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Once again, good morning. Please turn in your Bibles to John chapter 13. I'll be looking at verses 21 to 30 today. I want to continue our heart series. Today I want to look at an unteachable heart, an unteachable heart, and there certainly is not a better example of this in Scripture than Judas.

His heart seemed to go from bad to worse, directly related to his unteachableness. Well, while you're turning there, here's an image of the Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci. It's in the news. And if you've been watching the Olympics, or even began watching them, you realize that the promoters of the Olympics this year thought they'd give the world something to talk about, and so they openly mocked the Lord's Supper in a very vivid way.

If you know what I'm talking about, you know what I'm talking about. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's so defiling that I wouldn't even really explain it to you. But they wanted to give the world something to talk about. To talk about, and so that's what we're going to do this morning.

Because those who were party to the mockery have absolutely no idea what is going on in this text. This isn't some relic to just mock and so inflame Christians around the world. It's not even really about the betrayal, it's about a wedding, a wedding that takes place where a soulmate comes in union with another soulmate, and the two go off and live the rest of their lives together.

My heart goes out to those who mock because they have no idea that it's a wedding ceremony and they themselves are marching right down the aisle. And they will end up being the bride, just like Judas was in this ceremony we have before us. You see, an unteachable heart inevitably leads to permanent union with Satan.

Who is Satan? God's adversary. You and I are going to either end up being Being in union with God Almighty, with our Creator, or we're going to end up being in union with His adversary. That is where union goes. When you refuse to accept the truth, your soul becomes united with the Father of lies.

Where are you today? I think about a soulmate. What is a soulmate? Well, by definition, a soulmate is a person who is perfectly suited to another in temperament, or a person who strongly resembles another person in attitudes and beliefs. We can think to some degree that words are like soulmates.

What you believe comes into you and becomes part of you, and so impacts everything you say and do and impacts every relationship that you have in this world. So I want to talk about John 13 today for a couple reasons. Number one, it is actually the text behind Leonardo da Vinci's.

Last Supper painting. It's the text he used for it. And so those promoting the Olympic wanted us to talk about it. So let's talk about this from the biblical text itself. But the second reason is this is the text that I had planned to preach anyway. So I'm not just trying to be relevant, just trying to go down and continue in our heart series this morning.

It's just so timely that this text is so on the minds of the world right now, and many do not have a clue what it's about. It is about a marriage union that takes place, a marriage that takes place before the betrayal even occurs. It's something that happens in Judas's heart.

And so I want to bring that out this morning. You see, Christ's love for his people is displayed in John 13. He washes their feet. And that washing speaks of our need to be cleansed. We need to be cleansed from our wrongdoing. And it's what takes place in that Last Supper is Christ is preparing to cleanse his disciples of that which they need to be.

Cleansed of the most. And that is their wrongdoing, their stench before Almighty God, a perfectly holy God. They needed to be cleansed. And what was taking place in that upper room was Christ was preparing to wash away the sins of the world. You see, you were loved by God.

You were loved to love. And that's what he says. I have loved you in this manner. Go and love each other in the same manner. The world isn't just about mocking those who disagree with you. It's about loving like Christ loved, like the Christ revealed in Scripture and how he loved.

He loved us so that we could love like him. Loved us so that we could be in union with his Father and love the Father like He loved the Father and love each other like He loved each other. And Jesus said in John 3:17, He said, if you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

If you know what Jesus is about, if you know what He did, if you know these things, not just intellectually, but if you take Him to heart. You are blessed if you do them. And Jesus, it's clear that Judas didn't let these words into his heart. He left there that night believing he did not need the cleansing that Jesus gives.

As we saw in a previous study, a defiled heart lives for itself. A defiled heart is constantly ruminating and thinking through how it might get what it needs, what it wants. And we'll use theology. We'll even come up with an imposter God. And we'll use each other to get there.

That's what a defiled heart does. It evil dialogues within itself. And this is what pollutes a person. And this is what pollutes the world around us. And the only hope for a defiled heart is to be taught by God and so transformed by the truth. Listen, you will either be transformed by heavenly truth or you will end up embracing worldly folly.

Those are the two ways of humanity. Shaped by heavenly truth. That is the truth that God sent into the world? Or you will be shaped and you will pursue earthly foolishness. And that is why Jesus, over and over in his ministry, would tell his disciples and would tell the crowds: take care of what you listen to.

Take care of what you're allowing into your heart and accepting as truth. You see, more truth is going to be given to the one who listens to it, but the one who doesn't listen to the truth, even the truth that he has will be taken away from him.

Judas. Prime example. So, what I want to do over the next two weeks is I want to set before you two contrasting examples of teachableness from Christ's own disciples. And both are pictured in Da Vinci's painting. The second disciple is John. He had a teachable heart. And so his defiled heart went from bad to good because he was teachable.

But today I want to look up on the first of these examples, the negative one, Judas. He had an unteachable heart. And so his defiled heart went from the heart. From bad to worse. And it's in John 13, 21, 30. We see this wedding union take place. Let me go ahead and read those words for you.

John 13, beginning in verse 21. When Jesus had said this, he became troubled in his spirit and testified and said, Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray me. The disciples began looking at one another at a loss to know of which one he was speaking.

There was reclining on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. So Simon Peter gestured to him and said to him, Tell us who it is of whom he is speaking. He, leaning back thus on Jesus' bosom, said to him, Lord, who is it? Then Jesus answered, That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.

So when he had dipped the morsel, he took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, What you do, do quickly. Now no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose he had said this to him.

Some were supposing because Judas had the money box that Jesus was saying to him, Buy the things we have need of for the feast, or else that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the morsel, he went out immediately, and it was night. This Last Supper is really a wedding ceremony that takes place.

Not a big grand wedding ceremony, but more like what we call here in Texas a justice of the peace ceremony. A justice of the peace ceremony is different from a church wedding. It's simpler, it's shorter, the guest list is very small, there's no bridal party, there's no money spent on decorations, it's a very short ceremony, mostly in a courthouse.

And once the wedding vows are done and the judge announces the marriage, the couple just simply leaves to their life together. And this is the kind of wedding that I have in mind this morning and what takes place before us in our text. And what I want to do is, I want to walk you through this little marriage ceremony so that you will see what happens to those who have an unteachable heart.

I want to take you all this through this. Why? I don't want you to have an unteachable heart. Let the heavenly truth of God impact your life, not just head knowledge, but heart knowledge. And so, like any wedding in this union or this marriage to Satan, there are individuals that play a role.

First, I want to talk to you about the wedding officiant. Every wedding, there's an officiant. Look back at verse 21. And when he had said this, he became troubled in spirit and testified and said, Truly, truly, I say to you that one of you will betray me. Who is the officiant?

Jesus. A troubled Jesus. This is a scene of great emotion. Look at it. He became troubled. Another time that this emotion is expressed in Jesus' life is the unbelief of Mary. You remember when she was weeping at the tomb of Lazarus as one without hope, Jesus became troubled in his spirit.

There, Jesus wept over her unbelief. But here, Jesus is troubled because of an unbelieving friend. One that he was close to. As Psalm 55, 12 speaks, David, by the Spirit of God, wrote these words, For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, then I could bear it, nor is it one who hates me, who has exalted himself against me, then I could hide myself from him.

But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, and my familiar friend. We who had sweet fellowship together, we walked in the house of God in the throng. It's this kind of betrayal that is on Jesus' mind. You were my friend. And Jesus really loved Judas. He washed his feet.

But what is troubling Jesus is here is his friend dismissing the truth right before his eyes. And notice the language, and he handed Jesus over. The idea of betrayal is handing over. Before Jesus hands Judas over, guess what? Judas had already handed Jesus over in his heart. And that's troubling.

Jesus is troubled because of the bitter pain associated with watching. One of his closest friends become hopelessly apostate. He takes no delight in seeing people dismiss him. But Jesus is the judge of all mankind. He's already made that clear in John 5:22. Jesus said, Not even the Father judges anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son.

You see, it's not wise to disregard the one whom God has appointed to officiate your eternal destiny. Don't disregard his words. Let his words teach you. Second, in any wedding ceremony, there's a groom, a groom. Not much needs to be said about the groom. It's clear from verse 27a, it is Satan.

Named Satan means God's adversary and humanity's adversary. He is not just God's adversary and your friend, even if you bow down and worship him. He is God's adversary and he is humanity's adversary because he hates the image-bearer of God, and that is why he constantly. Leads the image-bearer of God into their destruction.

Sin has a destiny, eternal separation from God, because Satan hates God, and you just happen to bear his image. And even if you're in cahoots with him, you still bear an image that he hates. And that is why he destroys even those loyal to him and march according to his drumbeat.

The adversary. 1 Peter 5:8 says he prowls around like a hungry lion seeking someone to devour. You know what he's looking for? A soulmate. Someone who will dismiss heavenly truth, who will believe his words and become a pawn in his rage against God. That's what he's after. And you will spend an eternity joined to the Spirit of God or the Spirit of His adversary.

We just spent three years, or nearly, in the book of Revelation, and we saw there a very graphic description of Satan. And as we walked through it, it became very evident. Satan isn't good at standing any kind of ground or taking any kind of territory except deceiving people.

That's what he's good at. And this Is the way his satanic courtship happens. First of all, he starts with a satanically inspired temptation, a satanically inspired temptation, something that will tempt you to have some liberty from God. So, this satanic-inspired temptation meets within you some kind of fleshly resonance.

You want to act, but you must have liberty from God in order to do so. So, the satanically inspired temptation leads to a fleshly resonance, then leads to a willful participation, and then leads to cruel domination. That's his game plan. And what do we know about Satan from the book of Revelation?

Well, he is unrepentant, he is unrepentant in his hostility against God, he is unrepentant in his irrationality, he is unrepentant in his rage against God, and he is unrepentant in his inclination to destroy. And he wants to destroy everything that is good to keep it from giving glory to God.

Why? Because he rages and hates God. That's what this conflict is about, and that's what all of us. Humanity is caught up in. Well, that's the groom. Let's talk about the bride for a moment. And notice in verse 22, notice there's the witness to this event is John is a teachable disciple.

We'll talk about him more later, but he's the one sitting there witnessing this. Look at verse 22. The disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one he was speaking. There was reclining on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. So Simon Peter gestured to him and said to him, Tell us who it is of whom he is speaking.

He, leaning back thus on Jesus' bosom, said to him, Lord, who is it? And then the answer you see coming in verse 26, Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. That's the bride. The betrayer, the one who is handing Jesus over, you can think of it at the same way.

He is ousting Jesus from his own life. He is ridding his life of Jesus. He is handing him over, kicking him out. You can see it's clear that Judas was also in close proximity to Christ that night. And it was not because he was a true follower of him.

Him. Now he knew the truth. He wanted to be near to Christ, but not because he was a true follower. He was expecting to get something. You see, there is a danger of disconnecting the truth we speak about each week, disconnecting what you say you believe the Bible says and not really embracing it in the heart.

Sometimes it's a long road from the head to the heart, but friend, Judas is the go-to example of somebody who just wouldn't, who knew with his head, but never embraced it in his heart. He would say a lot of true things, and yet he was not being shaped by the truth that he confessed.

He didn't let this heavenly truth transform him. And so the earthly folly took hold, and that became his pursuit. But really, I mean, take a moment and just think about Judas for a moment. He's such a profound picture and figure in scripture. He progresses into satanic likeness. And it's worthwhile just to take a moment and think about this ugly progression into satanic likeness.

Likeness and how it all came about. First of all, it started by not receiving Jesus' teaching. And I mean, truly receiving it. He saw Jesus. He knew Jesus. He witnessed the most explicit manifestations of God. He knew the right message. It echoed in his mind, and it was uttered from his lips and with power.

Think about he heard Jesus' message. Time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Be repenting and be believing in the gospel. In Mark 6:7, you remember Jesus summons the twelve and began to send them out in pairs. Judas would have been among them. And he gave them authority over the unclean spirits.

And they went out in verse 12 and they preached that men should repent. And they were casting out many demons and were anointing many with oil, sick people, and healing them. And in Luke chapter 10, verse 17, when the 70 return, Judas is certainly with them. He says, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.

He had the right message resonating. In him and through him, yet it didn't make it into his heart. He had the right standard, not only the right message, but also the right standard. That also echoed in his mind for three years. He witnessed the perfections of Christ, not just in his public ministry, but also in his private ministry.

And yet, his heart remained unchanged, unteachable. How? What is happening? Well, it starts by not receiving Jesus' teaching. His progression into union with Satan then becomes a conscience going from bad to worse. And this is what happens when a heart continues to resist the truth. If I can say something to you today, do not resist the truth.

Keep advancing in it. Keep growing in it. Keep taking it in. Lord, even if you don't fully understand, Lord, I want to embrace your message to the fullness that I possibly can. I want your truth resonating in me. I want to marinate in your truth. And I want your truth affecting every aspect of my being and every relationship that I have on planet Earth as long as you give me life.

But he had to sear his conscience. What does it mean to sear your conscience? It means to repeatedly dismiss its warnings. What about you? Do you repeatedly dismiss the warnings of your own conscience? You see, Judas had rendered his conscience insensitive or calloused by repeatedly doing what he knew to be wrong.

He kept violating it until it stopped working properly. And those who mock are doing just that. And that is why my heart goes out. But it's not just those who mock, it's those who will not let the truth go from the head to the heart and come up with reasons to excuse, to deny, to wisp away.

It's a very dangerous place to be. Remember in John 12, verse 6, just in the chapter before this, Judas was very concerned about the money box. But John gives us a little commentary. Now, he said this not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief.

And he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it. He used to repeatedly pilfer what was in it. He rendered his conscience seared. He violated it. Don't violate your conscience, inform it with truth, and then obey that truth. And your conscience will become pure, start clean.

It will work, it will function properly. But not only did he have to sear his conscience to grow into satanic likeness, he had to defile his conscience. He had to defile it. The opposite of a defiled conscience is really a pure conscience. What does a pure conscience do?

It seeks to avoid offending God. A defiled conscience does the opposite, it will call evil good and good evil. And so, in order to partner with Jesus' enemies, Judas had to justify the unthinkable, giving him up. I mean, Jesus never did anything bad to Judas. Those who mock, I mean, what did Jesus ever do to you?

Even his rebukes and his standards were good for Judas. They all came out of a heart of love for him. It's clear that Judas was driven by personal gain, probably still angry over Jesus' rebuke about the expensive perfume in chapter 12 that Mary had anointed Jesus with. But whatever was going on in Judas's heart, it crystallized into a defiled conscience that could justify the unthinkable.

And so the decision to betray Jesus was already in Judas's heart. At the beginning, look back at verse chapter 13, verse 2. During supper, the devil, having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray him. You see, it started by not receiving Jesus' teaching.

Then he had to sear his own conscience. Then he had to defile his conscience. And finally, he decided to hand Jesus over in his heart. Give him up. Give him up. That's what a seared, defiled conscience will do. Even the shocking announcement that one of you is going to betray me.

Didn't stop Judas in his tracks. And so now we come to the altar of this wedding. Both parties have been saying, I do for a long, long time. Look at verse 26. Jesus then answered, That is, or this one, that one, that one, that is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.

So when he had dipped the morsel, he took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. And after the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore, Jesus said to him, What you do, do quickly. Notice the word then. At that moment, when Jesus gives the morsel, the morsel dipped in bread, when he says, Here, take it.

At that moment, or up until that moment, Satan held sway over Judas' heart as an outside influence, one tempting him. But after he takes the morsel, Satan moves to the inside, and he becomes the dominating master on the inside of Judas's life. Satan Takes real possession. You want to know what demonic possession looks like?

This is it in our text. But you can't help but see the goodness of the judge in all this. Jesus had shown Judas much goodness. He had washed Judas's feet. He administered the Passover meal. He even showed him kindness in the way he revealed Judas as the traitor.

He handed him a dipped morsel. That's a sign of brotherly love. You know what they do in England with traitors, or what they used to do? They'd quarter them. You know what quarter means? Cut in fourths. Do you know what you don't want to have done to you?

You don't want to be cut in fourths. It's a painful experience. That's what kings of the earth would do to traitors. And yet Jesus gives them a sign of affection. It's almost like Jesus is saying something to this effect. It's like he's saying, you have been an insider all these years, Judas.

You have witnessed heavenly goodness. You have heard the best of sermons, witnessed mighty miracles, and seen the Father through me. Yet you still prefer spiritual union with my adversary. Therefore, as a one who has been given all things, you shall have him. So, by the power vested in me, your union is sealed.

It's what we say at a wedding: by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. And at this moment, it's like Jesus is in the same way indicating, okay, here: you have given me up, I will give you up and hand you over. You see, for Judas, satanic possession began with a pattern of refusing to accept the truth.

Don't let this be you. And if you continue in a pattern of refusing to accept the truth, you will ultimately be handed over to satanic lies and the spirit of the one who utters them. So, again, I review: first, temptation, second, searing the conscience, third, defiling the conscience, and fourth, full occupation and all the obsessing madness that goes with raging against God.

What a futile way to live. Rage against God. There's a lot better ways. To live. What a dramatic moment. Look at the end of verse 27. What you do, do quickly. What you do, do quickly, Judas. You notice Jesus doesn't flinch. He's not afraid. He's not frightened. It's like he's saying, let's get on with it, Judas.

Give full expression to what's in your heart, Judas. In fact, let my enemies give full expression to what's in their hearts. Let evil run its full course, Judas. It shall not prevail. And that's the good news. That is the gospel. So we've looked at the efficient, we've looked at the groom, we've looked at the bride.

Now I want to talk a couple moments about the audience. Look at verse 28. Now, no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose he had said this to him. For some were supposing, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus was saying to him, Buy the things we have need of for the feast, or else that he should give something to the poor.

Full demonic possession. This allows us to make a few observations about demonic possessions. Notice that, notice what Judas. Didn't look like. Notice he didn't change colors. He didn't grow horns. He didn't growl. He didn't contort his face or anything typically associated with modern depictions of demonic possession. And yet we know that Judas was possessed by Satan himself.

But notice what Judas did look like. What did he look like? He looked like a man on a mission for a good cause. Looked like a man going to perhaps buy things needed for a Passover celebration, celebrating God's deliverance. Or maybe he looked like a man on a mission to give to the poor, yet fully occupied by Satan himself.

Total possession, and yet flawlessly hidden even to the disciples. This is what satanic deception is. And this is why you have got to be careful with your own heart. It can deceive you. Bring it into the light. How do you bring it into the light? By receiving what Christ says, by taking your heart and laying it out before the truth of God's word and say, heart, do you line up with this?

Heart, have you embraced this? Heart, I will judge you by the truth and God. God's Word. Man, embrace that truth. Let us never allow there to be a disconnect between simply knowing the truth and being shaped by that truth. Life is a lot more than just signing on the right doctrinal statement.

It's about obeying the truth that you have received. It's about being a good steward of all that God has spoken to you about and taking that in, applying it to your heart, and letting it transform you and shape the way you think and the way you relate to one another.

You have been loved to love. What a beautiful thing Christ was doing that night in the upper room. That time of the Lord's Supper. Well, within 24 hours of this event, both men will be dead. What a sad and horrifying parting between these two. We know how Jesus died by crucifixion.

We know how Judas died by suicide. You see, Judas's soulmate betrayed. Him. He used him, and then he accused him, and then he led him to kill himself. Shame on you for doing that evil thing. It wasn't just Satan, it was his colleagues. You remember in Matthew 27:3, Judas then comes to them.

Then, when Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that he had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. But they said, What is that to us? See to that yourself. And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed, and he went away and hanged himself.

You see, the end of demonic possession is destruction of the host. It has always been that way. It will always be that way. Satan is no friend of humanity. He is humanity's adversary. You see, Judas's conscience went from being seared to defiled and then to a guilty conscience.

But because he had not really received the truth, he had no way to really deal with that guilty conscience. Peter did. He went out. Notice verse 3. 30. He went out to give full expression to his soulmate's desire. Verse 30. And so after receiving the morsel, he went out immediately, and it was night.

He was put in union with his soulmate, with the spirit whose temperament was just like his own, wanting to pursue earthly folly instead of receive heavenly truth. And he went out to do it immediately. And so Jesus gave Judas over, and like any wedding, they went out to live their life together.

And that's exactly what Judas did. He lived the rest of his life in satanic madness, recklessly pursuing the desire of his soulmate. And this is why I have great concern for those who mock the Lord's supper. And by the way, they are not beyond forgiveness, but they will be if they continue to refuse to repent.

The message of Scripture is: change your trajectory, change your attitude towards Christ. Stop mocking him and come and learn from him. He is good. He is good. Kind. He is wise. He is forgiving. He is accepting. That's what was happening that night in the upper room. But I want to talk to you about my concern for you who are closer to home.

Those who are much more like Judas than you realize. Judas was not an open mocker. But he appeared to be a close friend of Christ. He appeared even to the true followers of Christ to be a true follower. Are you a true follower of Christ? Or are you just like Judas having deceived yourself and deceiving others, but one day it will be manifest who you really are?

This message and the whole message from the upper room is about you truly coming to Christ and being cleansed, being washed. You have need to be cleansed and washed. Do not have an unteachable heart. Do not have an unteachable heart. How does that progression? Where does unteachableness take you?

It starts with a satanically inspired temptation that will resonate with your flesh. And then you will succumb to willful participation. And if you do not change your trajectory, it ends up in satanic domination. So be teachable. No matter where you are in this one, two, three, four step, be teachable.

Good news is you can be forgiven today. That's what Christ was doing, preparing for in that upper room. You can be received today. You can have a completely different trajectory. But you need to change your attitude towards Christ and come and be a learner, a true learner and follower of him.

But there's one loose end. I don't want to talk about this before we leave here this morning. How do you deal with a guilty conscience? Because that may be many of you right now. How do you deal with a guilty conscience? Hebrews 9, 14, we read it earlier, tells us, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

This is what the Lord's Supper is all about. God sending his Son, perfect sacrifice. The Son giving his life so that payment, just payment, could be made for the wrongdoing of all his people. And so that you could then be cleansed. If there's a problem between my guilty conscience and my unwillingness to accept forgiveness, guess what?

That's my guilty conscience sitting in judgment upon the Word of God. His blood is sufficient to cleanse. His payment and his love is greater than the depth of my depravity. And that's the gospel. His love and his sacrifice dwarfs humanity's hostility and sin. So God offers forgiveness. Believe the truth.

Appeal to God for this forgiveness. And leave here knowing who you are and be who you are. Let's pray. I think the Lord just cut me off. Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for your goodness and your truth. Help us be teachable. By your Spirit, quicken, awaken. Give us that holy conviction we ask.

In Jesus' name, amen.