Luke 22:3 (NIV) 3 Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve.
I do not believe that every evil can be blamed on Satan. I believe that some evil is committed by us from our greed, lust, selfishness, etc. Many times Satan has nothing to do with it. It is our fallen flesh which has sinned.
Yet, that does not explain all evil. There are times when Satan himself is the author of the evil. There are times when he inhabits a person to personally bring evil into the world.
I have seen this happen in a few people. There eyes appear haunted. Their demeanor is non-human. There is no compassion for their hearts become rock hard. They can do any evil imaginable. They will say evil things about others in order to steal, kill and destroy. There is no reasoning with them for they have the heart and mind of Satan himself.
Thus, we will hear about those who murder without prejudice as very normal at other times in their lives. They will lie without regard to whom is hurt even though they normally tell the truth. They will be violent when they are normally passive.
How can you explain Judas remorse later?
Matthew 27:3-4 (NIV) 3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. 4 "I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood." "What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility."
Judas realized what he had done. I have wondered if Satan departed after doing what he wanted with Judas. Like so many people who have taken a gun and murdered people at their schools or workplaces, Judas commits suicide. He can't live with what he has done. This is a common scene when people do such evil that it carries such grave consequences.
Judas was filled with remorse and confessed his action as sin. He did not seek forgiveness. He thought he could work off the sin he had accumulated. He gave back the thirty pieces of silver but realized that it wasn't enough to pay for the sin. He confessed it before the priests but that also wasn't enough to eliminate what he had done. The pain of what he had done was too great. He wanted to end it.
So, Satan truly claimed him in his suicide.
The clever Satan managed to kill two of God's beloved creations. He took the lives of both Jesus and Judas in a single act.
Satan continues to use his own tools of destruction when seeking to steal, kill and destroy. He has tempted mankind to fall from the glory of God. He continues to use that corrupt nature to work in the lives of people. But he inhabits some who have entertained his nature. He uses accusations, false testimonies, hatred and murder to harden the hearts of those whom he will enter into.
Many of the people I have counseled have had their own hearts broken by their own sinfulness. They repent rather than try to repay. They confess rather than simply admit their sins. They fall on their knees before Christ rather than running from Him in suicide.
I know that many people don't believe in Satan. They will claim that certain acts of evil can be explained with abnormal psychology. I will admit that this evil is certainly abnormal but I also find that this measure of evil requires "outside help."
All hell breaks loose when Satan enters in.
I believe that some who will read this blog could be entertaining Satan. I think it is interesting that they think of him as beneficial to the things they want in their lives. He gives them a sense of power over others. But the truth is that he is using them. Judas was stolen away from walking with the Lord. His faith was killed. Then, Judas was destroyed.
Satan enters in when he can.
3 comments:
My understanding of this is that: Generally, there are 3 scenarios. 1) Our fallen flesh got the better of us 2) we are demonized 3) we are demon-possessed.
All of us, regardless we have been saved or NOT, we are with the fallen flesh. With the Fall in the Garden of Eden by Adam and Eve, the flesh of Man has become a fallen flesh. It is infested with “Iniquity”; the very same thing that got hold of Satan, when he first fell. In Eze 28:15, we read of “Iniquity” entered Satan; likewise when Man first fell, “Iniquity” was replicated into Man, by Satan. It is like the voice of Satan, so to speak, the way it is being put in Scripture, by the Apostle Paul. It will exert its desires, ungodly desires; it is like it will speak to you and I; and if we hark to it, we will do what it desires.
Is this “thing” still in a believer? Yes, according to Paul’s understanding, and Paul’s exhortation is that we listen to it NOT, but instead we are now to hark to the voice of the Holy Spirit whom God has placed in us. In other words, the Holy Spirit is God’s “solution” to counter that which Satan placed in us, which I called as “Iniquity”, after Eze 28:15. Paul’s understanding, which the overly grace preachers refused to see (although they claim they are following their so-called Gospel of Paul), is that, on entry into salvation, a person does NOT become perfect. This imperfection in Man, of having the “Iniquity” residing in the flesh, remains. And so, even for believers, we can sin, for fallen flesh is still at work; and we sin when it got the better of us. We are supposed to, NOT let it get the better of us. How is that to be accomplished? Paul said, we are NOT to listen to the fallen flesh, instead, be led by the Holy Spirit.
For scenario 2, when we say someone is demonized, it means some devil(s) are directly influencing the person from outside of the person. Both non-believers and believers can be disturbed and influenced by the devils or the minions of Satan. Non-believers are “wide-open” but we, believers are supposed to be NOT, but some of us, are NOT careful, and we leave “some doors ajar”; and through the openings, the devil(s) exert its/their influence(s). Compared to being demon-possessed as in scenario 3, this scenario is of course, less persistent and consistent in terms of manifestations that can be seen or experienced by both the person and the people around. These people are somewhat unpredictable, sometimes, they act evilly, sometimes, they are ok.
Scenario 3 is the case of the demon actually has taken possession of the body; in other words, the demon(s) is/are in the person, literally. In such a case, the person, often times are NOT himself/herself, with the demon manipulating the body. The demon(s) literally could manipulate the body, and such a person for example can be very strong, and it can take as many as 6 people to hold down a “manifesting” person. Yes, Ps Prentis is right, at times the person’s eyes appear “haunted”; and his demeanor is “non-human”; and they can run amok! Their heart and mind are controlled by the evil one(s), and he/she can do unthinkable evil or wickedness that normal people cannot imagine one can get himself/herself to do them. Demons can dwell in, or attach themselves to, an object or a person. When they manage to dwell in a person, generally, they will refuse to abandon “home”; Yes, they claim the host person as their home. Through deliverance, they need to be cast out. But it is NOT always that we can easily tell if someone is demon-possessed; demons do “camouflage” themselves, and it is only through proper deliverance ministry that we can see “the devil’s tail showing” so to speak.
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How do people get demon-possessed? I believe it is easier to get demonized than demon-possessed, but if you indeed open door(s) wide-open (give them a foothold [Eph 4:27]), he/they will come in. Commonly, people do ask if a believer can be demon-possessed? My answer is yes, and I have seen many, if we define a believer as one who has entered into salvation, meaning he has said the Sinner’s Prayer, and water-baptised even. Actually, people do ask if Judas Iscariot was a believer? Perhaps, on a general noting, he was a believer, while on a strict basis, he was a false believer. False believer is a special class of non-believers, not just any non-believers; or another way of looking at it, false believers are wolves in sheep skin; look and even act like a sheep but inside is actually NOT a sheep! [But please don’t go round, accusing believers as NOT believers. We need only to go beyond prima facie, only in certain situations, for all others, we just take it that they are believers, if they had gone the normal “processes” like Sinner’s Prayer and baptism).
For a sheep to be truly a sheep, it or he, got be a sheep in identity and he got to be a sheep in reality. Don’t try to test the limit of when the “cut-off” occurs; don’t play with fire, that is God’s business, our business is to strive to be a sheep in reality, after acquiring the identity. If you play with fire, don’t blame anybody when you get demonized or worst still, get demon-possessed!
For the case of Judas Iscariot and the chief devil, Satan, it was perhaps, Satan being the highest order and most powerful devil, come and go more easily and more readily, given his prowess. We read here, that Satan himself went into Judas, did “his business” and then departed or intended to depart! Perhaps, Satan did NOT depart, but he was working on departing, for he was driving Judas to suicide (A dead is of no use to the devils or even Satan himself. Evil spirits do NOT die. A demon-possessed person may die, but the evil spirit does NOT die with him. Demons cast out of people also do NOT die; they are just out of the host body; but they are NOT dead).
In the case of Judas Iscariot, Satan “un-numbed” his conscience; Satan knew, that would kill him (Judas), and indeed that drove him to hang himself. Some people argue that Judas Iscariot was repentant and so, he was still saved; in other words, he is in Heaven. God is sovereign, it is His prerogative, if He still have Judas up in Heaven, it is up to Him, but it is really NOT because Judas has repented, and got God’s forgiveness as a result.
Did NOT Scripture said that Judas was with sorrow? Yes, but that was NOT godly sorrow, for godly sorrow leads to repentance, and repentance got to before God. The point is that, AS A MATTER OF NORM, confession got to be, to God, and repentance got to be repentance before God, in order that God can “just and faithfully” forgive (as in 1 John 1:9).
Instead of God, who did Judas turned to, with regard to all those things? Yes, he turned to the chief priests and the elders whom Judas, colluded with, in the first place. This kind of remorse does NOT satisfy, as a matter of norm, the requirement of God’s system. When we do NOT want to conform to God’s ways or God’s system, we suffer the ill consequences. Judas Iscariot was driven to death by ungodly sorrow or remorse. When we realise that the remorse referred to, in Scripture, of Judas is NOT godly remorse, it is NOT too difficult to explain; it is simply Satan engineered for him to be remorseful to drive him to death, after achieving his purpose of getting Jesus handed over to the chief priests. Ps Prentis said much the same.
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One of the lessons to learn here is that if you are remorseful of some bad thing you done, the “sting” does NOT go away, by the one or many things that you can try to do. Only the mercy and grace of God can do that! If you are experiencing “nothing works”, it is because you have NOT inserted in, the most important part, God, into the equation, at the right placing. When the equation is properly jigsawed out, it reads, “God forgives you”; and the evil will go, “Shit!”, and back-off. But you better do it quick, for the evil one is always burning the bridge after he has crossed.
Perhaps, your situation is NOT that you did a “terrible” thing; it is just that you refused to forgive. But I tell you, refusal to forgive is a terrible thing! Grace of God is always at work in forgiveness; it is always by grace that true forgiveness is granted, and it is grace of God working in us that we can be gracious to forgive another. You may NOT be killed by the same feeling of remorse like that of Judas, but it can be “all the same”, you can be killed by the sting of anger, resentment and bitterness, eating you up. Let it go; be like Jesus and Stephen, with the grace of God; both forgave, and asked God NOT to hold it against the culprits, of the terrible things they did to both Jesus and Stephen (stoned to death). Jesus and Stephen died but they live [techinically we say, they did NOT perish]; you do NOT have to die, but you can continue to live, and NOT perish. Choose the ways of God, or conform to God’s system; not yours or the world’s.
Anthony Chia, high.expressions
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