In this sermon titled "The Devil Who Followed Jesus," the speaker explores the story of Judas Iscariot and his role as the devil who followed Jesus. The speaker emphasizes the importance of discerning the true motives and intentions of individuals within the church. He highlights the danger of those who claim to follow Christ but are driven by selfish desires and seek personal gain. The speaker also emphasizes the need for believers to prioritize intimacy with God and sacrificial worship, rather than being swayed by worldly influences.

This message is one of the Times Square Church pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge, PO Box 260, Lindell, Texas, 75771, or calling 903-963-8626. You are welcome to make additional cassettes of this message for free distribution to friends. However, for all other forms of reproduction or electronic transmission, existing copyright laws apply. John Chapter 6, if you'll turn there please with me in the New Testament. The title of my message is The Devil Who Followed Jesus. The Devil Who Followed Jesus. Now, if you will stay with me on this today, you're going to see this is not a typical Judas message. There are some things that the Holy Spirit has been speaking to me from this life that are applicable to our church age. And if we are wise, then we will say as the disciples all did at the Passover Supper, Lord is it I? They had been three years with Jesus, and the one thing that happened in the three years that they were with Him is every man at that table had learned not to trust in his own heart. And Jesus said, I say to you, one of you will betray me. And you would think the instantaneous response perhaps today if we were at that table would be, well, it's not me, I know that for sure. But yet having sat under the pure Word of God, having time and again come to the understanding that mankind without the Holy Ghost really doesn't understand God. And nor does he understand what's in his own heart. Every man at that table in turn said, Lord is it me? Because every man knew what he was capable of doing. And if you are a wise son or daughter of God, you will have that in your heart today. When you hear a word like this, you'll say, Lord, don't let me push it aside. But Holy Spirit, come and speak to me. And if it's in me, tell me. If I'm being led by something that's not God, then I'm being taken to a place that God hasn't destined for me, then Holy Spirit, you've got to tell me, you've got to show me. For I don't know what's in my heart, but God, you know. You are able to show all things and you are able to take me away from these things and out of these paths of death and bring me into the place of life. John chapter 6, verse 66. Scripture says, from that time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Now that's the time when Jesus said, if you want to follow me, you've got to eat my flesh and drink my blood. Now he's talking about, you have to have a cleansing that comes from somewhere other than yourself and your good works. And you have to have a source of strength that comes from somewhere other than the strength that you naturally possess. Now we know the flesh, of course, was God's son giving himself on the cross and there was the blood as well. But today it would tell us that you need the word of God and you need that cleansing of the blood. Otherwise you have no eternal life and there is no strength to live the Christian life. And so many who were following him for various reasons, and they looked and they heard this truth and they said, well that's it for us. This is a hard saying. We were willing to follow you when we saw the miracles. We're willing to follow you because in some cases, you can just imagine, blind people having been given their sight walking away from him and lame having been given the ability to walk or to reach and touch, walking away from him. Saying, well we were willing to follow as long as what was happening was according to our pattern of what we think God should be. But now you're requiring something of us that we don't want to give. You're asking us to go somewhere we don't understand and we don't want to go there. And so from that time many of the disciples went back and walked no more with him. Verse 67, Then said Jesus to the twelve, Will you also go away? Then Simon Peter answered and said to him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thus the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And 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. Now, the gospel of Luke chapter 6, keep a marker in John, go to Luke chapter 6, verse 12. It tells us that Jesus prayed all night before selecting the twelve who would become his disciples. Now the Greek word means those who would accept the instruction given them and make this instruction their rule of conduct. These were more than just listeners. They were actual students who were committing themselves to hearing his word and following and obeying it. And actually patterning themselves according, that's what a disciple was in that generation. I will hear your word, teacher, and I will pattern my life as it is according to the word that you give to me. And these twelve were selected after Jesus prayed all night. It says in Luke 6, verse 12, that he went out into a mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples, and of them he chose twelve, whom he also named apostles. Simon and Peter and Andrew and James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James and Simon. And verse 16 says, And Judas, the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor. Now John 6, verse 64, tells us that Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray him. You see, beloved, it was not a happenstance that Judas betrayed Jesus. He didn't start out as a good man. You see, God had a plan before the foundation of the world. A plan that he would become a man. A plan that he would walk this earth for three years. It was a covenant between the Father and his Son. The Son would pay the price for the sins of humankind. And being crucified, and shedding his blood, he would satisfy the wrath of God against the sin of all who would trust in Christ. And Christ would redeem to himself, and ultimately to God, the people who have chosen to trust in him for their salvation. And all that he purchased on Calvary would also become the possession of those who had placed their confidence and their trust in him. But in order to die on Calvary, the Scriptures clearly had foretold there needed to be a betrayer. And so the betrayer had to be selected by God. He prayed all night to select his betrayer. Judas was not a good man. He never was a good man. There was something in his heart that destined him, as it is, to be selected to be the man who would betray Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. And ultimately have him led to the cross, where he was crucified for humanity. Judas was absolutely in the plan of God. Even before he was selected, because of something that was in his heart. John chapter 13, if you go there with me very quickly, verse 18, tells it this way. Jesus said, I speak not of you all, for I know whom I have chosen. But that the Scripture may be fulfilled, he that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. Now it was written by the psalmist David, when he was driven out of Jerusalem, crossed the brook Kidron, went into the Garden of, what now in the New Testament is called the Mount of Olives or the Garden of Gethsemane, and Ahithophel, his counselor, a trusted man who ate at his table, had betrayed him. And David had written about it in the Psalms. Now Jesus said this is written by David, but this is a foretelling of a betrayal much greater than the betrayal of King David of Israel. But this is going to be the betrayal of the Son of David. The Son of God. The eternal and everlasting King of Israel. He that has eaten bread with me has lifted up his heel against me. Now, he said, verse 19, I tell you before, that when it comes to pass you may believe that I am he. Jesus is telling his disciples, the 11th, Judas is there, you have to understand, but he doesn't hear the word of God. And Christ is saying, I'm telling you I'm going to be betrayed, that the Scripture has to be fulfilled so that you will understand that I am the Messiah. It was written by David, but it was written about me. Verily I say unto you that he that receives, whoever I send, receives me, and he that receives me receives him that sent me. Verse 21 says, 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. Now, John chapter 17, go ahead again with me. John chapter 17, this is the wonderful intercessory prayer of Christ before he goes into the garden where he's arrested and his life is offered up for you and for me. John chapter 17, verse 11, he says, Now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee, Holy Father. Keep them through thine own name, keep through thine own name those thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. And those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scriptures might be fulfilled. None of them is lost, Jesus said, but the son of perdition. And perdition, the word in the Greek means destruction. And by virtue of its definition, it means a child of that which by virtue of what it is, is destined to suffer total ruin. And Jesus was basically saying, this world is going to suffer destruction. Humankind, and the world as we know it, has been in rebellion against God since the garden of Eden. And since that day there has been a lawlessness that's been working and working and one day will abound in such an incredible lawlessness that should not God himself intervene, the world would actually succeed in destroying itself and all of life on it. And he called Judas a son of perdition. Or in other words, a child of the world. A child of that which is going to be destroyed. Now we ask ourselves the question, what kind of a man was Judas? And could anything in him be also leading me? As I said earlier, if we are wise, we should have the question, Lord, is it I? Is it I? What is this betrayal? And is it found in me? Could it be found in me? Could I be sitting here today in Times Square Church hearing the word of God, experiencing the praises of God, knowing the anointing of God, and could I betray him? Could I be among those who at the end of time stand before the throne of God and be called workers of iniquity? Is it possible that it could be me? Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11, 31 and 32, if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened to the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world. If we would allow the Holy Ghost today to open our hearts, if we would allow our hearts to be examined by truth, Paul said we would not be condemned with the world. Now, Matthew chapter 10, if you would go there with me, tells us that Judas was among those who personally knew the reality of God's power. It's not like he was absolutely locked out, as some might intimate. I don't believe that. He knew God's power. You can't really betray someone you haven't known. He knew his power. Matthew chapter 10, verse 1, it says, when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. And the names of the twelve are these. We won't go through them all again. Verse 4 says, Simon the Canaanite and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. Now, you can imagine, Judas is one of those that is actually commissioned by Christ. He goes out with the other eleven, and they are casting out devils. They are laying hands on the sick, and the sick are being healed. They are proclaiming the coming kingdom of God. They have authority over unclean spirits and powers of darkness. And the scripture says they all came back. They all came back. And they had this glowing report of all the things that were happening, because the power of God was being released through their lives. And Judas, without doubt, was one of them. Judas Iscariot, his betrayer, was experiencing this power of God. Think of it just for a moment. He was there on the mountain, saw the miracle of the loaves and fishes. He saw Jesus himself sit down, five thousand men plus women and children, take a little boy's lunch, pray to his father and multiply it so sufficiently that in two instances, one time seven baskets of remaining loaves were taken up, another time twelve was received to him again after all had been satisfied. He was in the boat. He saw Peter step out and walk on the water. He knew that in Christ was an incredible power, an absolute undeniable power that could make a man that he knew was just a man like himself step out and walk. I don't know how far he got, but he walked on the water. An absolute miracle. He saw that same Christ get in the boat, and in the midst of a horrendous storm that threatened to virtually overwhelm them and drown them, stand and say, Peace, be still. And not gradually, but immediately the storm stopped. Immediately the sea was calm. Immediately the wind and the seas obeyed him. And the disciples in that boat said, what kind of a man is this that even the wind and the seas obeyed him? And Judas was there, and Judas saw it. He was no stranger to the power of God. Again, in John chapter 12, you'll go there with me. The Bible tells us that he was in the house with a man that Jesus Christ had raised from the dead. He was in the house. He was sitting at the table. Oh folks, many of us today are in this house, and we are sitting really with people that have been raised from the dead. There are people all around us whose lives are an absolute miracle. Were it not for the intervention of Christ, were it not for the infusion of God's light, had they not heard his voice calling them out of the grave, they would be dead. Not only dead in sin, but they were absolutely dead. There was no hope for the future. And we are, just as Lazarus was, sitting in a house where there are testimonies of the life of Christ. Raising people out of an absolute grave of death. Chapter 12, verse 1 says, Then Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. And there they made him a supper, and Martha served. But Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then Mary took 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 said 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 he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the bag. In other words, he was the treasurer of the group, and bare what was put therein. Now this is an incredible scenario. Lazarus is raised from the dead. Mary, finally seemingly laying hold of who Jesus Christ is, is worshiping him in a way that I believe God desires all people to worship the Son of God. She brings in that which is probably the most costly thing that she has. And without reservation, releases it upon his body. Gives it to anoint him. And the sweet perfume of her sacrifice is filling the house. This is pure worship. This is the type of the worshiper who comes to the presence of Christ and says, My God, everything I have belongs to you. I counted a privilege and a blessing to yield my very life to you. Because I now understand you are the Christ. You are the Son of the living God. You can call dead people out of the grave. You can give hope and life where there is no hope in life. There is nothing that you can't do. I have heard your voice call my brother out of the grave, and you gave him life. So Jesus, I give you mine. I give you that which is the most precious to me. She was beginning to understand something in her spirit. That God was giving to the world. That which was most precious to him. In the Old Testament, Christ, written of Christ, says, Daily I was his delight. Jesus, the Son of God, was daily the delight of the Father. But God was allowing his own Son to be poured out. That you and I might have everlasting life. Mary was laying hold of this reality. Saying, Oh God, I want your heart. Oh God, I so thank you for what you have done for my family. So thank you for what you have done for my home. So thank you for what you have done for my life. I count it a privilege to pour out my future upon your feet. God, establish my purposes. Establish my life. Lazarus raised from the dead. Mary is worshipping. And we see now Judas accusing her. Accusing her of wasting. Now you see, we see Judas here is the treasurer. The Bible declares him a thief. But here is his thievery. And you need to understand this. This is the thievery of Judas. He is a man who sees no value whatsoever. In any act of worship which does not personally profit him. Let me say it again. He is a man who sees no value whatsoever. In any act of worship which does not personally profit him. He sees somebody coming in and simply yielding. Giving something to Christ with no expectation of return. And he is annoyed. Because he knows that he sees no purpose to worship. That simply yields and gives. Worship in his mind is coming before this all powerful Messiah. To increase himself. To increase his own wealth. To increase his own status. To increase his own power. To increase his own standing in the community. He is a type of man who is entrusted with treasure. But the word of God means less to him than the treasure that is strapped to his side. You see, God gave him, Jesus gave him the treasure. The worldly treasure. Because daily that man had to make a choice. He had to choose his treasure. Either I trust in this Christ that is before me that holds the keys to all power. Either I release my life to him. Or I trust the bag of silver that is strapped to my belt. He had a wrong standard of worship. He had his own standard of following Christ. His own reasons for walking with the Master. He was a man who said there is only value to God. When it increases my sense of worth. My wealth and my power. Deeply in his heart. He hated yielded and sacrificial worship. That worship which is laying hold of Christ is all that is truly worthy of our devotion. He was able to play the game but only to a certain point. And many people are like that in the body of Christ today. They can play the game. They can say hail Master. They can call him Lord. But they can only play it to a certain point. They can only play it to the point where this relationship is going to cost them something. Where this relationship begins to require that we give of something. Expecting nothing from this world in return. Now John chapter 13. Go there with me please. Chapter 13 verse 2. Now beginning verse 1. It says now before the feast of the Passover. This is John 13. 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 to the end. And supper being ended. The devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot. Simon's son. To betray him. Now. We are at the. Just before the feast of the Passover. And the Bible says now the devil has put it in his heart to betray him. He's being moved upon by Satan. I often wonder. It doesn't say at this time. That he had made the actual determination to betray him. But now he's being moved upon. Now the devil has access to this man's heart. And I'm going to tell you exactly how that access gets a hold of him. What was Jesus talking about? Just before and just after this point. Where he's being moved upon. You go back just a little bit in the scripture to John 12. 24. And Christ is saying verily, verily, I say unto you. Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die. It abides alone. But if it die it brings forth much fruit. And he that loves his life shall lose it. And he that hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me. Let him follow me. And where I am there shall also my servant be. So now in these particular verses of scripture. Jesus is talking of yielding up all his life. He's talking about dying. And Judas is saying I didn't follow you to die. I'm following you for power. I'm following you for wealth. I'm following you for status. Because it really means something to be one of your disciples in this generation. It really means something when I can walk down the road and say yeah I'm with him. Yeah his power flows through my hands. But now he's talking about dying. He's talking about falling into the ground. He's talking about things I don't want to hear. And even worse he's inviting others to join him. He talks about dying. I'm interested in reigning. He talks about yielding. I'm interested in taking authority. I'm interested in power. I'm interested in overthrowing the empire that is dominating Israel. I'm not interested in dying and yielding. In chapter 13 too it says the devil now begins to work on his heart. Betray him. Because he's betrayed you. Betray him. And a little later on in verse 4 Jesus does something that finally sets the hook as it is for the devil to bring him to the place where he's going to betray Christ. It said he rose from supper and laid aside his garments and took a towel. Verse 4 chapter 13. And girded himself. And after he poured water into a basin he began to wash the disciples feet. And to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. And then he came to Simon Peter and said to him Lord do you wash my feet? And Jesus said what I do thou knowest not now but thou shalt know hereafter. Now Christ was revealing himself at this point as a servant to all. He was showing that the Son of Man didn't come to be ministered to but to minister and to give his life as a ransom for many. He was showing the heart of those who would follow him. This was an invitation into Christ's likeness. He washed Judas' feet. Peter is absolutely dumbfounded. Peter says oh Lord you can't wash my feet. And Jesus says you don't understand Peter but if I don't wash you you'll never be clean. You don't understand it now but you'll understand it a little bit down the road. Judas is not even worried about being clean. As far as he's concerned probably he's clean in his own sight anyway. He's looking at Jesus washing everybody's feet and Judas in his heart is saying never. Never will I wash other people's feet. Never will I be a servant to the church of Jesus Christ. And Peter said to him you shall never wash my feet. And Simon said to him verse 9 Lord not my feet only but also my hands and my head. And Jesus said he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet but is clean every wit and you are clean but not all. For he knew who should betray him. And therefore he said you are not all clean. John 6.70 where we started Jesus said have I not chosen you twelve and one of you is a devil. Now the word for devil this is where it begins to get interesting. In the Greek is Diablos and it means accuser. He said have I not chosen you twelve and one of you is an accuser. That's an incredible thing. Folks beware when you accuse those that are growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Beware of the spirit that is animating you. Beware of that. Now John 13 again 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 the disciples looked on one another doubting of whom he spake. Now there was leaning on Jesus bosom one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. And Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. He then lying on Jesus' breast said to him Lord who is it? And Jesus answered he it is to whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop he gave it to Judas Iscariot the son of Simon. And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him that thou doest do quickly. After the sop he was tempted before but now it is sealed in his heart. Now some commentators say that this was one last interaction designed to show him his heart. Jesus took the bread, dipped it in the dish, gave it to Judas. And it was one last invitation to a man whose heart was now so hard to the things of God. One last invitation. One perhaps reaching out saying Judas what you need is going to be found in me. It's not going to be found in what you are setting out to do. It's going to be found in me. It's not in following your plans or schemes or concepts of God. It's found in that which comes from my hand. This is the only source of your life. One last interaction to show him his heart. In one of the gospel accounts Matthew 26-25 the scripture actually says as the men went around the room. He said one of you shall betray me. And all the disciples began to say Lord is it me? Lord is it me? Is it I? Is it I? And it says coming to Judas he said Master is it I? And Jesus looked at him and said thou hast said. In other words yes. Is it me? Yes. That's an incredible thing. Now the accuser now has full control of this man. He has been confronted with his sin and instead of finding fault with himself he has found fault with God. That is the spirit of the devil. It was the devil who found fault with God in heaven. It was the devil who led an insurrection and took a third of the angels of heaven with him. It was the devil coming down to Eden to God's creation found fault with the word of God. Attempted to tell Eve that somehow in the restrictions that God had given that he had denied them something that was good. He found fault with God. He found fault with the word of God. He found fault with the leading of God. That's the accuser. That's the accusing that was in his heart. It's not so much accusing his fellow man. Although that's the fruit of it. Now the accusation was with God. He walked with God. He knew the power of God. He saw the mercy of God. He knew the truth of God. And finally he found fault with God. Because he would not let the issues of his heart be touched by the very hand of Christ himself. He wouldn't let his heart be touched. And so in his lust for gain and power he leads a revolt against God. John chapter 18. Exactly you're going to see the scenario. The same scenario repeated itself. When David was driven out of Jerusalem and passed over the brook Kidron. We see Christ now doing the same thing. That's how we know the psalm was written prophetically about him. When Jesus had spoken these words he went forth with his disciples over the brook Kidron. Where it was a garden into which he entered and his disciples. And Judas also which betrayed him knew the place. For Jesus oft times resorted thither with his disciples. And Judas then having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees. Cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. He leads a revolt in his lust for gain and power. He leads a revolt against the living God. The revolt he leads. You see he knew Jesus went to this place. This was his place of intimacy with his Father. He went to this garden. This Mount of Olives. He went to this garden of Gethsemane. And Judas knew that's where he could be found. Because that was the source of his life and strength and power. Everything he was was derived from his relationship of intimacy with his Father. And Judas is now leading a revolt against this place. You have to see this to understand where I'm going to go with this message. He leads a revolt to take him out of the place of intimacy. Where he knew he would be. The man who has eaten bread with me at my table has now lifted up his heel against me. And the context of that is instead of yielding to my life, he is attempting now to overpower me and dominate me. He's attempting to bruise me with his heel. You remember the prophecy that was given to the devil in the Garden of Eden. Your head will be bruised by the heel of the woman. This is the church of Jesus Christ. The seed of the woman is the church of Jesus Christ. But the devil has never stopped trying to crush Christ underfoot. He lifted up his heel against Christ. And here comes Judas into the Garden of Intimacy. With a crowd of religious people. And in verse 3 it says they came with lanterns and torches and weapons. And he said, Hail Master. In one of the accounts. And kissed him. The word hail means rejoice. Glad tidings. Good greetings. May you have peace and prosper. And he comes into the garden with a kiss. And Christ looks at him and says, Do you betray me with a kiss? Do you betray me by pretending to be my friend when you are leading a revolt against me? When you have a crowd of people and are coming into the intimate place to captivate it for yourself? And take Christ and take his disciples out of the place of intimacy? Folks, I warn you. There is a revolt against the place of intimacy in the church of Jesus Christ today. And there are Judas pastors and Judas so-called prophets and leaders. That are leading a revolt against intimacy. They despise the true intimacy of God that causes a man or woman to yield all they have for the purposes of God. They hate anything that doesn't increase their own wealth and power. My God, if ever the church needed an eye salve anointing, it is today. The Judas ministry thrives and prospers in America. And is ruining the house of God. They are robbing the people of God. They are thieves. Because they hold a bag. And they hold money more dear than to know Christ in intimacy and to know his will and his ways. They were led into the presence of Christ by Judas with lanterns and torches and weapons. You read the themes of these modern day charismatic seminars. They are all about light and fire and spiritual warfare. Lanterns and torches and weapons. But you won't find anything about intimacy and yielding your life to God. Because they know nothing about it. They hate it. And they lead a revolt against it. The disciples of Judas are very much alive. They have lifted up their heel against Christ. They have a controversy with God. They say, Lord, we came to you for power. We came to you for wealth. We came to you for what we could get out of this relationship. We didn't come to you to fast. We didn't come to pray. We didn't come to intercede. We didn't come to die on the mission field. We came for glory. Our glory. We came so that we might be exalted in man and lifted up and called apostle, prophet, wonderful man or woman of God. They have no knowledge that they are leading a revolt into the very place of Christ's intimacy. The devil has always been after intimacy with Christ. Because it's in that place that you begin to hear his heart. It's in that place where you begin to break whatever your alabaster box might be and pour it on his feet. It's in that place where great men and women of God are born. Those who do exploits. Ezekiel, I'll just read it to you, expresses what was in the hearts of Israel that had brought them into captivity. He says, yet, in chapter 18, he says, sayeth the house of Israel, the way of the Lord is in right. The way of the Lord is in right. That was in their heart. They were accusers of God. And their accusations against the ways of God brought them into captivity. And he said, O house of Israel, are not my ways right and your ways are not right? He said, therefore, I will judge you, O house of Israel, everyone according to his ways, saith the Lord. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions whereby you have transgressed. And make a new spirit, a new heart and a new spirit. For why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies, saith the Lord God. Wherefore, turn yourselves and live. I have no pleasure. God says, why will you die? Make a new heart. The word in the Hebrew is esan. It means to be recreated. One of the contexts of this word is to be recreated in fashion by God. God says, why will you die? Why won't you let me give you a new heart? He said, Israel, you accuse my ways of not being right, but it's your way that's not right. And he said, Israel, your lust for religious practice and your lust for trying to redefine God, your lust for not wanting to be poured out for the purposes of God, are taking you into captivity. It's not my way. He said, it's your way that's not right. He said, I will give you a new heart if you want it. I will refashion you and recreate you. But you don't want it. In Ezekiel chapter 28, I'll read this to you. This is, commentators agree, this is a twofold reference to the present day king, but also to Satan himself. Ezekiel 28, 17. He says, Thine heart was lifted up because of Thy beauty, and Thou hast corrupted Thy wisdom by reason of Thy brightness. I will cast Thee to the ground, and I will lay Thee before kings that they may behold Thee. Thou hast defiled Thy sanctuaries by the multitude of Thine iniquities, and by the iniquity of Thy traffic. Therefore I will bring forth a fire from the midst of Thee, and it shall devour Thee. And I will bring Thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold Thee. And they that know Thee among the people shall be astonished at Thee. Thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt Thou be any more. God Almighty said to Satan back in the Old Testament, You will be brought down by an uncontrolled and an ungodly fire that will erupt from within you. God said, I will make you ashes upon the earth in the sight of all that behold you. You will be brought into utter destruction. Satan is going to be destroyed. The Bible said he's going to be cast into a lake of fire and torment forever and ever and ever. And all those who have a like heart are going to go with him. All the accusers of God. All those who are corrupted by their own beauty. Even that which God has done. That's the incredible thing. It was God that had given him the beauty. It was God that had made him, as the Scripture says, the anointed cherub that was in Eden, that walked up and down in the midst of the heavenlies. And He said, you were corrupted by your own brightness. I will cast you to the ground. It's tragic when men and women who truly have been touched by God become instruments of the devil. It's tragic. They can't say, yes, we have known the power of God. And it's true, they have known the power of God. We have been in His presence. It's true, they have been in His presence. But they've failed to understand what has become of them. And where they are leading the people of God. Leading them into that place of where there is power. Where great grace is found. Where Christ is. And they are leading a revolt against the place of trinity in the body of Jesus Christ. And creating a powerless Christianity that can't touch its society. And only minister to the greedy. In the book of Acts, chapter 1, Peter stood up after Christ was risen from the dead. In verse 16, he said, Men and brethren, this scripture must each have been fulfilled which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spoke before concerning Judas. Which was guide to them that took Jesus. Which was guide to them that took Jesus. Folks, there are a lot of preachers that are going to stand before the throne of God one day. And they are going to find out finally they were a guide to those that took Jesus. For He was numbered with us and had obtained part of this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity. And falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst and all his bowels gushed out. And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem, In so much as that field is called in their proper tongue, Akildama. That is to say, the field of blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein. And his bishopric let another take. It is written, let someone else take his place. Folks, listen to me very carefully today. You might be here today and I don't know what stage your walk is with God. But I know ultimately you are going to be invited to become a partaker of Christ's yielding of Himself for the saving of humanity. You are going to be invited into that place of dying to your own will and living to the will of God. It is inevitable. You may not be there yet, but you are coming there. The longer you learn, the deeper you walk, you are going to understand what the Christian walk is all about. But sad to say, you sit here today on this particular date in New York City, in this particular church, And you sit in a specific seat, and some of you sit in the same seat virtually every Sunday. And you have a place. And others are given a place in the body. A place of leadership, a place of teaching, a place of some form of ministry. But if all these things don't lead you to intimacy with Christ, If all these things don't lead you to the yielding of your own life and your own will for the purposes of God, It's all for nothing. Christ has a passion within you, the uncontrolled area of your life. That area you won't let God touch will erupt like a fire in you. That's what happened to Judas. It was an area of accusing God. Why do you speak in riddles? Why do you speak in mysteries? Why don't you just speak plainly? If you are the Christ, just tell us. If you have all power, then throw the Roman Empire out of here. Why do you always speak in riddles and mysteries all the time? And begin to accuse God and never have dealt with it. And eventually it erupted like a fire in him. And I could see him leaving possibly that last supper in a rage at God. Who identified him and said, you are the betrayer. Rather than humbling himself before the Son of God, there's no more power now to humble himself. The power to repent is gone if it was ever there in the first place. And he walks out in a rage and begins to lead a crowd in rebellion to grab and to possess the holy place. If you won't deal with sin, it is written that another will take your place. It is written. You and I can't escape it. If there's an area of my heart or your heart that we won't let the Holy Ghost touch. If there's an area of accusation against God. It is written. Another will take your place. One year from today at this time, said the Lord Tarry. This church will be carrying on. This choir will be singing. The orchestra will be playing. Pastors will be preaching. People will be clapping. And you won't be here anymore. Another will have taken your place. And you will be fighting a fire that will have erupted in you. As if the fire of hell itself had already begun to burn in your heart. A fire will erupt in you. The end of the scene shows us two men being hanged. One was hanged by his own hand. Judas. And supposedly even the natural branch he chose didn't support him. It's interesting that he went into the temple and threw back the money. He wasn't really grieved that he had betrayed the Savior. He said, no, I've betrayed innocent blood. Or the innocent blood, as it says in the King James. He had broken the law. He had such a sense of his own self-righteousness. He didn't care if they sent Christ to jail. He didn't care what they did with him. But when he was condemned, he knew that the money in his hand was blood money. And he couldn't keep it. He wasn't grieved at betraying Christ. He was grieved because he had been a thief all along. And finally saw blood money in his hands. And threw it back in the temple. Then the priests were put in an incredible dilemma. They had to have a meeting about this money. Although they had paid it out of the treasury for the blood of Christ. Because it was blood money, they couldn't put it back in the treasury. You see the incredible stupidity of the law. Without the heart of God being in the middle of it. And so they purchased a field to bury strangers in. Judas went and hanged himself. And it appears that because of what the book of Acts says. That the branch that he chose didn't support him. It probably held him up long enough to break his neck. And then the branch broke and he fell headlong into this valley. And broke in two, literally. His insides came out. And everyone saw it. Remember what God said to Ezekiel to Satan. I'll bring you to ashes on the earth. And all kings passing by will see it. And you see we are called to be kings and priests unto God. And we have to have that knowledge. That to accuse God. To despise the ways of God is to be brought into destruction. One man was hanged and became a disgrace. But another was hanged on a cross. The beloved he was hanged there by the mercy of God. That all who believe and follow him should have everlasting life. The Bible calls Jesus Christ the branch. And he is a branch that will hold you. He will not hold you in judgment but he will hold you in grace. He will hold you in life. He says I'll give you a new heart. I'll give you a new mind. I'll give you the power to be what I've called you to be. Don't worry about that. You hear my word and respond to it. I will give you the power to go where you can't go. And I will make you what you can't be. I will be everything and all to you. I will be the branch that you are grafted into that gives you life. I'll lead you to the source of true life. I'll lead you to an understanding of what intimacy with God is really all about. God says I will lead you into my will. You will find my will for your life. And you will walk in my will for your life. And it will be the cheapest delight of your life. Even if it costs you your dearest dream. It will be the cheapest delight because you're in the will of God. You will go there because you will understand. I will give you understanding. I will open your mind. God says I will give you a new mind and a new heart. I'll give you understanding of the scriptures. I'll take you into my presence. And in that presence you'll find life. You'll find what I've called you to be. You'll find where I've called you to go. You'll see that my ways are right. And they're higher than your ways. You will lay down your accusations against God. Beloved, today some are beginning their walk with God. There are invitations at the table and some others. This may be your last time at the table. Now hear me clearly on this. I feel this so deeply in my spirit. This may be your last time at the table. This may be the last time Christ dips his hand in the dish and hands it to you. You may never be able to hear again. There is a point, beloved. There is a point where man just says no. I came to Christ to get something. I didn't come here to give anything. I came to get. I came to be. I came to have my own self-image lifted. I came to be gratified. I didn't come to put on a towel and wash people's feet. I didn't come to go to the mission field. I didn't come to fall on the ground and die. You know, his hand is held out even to the rebellious. He offers life and an invitation to the highest ways of God. Thanks be to God that even in times of misunderstanding, even in times when my heart has accused him, he has held his hand out to me time and again. One more time, dipping in the dish of his word and holding it out and said, here, take it from me. In this you are going to find life. And it leaves me with a choice. What do I do? Do I join the crowd? Do I start attending the light and fire and spiritual warfare conferences? Do I start flying around cities in helicopters binding demons? Or do I go into the prayer closet and find intimacy with God and find the power to lay my life down for his purposes? Which way do I go? Do I join the crowd that is leading a rebellion? To haul him out of the place of intimacy with his Father? What do I do? Where do I go? Oh folks, there is an incredible dividing line in the church of Jesus Christ. Men have done everything in their power to obscure it and erase it. To make it non-existent. To make the way broad and wide for everybody. But it isn't so. Jesus said it's a narrow way. It's a straight way and he said there's few that find it. But those who find it know they found it. And you want to know how you know you found it? God can speak to you today and there's no rage in your heart. You're sitting in God's house every time you open the book. You're saying, God, is it me? I don't want anything of me. I don't want to live for my own purposes. I don't care what people say about me. I don't care if there's crowds. I don't care if I have a big ministry. It doesn't matter. I want your will. I want your ways in my life. I want to know you. I want to walk with you. And even if I'm only among those that minister to you out of their substance, that's all I want to be, oh God. Just what you called me to be. To go just where you called me to go. No less, no more. I want to do just what you asked me to do. Because one day I'm going to stand before you and you're going to say, well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful in a few things. A few things. Not as much as I just gave you a few things to do and you did them. And you did them unto me. And you did them with joy. And you did them in a way that glorified my name. A few things. When is the church in North America going to wake up and realize that Judas's are leading the church? Proud, arrogant, shining. Leaning away from intimacy. Knowing nothing about laying your life down for Christ. When? If ever. Will there be an awakening? I know when there will be. I'll let me tell you. There will be an awakening when it happens in your heart and mine. There will be an awakening when there are people who say, Jesus, I'm tired of going in bookstores. And all the heroes of the faith are 150 years ago. It's time for some modern heroes of the faith. I'm tired of reading about yielded lives. And it was 100 years ago that people yielded their life and went all over the world for the cause of Christ. And because of it we read about them. But I'm tired of it being 100 years ago. The heroes today are all those that are successful and prosperous. Who have made it in society. And have used Jesus as their vehicle. The Judas's of our modern generation are riding high. But I tell you one thing. God Almighty will never leave himself without a testimony. God Almighty will never leave himself without a church. A remnant bride. A true church of Jesus Christ that says, God, it's you I want, Jesus. It's your holy place I want. It's your will I want. I want to learn about you in prayer. I want to, God, learn how to fast. I want to learn how to pray. I want to learn how to love you. I want to learn how to be poured out for your purposes and for your will. I want, oh God, you to possess my very life. My heart, my soul, my mind, my past, my present, my future. I want you to take my life, oh God, and use it for your glory. Use it for your glory. No matter how you do it. No matter where you do it. No matter what you do. Take my life and use it for your glory. If I am washing people's feet for the rest of my life, then so be it. Hallelujah. This is the church of Jesus Christ. It has always been the church of Jesus Christ. It will always be the church of Jesus Christ. Man, try as you will, cannot change the church of Jesus Christ. We cannot remold that which God has made. He offers an invitation to the highest ways of God. I don't know what else to say today, but other than there may be some people here to say that God, it is me. It is me. I've accused you. You've been speaking to me. You've been leading me to fire, and I've accused you of not caring. But you've been trying to form something in my character, and all that's coming out of me is an accusation against you. You've been leading me through the water, and you've been trying to do something, and I've accused you of not being concerned. You've been leading me through daily trust, and I've accused you of making me poor. You've been asking me to do something I can't do, and I've accused you of not having the power, nor being sufficient to be my chiefest joy. I've accused you. Our choice really is simple. We yield, or we join the rebellion. And we start attending the torches, and lanterns, and sword, and weapon seminars all over America. Yield, or join the rebellion. I'd rather go in my prayer closet. I'd rather find His will. I'd rather know Him, and love Him, serve Him. I'd rather disappear than He might be glorified. I'd rather be nothing than He might be everything. I don't care about anything but His glory. That He be glorified. That He be seen, that His people love Him. That the unsaved would say, this is Christ. This is Christ. I think in our generation, the children of the world are wiser than the children of life. God help us now. Here we are coming to the end of the age. And He said, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith? Will He find somebody that just says, Jesus, You're enough. You are all and all to me. You are everything to me. Will He find faith? Will He find people who are willing to yield? Will He find those that say, God, call me to Africa, I'll go to Africa. Or call me to India, I'll go to India. Call me in my neighborhood, God, I'm going to step out. And I'm going to use the resources You've given me to do it. Will He find faith that says, Lord, I'm not looking for my glory. I'm looking for You to be glorified. I've not come to You to have my self-life built up. I've come to die that You may live. That You may live in me and through me. And because of that life that others may live also. I've come to accept Your invitation. That others try to steal the place of intimacy. But I come to join You. One man hung himself, died powerless. The other man was hung by God. And even those who ran out of his presence in the garden were all made strong. The Bible says out of weakness they were made strong. Hallelujah. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God. Quite often speaking to people in this church even, and after service. I get this glimpse of who you could be. It's a strange thing sometimes. The Holy Ghost just speaks to me. And people are talking to me about their problems, their struggles and trials. And I'm looking so far beyond that. And seeing who you could be. If you would learn to yield to God. They're powerful missionaries. Preachers. If you could just go beyond yourself. Learn what it means. To be invited into the suffering of Christ. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Holy Spirit, I have poured my heart out. There's nothing more to say. My God, I'm asking today. That in times for a church, there not be mixture. I'm asking that you give discerning hearts and minds to those who are stepping in both camps. They're in the garden, but they run with Judas as well. I'm asking that hidden sin be dealt with. I'm asking that wrong thinking be put away. I'm asking that selfish motives for coming to Christ and church be put under foot. I'm asking for new life for your people. I'm asking for renewed joy. I'm asking, oh God, that you give us life and keep us in that place of life until you come and take us home. I'm asking the times for a church could be a genuine lamp stand. A genuine voice for Jesus Christ. Not just this pulpit, but the church. The whole body. Be a voice for Christ in this dying city. God, take the ways of this city out of our heart. Take their thinking out of our minds. Give us new hearts. Give us new minds. And help us, oh God, to yield to you. And help us to live for you. This is the highest cry of our hearts. In Jesus' name. Now, if the Holy Spirit has spoken to you today, and you have undealt with sin, then you need to come to this altar. If you're unsaved, Christ will save you. If you have accused God in the midst of your struggle, and you see the foolishness of this, I'm going to ask you to make your way down. We're going to pray together. And ask the Holy Ghost to take care of this attitude of heart. And get rid of it. If you're among those that say, God, give me discernment. God, I need discernment. I don't know. I don't know what is of God or not. I am tossed all over the place like a ball in a tennis court. I don't know. There's so many voices. You've got to show me. If that's the cry of your heart, then you come. And if it's genuine, the Holy Spirit will show you. The Lord will open your eyes. If you don't know the difference between the voices that speak for God and the voices that don't, I'm going to ask you to get this message and listen to it until you have memorized it. And the Word of God getting in you, then you'll turn on the radio or get a video that somebody gives you. And you'll look at it. You'll know immediately the voice that is speaking. You'll know if that voice is leading you to surrender or leading you to self. You'll know the difference. You will understand. Memorize it. This is not a light thing because we're living in an hour that Jesus and Paul said are an hour of great deception. An incredible deception coming on the whole world and in particular the church. Father, I pray for those that have come to this altar. I'm going to pray as Jesus prayed for his disciples. I pray, Lord, that you keep them from the world. I pray that you place your hand upon them and let not one of them be lost. I pray that you give them the power to deal with sin. That sin would not have dominion over them. I pray that you give them a heart to be released to your plan. I pray that you give them a mind to understand areas of the heart that you are trying to change. I pray, O God, that your will and way be accomplished in these, O God, who want you. Lord, yes, we're all weak. But you are strong. We amount to nothing, but you are everything. Lord, we choose to exchange our nothingness for your everything. We exchange our weakness for your strength. We exchange our confusion for your knowledge. We exchange our will and our ways, O God, which bring us to destruction. We exchange them, God, for your way that leads to life everlasting. We exchange that which glorifies self for that which glorifies Christ. We exchange it today, O God. We ask you now to give us the power to trample underfoot the works of the flesh and the works of the devil. In the thinking of this world, to trample it underfoot that we might be the church of Jesus Christ. We ask you, Lord, to lead us and teach us and show us. O God, let not any one of us have a heart like Judas. Lord, a heart that finds fault with you. Lord, we say today at this altar, we find no fault with you, Lord. You are just and holy and pure and true and perfect in all your ways. You are perfect, Lord Jesus. We find no fault with you. We find no fault with your words. We find no fault with your plan. We find no fault with your purpose. We find no fault with your leading in our lives. We find no fault with your speaking into our hearts. We find no fault with your chastising us. We find no fault, O God, with your casting down in us everything that is unlike you. We find no fault. We rejoice, O God, because you said, if we are children, we are partakers of your discipline. If we weren't your children, Lord, we could do whatever we want, and you would never speak to us. But God, thank you, Lord. No chastening is joyous for this present time, but it yields the peaceable fruit of your righteousness, O God, because we have opened your heart to it. This is the conclusion of the message.