Judas, The Anti-Christ
DATE: 22 June, 2003 PM PLACE: BBC Blarney
I. Introduction (1Jn 2:18)
A. There is Anti-christ and there are anti-christs
1. An antichrist is someone who is against Jesus as the Messiah (1Jn 2:21; 4:1-3; 2Jn 7)
2. An antichrist is Someone who rejects the deity of the Messiah
a. Only a good Man – modern, liberals in religions, Islam
b. Only a created god – jehovah’s witnesses
3. An antichrist is Someone who seeks to replace Jesus, the Son of God with a devil, the son of Satan – the False Prophet
4. The antichrist is The Man of Sin himself (2Thes 2:3)
B. Anti-christs have been working since the Garden of Eden
1. Always against God, His word, His plan, and His Son, Jesus
2. Doesn’t have to be very EVIL, just ANTI-God, ANTI-Christ, and ANTI-anything that is associated with God and godliness (2Thes 2:4)
C. Notice some the Scriptures concerning the anti-christ in the Old Testament – he is the second most talked about being in all of Scripture!
1. The Seed of the serpent (Gen 3:15; 2Cor 11:1-3)
2. The Beast (Dan 7:8; Rev 13:1-18)
3. The little horn (Dan 8:9-12)
4. Leviathan (Isa 27:1)
5. The Prince of Dan 9 that shall come
D. Pictures of the anti-christ
1. Cain
2. Nimrod
3. Ham
4. King Saul
5. The prophets of Baal in the Old Testament.
6. Ahab and Jezabel
7. Herod
8. The Pharisees
9. And, Judas Iscariot!
E. Most importantly, the anti-christ is NOT what you would expect him to be
1. He is an Angel, of light – not apparently an evil man
2. He is a worker of righteousness - does GOOD things - self righteousness
3. He is a world leader
4. He is half-Jew, half Syrian – interracial
5. He is probably here, on this planet right now
II.
Background – The Apostle Judas Iscariot
A. Judas was An Apostle (Lk 6:13-16)
B. Judas was An Eye-Witness.
C. Judas was A Counterfeit (Mt 13:24-30) Looked, smelled, sounded, and acted like a Christian
D. Judas was A Thief (Jn 12:1-6)
E. Judas was A Betrayer (Zech 11:12,13)
F. Judas was Lost (Mt 26:24) Don’t think Judas was lost because he wasn’t like you and me. He was lost to hell because:
III.
Message
A. Judas was A False Apostle (2Cor 11:13)
1. Had every supernatural power that all the other apostles had. Did not mean that he was saved, or a believer (Mt 10:1-3)
2. He was invited to follow Christ (just as ALL men are)
3. He was empowered by Christ for a great purpose
4. He was used by God to do good
5. He was part of a greater team that were intended to win the world
6. And yet, he was only an ACTOR – an hypocrite
7. There are many false things
a. False gospels (Gal 1)
b. False believers
c. False miracles – mainly hypnosis
d. False churches
e. False Apostles – should be able to do ANY miracle!
B. Judas was The First Coming of the Anti-Christ.
1. Just as Jesus has two comings, so also does the anti-christ
2. Called a devil by Jesus (Jn 6:70,71)
3. When he died, he did not go to heaven, or to hell (Act 1:25)
4. This man, totally deceived every other apostle – as will the anti-christ do when he comes again
5. This man was ALL man, yet inhabited by Satan himself (Jn 13:27)
C. Judas Will Come Again.
1. Shows up at the beginning of the tribulation
a. Riding a white horse (Rev 6:1,2)
b. Bringing in a false peace, into a world of utter turmoil
2. Is called the BEAST – a hideous creature
3. Has a side-kick that is the greatest religious leader ever – the false prophet
a. Will direct all the world to worship the beast
b. Will give life to inanimate objects that represent the Image of the Beast
c. Will be able to do incredible miracles
d. Will deceive the whole world
1) Except for the Jews, and the people they win to Jesus, the REAL Christ at great cost
2) The Christians of today will be gone because of one of two reasons
a) Either by normal death
b) Or by THE RAPTURE (Rev 4:1,2)
IV.
Conclusion - So what does this matter to the Christian?
A. It rests our fears
1. No tribulation for Christ’s Bride, the Christians
2. No worries by to win the world
3. No signs to look for except the sound of the Trumpet!
B. It demonstrates three things:
1. The devil’s plan
a. To blind – constantly working to keep people blind
b. To bind – to keep them slaves of their sin
c. To grind – to ultimately murder and destroy anything that has anything to do with God (man was made in the image of God)
2. God’s foreknowledge
a. God is not surprised by anything that happens
b. God has prepared us for everything, if we would just avail of God’s grace
c. We should be able to open this Book, and get excited!
3. God’s control
a. The devil is on a leash
b. Everything he gets to do, is all within the plan of God that will result in
1) The Jewish nation getting saved
2) Millions who have never heard getting saved
3) Jesus coming back with us behind Him – but this time to rule and reign on the earth!
C. What should a Christian do
1. Yield to God’s control and direction and will
2. Make it very hard for the devil to carry out his plans
3. Get excited about everything getting closer to the Rapture!
Craig Ledbetter
www.biblebc.com
Bible Baptist Church
Blarney, Co. Cork
Mallow, Co. Cork
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