© 2018
Fred R. Coulter
Christian Biblical Church of God
P. O. Box 1442
Hollister, California 95024-1442

All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner. This includes electronic and mechanical photocopying or recording, as well as the use of information storage and retrieval systems.

Assaults Against Jesus Christ I

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Assaults Against Jesus Christ II

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Assaults Against Jesus Christ III

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The God of the Old Testament IV

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The Gospel of Judas

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Contents

Booklet

Assaults Against Jesus Christ I

Assaults Against Jesus Christ II

Assaults Against Jesus Christ III

Assaults Against Jesus Christ IV

The Gospel of Judas

Compact Disc

[When included]

Tracks 1 & 2 Assaults Against Jesus Christ I

Tracks 3 & 4 Assaults Against Jesus Christ II

Tracks 5 & 6 Assaults Against Jesus Christ III

Track 7 & 8 Assaults Against Jesus Christ IV

The Assaults Against Jesus Christ

Foreword

This series on The Assaults Against Jesus Christ is a compilation of four sermons by Fred Coulter that will help you to come to an understanding of the false teachings about Jesus Christ that are promoted by those who hate the Word of God. There is a fifth part of this transcript book that is a reprint of an article about Christ and Judas, an article that is a lie, unsupported by the Bible.

In studying this transcript book the reader can come to know who Jesus Christ is, why He came, and what Jesus Christ His son said would come to pass. In the transcript, “Assaults Against Jesus Christ I,” it is shown that God has caused to be recorded what He said. God did not have what He said left to being passed on through oral tradition. Also, covered is the truth that once one turns their back on God’s Truth, other spiritual forces are released. More false teachings are also covered.

In the second transcript, “Assaults Against Jesus Christ II,” you will find that Satan wants to justify Judas—the betrayer of Jesus Christ. Satan’s purpose with mankind is to deceive people to believe lies and thereby cut them off from God. Satan tries to have the idea of Jesus Christ not being God before He became a human being as being accepted by mankind as truth. Other false teachings are also covered.

In the third transcript, “Assaults Against Jesus Christ III,” studies more false teachings that Satan tries to promote. Falsehoods such as the ideas of there being no resurrection of the dead, that there is no savior for mankind, that there are no absolutes, and that if Jesus did ever exist that He was only a man. In reading this you will be introduced to even more than these regarding Satan’s promotion of false knowledge, lies, and myths.

The fourth transcript, “Assaults Against Jesus Christ IV,” is a study about Judas Iscariot. Inspected are some of the prophecies that directly relate to Judas Iscariot and his betrayal of Jesus Christ. A caution is given to those who are seeking Jesus Christ, in that just because a person can quote Scripture correctly, that does not mean that they are from God.

Now the last part of this sermon transcript book is reached. This part, “The Gospel of Judas,” is not a sermon but rather is a reprint of a writing translated into English. This writing is a lie, and misrepresents Jesus Christ. It imputes that what it teaches, which are lies, were said by Jesus Christ.

A special thanks goes to Bonnie Orswell, Laila Patterson and Nancy Spaller for producing the transcripts.

Assaults Against Jesus Christ I

Gospel of Judas #1

Fred R. Coulter

2-Peter 1:12: “Therefore, I will not neglect to make you always mindful of these things, although you already know them and have been established in the present Truth. For I consider it my duty, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by causing you to remember these things; knowing that shortly the putting off of my tabernacle will come, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has signified to me. But I will make every effort that, after my departure, you may always have a written remembrance…” (vs 12-15)—that’s what the Greek word means—written.

Why do we have to have it written? Because of all the liars seeking to change and pervert the Word of God.

“…written remembrance of these things in order to practice them for yourselves” (v 15). If you didn’t have the Word of God to go to, how would you remember it? That’s why it’s an absolute total and complete lie that the Bible was not put together until 180A.D.; somewhere between there and 397A.D. so the Catholic Church could take claim for it and lay hold on it in the lying way that they always do in everything that they have anyway. Everything it’s based on is a lie! lie! lie! They steal the name of Christ. Like the Psalm says, ‘While steal you My words and cast My Law behind your back.’

God didn’t leave it to word of mouth tradition! They had enough trouble finding all the false prophets coming into the New Testament Church while the apostles lived. That’s why He wanted to do it.

Notice that Peter lays out the course, and this is why in dealing with the Word of God and doing any translation is really a very humbling experience, and really opens your heart and mind more to the Word of God:

- how true it is

- how righteous it is

- how good it is

- how fantastic it has been that God has preserved it against al the efforts of Satan the devil and evil men

I tell you, if you want a real humbling experience, read about the life of William Tyndale. I have a tribute to William Tyndale in The Holy Bible in It’s Original Order. He single-handedly translated into English, for the first time ever, the New Testament from the Greek and the Old Testament from the Hebrew. He did it along with the help of a couple men: Miles Coverdale for a while and John Rogers at the end, and he helped Tyndale to finish it while he was in prison.

Tyndale was hunted by the church authorities, hunted by the civil authorities, and he went from pillar to post. I’m sure that God used him and raised him up to translate the Bible so that it would be there for all the modern-day children of Israel. We need to think in bigger terms and ‘we’re just a wee, little part of it,’ as he would say.

Finally, Tyndale was betrayed by Henry Phillips; arrested and put in prison near Amsterdam. In his last letter that he wrote: “Please, may I have a candle and my Hebrew Lexicon, a hat to cover my head and leggings for my legs and feet, because it’s very cold in here.” Here he was facing death, shivering in his cell, one little candle; and if it weren’t for the grace and favor that the jailer gave him—that God gave him in the eyes of the jailer— he would never have finished doing the Old Testament.

John Rogers had to finish it, because Tyndale couldn’t quite do it. But I have at home the Henry Matthew Bible, which is William Tyndale’s full Bible. It’s a complete reproduction of it, bound in the same way that it was. The last words of William Tyndale were: “Lord, open the mind, open the eyes, of the King of England.” No one could have a Bible. It was forbidden to have a Bible! Here we sit and we have Bibles. One day I counted all the Bibles at home; I have 41 now. They couldn’t even have one.

God answered that prayer! The last words that he said before they burned him at the stake, because they tied him to the stake and they ran a noose through the stake around his throat and then they pulled it right after he uttered those words. They choked him to death and lit the fire and burned him.

If we understand the background for it, it [translating the Bible] is not a self-exalting thing to do it. It’s very, very humbling. That’s how we have the English Bible.

Peter is writing why they wrote and canonized the New Testament, v 16: “For we did not follow cleverly concocted myths as our authority, when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His magnificent glory.”

God works it out in everyone’s life, that somewhere down the line you are going to have a defining moment in your life that is going to set you on the right course to God in a very profound way. If you haven’t had that yet, you will. What was that “…magnificent glory”? That’s when Jesus took him up on the Mt. of Transfiguration! He relates it here:

Verse 17: “Because He received glory and honor from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, ‘This is My Son, the Beloved, in Whom I am well pleased.’” What was the rest of the message? Listen to Him! That goes right back to the most important thing that defines those who love God. They obey His voice!

In the Bible, you have the words of God. Paul calls them ‘the God-breathed words.’ Why would he do that? Because when you speak you breathe! These are the words that God inspired all the writers of the Old and New Testament so that there could be something for us today—God-breathed words!

Verse 18: “And this is the voice from heaven that we heard when we were with Him on the Holy mountain. We also possess the confirmed prophetic Word…” (vs 18-19). In other words, when Jesus opened their understanding concerning Him— in the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms—and they had their understanding opened even more as the Holy Spirit led them, because He said, ‘You’re going to receive the Spirit of the Truth that will teach you all things and tell you of things to come.’

This is why we have the New Testament. This is why it’s such an absolute shame that in the world—and in the Church of God especially—that we have the Word of God, all of it, where we can:

- study it

- learn it

- know it

Then what happens? Just like the apostles when they went out to the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus said ‘to watch,’ they didn’t realize the crisis that was coming! What happened? They went to sleep!

I think that when we see what’s coming down, the things are just over the horizon, it’s going to be awesome! It is going to be beyond what we have ever thought. That’s why it’s absolutely incumbent upon everyone of us, every minister of God, every elder, every deacon, that they better get down right serious concerning the Word of God because these things are coming!

“…confirmed prophetic Word…” (v 19)— the very words of Jesus Christ. The confirmed prophecies concerning His life, death and resurrection and the New Testament up to this point. Prophetic does not mean foretelling the future in this particular case, solely; this means foretelling the Word of God! Foretelling forth the Word of God!

“…to which you do well to pay attention, as to a light shining in a dark place… [in this world—darkness—and we’re the light and the Word of God is a light] …until the day dawns…” (v 19)—the return of Christ when He comes and shines like a brand new sun in the heavens, when the heavens are rolled back as a scroll.

“…and the morning star arises in your hearts” (v 19). That’s talking about the resurrection, because didn’t Jesus say that we’re going to ‘shine as the sun in it’s full strength’? That’s what it’s about.

We need to grasp one of the most important things that we can understand. God has called us to the greatest calling possible. He hasn’t called us to be ‘religious’ people.

- He has called us to love Him with all our heart, mind, soul and being

- He has called us to know His Word

- He has called us to do the things that He wants us to do

- He has called us to be the sons and daughters of God

- He has called us to have eternal life

- He has called us to reign forever with Christ

Only those in the first resurrection will ever be in that category! That’s why God has called us!

Verse 20: “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture originated as anyone’s own private interpretation.” This doesn’t mean prophecy in the sense of foretelling. This means inspired Scripture that was written down! It wasn’t that someone came along and said, ‘Oh, this is a good idea, God, I’ll write this down. What do You think of this?’ NO!

Read the Old Testament, how did it come about? The Lord said to Moses, ‘Moses, I’m a little busy today, why don’t you write down what you think would be good for the people.’ NO! He said, ‘Moses, you tell the children of Israel, thus says the Lord…”!—all the way through the Law of Moses, which is really the Law of God!

- the Word of the Lord came to Isaiah…

- the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah…

- the Word of the Lord came to Ezekiel…

- the Word of the Lord came to Daniel…

- the Word of the Lord came to all the Prophets

It’s not what a man does, it’s what God causes to be through the men that He has chosen! We’re just dealing off the things from what they have done.

The most fantastic thing about the New Testament is that Jesus said to the apostles, ‘You are going to be witnesses of Me to the ends of the earth!’ They didn’t go there physically, but their writings have gone there. They are still witnessing— aren’t they? We are just coming along, as Jesus said to the apostles, ‘You’re going to enter into other men’s labors. Someone else sowed, but you’re going to reap,’ Likewise with what we have here, someone else did all the work, and we just come along and refine it a little bit.

Verse 21: “Because prophecy was not brought at any time by human will, but the Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” That means just like a sail on a ship where the wind blows on the sail and the ship moves. It wasn’t done by human will. We need to understand that!

When we read some of these things, let’s understand that there is a first fulfillment and a second fulfillment; there are many other different fulfillments of these, because not only is it stating a fact in the days of John, but it’s also prophesying down through time that these things would take place.

1-John 2:18: “Little children, it is the last time…” If it was the last time then, you know that this is the last, last, last time!

“…and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have risen up, by which we know that it is the last time” (v 18). John was preparing them for the onslaught of false gospels—which were already starting—and would come in full fury after the apostles died. This is why the apostles had to canonize the New Testament and God didn’t leave it to Satan-inspired pagan priests to put together His Word.

Verse 19: “They went out from among us, but they were not of us because if they were of us, they would have remained with us; nevertheless, they left that they might be exposed to show that they all were not of us.”

1-John 4:1: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit…” Behind every one of these things is a demonic spirit, if not Satan the devil himself.

“…but test the spirits, whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (v 1)—which tells you that demon spirits inspire false prophets!

Verse 2: “By this test you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not from God. And this is the spirit of antichrist, which you heard was to come, and even now it is already in the world” (vs 2-3). And now it’s coming again in our day!

Let’s do a little history before we get into Judas Iscariot. Right now we have an attitude of everybody’s opinion is truth, which is not so. I’m reiterating what is called ‘post modernist thinking’:

- if you believe it, to you it is truth

- because you feel it, it must be so

You see this on the news all the time. You really don’t get news anymore. What you get are carefully cultivated opinions based upon these three steps:

1. thesis—the way things are

2. anti-thesis—the new proposition

3. synthesis—we come to a new conclusion

You watch that when they do it on the news; especially Fox News, MSNBC—everyone of them—they don’t have one person bringing the news, which is news, you have one person pushing a political agenda through a committee of people sitting there to give you their opinions, so that you will reformulate your thinking according to the way that they want it to be reformulated. That’s the third one.

Let’s apply this to past history. Let’s go back to the 1840s. What was the first anti-thesis to come along? What was the thesis?

- God exists

- God created the world

- the Word of God is His

Even though they didn’t obey it they way that they ought to.

Along comes Charles Darwin and what does he say? There’s no such thing as a Creator; it evolved! Look where that has led to today, after the Scopes trial and everything they have done through law to get rid of God out of government, schools, your lives, the churches, as they’re doing through their spurious translations. Look at the state of the situation today because of that.

What was the next blow in evolution? The Scopes trial! It’s kind of like the professor who said to the class: Has anyone seen God? Nobody answered! Has anyone touched God? Nobody answered! Has anyone heard God? Nobody answered! Then one brave student stood up and said, ‘Sir, I’d like to make a comment.’ The professor said to go ahead because he wanted to know what it was.

‘Has anyone seen our professor’s brain?’ Nobody answered! ‘Has anyone heard our professor’s brain?’ No answer! ‘Has anyone touched our professor’s brain?’ No answer! ‘By the professor’s own reasoning, he does not have a brain.’

In that is a truth! All truth is logical, but not all logic is truth! This becomes important. Let’s see what happened with the Bible, the Protestant world and where we are today.

In the first part of the 1880s Wescott & Hort –note Commentary: Why This Translation? How Did This Happen?—decided to get the spurious text of the Alexandrinus, the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, which were texts that were rejected. They said, ‘These texts, because they are the oldest they have to be the most accurate.’ It’s not the oldness of the paper that gives the correctness of the text. What is the test? Is it the Truth?

You can have a copy that was copied from an original text that the paper accurately copied, and the paper may actually be younger than the old text that they were talking about. So, they would say that this younger text does not contain the Truth, only the older text. But that’s not so, and that’s how they got everything confused.

So, Wescott and Hort said, ‘Oh, we’ve got to correct the Textus Receptus; we’ve got to get rid of the Stephen’s Text; we’ve got to get rid of the Byzantine Text’—which were the overwhelming majority of it. They succeeded in doing The Revised Standard Version of the New Testament, and later The Revised Standard Version of the Old Testament. They accomplished this into the 1880s and into the 1890s. There were men who stood up and warned and said, ‘No, this is not right!’ So, the warning went out. What happened? It was out! The synthesis was on its way, only to be redone and brought into more heresy later on.

Then in 1893 is a key pivotal point in God’s dealing with the Protestants and the Catholics’ dealings with the Protestants concerning the Sabbath. Here’s another very important thing to remember: If you do not accept the Truth of God— obey it and live by it—and you reject it, God will then withdraw His Spirit and blessing from you; after giving you warnings and finally cut you loose.

What happened was the World’s Fair in St. Louis, and the Protestants said, ‘We need to have the law of the land declare that Sunday is the Christian ‘holy day.’ So, they took it to the Supreme Court. The Seventh Day Adventist went up and said, ‘No, that’s not true. We want a regress of grievances because this will infringe upon our freedom to keep the seventh-day Sabbath.’

So, the Supreme Court wisely went against their petition to make Sunday declared the Christian holiday in America. That’s when Cardinal Gibbon wrote his Rome’s Challenge to the Protestants {Appendix A: The Holy Bible in Its Original Order; also found in The Day That Jesus Christ Died and in Occult Holidays or God’s Holy Days—Which?}

Gibbon wrote and said that the Protestants have the most insane position that you could possibly hold. They say to go by the Bible alone, which is ‘sola scriptura,’ but they claim Sunday as a day of worship where you can’t find any place in the Bible that says that Sunday is the day of worship that God has sanctified. ‘We, as Catholics, only have done it. By our power we have done it.’

They even have quotes in here where Catholics say that they don’t even need the Bible. How about that? So, Gibbon challenged the Protestants: ‘Why don’t you become like the Seventh Day Adventists?’ He didn’t know about some of the Churches of God scattered throughout America. Cardinal Gibbon was a cardinal in Baltimore at that time. If you want to see the original, you can go on The Baltimore Sun website and you can look it up. That’s where we found it. There’s no copyright on it; it’s free domain; so we used it.

Gibbon gave the Protestants a warning. He said, ‘If you do not come wholly on Catholic ground…’—because you’re believing a tradition of the Catholic Church, and you say you don’t want tradition, yet, you follow it—‘the Catholic Church is going to come upon you in a way and in a time that you won’t know. We will rise in all of our ancient arrogancy.’

You can read that! That’s just paraphrasing it. They have done that! They’re on every translating committee. They have spawned a lot of the dumbing-down of Protestantism to make them foolish; all because they didn’t repent and keep the Sabbath. You can see the results of it today.

Let’s go back to 1893, something else happened. In Chicago there was the first World’s Parliament of Religions. Unheard of: bringing in eastern mysticism, Hinduism; and that began to unleash a lot of spiritism and things like this, in America. Once you turn your back on God then other forces are loosed!

When that happened, it set the stage for what we now have as the doctrine of equality of religions. It starts way back here and what’s the lesson of the Days of Unleavened Bread? A little leaven leavens the whole lump! How does this fit into to what we’re talking about?

You can see the diversity of things that we have with religion today. One of the worst decisions ever made by the Supreme Court was written by Sandra Day O’Connor, that you can’t say anything religious if it offends someone else, which was the basis for ‘hate crimes.’ Jesus said that He didn’t come ‘to bring peace, but a sword.’

Let’s carry this forward a little more. Let’s see what happened in 1947 in Palestine. What did they find? They found the Dead Sea Scrolls! The Dead Sea Scrolls do shed some light on the Old Testament, especially with the book of Isaiah, that what they have in the Hebrew today is nearly letter for letter what they had back then, showing the preservation of the Word of God. But they also have a lot of the heretical sun-worshiping doctrines that the Essenes had.

Two years before that something else occurred in Southern Egypt, in 1945 in the town of Nag Hammadi. Nag Hammadi had a library, and in that library they discovered other gospels that were written in about the 150s-200A.D. These include:

- the Gospel of Thomas

- the Apocrypha of Peter

- the Gospel of Mary Magdalene

Are you beginning to put some pieces together? What is happening in the world today is a result of all of this that I’ve covered:

- to prepare

- to soften up

- to make acceptable

the denial of Jesus Christ!

Let’s look at something else that has come along. Have you read the book Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Henry Lincoln, Machael Baigent and Richard Leign? You’ve got to read books. Be like Patton, you’ve got to read the enemy’s book so you know what it is.

I read Holy Blood, Holy Grail when it came out in about 1979-80. It’s basically like The DaVinci Code, that the grail that Jesus conducted the Lord’s Last Supper with was the one that the apostles drank out of, and the Knights Templar was able to get this away the Arabs and take it over to southern France. Everything ends up in southern France if you watch the History Channel.

Here comes along all of the movies—let’s just throw in all the movies that debunk Jesus Christ. Let’s throw in all these heretical gospels, which were touted by the Jesus Seminar that takes away from Christ as being in the flesh, which reduces Him down to just a man—the goal of the Jesus Seminar.

Let’s look at some of the things that have brought in the occult into the modern age through entertainment, books, movies, songs, the whole thing. Remember the sweet little comedy program Bewitched? What does that do? That makes witchcraft acceptable! Fun! What does that do? That takes away from people belief in God! Then you have things like Frankenstein movies, horror movies, many of the mystery movies that come along that bring in the occult and so forth. Then you have a degradation of the movies beginning with Clark Gabel in Gone with the Wind when he said ‘damn.’

Now what do we have once that little leaven came in? We’ve got every evil under the sun coming through movies and so forth! Then you have in the entertainment world the Beatles bringing in the disjunctive beat. You have Elvis Presley and all of the music that’s coming.

Listen, if any of you are teenagers, anytime there is something designed for you, know that it is designed and inspired by a Satan the devil to turn you against your parents, to take your mind and twist your mind into thinking like Satan the devil through music! So, what do we have today? We have a whole occult generation plugged in with their iPods blowing out their minds and their ears!

Let’s add some more movies into this, because what is happening is that this end-time generation is being prepared for the antichrist through all of these things by destroying all knowledge of Jesus Christ by reducing Him to below an average human being.

Star Wars—I remember I went to the first Star Wars and my boys were all excited—this is great! I said, ‘It’s a bunch of witchcraft and occult.’ Oh, dad! That’s what it was! Who was the one who taught Luke Skywalker to do what he did? And he finally got to see? Yoda! What a name! They’ve got Star Wars’ paraphernalia and everything, but what is Yoda? Yoda is the name of the letter that begins the word Jehovah—YHVH! That ugly little creature called Yoda was to teach levitation and power of mind, concentration and bringing in all the occult.

How many movies have we had? Lord of the Rings! How many things do we have on television series? Star Trek! Introduction of the mark of the beast with that thing in the forehead on some of them. People don’t think of that, but it’s all programming and leading up to bringing in the final antichrist!

Now, back to Nag Hammadi. Since everyone’s opinion is good, now we have scholars in religious universities saying that ‘these have a great deal of value for us,’ which brings us to the ‘Gospel of Judas Iscariot.’ Of course, Satan wants to rehabilitate Judas Iscariot.

Let’s add into this mix Harry Potter, all the books and movies, hundreds of millions of people. What does that do? While they’re downgrading the Bible and Christ, they are making witchcraft acceptable! They can even teach it in schools, and even the Protestants have accepted Harry Potter as a good thing.

Along comes The DaVinci Code after selling some 60-million books. Can you make money by teaching and writing a lot of lies? Sure you can! Will Satan reward you? You bet he will! Big time! That’s what he wants.

The DaVinci Code movie is a body-blow to everything that names the name of Christ! I don’t mind his attack on the Catholic Church, because that’s probably warranted. But the whole thing of it is that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and that they had offspring.

Jesus couldn’t have married anyone because while He was Lord God on the earth He was married to ancient Israel, and He could not marry the Church or be engaged to the Church until He died to end that marriage covenant with ancient Israel. That’s why He died. In order to end a marriage bound by God, or God binding Himself to His people, one of the two have to die. Either all the descendants of Israel die or God dies; that’s one factor in His death.

So, according to The DaVinci Code they had offspring and the Knights Templar and the Holy Blood, Holy Grail says that through the kings of Europe’s bloodline flows the genes from Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Amazing—isn’t it?

So, out comes The Jesus Papers. With a smart-aleck look on his face all the way through, and there was another one earlier called The Passover Plot which Jesus survived the crucifixion. But it was boldly said that when the vinegar was put up to Jesus’ lips they really gave Him high-powered narcotics so it looked like He died. They took Him off the cross and He revived and got together with Mary Magdalene.

All of these things are coming when Satan has made anyone who believes in Christ to be stupid, dumb, just absolutely worthless! Look at all the movies that they make on Protestant ministers, and then sure enough you go on television and you watch all these idiots that are supposed to be Protestant ministers, and that’s the way they are.

Where is all of this leading?

(go to the next track)

What you’re getting is a preliminary for this series. In doing this it helps me think it through even more. I need to get more information concerning these different things.

What happens with the movie The DaVinci Code, you have Satan deceiving the whole world and has a lot of people working for him that he’s rewarding big time.

The people have been taught to believe what they see: if you see it, it’s got to be true. To give you an example of a real live case that took place. Remember on television they showed a babysitter throwing a baby up in the air and they convicted her and put her in jail. She stayed two years and six months for child abuse, but when the child was examined by doctors they found nothing. They couldn’t figure it out, but they looked at the nanny camera that the parents left when they had the babysitter there, and finally someone who knew about the camera was smart enough to figure out what was really going on.

It was that that camera only took a picture once every four seconds. In doing that, it looked like the baby was being jerked around, when it wasn’t. They finally got the conviction thrown out and she was released. So, not everything you see is necessarily true. That’s why people are infatuated with magicians. They’re able to do ‘a slight of hand’—the hand is faster than the eye.

What’s going to happen with all of these attitudes that have been projected in downgrading Christ downgrading Christ, downgrading Christ? All of this is the anti-thesis.

- the thesis—Christ is the Son of God, He was God manifested in the flesh

- the anti-thesis—no He wasn’t, He was just a human being and He actually had relations with Mary Magdalene and had off-spring and survived the crucifixion

Downgrading, downgrading, downgrading!

Then comes along The DaVinci Code and people went to see it. It was almost like mass hysteria like it was with the Harry Potter movies, which makes witchcraft more acceptable. You can order Harry Potter stuff, even a Harry Potter wand and play real witchcraft!

So, people see that and they believe it! Now comes along Judas Iscariot! ‘We need to rehabilitate Judas Iscariot.’ Have you ever seen interviews where a journalist interviews a mass murderer. They come out and they say, ‘Well, he’s really a nice man or woman. How could they have done this?’

This is what is happening with Judas Iscariot. Jesus overcame Satan right after He was baptized. Jesus went out into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights and overcame him in the temptation—one-to-one! Not as God, because He could have overcome Satan very easily. Not as an angel, because He could still do it. But as a human being subject to the pulls of the flesh that we all have, He overcame Satan the devil and was victorious over him as recounted in Matt. 4 & Luke 4. There had to be another man selected on the innermost circle of Jesus who would be a betrayer.

1. to fill the prophecies that He would be betrayed

2. He chose him because he didn’t believe

3. He chose him because he was demon possessed

Mark 3:13: “Then He went up into the mountain and called to Him those whom He desired, and they came to Him. And He ordained twelve, that they might be with Him, and that He might send them to preach, and to have authority to heal diseases and to cast out demons” (vs 13-15). That is in the authority in the name of Jesus Christ.

Let’s understand that it’s not the man who does it, but Christ, through His name, Who does it. That’s why even false prophets, when they’re resurrected and say, ‘O Lord, look, we did all these wonderful things for You; we healed the sick, we cast out demons and we did many wonderful works in Your name (Matt. 7), Jesus will say, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who work lawlessness.’

Verse 16: “Then He chose Simon and added to him the name Peter; and He chose James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James; and He added to them the name Boanerges, which means ‘sons of thunder.’ And He chose Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas. And He chose James, the son of Alpheus; and Thaddeus; and Simon, the Cananean” (vs 16- 18)—not Canaanite; he was from the area of Canaan.

Verse 19: “And Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him….” Let’s understand something concerning this: Judas was not victimized by Jesus. He is called ‘the son of perdition.’ That’s what Jesus said, ‘None of them is lost except the ‘son of perdition that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.’

There’s going to be another ‘son of perdition,’ which the stage is being prepared for. I think it’s very interesting that Satan wants to rehabilitate Judas first. After Jesus told the disciples about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, the disciples:

John 6:60: “Therefore, after hearing these words, many of His disciples said, ‘This is a hard saying. Who is able to hear it?’ But Jesus, knowing that His disciples were complaining about this, said to them, ‘Does this offend you? What if you shall see the Son of man ascending up where He was before?’” (vs 60-62).

Let’s just interject one thing right here: One of the tools of Satan the devil, that he is using to worm his way into the Churches of God today, is that Jesus was not God before He became human. But He was the ‘thought’ of God. Not like it says:

John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”—simple and profound in English and in Greek. All the way through the Gospel of John you find out that Jesus did come from heaven; He’s from above, etc., etc.

John 6:63: “It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life.” This is why the Spirit of God and reading the Word of God—which is inspired by the Spirit of God—it does something to you mentally and emotionally that no other book can do. No other book contains the words that are Spirit and that are Life.

That’s why in times of distress you can go to the Word of God and be comforted. That’s why when you read it, it does something to you spiritually to strengthen you and correct you. It is the only book in history that shows the sins and weaknesses of those that the world would call ‘heroes’ :

- like King David

- like Saul

- like the apostles

Just to give you an example, since the world loves its own, when the movie finally comes out about John Paul II do you think they’re going to show one little sin of that man? No! It’s another reason why the Bible is true.

Verse 64: “‘But there are some of you who do not believe.’….” That’s why He chose Judas; and Judas was the only one from Judea—Kerioth—a town where he came out of where there were priests.

“…For Jesus knew from the beginning who were the ones that did not believe, and who would betray Him. And He said, ‘For this reason, I have said to you, no one can come to Me unless it has been given to him from My Father’” (vs 64-65). That’s why Jesus chose Him.

Let’s see some of Jesus’ confrontation with Judas, and see Judas’ attitude. Let’s do a little review here: beginning in Matt. 21, Jesus began in Jerusalem to severely correct all the religious authorities. He had confrontations with them. One of the confrontations was the one with John the Baptist, whether Jesus was from heaven or men. Politicians can’t answer it. ‘If we say He’s from men, all the people will believe He be a prophet from God. So, we’ll be in trouble with the people. If we say from God, He will say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him [John the Baptist]?’ So, they said, ‘We can’t answer.’ Jesus said, ‘I can’t tell you where I get my authority either.’ Remember Judas was watching all of this and he probably had more sympathy for the religious community and the leaders at this time.

Then you come to Matt. 22 and Jesus really gets after them and condemns them. Matt. 23 is the excoriating, absolute denunciation of scribes and Pharisees—hypocrites! All the way through it is ‘Woe! scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites’ and so forth.

What I want you to do is picture someone who didn’t believe Jesus, in the person of Judas Iscariot, and I want you to picture it, that Satan and the demon was stirring him up to be against Jesus. Now Jesus had plenty of cause for condemning.

Matthew 26:1: “Now, it came to pass that when Jesus had finished all these sayings, He said to His disciples, ‘You know that after two days the Passover takes place, and the Son of man is delivered up to be crucified’” (vs 1-2). They still didn’t understand it.

Verse 3: “Then the chief priests and the scribes and the elders of the people assembled together in the court of the high priest… [Wicked spirits in high places?] …who was called Caiaphas; and they took counsel together for the purpose of seizing Jesus by treachery, and killing Him. But they said… [politicians to the end] …‘Not during the Feast, so that there will not be a riot among the people’” (vs 3-5).

We’ll see what happened, because Satan works a little bit over here, and then he works a little bit down here, and then over here and over there. Then he brings it all together.

Verse 6: “Now, when Jesus was in Bethany, in Simon the leper’s house, a woman came to Him with an alabaster flask of ointment, very precious, and poured it on His head as He sat down to eat. But when His disciples saw it…” (vs 6-8). This was instigated by Judas, because he had the purse and was stealing from it.

“…they became indignant and said, ‘What reason is there for this waste? For this ointment could have been sold for much, and the money given to the poor.’ But Jesus knew this and said to them, ‘Why do you cause trouble for this woman? For she has performed a good work toward Me’” (vs 8-10). He said on the second anointing that this was done for His death.

Verse 11: “For you have the poor with you always, but you do not always have Me. What this woman did in pouring this ointment on My body, she did for My burial. Truly I say to you, wherever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, what this woman has done shall also be spoken of for a memorial of her” (vs 11-13). Is that true? Yes, you just heard it!

Verse 14: Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests.” He said, ‘I’ve had it, that’s more than I can take.’

Verse 15: “And said, ‘What are you willing to give me, and I will deliver Him up to you?’ And they offered him thirty pieces of silver.” They were glad when he came. Satan had already counseled to get rid of them. Then here comes just the one that they need:

- someone to betray Jesus

- someone who knew Him

- someone who knew His habits

Verse 16: “And from that time he sought an opportunity to betray Him.”

Luke 22:1: “Now, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called Passover, was approaching; and the chief priests and the scribes were speculating as to how they might put Him to death, for they feared the people. Then Satan entered into Judas, who was surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. And he went away, and spoke with the chief priests and the captains about a way by which he might betray Him to them. And they rejoiced, and agreed to give him money” (vs 1-5).

The 30 pieces of silver is very significant. It was prophesied that it would be 30 pieces of silver, but 30 pieces of silver is the price of a dead slave. If you cause a slave to die then you owe the master 30 pieces of silver.

We find the most detailed account of the betrayal in John 13. This was not only the account of it, but it was also a prophecy of the demise of the whole system of the temple worship, and the reaction of the Jews in rejecting Jesus. So, there’s an awful lot contained in this.

- there is a reality

- there is a symbolism

- there are prophetic things involved

It’s interesting that there are only two people in the Bible called ‘the son of perdition.’ Here’s the whole purpose of the foot-washing:

John 13:16: “Truly, truly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his lord, nor a messenger greater than he who sent him.”

Let’s understand a great principle here: If you’re a messenger, what is your message to be? Exactly what you’re told to bring! If you add anything to it, or take away from it, you make yourself greater than the one who sent you, because you have changed it by your own opinion. Think of that in relationship to ministers, teachers, writers, and in relationship to all these things that are brought in trying to get rid of Christ. They’re setting themselves up greater than Christ, because they want to get rid of Him!

Verse 17: “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I am not speaking of you all; for I know whom I have chosen, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled: ‘He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.’ I am telling you at this time, before it happens, so that when it does happen, you may believe that I AM. Truly, truly I tell you, the one who receives whomever I send is receiving Me; and the one who receives Me is receiving Him Who sent Me” (vs 17-20).

Verse 21: “As He was saying these things, Jesus was troubled in spirit, and testified, saying, ‘Truly, truly I tell you, one of you shall betray Me.’ Then the disciples looked at one another, wondering of whom He was speaking. Now one of His disciples, the one whom Jesus loved… [that’s always John’s way of referring to himself] …was leaning on Jesus’ chest. And so, Simon Peter motioned to him to ask who was the one of whom He was speaking. Then he leaned back on Jesus’ chest and asked Him, ‘Lord, who is it?’” (vs 21-25).

Verse 26: “Jesus answered, ‘It is the one to whom I shall give a sop after I have dipped it.’….” He probably took a piece of unleavened bread like you would do with a big corn chip and scooped up some of the Passover meal; probably with a morsel of meat in it and He gave it to Judas.

“…And when He had dipped the sop, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son” (v 26). What did this do?

1. it ended the Old Covenant Passover ceremony

That’s why we no longer have a meal with it.

2. Jesus instituted the broken bread and the wine for the New Covenant ceremony

That’s why we do that!

Verse 27: “And after the sop, Satan entered into him….” Think of this: Right there at that last Passover that Jesus had, Satan was there! Think of it! That blows my mind, but that’s exactly what happened. It shows you the determination of Satan the devil to do everything that he can to get rid of Jesus. Because, if he can in any way, then he will triumph, so he thinks in his perverted thinking.

“…Then Jesus said to him, ‘What you do, do quickly.’” (v 27). Who was Jesus talking to? Satan!

The ‘Gospel of Judas Iscariot’ says that he only did it because Jesus asked him to, and that Judas was, in fact, one of ‘His top apostles,’ and ‘confided in him, more than any other of the apostles. What is written in the New Testament is greatly degrading Judas, that he wasn’t like what it said at all. He was really a good man, doing what his Master asked him to do. How can you condemn him?’ Sounds a little like the Garden of Eden— doesn’t it? Master of liars!

Verse 28: “But not one of those sitting at the table knew why He said this to him; for some thought, since Judas had the bag, that Jesus was telling him, ‘Buy the things that we need for the feast’; or that he should give something to the poor. So then, after receiving the sop, he immediately went out; and it was night” (vs 28-30). That was also a prophecy of the end of the temple system and the rejection of Jesus by Judaism.

After Judas betrayed Him, and after Jesus was tried, crucified and died—or maybe sometime before Jesus died—Judas hung himself (Matt. 27:3). Why did Judas hang himself? It says he repented, but he didn’t repent in the sense of repenting unto salvation! But after Satan left him he came to his senses and realized what he had done.

- Why did Judas have to hang himself? He had to give his life for betraying Jesus!

- Who was going to take Judas’ life?

- The priests, scribes and Pharisees? NO!

They even took the 30 pieces of silver that he went and threw back into the temple and bought a potter’s field with it. So, they wouldn’t arrest him and execute him—would they?

- Would the Romans’ do it? They could care less!

- Would the apostles do it? No! They had no authority to do so!

God took care of it. Judas hung himself, and when he did his guts spilled out and that ended Judas Iscariot. {note sermon #4 in this series: Enigma of Judas Iscariot}

Let’s project ahead and let’s look at the stage that is being set. {Note chapter 4 in Occult Holidays or God’s Holy Days—Which? Secrets of the Occult Saturate the World Today} based on the prophecy in Rev. 13. All the things that we discussed at the first

- have been molding public opinion

- have been deceiving people

- have been preparing the way for the antichrist

are now beginning to form and mold public opinion to the point that those who really believe in Christ will be thought of as enemies of the state.

Revelation 13:3: “And I saw one of his heads as if it were slain to death…” Remember the king is in charge of the kingdom. Here is the one who has one of the heads slain to death.

“…but his deadly wound was healed…” (v 3). What I want you to do is picture someone who becomes as popular as Pope John Paul II or more so.

“…and the whole earth was amazed and followed the beast” (v 3). There’s one thing to understand about the book of Revelation: when it says the whole world, the whole earth, all peoples, it means exactly that!

Verse 4: “And they worshiped the dragon…” Why are they going to worship Satan the devil? Because all Christianity has been debunked, killed with a body-blow by all of these things that we have mentioned! Now Satan-worship is in, and the whole young generation has been prepared for it.

- Do they believe in Christ?

- Do they believe in God?

- No! They don’t know a thing about it!

Next time you watch a football or basketball game with college students, you look in their eyes and see what they’re doing. The very last thing that they would have on their mind would have anything to do with God the Father or Jesus Christ. Besides, ‘who wants to be a stupid ole religionist anyway. I want power, I want things now. I like magic; I like my movies; I like to mess up my hair, mess up my face, split my tongue, tattoo myself from head to toe and the genitals’ and everything else. That’s what’s going on out there. That’s all occultism paving the way for the coming antichrist!

“…who gave his authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast? Who has the power to make war against him?’” (v 4).

Let’s see what he’s going to do: 2-Thess. 2—this has not happen. We need some more understanding as we go through. We’re given a warning here.

2-Thessalonians 2:1: “Now, we beseech you, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him”— through the resurrection.

You can take certain principles of this prophecy and you can apply it to certain situations in the Church, but this is talking about what’s going to come out of the mystery of lawlessness or iniquity, which is Satan’s system, not the Church.

Verse 2: “That you not be quickly shaken in mind, nor be troubled—… [in other words, be steadfast] …neither by spirit…” There will be spirit apparitions out there. Look what happens every time something happens where there is an image of Mary or a weeping Madonna; thousands go—don’t they? That’s all spiritism!

“…nor by word… [anything that’s written or printed] …nor by epistle as if from us… [Paul, Peter or John] …saying that the day of Christ is present” (v 2). That’s what they’re going to say when the antichrist comes. ‘Christ is here!’

Who knows! Is He going to claim that he actually has the genes of Jesus Himself in him, verified now by ‘religious’ authorities, because they all believe The DaVinci Code and the Jesus Papers, and reject the Word of God?

Verse 3: “Do not let anyone deceive you by any means because that day will not come unless the apostasy shall come first…” What was the original apostasy and where is that found? Gen. 11 when they built the Tower of Babel! When they worshiped Nimrod in place of God! This applies to the world, the whole apostasy against everything to do with God, against everything to do with Christ.

“…and the man of sin shall be revealed— the son of perdition” (v 3). There it is! As we saw in Rev. 13, the world is going to go wild after this man. Satan is going to have his hypnotizing, mesmerizing power and he will make enemies become peaceful. He will solve the problems that are in the world. He’s going to be accepted as God manifested in the flesh. The prophesied Savior!

Notice that there’s going to be a temple built in Jerusalem and here’s what the beast does, v 4: “The one who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is an object of worship; so that he comes into the temple of God and sits down as God, proclaiming that he himself is God.” That has never happened in the Church.

Remember that John wrote about the vision of the temple in Jerusalem (Rev. 11). But what did John also know that happened to the temple in Jerusalem? It was destroyed!

Matthew 24:15: “Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the Holy place’ (the one who reads, let him understand).” When Jesus was speaking He didn’t say this last statement. This was put in there by John when he, Andrew and Philip canonized the New Testament.

They knew that the “…abomination of desolation…” had not happened. They knew that 2- Thess. 3 and Rev. 13 had not yet taken place. So therefore, in order for those at the end-time to know they inserted this statement: “…the one who reads, let him understand.” This tells us that there will be a temple. As a matter of fact, that’s the closest Satan is ever going to get in taking over the throne of God, by going into the Holy of Holies in the temple in Jerusalem, which will be built.

Brethren, we’re living on the verge of very exciting times! Epical, historical, profound times!

2-Thessalonians 2:5: “Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? And now you understand what is holding him back in order for him to be revealed in his own set time” (vs 5-6). There is a set time that God has based upon the circumstances and the fulfilling of prophecies that this will take place.

Verse 7: “For the mystery of lawlessness…” The secret of men getting rid of the laws of God and replacing them with their own and Satan’s laws. That’s why it’s lawlessness.

“…is already working; only there is one Who is restraining at the present time until it arises out of the midst” (v 7)—of the satanic system; not out of the midst of the Church.

Unfortunately, the King James says ‘falling away’ and people read that and apply that to the Church. NO! This is mankind’s total rebellion against God and following the false Christ! He comes out of that system: Mystery Babylon the Great, which includes all the religions of the world.

Verse 8: “And then the lawless one will be revealed (whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth, and will destroy with the brightness of His coming)” {note Rev. 19—the beast and the false prophet are cast into the Lake of Fire when Jesus returns}

Verse 9: “Even the one whose coming is according to the inner working of Satan… [when Satan gets permission to do this, notice what it’s going to be]: …with all power and signs and lying wonders.” People are going to say:

- Seeing is believing!

- Look at what this man has done!

- Look at the miracles that have been performed!

- Look what this religious leader is going to do!

- He’s calling down fire from heaven!

- This has got to be from God!

The world is going to go ‘hook, line and sinker’!

Verse 10: “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in those who are perishing because they did not receive the love of the Truth, so that they might be saved.” Another very important lesson here: You’ve got to:

- love the Word of God

- love the Truth of God

That is the only thing, coupled with the Spirit of God, that’s going to keep you from being deceived. The whole world is going to be swept up in this!

Verse 11: “And for this cause, God will send upon them a powerful deception that will cause them to believe the lie.” What is the lie? This man is greater than Jesus Christ! This man is the true Messiah! This man has been sent by God to save the world, and he will usher in a time of peace for 3-1/2 years that the world is going to be convinced that, yes, this has got to be true!

If you don’t think they will do it, just watch some of the historical documentaries on Adolf Hitler and his preaching to the people, and see how they were all involved in the occult and, yes indeed, Satan was involved in stirring up the men and women into following him. Only this is going to be on a vastly greater scale.

Verse 12: “So that all may be judged who did not believe the Truth, but who took pleasure in unrighteousness.”

That’s the second son of perdition! The world is being conditioned, massaged, manipulated and deceived! All of these things that are coming out, and I have many more that I failed to mention, are paving the way, setting the mind, degrading Jesus—making Him worse than just an ordinary man:

- a liar

- a cheat

- one who was not sacrificed

- one who survived the crucifixion

Then the rehabilitation of Judas! Yes, the rehabilitation of Judas is going to pave the way. He’s going to be thought of as someone who was misunderstood, someone who only did what Jesus told him to do. Where have you heard that before? The criminals of the Third Reich! ‘We were only doing what we were ordered to do.’

I don’t know how it’s going to come down, but you just watch:

- the reaction to the movies that are coming

- the reaction that’s going to take place with the revelation of the Gospel of Judas Iscariot

- the attitudes of people and see how they accept all of these things

- especially the attitudes of the young people, and how they’re very susceptible to it

How they will be willing to follow this, because after all they don’t have to follow the ‘stupid stuff’ of their parents, which as now been disproved in their eyes.

This is going to be awesome, indeed!

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version by Fred R. Coulter

Scriptural References:

1) 2 Peter 1:12-21

2) 1 John 2:18-19

3) 1 John 4:1-3

4) Mark 3:13-19

5) John 6:60-62

6) John 1:1

7) John 6:63-65

8) Matthew 26:1-16

9) Luke 22:1-5

10) John 13:16-30

11) Revelation 13:3-4

12) 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4

13) Matthew 24:15

14) 2 Thessalonians 2:5-12

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

- Matthew 4

- Luke 4

- Matthew 7; 21-23; 27:3

- Genesis 11

- Matthew 11

- Revelation 19

Also referenced:

- from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version:

- Tribute to William Tyndale

- Commentary: Why This Translation? How Did This Happen?

- Article: Rome’s Challenge to the Protestants (Appendix A: The Holy Bible in Its Original Order—also found in books:

- The Day That Jesus Christ Died by Fred R. Coulter

- Occult Holidays or God’s Holy Days— Which? by Fred R. Coulter

- Books:

- Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Henry Lincoln, Machael Baigent and Richard Leign

- DaVinci Code by Dan Brown

- Jesus Papers by Michael Baigent

- The Passover Plot by Hugh J. Schonfield

- Occult Holidays or God’s Holy Days— Which? Secrets of the Occult Saturate the World Today (chapter 4)

- Sermon: Enigma of Judas Iscariot (#4 Assaults Against Jesus series)

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 4-4-14

Assaults Against Jesus Christ II

Gospel of Judas #2

Fred R. Coulter

I want you to look at how Satan is orchestrating all of these things to come down, to create a public opinion against Jesus—anything to do with Jesus—and promote his way. Consider this for a minute: If you rehabilitate Judas, who else do you rehabilitate? Satan! After all, he can present a side of the story that he’s misunderstood.

Remember that Jesus said, ‘When the Son of man comes will He find the faith in the earth?’ You can apply that

- doctrinally

- to those who believe in Jesus—even in a nominal way

- to the Church—because at the end-time you have the Laodicean Church, which is lukewarm

You also have the situation where you need to put all the prophecies together in this. Daniel said that knowledge would increase. Not only will the knowledge of God increase, as He gives us understanding with His Word—and He promised that He would—but also the knowledge of things technological and also of things in the past.

What we are seeing is that Satan operates in cycles and repeats. Let’s look at what was happening right as the New Testament Church was coming to its conclusion during the days of the apostles.

Let’s see what John says. What we’re going to discover is that just before the close of the apostolic age, and the apostolic age ends with the death of John. This is why it’s important that everyone read all the commentaries in The Holy Bible in Its Original Order This helps you understand a very major thing that God has done:

- how He’s preserved His Word

- why the apostles were the only ones to finish it

This will help us understand why people are so interested in things like the ‘Gospel of Judas’ and why they are giving equal time to it. With the New Testament you would think that no one would give it equal time, but they do. And some other things that go along with that.

We get some hints of this because what we will understand from the ‘Gospel of Judas’ is that the movement called gnosticism. It is basically that God is the inanimate God Who transcended and has no form. When Satan wants to subvert a Church of God, what he does is change the nature of God. That’s what happened in the downfall of the largest Church of God in modern times.

- they changed the nature of God

- they changed the Bible that they used

- they changed the interpretations that they had

- they brought in mild gnostic doctrine

Gnosticism has to do with light and dark. We can see here in John 1:5 that John is fighting against the gnostics of his day. Gnosticism goes way back. Gnosticism actually, when you understand it, begins in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Gnostic or gnosticism comes from the Greek word ‘gnosis,’ which means knowledge. What was the tree they ate of? The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which was a way to come to be as God without having to do it God’s way. That would be the best way you could explain gnosticism.

{see book: Primitive Christianity in Crisis by Alan Knight}

A lot of people say, ‘I can’t keep up with all this reading.’ Well, maybe you ought apply yourself a little more, because there is a lot of knowledge coming down, and it is affecting the Churches of God this way: There is a movement within the Churches of God by men who were high ranking ministers in the past who are now teaching that Jesus was not God before He became a human being!

Because people are ill-equipped, unstudied, socialized in a church setting, they are not ready for these kinds of things, and they are falling for it! That’s why I’ve mentioned many times, if you want to know where Jesus came from and Who He was before He was human, read the Gospel of John! The first chapter tells you all you need to know. The rest of the New Testament confirms it.

What we also have in the world are scholars who do not believe the Bible is the Word of God. This is what opens the door for things like the ‘Gospel of Judas’ to have equal footing.

1-John 1:5: “And this is the message that we have heard from Him [Christ]…” That’s why it’s important that you go back and read and study the Gospels. {see book: A Harmony of the Gospels}

What you will find if you read the commentary on Why This was Written, was because an organization called The Jesus Seminar with some of the leading scholars in the world who are historians and some theologians, having put the New Testament down as very questionable—and the whole Gospel of John was not accepted. They have put out a book called The Five Gospels, which puts the ‘Gospel of Thomas’ as the fifth gospel.

That’s why you have to know what is the message of Jesus Christ! That’s what you have to know! What did He teach, especially concerning salvation, human nature and eternal life? Salvation comes by:

- repentance

- forgiveness

- receiving of the Holy Spirit

- enduring to the end after growing in:

- grace

- knowledge

- character

and you await the resurrection!

All those who believe in the immortality of the soul have some level of gnosticism in their belief. The gnostics say—brought up in Primitive Christianity In Crisis—that ‘all of us were up here in the stars with the inanimate God and that spark of life was put into human beings, and that spark of life in you is God. That is life! That spark of life in you needs knowledge, and you can work your own way to return back to heaven.’ If you want to see the ultimate of that, that’s reincarnation through Hinduism and various religions like that.

One of the earmarks of Satan’s way is the immortality of the soul and going to heaven; also, light and dark.

“…and are declaring to you…” (v 5). They didn’t teach anything other than what Jesus taught and inspired them and led them to do with the Spirit of Truth.

“…that God is light, and there is no darkness at all in Him” (v 5). Gnostics say that the earth being material was created by a lesser god and Jesus—if He’s Creator of the earth—is a lesser god. This is all the background by it.

Verse 6: “If we proclaim that we have fellowship with Him… [which gnostics do through knowledge] …but we are walking in the darkness… [not walking in the light of the Truth of God] …we are lying to ourselves, and we are not practicing the Truth. However, if we walk in the light…” (vs 6-7).

That’s why John wrote in the Gospel of John, chapter one, that Jesus was the true Light. Here in 1-John 1 he is fighting against gnosticism.

“…as He is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His own Son, cleanses us from all sin” (v 7). Gnostics say that you don’t have a sinful nature because you have the spark of the Divine within you, and all you need is knowledge to release it.

Verse 8: “If we say that we do not have sin… [is what the gnostics say] …we are deceiving ourselves, and the Truth is not in us. If we confess our own sins, He is faithful and righteous, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us” (vs 8-10).

All of this is fighting Gnostic doctrine. Also one of the things that the gnostics teach, which we find in parts of the ‘Gospel of Judas.’ (www.nationalgeographic.com/lostgospel/_pdf/GospelofJudas.pdf ) I read the whole thing and it’s not as sensational as they try and make it to be. Gnostics do not believe that it is necessary to keep the commandments of God. They say that you have to know God through knowledge or gnosticism.

1-John 2:3: “And by this standard we know that we know Him…” That’s the whole basis of gnosticism, to know God. It’s just like the modern ‘pick yourself up by your own bootstraps’ kind of thing: positive thinking—know yourself, know your better self, get in touch with your better self—and you’re going to be fine. Gnosticism says, ‘Get in touch with the Divine that’s within you, because God is in everything. He’s in you! You don’t have to keep the commandments, you just need knowledge so you can be in touch with God.’

John is setting the record straight, v 3: “And by this standard we know that we know Him: if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the Truth is not in him” (vs 3-4). This is a direct reference to gnosticism.

Verse 5: “On the other hand, if anyone is keeping His Word, truly in this one the love of God is being perfected. By this means we know that we are in Him.” Because a gnostic says that ‘you only know God through the secret things that we tell you.’ That’s exactly what the problem was in Col. 2.

Verse 18: “Little children, it is the last time…” For them it was the last time; it was coming to the end of the apostolic age. This is also a prophecy for us to know, because at the end-time there’s going to be a repeat of what happened there.

“…and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have risen up, by which we know that it is the last time” (v 18). These were all the gnostics claiming to be Christian.

Just like today, we have hundreds and hundreds of groups and sects who all claim to be Christian, with myriad of practices and beliefs and so forth. But they’re not! Unless you keep the commandments of God—and we’ll throw in the Sabbath and Holy Days—then you have varying degrees of gnosticism.

Verse 19: “They went out from among us… [because as long as the Truth was being preached they couldn’t stay there] …but they were not of us because if they were of us, they would have remained with us; nevertheless, they left that they might be exposed to show that they all were not of us. But you have the anointing from the Holy One…” (vs 19-20).

The gnostics believe that you already, with ‘the spark of the Divine in you,’ have the Holy Spirit. So, John is making it clear that the anointing that we have is the Holy Spirit at baptism.

“…and you have knowledge of all things pertaining to salvation…. [vs the gnostics who were saying they had the key to salvation] …I did not write to you because you do not know the Truth, but because you know it, and you understand that not one lie comes from the Truth” (vs 20-21).

Therefore, when we examine any of these false gospels, we see the lies that are there because of the Truth of the Word of God.

Verse 22: “Who is the liar if it is not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is the antichrist—the one who denies the Father and the Son.” They deny both! They deny the Father that He’s not an individual. But what did Jesus say to Philip, when Philip said, ‘Show us the Father’? He said, ‘If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father!’

The gnostics say that God is a transcendent spirit up in the stars. He has no form or shape. They are denying the Father. They deny Christ, His sacrifice, His shed blood and that He was God before He became human.

Verse 23: “Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either.” That includes Judaism as well as gnosticism. By the way, a lot of Jews are gnostics because there was Gnostic Judaism a couple of hundred years before the New Testament Church.

Here’s another earmark of them, 1-John 4:1: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit…” These are demonic spirits going around. There is a spiritual element and power behind them; that is Satan the devil and the demons.

“…but test the spirits whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (v 1)—which tells you that behind every false prophet there is a false and lying spirit. You can hear this clearly in the so-called Christian religions today.

The Catholic Church even boasts that it could have ‘preached the Gospel of Jesus or the Gospel of Salvation without the Bible.’ Quite a stunning quote! You have the same thing with the Protestants. The first thing they say when they get in the pulpit is that ‘Jesus didn’t mean this…’ Most people believe that Jesus changed the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day. They believe it because they’re told it, and they believe they’re going to heaven.

All Protestantism—as Alan Knight wrote in his book Primitive Christianity in Crisis—is a mild version of gnosticism, which denies the Father and denies the Son, while professing it. You couldn’t have anything more slick or lying than that!

Another example of Protestant gnosticism: What does the Bible say on how to receive the Holy Spirit? Repent and be baptized! Today a lot of evangelicals say that you don’t need that, ‘all you have to do is believe. You don’t need to be baptized.’ They’re denying Christ, and they’re denying baptism.

Joel Olsteen—who has the largest church in Houston, Texas—says, ‘I don’t want to hear anything negative about anybody. I want you to think on all the good things that you are and can do, and that God loves you and all you have to do is believe in Jesus and change your ways.’ Nothing about sin! Nothing about repentance! People gobble it up!

Here’s what it leads to, v 2: “By this test you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.” Tie that together with the other things:

- Jesus was God manifested in the flesh

- the Word was with God

- the Word was God

- the Word became flesh

- Jesus had the same kind of flesh that we have

Verse 3: “And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not from God. And this is the spirit of antichrist, which you heard was to come, and even now it is already in the world.”

We notice something about the world, and why the world is going to believe these things, because in order for the world to believe the great illusion that is coming upon it, it’s got to be prepared. All of these things are preparing the way for Satan’s great deception!

Verse 4: “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them… [they were battling against them and standing doctrinally against them] …because greater is He Who is in you than the one who is in the world.” This is telling us that with the power of God’s Spirit within us we can withstand all of these assaults against the Church and against Christ.

Verse 5: “They are of the world; because of this, they speak of the world, and the world listens to them. We are of God; the one who knows God listens to us; the one who is not of God does not listen to us. By this means we know the Spirit of the Truth and the spirit of the deception” (vs 5-6). This is what we are going to examine.

I have two books:

- The Secrets of Judas: The Story of the Misunderstood Disciple and His Lost Gospel by James M. Robinson

- The Gospel of Judas (published by National Geographic) Edited by: Kasser, Meyer, Worst, Gaudard

This was planned big time. They had four scholars who understood Coptic and Greek, and who worked on piecing this thing together for years. They had to sign an agreement of absolute secrecy so that the National Geographic Corp. could produce their docudrama about the ‘Gospel of Judas.’ When you listen to them very carefully they really cannot come up with any sure proof, but they make it sound as though it is true.

from The Gospel of Judas (jacket cover):

For 1,600 years its message lay hidden. When the bound papyrus pages of this lost gospel finally reached scholars who could unlock its meaning, they were astounded.

There are a lot of ‘religionists’ and scholars who don’t believe that the New Testament is the Word of God. They do not believe that it was canonized by the apostles. They do not believe that it was canonized until 397A.D., and as we will see when we get to The Jesus Papers, that that is a lie that has been setup, which Satan is also now going to destroy, because I think he’s going to reformulate the whole ‘religious system’ in the world back to the lines of old Babylon the Great. This is going to be a bigger thing than we have ever imagined!

Here was a gospel that had not been seen since the early days of Christianity…

Notice how they phrase it

…and which few experts had even thought existed–a gospel told from the perspective of Judas Iscariot, history’s ultimate traitor. And far from being a villain, the Judas that emerges in its pages is a hero.

Amazing, isn’t it? Aren’t people all in to analyzing and accepting many, many different propositions on an equal basis.

Let’s compare the difference between what the apostles were told to do and what Christ led them to do, and results in the New Testament that we have today, and why the ‘Gospel of Judas’ lay buried for 1600 years. Here’s what they are to do, and if it is truly the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it will be preached! What does it say in Matt. 24 and Mark 13? And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world!

Matthew 28:18: “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore, go and make disciples in all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even until the completion of the age.’ Amen” (vs 18- 20). Look at the fruits! Has that happened? Yes!

Has this happened, compared to the ‘Gospel of Judas’? Broken down and almost destroyed by age and deterioration codex of the ‘Gospel of Judas.’ Everyone gets all excited about it, because they refuse to believe Jesus Christ and refuse to believe that He actually preserved His Word, caused it to be disseminated.

Mark 13:10: “And the Gospel must first be published among all nations.”

Compared to the one tattered, old, buried in the desert for 1600 years, the ‘Gospel of Judas’— and let’s throw in all the Library of Nag Hammadi, which was discovered in 1945—has been published in all the world.

How many billions of Bibles and New Testaments are there in the world compared to the one ‘Gospel of Judas’? So, we can conclude that compared to the one little ‘Gospel of Judas’ the Gospel of Jesus Christ contained in Matt., Mark, Luke and John, the whole New Testament with the Epistles of Paul, the General Epistles and the book of Revelation have been published and distributed in the world in untold numbers. Jesus said that it would be!

The true Jesus of the Gospels, and of the New Testament and the Bible, His words bear out because of what He said would happen, would happen! What else did He also say? Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away! This is critical to understand: Gnosticism rejects the Old Testament. The false Jesus rejects the Old Testament. What did the true Jesus say when He began His ministry? Do not think that I have come to destroy the Law or the Prophets!

Luke 24:44: “And He said to them, ‘These are the words that I spoke to you when I was yet with you, that all the things which were written concerning Me in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.’” Whatever the Gospel of Jesus Christ is it must include the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. Not a new version of knowledge through gnosis!

Verse 45: “Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” We’ve given many sermons on how to understand the Bible. God’s Spirit has to work with you to open your understanding of it.

Verse 46: “And said to them, ‘According as it is written, it was necessary for the Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day. And in His name, repentance and remission of sins should be preached to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. For you are witnesses of these things” (vs 46-48).

- Did it start at Jerusalem? Yes, it did!

- Did it go to all nations? Yes, it did!

- Where was the ‘Gospel of Judas’? At the time that Jesus said this, it wasn’t even written, and Judas was already dead!

Let’s see how far this was to reach. What we’re doing here is comparing from the Word of God: did God and Jesus Christ fulfill Their Word in doing what they said they would do with the apostles in preaching the Gospel, having it written, having it preserved to go to all nations, compared to the ‘Gospel of Judas,’ which laid buried for 1600 years in the desert.

Acts 1:3: “To whom also, by many infallible proofs… [note 1-Cor. 15] …He presented Himself alive after He had suffered…” Let’s think on this for a minute :

1. If the Romans had stolen Christ’s body out of the tomb would they not have displayed it for everyone to see that He didn’t rise from the dead? Yes!

2. If the Jews also assisted them in that, would they not have displayed the body? Yes!

3. If, as some claim, He survived the crucifixion and lived and died a natural death, do you not think that the religionists would have gotten His bones to dedicate cathedrals?

- Do they not have the bones of Mohammad?

- Do they not have the bones of Buddha?

- Do they not have the bones of popes?

- Do they not have the bones of so-called saints?

Remember what Jude wrote concerning Satan disputing with Michael, the angel, over the body of Moses. Why was there a dispute over the body of Moses? Satan wanted the body of Moses to create a false religion with his bones as the dedication to the main altar of what ‘religion’ that Satan would have setup under the guise of the ‘religion of Moses’!

Just think what Satan would have done with the bones of Jesus had Jesus not risen from the dead! No one has produced any remnant of the body of Jesus! Since they don’t believe what is written in the New Testament, 95%-plus scholars reject what is in the New Testament! We’ll talk about that later and why they do, and what this opens the door for.

The closest the Catholics have come to having any remnant of the body of Jesus is the so-called Shroud of Turin, which has been proven over and over again to be a fake! How did they get the image on the shroud? There are various theories concerning it, however Jesus did not have a shroud draped over Him! His body was wrapped in linen cloth, probably from rolls about 9-inches wide, so you could not have an image on it.

They even suspect that the Shroud of Turin was done by Michael Angelo or someone similar to him, and they used a primitive type of photography to put some chemical on the cloth and expose that image on it so it would be on the cloth. That’s another one of those things that you think about what they would have done had Jesus not risen from the dead and there was a body, and they did have bones.

This is why it’s important to understand the witnesses that Jesus Christ chose. That’s why you have to go back and understand that:

- He was the Lord God of the Old Testament

- He came to the earth in the flesh

- received human nature like we did

- He was crucified as a sacrifice for our sin

- He was in the grave for three days and three nights

- He rose from the dead exactly as He said

- the only book that truly portrays this is the New Testament

Because of hatred for Jesus, the Jews wiped Him clean from history with the exception of some insertions in the History of the Jews by Josephus.

Historians say, ‘Okay, we won’t accept the witnesses of the New Testament because we can’t trust them, and we can’t find the historical Jesus in history. So therefore, until we find the historical Jesus in history, we have no verification that He lived and died,’ when the true witnesses are preserved in the New Testament, which they reject! This is why it’s very important what is written here.

“…being seen by them for forty days, and speaking the things concerning the Kingdom of God. And while they were assembled with Him, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem but to ‘await the promise of the Father, which,’ He said, ‘you have heard of Me. For John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit after not many days.’ So then, when they were assembled together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You restore the kingdom to Israel at this time?’ And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has placed in His own authority; but you yourselves shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses” (vs 3-8).

They are going to be the chosen witnesses of God, the Creator, the God of Truth, the God of Life. They were to be the witnesses; that’s why the New Testament has been preserved, and their witness has been preserved to fulfill the rest of what He says here:

“…both in Jerusalem… [that’s where they began] …and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the ends of the earth” (v 8). That’s why there are more Bibles in the world than any other book; to fulfill what Jesus said here!

Here’s a very simple little test that you can apply to all of the Bible, and know that the words in it are true: Does what it says happen? By how much of a magnitude of fulfillment does it take place? In the case of getting the Gospel out and published, fantastic. Even in spite of men who want to change the Bible. They have not been successful! They have been successful to a certain degree, and they come under the curse of adding or taking away (Rev. 22).

Compare that with the ‘Gospel of Judas,’ which laid buried for 1600 years:

…Judas Iscariot is presented as a role model for all those who wish to be disciples of Jesus and is the one apostle who truly understands Jesus.

Think about this in relationship to what Satan told Adam and Eve in the Garden: God doesn’t know, I know, you can know. Same attitude!

This volume is the first publication of the remarkable gospel since it was condemned as heresy by early church leaders, most notably St. Irenaeus in 180 A.D.; hidden away in a cave in middle Egypt.

How is the Word of God going to be preached in all the world if it’s hidden away in a cave? Because it’s not the Word of God.

Discovered by farmers in the 1970s in Middle Egypt, the codex containing the gospel was bought and sold by antiquities traders, secreted away, and carried across three continents, all the while suffering damage that reduced much of it to fragments. In 2001, it finally found its way into the hands of a team of experts…

You always have to have ‘experts.’ Satan has his intelligencia, his doctors of the law, his experts! When I saw this on the Nation Geographic channel, one man just trembled, he was so thrilled to see this. But they reject the Word of God that has been published and made public to the whole world! Amazing —isn’t it?

…who would painstakingly reassemble and restore it. The Gospel of Judas has been translated from its original Coptic to clear prose, and is accompanied by commentary that explains its fascinating history in the context of the early Church, offering a whole new way of understanding the message of Jesus Christ.

(go to the next track)

Let’s talk a little bit about the canonization of the New Testament, the way that a lot of the agnostic and naturalists have defined it. The Catholic Church goes along with it because it gives them control over the Bible. They can claim that they have apostolic authority—which they have none! The truth of the matter is that every central doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church is based upon a lie, surrounded with the name of Jesus, the Father, the Holy Spirit, and things like this. It is quite a highly developed form of gnosticism. They readily say that the New Testament was not finalized until 397A.D. at the Council of Carthage. Not true!

You need to read commentaries in The Holy Bible in Its Original Order on the canonization of the Bible, and it will prove that the apostles canonized the New Testament. God chose them to do it. God would not leave the canonization of the New Testament to former pagan gnostic priests who adopted the name of ‘Christian.’ They didn’t become Christian, they used the name ‘Christian’ just like a lot of people do today; and a lot of gnostics do.

They claim that the Gospels and everything in the New Testament—except some of the letters of Paul—were handed down by word of mouth and that they didn’t start writing these things until the middle of the 2nd centuryA.D.; ‘therefore, we cannot trust them as to their authenticity or their truthfulness.’

What does this do? Virtually, it did very little until 1945, when they discovered what is now called The Nag Hammadi Library of various gospels. In The Secrets of Judas by James F. Robinson, Editor of the Nag Hammadi Library. If it wasn’t settled until 397A.D. then why are these other gospels—which were also written in the 2nd centuryA.D.—not included?

In other words, Catholic Church, you have been partial and have excluded things that should be there, because these gospels are probably more original than the ones that are contained in the New Testament, which only a very few scholars reject that idea. So, the stage has been set.

Now let me give you some of the names of the other gospels that are there:

- The Gospel of Thomas

In an essay entitled Judas the Hero, Ralph Honner quite correctly comments:

This dialog of Jesus with Thomas counts today as very important for the history of religion. Some researchers name the Book of Thomas the fifth gospel. It could be that here even lies the original text from which the official gospels were built.

Do you see what that opens the door for?

Though the Gospel of Thomas is less a dialog than a collection of 114 sayings ascribed to Jesus, it is indeed a very important discovery of the Nag Hammadi library, no doubt the most important gospel outside the New Testament. It may well have older readings than the sayings and the canonical gospels.

What it does, it opens the door for the immortality of the soul, going to heaven; for all of these things that are not taught in the New Testament.

In this sense, nearer to Jesus Himself, in fact, I for one have made just such an argument.

Here are some of the other gospels:

- Gospel of Mary Magdalene

The founder of The Jesus Seminar is Robert Funk and is carried on by others. There was a woman who gave a whole seminar on the ‘Gospel of Mary Magdalene’ and why it should be in the canonization of the New Testament. You would be surprised at how many scholars and how many churches have endorsed that.

The ‘Gospel of Mary Magdalene’ also ties in with Holy Blood, Holy Grail and The Jesus Papers, which I’ll talk about in part 3 of this series—that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and actually had physical descendants. Why exclude the ‘Gospel of Mary’? How about some of the other ones:

- Gospel of Philip

- Gospel of the Egyptians

The Gospel of the Egyptians: The God-written, holy, secret book. Grace, understanding, perception, (and) prudence (be) with him who has written it— Eugnostos the beloved, in the Spirit - in the flesh, my name is Gongessos—and my fellow lights in incorruptibility. Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, Ichthus. God-written (is) the holy book of the great, invisible Spirit. Amen.

That’s what they’ve done to gnosticize the teachings of Jesus. Anybody can take the name of Jesus.

- The Apocrypha of John

Then we have something by Matthew and Philip, allegedly, but they didn’t write them. All of these were written during the 2nd centuryA.D. Why were these not included? What did the Catholic Church have to hide in not including them? This, coupled with The DaVinci Code and The Jesus Papers, is going to be a body blow to the Roman Catholic Church and also to all who believe in Jesus.

- Gospel of Truth

- Gospel of the Hebrews

- Gospel of Judas

In reading from the ‘Gospel of Judas’ put out the National Geographic, all of this was done in time for a media blitz to make lots of money

- If Judas wrote it, when did he write it? He died before the Holy Spirit was given to the apostles to write and to teach!

- Why is there not anything in the other Gospels concerning Judas if he was the ‘key disciple whom Jesus loved more than the other disciples’?

This is a counterfeit concerning the Apostle John! This is a gnostic attack against the Gospel of John, which John’s gospel and epistles are defenses against the gnostics!

You see how Satan resurrects this. He keeps it buried and destroys everyone’s faith in Christ, coming up to this age, and prepares the way for this great deception at the end. Now they’re saying, ‘Why did you exclude this?’

The key to remember is that 95%-plus of the scholars do not believe the New Testament. That’s what you have to understand. They say there is no corroborative historical evidence. Where are the corroborative historical references to Judas outside the New Testament. The same standard by which they reject the New Testament they embrace these ‘gospels’ that have been long buried.

Excerpts from The Gospel of Judas (National Geographic translation)

…Jesus is betrayed by one of His closest friends.

He is called a friend (Psa. 41:9)

In the New Testament Gospels, Judas is part of the inner circle of disciples of Jesus, and according to the Gospel of John, Judas’ function as the treasurer of the group and is entrusted with whatever funds Jesus and the disciples might have had.

Let’s get our perspective for just a minute:

- if you believe that Jesus is the Son of God

- if you believe that He was God before He became human

- if you believe that Jesus never sinned— which means He never told a lie

- if you believe that the New Testament is— and you can prove that it is—the God-breathed words of God

Then let’s read what we have here, just before He was betrayed and arrested:

John 17:11: “And I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, those whom You have given Me, so that they may be one, even as We are one. When I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. I protected those whom You have given Me, and not one of them has perished except the son of perdition, in order that the Scriptures might be fulfilled” (vs 11-12). The only other one called ‘the son of perdition’ is in 2- Thess. 2.

Who are you going to believe? Jesus? or Judas? That’s why they want to try and incorporate all of these gospels together. What will happen, just like with the ‘fifth gospel’ that The Jesus Seminar put out—Matthew, Mark, Luke, John—and the so-called ‘Gospel of Thomas.’

The Judas Iscariot of the Gospel of Judas is the betrayer of Jesus, but he is simultaneously the hero of the gospel. He says to Jesus, “I know who you are and where you have come from. You are from the immortal realm of Barbelo. And I am not worthy to utter the name of the one who has sent you.” In the spiritual world of the Gospel of Judas, to confess that Jesus is from “the immortal realm of Barbelo” is to confess that he is a divine being…

But not like the Bible.

…and to declare the ineffability of the name of the one who sent Jesus…

The unpronounceable name of the one God? See how Judaism is mixed into gnosticism?

…is to profess that the true God is the infinite Spirit of the universe….

…Jesus says to Judas, with reference to the other disciples, “You will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me.”….

Docetism; in other words, the spirit of Jesus only possessed the body of a man; He did not come in the flesh!

…According to the Gospel of Judas, Jesus is the savior not because of the mortal flesh that he wears but because he can reveal the soul or spiritual person who is within, and the true home of Jesus is not this imperfect world below but the divine world of light and life….

Remember where we started, 1-John 1.

In the Gospel of Judas, death is not tragedy, nor is it a necessary evil to bring about the forgiveness of sins. In the Gospel of Judas, unlike the New Testament gospels, Jesus laughs a great deal. He laughs at the foibles of the disciples and the absurdities of human life. Death, as the exit from this absurd physical existence, is not be feared or dreaded….

That’s why you have these suicide pacts that people get into. They get into this mystic gnosticism, proclaim themselves to be Christians. Remember how many committed suicide in San Diego some years ago? Thirty-plus all committed suicide! Release the spirit from the body!

Far from being an occasion of sadness, death is the means by which Jesus is liberated from th flesh in order that he might return to his heavenly home, and by betraying Jesus, Judas helps his friend discard his body and free his inner self, the divine self.

When you’re refuting lies and heresies, especially coming from the heart and soul of Satan himself, we need to backup what we’re saying and refute by the Word of God.

John 10:14: “I am the good Shepherd, and I know those who are Mine, and am known of those who are Mine.” We know God because we have His Spirit, we keep His commandments, we do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

Verse 15: “Just as the Father knows Me, I also know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.” He did not say that Judas is going to ‘release Me from the flesh.’ Judas had nothing to with it. Judas was an instrumentality possessed of Satan the devil when he betrayed Jesus.

Verse 16: “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring those also, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. On account of this, the Father loves Me: because I lay down My life, that I may receive it back again. No one takes it from Me… [Judas could not have done it!] …but I lay it down of Myself. I have authority to lay it down and authority to receive it back again. This commandment I received from My Father” (vs 16-18). Judas did not help Jesus escape the flesh!

…Judas helps his friend discard his body and free his inner self, the divine self.

The spark of life goes back to heaven in the stars! It says of gnosticism:

God is a spirit and light within—…

Which every man has

…According to the Gospel of Judas, these rival Christians are simply lackeys of the God who rules this world below, and their lives reflect his disgusting ways….
In the central part of this Gospel Jesus teaches Judas the mystery of the universe.

The Gospel of Judas and other gnostic gospels is why God had them buried in the desert. That’s why they are excluded from the Word of God! But what happened was all of these gospels that we have mentioned, written by gnostics, were the figment of the imagination of Satan inspired and demon inspired writers in an assault against the Truth!

For scholars and the Roman Catholic Church to go along with it—in the main; not all Catholics do, there are some that want to adhere to the Word of God, and I think God has raised them up as witnesses within their own group to be against what they teach. But nevertheless, this opens the door as to why, in controlling Christianity, ‘you have left out these gospels, let’s include them.’

Since Jesus teaches Judas the mystery of the universe, in the Gospel of Judas, as in other gnostic gospels, Jesus is primarily a teacher and revealer of wisdom and knowledge, not a savior who dies for the sins of the world.

For gnostics, the fundamental problem in human life is not sin, but ignorance….

Garden of Eden!

…The best way to address this problem is not through faith, but through knowledge.

In the Gospel of Judas, Jesus imparts to the Judas and the other readers of the gospel the knowledge that can eradicate ignorance and lead to an awareness of oneself and God

Watch PBS and these ‘pull yourself up by your bootstrap’ things; Deepak Chopra talks about the spiritual reality and the inner self and being able to be successful and all of this parses no sin that needs to be forgiven. You just need knowledge and you’ll become better.

The gnostics of Alexandria and Egypt did not triumph, nor did the Gospel of Judas in the theological wars that raged during the second, third and fourth centuries.

That’s why God had the apostles canonize the New Testament, because He knew what was going to come.

Consequently, texts like the Gospel of Judas with their different perspectives contain ideas that sound unusual today. For these believers in gnosticism, the most profound mystery of the universe is that within some human beings… [not all] …is the spirit of the divine. Although we live in a flawed world, all too often is a domain of darkness and death…

Remember where we started, 1-John 1!

…we can transcend darkness and embrace life. We are better than this world, Jesus explains to Judas, for we belong to the world of the divine. If Jesus is the son of the divine, so also are all of us children of the divine. All we need to do is live out of that knowledge of the divine, and we shall be enlightened.

Very interesting!

…He [Judas] does nothing that Jesus Himself does not ask him to do…

So therefore, it’s not Judas’ fault that he betrayed Jesus.

…and he listens to Jesus and remains faithful to Him. In the Gospel of Judas, Judas Iscariot turns out to be Jesus’ beloved disciple and dear friend.

Think what this is going to do to people not grounded in the Bible. This could only happen in a ‘fair and balanced’ generation where all opinions are equal. If you believe, it is so; if you believe it, it is true. It doesn’t matter if no one else in the world knows it, but if you believe it, it’s true!

Additionally, the mysteries he learns from Jesus are steeped in Jewish Gnostic lore, and the teacher of these mysteries, Jesus is the master, the rabbi. The Christian Gospel of Judas…

Notice the slight of hand:

1. there is nothing Christian about the ‘Gospel of Judas’

2. Judas was never a Christian

…is at peace with a Jewish view—…

Jewish mysticism!

…an alternate Jewish view, to be sure—of Gnostic thought, and Jewish gnostic through has been baptized as Christian Gnostic thought.

In this book, Jesus echoes the Platonic conviction that every person has his or her own star and that the fate of people is connected to their stars….

After being lost for sixteen hundred years or longer, the Gospel of Judas has at last been found. The authors of this volume hope that the Gospel of Judas may contribute to our knowledge and appreciation of history, development, and diversity of the early Church and shed light on the enduring issues faced in that formative period.

Again, Judas did not write the ‘Gospel of Judas.’ It’s not mentioned in any place else in the New Testament. There is only one surviving copy, tattered, torn and fragmented. You will not find one word in here that coincides with any of the Truth of the New Testament. Therefore, this has been inspired by lying, satanic, demonic spirits. Someone wrote this inspired that way.

The Earthly Ministry of Jesus

When Jesus appeared on earth, he performed miracles and great wonders for the salvation of humanity. And since some [walked] in the way of righteousness while others walked in the transgressions, the twelve disciples were called.

He began to speak with them about the mysteries beyond the world…

When gnosticism talks about mysteries, it’s talking about the ‘depths of Satan.’ It’s not talking about the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, which Jesus said that He revealed in His Word and to His disciples and apostles.

…and what would take place at the end. Often he did not appear to his disciples as himself, but he was found among them as a child.

So, Jesus would change for them and come in as a little child.

[transcriber’s note: in the following scenes, there are blank spaces in the text […] which denotes missing words]

SCENE 1:
Jesus dialogues with his disciples: The prayer of thanksgiving or the eucharist.

Bringing in Catholic doctrine.

One day he was with his disciples in Judea, and he found them gathered together and seated in pious observance.

What does that mean? Sitting in the lotus position?

When he [approached] his disciples, [34] gathered together and seated and offering a prayer of thanksgiving over the bread, [he] laughed.

The disciples said to [him], “Master, why are you laughing at [our] prayer of thanksgiving? We have done what is right.”

He answered and said to them, “I am not laughing at you. You are not doing this because of your own will but because it is through this that your god [will be] praised.”

It’s denouncing the true God in a backhanded way; nothing but the words of Satan.

They said, “Master, you are [...] the son of our god.”

Jesus said to them, “How do you know me? Truly [I] say to you, no generation of the people that are among you will know me.”

Great revelation of Judas!

THE DISCIPLES BECOME ANGRY

When Jesus observed their lack of [understanding, he said] to them, “Why has this agitation led you to anger? Your god who is within you and [...] [35] have provoked you to anger [within] your souls. [Let] any one of you who is [strong enough] among human beings bring out the perfect human and stand before my face.”

That is pure satanic doctrine that you can be perfected by knowledge.

They all said, “We have the strength.” But their spirits did not dare to stand before [him], except for Judas Iscariot. He was able to stand before him, but he could not look him in the eyes, and he turned his face away.

Judas [said] to him, “I know who you are and where you have come from. You are from the immortal realm of Barbelo. And I am not worthy to utter the name of the one who has sent you.”

JESUS SPEAKS TO JUDAS PRIVATELY

Knowing that Judas was reflecting upon something that was exalted, Jesus said to him, “Step away from the others and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom. It is possible for you to reach it, but you will grieve a great deal. [36] For someone else will replace you, in order that the twelve [disciples] may again come to completion with their god.”

In other words, saying that Judas, ‘You know Me, then you’re going to know the true God and the other disciples don’t know God.

What we’re doing is like the movie Patton; remember one of the famous sayings when they first turned back, the Battle of Rommel and the tanks. Patton said, ‘Rommel, you blankety blank, I read your book!’ This is what we’re doing here, so we won’t get carried away with these things and give a warning to all.

This is pure hype, lies and nonsense promulgated by scholars and the National Geographic and other corporations to make money!

This is a tool of Satan the devil to discredit Jesus Christ, discredit the New Testament and put it at the same level that Jesus, combined with all of this, was not the Savior of the world.

When Jesus supposedly took Judas aside and taught him differently from the rest of the apostles, that made him the #1 man. If he was made the #1 man, why did he hang himself?

Remember, there was competition of Satan between Peter and Judas. Didn’t Jesus say, ‘Peter, Peter, Satan has desired you, to sift you as wheat? But I have prayed for you that your faith fail not.’

Remember when Jesus first disclosed that He was going to go to Jerusalem and die, what did Peter say, ‘Lord, far be that from You.’ And what did Jesus say? Get you behind Me, Satan, for you are an offence to Me. You savor the things of men and not the things of God!’ So, Judas was the one that Satan got.

SCENE 2:
The next morning, after this happened, Jesus [appeared] to his disciples again.

They said to him, “Master, where did you go and what did you do when you left us?” Jesus said to them, “I went to another great and holy generation.”

His disciples said to him, “Lord, what is the great generation that is superior to us and holier than us, that is not now in these realms?”

When Jesus heard this, he laughed and said to them, “Why are you thinking in your hearts about the strong and holy generation? [37] Truly [I] say to you, no one born [of] this aeon…

of this age

…will see that [generation], and no host of angels of the stars will rule over that generation, and no person of mortal birth can associate with it, because that generation does not come from [...] which has become [...]. The generation of people among [you] is from the generation of humanity [...] power, which [... the] other powers [...] by [which] you rule.”

When [his] disciples heard this, they each were troubled in spirit. They could not say a word

Then it talks a dream and a sacrifice that they saw.

What we’re dealing with is the satanic inspiration of this to ridicule Jesus by making Him look like a buffoon, that He laughed and disparaged the disciples. What does this do for people who read the New Testament and are not grounded in the Truth? It makes them want to throw everything out!

JUDAS ASKS JESUS ABOUT THAT GENERATION AND HUMAN GENERATIONS

Judas said to [him, “Rabbi], what kind of fruit does this generation produce?”

Jesus said, “The souls of every human generation will die. When these people, however, have completed the time of the kingdom and the spirit leaves them, their bodies will die but their souls will be alive, and they will be taken up.”

That is back to the stars!

Judas said, “And what will the rest of the human generations do?”

Jesus said, “It is impossible [44] to sow seed on [rock] and harvest its fruit. [This] is also the way [...] the [defiled] generation [...] and corruptible Sophia [...]

The female goddess of Judaism and Greek mythology.

…the hand that has created mortal people, so that their souls go up to the eternal realms above. [Truly] I say to you, [...] angel [...] power will be able to see that [...] these to whom [...] holy generations [...].” After Jesus said this, he departed.

SCENE 3:
Judas recounts a vision and Jesus responds Judas said, “Master, as you have listened to all of them, now also listen to me. For I have seen a great vision.”

When Jesus heard this, he laughed and said to him, “You thirteenth spirit, why do you try so hard? But speak up, and I shall bear with you.”

Judas said to him [Jesus], “In the vision I saw myself as the twelve disciples were stoning me and [45] persecuting [me severely]. And I also came to the place where [...] after you. I saw [a house...], and my eyes could not [comprehend] its size. Great people were surrounding it, and that house <had> a roof of greenery, and in the middle of the house was [a crowd—two lines missing—], saying, ‘Master, take me in along with these people.’”

[Jesus] answered and said, “Judas, your star has led you astray.” He continued, “No person of mortal birth is worthy to enter the house you have seen, for that place is reserved for the holy. Neither the sun nor the moon will rule there, nor the day, but the holy will abide there always, in the eternal realm with the holy angels. Look, I have explained to you the mysteries of the kingdom [46] and I have taught you about the error of the stars; and [...] send it [...] on the twelve aeons.”

Stop and think how the world has embraced all of this. There are going to be some against it, but it’s just like ‘how is this going to effect public opinion.’ They’re the ones who are going to be deceived. It’s going to further alienate them from anything to with Jesus, anything to do with the true God, anything to do with the Bible. It’s going to set them up for the deception that’s talked about in 2-Thess. 2

JESUS TEACHES JUDAS ABOUT COSMOLOGY: THE SPIRIT AND THE SELF-GENERATED

Pure gnosticism!

Jesus said, “[Come], that I may teach you about [secrets] no person [has] ever seen. For there exists a great and boundless realm, whose extent no generation of angels has seen, [in which] there is [a] great invisible [Spirit], which no eye of an angel has ever seen, no thought of the heart has ever comprehended, and it was never called by any name.

“And a luminous cloud appeared there. He said, ‘Let an angel come into being as my attendant.’

“A great angel, the enlightened divine Self-Generated, emerged from the cloud. Because of him, four other angels came into being from another cloud, and they became attendants for the angelic Self- Generated. The Self-Generated said, [48] ‘Let [...] come into being [...],’ and it came into being [...]. And he [created] the first luminary to reign over him. He said, ‘Let angels come into being to serve [him],’ and myriads without number came into being. He said, ‘[Let] an enlightened aeon come into being,’ and he came into being.

Then after Judas had betrayed Jesus, He was received up into a luminous cloud. That’s the ‘Gospel of Judas Iscariot.’ A bunch of dribble! That’s true!

2-Tim. 3 sets up the whole thing. The first four verses shows the pleasure society that we have today.

2-Timothy 3:5: “Having an outward appearance of Godliness… [which Judas Iscariot is and the religions of today are] …but denying the power of true Godliness. But as for you, turn away from all these. For from men such as these come those who are worming their way into houses, and are gaining control over empty-headed gullible women given over to various sins, being driven by all kinds of lust. They are always learning but are never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth” (vs 5-7).

What did Paul say about the wise ones in the world who reject God? Proclaiming themselves to be the wise ones, they became fools!

Verse 13: “But wicked men and imposters shall become worse and worse… [we just read of it] …deceiving others and being deceived themselves.” The heart and core of proclaiming how great the ‘Gospel of Judas Iscariot’ is. Why would people believe these things?

2-Timothy 4:3: “For there shall come a time when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but according to their own lusts they shall accumulate to themselves a great number of teachers… [all the experts we have in the world today] …having ears itching to hear what satisfies their cravings; and they shall turn away their own ears from the Truth; and they shall be turned aside unto myths” (vs 3-4).

Isn’t that what Paul says in 2-Thess. 2— because they didn’t have the love of the Truth they are given over to strong deception that Satan is going to bring on the world!

This is one giant brick in the wall at the end that is going to lead to the deception of the world!

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version by Fred R. Coulter

Scriptural References:

1) 1 John 1:5-10

2) 1 John 2:3-5, 18-23

3) 1 John 4:1-6

4) Matthew 28:18-20

5) Mark 13:10

6) Luke 24:44-48

7) Acts 1:3-8

8) John 17:11-12

9) John 10:14-18

10) 2 Timothy 3:5-7, 13

11) 2 Timothy 4:3-4

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

- John 1

- Colossians 2

- Matthew 24

- Mark 13

- 1 Corinthians 15

- Revelation 22

- Psalm 41:9

- 2 Thessalonians 2

- 2 Timothy 3:1-4

Also referenced: Books:

- Gospel of Judas
(www.nationalgeographic.com/lostgospel/pdf/GospelofJudas.pdf )

- Primitive Christianity in Crisis by Alan Knight A Harmony of the Gospels by Fred R. Coulter

- The Secrets of Judas: The Story of the Misunderstood Disciple and His Lost Gospel
by James M. Robinson

- The Gospel of Judas (published by National Geographic) Edited by: Kasser, Meyer, Worst, Gaudard

- The Jesus Papers by Michael Baigent

- Josephus: History of the Jews

- DaVinci Code by Dan Brown

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 4-4-14

Assaults Against Jesus Christ III

The Jesus Papers

Fred R. Coulter

The Jesus Papers by Michael Baigent is also co-author of Holy Blood, Holy Grail that came out in the late 1970s. The theme of that book was very similar to what The DaVinci Code is. The thrust of The DaVinci Code is that the Knights Templar were looking for the actual golden grail; in other words, the goblet in which Jesus administered the last Passover and changed from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant.

The thrust of the story was that it really wasn’t the physical grail, but the ‘holy blood’ was the bloodline of the descendants of Jesus through the marriage of Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ. That was way back then, and it’s coming up again.

I think it’s interesting that you see all of these attacks coming against Jesus Christ; all of them to reduce Him of being God before He became flesh, and now to eliminate the resurrection.

- Whenever you do that, what have you accomplished?

- When most of the people of the world believe that, what is it going to accomplish?

- There is no savior!

- There are no absolutes!

- That Jesus, if He existed, was merely a man!

This put Him at an equal or a lesser level than Mohammad, Buddha and other ‘great’ religious leaders. And also that there’s no resurrection.

I’ve written and took the very simple, plain Scriptures that show Who Jesus really was. That’s even happening within the Church.

Let’s look at Matt. 24 and see this warning. You might do a Bible study and do all the places where it says: do not allow anyone to deceive you. This is a warning directly from Jesus and He said it over and over again. A false prophet does not necessarily have to be ‘religious,’ though most of them are. A false prophet can be dealing in ‘religious’ things; like the man who wrote The Jesus Papers.

Matthew 24:4—after the disciples wanted to know when would be the end of the age: “Then Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Be on guard, so that no one deceives you. For many shall come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ”; and they shall deceive many’” (vs 4-5). That’s one kind of deceiver, coming in the name of Jesus.

Verse 11: “And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many.” This is any kind of false prophet. This can be one who is talking about Jesus, one who is talking about other religions or one who is talking about false history. This Michael Baigent is a false prophet.

Verse 24: “For there shall arise false Christs… [here’s a different kind; false Christs who are anointed] …and false prophets, and they shall present great signs and wonders, in order to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”

We’ve heard this before and we will hear it again. We will also see that there are those who are in total denial of Who Jesus was and is, and the true history of it.

Verse 25: “Behold, I have foretold it to you. Therefore, if they say to you, ‘Come and see! He is in the wilderness’; do not go forth….” We’ve heard that somewhere in the wilderness in the Middle East there is Jesus.

Or “‘…“Come and see! He is in the secret chambers”; do not believe it’” (v 25). There are those who say, ‘Jesus came to the earth secretly and He’s in some office building in New York. That’s a secret chamber. Don’t believe it!

Let’s understand something else that is important. In order to understand the Truth, here are the keys:

1. you must believe it

2. you must obey it

A good understanding are they who do His commandments, and so forth.

3. you have to realize and have fully proven in your own mind that the Word of God— the Bible, Old & New Testament—is the true Word of God

4. you have to prove

How do you prove it? You study it and see that it is true, and also you must obey! You cannot study the Bible and think that you’re going to understand it unless you’re willing to obey it!

This is very basic, but when these things come along and they attack the very basics. So, God has designed it in such a way—as I’ve just described here and we’ll add to it—that the Word of God has to be understood in this way. Let’s also add into it something else.

The veracity of God’s Word is based upon the existence of heaven and earth. Jesus said, ‘Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.’ This will be very profound when we get to what is said about some of the words of Jesus that ‘were hidden,’ that ‘were lost.’

Isaiah 28:9: “Whom shall He teach knowledge? And whom shall He make to understand doctrine? Those who are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts” Those who have proved the basics. What are the basics?

- God exists

- His Word is true

- Jesus did, in fact, come

As we look back on all the books that we have published, everything in those books is vital information for today. No other publication has the truth about the birth of Jesus Christ with eight witnesses—historical witnesses—to prove and cross prove when Jesus was born and when He died. What we seek to do, and the motto of the Church is: Your Word is the Truth, and also: Man shall not live by bread alone but by every Word of God!

- we are not in the business of designing private doctrine

- we are not in the business of creating a ‘religious’ movement

- we are not in the business of garnering great followers or followings

God has us here

- to understand the Truth

- to preach the Truth

- to make sure that we do preach the Truth

In doing that we take great pains to prove everything by the Word of God. That’s why we have the things that we do in A Harmony of the Gospels and in The Holy Bible in Its Original Order. That’s why you need to read all of the commentaries and appendices. That contains all the information needed to refute all of these so-called scholars, who, by the way, most of whom are agnostic, atheists or a-historical. Baigent claims to be a great genius, but he is really a fool as the Bible describes him.

Once you start understanding the Bible, then it comes this way: not all things are in one place at one time, v 10: “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little” You have to put it together.

In the New Testament, Paul told Timothy that ‘you have to rightly divide the Word of Truth,’ because if you wrongly divide the Word of Truth you can make the Word of Truth speak a lie, because you have twisted and turned it to your own destruction.

Here’s the key, v 11: “For with stammering lips and foreign tongue He will speak to this people.” If you don’t do it the way that God says:

Isaiah 8:13—here it talks about Jesus: “The LORD of hosts, Him shall you sanctify, and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. And He shall be a sanctuary for you—but for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel…” (vs 13-14). In other words:

- if you don’t believe in Christ

- if you don’t believe in God

- if you don’t make Him the One you worship and serve, then everything is going to become as it says here

“…a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel and for a trap and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble and fall and be broken, and be snared, and be taken” (vs 14-15). That’s exactly what happened with the house of Israel and the house of Judah in relationship to the Truth of God and Jesus Christ.

Verse 16: “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among My disciples.” Here is a prophecy of the finishing of the Word of God by the apostles.

Verse 19: “And when they shall say to you, ‘Seek unto them that have familiar spirits… [which is what all of this stuff is that we’ve been covering] …and to wizards who peep and mutter’—but should not a people seek unto their God? Should the dead be sought on behalf of the living?” That’s exactly what they do. Where people have died, people are sanctified by bones and relics, rather than by the Spirit of God.

Here’s another separating key, v 20: “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them.” What do most of them do?

- The Jews reject Jesus, so they can’t understand most of the Old Testament and reject the New!

- The Protestants and Catholics reject the Old Testament so they can’t understand the law, so they have their various forms of tradition and lawless grace.

Just exactly as it says here: He becomes ‘a stumbling block and a rock of offense.’

To the scholars of the world, here’s how they approach it, and the greatest percentage of theological scholars in seminaries teaching students in things like this do not believe in God. So, they fall into this category:

Psalm 14:1: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God!’ They are corrupt; they have done abominable works, there is none who does good.” That’s exactly what they’re doing, abominable works!

Here’s what happens when they pick up the Bible to read it, to ridicule it, to call it a myth, to downgrade it, to throw it away, to change it:

Isaiah 28:13: “So then, the Word of the LORD was to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken and snared and taken.” There’s another thing that we need to understand in relationship to it.

Isaiah 29:9: “Be stunned and amazed! Blind your eyes and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink, for the LORD has poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes…” (vs 9-10). That exactly what happens when you reject God and don’t believe in Him, and you think you’re going to go into the Bible and into history and disprove the existence of Jesus Christ. This is your fate.

“…He has covered the prophets and your rulers, and the seers. And the vision of all has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which they give to one who is learned saying, ‘Please read this,’ and he says, ‘I cannot, for it is sealed.’ And the book is delivered to him who is not learned, saying, ‘Please read this,’ and he says, ‘I am not learned.’ And the LORD said, ‘Because this people draws near Me with their mouth, and with their lips honor Me, but their worship of Me is made up of the traditions of men learned by rote, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandments of men’” (vs 10-13).

This is what we are seeing today, this is what is happening in the ‘religious’ and scholastic world today. That’s why when you have the Truth, you hold onto it. That’s why you guard it and defend it. The way that this book—The Jesus Papers—was written, I’ll explain a little bit the tactics in writing it, but it demonstrates the veracity and the Truth of:

Verse 14: “Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do again a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder, for the wisdom of their wise ones shall perish, and the wisdom of their intelligent ones shall vanish.”

Why? Because they reject God! As I have spoken about and written about, this is what is called ‘post-modernist thinking.’ Remember when we talked about the Jesus Seminar. How could people believe that? It’s gone into all levels of gnosticism in the world.

Verse 15: “Woe to those who go deep to hide their purpose from the LORD! And their works are in the dark, and they say, ‘Who sees us? And who knows us?’ Surely, you have turned things upside down!…. [that’s what’s happened in the world] …Shall the potter be regarded as the potter’s clay; for shall the work say of him who made it, ‘He did not make me?’ Or shall the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘He had no understanding?’” (vs 15-16).

That’s exactly what is happening. The sum of most of these things, like the ‘Gospel of Judas Iscariot’ and this one about the ‘Gospel of Mary Magdalene’ and others, what they are saying is that the lies they caught themselves in is entrapping them. They say, ‘The New Testament was not canonized 397A.D. and was told mostly by word of mouth, so it’s a bunch of myths.’

Not true! That’s why God had it canonized by the apostles. That’s why we have that evidence and information in the commentaries in The Holy Bible in Its Original Order.

These other gospels written by people who claim to be Christian, and unfortunately they were buried for 1600 years out in the desert of Egypt, why did you reject those? Since you claim that you didn’t canonize it until 97A.D. these were written in the 200sA.D., why did you exclude those and only include those that are now in the New Testament? The truth is, it was canonized by the time that the Apostle John died, and it was canonized by the apostles. The Catholic Church had absolutely nothing to do with the canonization of the Bible—period!—Old Testament or New Testament.

This is going to make the Book of Mormon more acceptable, too. All gnosticism is coming back.

Let’s see what Paul wrote concerning these men, and then we’ll see what God says concerning His Word. One of the very proofs of God is the number of Bibles and New Testaments that are in the world! He said it would be published. He commanded them to preach it into all the world. Has it been?

- Where was the ‘Gospel of Judas’? Buried!

- Where were the gospels found in the Nag Hammadi Library in 1945, containing the other gnostic gospels? Buried!

It wasn’t preached in the world. They were buried there because God did not want them published. Who knows, maybe at the end-time Satan got permission from God to let them be dug up. Maybe this is going to have a lot to do with the final formation of the great world-religion that is prophesied in the end-time, which then goes right back—just like Solomon said in Ecclesiastes—to there’s nothing new under the sun! What you really have is a re-creation of the way of Cain.

Romans 1:18: “Indeed, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven upon all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the Truth in unrighteousness.” That’s exactly what they have done with the canonization of the Bible—Old & New Testament; and what they have done with the true historical documents.

Verse 19: “Because that which may be known of God…” God wants it known; He made it available. It was readily available to them.

“…is manifest among them, for God has manifested it to them” (v 19). I just imagine, since the writer of the book The Jesus Papers has a Bible in his library; he quotes the New Testament so you know that he’s got one; but he has misquotes.

Here’s another way to understand God, v 20: “For the invisible things of Him are perceived from the creation of the world…” I imagine in the documentary about the solar system and our marvelous universe, the lead astronomer—the commentator—says he personally knows of no astronomer who does not believe in God. When they study that out there and see all the marvelous things out there, and how complicated and fantastic it is, they know that it didn’t happen by accident.

This is a living law: no law comes into existence by accident or by itself! It doesn’t happen, so there has to be a lawgiver. No creation comes into being without a Creator. God is manifested with all the things that He has done.

“…being understood by the things that were made—both His eternal power and Godhead—so that they are without excuse; because when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but they became vain in their own reasonings, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (vs 20-21). This is exactly what has happened not only in the field science and history, but also in particularly in the field of ‘religion’ through the gnostics, claiming that they are the enlightened ones, but the light in them is nothing but darkness.

Verse 22: “While professing themselves to be the wise ones, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed creatures, and creeping things. For this cause, God also abandoned them to uncleanness through the lusts of their hearts, to disgrace their own bodies between themselves” (vs 22-24). So, God abandons them! When you read things like this, you’re going to pick up on how God has abandoned them.

Let’s add two things more to the mix on how to understand the Word of God, and why these men are the way that they are. This is why the scholars in the world are the way that they are. The truth is, if you do not agree with God, you will never understand the Truth, because He is the Revealer of Truth!

Matthew 11:25: “At that time Jesus answered and said, ‘I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to babes.’” Isn’t that what they consider those who believe in God? The unwashed stupid masses with the opiate of ‘religion.’ Isn’t that what they say? They use the opiate of atheism!

Verse 26: “Yes, Father, for it was well pleasing in Your sight to do this. All things were delivered to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son personally chooses to reveal Him” (vs 26-27). That’s quite a thing when you understand that!

Once you’ve had these things revealed to you—we will see how they are revealed—and they are not given to the scholars; they have another power revealing to them lies, deceptions and things that are not true, that they try to put together in such a manner as to make it true.

The opiate of Satan the devil, the master drug pusher, not only of drugs, but is the drug of false knowledge and lies and myths. They discredit the Bible as myth. Once they’ve done that they look for new myths to replace it. This is why God does things they way that He does them. Let’s also understand this that is very true:

- Whatever knowledge and Truth we understand, God gave it to us!

- Whatever of the deep things that we are able to understand, God has revealed it!

We don’t get any credit for it; all the glory goes to God, because it’s been there all the time, and He reveals it to us so we can have understanding. But He doesn’t reveal it to everyone.

- Why should He reveal it to those who hate Him?

- Why should He give it to those who are Satan-worshipers?

That’s why to the one who is humble and has a contrite heart and broken spirit, that’s the one whom God is going to deal with.

One man told me that he was talking to someone who asked why Ambassador College didn’t put out a New Testament or Bible. They said, ‘Well, we might get vain and proud if we did it. Therefore, the Church shouldn’t do it. The man said, ‘Well, that’s kind of hard to understand, because didn’t the Church write it in the first place?’ The fellow had no answer.

That was a really kind of a silly answer they gave, because my experience has been that the more that I study the Word of God, the more that I understand the Hebrew and the Greek—especially the Greek—it does the opposite to you. It does not lift you up in pride, it humbles you deeply to understand the power of God’s Word and that He miraculously preserved it so that we can understand His way. That is a deeply humbling thing, it doesn’t exalt anyone at all. To say that is an excuse for not doing it, and is just foolishness in itself.

The underlying truth was, there were so many layers of politics in the organization that it would have been impossible to do it. In a sense that statement was true related to the people involved in the college at that time, but in fact, that is not a true statement if you truly seek the Truth of God and get to know and understand it as much as you can.

1-Corinthians 2:9: “But according as it is written, ‘The eye has not seen… [it’s not where you’re going to go look] …nor the ear heard… [it doesn’t matter what people tell you] …neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’…. [you’ve got to love God] …But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit…” (vs 9-10).

He does not give His Spirit to anyone who does not obey Him (Acts 5:32), nor to anyone who is not repentant, nor to anyone who does not believe in the true Jesus Christ.

“…for the Spirit searches all things—even the deep things of God. For who among men understands the things of man except by the spirit of man which is in him? In the same way also, the things of God no one understands except by the Spirit of God. Now, we have not received the spirit of the world…” (vs 10-12). When people who have already had the Holy Spirit throw away the Truth of God, He takes the Spirit of God away from them because they have proved that they don’t love Him. In many cases they can’t get it back.

Did they love God to begin with? Some had to otherwise you can’t commit the unpardonable sin! This is something!

Books like The Jesus Papers will not drastically affect the people in the Church—it will affect some—but it is drastically going to affect the people in the world on a mass scale because their carnal minds are willing to reject God and His Word anyway. So, this just gives them another excuse to go ahead and do so.

Verse 12: “Now, we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is of God, so that we might know the things graciously given to us by God; which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom…” (vs 12-13). That’s why the Bible is not doctorate dissertations, and I say that in a cynical manner.

“…but in words taught by the Holy Spirit in order to communicate spiritual things by spiritual means. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him… [that’s why they reject Him] …and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned. However, the one who is spiritual discerns all things, but he himself is discerned by no one” (vs 13-15). No one in the world is not going to understand you, because you understand the Truth and they don’t.

Let’s see something that is really quite an important section in Scripture, and it leads up to loving God with all your heart, mind, soul and being. To fill in the whole understanding here is you need to read from the beginning of Deut. 28 on into Deut. 30.

Deuteronomy 29:29: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things which are revealed belong to us …”—referring directly to the laws and commandments of God. Did God reveal it to them? Yes! When you come to the New Testament, the spiritual things are revealed that are not found in the Old Testament.

“…and to our children forever so that we may do all the words of this law” (v 29). That’s what was revealed to them.

Deuteronomy 30:1: “And it shall be when all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse…”

As a Christian Jew told the Jews who rejected Christ, and wondered why they were suffering from the curses, ‘Beloved, remember you seek the blessings of God, but half the words of God also are curses for penalties for rejecting Him. You cannot reject God and expect His blessings. You want the Word of God fulfilled upon you, it will be two ways: either blessings or curses.’ It’s going to be fulfilled one of two ways.

“…which I have set before you, and when you shall call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you” (v 1). Talking about when they went into captivity.

Verse 2: “And shall return to the LORD your God…”—talking about repenting; when the curses come upon you, repent!

“…and shall obey His voice…” That’s the whole key to the Bible: Obey the voice of God!

“…according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the LORD your God will turn away your captivity. And He will have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you” (vs 2-3). That day is going to come again.

Verse 4: “If you are driven out into the outermost parts of the heavens…” How are you going to be driven into the outermost parts of heaven, except in some kind of space vehicle? You’re lost out there orbiting dead forever.

“…the LORD your God will gather you from there, and He will bring you from there. And the LORD your God will bring you into the land, which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. And He will do you good and multiply you above your fathers. And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart …” (vs 4-6). That’s what it talks about in Col. 2; Rom 2—God wants repentance and He wants yieldedness to Him.

“…and the heart of your seed, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live” (v 6). Unless you are converted, with the spiritual circumcision of Christ, you cannot love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul in the way that you ought to for the spiritual things that God has to give you.

They are revealed to us (1-Cor. 2), to those who love God; the ones who have repented, been baptized and received the Holy Spirit of God.

Verse 7: And the LORD your God will put all these curses upon your enemies, and upon those that hate you, who persecuted you. And you shall return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all His commandments which I command you today” (vs 7-8).

I just read to you the perfect victory over the war against terrorists and terrorism; there it is right there. You look at the state of the nation. You see what is happening and you read Deut. 28, and you know that it is coming, in degree, more intense every year. We will not win the war on terror by our own devices, because God will not be with us. I’m talking about:

- as a nation

- as our leaders

- the people of the land

who have given over to sin

- drunkenness

- drugs

- sex

- lying

- stealing

- cheating

- demonism

- Satan-worship

- occultism

God’s punishment is going to come, and this is the result of that kind of generation that would even produce something like this called The Jesus Papers.

When we get to the conclusion of this book you will see that there is pursuit to try and find the Truth buried somewhere in the world.

Verse 8: “And you shall return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all His commandments which I command you today. And the LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in every work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your land, for good, for the LORD will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers; if you shall obey the voice of the LORD your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (vs 8-10). That’s to whom God is going to reveal knowledge.

- not to those who are intellectual

- not to those who are wise

- not to those who think that they are great

(go to the next track)

There is building, against the public, an absolute assault against Jesus Christ—coming from every quarter, from every way—and it’s going to tear down the perception of Jesus; the goal is especially in American and Britain. These are the last two places in the world that hold—America much more so than in Britain—that belief in Jesus Christ. In America there are more Churches of God than anyplace else in the world, and they are the ones who keep the Sabbath and Holy Days. So, whatever mercy and kindness that God extends to the nation is not because of the nation but because of:

1. His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

2. His Church

All the Churches of God had better sit up and take notice and start doing what God wants them to do.

from the back cover of The Jesus Papers:

The answers to the following questions may change everything you believe:

That’s what they want to get you to do; to change your belief, to throw over any belief in Jesus.

What if everything we have been told about the origins of Christianity is a lie?

That’s directly against the Roman Catholic Church. In a sense there is a large nugget of truth there. But to expose one lie and replace it with other lies is the goal. That way Satan gets you to believing what you’re not proving.

When this comes across to Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, how many lies do they believe? Then you come down to the Churches of God and you have to ask: How much do they really believe? That’s why on the Sabbath before Pentecost I cover about the seven churches and the problems that they have. Is it any wonder that Jesus said that when He comes will He ‘find faith on the earth’? In our wildest imaginations we did not think we would have any of these assaults against Christ.

This dovetails right into The DaVinci Code, this is why this is coming out at the same time. Think of how many millions and millions of people around the world have just glommed on to all of these things having to do with witchcraft, false Jesus, false Christ, and lost gospels and things to get rid of Christ and go their own way.

What if a small group had always known the truth and had kept it hidden…until now?

Always hidden somewhere. What do we have now? It’s not hidden from you! How was it hidden? The true Gospel was never hidden!

What if there is evidence that Jesus Christ survived the crucifixion?

What does that do to everything? It destroys all of Christianity, because it’s based upon the fact that Christ, who was God manifested in the flesh! It even affects people within the Church. People within the Church are willing to believe many, many lies so they can establish their own ‘religion,’ and claim it’s of God. Well, you have missed the lesson of Gen. 4! You’re following the way of Cain, who told God what to do.

A lot of people who deal in sacred names and Judaism and their private calendars better listen and understand: No one is going to establish for God which day is Holy! That’s why He’s given the Calculated Hebrew Calendar. He tells us!

Just like the lies in The Jesus Papers, those who speak against the Calculated Hebrew Calendar believe the lies of men against it, but they have never been able to refute it. One other thing, since I’m on the calendar: all calendar themes must have postponements. It’s the very nature of time.

Twenty years ago Michael Baigent’s and his colleagues stunned the world with their theory that Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene married and founded a holy bloodline.

{Note sermon: Was Jesus Married?} The answer is yes, but not to Mary Magdalene, but to Israel of old. In keeping His own laws, in order to break that marriage covenant, one of the two parties had to die. So, God chose to die rather than eliminating all the parties of Israel. That’s what Rom. 7:1-5 are all about. Therefore, He would have committed adultery and would have sinned and gone against His own laws if He would have married Mary Magdalene.

Furthermore, God is not interested in physical progeny through Jesus Christ with a physical woman, because His goal is to produce sons and daughters spiritually at the resurrection, after His kind! So, when you take away the sacrifice of Christ, you take away the forgiveness of sin, and that is evil! Who does not want you to have your sins forgiven? Satan the devil!

His best selling Holy Blood, Holy Grail became an international publishing phenomena.

I read that in 1980 and gave sermons on how that couldn’t be true. Let’s see if this will happen, because the world believes it! They will believe it! they will accept it! They will believe a lie! They don’t love the Truth!

What if they produce a false genealogy to show that the one who becomes the beast power is of the line of Jesus and Mary Magdalene; he has holy blood in him.

What if Holy Blood, Holy Grail—that became an international publishing phenomena— one of the sources for Dan Brown’s novel, The DaVinci Code? What they do, they strike against the Bible, eliminate it and say that it’s myth, and that the Catholics, everything that they have done is based on a lie. That statement is true, but although there are some within the Catholic Church who want to adhere to the Bible, who want to reform the Catholic Church. So, you have to give God credit for having a witness against themselves within their own organization.

This is in addition to Harry Potter, so the world is saturated with the occult. That’s my conclusion in the book Occult Holidays or God’s Holy Days—Which? Warning! Occultism is going to sweep the world and usher in the antichrist. That was before these things came out, that I wrote that.

With two additional decades of research behind him, Baigent says that The Jesus Papers presents explosive new evidence that challenges everything we knew about the life and death of Jesus.

That’s why we have A Harmony of the Gospels. If there’s anyone in doubt, give them a copy. We have these books to give to people so that they can know the Truth. They are paid for, sitting in storage sheds. Use them, ask for them, we’ll send them to you.

What were the most influential and political events in Jesus’ day? Who could have aided and abetted Jesus, and why?

It’s a hoax! It’s a fake!

Where could Jesus have gone after the crucifixion? What is the Truth behind the creation of the New Testament?

They say it’s myth!

Who is working to keep the Truth buried?
Why?

Let me just say this. This man claims to be an historian, and even Bill O’Reilly had him on for an interview, and O’Reilly said, ‘Look, I’m a history teacher and I can tell you don’t have anything in this book that is based on true history. I have read your book.’ Likewise, I have read your book, and I can say that you are a slick, intelligent, conniving liar!

Baigent goes into great detail, and what he does—very cleverly—he attacks the foundation of the Catholic Church and then replaces it with his own lies. He says that the New Testament is myth, everything about the Catholic Church is a lie, and ‘they’ve been holding and suppressing the truth about Jesus and Mary Magdalene and Him surviving the crucifixion and I am going to bring the truth to you. I am going to reveal to you The Jesus Papers, which I saw but could not read because it was in Aramaic. But I know what they say, because a man told me on his deathbed.’

This is about the same attitude and spirit of Mormonism, and the angel Moroni and the golden plates are hidden someplace and all this sort of thing.

Here he undercuts and dismisses the New Testament:

Despite what theologians’ best offer is concerning the New Testament… Christians had to wait almost two more centuries for an agreed upon text.

He puts this in so that that opens the door for these other gospels and ‘the Jesus papers.’ What was it that there were really waiting for?

This delay in arriving and an official collection of Christian text calls into serious question the widespread Christian belief over the last 1500 years that every word in the New Testament is a faithful transmission from God Himself.

So, he dismisses the whole New Testament!

It seems more likely, to an independent observer, that the New Testament was deliberately imposed upon a God who was actually quite happy with a wide expression of teachings, but it was deliberately imposed upon a group of people who wished to control the divine expression for their own profit and power.

Even more crucially, to consider the New Testament sacrosanct, they believe them to be the divine words of God written by the only means by which we might be saved. Words that cannot be changed or taken any other way than literally. No one has ever told them that this was not the intent of the early compilers of the traditions that made up the collection.

In fact, for the first 150 years of the Christian tradition was the only authoritative writings were those books now called the Old Testament.

First you destroy the New Testament.

The Gospels were simply memoirs of various apostles that could be read in church and used in support of the faith, but they were never considered as Holy Scripture.

From the very time they were written, they were considered Holy Scripture. You’re seeing in action they read, but they don’t understand; they see, but they don’t comprehend.

The most radical challenge is answering a charge that has regularly been made, particularly over the past 150 years…

Isn’t that where I started on part one of this series, 1840 with Charles Darwin?

…that Jesus didn’t exist at all. The stories about Him are simply tales of various messianic leaders that were later gathered together in order to justify first a Pauline position and later a Roman-centered tradition, wherein the Jewish Messiah was turned into a deified imperial figure, a kind of royal angel.

Can we really be sure that Jesus existed? Is there any proof of His reality beyond the New Testament? If not, if the New Testament was put together long after His time, how do we know that the whole concept of Jesus Christ is not just an ancient myth given a new spin?

That’s why the apostles wrote when they wrote. And they wrote early on. They had to start writing almost immediately. This is witnessed to in Acts 1, and I bring this out in the commentaries. Please understand that all the information there is vital. All the information there gives you ammunition to fight off all this kind of nonsense that’s coming down the pike to try and destroy faith.

Who are you going to believe, this man or Jesus? Jesus said, ‘My Word is the Truth! Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.’ Peter wrote that ‘no man wrote of his own opinion, but Holy men of God moved by the Holy Spirit wrote.’

Remember: if God can make a jackass speak, He surely can make someone write His words. However, this man better consider Balaam, because he may be that animal.

Acts 6:1: “Now, in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a complaint by the Greeks against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. And after calling the multitude of disciples to them, the twelve said, ‘It is not proper for us to leave the Word of God in order to wait on tables. Therefore, brethren, search out from among yourselves seven men of good repute, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the Word’” (vs 1-4).

- What was “…the ministry of the Word”?

- The writing of the account of Jesus Christ, and before the first Passover after the crucifixion came around for these thousands and thousands of new converts!

- What did they have to have ready?

- The whole account of the New Covenant Passover!

They were writing immediately, and that’s why I have in the commentary that there is substantial proof that the book of Matthew was finished and completed by 35A.D.; perhaps even 33A.D. It’s important to understand, but too many people take it like this.

Perhaps it was rewriting of the Adonis myth or the Osiris myth or the Mithras myth: all three were born of a virgin and raised from the dead—a familiar story to Christians….

We cannot appeal to the New Testament for evidence because we have no idea how much history and how much fantasy is incorporated into the texts….

All the history has been proved true, and all the words are true.

…In any case, the earliest fragments we have are from the second century A.D.— around A.D. 125, for some pieces of John’s Gospel….

You didn’t read your history! You didn’t read the New Testament! And if you come in with this attitude and blind way, you will never understand it and you can’t find it.

…The earliest—Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians—was written while he was resident in Corinth from the winter of A.D. 50 to the summer of 52….

He’s got that right!

Unfortunately, we cannot be sure about the authenticity of all Paul’s letters within the New Testament either, since the earliest copies we have date from the early third century….

What he’s doing is setting up the proposition that now since these are all myths, and we can’t be sure about the history of it, then we must open the door and let in all these other false gospels. This author claims that it’s factual. But I just read to you a bunch of fiction of it.

Then he goes on to get rid as much as he can. Then he begins to introduce gnosticism. That’s the whole key, bring gnosticism back.

It cannot be stressed enough that the material used to support any of the myriad emerging viewpoints was selected by using theological criteria: someone, some group, sat down and decided—from their perspective and understanding—that this book should be considered “authentic” and that book should be considered “false”…

It wasn’t done that way! The apostles put it together—all the Truth—before these were written!

…that is, as “orthodox” or as “heretical.” That theological grounds were used does not, of course, automatically justify the decision made despite all the appeals to divine guidance that were put forth. Very human decisions were made, based upon very human priorities—mostly concerning control and power….

Then he dismisses all of it!

…In fact, our New Testament was not settled until the Councils of Hippo and Carthage in A.D. 393 and 397—over 360 years after the events they refer to.

Then he talks about where Jesus went after he survived the crucifixion. He went to Egypt and then southern France—summarizing it. Then he talks about the ‘secret gospel of Mark’ that was written in Egypt.

Revelation 11:8—the atmosphere of the world: “And their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt…” This tells you the sexual predominance at the end-time, and the religious predominance. Sodom and Egypt.

Where did all these false gospels come from? Egypt! What Baigent says is that in order for Jesus to understand these things He must have gone to Egypt. The 18 years that is not accounted for in the New Testament of His life, He must have been in Egypt learning from the Jews in Egypt.

That’s why it’s important that I have the appendices—both in the Bible and A Harmony of the Gospels—that Jesus was not taught by men, but by the Father!

Let me come toward the end and the ‘Secret Gospel of Mark.’ I about came unglued when I saw that. You have all these counterfeits.

Baigent takes the two anointings that we find in the Scriptures and he says, ‘One of them has to be wrong.’ Instead of figuring out that there were two anointings: One six days before the Passover, and one two days before the Passover. One does not mention the woman; the other one mentions Mary— the sister of Lazarus. Baigent says it must have been Mary Magdalene, because as Jesus’ wife she was the only one who could anoint Him, so that when He made His entrance into Jerusalem, He would have been accepted as the Messiah. That makes Mary more important than Christ.

In this book, I have proposed that Jesus, with some help from His closest friends, and the collusion with the Roman perfect Pontius Pilate, survived the crucifixion. It was undoubtedly a very close-run maneuver. When Joseph of Arimathea went to ask for Jesus’ body, Pilate seems to have thought that the plan had not been a success and Jesus had in fact died, as indicated, according to Mark’s Gospel, by his use of the Greek word ptoma (meaning “corpse”) for Jesus’ body.

There is a footnote: which is an Egyptian added in the Alexandrian text. Again, beware of Egypt.

Jesus had not died, but it appears that he was in urgent need of medical treatment. He was taken down from the cross and placed in an empty tomb. Then, once night had fallen, according to John’s Gospel, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus came with medicinal potions. Once Jesus was considered out of danger, I have suggested, they took him out of the tomb and away to safety, to a place where he couldn’t recuperate. It is this event—the removal of a living Jesus from his tomb—that is depicted in the painted relief of Station 14 of the Cross in the church at Rennes le Chateau.

A painting out of the imagination of an artisan 1400 years after the fact cannot be used as any proof as to what took place.

Then he talks about the Jesus papers. What are the Jesus papers? The Jesus papers were— supposedly—written in Aramaic and—supposedly— said that Jesus survived!

And what of Jesus afterwards? Where would he have gone to live? Where was he in A.D. 45, the date given in this document? Could he really have been in Rome and responsible for the later disturbances…

No, Jesus was not in Rome!

… At this point all I can do is speculate…

How is that for truth! No, Jesus didn’t go there!

No, it would have been wise for him and his family…

Now we’ve got children! After the crucifixion that Jesus survived:

… to stay well away from Alexandria.

So they went to another place in Egypt at the

… Temple of Onias…
My personal feeling is…

How is that for fact?

…that Jesus and Mary would have found the safest refuge in or around the Temple Onias…

Again, indulging in speculation.

I would think it possible that Jesus and his family remained until the troubles of A.D. 38. At this point it would have been obvious that it was sensible to leave, to travel to a place of safety well away from Egypt and Judea. Somewhere with a Jewish community that might be protected from Greek antipathy.

Narbonne, a major Roman trading port at the mouth of the Aude River in France, had perhaps the oldest Jewish population in the region.

That’s near Marseilles, France; so that’s where He went! He and His family.

Now, what about these Jesus papers that claim to be authenticated? They are lost!

And Yaadein apparently died in 1984 and left no records of the banks in which he held the boxes where these manuscripts were, or the names under which they were registered.

Until the banks open the boxes and discover them, these texts will be lost to scholarship.

He told me the stories. In the early church for antiquities he had bought a house in Old Jerusalem…

This is Yaadein and Baigent found the papers there.

The papyrus were two Aramaic letters to the Jewish court, the writer, my friend explained, called himself bani meshiha—Messiah of the children of Israel. I was stunned. Was I really hearing this. I listened intently to what my friend was saying.

This figure, the messiah of the children of Israel, was defending himself against a charge made by the Sanhedrin. He had obviously been accused of calling himself the Son of God, or had been challenged to defend himself against this charge.

In the first letter the messiah explain that what he meant was not that he was God, but that the Spirit of God was in him, that he was physically the Son of God, but rather he was spiritually an adopted son of God, and that he added that everyone who felt similarly filled with the Spirit was also a Son of God.

In other words, the Messiah who must be the teacher we know as Jesus, explicitly states in these letters that he was not divine or at any rate no more than anyone else. This, we can be sure, is something that the Vatican would not like to be made public.

So, the Vatican is in a conspiracy to hide it. Just like the Vatican is in a conspiracy to hide the fact that Mary Magdalene was Jesus’ wife.

- Now do you see where all of this is coming into the world?

- Do you see what this is going to do for people who are preaching about Christ?

You are going to have such a turned off audience to deal with that it’s going to be incredible. Unless we deal with it when it comes up and we know and understand the Truth, I guarantee you that even some people in the Church of God will fall victim to this, because they are not grounded and rooted in the Word of God! Perfect step—isn’t it?

- thesis—the existing belief

- antithesis—the challenge to it

- synthesis—the solution

He does all three. This is Satan’s tactic! The Yaadein took him to see these.

We drove to another part of the city where he led me to a large safe that was big enough to walk into and like his cabinets, temperature and humidity controlled, I followed him in. There he presented me with two framed papyrus documents covered with glass. Each was about 18 inches long and 9 inches high. I held them! These were the Jesus papers. The letters from Jesus to the Sanhedrin that he was not God.

They existed. I held them in my hands! I was silent as I fully enjoyed the moment, but it was also one of those moments of supreme frustration when I wished above all that I had a familiarity with ancient languages like some experts I know. It’s like holding a treasure chest but not having the key to open it. There was, regrettably, nothing I could do. Despite my many years with manuscript material, I was overcome with the significance of what I held in my hands. I was awestruck and speechless as I thought of the changes in our history that these letters might cause if they be released publicly. But at least they were safe.

I handed them back to him, he smiled and we went to lunch. I have not idea what we ate that day because I was so utterly consumed by the implications of what I had just seen. I wanted everyone to know about the papers. I wanted to stand on the street corner and cry to every passerby that the smoking gun exists. I have seen it and held it.

That day I resolved to get those letters into the hands of an experienced scholar for checking and translation, and I knew just the person. But unfortunately, he couldn’t do it.

Part of his conclusion is this:

Thus it must be considered very likely indeed, that some early text relevant to the life and times and Jesus…

Which we do not now have!

…will be found in some of the poorly cataloged manuscripts in some of these ancient library collections. Then, of course, as we have noted, there are private collectors who pay cash… that these will be discovered and hidden in ruins found deep under the sand. Inevitably, as we shall see, there shall be further discoveries.

You’re not going to find the Truth of Jesus Christ buried in the sands of Egypt, because the sands of Egypt have not preached the Gospel. They have hidden the satanic false gospels of all of those of the Nag Hammadi Library and the ‘Gospel of Judas’ Iscariot. God promised that it would be made known.

Deuteronomy 30:11: “For this commandment which I command you today is not hidden from you, neither is it far off.” We can add in there buried in the sands, in some cave, in some language you don’t understand, locked up in a safe that now no knows where it is, or the number to the safe or the keys to the safe. “But I held it my hands, but I couldn’t read it.” I tell you what, try reading Greek if you don’t know it.

Verse 12: “It is not in heaven that you should say, ‘Who shall go up to heaven for us, and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea that you should say, ‘Who shall go over the sea for us to bring it to us, so that we may hear it and do it?’” (vs 12-13). So, we could add to it:

- it is not in a secret place

- it’s not in a vault

- it’s not in an urn

- it’s not in a cave

- it’s not buried under the sand

It’s on your bookshelf in your house! It’s called The Bible! If you don’t read it, don’t blame God! However it got into your house, God made sure that you got it.

Verse 14: “But the Word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may do it…. [in a language you can understand] …Behold, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil, in that I command you this day to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments so that you may live and multiply….” (vs 14-16). And people don’t want to do that!

- How many people are crashing down the doors to keep the Sabbath?

- How many people are burning pornography and tearing out the websites on the Internet to get rid of adultery, fornication, homosexuality and things like that?

- How many people are getting rid of thieves and lies and things like that? They’re not!

No! They don’t want to hear it! They don’t want to do it! They want it someplace way out like this guy has said and written, ‘We don’t know, maybe one day we will.’ God is going to judge them because they have it!

Here’s what they want. They want their sin, but they want this, “…And the LORD your God shall bless you in the land where you go to possess it” (v 16). They want all the blessings of God while they live in sin. But it doesn’t happen that way; that’s why God gave this warning:

Verse 17: “But if your heart turn away so that you will not hear… [Does that apply to the author of this book? He rejects the word of God and doesn’t hear it!] …but shall be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them.” He may not be worshiping another god, but he is surely worshiping a hidden papyrus someplace—isn’t he? This applies to every human being on earth, and in particularly the Church. “…but shall be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them.”

That’s what’s happening. They’re getting rid of Christ! They’re getting rid of His Divinity! They’re making Him an ordinary man so they can pave the way to Satan’s great deception at the end. That’s why these things are coming!

Verse 18: “I denounce to you this day that you shall surely perish…” That’s why the trouble at the end is a Great Tribulation. The world has rejected it, and the whole world is going to suffer from all of these things, and these men are paving the way and laying it out!

“…you shall not prolong your days on the land… [v 19]: …I call heaven and earth to record this day…” (vs 18-19). The Word of God is based upon the existence of the heaven and the earth, and yet, there are men who are on the earth who

- reject God

- say there is no God

- reject the Truth of His Word

- reject the Truth about Jesus Christ

and say they’re intelligent!

Verse 19: “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live, that you may love the LORD your God, and may obey His voice, and may cleave to Him; for He is your life and the length of your days, so that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers— to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob—to give it to them” (vs 19-20).

And He gave the whole world to all of mankind!

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version by Fred R. Coulter

Scriptural References:

1) Matthew 24:4-5, 11, 24-25

2) Isaiah 28:9-11

3) Isaiah 8:13-16, 19-20

4) Psalm 14:1

5) Isaiah 28:13

6) Isaiah 29:9-14

7) Romans 1:18-24

8) Matthew 11:25-27

9) 1 Corinthians 2:9-16

10) Deuteronomy 29:29

11) Deuteronomy 30:1-10

12) Acts 6:1-4

13) Revelation 11:8

14) Deuteronomy 30:11-20

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

- Acts 5:32

- Deuteronomy 28

- Colossians 2

- Romans 2

- Genesis 4

- Romans 7:1-5

- Acts 1

Also referenced:

Books:

- The Jesus Papers by Michael Baigent

- Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Henry Lincoln, Machael Baigent and Richard Leign

- The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown

- A Harmony of the Gospels by Fred R. Coulter

- Book of Mormon

- Occult Holidays or God’s Holy Days— Which? by Fred R. Coulter

Sermon: Was Jesus Married?

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 4-4-14

Assaults Against Jesus Christ IV

The Enigma of Judas Iscariot

Fred R. Coulter

One of the most unknown characters or persons recorded in the Bible is Judas Iscariot. There are many questions concerning Judas Iscariot. Why did there have to be a

- Judas Iscariot in the first place?

- Did Judas Iscariot commit the unpardonable sin?

- Is he lost?

- Does he have an opportunity for salvation ahead of him?

- What about this man?

This man Judas Iscariot is one of the most enigmatic of all in the entire Bible. He’s spoken of in the New Testament in not too clear of terms.

How are we going to find out about Judas Iscariot? Today we’re going to see that some of the things that Judas Iscariot probably thought, and we’ll see how we can come to that point of understanding some of his thoughts. We’re also going to see some of the prophecies directly relating to Judas Iscariot and his betrayal of Jesus Christ. Then we will see the tremendous spiritual battle that actually took place because of that.

Like anything else you study in the Bible, always build it upon the fundamentals that you know. So, with this one let’s begin at the beginning. I’m sure that almost everyone of us know these Scriptures by heart, but it’s very important that we begin right here for a quick review so that we can understand what is really taking place when we come to the account of Judas Iscariot and Jesus Christ. There’s more taking place than just meets the eye.

John 1 gives us one of the most important fundamental things that we need to know concerning Jesus Christ. John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This tells us exactly who Jesus Christ was. He was the Lord God of the Old Testament. He was the One Who created everything that there is.

Verse 2: “He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and not even one thing that was created came into being without Him” (vs 2-3). Then we know that He was made flesh.

Let’s also just briefly review some basic things that we know concerning the Word of God, the history in the Bible, and in particularly the revealed history concerning God and Satan.

We know that in Rev. 12 it tells us that there was war in heaven and one-third of the angels followed that old dragon called Satan the devil. They were cast back down to the earth.

We also know that in Isa. 14 it talks about Lucifer, where he said, ‘I will ascend above the stars of God; I will sit in the throne of God; I will be like the Most High God.’

Why do I bring all of this up in reference to Judas Iscariot? Because we will see some of the battle that took place between Jesus Christ and Satan the devil came in the form of Judas Iscariot! We will see how that developed.

Ezekiel 28 is the place where it talks about the character of Satan the devil. It’s very important that we understand about his character, because when we understand about the character of Satan the devil, then we can also understand about some of the character of Judas Iscariot.

Ezekiel 28:14: “You were the anointed cherub that covers…” this reveals that the one who became Satan the devil—Lucifer, the covering cherub—was hovering right over the throne of God! We will see later that Judas Iscariot was right next to Jesus Christ! We’ll also see something revealing about Judas Iscariot later.

“…and I set you so; you were upon the Holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you” (vs 14-15). Then it begins listing some of the character traits of Satan the devil:

Verse 16: “By the multitude of your merchandise they have filled your midst with violence…” I’m going to relate that to what Judas did ahead of time so that we understand what it was that Judas did! He betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver! Did that result in merchandizing and violence? Yes, it did!

“…and you have sinned….” (v 16). We’re going to get a clearer answer. I don’t think we can answer it definitely, but did Judas Iscariot commit the unpardonable sin?

“…Therefore, I will cast you as profane from the mountain of God, and I will destroy you, O covering cherub, from among the stones of fire. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty…” (vs 16-17). We can’t necessarily draw an analogy there with Judas Iscariot, but his heart was certainly lifted up! In other words, the vanity applies. It’s the same thing.

“…you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness….” (v 17)—or by the reason of your importance. Did Judas Iscariot think that he was somewhat important? We’ll answer that a little bit later when we read the accounts of Judas Iscariot.

“…I will cast you to the ground; I will lay you before kings…” (v 17). We’re going to see that’s exactly what happened to Judas Iscariot. Was he cast to the ground? He wasn’t laid before kings, but everyone knew!

Verse 18: “By the multitude of your iniquities, by the unrighteousness of your trade, you have profaned your sanctuaries; therefore, I brought forth a fire from your midst; it shall devour you, and I will bring you to ashes upon the earth, before the eyes of all who see you.” There’s the character of Satan the devil. We find that:

- he had jealousy

- he had vanity

- he had greed

- he had deceit in his heart

- he took advantage of the position that he had as covering cherub, right next to the One Who became Jesus Christ

Now let’s go to the ministry of Jesus Christ. We’ve covered His birth, His growth as a child before, but remember: all the way through who was after Jesus to destroy Him? Satan was after Jesus from the instant that He was born!

Let’s see the encounter that Jesus Christ had with Satan the devil directly, just before Jesus began His ministry. Luke 4:1: “And Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for forty days to be tempted by the devil….” (vs 1-2). Every kind of temptation that ever occurred to mankind occurred to Jesus Christ.

Do you think that at this time that Satan would have held back any of the temptations he was capable of doing? Do you think that he held back to not bring upon Jesus every conceivable temptation? Of course not! But it lists some of the more important ones that Jesus was tempted with.

“…And He ate nothing in those days; and after they had come to an end, He hungered. Then the devil said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that this stone become bread’” (vs 2-3).

Jesus gave the answer of what all human beings should do. He wasn’t talking about that other human beings, outside of Jesus, should live by every Word of God, but He was actually quoting the Scripture in reference to Himself, as well as in reference to all human beings.

Verse 4: “But Jesus answered him, saying, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”’” If we base our lives upon living by every Word of God, you think about that in your own life as we go through our days, from week to week, and it’s nice to be here on the Sabbath where it’s all restful, nice and pleasant:

- to be with brethren that love you

- to be away from the cares of the world

- to be away from the hustle and bustle of things to be done

Your life, my life—every one of our lives—should be based around living by every Word of God as led—as Jesus was—by the Holy Spirit.

Verse 5: “Then the devil led Him up into a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.” And he offered to give Jesus control of the whole world!

- Did Jesus know that He was going to be King over the earth?

- Did Jesus know that He was going to inherit all kingdoms?

- Yes!

So, here’s the temptation: Take it now! Do it now! Of course, that the way Satan always works.

Verse 6: “And the devil said to Him, ‘I will give You all this authority, and the glory of them all; for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I desire. Therefore, if You will worship me in my presence, all things shall be Yours’” (vs 6- 7). If a temptation were brought upon you in the same way, and all this will be yours—notice there is a catch—if you will worship me ALL shall be Yours!

This is why Jesus Christ has said that we are to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and being, because Satan the devil is powerful! He rules this world! We need to understand that. Take heart, Jesus said that He overcame!

Verse 8: “But Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Get behind Me, Satan; for it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.”’” He’s not talking about Satan worshiping the Lord God, simply because Satan won’t worship the Lord God. He’s already rebelled and proven that he won’t. But Jesus is quoting the Scripture that He is applying to Himself: ‘I, Jesus, as a man the Bible says “…shall worship the Lord your God…” and serve Him only.

Verse 9: “Then he led Him to Jerusalem and set Him upon the edge of the temple, and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down from here; for it is written…’” (vs 9-10). Here Satan quotes the Scripture correctly.

Just because a person can quote the Scripture correctly does not necessarily mean that they are from God!

“…‘He shall give His angels charge concerning You to keep You; and in their hands they shall bear You up, lest You strike Your foot against a stone.’ But Jesus answered and said to him, ‘It is clearly stated, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God”’” (vs 10-11).

People can use the Scriptures in a wrong way and tempt God, and can misapply them in their own lives. This is the battle that began right at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus Christ. This is not a beginning battle; this is another battle through all the battles that were fought between God and Satan. Now Jesus Christ is God in the flesh and the battle continues: God in the flesh against Satan the devil as a spirit being.

After this time we find the next event that took place. In Mark 1 we find a shortened account of the temptation of Jesus:

Mark 1:12: “And soon after, the Spirit compelled Him to go out into the wilderness; and He was there in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild animals; and afterwards angels ministered to Him” (vs 12-13). That’s a short summary, it doesn’t tell you too much. When you really think about it, it makes you wonder what really happened.

Verse 14: “Now, after the imprisonment of John, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time has been fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is near at hand; repent, and believe in the Gospel.’” (vs 14-15). That’s a key thing we need to understand! Not only repentance but there has to be belief! Jesus even said of Judas Iscariot that He knew he did not believe!

Verse 16: “And as He was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a large net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you to become fishers of men’” (vs 16-17). Here we have the calling of the disciples. Jesus called all of the disciples. We have two accounts of disciples:

- the account of the 12 disciples who became apostles

- the account of the 70 disciples that Jesus sent out two by two.

When we come to the Day of Pentecost, we have the apostles, Mary the mother of Jesus, and 120 of the brethren all together. It expanded during the ministry of Jesus Christ. Jesus was performing miracles, healing, casting out demons, etc.

Mark 3:1: “And again He went into the synagogue, and a man who had a withered hand was there. And they were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbaths, in order that they might accuse Him” (vs 1-2). Keep accuse Him in mind so we can begin to pick up some of the things that Judas Iscariot probably began doing in his own mind.

Verse 3: “Then He said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Stand up here in the center.’ And He said to them, ‘Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbaths, or to do evil? To save life, or to kill?’ But they were silent. And after looking around at them with anger…” (vs 3-5).There will be some people today if something is done, though it is done right, if they would see Jesus they would say, ‘He can’t be the one because He was angry. If He’s the Son of God He should never be angry.’

It’s kind of like concerning Christians, people will say ‘he should never be angry, because if he’s a Christian he should never be angry.’ Where does that attitude come from? The Bible doesn’t show that any of us are perfect—does it?

“…being grieved at the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as sound as the other. Then the Pharisees left and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against Him as to how they might destroy Him” (vs 5-6).

I want you to focus in on that attitude the Pharisees had. Immediately they went out and began plotting how to get rid of Jesus. His ministry was just beginning, and they were already planning to do Him in. I just wonder who was inspiring that? You think about it!

Verse 7: “But Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those around Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard what great things He was doing, came to Him. Then He told His disciples to have a small ship wait for Him on account of the multitude, in order that they might not press upon Him” (vs 7-9)—just overwhelm Him, too much pushing in trying to get at Him.

Verse 10: “For He had healed so many that they began to crowd around Him, as many as had plagues, in order that they might touch Him; and when the unclean spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and cried aloud, saying, ‘You are the Son of God’” (vs 10-11). That’s important to remember.

There are several things to understand here. First of all, demon possessed people would come into the synagogue. We see in another place where they cried out, ‘You are the Holy One of Israel.’ And Jesus told them, ‘Hold your peace.’

Here they were saying, “…‘You are the Son of God.’” With Jesus choosing Judas Iscariot— we’ll see what He said of him—He said, ‘One of you is a demon.’ Would they still have belief or knowledge that He was the Son of God? Yes! Absolutely!

Verse 12: “But He sharply rebuked them so that they would not make Him known. Then He went up into the mountain and called to Him those whom He desired, and they came to Him” (vs 12- 13). We’ll see that there’s another account in Luke 6 how that He chose the twelve.

Verse 14: “And He ordained twelve, that they might be with Him, and that He might send them to preach… [this included Judas Iscariot] …and to have authority to heal diseases and to cast out demons” (vs 14-15)—this included Judas Iscariot.

Verse 16: “Then He chose Simon and added to him the name Peter; and He chose James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James; and He added to them the name Boanerges, which means ‘sons of thunder.’ And He chose Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas. And He chose James, the son of Alpheus; and Thaddeus; and Simon, the Cananean; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house” (vs 16-19). And they also began healing. Judas is always listed last, but was Judas last? What may have Judas thought about himself?

Luke 6 is the parallel account of the same thing: of the healing, the calling and how He selected the 12 apostles. Remember where it say that He ordained them. That means that Jesus Christ laid hands on them. Judas Iscariot had hands laid on him just like the other apostles.

Luke 6:1: “Now, it came to pass on the second Sabbath of the first rank that He was walking through the grain fields; and His disciples were plucking the ears and were eating, after rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said to them…” (vs 1-2). I want you to understand something very carefully as we go through. I want you to remember the attitude of the Pharisees. Please keep that in mind.

“…‘Why are you doing that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbaths?’” (v 2). What is the oldest rouse in the world? When you’re doing something wrong, or when you are evil yourself, what do you do? You point out things that make other people look bad to draw attention away from yourself!

Somewhere along the line in your life you did that. Go back and look at all the childhood fights that you may have had in your family, and I guarantee that almost 50% or more of them center right around that thing. ‘Look at what he did!’ That is also a satanic attitude.

Verse 3: “And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Have you not read even this, that which David did when he himself hungered, and those who were with him? How he went into the house of God and took the loaves of showbread, and he ate of them, and also gave some to those with him, which it is not lawful to eat except for the priests only?’” (vs 3-4). That was a hard one for them to answer— right?

- Was not David, in the Old Testament, singled out as the man that God loved?

- Isn’t David one of those who is going to be in the Kingdom of God?

- Isn’t the whole predication of the coming of the Messiah based upon the linage of Judah?

or

- The linage of David?

He used this example: Was it unlawful for Him to eat that bread, except the priest? Sure was! Yes, it was, but for the sake of saving life, then the ritual did not take precedence over mercy.

Verse 5: “And He said to them, ‘The Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath.’” So, He could do what was lawful for God to do on the Sabbath.

Verse 6: “Now, it also came to pass on another Sabbath that He went into the synagogue and taught; and a man was there whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him…” (vs 6-7). There are people like that; people watchers, spies watching instead of rejoicing for the good, instead of being thankful that God was healing, they were watching! We’re going to get this guy.

“…whether He would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against Him. But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Arise and stand in the midst.’ And he arose and stood in their midst. Then Jesus said to them, ‘I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful to do good or to do evil on the Sabbaths? to save life or to destroy it?’” (vs 7-9). He was going right to the heart of their attitude.

Verse 10: “And after looking around on them all, He said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And he did so, and his hand was restored as sound as the other. But they were filled with rage…” (vs 10-11). Just anger! They gnashed their teeth!

“…and consulted with one another as to what they should do with Jesus. Now, it came to pass in those days that He went up into the mountain to pray, and He spent the entire night in prayer to God” (vs 11-12). Before He ordained the 12 disciples as apostles, He prayed all night! Then it lists all the apostles again.

Then the last one, v 16: “Judas, brother of James; and Judas Iscariot, who also became the betrayer.” The same character that Satan the devil had.

- Was Satan the devil a traitor to God and the Kingdom of God in his rebellion? Yes, he was!

- Did he, in anger, vanity, jealousy and greed, get one-third of the angels to follow him? Yes, he did!

Again, we have the same kind of attitude that we see here.

Let’s see one of the events that took place, and obviously, this was one thing that Judas Iscariot also did. Judas had many, many different things crossing his life; many different choices and things that he could have chosen to do, one thing or another, at one time or another.

Matthew 10:1: “And when He had called His twelve disciples… [which obviously included Judas Iscariot] …He gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every kind of sickness. Now, the names of the twelve apostles are these…” (vs 1-2).

Again, it lists Judas Iscariot, v 4: “…Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. These twelve Jesus sent out after commanding them, saying, “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter into a city of the Samaritans; but go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you are going, proclaim, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Heal the sick. Cleanse the lepers. Raise the dead. Cast out demons. Freely you have received; freely give’” (vs 4-8). Judas went out and did those things—didn’t he?

Did he also, at the same time, have a demon himself? Apparently, he did! That may raise some other questions we can think about.

Let’s see what happened when the 70 were sent out. They were sent out and did exactly the same thing, he told them exactly the same thing:

Luke 10:9: “And heal the sick in it, and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God has drawn near to you.’” And then almost exactly the same instruction that He gave (Matt. 10).

Verse 17: “Then the seventy returned with joy…” I wonder how the 12 apostles felt when they went out to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out the demons and cleanse the lepers? I imagine that they came back just as joyful! Do you think Judas Iscariot was joyful? He would have had to be as joyful as the other disciples! They would have had to have talked about it.

Verse 17: “Then the seventy returned with joy saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us through Your name.’ And He said to them, ‘I was watching when Satan fell from heaven like lightning’” (vs 17-18). That was not the important thing.

Verse 19: “Behold, I give you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall injure you in any way. Yet, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (vs 19-20).

We know there’s a Book of Life and our names are written in heaven! That’s a fantastic thing! Keep that always in mind if you get discourage or feeling down. In preparing for this sermon just reading that one part encouraged me a lot, because this is really not the most uplifting sermon. As a matter of fact, when I got done with it, I felt very, very down simply because of the overwhelmingness of what Judas had done. When we really get through it, you’re going to feel even part of that, so I want you to focus in on that and rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

Let’s see what Jesus Himself says personally about Judas Iscariot. Let’s understand that all of the disciples—every one of the disciples—were basically equal, except Judas.

- Who was Judas?

- Did he have a job different than all of the other apostles?

- Yes, he did!

Judas was the one who was the treasurer, the one who ‘carried the bag.’

If out of all the 12 someone is given the authority to carry the money that the apostles and disciples would use, then he would be the one who would be next to Jesus. I imagine that when it all started out Jesus—after He knew what He was going to do with Judas—knew who He was going to call; He knew He would ordain Judas; He knew that He would make Judas the ‘keeper of the money.’ When Jesus said, ‘Here, Judas, here’s the bag, you are the treasurer’—I wonder how he felt? He probably felt that ‘none of the other disciples have this, but I do.’

Let’s notice something else that Jesus said about Judas, John 6:64: “But there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who were the ones that did not believe, and who would betray Him.” Wouldn’t that be something to understand that? We can go just a little bit forward on this, about those who did not believe. Even those who saw Jesus rising in the air to go back into heaven after the resurrection, there were some who didn’t believe, even though they were worshiping. Jesus knew who didn’t believe, and who should betray Him! The same thing with every one of us as Christians:

- Are we Christians, indeed, because we believe?

or

- Are we ‘fair weather’ Christians?

- To be offended at the least little thing that comes along?

- Was Judas offended? Somewhere along the line Judas had to be offended!

Verse 65: “And He said, ‘For this reason, I have said to you, no one can come to Me unless it has been given to him from My Father.’ From that time, many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him” (vs 65-66). You would think based upon modern Christianity that people see on television:

- Jesus should not have sent them back

- Jesus should not have been so harsh

- After all, shouldn’t we get as many into heaven as we need to?

‘No,’ He said, ‘there are some who don’t believe, and you will not accept Me’; and He let them go!

Verse 67: “Therefore, Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Are you also desiring to go away?’ Then Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life’” (vs 67- 68). That sounds like the right answer—right? Yes, that is the right answer! But how deeply did Peter really comprehend it and believe it? He comprehended and believed it to a certain degree!

Verse 69: “‘And we have believed and have known that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Did I not choose you twelve, and one of you is a devil?’” (vs 69-70). So, it is no great thing that if we understand God’s Word, we don’t walk up and say, ‘O God, how great I am.’ No! God is the One Who has made it possible. We need to be ever thankful to God for what He has done in His grace and His mercy and His love.

Verse 71: “Now, He spoke of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son; for he was about to betray Him, being one of the twelve.” Even on the earth, as the Son of God, as the One Who was God before becoming a human being, and He had all the grief, agony and trouble that He must have had with Satan and all the rebellious angels that went with him. Now He has to face—face to face, day in and day out—Judas Iscariot. He’s right there hovering, and he was the one that Jesus went to whenever there was something to do with the 12 where it required any money.

One other thing a about Judas Iscariot, not only was he treasurer, but he was the only disciple that came from the area of Judea, perhaps Jerusalem. All of the other disciples came from the area of Galilee. They were not of the same ‘spiritual quality’ of those in Jerusalem. That’s why Jesus was not born in Jerusalem; He was born in Bethlehem. That’s why Jesus was not born except through the line of David.

Again, a lot of these things that we read, Jesus applies also to Himself. We want to see how Judas Iscariot maybe began to be, in his own mind, disillusioned with Jesus. What happens if you think you’re important? Then the boss begins to avoid you?

- I carry the bag

- I’m the treasurer

- I obviously, am going to have a greater reward than these others.

Matthew 16:28: “Truly I say to you, there are some of those standing here who shall not taste of death until they have seen the Son of man coming in His kingdom.”

What happens whenever something like that is mentioned? When there’s vanity, jealousy, lust, greed and self-importance? Because all of these things had to be part of Judas Iscariot in order for him to do what he did! You think you’re going to be the one! You think you’re going to be the one who is going to have this privilege!

Have you ever had something like that happen to you; say you’re in a group of kids and they make an announcement that one of them is going to be chosen for this, or one is going to get this award. What happens when you don’t get the award?

I remember when I was in third grade; I wanted to be a school-crossing patrolman. I just wanted it in the worst way, because I could have this little thing around me with a badge on it and I could stand out there with a flag and make all the cars stop and let the kids go. I would be important. I thought for sure they were going to choose me. I wasn’t chosen! I got upset! That’s part of the way that human beings act, because they think that they’re important.

Can you imagine what happened six days later? Matthew 17:1: “And after six days, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and his brother John…” He didn’t take Judas! He did not take Judas! I think that this is one of the places where Judas really began turning. You can open your mind even more for an attitude of Satan the devil. This is one place where this perhaps began.

Let’s see some more of the attitude of Judas Iscariot; we touched on this a little bit, but let’s see where it actually happened. This is the account where Jesus was anointed six days before the Passover. We’re also going to see the account that was two days before the Passover a little bit later. This was in Lazarus’ home:

John 12:3: “Mary then took a pound of pure spikenard ointment worth a great price and anointed Jesus’ feet, wiping His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the aroma of the ointment. As a result, one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who was about to betray Him said” (vs 3-4).

Almost every place where it says of Judas Iscariot it says the one who should betray Him, or the traitor. He’s always put at the bottom of the list, after the fact. But I think during the ministry, Judas thought he was right next to Jesus, because he had ‘the bag.’

Judas said, v 5: “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred silver coins, and given to the poor?” Don’t you always hear this by the corrupt politicians? Oh, we shouldn’t do this; we should give it to the poor, to the homeless! What does this tell us:

- he’s self-righteous

- he has an ideological mask of righteousness to cover his own sin

(go to the next track)

At this point we need to ask:

- What did Judas think about Jesus?

- How can we answer that?

This is very important. Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us that Judas Iscariot thought this or that about Jesus. What we can find out is:

- What were the thoughts and attitudes of the Pharisees?

- Did not Judas Iscariot betray Jesus to them?

If he betrayed Jesus to them, then he had to think like they did!

- Was he not a demon?

- Did he not have a demon? Yes, he did!

- Would he then think of Jesus as Satan thought of Jesus?

- Chances are that’s correct!

Somewhere along the line Judas Iscariot had to begin believing with what the Pharisees were saying, otherwise, why betray Him. Even though a person is demon possessed, he has to be justified in his own mind. Let’s see what the Pharisees said:

Matthew 12:22: “Then was brought to Him one who was possessed by a demon, blind and dumb; and He healed him, so that the one who had been blind and dumb both spoke and saw. And the multitudes were all amazed, and said, ‘Is this the Son of David?’ But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, ‘This Man does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, prince of the demons’” (vs 22- 24).

We’re going to see some of the other attitudes that the Pharisees had, and we’re going to see exactly what Jesus called them.

Verse 25: “But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then shall his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? On account of this, they shall be your judges. But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you’” (vs 25-28).

Verse 31: “Because of this, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men except the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit; that shall not be forgiven to men.”

- Can a person in this life commit the unpardonable sin? Yes!

- Can they commit the unpardonable sin being unconverted? Yes!

- Were these Pharisees unconverted? Obviously! They were against Jesus!

Verse 32: “And whoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the coming age.” There’s no forgiveness in what we call the second resurrection.

Verse 33: “Either make the tree good and the fruit good, or make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt; for a tree is known by its fruit. Offspring of vipers… [that’s what Jesus called the Pharisees] …how are you able to speak good things, being evil?….” (vs 33-34). There’s some of the attitudes of the Pharisees.

We’re going to see how desperate they became; this is what they thought of Jesus, and we’ll see more of what Jesus said of them, and a little be more of what they said of Jesus—both.

After Jesus made His triumphant entry; He came into Jerusalem and they were all shouting ‘Hosanna, glory to God in the highest.’

John 12:19: “Then the Pharisees said among themselves, ‘Do you see that we are not gaining in any way? Look! The world has gone after Him.’” Even though a person is evil, they are convinced that if something is happening they impute evil to someone else. That’s what they were doing with Jesus. ‘Look! They’re all going after Jesus; what are we going to do?’ I imagine that the Pharisees were out there saying these things, repeating these things, preaching them in the synagogue.

John 7:11: As a result, the Jews were seeking Him at the Feast, and said, ‘Where is He?’ Now there was much debating about Him among the people. Some said, ‘He is a good Man.’ But others said, ‘No, but He is deceiving the people’” (vs 11-12). Can you imagine all the propaganda that went around saying:

- this Man is deceiving the people

- yeah, He’s telling the not to keep the law

- Do you know that this Man actually goes and does work?

- Do you know that this Man actually has people carrying thing son the Sabbath?

- Do you know what this man is saying of Himself?

- How can this be of God?

John 5:16: “And for this cause, the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on a Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I work.’ So then, on account of this saying, the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, not only because He had loosed the Sabbath… [in their mind] …but also because He had called God His own Father, making Himself equal with God” (vs 16-18).

To them that was the greatest blaspheme that could be, from their point of view, looking at Jesus. Here’s Someone who says, ‘I’m the Son of God.’ Hasn’t this been said of people; maybe you’ve said some of these things concerning people. The Pharisees, after Jesus healed the man who was blind from birth, after the man was brought before the counsel and they asked: Who is this Man? How did He do it?

John 9:16: “Then some of the Pharisees said, ‘This Man is not from God…’ They say He’s deceiving the people and they say He claims that He’s the Son of God, and there can’t be anything more blasphemous than that. Then they said.

“…‘This Man is not from God because He does not keep the Sabbath.’” (v 16). Quite an attitude! I wonder if Judas began picking up on some these things? I wonder, with the demon that was in him and Satan coming along putting things in all the time—putting ideas into his mind all the time—if these things were not beginning to wear down upon Judas? And because he was stealing and taking? What happens? The fear of getting caught! I wonder if going out and selling the ointment would have replaced what he took, or if he would have taken the ointment and sold it for 500 and said, ‘I got 300.

It makes you wonder! I don’t know, I just bring those up as questions.

John 10:24: “Then the Jews encircled Him and said to Him, ‘How long are You going to hold us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered them, ‘I have told you, but you do not believe. The works that I am doing in My Father’s name, these bear witness of Me’” (vs 24- 25).

Verse 30: “‘I and the Father are one.’ Then the Jews again picked up stones so that they might stone Him” (vs 30-31). You talk about being real excitable! You talk about having hate in your heart! They were looking around for stones. I don’t know how many were carrying some in their pockets—I don’t know if they had pockets in those robes or not—but some were just waiting around for the opportunity to throw a stone and hit Him.

Verse 32: “Jesus answered them, ‘Many good works I have showed you from My Father. For which of them are you about to stone Me?’ The Jews answered Him, saying, ‘We will not stone You for a good work, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a man, are making Yourself God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Is it not written in your law, “I said, ‘You are gods’”? If He called them gods, to whom the Word of God came (and the Scriptures cannot be broken)” (vs 32-35). You talk about just really nailing them; just grinding and grating against the Pharisees. Imagine that! He’s quoting the Scripture and saying it cannot be broken!

Verse 36: “Why do you say of Him Whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world, “You are blaspheming,” because I said, “I am the Son of God”? If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me. But if I do, even if you do not believe Me, believe the works; so that you may perceive and may believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.’ Then they again sought to take Him…” (vs 36-39). They ran to grab Him and Jesus just slipped out of the way.

Jesus really had a terrible life as a human being. They hounded Him all the time. Have you ever had people just ‘hound you to death’? That’s what they were doing with Jesus. Let’s see what Jesus said directly of them. Let’s notice concerning the attitude of the Pharisees, because somewhere along the line Judas had to agree with them. Somewhere along the line Judas had to say, ‘I believe that.’

John 7:28: “Then Jesus spoke out, teaching in the temple and saying, ‘You know Me, and you also know where I come from; yet, I have not come of Myself; but He Who sent Me is true, Whom you do not know. But I know Him because I am from Him, and He sent Me.’ Because of this saying, they were looking for a way to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him because His time had not yet come” (vs 28-30).

John 8:29: “‘And He Who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone because I always do the things that please Him.’ As He spoke these things, many believed in Him. Therefore, Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him, ‘If you continue in My Word, you are truly My disciples” (vs 29-31). Remember that He knew that there were those who didn’t believe.

Verse 32: “‘And you shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free.’ They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s seed, and have never been in bondage to anyone. What do You mean by saying, “You shall become free”?’” (vs 32-33).

Notice that even the sinners have a justification of what they’re doing. A lot of people say, ‘We’re good Catholics.’ That’s the great justification of it. ‘My father was a Catholic and his father was, and we’ve always been Catholics.’ Because the Catholics say, ‘We are the church, therefore, if you are Catholic you’re in good shape’—right? Wrong! Here they were saying, “We are Abraham’s seed…”

Verse 34: “Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a servant of sin…. [the slave of sin] …And the servant does not live in the house forever; but the Son lives forever. Therefore, if the Son shall set you free, you shall truly be free. I know that you are Abraham’s seed… [Jesus knew that they were physically from Abraham as descendants] …but you are seeking to kill Me, because My words do not enter into your minds. I speak the things that I have seen from My Father, and you do the things that you have seen from your father’” (vs 34-38). This is where we know that Judas had to have the same attitude as the Pharisees.

Verse 39: “They answered and said to Him, ‘Our father is Abraham.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has spoken the Truth to you…’” (vs 39-40).

How many times have you had the experience where people get angry at you because you speak the Truth. I suppose there’s a way of saying the Truth sometimes where you don’t provoke anger. But here we have a situation where they sought to kill Him because He told them the Truth.

These are very strong words, v 41: “‘You are doing the works of your father.’ Then they said to Him, ‘We have not been born of fornication. We have one Father, and that is God.’ Therefore, Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, because I proceeded forth and came from God. For I have not come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why don’t you understand My speech? Because you cannot bear to hear My words. You are of your father the devil…’” (vs 41-44).

If Judas Iscariot had a demon, who was Judas’ father? The devil! Could he have sold his soul during his lifetime so much to the devil that he was lost? I think that in our understanding about the second resurrection, we gloss over the fact too easily that a person can commit the unpardonable sin in this life, and though they are resurrected, they have no forgiveness, because Jesus said that if you ‘blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, you have no forgiveness in this world or in the one that’s coming.’

“‘…and the lusts of your father you desire to practice. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has not stood in the Truth because there is no Truth in him….’” (v 44). What is it that Judas Iscariot did? He rejected the Truth and betrayed Jesus!

“‘…Whenever he speaks a lie, he is speaking from his own self; for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I speak the Truth, you do not believe Me. Which one of you can convict Me of sin? But if I speak the Truth, why don’t you believe Me? The one who is of God hears the words of God…. [Always remember that!] …For this reason you do not hear, because you are not of God…. [notice their reaction]: …Then the Jews answered and said to Him, ‘Are we not right in saying that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?’”

Quite an answer—isn’t it? Somewhere along the line, did Judas believe that Jesus was demon possessed, led of Beelzebub? Breaking the Law of God? Making Himself the Son of God? If so, ‘we better get rid of this guy!’ I would have to conclude that somewhere along the line Judas would have to believe that that were a fact.

John 11 talks about when they planned to actually kill Jesus. After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and went out and how famous Jesus was; all the Jews were following Him and so forth.

John 11:53: “Therefore, from that day they took counsel together, so that they might kill Him.” Then Jesus had to go hide Himself; He went across the Jordan River to hide from the rest of the Jews.

Let’s see some of the prophecies of the wicked; some of the prophecies concerning Judas. Let’s see how all of these fit together. We will survey quite a few of the Psalms. There’s a lot in the Psalms concerning either the attitude of Judas, the fate of Judas, the actual thing that he would do in betraying Jesus. All those are there.

Psalm 5:9: “For there is no Truth in their mouth; their inward part is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.” Isn’t that what Jesus was saying of the Pharisees?

You might just review Matt. 23 where Jesus said, ‘Woe to the scribes and Pharisees; hypocrites!’ And all the things that they did:

- taking money from widows

- making long prayers

- making silly little rules concerning vows

Jesus said that they were like ‘whited sepultures’; that they were filthy and rotten inside. “…their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.” If there’s any one thing that I cannot stand is flatteries! Every time someone comes to flatter you, you know that something’s going to happen. There’s a difference in being appreciative for something done well, that’s fine. But people come along and you can almost hear them purring and stroking as they come. Something’s going to happen. “…they flatter with their tongue.”

Verse 10: “Hold them guilty, O God; let them fall by their own counsels…”

- Did those who counseled to destroy Jesus fall by their own counsel? Yes, they did!

- Did God not almost wipe Jerusalem off the face of the earth because of rejecting Jesus Christ?

- Weren’t the Jews sent into captivity?

- And to this day they’re still wandering the face of the earth because of it? Yes!

“…cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against You” (v 10). Did Judas rebel against Jesus? Yes, he did!

Psalm 7:9: “O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous, for the righteous God tries the hearts and reins. My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. God is a righteous judge, and a God Who has indignation every day. If he does not turn, He will whet His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready. Yea, He has also prepared for Himself weapons of death; He has made His arrows fiery shafts. Behold, he labors with iniquity, and he has conceived mischief, and has brought forth falsehood” (vs 9-14). All of those describe the very works of Judas Iscariot!

Verse 15: “He dug a pit and hollowed it out, and has fallen into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head… [we’re going to see that this happened to Judas Iscariot] …and his violence shall come down upon his own crown” (vs 15-16). When the questions first came up:

- What about Judas Iscariot?

- What does the Bible tell us about Judas Iscariot?

At that time I was just starting to study through the Psalms, and as I was going through the Psalms all of these just hit me as part of what Judas would be like.

Psalm 35:4 “Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion, those who seek after my soul; let them be turned back and humiliated, those who devise evil against me.” Did that happen to all the Jews who were in on the crucifixion of Jesus Christ? Absolutely!

Verse 5: “Let them be as chaff before the wind; and let the angel of the LORD drive them away. Let their way be dark and slippery; and let the angel of the LORD pursue them; for without cause they have hidden their net for me; without cause they have dug a pit for my soul. Let destruction come upon him in a time he will not know; and let his net, which he has concealed catch him, let him fall into destruction. And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD; it shall rejoice in His salvation” (vs 5-9).

Psalm 36:1: “The wicked utters transgression in his heart. There is no fear of God before his eyes.” Did the Pharisees fear God, or did they only fear their own judgment and what they were doing among themselves. They didn’t fear God. Did Judas fear God? No!

Verse 2: “For he flatters himself in his own eyes…” That is so true, how people say how great they are! I just wonder how Judas thought about himself. It doesn’t say exactly how he thought about himself, but he must have thought pretty highly of himself in order to do what he did! He would have to think: ‘I am saving the nation from this horrible, miserable Man.’ Do the Jews today believe that very thing? A lot of them do!

“…until his iniquity is found to be hateful. The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit; he has stopped acting wise and doing good…. [Judas sure did—didn’t he?] …He plots iniquity upon his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not hate evil” (vs 2-4).

Psalm 37:32: “The wicked watches the righteous and seeks to kill him.” What did Judas say? I will give you an opportunity to arrest Him and take care of Him!

Psalm 38:12: “And those who seek my life lay snares for me; and those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and plot deceptions all the day long.” That’s a perfect description of what they were doing against Jesus.

Psalm 41:5—here is a direct prophecy concerning Jesus and Judas: “My enemies speak evil of me, saying, ‘When will he die, and his name perish?’ And if he comes to see me, he speaks falsehood; his heart gathers iniquity to itself; he goes out and speaks of it” (vs 5-6). Perfect description of what the Pharisees were doing.

Verse 7: “All who hate me whisper against me; they plot evil against me.” What did it say about the people? They were talking about Him!

Verse 9: “Even a man, my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.” Direct reference to the betrayal of Jesus Christ by Judas Iscariot.

Here is another one that is a direct prophecy of the betrayal of Jesus Christ by Judas Iscariot; Psalm 55:14: “We took sweet counsel together and walked into the house of God with the throng.” Remember how many times Jesus went up to the temple, and I’m sure the disciples were right there with Him.

Verse 20: “He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him; he has broken his covenant. The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart…” (vs 20-21). Was there not war in the heart of Judas Iscariot to do away with Jesus? Yes!

“…his words were softer than oil, yet, they were drawn swords” (v 21). That’s exactly what the Pharisee s and Judas were doing.

Frankly, I was amazed when I went through and was studying this from this point of view: I have never before thought of going through and studying in the Psalms to see if there was anything there about Judas Iscariot and Jesus. Sure enough, there’s an awful lot there. These are only some of them.

Psalm 62:4: “They only consult to cast him down from his great height; they delight in lies; they bless with their mouth, but inwardly they curse. Selah.” I imagine so with the Pharisees.

Psalm 64:2: “Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked, from the rebellion of the workers of iniquity, who sharpen their tongue like a sword and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words; so that they may shoot at the blameless from concealment—suddenly they shoot at him, and fear not. They encourage themselves in an evil plan; they talk of laying snares secretly; they say, ‘Who shall see them?’ They plot injustices, saying, ‘We have made a perfect plan.’ For the inward thought and heart of man is cunning. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly they shall be wounded” (vs 2-7).

Those are the main Psalms just picking out the attitude of Judas Iscariot and the Pharisees and the attitude that they had.

John 13 tells us some of the activities that were going on between Judas and Satan. It tells us some of the attitudes that were there.

John 13:2: “And during supper (the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, that he should betray Him).” Satan was putting that thought in there.

I wonder how long Satan was building up that thought in his mind, bringing to bear all of these things so that Judas would make that last betrayal. Now we’re going to follow some of the parable accounts here in the Gospels concerning this particular event. We find in Matt. 26 the same account of the anointing two days before the Passover, and the thing that took place where Judas had this attitude of giving money to the poor. That’s the thing that really ticked Judas off, this second anointing of Jesus. Remember the first one was with His feet six days before the Passover, and the second one was two days before the Passover, and it was His head. So, it’s a different anointing.

Matthew 26:14: “Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests.” That’s the thing that did it! He became offended. What did he do? He went out to get revenge!

Verse 15: “And said, ‘What are you willing to give me, and I will deliver Him up to you?’ And they offered him thirty pieces of silver.” We find in Zech. 11:13 that it’s told that His soul was sold for 30 pieces of silver.

Verse 16: “And from that time he sought an opportunity to betray Him.”

Luke 22:3: “Then Satan entered into Judas, who was surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. And he went away, and spoke with the chief priests and the captains about a way by which he might betray Him to them. And they rejoiced, and agreed to give him money. And he promised, and sought an opportunity to betray Him to them away from the multitude” (vs 3-6). Satan possessed him. There were times when Satan was influencing, there were other times when Satan was possessing.

John 13 is another account of Satan entering into and possessing Judas. I want you to get in your mind the scene of this battle. Remember what I said at the beginning that here is God and here is Satan warring against each other as spirit beings. Now we have God in the flesh—Jesus Christ—Who is warring against Satan the devil who possesses Judas! So, we have Satan in the flesh and God in the flesh going head-to-head. Maybe you never quite thought of it that way, but that’s exactly what happened.

John 13:18: “I am not speaking of you all; for I know whom I have chosen, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled: ‘He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.’”

Verse 26: Jesus answered, ‘It is the one to whom I shall give a sop after I have dipped it.’ And when He had dipped the sop, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son. And after the sop, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him, ‘What you do, do quickly’” (vs 26-27). No one at the table knew what He was talking about, because they thought since Judas had the bag Jesus told him to go buy something for the Feast, but he didn’t.

Here is where Jesus was betrayed, John 18:1: “After saying these things, Jesus went out with His disciples to a place beyond the winter stream of Kidron, where there was a garden into which He and His disciples entered. And Judas, who was betraying Him, also knew of the place because Jesus had often gathered there with His disciples. Then Judas, after receiving a band and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with torches and lamps and weapons” (vs 1-3).

How was Jesus betrayed? Judas gave the signal and he said to these men, ‘the one whom I kiss!’ We have many slang things from that we derive in our language today. It is called ‘the kiss of death.’ But you talk about something that is just absolutely beyond belief, how that God would humble Himself so much to become a human being, to become that sacrifice for all human beings and then allow Satan, in the person of Judas Iscariot, to come up and kiss Him, to betray Him!

I don’t know about you, but every time I see one of these Russian premiers kiss an American President I just can’t get that out of my mind that it’s the same sort of hypocritical thing.

- Did Judas know what he was doing?

- Was he responsible even though he was a demon?

- Even though he was Satan possessed?

- Was he lost?

John 17:12: “When I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. I protected those whom You have given Me, and not one of them has perished except the son of perdition…” That’s pretty strong language! Who is also called the ‘son of perdition, the man of sin’? The one who is known as the beast! (2-Thess. 2; Rev. 16; 19).

What’s going to happen to the beast and the false prophet? They’re going to be cast into the Lake of Fire! Jesus said that Judas was lost, the son of perdition. If we believed the Scripture we would have to conclude that Judas is lost. Someone would bring up that he was demon possessed, Satan possessed; then we have to answer the question this way: Are there some that are raised up by God who are made for destruction? Yes, there are some!

1-Peter 2:10: “But particularly those who walk after the flesh in corrupting lust, and hold in utter contempt the lordship of God….” Did Judas despise the governance of God in his life? Yes, he did!

“…They are audacious and self-willed. They are not afraid to blaspheme the divine powers” (v 10). Was Judas not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries? Yes! Of Jesus, the very Son of God!

Verse 11: “Whereas, angels, who are greater in strength and power, do not bring a railing condemnation against them before the Lord. But these—as irrational brute beasts, born to be caught and destroyed—blaspheme those things of which they are ignorant, and shall be utterly destroyed in their own corruption” (vs 11-12).

These Scriptures indicate very clearly that Judas may have committed the unpardonable sin! We know the final judgment is upon Judas by God. He doesn’t tell us directly, but He says that Judas is lost; He says, ‘he’s the son of perdition.’ The Scriptures say that there are those who are “…irrational brute beasts, born to be caught and destroyed…”

You can read the rest of 2-Peter about how they come to the Feasts and pretend to be lovely, sweet and all this sort of thing.

Let’s ask about the repentance of Judas, Matthew 27:3 “Now, when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He was condemned, he changed his mind and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, ‘I have sinned and have betrayed innocent blood.’ But they said, ‘What is that to us? You see to it yourself.’ And after throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he went out and hanged himself” (vs 3-5).

- Was this a Godly repentance?

or

- Was this a repentance of the world?

We can’t determine that, therefore, God is going to have to make that final judgment!

- Why did Judas hang himself?

It says in another place that his bowels split open and fell out.

- What is the penalty for murder? Death!

- Did Judas betray Jesus unto death? Yes!

- Who was going to execute that against Judas?

- The disciples?

- The priests?

- Pilate?

- Herod?

No! God did it! Judas hung himself, but you read in Gen. 38 how God slew ‘so and so’ because he was so wicked. God is the One Who executed the judgment upon Judas, and he died! He had to die because he betrayed Jesus! Furthermore, he could not live because just think what would happen to him, bearing down on his mind his whole life, if there was any sense of conscious that he might have.

- it appears that Judas is lost

- it appears that he was raised up for that purpose

- it appears that God executed Judas

But just going through this whole thing and seeing all the evil thoughts, the contention, the hatred, and all of those things involved with Judas Iscariot, I can see why people very seldom go in and study this to answer the question: Why? One of the biggest reasons they don’t want to is because it’s too painful or it exposes their own human nature to what it really is.

But there is sure one thing that is true, ‘there is a way that seems right to a man, the ends thereof are the ways of death’! That is true of Judas Iscariot!

There’s one other lesson that we can learn here:

- We should always love God

- We should always serve God

And we should never take into our hand to do those things that are the judgments of God!

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version by Fred R. Coulter

Scriptural References:

1) John 1:1-3

2) Ezekiel 28:14-18

3) Luke 4:1-11

4) Mark 1:12-17

5) Mark 3:1-19

6) Luke 6:1-12, 16

7) Matthew 10:1-2, 4-8

8) Luke 10:9, 17-20

9) John 6:64-71

10) Matthew 16:28

11) Matthew 17:1

12) John 12:3-5

13) Matthew 12:22-28, 31-34

14) John 12:19

15) John 7:11-12

16) John 5:16-18

17) John 9:16

18) John 10:24-25, 30-39

19) John 7:28-30

20) John 8:29-48

21) John 11:53

22) Psalm 5:9-10

23) Psalm 7:9-16

24) Psalm 35:4-9

25) Psalm 36:1-4

26) Psalm 37:32

27) Psalm 38:12

28) Psalm 41:5-7, 9

29) Psalm 55:14, 20-21

30) Psalm 62:4

31) Psalm 64:2-7

32) John 13:2

33) Matthew 26:15-16

34) Luke 22:3-6

35) John 13:18, 26-27

36) John 18:1-3

37) John 17:12

38) 2 Peter 2:10-12

39) Matthew 27:3-5

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

- Revelation 12

- Isaiah 14

- Matthew 23

- Zechariah 11:13

- 2 Thessalonians 2

- Revelation 16; 19

- Genesis 38

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 4-4-14

THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS

Translated by

Rodolphe Kasser, Marvin Meyer, and Gregor Wurst,

INTRODUCTION: INCIPIT

The secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot during a week three days before he celebrated Passover.

THE EARTHLY MINISTRY OF JESUS

When Jesus appeared on earth, he performed miracles and great wonders for the salvation of humanity. And since some [walked] in the way of righteousness while others walked in their transgressions, the twelve disciples were called. He began to speak with them about the mysteries beyond the world and what would take place at the end. Often he did not appear to his disciples as himself, but he was found among them as a child.

SCENE 1:

Jesus dialogues with his disciples: The prayer of thanksgiving or the eucharist. One day he was with his disciples in Judea, and he found them gathered together and seated in pious observance. When he [approached] his disciples, [34] gathered together and seated and offering a prayer of thanksgiving over the bread, [he] laughed. The disciples said to [him], “Master, why are you laughing at [our] prayer of thanksgiving? We have done what is right.” He answered and said to them, “I am not laughing at you. <You> are not doing this because of your own will but because it is through this that your god [will be] praised.” They said, “Master, you are [...] the son of our god.” Jesus said to them, “How do you know me? Truly [I] say to you, no generation of the people that are among you will know me.”

THE DISCIPLES BECOME ANGRY

When his disciples heard this, they started getting angry and infuriated and began blaspheming against him in their hearts. When Jesus observed their lack of [understanding, he said] to them, “Why has this agitation led you to anger? Your god who is within you and [...] [35] have provoked you to anger [within] your souls. [Let] any one of you who is [strong enough] among human beings bring out the perfect human and stand before my face.” They all said, “We have the strength.” But their spirits did not dare to stand before [him], except for Judas Iscariot. He was able to stand before him, but he could not look him in the eyes, and he turned his face away. Judas [said] to him, “I know who you are and where you have come from. You are from the immortal realm of Barbelo. And I am not worthy to utter the name of the one who has sent you.”

JESUS SPEAKS TO JUDAS PRIVATELY

Knowing that Judas was reflecting upon something that was exalted, Jesus said to him, “Step away from the others and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom. It is possible for you to reach it, but you will grieve a great deal. [36] For someone else will replace you, in order that the twelve [disciples] may again come to completion with their god.” Judas said to him, “When will you tell me these things, and [when] will the great day of light dawn for the generation?” But when he said this, Jesus left him.

SCENE 2:

Jesus appears to the disciples again The next morning, after this happened, Jesus [appeared] to his disciples again. They said to him, “Master, where did you go and what did you do when you left us?” Jesus said to them, “I went to another great and holy generation.” His disciples said to him, “Lord, what is the great generation that is superior to us and holier than us, that is not now in these realms?” When Jesus heard this, he laughed and said to them, “Why are you thinking in your hearts about the strong and holy generation? [37] Truly [I] say to you, no one born [of] this aeon will see that [generation], and no host of angels of the stars will rule over that generation, and no person of mortal birth can associate with it, because that generation does not come from [...] which has become [...]. The generation of people among [you] is from the generation of humanity [...] power, which [... the] other powers [...] by [which] you rule.” When [his] disciples heard this, they each were troubled in spirit. They could not say a word. Another day Jesus came up to [them]. They said to [him], “Master, we have seen you in a [vision], for we have had great [dreams ...] night [...].” [He said], “Why have [you ... when] <you> have gone into hiding?” [38]

THE DISCIPLES SEE THE TEMPLE AND DISCUSS IT

They [said, “We have seen] a great [house with a large] altar [in it, and] twelve men—they are the priests, we would say—and a name; and a crowd of people is waiting at that altar, [until] the priests [... and receive] the offerings. [But] we kept waiting.” [Jesus said], “What are [the priests] like?” They [said, “Some ...] two weeks; [some] sacrifice their own children, others their wives, in praise [and] humility with each other; some sleep with men; some are involved in [slaughter]; some commit a multitude of sins and deeds of lawlessness. And the men who stand [before] the altar invoke your [name], [39] and in all the deeds of their deficiency, the sacrifices are brought to completion [...].” After they said this, they were quiet, for they were troubled.

JESUS OFFERS AN ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION OF THE VISION OF THE TEMPLE

Jesus said to them, “Why are you troubled? Truly I say to you, all the priests who stand before that altar invoke my name. Again I say to you, my name has been written on this [...] of the generations of the stars through the human generations. [And they] have planted trees without fruit, in my name, in a shameful manner.” Jesus said to them, “Those you have seen receiving the offerings at the altar—that is who you are. That is the god you serve, and you are those twelve men you have seen. The cattle you have seen brought for sacrifice are the many people you lead astray [40] before that altar. [...] will stand and make use of my name in this way, and generations of the pious will remain loyal to him. After him another man will stand there from [the fornicators], and another [will] stand there from the slayers of children, and another from those who sleep with men, and those who abstain, and the rest of the people of pollution and lawlessness and error, and those who say, ‘We are like angels’; they are the stars that bring everything to its conclusion. For to the human generations it has been said, ‘Look, God has received your sacrifice from the hands of a priest’— that is, a minister of error. But it is the Lord, the Lord of the universe, who commands, ‘On the last day they will be put to shame.’” [41] Jesus said [to them], “Stop sac[rificing ...] which you have [...] over the altar, since they are over your stars and your angels and have already come to their conclusion there. So let them be [ensnared] before you, and let them go [—about 15 lines missing— ] generations [...]. A baker cannot feed all creation [42] under [heaven]. And [...] to them [...] and [...] to us and [...]. Jesus said to them, “Stop struggling with me. Each of you has his own star, and every[body—about 17 lines missing—] [43] in [...] who has come [... spring] for the tree [...] of this aeon [...] for a time [...] but he has come to water God’s paradise, and the [generation] that will last, because [he] will not defile the [walk of life of] that generation, but [...] for all eternity.”

JUDAS ASKS JESUS ABOUT THAT GENERATION AND HUMAN GENERATIONS

Judas said to [him, “Rabb]i, what kind of fruit does this generation produce?” Jesus said, “The souls of every human generation will die. When these people, however, have completed the time of the kingdom and the spirit leaves them, their bodies will die but their souls will be alive, and they will be taken up.” Judas said, “And what will the rest of the human generations do?” Jesus said, “It is impossible [44] to sow seed on [rock] and harvest its fruit. [This] is also the way [...] the [defiled] generation [...] and corruptible Sophia [...] the hand that has created mortal people, so that their souls go up to the eternal realms above. [Truly] I say to you, [...] angel [...] power will be able to see that [...] these to whom [...] holy generations [...].” After Jesus said this, he departed.

SCENE 3:

Judas recounts a vision and Jesus responds Judas said, “Master, as you have listened to all of them, now also listen to me. For I have seen a great vision.” When Jesus heard this, he laughed and said to him, “You thirteenth spirit, why do you try so hard? But speak up, and I shall bear with you.” Judas said to him, “In the vision I saw myself as the twelve disciples were stoning me and [45] persecuting [me severely]. And I also came to the place where [...] after you. I saw [a house ...], and my eyes could not [comprehend] its size. Great people were surrounding it, and that house <had> a roof of greenery, and in the middle of the house was [a crowd—two lines missing—], saying, ‘Master, take me in along with these people.’” [Jesus] answered and said, “Judas, your star has led you astray.” He continued, “No person of mortal birth is worthy to enter the house you have seen, for that place is reserved for the holy. Neither the sun nor the moon will rule there, nor the day, but the holy will abide there always, in the eternal realm with the holy angels. Look, I have explained to you the mysteries of the kingdom [46] and I have taught you about the error of the stars; and [...] send it [...] on the twelve aeons.”

JUDAS ASKS ABOUT HIS OWN FATE

Judas said, “Master, could it be that my seed is under the control of the rulers?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Come, that I [—two lines missing—], but that you will grieve much when you see the kingdom and all its generation.” When he heard this, Judas said to him, “What good is it that I have received it? For you have set me apart for that generation.” Jesus answered and said, “You will become the thirteenth, and you will be cursed by the other generations—and you will come to rule over them. In the last days they will curse your ascent [47] to the holy [generation].”

JESUS TEACHES JUDAS ABOUT COSMOLOGY: THE SPIRIT AND THE SELF-GENERATED

Jesus said, “[Come], that I may teach you about [secrets] no person [has] ever seen. For there exists a great and boundless realm, whose extent no generation of angels has seen, [in which] there is [a] great invisible [Spirit], which no eye of an angel has ever seen, no thought of the heart has ever comprehended, and it was never called by any name. “And a luminous cloud appeared there. He said, ‘Let an angel come into being as my attendant.’ “A great angel, the enlightened divine Self-Generated, emerged from the cloud. Because of him, four other angels came into being from another cloud, and they became attendants for the angelic Self- Generated. The Self-Generated said, [48] ‘Let [...] come into being [...],’ and it came into being [...]. And he [created] the first luminary to reign over him. He said, ‘Let angels come into being to serve [him],’ and myriads without number came into being. He said, ‘[Let] an enlightened aeon come into being,’ and he came into being. He created the second luminary [to] reign over him, together with myriads of angels without number, to offer service. That is how he created the rest of the enlightened aeons. He made them reign over them, and he created for them myriads of angels without number, to assist them.

ADAMAS AND THE LUMINARIES

“Adamas was in the first luminous cloud that no angel has ever seen among all those called ‘God.’ He [49] [...] that [...] the image [...] and after the likeness of [this] angel. He made the incorruptible [generation] of Seth appear [...] the twelve [...] the twenty-four [...]. He made seventy-two luminaries appear in the incorruptible generation, in accordance with the will of the Spirit. The seventy-two luminaries themselves made three hundred sixty luminaries appear in the incorruptible generation, in accordance with the will of the Spirit, that their number should be five for each. “The twelve aeons of the twelve luminaries constitute their father, with six heavens for each aeon, so that there are seventy-two heavens for the seventy-two luminaries, and for each [50] [of them five] firmaments, [for a total of] three hundred sixty [firmaments ...]. They were given authority and a [great] host of angels [without number], for glory and adoration, [and after that also] virgin spirits, for glory and [adoration] of all the aeons and the heavens and their firmaments.

THE COSMOS, CHAOS, AND THE UNDERWORLD

“The multitude of those immortals is called the cosmos— that is, perdition—by the Father and the seventy-two luminaries who are with the Self-Generated and his seventy-two aeons. In him the first human appeared with his incorruptible powers. And the aeon that appeared with his generation, the aeon in whom are the cloud of knowledge and the angel, is called [51] El. [...] aeon [...] after that [...] said, ‘Let twelve angels come into being [to] rule over chaos and the [underworld].’ And look, from the cloud there appeared an [angel] whose face flashed with fire and whose appearance was defiled with blood. His name was Nebro, which means ‘rebel’; others call him Yaldabaoth. Another angel, Saklas, also came from the cloud. So Nebro created six angels—as well as Saklas—to be assistants, and these produced twelve angels in the heavens, with each one receiving a portion in the heavens.

THE RULERS AND ANGELS

“The twelve rulers spoke with the twelve angels: ‘Let each of you [52] [...] and let them [...] generation [— one line lost—] angels’: The first is [S]eth, who is called Christ. The [second] is Harmathoth, who is [...]. The [third] is Galila. The fourth is Yobel. The fifth [is] Adonaios. These are the five who ruled over the underworld, and first of all over chaos.

THE CREATION OF HUMANITY

“Then Saklas said to his angels, ‘Let us create a human being after the likeness and after the image.’ They fashioned Adam and his wife Eve, who is called, in the cloud, Zoe. For by this name all the generations seek the man, and each of them calls the woman by these names. Now, Sakla did not [53] com[mand ...] except [...] the gene[rations ...] this [...]. And the [ruler] said to Adam, ‘You shall live long, with your children.’”

JUDAS ASKS ABOUT THE DESTINY OF ADAM AND HUMANITY

Judas said to Jesus, “[What] is the long duration of time that the human being will live?” Jesus said, “Why are you wondering about this, that Adam, with his generation, has lived his span of life in the place where he has received his kingdom, with longevity with his ruler?” Judas said to Jesus, “Does the human spirit die?” Jesus said, “This is why God ordered Michael to give the spirits of people to them as a loan, so that they might offer service, but the Great One ordered Gabriel to grant spirits to the great generation with no ruler over it—that is, the spirit and the soul. Therefore, the [rest] of the souls [54] [—one line missing—].

JESUS DISCUSSES THE DESTRUCTION OF THE WICKED WITH JUDAS AND OTHERS

“[...] light [—nearly two lines missing—] around [...] let [...] spirit [that is] within you dwell in this [flesh] among the generations of angels. But God caused knowledge to be [given] to Adam and those with him, so that the kings of chaos and the underworld might not lord it over them.” Judas said to Jesus, “So what will those generations do?” Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, for all of them the stars bring matters to completion. When Saklas completes the span of time assigned for him, their first star will appear with the generations, and they will finish what they said they would do. Then they will fornicate in my name and slay their children [55] and they will [...] and [—about six and a half lines missing—] my name, and he will [...] your star over the [thir]teenth aeon.” After that Jesus [laughed]. [Judas said], “Master, [why are you laughing at us]?”

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