I have the great hope and desire to be with you in heaven and our purpose is to help each other to be ready for the end of the world while we proclaim the three angels messages to those who are lost. I want to study a subject with you this morning--I do not know if I have ever preached about this before. I cannot remember. I might have but it has not been for a long time.

It is a story in the Bible. A story that you are all very familiar with and a story that Ellen White has told us that every one of us needs to study. So it is a very important story. Before we enter into that, I want to just mention what I would like to study with you about this afternoon. I want to study this afternoon about Satans Plan for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Do you think that the devil has plans for the Seventh-day Adventist Church? He does. The Scriptures tell us very plainly and clearly that he does and we are going to see what the Scriptures say about that this afternoon.

But this morning I want to study with you for several minutes about the story of Judas. I have found so much material on this story that we could never cover all of it in one presentation, but we will ask the Lord to help us cover the most important points that we here need to understand right this morning.

When Satan rebelled against God in heaven, his work was done in secret. He is called over and over again a deceiver. The devil never comes to you and knocks on your door and says, Hello, I am the devil. I am here to deceive you, because then you would not be deceived. The Bible says that he is the deceiver. So when the devil comes to you, how does he come?

We are going to look at that point this afternoon. The Apostle Paul says that he comes as an angel of--what? As an angel of light. That is II Corinthians 11. The devil always pretends to be something that he is not. That is why you have so many different people ;going different directions that all claim to be Christians and all claim to be the true church; because in order for deception to work, you have to clothe yourself in a garment so that you can appear something that you are really not.

This deceptive work that the devil carried on in heaven in which he pretended that he was working for the stability of the divine government when actually he was plotting in every secretive way to over throw the divine government. This work he has carried on in this world through the agency of men and women whom he has seduced and deceived to be his followers. Of course, when you start talking about this, people start thinking about people like atheists or communists or infidels or something like that. That is who people think of, but those are not our worst enemies. The worst enemy for Christians are professed Christians. That has always been the way it is.

In 1887 Ellen White wrote that we have more to fear from within than from without. Now, when she was writing that, who was she writing to? All the Christian churches in the world? No, she was writing to the Adventist Church. She said, We have more to fear from within than from without. The devils most successful agents are Christians whom he is able to imbue with his spirit because they wear the clothing on the outside that says, I am a follower of Christ.

So people are deceived. His most successful agents are Christians, but of all the Christians the devils great and most successful agents of all the Christians are professed Seventh-day Adventist Christians. That is the way it has always been. Upon Gods people that is where the devil is most successful if he can get someone who professes to be one of Gods children to be his agent.

We have examples in both the Old and New Testaments of the great controversy that occurred in heaven on a mini scale in human terms so that we can see the very same thing worked out before us on a human level. For instance: In the Old Testament the great controversy that began in heaven, it was worked out on a human level on a human scale so that you could see how it works in the story of Absolom. In the story of Absolom, Absolom was apparently the faithful son of the king. Apparently. For many years it was this way. And yet, what it looked like and what was actually going on was something completely different.

We see the same story, the same great controversy worked out on a human level so that you can see and understand the principles involved in the story of Judas. First of all, let me just state in a minute or so what might have been. We have this on the authority of inspiration. We have been told by Gods Messenger to the Remnant Church that Judas had many excellent traits of character. In fact, he was talented enough that if he had been converted, he could have been one of the leaders of the apostles. He could have been.

In fact, during the time that Jesus was here, the other disciples considered him to be a leader of the twelve. That is why he was selected as the treasurer. He was the only one of all the twelve while Jesus was here that we have any record that actually had a church office. The only one. We do not have record of any of the rest being appointed to any office in the Christian Church.

Well, then, if Judas could have been one of the most eminent, one of the leaders of the apostles, if this could have been, well, then, the question is, What went wrong? Inspired record gives us a good deal of information about what went wrong. Ellen White makes it very clear that this whole time that Judas was following Jesus, he was actually under the control of the devil. You can read that in Early Writings, 268, but you do not even need that. You can read it in your Bible.

We are going to come back to this text later, but just look what Jesus said about Judas. Here in John 6:70, 71, it says: "Jesus answered them, Did I not choose you the twelve and one of you is a devil. He spoke of Judas Ischariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him being one of the twelve." This was about one year before the crucifixion. This was about Passover time AD 30 when John 6 occurred. It says at the beginning of the chapter that it was about the Passover time. It was about one year before the crucifixion when Jesus made this statement. But Jesus knew about it before that.

Notice what it says here in verse 64, it says: "But there are some of you who do not believe." In other words, you are unfaithful. "For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe and who would betray Him. Jesus knew about it. He knew about it from the beginning.

Well, then, if He knew about it from the beginning, why did He allow Judas to be one of the twelve? That is what some people ask us sometimes. If that person has so many bad character traits and if he was going to turn out to betray you and betray Adventism, why did You even allow that person to be part of it in the first place. And some people lose all confidence in the work of God because somebody is revealed to be a traitor among Gods people.

Why did Jesus Who knew this allow it? Well, there were several reasons. One reason was so that we could see the principles of the great controversy worked out, not on an angelic but on a human level where we could see the different principles at stake.

Well, let us start looking at what happened in the story and in the life of Judas. Did you know that Judas did not agree with many of the things that Jesus said and did? He did not agree. Now that seems blasphemous when you state it in that way. But remember when Jesus was here, it was very difficult for His disciples to fully comprehend-- even though Peter stated it--it was very difficult for them to comprehend that He was the Lord of Glory and had all wisdom and knowledge because He looked like a man. Like a Jewish man.

Judas did not agree with everything that Christ said and did. In fact, he had many different disagreements with Jesus. However, this disagreement was not out in the open until the last. That is the first important point to understand about the story of Judas because it reveals one of the fundamental differences between the government of God and the government of Satan.

I want to read this principle right from the Holy Word. Jesus stated it Himself at His trial. Look in John 18:20 Jesus here is speaking to the High Priest: "Jesus answered him, I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues and in the temple where the Jews always meet and in secret I have said nothing."

That is a very interesting text of Scripture to meditate upon. Jesus said, I have said in secret nothing. Everything that I have said, everything that I have done you can look at it, you can see it, you can observe it. It is a clear as sunlight. It is open. It is straightforward there is nothing underhanded. There is nothing secretive in anything that I have done. You can just ask anybody what I have taught. It is public knowledge. That is a characteristic of the government of God.

Now do not misunderstand. God has never promised to reveal everything about Himself to His creatures. He has never promised that. But whatever God says or does, it is open and straightforward and clear as sunlight. There is nothing secretive or underhanded. This is the primary difference between the government of God and the government of the devil.

Now, Judas did not agree with much of what Jesus said or did, but he did not make an open attack on the Lord. Just like the devil did not make an open attack in heaven. It appeared to those who were watching that he was part of the inner circle and that he was a supporter and a follower and a disciple of Jesus. Everybody thought that he was a leader in the church.

While I am talking about that point, I may just ask you this question. Was Judas a disciple of Jesus or not? That is a trick question. I am telling you that in advance. It is a trick question to ask it that way. Was Judas a disciple of Jesus or not? I am going to read to you some statements from Ellen White that will answer that question.

First of all I will read to you from Twenty Manuscript Releases, 148, it says: "Judas was given every opportunity to receive Christ as his personal Saviour, but he refused this gift. In many respects he acted as Christs disciple. He manifested an interest in His work and in a certain sense believed on Him. But Christ read beneath the surface. He saw the true inwardness of the heart. He knew that Judas was not converted. John said that 'as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God. John 1:12. Judas had never received Christ. He was not a true son of God. He had not lost something once possessed. he had never experienced the soul cleansing, the change of character that constitutes conversion."

Was he a disciple of Jesus? Oh, he acted like one. Everybody thought he was. Even the other disciples thought he was. But not really. Here is another statement about Judas. "Satan had deceived Judas and led him to think he was one of Christs true disciples." So Judas thought he was one of Christs true disciples. Who had taught him that? The devil had taught he that. He was deceived. He was not a true disciple. He was a disciple by profession.

He was so deceived by the devil that he actually thought that he was one. But he really was not. Satan had deceived Judas and led him to think he was one of Christs true disciples, but his heart had ever been carnal. He was not converted. To the one who is carnal whose heart is not converted the apostle Paul says in Romans 8:9 that he is none of His. He does not belong to Christ.

Judas was a disciple of Jesus by profession, but not really. Not really. Do you see why it is necessary to make a difference between profession and character? In fact, as I was studying this subject, I found out that the devil in these last days, Ellen White says just as Judas, the devil in these last days professes to be a true disciple of Christ. That is the great deception of Antichrist that comes at the end of the world.

You see, the whole world almost except for the remnant, the whole world is going to worship the devil thinking that they are worshipping Christ. Because he will come as Christ. Well, when the devil controls somebody, when the devil has control of a persons mind, the devil imbues that person with his own spirit.

Remember, the spirit of the devil is an imitation on the outside of the Spirit of Christ. The devil is the great Antichrist. Now he has human agents who are Antichrists. It says in I John 2 there are many Antichrists.

There is a system that is the chief Antichrist power in this world but the devil has many Antichrists and the devil himself is the chief Antichrist. When the devil controls someone, he puts his spirit into that person and what do they begin to do? Well, Judas has a criticizing, accusing spirit. He had a criticizing, accusing spirit. A condemning spirit. In fact, it was for this reason that Jesus called him, as we read in John 6, a devil.

Let me read that to you from the pen of Ellen White. It says about Judas, "The questioning doubts which were passed on to the minds of his brethren, this one man professing to be a follower of Christ while not bearing the precious fruit revealed in the life of Christ would be a channel of darkness to the other disciples. In the time of test and trial that was soon to come and that was even then upon them he presented so much accusation of his brethren."

Notice, he was not just accusing Christ, but he was accusing the other disciples. By the way, did the other disciples have some serious faults? So could Judas accuse the other disciples of things and be telling the truth? Yes. Do not ever forget that because something is true does not mean that the person speaking is inspired by the Holy Spirit. Do not ever forget that.

There is much truth in what the devil teaches. Remember, the devil is called the master deceiver in Scripture and to deceive people, you have to use truth. You cannot use all error. Nobody would be deceived if it were all error. You have to mix truth and error together and that is what the devil is a master at doing. There is much truth in what the devil teaches. In fact, there is so much truth in it that you may not be able to find anything wrong with it.

Ellen White tells us that in these last days that truth will be so combined with error that unless the Holy Spirit is working on your mind, you will not be able to tell the difference. Judas presented so much accusation of his brethren that he was counter working the lessons of Christ. This is why Jesus called Judas a devil. That is from The Review and Herald, November 16, 1897. So he was criticizing and condemning and accusing and all the time he could make a statement that would be perfectly true--yet it was inspired by the devil.

Now I want to get to something that is more sinister than that. If it was just accusing and criticizing and condemning, it would not be so deceptive. But do you know that one of the principle ways that the devil worked in heaven and one of the principle ways that Judas worked among the disciples, did you know that it is so deceptive that Ellen White says that the other disciples did not even realize where these thoughts and feelings they had came from. They did not even realize where it came from.

How do you accuse and condemn and criticize and yet people do not even know it came from you? How do you do that? The devil is a master at that. Let me tell you how it is done. It is revealed to us, the workings of the great deceiver by the pen of inspiration. Ellen White explains it in Patriarchs and Prophets when she tells how the devil deceived Eve. She uses a very interesting phrase that is worth meditating upon. She uses the phrase "a covert," what is something that is covert? It is something that is hidden. Something that is covert is something that is hidden.

She uses the term, he used a covert negative. That is worth thinking through. So when he used the covert negative, he was not making a statement and that is why it was so hidden. Let me just quote the devil, because it is in the Bible. Here is the covert negative that the devil used on Eve. Think this through. He said to Eve, Has God said that you shall not eat of every fruit of the garden? What is the purpose of asking a question in which there is a hidden statement of unbelief? What is the purpose of that?

It develops unbelief in another persons mind and they do not even realize that you have done anything because all you did was ask a question. This is what Judas was doing. Let me read that to you. This is from the pen of inspiration. Also, I will give you the reference. It is from The Review and Herald, May 12, 1903. "Among the chosen disciples of Christ there was a representative of Satan. At heart Judas was not a disciple." Notice, he was not really a disciple. He was professed but not really. "Often he led the other disciples to form opinions contrary to the teachings of the Master." Now that is quite a statement! Often he led the disciples to form opinions that were contrary to what Jesus had taught them.

How did he do that? She explains. "He criticized Christs words and asked questions that led the minds of the disciples away from the subject that the Saviour brought before them." Then she goes on to say that he exerted such an influence to deceive the disciples that Jesus had to repeat many of His lessons. He had to repeat them over and over and over. How come they were so dull? It was because Judas was asking these covert negatively couched questions.

The disciples did not realize that he was doing anything. He was just asking questions. Oh, friend, has this work that was carried on by Judas, did that stop with him? No, friend, it is going on in all the churches all over the world. We get telephone calls and letters about this point constantly. Let me tell you something. Anytime something is going on in any group--it does not matter what it is--and it is not as clear and open as the sunlight, his Satanic majesty is involved. Just do not forget that. That is the truth.

Anytime something has to be done underhandedly, has to be done secretly--not openly--and instead of following the instructions in Matthew 18 where we go to a brother who has maybe made some mistake and talked to him about it and tried to clear it up, we go behind his back and talk to other about it. His Satanic majesty is involved just like it was with Judas. Judas did it with Christ.

It happens in churches all over the world. In Ellen Whites day she said, There may be more than a score of Judases among us. She was talking about the leaders of Gods church in those days. If all this havoc was worked with one, what do you think would happen with twenty or more? Anytime, friend, that there is something going on that is secretive or underhanded and we are talking about each other behind their back and the other person does not even know what is going on, the devil is involved. The Holy Spirit is not involved. God does not work that way. In fact, God abhors all this secretive sort of working that goes on among His professed people.

Whenever it happens, let me tell you what will happen. God created man for His glory. He will not, cannot endure the presence of sin in His dominion. If there are in the church those who are willfully sinning against God, every possible means should be used to bring them to repentance. What if that does not happen? What if, instead of dealing with the problem, we go around each others back and we start a gossip campaign in the church?

Here is what will happen. God calls this selfishness and idolatry and he will remove His Spirit from those who have thus allowed themselves to become spiritually blind. Their consciences are not sensitive. Like Judas they allow themselves to be tempted by the enemy. Manuscript Releases, Volume 6, 39, 40.

Oh, friend, when there is an influence like this developing in a church, it was developing among Jesus disciples and it started to come to a head in John 6 and that is why in John 6 Jesus said, One of you is a devil. You see, within John 6 about one year before the crucifixion you have the occasion of the feeding of the five thousand. The feeding of the five thousand is an important enough story that it is recorded in all four gospels. It is one of the few events in the ministry of Jesus that is recorded in all four gospels.

It was on that occasion that they wanted to seize Jesus and make Him king. Even the disciples wanted to do it and do you know who it was who got the disciples all stirred up to want to make Jesus king and to force Him to be king? Do you know who that was? That was Judas. Ellen White says it was Judas. The disciples got so stirred up and they got in such a rebellious, complaining frame of mind that the Lord had to let them get out there in a storm on the lake so they would have something else to do to use up their time and energy. So there would not be an open rebellion among them.

Now Judas had many good qualities and he was a successful evangelist. He was a minister, a preacher, and Jesus had given him authority and power just like the rest of the twelve disciples to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. But Judas never overcame the temptation to talk about the defects of others. Ellen White goes into quite some detail in the book The Desire of Ages about this very fact how he thought about the other disciples. As this trait of talking about the defects of others developed in Judas character and he had a disposition to criticize and condemn, there was something that was checked in his character and that had an effect on all the rest of the disciples. It had an absolutely desolating and devastating effect on the church.

It was something that we need to watch out for because I find that the devil is trying to get this same thing going all through Adventism and especially in historic Adventism today. Let me read it to you from Testimonies for the Church, Volume 6, 264. It says, "Satan is playing the game of life for every soul. He knows that practical sympathy is a test of the purity and unselfishness of the heart and he will make every possible effort to close our hearts to the needs of others that we may finally be unmoved by the sight of suffering. He will bring in many things to prevent the expression of love and sympathy. It was thus that he ruined Judas."

How did the devil ruin Judas? He brought in many things to prevent the expression of love and sympathy. Oh, friend, Gods people around the world are supposed to be one family. We are not to be just in individual isolated units. We are to be one family. In fact, Jesus said to His disciples immediately after Judas left the room that night when Judas betrayed Him. "As soon as Judas left the room," Ellen White says, "The countenance of Jesus brightened because now He could say some things to His disciples that He could not say as long as Judas was there. And immediately when Judas left, Jesus said to His disciples, As I said to the Jews, where I am going you are not able to come and so to you now I give you a new commandment that you love one another just as I have loved you. By this shall all men know, (This is the test.) By this shall all men know that you are disciples to Me if you have love one to another."

And, friend, we cannot love each other and at the same time be speaking against each other, accusing each other, criticizing each other, backbiting against each other, gossiping about each other, going behind each others back and talking about each other and at the same time loving each other like Jesus loved us. That is impossible. It is two different principles.

It is all the difference between the government of the devil and the government of the God of heaven is what it is. Friend, what is happening in your home? What kind of government do you have in your home? What kind of government do you have in your church? Is the spirit of brotherly love developing? There are so many Judases that everything else is developing.

This union in dissension and that division in scrapping and fighting and all of that sort of thing. I want to tell you, friend, it both does not come with the same voice. There are so many lessons to learn from the life of Judas. This lesson was put in Holy Writ so that we could learn what not to do.

Could Judas have been saved? He could have. Is there somebody here who is a Judas? Can you be saved? You can be saved if you are willing to be saved Gods way. God is waiting and willing and He has all the power needed to take all of these Satanic traits of character out of us. Have you ever prayed for that to happen? I have. I said, Lord, please, every Satanic trait of character that I have, please take it away from me.

In fact, Judas could have been saved the very night that he betrayed his Lord. While Jesus was washing his feet--he was the very first one whose feet were washed. Judas was looking down at his Master washing his feet. A terrible struggle was going on in his mind. He thought, I should confess what I have done. And if he would have, he could have been saved even then.

All of those awful things he did could have been put to rest and we probably would not even know about it because that would have been put away and he would have become a leader among the apostles. But something else was going on in his mind. The devil was talking to him and the devil was saying, Look, Somebody Who would do something like this could not possibly be the Lord of glory.

And Judas hardened his heart. He decided that anybody who would do what Jesus did needed to be taught a lesson. You see, Jesus in general terms had pointed out the character defects of Judas. Ellen White tells us over and over again, she says that many a time Judas, as he listened to Jesus, recognized that his character had been pointed out and condemned. He had been shown and had seen that his character was completely contrary to the government of God. He had seen this.

So, what did he do when he found that all out? Well, here is what he did. "If he had been willing to wear the yoke of Christ to become meek and lowly of heart, he might have been among the chief of the apostles. But he hardened his heart when his defects were pointed out and in pride and rebellion, chose his own selfish ambitions and so unfitted himself for the work God might have given him."

When his defects were pointed out, he hardened his heart and in another place she said, He got angry. Now this is the point where we have to talk about something that we do not enjoy talking about because it is so human. One of the hardest things that any servant of God has to do is to tell somebody either in public or private, to point out something that is defective. Do you know why it is so hard? Because almost every time, people rebel.

Very seldom. You can pray and pray and pray and say, Lord, give me the tact of the apostle Paul. Give me the love of the apostle John. Give me the wisdom of Solomon. Help me not to say anything I should not say. Help me to say what I need to say and have a clear conscience. Then you watch an explosion go off.

And, friend, let me just tell you something heart to heart. While we should not be criticizing and condemning each other, if somebody comes to you or me and they read us something out of inspired writings that is contrary with our character, we had better humble ourselves and listen because our eternal salvation is at stake.

You see, one of the leading traits of Judas character was his tremendous self-esteem. He had so much self-esteem and many people think that self-esteem is a wonderful thing, but Judas had so much self-esteem that he was not willing to endure any rebuke or reproof. So with this secret, underhanded and paganism and opposition, going on something had to happen. What had to happen? A crisis had to develop to bring it out into the open. That is what always has to happen. I have seen it happen over and over and over and over again.

Something is going on. You cannot even put your finger on what is going on, so you start to pray. You start to fast and you say, Lord something is going on here. Please help us. And all of a sudden an explosion occurs. Things are all under the table, all secret and all of sudden it just comes up where everybody can see it when it explodes. When there is something secretive going on like that, sooner or later a crisis has to come. There is no other choice.

Jesus Himself deliberately brought the crisis in Galilee a year before the crucifixion. You read this chapter in The Desire of Ages called "The Crisis of Galilee". Judas was the principle party who brought this crisis about. But Jesus had this crisis develop intentionally.

Now, I want to ask you a question. Do you suppose that was the last time that the Lord deliberately caused a crisis to develop? No, no. Anytime you have a work going on that was what Judas was doing among the disciples;, sooner or later a crisis has to develop so that the figurative things can come out in the open.

That is what had to happen in heaven. You see, the Lord arranged things so that the angels were going to have to decide whose side they were on. You eventually have to become public whose side you were on. There was a war going on and in a war you cannot be neutral. You have to be on one side or the other. Jesus said, He that is not with Me is against Me. He that gathereth not with Me scatters abroad. Matthew 12:30.

That is what happened in heaven. That is what happened in the crisis in Galilee. The crisis was so great that Jesus asked His disciples, the twelve, He said, Are you also going to leave? There were very few people who followed Jesus in Galilee after that time. And so, Judas became a man of infamy because he betrayed his Lord and became a traitor. Oh, friend, this whole story is in the Bible so that I can learn. So that I will not become a traitor. So that you will not become a traitor.

How does a person become a traitor like Judas was? Well, let me read to you how that happens. Now, this also is worth a lot of study these few sentences. She says, "We have far greater light than Judas had. The cause of Christ will be betrayed. Those who have had the light of truth and have enjoyed its blessings but who have turned away from it will fight down the Spirit of God inspired with a spirit from beneath they will tear down that which they once built up and show to all the reasonable, god-fearing souls that they cannot be trusted. The attributes of Satan they call the movings of the Holy Spirit." The Review and Herald, May 24, 1898.

Now that is something to think about. What happens? There was something they were building up but now they are trying to tear it down. That is what Judas did. He betrayed his Lord. He became a traitor. Is that going to happen among us as we near the end? Yes, friend, it is going to happen over and over again. We need to be ready for it because it has been happening and will happen again, and again in the future.

This is Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 5, 1106. Ellen White says, "The scenes enacted at the cross are being reenacted in the churches that have departed from truth and righteousness. It is being revealed what human nature can do and will do when the Love of God is not an abiding principle in the soul. We need not be surprised at anything that may take place now. We need not marvel at any developments of horror. They will ask the question that came from the traitors lips of Judas, What will ye give me if I betray unto you Jesus the Christ. Even now, Christ is being betrayed in the person of His saints."

Serious to think about, is it not? I want to tell you, friend, if you turn traitor and start to fight somebody who God is using, do you know whom you are really fighting? You are fighting, not the ambassador, you are fighting the One Who sent him! I have had people write me letters and get very upset because of some this or that theological position. I have had to say to some people, Look, your fight is not with me, I am just clay. Your fight is with the Spirit of Prophecy. Your fight is with the Holy Spirit. That is who you are opposed to. Friend, when the Holy Spirit says something in inspired writing, you and I do not have a right to start quibbling about it. Do you believe that?

What is the mark of a traitor? A traitor is someone who starts to tear down something that he once was trying to build up. Do not ever forget that. That will help you in many situations to try to figure out what is going on. A traitor is somebody who tears down something that he was once building up.

You know, the apostle Paul went all over the Roman Empire building up the cause of Christ. He started many, many churches. But the apostle never tried to destroy one church in order to get another one built up and I see this taking place many places today in the world. Some people think that the way to get a church started is to tear down another church to get one started.

Friends, there is something like Judas in that. That is not from the Holy Spirit. That is not the way God works. What is the danger--our time is up. We had better cover this this afternoon. We will see this afternoon how this same thing that happened in Jesus day with Judas the devil has in mind to pull off the same thing on a much bigger scale in Adventism at the end of time. We will see that this afternoon.

Friend, before we close I have to ask you this one final question. Have you gone to the Lord in your own closet or bedroom or wherever you do your private praying and said, Lord, I want to have a different heart. I want to be converted. I do not want to just be a Christian by profession. I want to be converted.

You see, Judas was a Christian by profession but he was never converted. So he was not a true disciple. A true disciple has a change of heart. That is why Jesus said to the disciples after He had washed their feet, He said, You are clean, but not all. Now all of their feet were clean but all of their hearts were not clean. You see, when Jesus washed the feet of all the other disciples, their hearts were dirty, too.

But when they saw their Lord washing their feet, their hearts were broken. They realized they should be washing His feet. They were too proud and they were all ashamed. They opened their hearts to the divine influence so that their hearts could be healed. But Judas closed his. See, God uses the most simple things to effect the greatest changes in a persons life.

Oh, friend, have you gone to the Lord and said, Lord, I want You to change my heart. I want to be converted. I do not want to end up being like Judas, betraying my Lord at the end. I do not want to go and think that I am on my way to the kingdom and right at the end betray my Lord and prove myself to be false hearted. I want a new heart, a pure heart, a heart that loves You with all my heart, soul and mind, that would never betray You. A heart that loves my brother, my sister as myself.

Oh, friend, have you had that experience? Are you having it day by day? Are you having a change of heart? Is the Holy Spirit changing your heart? Do you want Him to change your heart now? If you do, before we close let us kneel and pray and ask Him to do it.

Father in heaven, we thank you for Jesus and that He has power to wash away our sins and to give us a new birth experience through His Holy Spirit. Oh, Father in heaven, as we choose now to open our hearts to You, we humbly but earnestly pray. We are like the thief on the cross. We know that there is nobody else in the Universe who can take our guilt away. There is nobody else who can change us and give us a new heart and take away our degradation and woe. So, Father in heaven, we come to you in Jesus name earnestly praying that the mission of Your Son may be successful in our individual lives that we many receive the Holy Spirit that our hearts may be changed, that we may love as Jesus loved. That we may act as He acted and speak the way He speaks. Deliver us, we pray from all the deceptions of the enemy. Deliver us, we pray, from the Judas experience, that in the day of test and trial that we may not betray our Lord as he did. Help us not to deny Him like Peter did. We pray that through your power and grace that we may be faithful to the end. And we thank you in Jesus name. Amen