Ever since we started our Celebrate Recovery ministry at
First Baptist, we’ve tried to help people take the “masks” off, to stop hiding
behind false outward appearances. Isolation and hiding who we really are is an
addiction’s playground. So today I’m going to talk about taking the masks off,
not the anti-covid19 gear, but the masks of false appearances.
When I think about someone who used false appearances in
Scripture, several people come to mind like Eli’s two sons, or Ananias and
Sapphira. First in my mind, however, were the devil and Judas. Let’s start with
Judas Iscariot.
He was, of course, one of Jesus’ twelve disciples. We know
little about his background though some suggest “Iscariot” connect him with his
presumed home town of Kerioth Judea . If it’s not clearly
identified in Scripture, however, then it doesn’t really matter. What we do
know is that Judas participated as one of the disciples, just like Peter, John
and the others. He went along when Jesus sent out the Twelve in Mark 6:7-12 (see also Matthew 10 and Luke 9:1-11 ). Thus Judas was
given power to cast out demons and heal the sick while he preached repentance,
just like the other eleven disciples. Judas was there when Jesus performed all
the miracles. He was there when Jesus spoke in ways that amazed the masses and
confounded the religious experts. Judas witnessed first hand Jesus’ compassion,
mercy, power, authority, truth and Godly wisdom. Judas was still with Jesus the
night of the betrayal, and Jesus washed Judas’ feet! The other disciples
trusted Judas and had no concerns about him carrying the money bag, from which
he stole on a regular basis, according to John 12:6 .
This brings up an interesting point. I have heard/read
theologians say that Jesus saw some promise in Judas and thus chose him as a
disciple. However, the Bible clearly states that Jesus knew the heart, the
inner motives, desires and thoughts of people. Luke 6:8 tells of Jesus healing a
man on the Sabbath, saying, “but He knew their thoughts, and said to the man
who had the withered hand, ‘Arise and stand here.’ And he arose and stood.”
Jesus knew the thoughts and intents of the scribes and Pharisees who sought a
reason to bring an accusation against Him. Then again in Matthew 12:22-30 Jesus heals
a man who was demon-possessed and the Pharisees accused Jesus of doing so by
the power of Beelzebub. It says in 12:25, “but Jesus knew their thoughts, and
said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation,
and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.’” Jesus didn’t
just know their thoughts because of what they said, He knew their motives and
intents from before the foundation of the world. Oh, and how about this one in John 2:23 -24 which says, “Now when He (Jesus) was
in Jerusalem
Judas was hiding nothing. Jesus knew beforehand that Judas
would steal from the money bag and that Judas would betray Him. After all,
Jesus Christ is the Word of God made into flesh (John 1:14 ) and when Jesus was
praying with the disciples in John
17 He says, “While I was with them (the disciples) in the world, I
kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is
lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”
Jesus, the Word, knew all about the son of perdition prophesied in Psalm 41:9 which says, “Even My
own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel
against me.” But Jesus’ prayer in John
17 , which is after Judas left to go betray Him, is not the first
time Jesus mentioned His betrayer. Long before that, in John 6:60-71 , when many other
disciples, not the Twelve, were turning away from Jesus because they did not
like what He was saying, records Jesus saying, “but there are some of you (the
Twelve) who do not believe.” The next verse says, “for Jesus knew from the
beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.” Then in
John 6:70 Jesus said,
“Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” John 6:71 adds, “He spoke of
Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one
of the twelve.”
Judas had the other eleven disciples fooled, but not Jesus.
Even at the Passover on the night Jesus was betrayed, Jesus announced that one
of them would betray Him. Jesus plainly reveals his betrayer and yet, when
Judas gets up to go do the deed, the other disciples assume he is leaving to
buy things needed for the feast (see John 13:1-30 ). Judas’ decision to betray Jesus probably
didn’t come too long before that night. Even though he was a thief and deceiver
all along, it wasn’t until just before that night that he set out to betray
Jesus, for John 13:2
says, “And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart
of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him.” Luke 22:1-6 states that it was
only in the days leading up to the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread that,
“Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. So
he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might
betray Him to them.”
So here’s the thing, Judas was indwelt by Satan just days
prior to the Passover in order to betray Jesus and hand Him over to the Jewish
leaders who wanted Him dead. Keep in mind that Jesus’ sacrificial death on the
Cross, His burial, and His glorious resurrection are the reason Jesus came in
the first place, so you and I could have our sins forgiven and be given new
life in Jesus Christ. Judas was susceptible to Satan’s attack and control
because he had been playing the deceiver all along. Judas was “wearing a mask”
so no one would see that while he did and said all the right things, on the
inside he remained corrupt. That corruption made Judas an easy target for
Satan’s lies and deceit. After all, Satan doesn’t come as some hideous,
horrifying messenger of death, even though that is what he is. Instead, “Satan
transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14 ). Just as the many false
teachers and false apostles and deceitful workers try to transform themselves
into Christ’s apostles (2
Corinthians 11:13 ).
First John 2:15-18 adds, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone
loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the
world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is
not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the
lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. Little children, it
is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now
many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.”
There are many who wear masks, again not the breathing
protection kind of masks, but false outward appearance masks. Some are so
subtle the individual doesn’t even realize it, many more have been deceived by
addiction(s) that their fairly clean outward appearance is consistent with all
the corruption inside. Some know full well there is great dichotomy between
what’s inside and outside and they don’t care. All of those scenarios are
dangerous and open us to further deception; both the deceptions that fool us
and that we use to fool others.
There is only one way to know if we are deceived and/or
deceivers. It is not a matter of evaluating yourself because how can that which
is deceived know what the Truth is? Any truth I decide to use to help myself
may actually be nothing but more deception! Look, if you were exposed to covid
19, heaven forbid, and you didn’t realize it yet, but you wear that mask over
your face trusting that it would keep you safe, are you safe? Is that mask
going to do anything to help you? (It may help prevent you from spreading it to
someone else, maybe.) But that mask will do nothing to keep you from developing
symptoms or to help you recover if you’ve already got the virus. Moreover, that
mask will be an infected virus-breading ground. (So seriously, wash the thing
after each use and never share them with someone else.) Likewise, if you’ve
been deceived and/or are a deceiver who portrays a “good” appearance in what
you say and do when someone else is around, but inside you are corrupt in your
thoughts, words, and actions, the only way you will come to understand truth is
not by trying to decide for yourself what is true and what isn’t. Cleaning up
the outside by your own wisdom and efforts will not help cure the corruption
already inside True recovery only comes by trusting everything God says in His
Book of Truth, the Bible.
The Word of God, as revealed to you by the Holy Spirit of
God is the only way you are going to know what Truth is, truth about yourself,
your situation, and the people / world around you. Don’t’ be one of those
people who believe parts of the Bible but not some other sections that don’t
make sense to them. Listen, the entire Bible, every word, is inspired like the
Spirit says it is in many places including 2 Timothy 3:16-17 , “All
Scripture is given by inspiration (God-breathed) and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that
the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” You
need to decide if you are going to trust the Word of God as absolute Truth or
if you will ignore it or believe it is only partially true, and if only
partially true, how will you decide what parts are right and which aren’t? Do
you not see that Judas, the betrayer of Jesus, did that very thing? He heard
and saw what Jesus did, yet he determined for himself which parts he would
believe and which parts he didn’t like, and that allowed him to be further
deceived by Satan.
You cannot recover on your own, or by human philosophy which
is foolishness to God. Recovery is only found in the Truth and Jesus is the Way,
the Truth, and the Life. Trust Jesus, trust the Father, trust the Holy Spirit,
and trust the Bible; cling to them as the source of Truth and they will set you
free. Father, Son and Spirit love you and have the power and authority to help
you remove the mask and be pure inside, in your thoughts, desires, words, and
actions.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Mark
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