracted the devil himself:
And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him to them. They were glad and agreed to give him money. So he consented, and began seeking a good opportunity to betray Him to them apart from the crowd. [Luke 22:3-6][1]
Here is another clue: Betrayal of this kind usually involves money. It involves a payoff for causing either great suffering to the victim, eliminating the victim altogether, or both. Some people have no problem destroying a person’s life for a reward of some kind. Also, keep in mind that there is a natural form of manipulation that is purely of the flesh but is used in the same way. Some people are manipulators. They are devious tricksters who do their evil under the radar in order to change a person to his or her way of seeing things in order to use them for their own purposes. Those who are best at this are never or rarely perceived for what they are. It is often the case if not always that such schemers are too personally weak or outnumbered to get their way otherwise and must therefore resort to double-dealing and perniciousness. Or it could be that there are laws against such behavior, whether legal or moral, and the person must find a way to get around such laws without appearing to break them overtly in order to keep up appearances and not arouse suspicion.
However, when it comes to evil spirits, it is a different ball game altogether. When a person is betrayed with the assistance of such demonic entities he or she is dealing with a much higher level of strength which most often overpowers the person’s natural strength and ability to perceive what is happening. Accordingly, this also involves a much higher level of deception and manipulation. The person and the demon work together. Judas Iscariot, remember, would never have been able to betray the Lord without human help and demonic help. Of course, the Lord was aware of the entire scheme the entire time whereas all others are not though they may be suspicious to varying degrees. The early Christians were well aware of demonic entities and their machinations and knew they could only defeat them using the power of God. They were spiritual warriors. It is in part why they knew they must be Spirit-filled.
BE CAREFUL WHO YOU TRUST
As a final warning, one based purely on Scripture, one must be careful who he or she is in relationship with. In the Early Community of the Lord in the first century, believers were strictly instructed by the Lord and then one another to make only a 100% commitment to the Lord and nothing less once they decided to follow Him. One’s relationship with the Lord Jesus must be such or there is no real relationship. He will not accept anything less. Spiritual Covenant is impossible without a full commitment.
Then, when two believers have done this—when they have each done their part to create a vertical covenant relationship with the Lord Jesus—they can each create a horizontal spiritual relationship with each other based on the same covenant teaching. They then need not worry about betrayal from one another because both have fulfilled the entry level requirement (“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind.”) and both have fulfilled the second requirement as well (“And your neighbor as yourself.”). Again, both would also be filled with the Holy Spirit which greatly aids in being aware of or identifying potential Judases.
The same is true for a group of twelve or 120 as on the Day of Pentecost. It is also true for thousands. In fact, when one considers the many hundreds of thousands or millions of people which comprise the entire Body of Christ on the planet—the actual Body of Christ comprised of real Christians—one can see that one will always be safe with the Lord and mature real believers dedicated to the Word. One will never be betrayed by these, especially of course, by the Lord Jesus who has already proven His love and faithfulness a million times over. He will never leave you or forsake you. He gave everything for us He possibly could give. He did everything for us He possibly could do.
For other relationships, however, there is no guarantee. It is why each disciple must be their own watchman on the wall.
© 2022 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Throwing Down the Hammer: Conviction of Sin (3)
Animals do some strange things and may be perceived as evil, especially if one finds himself alone in the woods with a hungry bear. But a hungry bear on his own turf cannot be blamed for eating a dumb human (should have had a proper weapon instead of a can of mace).
The great predator cats like lions and tigers may be seen as evil when they run down, kill, and eat slow, sick, and dumb antelopes. But they are actually doing a great service to the antelope herd by keeping it strong and alert.
The humans who used to live in the wild among ferocious and deadly beasts were without doubt very strong and alert, since those who were not did not survive.
The same thing happens with sin. The righteous people who flee sin and find sin abhorrent are morally strong and live on, but those who embrace sin do not and should not survive. And since sin is progressive, it spreads rapidly throughout a populace and always consumes the majority in time, since only a few are willing to do the work associated with living righteously against the tide of popular opinion.
This is presently taking place worldwide, but especially in America, where the righteous were formerly in the majority. The morality of America has fallen rapidly and, barring a very strong corrective such as great judgment or a spiritual awakening, will never recover.
The Lord Jesus said the very last days would be like the days of Noah just prior to the great flood, and this fact should give everyone serious pause. Back then, God had to wipe out all humanity except Noah and his family, for example, because humanity in toto had become a vile collection of filthy vermin completely beyond repentance or salvation. Their sin disease had become terminal. He did the same with Sodom and Gomorrah. Yet, as vile and egregious as their sin was, He angrily charged certain cities of His own people with a greater sin:
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.
“And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.
“Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.” [Matthew 11:21-24]
In spiritual terms, this is what is known as throwing down the hammer. Not only were the majority of the inhabitants of these first-century Galilean cities vile, they were most likely extremely self-righteous and deceived by false religion, in that they refused to honor the very clear ministry of the Lord.
Miracles had no effect upon them. Preaching the Word of God had no effect upon them. Imagine how enraged they must have become when the Lord said the people of Sodom were not as evil as they were!
In general, the Lord also prophesied the disastrous fate of His own people, stating that the remaining remnant of the kingdom of David would be destroyed, as well as Jerusalem, and even the great Temple. Which begs the question:
Why do we not think the same won’t happen to us? The sin of this present world far exceeds the sins of those in the past. Present humanity is more disgusting, more vile, more evil, more rebellious, more hateful, more immoral, more damaging to the planet, more in love with power and wealth, more materialistic, more shallow, more stupid, more self-righteous, more headstrong, and much more prideful. And in the good old USA upwards of 60 MILLION innocent defenseless babies have been legally murdered in extremely violent ways with the full compliance of the government through officials put in power by free elections. And abortions continue as you read this.
Intelligent and well-informed people know exactly what humanity in general has done to this planet. They know humanity has become a vile disease-carrying parasite destroying the world. This is just fact. But why can’t many of these same people acknowledge the cure? They continue to propose correctives that either don’t work, can never work, or merely work in part but have the overall effect of destroying freedom and liberty.
God does not want that. God loves humanity. He has a better plan. He proposes to cleanse us through and through and restore our liberty. He made us to be morally strong, free, and holy. Without Him the opposite happens, and is happening.
We say we understand when mankind throws down the hammer, often by force, to fix something or another, but we have a real problem when God does it. Thus, the hammer must come down, is coming down, and will continue to come down. It is designed to help us all toward repentance. Judgment is a viable part of the cure.
The majority will still squeal about the cure, though. Most will refuse to get right with God, will dishonor God, will pick a fight with God, will think God is an idiot, and hate God, which means many are not only vile but crazy. Once sin permeates and takes over the brain it transforms an otherwise healthy individual into a pompous little dictator, a mouse that roars, or an uproarious little nitwit. What ultra pride is this?
“Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker—An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands?’” [Isaiah 45:9]
Whatever any individual may want to fix regarding the evil humanity is inflicting upon the world, it is a complete waste of time and effort without repentance and the application of the cleansing blood of God. There must be a circumcision of the heart. One cannot get good from evil or fresh water from a polluted pit. Unless a person is cleansed from and given power over sin and becomes a new creation, unless he or she submits to the Lord Jesus and follows Him and obeys Him, and unless he or she goes forth to help humanity with the real corrective, he or she remains subjected to the problem and is also part of the problem.
But Jesus looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written: ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” [Luke 20:17-18]
Here we see the fate of sinful humanity—Repentance or Judgment. The spiritually proactive deal with their sin properly and allow the corrective to be applied and by this attain eternal life.
For those who choose life, it is possible to lay our burdens down. There is relief. Someone really does care. And He proposes the exact and perfect solution. It’s amazing what good can happen if we just get out of the way, let God lead, recognize our place in the order of things, acknowledge the fact that we have a very serious problem and that God has the only corrective, have a respectful attitude toward the Lord and become a servant, and simply let God be God.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.
“For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30] [1]
© 2014 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved.
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Throwing Down the Hammer: Conviction of Sin (2)
God reveals sin. He knows our thoughts and intentions. He knows our secret sins. We may be able to fool many or most, and even ourselves, but we can never fool God.
Yet strangely, many of us apparently think that if God is the only one who knows, it’s okay, because He’s a nice guy and doesn’t seem to care too much. He is loving and forgiving and kind, and would never want to embarrass us.
Part of this characterization has some validity, but it’s simply not true overall. God is Love and He is very loving, but it’s not very loving to know someone has a fatal disease and never disclose the information. Imagine a doctor saying to an assistant, “Oh crud. The tests have uncovered something very bad! But I just don’t have the heart to tell my patient!”
God wants us to know. So He tells us. Or actually, He tries to tell us. But humans generally do not listen, or they cover the ears. Or they get very angry when conviction comes upon them. Imagine getting angry at the doctor for being the bearer of bad news: “Why you! What’s your problem? I don’t need this!” (And then you die.)
Actually, when people get such news they usually make the decision to comply with whatever the doctor orders and tell their friends and family they will fight the disease and win. They approach it with a great attitude. They show courage and strength, and trust their physician, the medical testing procedure, and the established program that attempts to rid their body of the sickness.
But when the aforementioned type of belligerent person hears the Word of God and suddenly knows he is a disease-carrying sinner in need of repentance, he often gets angry and stomps out of the room and gets mad at God and all those sorry Christians who think they’re better than everyone else and goes back to family and friends who he knows will agree with him and thus surrounds himself with fellow angry enabling deniers who refuse to acknowledge the truth. (And unless they repent they all go to hell.)
Others, though, fall flat on their faces before God repenting with much anguish over their many failures and violations of God’s standards and laws. And they continue at this until they are cleansed by the only cleansing agent for a filthy human soul—the Blood of Jesus. They then find peace “that passes all understanding” and receive the abundant life of God. And when God brings His Good News to a people and some hear it and respond properly and positively, He rejoices over their salvation. He paid the highest price for their welfare and is overjoyed when people apply it and their disease of sin is cured.
He also brings the Good News to those who refuse the opportunity. Such people become that much more strident against Him. They angrily sign their own death certificate. All they do after that point is a detriment to society as a whole. They become rebellious and hard core carriers of the sin disease and infect all they come in contact with. If it is a good thing to quarantine the diseased, is it not also a good thing to quarantine those with the sin disease?
In effect it certainly is, but since God wants no one to lose his soul, He will usually remain patient and hope they will change their hearts before passing from this realm. Plus, even though it can be difficult to deal with, He would rather such sinners have interaction with those who are set free, in hopes that their living or spoken witness will bring salvation, as in the wheat and tares parable (Matthew 13:24-30).
The Word specifically states, however, that real Christians must not have close relationships (being yoked together) with willful sinners. This is their method of quarantine.
Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?
Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” says the Lord Almighty.
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. [2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1]
This may be termed a pre-separation, since at the end all sheep will be separated from the goats. In fact, if there is no “pre-separation” for believers there will likely not be any later separation either, since hanging around goats all the time often turns one into a goat. Real Christians must be separate from the world.
Though most people do not understand the truth and refuse to try to understand, willfully sinful human beings are basically disease-ridden vermin, regardless of outward appearances, and God must sometimes rid the world of such vermin to protect the world and those who try hard to live right. Hardened criminals who engage in vile practices with no heart for others often shuck all pretense, and their mug shots reveal them for the vermin they are.
But many less obvious willful sinners engage in unseen or unacknowledged sins (though just as deadly) and are mere posers who successfully transform their outer appearance to appear upstanding. For such confidence people, outward beauty is not merely skin deep but transcends to the soul. Some of the best posers are religious posers.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” [Matthew 23:27-28] [1]
I wonder if that brought on any conviction?
© 2014 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved. [To Be Continued]
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
