Category Archives: Church

Church, Denominations, Music, Ramblings, Worship

Rightly Dividing

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I am human.  I have likes and dislikes.  I have preferences and predilections. I like historical understandings over hypothetical surmise. I would rather see real people in real situations over contrived and grandiose stories of dubious relevance.  I want the real over perception.

I have been accused to stirring up a little dust once and awhile.  But sometimes I become dissatisfied with all the plans and programs that live in the dusty edges of the church.  They become the more important.  The process of church growth seems to leave out the offer of God’s grace. The vital understanding of God is not in the forefront any more.  I thirst after the teachings and personal encounters with God and not another emotional pulling at my heart strings by one more repetition of five or six words.

The problem is that everyone of us want to “feel good.”  Bless the hearts of preachers and leaders of the church today.  They have a weighty calling and ever increasing pressure to “increase the flock.” At issue is the easiest way to get people to come the doors of a church and keep that attendance is cater to the “feel good” motive.  Ministers would rather empower with strength than to point out the foibles of a congregation.  No one wants their pet sin to be pointed out.  Much like the story of the Pastor in a rural farming town as he was shaking every hand as the congregation was going out the back door.  One unkempt farmer came up to the Pastor and said, “That was a great message Pastor, it was short and about someone else.”

It is all about programs and studies.  If we make the right graph in the monthly board meetings it will be enough to steer the church to success.  If we can categorize, pigeon hole, and delegate enough to keep the doors open, then that is good enough.  We don’t need spirit filled bible warriors.  We don’t need to study to rightly divide the Word of Truth.  We just need another subjective well-presented current psychobabble in three points with fill in papers in the bulletin.  Don’t ask me to think, just do what is expected and that should be good enough.

Youth and children’s programs are stressed because if kids can be kept happy and entertained, mom and pop are much more likely to stay put. Serious in depth deep dive bible study and sermons about bible doctrine are avoided! Let’s cut down on all that prayer time.  The Hymnal is just not relevant anymore. Crank up the canned and amplified music; made up of repeated lyrics set to the world’s latest music. Get toes to tapping and watch visitors come pouring in each Sunday. Then be sure to accentuate the emotional. Touch every psychological button possible with “feel good” sermons and viola! pretty soon a building program will be necessary. If declaring the whole counsel of God while at the same time trying to avoid the flesh is not enough to fill the pews, then let them remain empty! A few grains of wheat should be treasured above a ton of tares!

Church, Church History, Uncategorized

What is the Church?

What is a true Christian Church?  Is it the name?  Some denominations have one of the names of God: Church of God, Apostolic Church of God, Church of the Nazarene, Christ Covenant, and Assembly of God.  Some are named with reference to the Bible: Beacon Bible Church, Church of the Living Word, Word of Life Church, Word of Faith, Bible Way, Community Bible Church and Bible Church.  There are Methodists, Baptists, Christian, Presbyterian, Christian Missionary Alliance, Covenant, Lutheran, Episcopalian Pentecostal, Calvary and on and on.

Is the church the style of worship?  There are churches with traditional styled services.  There are churches with contemporary styled services.  There are churches with celebration styled worship.  There are churches with sacramental styled worship. There are churches with no music in their services.  Some churches have light shows and modern stage presentations.  There are churches with pews and others with chairs.  There are churches that are big but most are small with less than 100 members.

All Christian churches are divided first into one of three areas.  Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant. From there the divisions and branches are too numerous to go any further.

What the true mark of a true Christian Church are core beliefs? Those core understandings of God are what makes a church a Church.  Looking carefully at belief systems of many churches, most fall into specific core beliefs.  There are as many, what I would call periphery beliefs from style of baptism, to stands on the Gifts of the Spirit.

Now you wouldn’t be reading this unless you were willing to hear what I have to say makes the true Christian Church.

In the true Church the following is true:

  1. A belief in God as defined as belief in God the Father, Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Holy Spirit.
  2. The holiness of the Church and the communion of saints.
    1. The church membership requires salvation of the individual by faith.
    2. The church member is sent to propagate and extend the benefits of the saving grace of God.
  3. Jesus is Lord.
    1. Christ’s second coming, the Day of Judgement and salvation of the faithful.
    2. Jesus is the head of the church. Jesus is Lord.  Jesus is the ruler.
    3. Jesus is the purpose of everything that is done. This single core belief calls the church together as a community.  If the Church does not have Jesus as the purpose it is not a Christian Church.
    4. Jesus is the method of salvation. Only in belief in the forgiving power of Jesus is the power of salvation.
    5. The death, descent into hell, resurrection, and ascension of Christ.
    6. Christ’s second coming, the Day of Judgement and salvation of the faithful.

So enough with the technical and theology.  My idea of a Christian Church is a church were a united community of believers are called together to worship and empowered to go out to the world with hope and purpose.  It is a place where the past never defines the believer’s future.  In my Church there is always redemption.  That redemption there is always a new brighter, blessed, hope filled day coming.  In my ideal church no one thinks himself better than anyone else.  Even to a point that my church is not any better than any other in town.  In my church each believer is doing the best that can be done at being the best we can be.  In my church there is a belief that we believe in God and God believes in us.  The ideal church, believers would not think less of those who do not believe like us, but there is an active pursuance of them in the same love that pursues us.

At my church the believers are still learning.  Learning to learn with an appetite directed to the scriptures.  Learning to serve God and neighbors with a joy in their hearts.  Believers are learning to worship God in more of their lives than just Sunday morning.  It is worship with the entire being and everything that is done. It is a congregation of believers that live, breath, cry, laugh, and love for God’s glory, honor, praise, and fame.  There is no place for an “I” in Church.

Caution must be had here.  There is no perfect church.  Believers still make mistakes.  Leadership make mistakes.  The difference is what is done in response to error.  The true believer, the leader, the church itself has to choose to not to give up.  It is a choice to use that failure as a stepping stone to growth.

The true church is part of the world of believers held together by the resurrection of Jesus.

The true church the believers choose to believe that God is real and God wants the best in us and for us.  The church the believers strive to server others in need of a touch, a prayer, meal, or a hug.  The true church is the hands and the feet of Jesus.

The true church is always inviting, loving, hoping, living, worshiping, praying, smiling amid tears, learning, and being more than the total of the lives of the believers.

Church, Worship

Preparation for Worship

Sunday Mornings we have a five minute countdown displayed on the media screen to remind the congregation how much time they have before the worship service.  I build them trying to make them as interesting as possible.  Sometimes they are trivia tests others are thought provoking scriptures. They are highly animated and should provide a prompt to the congregation to gather and prepare themselves for worship.  This Sunday I went out to the foyer of the church and discovered about a quarter of the congregation was not moving into the sanctuary.  When the counter reached double zero and Pastor started to speak, these languishing sheep paid little attention to the timeliness of the Pastor.

Brash and loud as I am, I said in a very loud voice, “Time for Church.”  And they reluctantly moved into the place of worship.  I think next time I will use a cattle prod.

Part of our preparation for worship ought to be reminding ourselves of who God is—the holy, sovereign Lord. In Exodus 19, we read in verse 16:

Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

When the trumpet sounded and the moment arrived for the people of Israel to draw near to God, every person in the camp trembled. Unfortunately, few people respond to God in worship like that anymore. Many have forgotten how to tremble before Him, for they do not regard Him as holy. How different their response would be if they could see Him as He revealed Himself to the Israelites:

“And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now, Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. Exodus 19:17-18

Over and over again God invited the people, “Come near to Me.” But that invitation was balanced by what God said following the deaths of Nadab and Abihu: “By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy.” We are commanded by God to come into His presence—to come near to HIM. Not only that, we may come into His presence, as Hebrews 4:16 makes clear. But there is a difference between coming boldly into the presence of God and coming arrogantly. When we come boldly into His presence and draw near to Him, we must always remember that we are to regard Him as holy.

We also must remember that we have no right to come into God’s presence on our own. No amount of preparation that we can do is enough to make us fit.

I really think we need a smoke generator to move the people into an attitude of worship. At least that is what God thought was appropriate.

Church, Uncategorized

The Church of Nickels & Noses

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God does not care as much about nickels and noses as men do. Carnal men glory in such things as nickels and noses. We live in a time of big meetings, big churches, big church buildings, big preachers, and big church budgets. The failure or success of a church and its pastor is judged by the number of nickels and noses that they have. In all too many cases, there is seen in this more Satanic pride than spiritual piety…

As a pastor for quite a few years I have many times been asked this question, and, no doubt, I will be asked it many more times if I live. Never has anyone ever asked me such questions as the following: “Are your services spiritual?” “Is Christ real to your people?” “Are your members hearing the whole counsel of God?” “Are your people growing in grace and in the knowledge of Christ?” “Is there a spirit of unity and love in your church?” Evidently. these things are not important to modern-day religionists, who judge religious success by worldly standards–nickels and noses. I just wish one single time that a person would ask about something other than nickels and noses!

THE EFFECT OF THIS ON OUR CHURCHES

The philosophy of nickels and noses has drastically changed our churches for the worse. In the craze for nickels and noses churches have replaced preachers and pastors with puppeteers and pranksters. The gospel of Christ has been superseded by gimmicks, gum, gadgets, and games. Psychology has taken the place of Holy Spirit conviction. The faith has been displaced for finance, fun, and foolishness.

This syndrome has filled our churches with unconverted persons. We have far more churchianity than Christianity. The only change some church members made since joining the church was from wet to dry clothes following their baptism. Many church members are white-washed, but they are not blood washed.

It has produced icy services and cold, callous, complacent church members. Look at the average church! They have their robed choir, their cut and dried program, and their intellectual preaching. They have a beautiful edifice. They have all the organization and rituals one could ask for, but in most cases it is Spiritless! We have never faced such in our generation. We have form without reality; we have organization without power; profession without possession. We have a form of godliness without the power of it. We have religion without life.

It has caused pastors to spend more time worrying with goats than feeding the sheep. The pastor nowadays must provide a spiritual diet for people who have no spiritual appetite. Like Ezekiel of old (Ezek. 37:1-10), he must preach to dead, dry bones, but without the blessings which Ezekiel experienced. These dry, dead bones can’t hear, yet the pastor must keep preaching and pretend someone is listening. These dry, dead bones do not grow in grace, for the dead do not grow.

This idea has given us the gimmick gospel. Most church members want to be entertained instead of instructed in the Word of God. They have far more delight in the gospel of amusement than the gospel of the atonement.

It has made people look down on small churches. Preachers politic for the large churches which have a lot of nickels and noses. They will compromise their principles and preach almost any heresy to get a big church.

Church members like big churches so they can hide out in the crowd and have no responsibilities. They like the upper class in society. Such churches have skilled politicians as pastors who do not offend their many nickels and noses.

While there are some exceptions, most big churches are worldly churches. They have high carnality and low spirituality. Truth is very scarce in such fashionable churches because the Word of God has been compromised to keep nickels and noses. These churches are more like social clubs than spiritual centers. Christ has departed from these Laodicean churches (Rev. 3:14-22). All that keeps the people in such liberal organizations is their love for social prestige.

Church, Church History

Hanging of the Greens at Christmas

The church at I attend on a regular basis is planning a special service for the Christmas season.  It is titled “Hanging of the Greens.  The hanging of the greens is a Western Christian ceremony in which a congregation adorn the church with decorations.  It is usually don on or directly before the start of Advent.  It is a preparation for the coming Christmas celebration.

So what does it mean to the average christian?  It is a start of the season celebration that is more than black Friday or cyber Monday. The is the first acknowledgement of God with us. During the Advent season we prepare for the One who has come, whom we expect to come, and who will come again. We prepare our hearts and make room for the Messiah. In the hanging of the greens we share with other Christians throughout the ages the memory and anticipation of Christ’s coming. We decorate our church with the symbols of love, joy, hope, and peace. Why do we do this? To tell the story again and then proclaim: Jesus is born. God is with us!

 

Church, Church History, Music

Church Music and the evolution of worship

First let me say I am a senior citizen. I was just thrust into Medicare and signed up for Social Security. I have not always been in the church. It started for me back when someone from the Nazarene Church came calling on a newlywed couple. Not long after we became a part of the church. It had a formula of service: Prayer, announcements, a song from the Hymnal, an offering, two more songs from the Hymnal, a special song from one of the parishioners, preaching and an invitation. Oh they mixed up once and a while by having the announcements after the offering but nothing really changed. The same ingredients just mixed a little differently. We had an organ on one side of the platform and a piano on the other. Opal played the piano. We had to be careful not to pick songs that she could not play. She was dedicated and was a blessing to all for her stewardship of time and talent. The organ was reserved for the preacher’s wife. Lofty tones of ethereal music that could thrill the soul.

The biggest change in music was in inclusion of songs from singer songwriters such as the Gaithers. We occasionally sang songs such as “The Longer I Serve Him”, “Because He Lives”, “Something Beautiful”, “He Touched Me” and “There’s Something About That Name”. They were predominantly songs of testimony. They were songs that would tell what God has done in people’s lives. They trilled the soul, sent penitent sinners to the altar, it was exciting.

Song books started to show up next to the hymnal in the pew. There seemed to be a craving for an experiential, testimonial, heart pulling type of music. In retrospect these songs were not that different from songs in the hymnal such as “Victory in Jesus”, “It Is Well With My Soul”, “Amazing Grace”, “Christ Arose”, and “He Loves Me”. But these new spiritual songs were written in modern styles and seemed to bolster the music ministry of the church.

Let us fast forward through Bible College, three different churches as a pastor, and now retirement and we now come to the new church experience. The evolution of church music has changed the church. And I am not so certain that it is a change that is good. I am afraid instead of the church changing the world the world has changed the church.

We live in an ever-present culture of consumerism and materialism. We often quote the latest commercial on television more often than scripture. This culture seems to have seduced the church to be driven by marketing rather than mission. And the music I hear is driven more by entertainment than the God centeredness of true worship.

It was A. W. Tozer who said, “The church that can’t worship must be entertained. And men who can’t lead a church to worship must provide the entertainment.” It is so sad to think that contemporary music and worship has become worship dumbed down and has become a cross between “American Idol” and “Sesame Street”. Worship in song is to lift the veil of the Holy of Holies and peek into the throne room of God. It is not the vain repetition that Jesus warned us about by singing the same words over and over and over again.

I am distressed that the church today is trying so hard to be modern and contemporary in an effort to attract new members, they succumb to things that are nothing more than marketing ploy. Instead of worship in song we substitute a variety show for entertainment.

So here is my take on what music in my church should be:

1. Truthful: Rather than trying to get dumber than a fifth grader, offer truth that grows my understanding of God. As we glorify Him in our music, as we worship Him in our spiritual songs, don’t be afraid to convey some deep spiritual truth that may change my life. After all, He is truth, it shouldn’t be that hard. The reason most of the hymns of the old timers were so good was they were filled with theology and truth.

2. Written for adults: The Church is a blood washed throng. We are intelligent, cognizant, seekers of truth. The children in the church sing little songs once and while in the church and we think that cute. But we are no longer children; I need meat in my worship. Go ahead, give us songs with deep doctrine that excite our souls. Give us something we can hold onto on a daily basis. Give us something to hum under our breath in the times you would rather scream.

3. Timeless: Let’s sing songs that reach back into the archives of songs proven to have been used of God to edify His people. Why change something that has touched people’s lives for decades if not centuries. The newest and most popular is not always the best.

4. Quality: We need to play music well. There are those who have gifts and talents to play music and to sing. And if the best you have is giving the best they can give, I am fine with that. Remember enthusiasm is no substitute for practice.

5. Worshipful: When we sing, point us to God, not toward your talents. This is not Holy Karaoke. It is not being relevant to society; it is simply conforming to the world. We need serious worship. Worship that is pointed toward God and not to the platform or the overhead screen.

6. Piety: I hear the mantra of “come as you are, God doesn’t care what you wear, it is what is in your heart that matters.” If you showed up to your child’s wedding in jeans and a pair of sandals would you say, “My child doesn’t care what I wear?” The concept of Sunday best is being lost. I know full well that we live in a more relaxed culture, but dress as if worship is nothing more than one more day is not giving God his best. Whether conscious or unconscious what we wear is a characteristic our perceived worth of the occasion. Worship calls for the best, not what is comfortable.

My Father is rich in houses and lands,
He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands!
Of rubies and diamonds, of silver and gold,
His coffers are full, He has riches untold.

My Father’s own Son, the Savior of men,
Once wandered on earth as the poorest of them;
But now He is pleading our pardon on high,
That we may be His when He comes by and by.

I once was an outcast stranger on earth,
A sinner by choice, an alien by birth,
But I’ve been adopted, my name’s written down,
An heir to a mansion, a robe and a crown.
A tent or a cottage, why should I care?
They’re building a palace for me over there;
Though exiled from home, yet still may I sing:
All glory to God, I’m a child of the King.

I’m a child of the King, A child of the King:
With Jesus my Savior, I’m a child of the King

Church, Preaching

Requirements for Preaching

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Whitefield wrote about the need for a special type of preacher: “Yea…that we shall see the great Head of the Church once more . . . raise up unto Himself certain young men whom He may use in this glorious employ. And what manner of men will they be? Men mighty in the Scriptures, their lives dominated by a sense of the greatness, the majesty and holiness of God, and their minds and hearts aglow with the great truths of the doctrines of grace. They will be men who have learned what it is to die to self, to human aims and personal ambitions; men who are willing to be ‘fools for Christ’s sake’, who will bear reproach and falsehood, who will labor and suffer, and whose supreme desire will be, not to gain earth’s accolades, but to win the Master’s approbation when they appear before His awesome judgment seat. They will be men who will preach with broken hearts and tear-filled eyes, and upon whose ministries God will grant an extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit, and who will witness ‘signs and wonders following’ in the transformation of multitudes of human lives.”

My most earnest desire is for the church, my church, might find a Bible infused preacher of the Word.  A preacher that is so overpowered with the holiness of God, so broken by the purity of God, so full of wonder of the majesty of God, and so overwhelmed by the God’s greatness that the church not just be revived but set ablaze in a holy zeal that cannot be quenched.

We need preaching that will lead us to the seriousness of God.  It is more than a heavenly, back slapping, fellowship.  I hear from all sides and church growth specialists that preachers need to “lighten up”, “be more relevant to today’s issues”, and “we have to become more modern.” In these admonitions to the preachers of the day I do not hear the Spirit of Jesus.

Listen instead to the words of God;

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25).

  • “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell” (Matthew 5:29).
  • “Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33).
  • “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).
  • “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead” (Matthew 8:22).
  • “Whoever would be first among you must be slave of all” (Mark 10:44).
  • “Fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).
  • “Some of you they will put to death . . . But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives” (Luke 21:16-19).

To the church I would ask what kind of preacher do we need:

  • One that would teach us to hold on until Jesus comes, or a fire brand that will hold our feet to the fire?
  • One that is good with audio visuals or someone that imparts the seriousness of God.
  • One that is so up to date with the latest news and current events or someone that has the mind and heart of God so close that he imparts the timelessness of the Holy?

Church, Preaching

Who is leading the flock

Real shepherds know the sheep, live with the sheep, and even eat the same sheep food. The shepherds  life demands both public engagement with real people and meaningful private moments alone with piles of books.

In churches we have code language that goes something like this. If the guy is warm and friendly but can’t preach to save his life, it is said of him that “he has a pastor’s heart.” Conversely, many wonderfully skilled expositors are nothing more than full-time conference speakers who drop into their congregations most Sundays and deliver a conference-like message. In short, if the shepherds vocation hovers anywhere near the end of Ephesians 4:11 (So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers) we need to embrace the full weight of what it means to be a pastor and the commitment involved for those who are called to teach the Word. What does a church need: a pastor or a teacher? The answer should be “both.”

Church, Preaching

What is preaching?

I have been impressed lately on the necessity of preaching in the church.  I have read much on why preaching should be the pinnacle of the gatherings of the Body of Christ.  The words of Jack Hyles have refreshed my concept of preaching more than all the others. I humbly take his ideas and thoughts and share them with you.

Preaching is taking a risk in explaining the mind of God.  Preaching is teaching with a tear in the eye.  Preaching is explaining the unexplainable.  Preaching is facts on fire.  Preaching is the very thoughts of God in the hand, the fire of God in the heart and the zeal of God in the soul.  It is, in the words of Pastor Jack Hyles, “Preaching is the gift of God wrapped in an excited voice.” Preaching has to be more than a 30 minute speech.  It has to be the moral conscience of the church, the nation and the world.  Preaching is the soul of the body of Christ.

All the major colleges in the east were built because of preaching. It was preaching that originally built our public school system. It was preaching that originally established our law system. In the early days of our country, a degree in theology was a prerequisite to a law degree. Every great denomination was founded on preaching. It was John Wesley who said, “I just set myself on fire and folks come to watch me as I burn.”

John Newton said, “Preaching is breaking the hard heart and healing the broken one.

Abraham Lincoln said, ‘When I hear a man preaching, I like to see him act as if he were fighting bees.”

Preaching is the answer to what troubles the church. We cannot allow any substitute for preaching. The church should never settle for something less. Sacred music is admirable, but it is no substitute of preaching. An inspired cantata may be uplifting but is not substitute for preaching.  A poignant dramatic presentation of drama is not a substitute for preaching. Preaching is the highest of professions and the greatest of pure art.

Again as Pastor Jack Hyles in his book “Teaching on Preaching,” emphatically stated:
Preaching is truth set on fire. Preaching is demolition of error. Preaching is doubt’s healing balm. Preaching is the Holy Spirit’s amplifier. Preaching is the Savior’s projector. Preaching is fact on fire and truth aflame. Preaching is worship’s entrée. Preaching is the adornment of the Bible. Preaching is the power of God unto salvation. Preaching is revival’s forerunner. Preaching is the church’s heart. Preaching is doctrine clothed in excitement. Preaching is love’s smile. Preaching is sin’s greatest adversary. Preaching is frustration’s funeral.  Preaching is doubt’s demise.  Preaching is fear’s failure. Preaching is depression’s death. Preaching is disappointment’s decline.  Preaching is faith’s food.  Preaching is profundity delivered in simplicity. Preaching was the first thing done by the Mayflower pilgrims.  Preaching is the mender of broken relationships.  Preaching is the healer of broken hearts. Preaching is the revival of broken dreams. Preaching is Hell’s greatest enemy Preaching is the sinner’s best friend.  Preaching is the saint’s dinner.  Preaching is genius with a halo.  Preaching is fire in the pulpit that melts the ice in the pew.

When the preacher approaches the pulpit, all must stop.  Angels must cease their wings, let holy awe inspired hush come upon heaven itself. This folly of preaching is the most important task of the hour, the day, even of the week. Let Heaven give voice and unction, let the gates of hell shake in fear, let the church wait in a holy expectation.  Quiet the children, let the ushers sit down, let all the past pass away, let the stew boil in the pot, the future can wait, let Satan and his angles be overcome with fear.

Bible Study, Church

Teachable men willing to change

In Sunday School we had a challenging discussion on the calling of Peter.  We asked why was the call extended to Peter over some more learned and sophisticated individuals on the other side of the lake.  What was the criteria for calling Peter or for that matter any of the twelve? What is the criteria for a calling today?

By consensus it was written upon the white board, “Teachable men willing to change.” OK, I can go along with that but what about the one that got away?  What about Judas that allowed him to elude the net by the Greatest Fisher of Men?  Jesus during this three year teaching and preaching period cast a wide net, but not all were wrestled into the boat.

Only the twelve men in all history have had the intimate, personal relationship to Jesus the incarnate Son of God.  Judas along with the other eleven has ever been more exposed to God’s perfect truth.  No other has had the crash course in experiential love.  They all were exposed in an intimate first hand washing of God’s love, compassion, power, kindness, forgiveness and grace. No group of followers could come close to the very essence of God.  Yet through it all Judas escaped the net.  In the most indescribably precious, and blessed years the heart of Judas was not softened.

Judas defies comprehension.  Judas constantly and with persistence of mind rejected the very truth of God in the flesh.  And he hid it from everyone around him with skill.  The only one to see into the heart of this chosen fisher of men and see the wicked rebellion was Jesus.  And He called him a devil.

Judas did not escape from guilt. Just like the pain we feel as we accidentally burn ourselves. So guilt is an intrinsic and automatic warning of spiritual danger.  It was guilt that drove Judas to remorse which in turn led to his death.  Do not confuse guilt and remorse with the requisite answer to both. The answer to both is repentance.  Repentance is an act of the will. Judas was teachable but he was not willing to change.  And in the last moment of his life his willingness not to change condemned him.