Demon possession is real. Only the power of God can break through when a person is actually possessed by an evil spirit or multiple evil spirits. You never know when the person you may be talking to is possessed by the devil himself.
On two separate occasions, Judas was invaded by the devil himself.
First Occasion: Luke 22:3ff: Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. 4And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus.5They were delighted and agreed to give him money.6He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.
This is the first time Satan entered into the body of Judas. This took place before the Last Supper. Here Judas goes to discuss with the chief priests and others how he might be used to deliver Jesus over to them. Did the chief priests actually know that when they were discussing with Judas the betrayal of Jesus, they were actually talking to the devil? Satan himself was present in their room. He was behind the plot to hand over Jesus.
Of course, they did not know. Satan hid himself carefully and disguised himself well from them. Yet, the very incarnate of evil himself was right there in the same room with those who were known as the chief priests.
Did Judas know that the devil had entered into him? Probably not. We got no indication that he did. But one thing to always look for with regards to a demonic invasion: The person who becomes invaded will leave the group of Christians and secretly go to carry out an evil plan. This is truth of both of the devil’s invasion of Judas.
You know what is more scary than being in the same room as the devil himself? God is! The bible says, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31). When a person plays church, i.e. participates in service, worship and join in other activities of the church, while choosing to remain unconverted and unconvinced of the claims of Christ, such times as those may turn out to be a life of possession of evil spirits and multiple invasion.
How in the world could the devil gain such control over Judas? We have a clue in John 13. While speaking to His disciples, Jesus said to them, “You are all clean, but not all of you.” Then the very next verse says, “For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, ‘Not all of you are clean’” (John 13:10-11).
What is actually symbolized by the word “clean?” Two very important and most power ingredients are used by God to bring cleansing:
1. The Blood Jesus: “The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Over in the Book of Revelation, we read, “Unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Rev. 1:5). All the other eleven disciples of Jesus had placed their complete surrender in the Lord. They believed in Him as their Messiah and as a result, each of them had their sins washed completely away except Judas.
2. The Word of God: “. . . Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless (Eph. 5:26-27). Over in John 15, Jesus said to His disciples, “You are already clean because of the Word which I have spoken to you” (John 15:3).
So, the blood of Christ cleanses or washes sinners from their sins completely, and God uses His Word to keep His people cleaned from sin on a daily basis.
Think of it this way: The blood of Jesus is like talking a bath or shower. Once a day is usually enough. But during the day, you have to wash your hands often. The word of God is meant for that. The blood of Christ is our bath and the Word of God is our frequent hand washing. Judas had neither and as a result, he was open prey for the devil to use and manipulate.
Let me now show you another devil invasion of Judas and then suggest some applications. In John 13:27, we read: “As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.” So the first invasion occurred before the Passover with Jesus. The second occurred during the Passover. Again, once Satan entered into Judas now the second time, he left the group to carry out and bring to completion his evil plan.
Let’s note some pertinent observations.
1. For some odd reason, suggesting a thought into the mind of another seems not enough. There must be an invasion into a life of another in order to put a capstone on the working of evil.
Couldn’t the devil just placed into the thought of Judas the act of betrayal and that’s it? This is what he did in John 13:2: “he (the devil) put into the heart of Judas to betray Him.” So why wasn’t this enough? Why must the devil or any of his demons have to actually invade the life of another?
For this simple reason: CONTROL! It is all about control – who and what controls a person. In John 13:2, the invasion of a thought by the devil was used to control Judas; and in John 13:27, the invasion of the devil was used to control Judas. The “what” – thoughts; and the “who” – Satan were all about control. It is worth remembering that before the devil could invade Judas, he had to first invade Judas’ mind with an evil idea. So remember this: Before there is an actual personal invasion by an evil entity, the doors to such an invasion had opened first by the reception of an evil idea. The invasion of an evil idea that is not properly dealt with and disposed of, will open wider the door of invasion.
Folks, listen: What goes into our brains is so crucial. This is the first step toward you or I being totally dominated by evil. Fight well and hard the battle there in your mind. Once you win there, you will not have to fight the devil within. But if we lose the battles of ideas in our minds, then we will lose big time elsewhere.
Note: This is why I write often my Fresh Bread blogs and others like it. I do not write it for you. Sorry! I write these blogs for me. By writing, it forces me to dig deeper into issues, the Scriptures and to expose wrong ideas which need to be disposed of, and right ideas which need to be held on tightly to. If no one read what I wrote, I would still continue to write and produce even more. These blogs are also like my personal journals. They show me what I am thinking about and what’s in my mind. If I lose the battle in my mind, the war for me is over.
Listen: How does God accomplish His work in the world today? Well the Lord has many ways to do so, but a primary way for accomplishing His work in the world is THROUGH HIS PEOPLE. God receives great honor when we allow Him to work “through” us to touch the lives of others. This implies that we are in full cooperation with God. We understand that the best sermons are those that God preaches through us. We understand that the best counseling occurs when God ministers to someone through us. We understand that the best and most profitable assignments are those that God accomplishes through us. Why? Because when it is all done, who gets the glory? Us? No. But God. He did it through us.
Who is the one person who wants above all else to steal away the glory of God for himself? None other than Satan himself – read Isaiah 14:12-14. So, to put into a person’s mind an idea can also be interpreted as the person’s own idea. But to actually invade a person’s life in order to carry out an assignment, that can only be attributed not to the person, but the spirit within the person. Thus, Satan wanted the glory of betraying Jesus and getting Him crucified. So, putting it into the head of Judas was one small step; entering into his life in order to carry out to fruition the plan was the capstone.
Any carnal believer who allows his mind to be a receptacle of the devil or his demons, and who also allows himself to be invaded by demonic forces, is giving the devil his moment of glory that he seeks.
Second, those who are entertaining thoughts of the devil who have possibly been invade by him will live a double life.
Notice that once Satan entered into Judas, he went away to discuss with the chief priests and officers (Luke 22:4; John 13:30) how he might betray Him to them. On the one hand, Judas served along side of Jesus with the rest of the disciples. On the other hand, he was fellowshipping with the enemy. Just how crazy is that?
Now fellowshipping with the enemy is not the same as working in the world. Most of us have secular jobs where we are required to work with, each lunch with, and spend a great deal of our time with those who are of the world. Nothing wrong with this. But what I am talking about is how some when they are with other Christians will put on their holy hat and talk the talk, walk the walk, and as soon as they leave the company of believers, they go and become the exact opposite in the world. That’s crazy. That’s being double-minded. Jesus called this “hypocrisy” (Matt. 23).
Third, often times (not all), demonic invasion will center around MONEY (Luke 22:5). Judas was promised thirty pieces of silver for his reward of handing Jesus over. Paul said to Timothy: “For the love of money is the root to all sorts of evil” (1 Tim. 6:10). May I also remind us who was in charge of the money box? Judas! (John 13:29). And who use to steal money from it from time to time? Judas! (John 12:6).
While traveling through the city of Philippi, Paul knew first hand about this.
16Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." 18She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her.
19When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities – Acts 16:16-19
This servant girl who was demon-possessed was making for her master a lot of money. When she was exposed and delivered, Paul and his team were held responsible, beaten and thrown in prison.
People will do all sorts of things for money – things that will cause them to jettison their morals and principles. Things that they normally under less trying circumstance would do. But because of the love of money, we are often too eager and willing to compromise our commitment to Christ. Satan knows this about us and therefore feeds our desires.
Fourth, a person who is being controlled by evil will become obsessed in whatever is the nature of the evil plan. It is said of Judas that “he began seeking a good opportunity to betray Jesus” (Luke 22:6). The word “seek” means “to crave after,” “to demand,” “to mediate on.” Judas was obsessed with the idea of betraying Jesus. I think for Judas it was no longer at this point about the money. Why? Because we know what happened to him afterwards when he got paid. He threw it all away and hung himself (Matt. 27:5; Acts 1:18). At first the thought of betraying Jesus sounded like a good idea for the price. However, it became more of an obsession. And then when it finally occurred, there was no joy in it, just guilt and extreme sorrow.
Before we shake our heads at Judas and think of him as a poor soul, we must remember that every time we choose to knowingly to sin against God, we are functioning in the role of a betrayer. James said this: “To him who knows to do good and does it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17). We know what God wants from us, but choose not to do it. We know what God does not want us to do, but then choose to do it. During such times, for whatever reason we hang onto that gives to us a temporary form of spiritual insanity, we are stepping into the shoes of a Jesus betrayer.
Fifth, much of the evil surrounding a demonic plan and assignment will occur at night. I think it is no small thing that we read, “and Judas went out immediately and it was NIGHT” (John 13:30).
This is in contrast to the day where Jesus is pictured as the light of the world (John 9:5). We would expect the powers of darkness to operate comfortably at night. Of course, there are exceptions to this. But in most cases, the fruition of evil takes place in secret and night is a good cloak for evil to occur.
Well, there are many more things we can add to this, but no need to spend too much of our time talking about the prince of darkness (Eph. 2:2). Better to talk more about the Prince of Life (Acts 3:15; 5:31). But just so you are aware of the gravity of evil and how it can consume you if you are not already walking in the Spirit.
