Judas Iscariot is an example of what can happen when people half-heartedly follow Christ and are not fully trusting Him. I fear that our churches may contain many people who are professed Christians but who have never been born again through faith in Jesus Christ. Judas was not committing gross public sins. I am sure he was highly respected by his fellow apostles and by those who followed Jesus. But Judas was a counterfeit; his ministry was only a cover for his sins. We have every reason to believe that, like the other apostles, Judas performed miracles and preached sermons; yet he died and went to hell. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:21-23).

Finally, Judas reminds us of how close a person can come to the truth, and to salvation, and finally be lost. If any person ever had the privilege of knowing Christ, it was Judas; but it did not lead him to salvation. Judas heard our Lord preach, saw Him perform miracles, and even lived with Him and handled His finances; yet Judas Iscariot died a lost soul. John Bunyan expressed this awesome truth at the close of his Pilgrim’s Progress: “Then I saw that there was a way to hell, even from the gates of heaven….”

Judas went out “and it was night.”

“While you have the light, believe in the light, in order that you may become sons of light” (John 12:36).

Wiersbe, W. W. (1988). Prayer : Basic training. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale.