THE POINT OF NO RETURN

Dear Believer,

The passage below is tragic, but I need to share it to explain a very uncomfortable truth.

John 13:26-27 NET
Jesus replied, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread after I have dipped it in the dish.” Then he dipped the piece of bread in the dish and gave it to Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son. And after Judas took the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.”

Judas then went out into the night. And was lost forever.

There is a point of no return, a line which must not be crossed in spiritual matters. Judas crossed this line and perished.

People have asked why Judas didn’t just repent and come back to Jesus. Understanding the process of his descent would make things clearer.

Jesus chose Judas to be among the twelve. He was chosen because his heart was in the right place. But gradually, he began to descend into dark places because of greed.

Judas became a thief stealing from the common purse of the Jesus Team (John 12:6). Jesus knew and kept showing him love.

He lived a life of hypocrisy, pretending to love people while all he wanted to do was use them to get money. (John 12:1-6). Jesus continued to show him love.

Only God knows the other thousand wicked things he did which Jesus ignored, expecting him to repent.

Until that night when he lost all.

During that era, the custom of honoring the guest demanded that the host at a feast sometimes show everyone his most beloved guest. He did that by dipping bread in his wine and giving it to that guest.

When Jesus dipped the bread into that wine, handed the piece of bread to Judas, he was showing Judas the special love he had for him.

But Judas had already devalued Jesus in his mind. Although Jesus was the most precious and most ‘expensive’ single entity in the universe, all He was worth to Judas was a measly 30 pieces of silver. He sold his master for that ridiculous amount.

By taking the wine-soaked bread and leaving immediately, he had turned his back on eternal life. In fact when Jesus saw that Judas remained recalcitrant, he simply told him to go and do whatever he had a mind to do.

And at that point, Satan entered Judas.

No effort could redeem Judas at that point. Satan possessed him and took control of everything about him, and that was his point of no return. Whatever he did or didn’t do ceased to matter; he had become lost and had rejected the Lord.

And Jesus said it would have been better if he was never born!

The devil who deceived Judas and entered him later discarded him after he’d been used. He drove Judas to kill himself in a most violent manner.

Tell the sinners that God is calling them, but also let them know that God expects them to come to Him. In the story of the Prodigal Son, we see the father looking into the horizon, hoping the son would show up.

Tell them also that the father didn’t go looking for the son. If he had remained in the strange land, he would have one day crossed the line of no return and just perish. (Luke 15:18).

Believer, let us be watchful. Let those who are straying come home into the embrace of the Father.

Peter denied Jesus and came home. He wept and repented. The Satanic influence that was after him didn’t penetrate. But Judas embraced Satan and opened the door for him until Satan entered him and sealed his eternal doom.

Jude 1:24 KJV
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.

Jesus is able to keep us, IF WE LET HIM!

Give no place to the devil! (Ephesians 3:27)

Have a great day.

Your friend,
Deon.
—-
For further study read Luke 15:11-32).