John 13:21-28 NASB 1995
When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me.” The disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one He was speaking. There was reclining on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. So Simon Peter gestured to him, and said to him, “Tell us who it is of whom He is speaking.” He, leaning back thus on Jesus’ bosom, said to Him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus then answered, “That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.” So when He had dipped the morsel, He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” Now no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose He had said this to him.
It was the time of the Feast of the Passover, and Jesus and his disciples were gathered together to share in this feast. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, was about to betray our Lord to the death, for the devil had put it in his heart to do so. And Jesus let his disciples know that one of them would betray him. When asked who it was, he said that it was “the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.” Then Jesus dipped the morsel and gave it to Judas Iscariot, and he said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”
Now, for us who are reading this, it may seem quite obvious that Jesus was letting his disciples know that Judas was the one who was going to betray the Lord, but none of the disciples, other than Judas, perhaps, understood what Jesus was telling them and showing them. Even though he said it, and then he did it, they still missed it. Some of them thought that Jesus was telling Judas, their treasurer, to buy something or to give some to the poor. They completely missed what he was trying to tell them and to show them.
How many of us do the same? We may ask the Lord, as well, for wisdom and knowledge and understanding, and for him to show us who the “betrayer” of these last days is, but we may have our minds focused elsewhere, and we may miss entirely what he is trying to have us see. And it could be because we have been brainwashed from early on in our lives to see people and situations a certain way, and so when he tries to show us otherwise, we don’t see it, for we have blinders on preventing us from seeing the truth.
This is one of the reasons that the Scriptures teach us over again that we must test the spirits (the spirits of people) to see which ones are of God, and which ones are not. And we test them against the teachings of the Scriptures taught IN CONTEXT. The Scriptures warn us against charlatans, and wolves in sheep’s clothing, and deceitful workmen who put on a show of righteousness but inwardly are ferocious wolves. And if we don’t take this seriously we may end up following “Pied Pipers” to our deaths.
So, it is of critical importance that we are testing the spirits and that we are not believing everyone and everything we hear or read or think we see, for lies and liars and deceivers and deception abound everywhere you look these days. There are liars on “the left,” and there are liars on “the right,” and there are liars everywhere in between “left” and “right,” too. And this includes people who call themselves preachers of “The Word,” for many of them are teaching Scriptures out of context and are twisting their meaning.
So, how are we going to know which ones are “bad” and which ones are “good.” First of all, we must be like John who was leaning on Jesus, who was resting his head on the Lord’s shoulder or chest (or bosom). We must rest in our Lord and find our knowledge, strength, and support in him, and not in other human beings who are bound to fail and disappoint us, and even to lie to and deceive us. But then we must pay close attention to what he tells us and not get distracted by what others are saying and doing.
I find it interesting that Simon Peter, instead of asking Jesus himself, asked John who Jesus was speaking about. But then John asked Jesus, instead of trying to come up with an answer himself. He went straight to the master to get the truth, and that is what we must do, too. We must be asking the Lord to show us the truth, and we must not rely on other humans to tell us the truth. Some of them who are leaning on Jesus may be able to lead us to the truth, but we need to still seek our understanding from the Lord himself.
But then we need to really listen to what the Lord is saying to us, and it is not all going to be written down for us in exact terms, for the people who exist today did not exist when the Bible was written. The USA did not exist when the Bible was written, and neither did I, other than in the mind and heart of God. So we need to pray for wisdom to know how we are to apply what the Scriptures teach to our lives and situations, and to the times in which we now live. And this is one reason that we are given the Holy Spirit.
So, rather than just trusting people with our lives, thinking that they are “good,” when they may be “bad” (even the worst of the worst), we should take everything to our Lord in prayer, and put our trust in him and in his word and in the Holy Spirit to give us understanding of what the Scriptures are teaching us with regard to the times in which we now live. For remember that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light and his servants masquerade themselves as servants of righteousness. So test them all!
We read in the Scriptures about an antichrist who is to come on the scene and of a beastly kingdom which will conquer nations and people and even the saints of God. And he is going to be a liar and a deceiver, and he may even pretend that he is a follower of Jesus Christ. And he may promise us all kinds of things which sound good to itching ears. But he is the betrayer of the people who put their trust in him. And his true colors will one day come to the surface when the people realize they have been betrayed.
So, don’t be those who are distracted with so many things that you miss the truth when it is right in front of your eyes. Ask the Lord to show you who the betrayer (the antichrist) is. Ask the Lord to show you how you are to recognize him. Then begin paying attention to words spoken, and to actions, and pay attention to signs and symbols and indications that we are living in these last days and that the antichrist is at work among us deceiving so many people with his lies about who Jesus is and about his gospel message.
[Matt 7:15-20; Matt 24:11,24; Matt 16:6-12; Lu 6:26; Rom 16:17-20; Eph 5:6-16; 1 Thess 5:16-22; 2 Thess 2:1-12; 2 Tim 3:1-17; Tit 1:10-16; 1 Co 3:18; 1 Co 6:9-10; 1 Co 15:33; 2 Co 11:1-4; Gal 6:3,7-8; Eph 5:3-11; Jas 1:16,26; 2 Pet 2:1-22; 1 John 1:8; 1 John 2:26; 1 John 3:7; Rev 13:11-14]
For Our Nation
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
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