• I recently came through a terrible years long betrayal
• I don’t want to talk about that betrayal today, I am done talking about it. I am praying every single day for the person involved because I care about her and want her to go on and do better and be in a closer walk with the Lord. I don’t think she is a bad person, she is just a person with unresolved issues. I pray the Lord heals her and helps her move forward.
• I will tell you I can confirm there are enemy assignments of jealousy, offense and division as well as betrayal against God’s people now, and especially the ministers. All the ministers I know including myself are fighting attacks of pain, sickness, betrayal, relationship issues and finances. My own pastor was out of church for a month with both pain AND sickness and is still trying to get all the way well, and his wife is also now ill. 2 or 3 of us have been hit in the finances and in relationships. Its just hard right now, yall, and its tough sometimes to keep your courage up and keep going, especially knowing its going to get worse, but I believe with all my heart the Lord our God is going to strengthen us as we move forward. He will empower us to finish this race, so let’s all just hold on tight to our faith in Him.
• So a number of people I know are fighting apathy and there are MANY attacks of discouragement. It can be hard when you’re already fighting constantly and you know more is coming. But no one promised us an easy life, did they?
• And BY THE WAY, if you want to follow along with this show, I’m taking most of it from my book The Judas Test which is about betrayal.
• What does Betrayal Feel Like. It feels like your heart is being ripped out. Because it is always committed by someone you cared about. Usually a lot.
a. As I walked thru the pain and anguish of this betrayal I was reminded that as the time of the end approaches, evil will continually increase, betrayals will continually increase. This will not stop until time ends.
• So - what should you do when you are betrayed?
• Is there any way to prepare for all that betrayal coming at us? We can as far as understanding it. Understanding it will come through people we love. And setting our hearts for a proper response.
• Betrayal is a test. It’s the Judas Test. And you get tested again and again until you pass, so it’s well worth it to know how to pass it.
• We are out of time, yall, we gotta pass these tests!
• Few people walk through life without suffering betrayal at least once, and many people will experience it over and over.
• The bible relates numerous stories of betrayal.
• As Christians, we are familiar with the story of ultimate betrayal, the story of how Judas Iscariot, one of the original 12 disciples, betrayed Jesus. You can find this story in Matt 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, and John 18.
• I want yall to think about something here.
• WHY did Judas sell out his friend Jesus so cheaply? For 30 pieces of silver? 30 pieces of silver would be like getting 30 twenty-dollar bills. It wasn’t much money!
• So WHY then did Judas sell Jesus out to be killed for so tiny a sum?
• I think Judas may have cared less about the money than about the favor he was going to need with the chief priests when Jesus’ ministry collapsed, which was what he believed was going to happen.
• What was to stop them from rounding up all Jesus followers and imprisoning or killing them once they got Jesus out of the way? What would happen to Judas??
• It is also possible that by betraying Jesus, Judas was trying to force his hand to show his power as Messiah, and thereby establish his kingdom on earth.
• Keep in mind, ESPECIALLY NOW IN THIS TIME, that Satan will ALWAYS attempt to land his most devastating blows on you by using the weakest link in your circle of loved ones and acquaintances. And by weakest, I mean the one with the weakest relationship with our King and Savior.
• Or it COULD be that Judas had seen Jesus give the slip to the authorities so many times that he actually thought he would just slip away again uncaught.
• So there they were at the Passover meal when Jesus told all his disciples, including Judas, that he had been betrayed into the hands of men. To this Judas shook his head in disbelief, ACTING as innocent as all the others actually WERE.
• So that is the story of the ultimate betrayal, the betrayal of the Savior.
• The definition of betrayal: the act of delivering or exposing to an enemy by treachery or disloyalty, to be unfaithful in guarding, maintaining or fulfilling, to violate a confidence by revealing or disclosing in violation of confidence.
• And here is a rule: TRUE BETRAYAL can ONLY happen where there has been a closeness, an intimacy.
• And that former intimacy is EXACTLY what makes betrayal so painful and so deadly.
• Judas knew the routines of Jesus, so he knew where he could be found. And he KNEW that because he had had a privileged position of closeness and learning under him. And that made telling the authorities where to find him a piece of cake.
• Luke 22:47 KJV
• And while he yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him.
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• Luke 22:48 KJV
• But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?
• ALWAYS keep your eyes open when somebody starts kissing up to you. Can I just say that?
• So I want to tell you something the Lord taught me years ago. Whenever a Judas shows up in your life, it means you are UP FOR PROMOTION and it is a TEST to see if you are READY FOR PROMOTION.
• To get your promotion then, you must pass THE JUDAS TEST.
• WHEn this test shows up at your doorstep, and in this time it WILL, you will have the opportunity to show whether you REALLY believe in crucifying your flesh and your own desires or whether there is still enough of the OLD YOU left inside that you will try to vindicate yourself, justify your position and maybe even get a little vengeance on those who betrayed you.
• So let’s talk a little about the many faces of betrayal, because betrayal has more than just one face and if we are going to pass this test, we need to be able to quickly recognize every one of its faces whenever it comes for US. And
• let me tell you something if you don’t already know, we are going into a time of betrayal unlike any before it, and in THIS time, we will likely experience betrayal after betrayal after betrayal as everyone arounds us sells us out to try to save their own hide.
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• Face #1 – They want to be YOU. The Fall of the Prideful – Lucifer. The Hebrew word translated Lucifer is Hay-LALE and it only appears 1x in the kjv. It actually has the sense of something bright or shining, which according to Isaiah, Lucifer once was. Subsequently, however, he is called Satan, which means ADVERSARY.
• So lucifer betrayed God by tempting His creations, Adam & Eve, to sin against Him in the Garden of Eden and got tossed out of heaven on his ear. He didn’t think living amongst all that perfection and having an important position was enough, he wanted MORE. He don’t want things FROM God, he wants to BE God. And he is just prideful enough to think he can pull that off. So God put him on time OUT.
• What happened to satan is the very epitome of Proverbs 11:2 which you will see played out any time you see someone extremely prideful. If you don’t see it this side of eternity, they will experience that fall about 1 second after they leave this life:
• Proverbs 11:2 KJV
• When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.
• Betrayal Face #2 - Jealousy Over Your Acceptance by Someone and Their Lack of It – Cain and Abel
Genesis chapter 4 tells the story of Cain and Abel.
Genesis 4:1 KJV
And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
Genesis 4:2 KJV
And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
Genesis 4:3 KJV
And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
Genesis 4:4 KJV
And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
Genesis 4:5 KJV
But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
Genesis 4:6 KJV
And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
Genesis 4:7 KJV
If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Genesis 4:8 KJV
And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
Cain was jealous because Abel was accepted and he WASN’T. I always wondered why Cain’s offering was not acceptable. My friend Nicole gave the best explanation for that I have heard. She believes it was because Cain had aught in his heart against his brother, which must be true because we read
Matthew 5:23 KJV
Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Matthew 5:24 KJV
Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
IF we are told to LEAVE our offering at the altar and go make things right with our brother, then I have to believe our offering will NOT be acceptable or accepTED if we don’t do that.
So I think my friend may be right about why Cain’s offering was not accepted.
So Cain, in his jealousy over his little brother Abel’s offering being more acceptable, slew him, committing the first murder. God said That was very naughty of you, Cain, and put HIM on Time Out.
• There are many reasons for betrayal. Jealousy is one you see pretty often. People who exhibit the traits of Judas tend to harbor a lot of jealousy.
• ANOTHER instance of betrayal involving jealousy was King Saul’s jealousy over David.
Bringing us to Face of Betrayal #3, The Popularity Contest – Jealousy over a more favorable public opinion – King Saul and David – chapter 5 in The Judas Test.
• Have you ever dealt with betrayal by someone in your church or fellowship group? This is not uncommon. It SHOULD be among the people of God, but think about it – who does satan most want to bring down? The people of God. Sometimes jealousy arises over popularity or promotion or closeness to this or that person in the church, the anointing, or somebody has more than somebody else.
• It happened to King David, it can certainly happen to US.
• 1 Samuel 18:7 KJV
• And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.
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• 1 Samuel 18:8 KJV
• And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?
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• 1 Samuel 18:9 KJV
• And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.
King Saul could not STAND David because everyone preferred David in his excellence, to King Saul. So he pursued him for years trying to kill him, but eventually David became King anyway because God had already ordained it, and King Saul died. And King David also gave a godly response to King Saul’s death. It’s hard not to love someone who walks in excellence like that.
And I know everyone is like Oh but Bathsheba, Bathsheba, etc. Yes, he had Uriah killed so he could marry Bathsheba, that’s true. It wasn’t the adultery I don’t think that the Lord cared about the most in that, it was King David’s ABUSE OF THE POWER GOD HAD BLESSED HIM WITH. That is a very big thing. Because if you will notice, the Lord our God has ALL power. Does He abuse it? No, He doesn’t even act ungentlemanly with it. We are all his creation, He could force His will on all of us if He wanted to, but He doesn’t.
We all need to think about how betrayal can come at us in this time so we are prepared with a response. May the Lord Our God bless you and keep you through all the betrayal that is coming in this time.
