God’s Plan and Satan’s Power

A. “Satan entered Judas”? (Luke 22:1-6)

1 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, 2 and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. 3 Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. 4 And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. 5 They were delighted and agreed to give him money. 6 He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.

1) Judas and God

2) Judas and Satan

3) God and Satan

B. Our battle (Ephesians 6:10-18)

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

SUMMARY

Judas’s sin of betraying Jesus comes from the same sin we all have. It’s the sinful nature by which we get away from God to live a selfish life. Satan is happy with this sin of ours, and tempts us to get away from God only to perish. However, God has won a victory over Satan through the Jesus’ Cross, so that we may no longer ever be ruled over by Satan. Therefore we can keep fighting by trusting Jesus with no fear of the Satan’s power.

FOR DISCUSSION

1) Is it true that Judas should not be blamed because Satan is only guilty?
2) What is our weapon to fight against Satan?