ICS Daily Devotions
Kiss of Judas
Isaiah 14:12a,14 (NKJV) ‘How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’
1 Chronicles 12:17a, 18a (NKJV) And David went out to meet them, and answered and said to them, ‘If you have come peaceably to me to help me, my heart will be united with you’…. Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, chief of the captains, and he said: ‘We are yours, O David; We are on your side, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, And peace to your helpers! For your God helps you.’
Lucifer went from archangel to damnation when he led a rebellion against God, taking with him an unspecified number of angels. And he has been wreaking havoc with the world since. He spoilt God’s perfect creation by causing the fall of Adam and Eve, thereby and thereafter succeeded in becoming the god of this age. He orchestrated that pivotal night in history when Judas marched up to Jesus to deliver his kiss of death; a pre-arranged signal for the One whom the soldiers were to seize and lead away. The devil perpetually works at keeping people from knowing God, particularly those who are yet to be saved. And he is the thief mentioned in the Gospel of John who comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). Where there is a church split, faction, division, or disunity, the devil is at work. This is why the Apostle Paul was so upset with the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 3:2-4) when they took sides between him and Apollos.
David had to determine the allegiance of the men who came to him, if they were friends or foes, if they came in peace to help him.
The Pastor is appointed by the Lord as the church’s spiritual head to oversee the church entrusted to him. It brings tremendous joy to the Pastor when there are like-minded people to work alongside him. It makes ministry work easier. When the case is the opposite and there is contention and division, this brings about pain, hurt, and sorrow to the minister of God and rends the church apart.
We must strive for what the Greek word Koinonia means―the deepest fellowship with God and fellow believers. When we allow the Holy Spirit to bind us together in the love of Christ, we will be in deep communion and partnership, well equipped for the work of the Lord.
Sermon Series: We Can Do It!
