08.07.22 Morning - Mark 14:10-11

Open your Bibles to Mark 14:10-11.  •We are continuing our study of the Gospel of Mark.  •This morning we come to one of the darkest and most vile portions of the Gospel of Mark.  •This morning we come to the account of Judas Iscariot agreeing to betray the Lord Jesus Christ.  What do you think about when you hear the name “Judas Iscariot?” •It’s not good. I know that. There is a reason that nobody names their sons “Judas” anymore.  •The name of Judas Iscariot tastes awful in the mouths of those who love the Lord Jesus Christ.  •And that is because Judas was the disciple who betrayed Jesus into the hands of His enemies to be crucified.  So wretched is Judas, that his name has become synonymous with betrayal.  •If somebody sells you out, they are a Judas. And that’s not street-slang, either. That is in our thesauruses.  •In Christian art, Judas is often depicted with a black halo behind his head to signify the blackness of his heart and the damnation that belongs to him.  •Judas was the betrayer of our Lord. And even his name is a hateful thing.  This morning we will be considering Judas and the plot to betray Jesus.  •And I plan to stop and spend some time on one theme that we learn from the life and actions of Judas, the Betrayer.  •And here is the theme: How far one can go in religion without actually being converted.  Much of the content of this sermon will be dark and unhappy.  •I think that these two verses in Mark actually serve us as something of a warning text. And I want to flesh that out before we are finished this morning.  •We will be considering the reality of falsely professing Christians, apostasy, and just how far you can go in the externals of religion without being converted to Christ.  NOTE: I want to be clear about something: I do not doubt the profession of faith of any of the members of this church gathered here today.  •I have no reason to. None of us here this morning are under the discipline of the church.  •To my knowledge, everyone gathered here is faithfully following the Lord, repenting when they realize their sin, and loving Christ.  •But the text before us highlights the reality of falsely professing Christians. And so, I need to preach that hard reality.  •And I need to preach it as if preaching to those who may be falsely professing the Faith.  •I believe in a judgment of charity toward those who profess faith in Christ. But I cannot see hearts. Only God can do that.  •So, I will preach this theme and step aside and pray that God would do His work in our hearts this morning.  If you would, and are able, please stand with me now for the reading of the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God.  Mark 14:10-11 [10] Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them.  [11] And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him. (PRAY) Holy God who sees all hearts,  We thank you for your Word.  And we thank you that as we read your Word, your Word really reads us.  And so we ask this morning that you would lay us bare before the Word. Help us to examine ourselves in the light of your Word.  Convert any among us who are unconverted.  And grant the assurance of salvation to all who love the Lord Jesus Christ.  Open our minds and hearts to receive the truth this morning. And help us all to see the mercy of God found in Jesus Christ, our Lord.  We ask these things in Jesus’ Name and for His sake.  Amen.  1.) Before we dive in to vv10-11, I think we need to look again at vv1-2 of this chapter.  •Mark has made a “sandwich” of sorts. He often does this. vv1-2 are interrupted with the account of Jesus being anointed with perfume. And then the narrative resumes in vv10-11.  •So vv1-2 are the general context for vv10-11. So let’s start there: [1] It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest Him by stealth and kill Him, [2] for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.” In Mark’s narrative, it is now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  •This was one of the most important Jewish holidays under the Old Covenant.  •It was this festival that commemorated God’s rescue of Israel from slavery to Egypt.  •And how, on the night before the Exodus, God’s wrath went through Egypt killing the firstborn of every house.  •And the only way to be spared from that was to kill a lamb and put it’s blood on the doorposts of the house. And wherever the blood was applied, God’s wrath PASSED OVER that house and those inside were spared.  As I said last week, it is a glorious thing to consider that our Lord was crucified on Passover.  •This was not an accident, either.  •The Passover and the slaughtered lamb pointed beyond itself to the true Lamb of God who came into the world to be sacrificed for sinners.  •The Passover pointed forward to Jesus Christ who offered Himself on a cross in the place of all who would believe SO THAT the wrath of God would pass over them because all of it was exhausted on Him.  •So it is only fitting that the substance, the sacrifice of Christ, would take place on the day that the shadow, the Passover, was celebrated.  •Christ Jesus is our Passover Lamb who was been punished and killed in our place so that, by His blood, we can be washed clean and saved from God’s wrath over our sin.  And it was during the Passover that the population of Jerusalem would greatly increase.  •And so, the religious rulers of Israel, who want to kill Jesus, want to wait until after the feast.  •They don’t want to risk a riot breaking out. Jesus is a popular teacher and healer. And they are worried that the crowds would be in an uproar if He was arrested in broad daylight.  •So, they want to arrest Jesus secretly. In the night, as it were. At an opportune time. Sometime after the feast.  •BUT GOD HAD OTHER PLANS.  Again, I want you to see that God was in control of this whole situation.  •It was the plan of God that Jesus would sacrificed at Passover.  •And all the schemes and plans of wicked men cannot undo the sovereign will of Almighty God.  •Jesus Christ was going to willingly lay down His life for His People in order to save them. •And it was going to happen during the feast. Now, those who desired to arrest and kill Jesus were “the chief priests and the scribes.” •This was a group within the Sanhedrin. And it was made up of Sadducees and Pharisees. And Matthew 26 tells us that it was led by the High Priest, Caiaphas.  •They are the religious elite of Israel in that day.  And they have desired to kill Jesus for quite some time.  And in John 11:57 we read, “Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest Him.” •Members of the Sanhedrin had put out a notice that if anyone knew where Jesus was, they should come forward and let them know so they could arrest Him.  •Word had gotten around Jerusalem that the chief priests, even the High Priest, wanted information on how and where to arrest Jesus.  2.) And that leads us right into our text this morning.  •Judas was responding to this horrible notice.  •V10 says that Judas went with the INTENTION to betray Jesus. [10] Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them.  •Judas didn’t go to talk to the religious leaders and then they asked him to betray Jesus.  •And the religious leaders would’ve never thought to go and ask a DISCIPLE to betray Jesus. They probably thought, like we would’ve, that it would never happen.  •Judas knew what he was doing. This was no innocent meeting where Judas was tricked or tempted.  •Judas went to the chief priests with murderous and treacherous intentions.  Judas took the initiative here. I want you to see that.  •Elsewhere, in Luke’s Gospel, we’re told that Satan entered Judas at this point.  •Mark doesn’t mention that. Mark highlights that JUDAS DID THIS.  •But both are true. Satan, the primary Christ-hater, stirred Judas up to this action. And Judas also really, truly wanted to betray Jesus.  •Judas was tempted and influenced by the Devil. And Judas also still really wanted to betray Jesus.  NOTE: Something really sickening to consider at this point is the fact that Jesus had never done any wrong to Judas (or anyone).  •And yet, despite that, Judas wanted to betray Him.  •And that makes us ask, “Why? Why did he betray Jesus?” •We are only given one motive for Judas’ actions from Scripture: The love of money.  •John 12:6 tells us that Judas was a thief. And Judas was given money to betray Jesus. Nothing else is ever said about his motives.  •So, we must simply say that Judas betrayed Christ because he loved money more than anything.  Brothers and sisters, hear the warning of the Apostle Paul: “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1 Tim. 6:9-10) •Hear the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (Matthew 6:24) •It was the love of money that pushed Judas to betray Christ. Money was his god. And so, he gave up the Lord of glory for cash.  NOTE: See here how we need to be on guard against our “pet sins.” •Judas was a thief. He held the moneybag and stole. He loved money. And so, Satan used money to tempt Judas to betray the Lord.  •Brothers and sisters, we need to be on guard against those sins we know most easily and strongly entice us.  •Satan is not stupid. And we are not strong in ourselves.  •So we must be constantly vigilant and watchful of our souls and against sin.  •Judas gave himself over to his sin and sold out the Savior. And many do likewise to this day.  •Be on guard, brothers and sisters.  Judas agreed to betray Jesus. And then we read in v11:[11] And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him. •These are chilling words: “…THEY WERE GLAD…” •They rejoiced that they had found someone to betray the Lord.  •These men truly hated Jesus Christ. They truly were agents of Satan, absent of all good, and fueled by the power and influence of the Devil.  And they gave Judas money for his treachery.  •Matthew 26 tells us that they agreed to give Judas 30 pieces of silver.  •That was about four months’ worth of wages for the average worker in that day.  •Today, in our area, that is between $7500-$10,000.  •That fact makes me sick to think about.  •Judas sold Jesus Christ for less than $10,000.  •The Son of God, of infinite worth, was sold for less than 10 grand. That is sickening.  •The one of infinite value was esteemed as nothing in the eyes of the Betrayer.  And catch this: We read in Exodus 21:32 that 30 pieces of silver was the economic compensation for the unintentional death of a slave.  •Hear that: 30 pieces of silver was the price of a slave.  •That is all the chief priests and Judas believed that Jesus was worth: A slave’s price.  •The King of kings was sold as a slave into the hands of wicked men, for us and for our salvation.  •For less than $10,000, Judas sold out the Lord of glory.  •And today, many still do the same. But for less.  V11 closes with: And he sought an opportunity to betray him. •Judas went out from that meeting looking for just the right time to betray Jesus.  •Luke 22:6 tells us, “…he consented and sought and opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of a crowd.” •Judas is looking for the right time to do it privately.  •So he leaves and begins to prowl, like a devil, looking for the right time to give Jesus into the hands of His enemies.  •He began to look for the right time to hand Jesus over to a shameful death on a cross.  •The stage is set. Judas has agreed to betray Jesus. Passover is in two days. Jesus’ crucifixion is on the horizon. And with that, our text ends.  3.) And now we turn to consider a warning from the life of Judas Iscariot: •How far you can go in religion without being converted.  •That is, how far a person can go in the EXTERNALS of religion without being converted to Christ.  •And I want us to consider this in light of a phrase in v10: Then Judas Iscariot, who was ONE OF THE TWELVE… •Judas went very far in religion, externally speaking. He went about as far as a man can go. He was one of the Twelve. He as an Apostle for a time. He had followed Jesus for three years.  •But he was not converted. He was not a true believer. And he never was.  Now some believe that Judas really was a Christian, but that he abandoned the Faith and lost his salvation.  •I don’t believe that is possible.  •The Scriptures are quite clear that anyone who has been born again, anyone who has truly embraced Christ by faith cannot and will not be lost.  •In John 6:40, Jesus says, “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” •Jesus says that all who believe on Him will have eternal life and He will raise them up to eternal life. Period. If you believe on Him, you will receive salvation. You won’t be lost. It’s not even a possibility.  •In that same chapter in v37 Jesus says, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” •Jesus says that He will never cast away any who have come to Him in faith. The believer is secure in Christ and will not be lost.  •In John 10:27-28 Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” •Jesus says that whoever receives eternal life from Him (received through faith in Him), will NEVER PERISH. Period. Those who truly believe on Christ WILL NOT PERISH. They will be saved.  •There are many other texts we could look at, some explicit and some implicit, that teach that those who believe on Christ cannot be fully and finally lost but will be saved in the end.  In light of those and other texts, I think we can safely say that Judas was never a true believer. He was never converted.  •And that is because nobody who truly comes to Christ in faith will ever be lost.  •A true believer can stray for a time. But, by God’s grace, they will renew their repentance and come back to Christ before death.  But one who professes faith in Christ and falls away, never to return to Him again, never truly had faith to begin with.  •They fell away from their profession. They apostatized from their profession of faith. But they never actually fell away from salvation.  •1 John 2:19 says something to this effect: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.” •The Apostle John says that if someone was really a Christian, they would have continued in the Faith. But people fall away because they were never really “of us.” They were never born again. They were never truly believers to begin with.  •Such people had false faith. They were the stony and weedy ground in Jesus’ Parable of the Sower.  •Such people are what we call “false professors.” They falsely professed to be Christians. And their profession of faith was proven to be false because they did not continue to the end.  •Judas Iscariot is the most famous of such people. He apostatized from his profession of faith. But he was never a true believer to begin with.  Let me give you some proofs for this now: 1. In John 6:70, Jesus says, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” •Catch that: Jesus does NOT say, “One of you WILL BE a devil.” Rather, He says, “One of you IS a devil.”  •Currently, at that time, one of them was a devil. And a Christian is not a devil.  •And John 6:64 tells us “(For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray Him.)” •Jesus knew Judas was not a believer.  2. In John 17:12, Jesus prays, “While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” •Judas is the son of destruction. He was not predestined unto life, but was predestined unto damnation.  •Therefore, he could never have been a believer because God will not lose those whom He has predestined to eternal life.  3. In John 12:6 we read of Judas, “…he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.” •Judas was a constant and unrepentant thief during his time with Jesus.  •And no one who persists in known sin without repentance has been born again.  4. In John 13:27 we read, “Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” •And then in v30 we read, “So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.” •Judas was sent out prior to the institution of the Lord’s Supper.  •The Supper is for believers ONLY.  •And so, Jesus, as the true Shepherd of God’s Flock, the true Pastor, fenced the Table and sent unbelieving Judas away before instituting the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.  5. Lastly, we look again at 1 John 2:19.  •And we see that Judas went out from among us. And he died in that state.  •Thus, he proved that he was never truly “of us.” Brothers and sisters, Judas was a false professor.  •He was never born again. He never truly believed on Christ.  •His faith was a temporary faith. And, as such, it was not a saving faith.  •He did not lose his salvation. He never had it to begin with. As is true with all who fall away.  4.) Let’s now consider just how far a person can go in the externals of religion without being converted.  •And we will use examples from the life of Judas to do so.  •Judas went very far in religion. But was never converted.  Let’s consider how far.  •I think there are at least seven things for us to consider on this subject: 1. Judas was a “church member.” He was one of the Twelve.  •The Twelve Apostles correspond to the Twelve Tribes of Israel.  •When Jesus chose the Twelve, He was showing that a New Israel was being formed. And that He was at the center of it.  •So, the Twelve were like a prototype of the Church. •And so, Judas was a “church member” of sorts.  Judas fit in. By all external accounts, Judas seemed to be a believer.  •And he was so good at playing the part (and I say “playing” because he was an actor, a hypocrite), he was so good at playing the part that nobody suspected him of being the betrayer.  •John 13:22 tells us that none of the other disciples knew who Jesus was talking about when He mentioned that one of them would betray Him.  •Judas blended in. And no one suspected him of being a false professor. Nobody said, “It’s got to be Judas.” Hear me: Many people in pews all over the world are not converted.  •They are religious, sure. They are present at church gatherings, they participate in the worship of the Church, they take the Lord’s Supper, they’ve been formally received into membership and all the rest. But they are not converted.  •And their fellow church members are none the wiser.  •Congregation, hear me: You can be part of the BEST CHURCH, with Jesus Himself as the immediate Pastor, and still be unconverted.  •Church membership does not necessarily mean someone has been born again.  •Being part of the visible church does not necessarily mean that one has saving faith in Christ.  2. Judas knew the words of Christ.  •Judas knew the Gospel. He just didn’t believe it.  •He knew that the only way to be saved from his sins was to believe upon Christ.  •He knew that mercy from God was only to be found in and through Jesus.  •He knew that Jesus said, “Unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24) And Judas knew the Law of God.  •He had heard Jesus preach about what God requires of all men: Utter moral perfection.  •Judas knew his own sins. Judas knew the Law.  •And he knew the warnings of Jesus about the reality of Hell for all who do not believe on Him.  •And he knew the offer of salvation that Jesus made to all who would believe on Him. That nobody would be turned away, for He is prepared to have mercy.  Hear me: Judas knew. He knew the Word of God.  •Congregation, we can know the Bible very well and still not be converted.  •We can memorize and quote the Word of God and still not be converted.  •We can understand the Word of God and never have it sink home to our hearts.  •Knowing the Bible is not the same thing as being converted.  3. Judas saw the works of Christ.  •He saw Jesus calm seas, heal the blind, cripple and sick, cast out demons, and raise the dead.  •And he saw Him do all of these things with a word.  •Judas knew the power of Christ. He was an eye-witness to the works of Jesus.  •And yet he remained in his sins. He never looked to the Almighty Christ to save him.  And even today, people in churches can see the works of Christ and remain unchanged.  •Not in literal miracles or signs and wonders. But you can be in the Church and see the power of Christ. •You can see lives changed.  •You can watch atheists, Muslims, Buddhists, legalists, and all manner of sinners converted to Christ.  •You can watch Jesus change lives.  •You can watch greedy men be made generous. Sexual sinners be made pure. Drunks be made sober. The heartless be made merciful. And all manner of sinners changed from one degree of glory to the next by the Lord.  •You can see the works of Christ all around you and you yourself remain unchanged and unconverted.  •And that because you will not come to Christ in your own heart and seek mercy from Him.  4. Judas spoke of Christ with the Twelve.  •No doubt, they would’ve had many good religious talks about the things of God.  •They would’ve digested together what Jesus was teaching and what it all meant for them.  •In other words, Judas, with the Eleven, would’ve had pretty good theology and spoke often of religious things.  Hear me: You can have excellent doctrinal precision and good, pure theology, and that doesn’t mean you have been converted.  •You can have all the doctrinal prowess of John Calvin, Herman Bavinck, and John Gill and remain unsaved.  •There are theologians burning in Hell because they loved KNOWLEDGE but did not love Christ.  •They even loved the Bible because it gave them knowledge about many things, but they did not love the Christ that the Bible reveals.  Hear me: Doctrinal precision does not a Christian make.  •Love of theology, for the sake of knowledge alone, is not a sign of the New Birth.  •You can spend all your days talking about the Bible and theology and still remain unconverted.  5. Judas knew the character of Christ.  •Judas knew the goodness, holiness, grace, purity, perfection, kindness, and all the other beauties of Christ.  •He just didn’t find Him beautiful.  •Judas knew what kind of man Jesus is. He knew what kind of Savior He is.  •He knew how He is gracious to all who will trust in Him. How He will never turn away anyone. How He is a true lover of mankind.  •He knew Jesus’ perfect moral life and that there was no hypocrisy in Him.  •He knew about Jesus. And he could not refute what he saw in Christ. He knew, to some extent, that there was glory in Christ.  •He had to. He spent three years with Him.  •And yet he remained unmoved by Christ.  Congregation, you can know all about Jesus and not be converted.  •You can even mentally recognize the goodness and perfection of Jesus.  •You can agree and know in your mind that there is nothing but good in Him. And you can agree with true Christians about the character of Christ and never utter aloud a single bad word about Him.  •You can know all about Him, but not be saved because you did not, at root, find Him beautiful and worthy.  6. Judas was friends with those who loved Christ.  •He was constantly around people who really loved the Savior. (He walked with the Eleven!) •He was present when Mary offered her gift of perfume to Jesus.  •He was there to see people come to genuine saving faith. He walked with other disciples.  •What I’m getting at is this: Judas kept good company, even the best company, and was still unconverted.  Congregation, your best friends can be the most holy men and women on the planet and that does nothing for your own soul.  •The righteousness of Christ will not “rub off” on you. Justification is not like a cold. You can’t catch it from other people.  •You must be born again. You must come to Christ yourself. Having Christians friends does not make you a Christian.  Hear me: You can even be externally influenced to some degree by godly company. •You can experience some kind of external reformation of life because of godly influences around you, but that is not enough.  •Keeping good company is not the same thing as being converted yourself.  7. Judas did ministry with the other Apostles.  •What a warning to church officers! •The Twelve were sent out to preach and cast out demons and heal the sick.  •And Judas was among them. The Bible tells us that the whole number of the Twelve went out and did these things.  •Judas was used by God to some degree. He was used like God used Balaam.  •Balaam was a pagan false prophet. And God used him in the Book of Numbers to give true prophecies about Israel and even the coming of the Messiah.  •God spoke through Balaam’s mouth, but Balaam perished, ultimately.  •Judas is the same. He did ministry. He preached. He performed miracles in the name of Jesus. And he was still unconverted.  Hear me: You can do all manner of ministry and not be saved.  •You can busy yourself with all kinds of good works and still be unconverted.  •You will not be saved by anything you do. No amount of ministry will do it. Good works do not bring about salvation for sinners.  •You must come to Christ and be washed in His blood through faith alone.  5.) Judas knew and did and saw all of these things but was never converted.  •He never loved Christ. He never personally threw himself at the feet of Jesus and cried out for mercy.  •He never trusted in Christ to save His soul. He never saw Christ as beautiful and glorious and precious.  •And this is evidenced by the fact that he thought Jesus was only worth 30 pieces of silver.  We see the same things happen today, don’t we? And it’s heartbreaking to witness.  •We see Christ sold out for sexual gratification, money, attempts at fame, political aspirations, the applause of the world, friendships, autonomy, selfishness and a host of other things.  •To summarize: So many have traded Christ for the world.  And what always sticks out to me is that those who betray Christ don’t even usually get the fullest and best the world has to offer.  •Judas loved money and only got $7500.  •Don’t misunderstand me: The world has nothing to offer that is worth betraying the Lord Jesus Christ.  •But those who betray Him don’t often even get the best the world has to offer. They betray Christ for LESS than 30 pieces of silver.  •And, by doing so, they prove that they never loved Christ to begin with.  •They had a show of religion, they had external religion, they maybe even had some emotional experiences, but they were never truly converted to Christ.  •Their hearts were never truly changed. They never loved the Savior and valued Him as precious beyond measure.  •For if they ever did, they still would.  •Because once God gives your heart a true view of Christ, you cannot fully and finally turn away from Him.  And one of the grimmest realities of apostasy is that their eternal condemnation in Hell will be greater than that of any other.  •Hell is hotter for Judas Iscariot than for any other person.  •Hell is worse for a false professor and apostate than for the heathen who has never heard the name of Christ.  •Hear the warning of Hebrews 10:26-31: “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which He was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” •How much worse? It will be MUCH WORSE! •Dear congregation, hear me: With exposure to the truth and a profession of the truth comes greater responsibility and accountability to God should you forsake Christ.  6.) Now, I freely admit that this sermon has been dark and unhappy. The subject matter has been hard to hear.  •So why did I think it was necessary to focus on such an unhappy subject today?  1. To speak to any among us who may be merely religious and unconverted.  •To warn such people of the dangers of Hell.  •BE WARNED! See in Judas Iscariot just how far you can go in religion and still be lost.  Hear me: You must come to Christ in faith.  •“Almost Christian” is not enough. Mere externals will not do. You must be converted.  •You must repent and believe on Christ. You must come to Him in faith, seeking mercy from God.  •You must seek to be made clean in His blood.  You may fool the entire church. You may fool your Pastors.  •But you will not fool the Lord Jesus Christ.  •He knew that Judas was a false professor. He knows today who all are false professors.  •You may fool the world and even the Church, but you will not fool Him.  •His eye is upon all. And He who knows and judges the whats of men cannot be deceived.  •He knows who loves Him. And He knows who does not.  2. Another reason we need to hear these hard things this morning is this: It is good for us, even true believers, to be introspective from time to time and examine ourselves.  •2 Corinthians 13:5 says, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith…” •Examine yourself. •Ask the hard question: Am I a Christian? Do I love Christ? Have I abandoned myself and come to Him for mercy? Is He beautiful in my eyes?  •Or am I only externally religious? 3. We need to be reminded that the grim reality of apostasy and false professors is one that we will see during our lives as Christians.  •And we need reminded of that so we are not bewildered and shaken in our faith when we see people who we believed love Jesus abandon Him.  •We need to remember this awful truth so that we are on guard against forgetting that the awful sin of apostasy does indeed happen.  •We need this category in our thinking or we won’t know how to think when we see it happen.  7.) As we come now to application, there are three things I want to say to you: 1. Come to Christ! •To the false professor, if there are any among us: Come to Him! He will take you in! •Though you have been a liar and a hypocrite, know that He has mercy on liars and hypocrites! •He will take you in. He is more merciful and kind than you could ever imagine.  •Even now he is beckoning you to come and be reconciled to Him through faith.  •The Word of God says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” •So believe on Him! And be saved! 2. To the Christian with a tender conscience, I’m talking to you now.  •To the one who is asking, “How do I know I have truly believed on Christ?”  •To the one lacking assurance after hearing a sermon like this, I’m talking to you now.  Know these things: A. Assurance of salvation is, in one sense, subjective.  •It is the testimony of the Spirit of God to the individual Christian.  •It’s a grace whereby God Himself testifies to your spirit that you are indeed a child of God.  •But this assurance, thought it is a great blessing, is not necessary for salvation. You “feeling like a Christian” is not a necessity to be saved. And there are many who struggle to receive assurance.  •You should desire it. But it is a separate grace from justification and salvation.  •So pray for it. But know that the promises of Christ to you in the Gospel are true, regardless.  B. A changed life is objective evidence of true faith.  •Hear me: Not a perfect life. That’s not possible this side of Heaven. You will sin. You love for Christ will never be what it should until you are glorified.  •The Bible says a changed life is evidence, not a perfect one.  •A changed life, new desires, new loves, and a renewed will to follow after Christ are all true marks of a heart that has been change by God.  C. RC Sproul once said something very helpful on the subject of assurance. So I’ll use his words now.  •Do you love Jesus?  •Not perfectly. Not as much as you should. Not as much as you even could. But do you love Him at all? •Is He precious to you? Do you see beauty in Him? Do you love Him at all? •If you do, that is not of yourself. For “the mind set on the flesh is HOSTILE to God.” •So if you love Him AT ALL, that means that you have been born again and are safe with Him.  Christian, believe the promises of God in Christ! •Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.  3. Lastly, I want to speak to all Christians: •As the author of Hebrews says after a hard warning passage: “Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation.” (Hebrews 6:9) I have no reason to doubt the sincerity of the profession of faith of any members present today.  •But I must preach the Word and give the warnings that it gives. And so, that is what I’ve done this morning.  •But I feel sure of better things for you. Things that belong to salvation.  Christian, hear and heed the warnings of Scripture.  •And continue to cling to Christ.  •Believe His promises. They are for you.  May God grant each one of us a sincere and unwavering faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  •Amen.