"Now it happened that at this time He went off to the mountain to pray, and He was spending the whole night in prayer to God. And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles: Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew; and Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot; Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor."
Luke 6:12-16
Good Morning my beloved,
We
welcome you to worship today in the name of God the Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. It really warms my heart immensely to have you here with
us today glorifying God! What a joyous occasion it is to come together
as a community of faith, united in worship of our Great God. I
want to take a moment to express my deep gratitude to each and every one
of you, I am thankful for your steadfast prayers and unwavering
commitment to sharing the Word of God through our website and social
media outlets does not go unnoticed.
I come before you not just as a messenger of God’s Word, but as a witness to the trials and tribulations that life can bring. Life is unpredictable, isn’t that true? One moment we are thriving, and the next moment, we find ourselves navigating difficulties and challenges we never anticipated. That said, I wanted to share with all of you, I recently fell and am ok, but it was a fall that led to a medical diagnosis of severe brain trauma. While I am beyond grateful to our Lord to be here, I find myself grappling with issues of concentration and focus. I share this not for sympathy or concern, but to highlight a profound truth that resonates within each of us: it is in our greatest moments of weakness, that we must trust God’s strength to shine brightest. This is a powerful reminder that our struggles do not define us; instead, they can be the very pathways through which God showcases His incredible compassion as well as His amazing grace. God's has used my injury to remind me that it is okay to slow down, to pause and reflect. In our fast-paced world, we often equate our constant busyness with productivity, however, I've learned that there are times when God calls us to remember the powerful words of Psalm 46:10, we are reminded, "Be still, and know that I am God." Beloved, I assure you today, there is strength in stillness, in surrendering to God, casting our cares upon Him and allowing God to take the lead. I only mention this in the event there may be slight delays in posting. In the meantime, I will continue to serve our Great God and all of you as long as He allows. By sharing my journey with you, I hope to not to burden you, but encourage each of you, whether you are facing physical challenges, emotional struggles, or spiritual doubts. It is in our vulnerability that we can lean on one another and on God’s unwavering love.As we walk this path of faith together, let us remember to allow God to work in and through us, revealing His love, compassion and support, by offering help to those who are struggling, knowing we are a community bound by our faith, so it is not alone, but together that we face life's difficult challenges that come our way. God is with us, even in our struggles, because He never leaves us, so I ask you to hold onto the promise that His grace is sufficient for all of us, and His power is made perfect in our weakness, remembering to encourage one another, lift each other up.
The Apostle Paul reminds us in Galatians 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Thank you for your love, patience and understanding, in this time of healing. God bless you all.
It is curious to me that there are some people in our government who want us to believe that the propaganda we see going on with our own eyes is not as serious as we might think, things that threaten our safety, our society and our democracy. They want to take away our right to question anything, our right to warn others about what is happening. God commands us to warning people about false teaching and what to look for. We have a responsibility not only to preach the Truth, but to guard the Truth from the perverse men and women who seek to pervert it. It is because God is faithful to His nature, faithful to His Word, faithful to His promises, and it is because God never varies, never changes, that I trust Him. We are obviously living in very bizarre, very confusing times that have produced massive fear and confusion, I would even go so far as to say that our society is drowning in a tumultuous sea of lies, lies about virtually everything, we are literally bombarded by half-truths, and deceptions that seem harmless at first glance, falsehoods that threaten to pull us under if we allow them to infiltrate our lives, lies that distort our perceptions of reality, erode our relationships, and lead us away from our divine purpose and even further from God. We have been lied to constantly by our health officials, we have been lied to constantly by our politicians, who by the way claim to represent our best interests, and frankly, we are being lied to by those have abandoned the God they claim to believe in, representing Satan, who is the father of lies.
In Isaiah 1:4, the Lord speaks through the prophet Isaiah who says, "Alas, sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the Lord." I must confess, these passages in Isaiah resonate with me deeply, as we find ourselves living in a world that is literally saturated with deception by those who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, flipped truth and morality on its head calling evil good and good evil. Government was ordained by God to be the protectors of the good and the punishers of those who do evil, yet they are doing exactly the opposite, bringing charges against those who proclaim the Word of God, while those who burn our flag and our buildings go free! As followers of Christ, the beloved children of God, we have an obligation to stand firm in our convictions and being beacon of light in a darkened world. This election, we have an opportunity to tell Washington, that God's people stand against mutilating transgender surgeries for children, we stand for every child's right to a decent and good education, we stand against the indoctrination ideologies that go against our beliefs! Their mouths are full of filthy, deceptive lies, their words are venomous, as blatant as they can be, while they make laws that allow people to go well beyond "peaceful protests," but to riot, burn down our cities and to kill and be killed. Something drastically wrong is going on, right before our eyes. Where there is no fear of God, there is no restraint, people are free to do that which is "right in their own eyes" committing heinous, evil acts against humanity.
Nobody wants to hear the truth anymore, even the church doesn’t want to hear what;s true, they'd rather hear whatever tickles their ears and wont alienate anybody from feeling good about their sin, be it homosexuality, transgenderism or whatever else destroys the strong male role model. People today will believe literally anything, except the Truth, I believe that's why theological error and false teachers that makes people feel good has become so pervasive in the church, people just want to be entertained, they don't want convicted. Neglecting to proclaim the full Gospel of salvation, they have done a great injustice and disservice to the congregations of church, they've become victims of Satan. I confess that preaching the message of salvation to sinners on their way to Hell is no easy task, it's a hard sell, but it's especially difficult to preach the Truth to the self-righteous hypocrites in the church who would rather pat themselves on the back for their religiosity, then recognize their true spiritual condition, "How dare you call me to repentance!" If you’re not going to tell people what they want to hear, if you're not willing to sell yourself to the highest bidder, you're going to face resistance, you're going to be rejected.
Recently, I've have watched as church leader after church leader continues to step into the pulpit, bringing reproach not only on the church, but the Lord God Himself, leading those they claim to love and protect astray, committing some form of gross sexual sin, and what I believe is even more disturbing, is it is with the
church's blessing, lowering the biblical standards of church leadership.
The qualifications for those who seek to lead God's people are not
merely suggestions, but God's standards, standards that remain unchanged
in the present day of "tolerance." Frankly, living in the world that we live in these days, we might assume that Salvation is nothing more just some future reality that only effects our future. True salvation not only eliminates the penalty of sin effects a change in our present, by eliminating sin's dominion over us. Look around, it's because of sin that our society is in deep trouble, isn't it? Sin is literally sweeping across this country, everybody is out for himself, we need salvation, because salvation is a decisive break with the power of sin, that is what occurs in the transformation process of salvation, a decisive break with the power of sin, we're free to choose not to sin. Before we were saved, we couldn't do anything right, we were living in an unbroken pattern of continual sin. Now, the righteousness of Christ begins to dominate our lives, that moves us toward sanctification; sin no longer has dominion over our lives. We're not sinless, we just sin less because sin's pattern is interrupted, it's broken.
While all sinners are in need of
grace, church leadership requires a commitment to uphold the highest
moral standards. I believe that the fact that the church is so eager to
restore these men back to the pulpit after lines have been crossed is
not only deeply unsettling, but a clear sign of a much bigger problem
within the church. By
all means a fallen pastor can and should be restored to the fellowship
as an act of love, only after he has humbled himself and genuinely
repented, but that does not eliminate the consequences of such gross
sexual sin. If you're going to pervert God's Word, making committing unspeakable, sexually immoral acts acceptable for adults, that's one thing, but to normalize every kind of deviant sexual sin for OUR children, understand, that if you're going to blatantly rebel against God, because of the fallenness inside of you, rest assured Judgment Day awaits you.
I urge you to intercede, praying on behalf of your church leaders,
praying for them to find the strength to overcome temptation in
challenging times and be steadfast in the faith, walking in a manner
worthy of the calling with which they have been called to remain
faithful to the church. If you are among the called to the pastorate,
understand you have a responsibility to maintain the highest level of
godliness and purity and not bring shame on the name of Christ, I
realize that's not easy to do but it is necessary.
I believe that we have arrived at one of the most challenging times in
our nation that I've ever seen, in my lifetime. Christian influence is
rapidly declining, oh people are still attending church services, they
still say they believe in God, we want to say we're Christians, we just don't want to commit to what Christianity is, in fact, I'm
not sure we even understand what being a Christian, what being a
follower of Christ means anymore, there are pedophiles,
calling these perverts "minor attracted persons, adulterers, fornicators, thieves, liars, and every other kind of sinner, all claiming to be "followers
of Christ," actively participating immoral conduct, calling themselves a Christian, saved by grace. Where is the evidence that's going to make anybody believe
the Gospel transforms lives? If Christ saves sinners, where is the
evidence that Holy Spirit is at work in someone's life if nothing has
changed? Being a follower of Christ isn't a title, it's a distinctively different way of life.
We have an entire generation of people that are demanding their rights to
do whatever they want, wherever they want, as long as is right in his own eyes, and everybody
wants their own way, claiming they want equal rights, everyone wants an
equal right to their own thing, that's why we're on the verge all the
time of anarchy, it's why we have people marching naked down the streets
in a homosexual parade in front of young children, on national
television, because nobody wants anybody telling them what to do. The
end result is our society is anti-authority and they don't even care who
the
authority is, whether it's the parents, schools, the employer, the
police, the government, the church or God Himself. We all have the
right, we have the freedom make our own choice, even if that choice is an abortion that means murdering an unborn child, or killing someone who cuts you off in traffic, violent crime is flooding our nation like the banks of the Mississippi River during a hurricane. Many professed Christians, demonstrate misplaced compassion towards criminals disregarding the innocent victims of those crimes, even fighting to protect the rights of the criminals who can't control their behavior, as if they're somehow the victim, with little or no regard for the rights of those they have violated, including children, who have been sexually abused.
I believe that we have replaced all of the biblical moral standards with the anything goes mentality of a broken and corrupt society. And, as true Christians, we are angry that while God is being rejected, debauchery and perversion are being legalized in our country by a president and senators and congressmen and governors that professes to be Christian. It's one thing to have sin, but it's extremely dangerous to normalize sexually immoral perversions by redefining them as acceptable behavior. I used to be sadden, my heart deeply grieved by all of this, and now, I have to confess I'm becoming a bit angry about the fact that they want to use our taxes so that the federal government can fund abortions and transgender surgeries. And, to make things worse, we know the worst is yet to come. I have to frequently remind myself that our assignment is not to impact the culture by changing their moral values, frankly, it doesn't make one bit of difference if someone a prostitute on the side of the street or a professing Christian on the other side of the street, yelling and screaming that God is ok with gay marriage, they're both going to Hell when they die. If we are going to make a difference our nation, if we are going to see the world changed, it has to be done from the inside out, because only God can transform people, so that must be our agenda, to point people to Jesus Christ. Period!
Let's pray together
Heavenly Father,
Amen
Today's Message: The Call of Christ: Answering Without Hesitation - Part 2
Open you Bibles with me, if you would and turn them to the Gospel of Luke chapter 6. Luke 6:12-16. I invite you to follow along with me as I read, to set the text in our minds, while we open up our hearts and listen for what the Spirit of God has to say to each of us today.
Today, we're going to pick back up where we left off, with verses 14 through 16, we'll try to wrap this portion of up today, I never assume that, I've learned sometimes the Holy Spirit has a different plan. Here we meet the men that Jesus chose out of the large crowd of followers to be His successors who will carry the gospel ministry after He's gone, "Simon,
whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James and John;
and Philip and Bartholomew; and Matthew and Thomas; James the son of
Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot; Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor."
It's safe to say that if we were selecting leaders of the church, we
wouldn't have picked any of these guys, they were as common and as
flawed as anyone could get, however they were exactly the perfect
candidates to proclaim His message and change the world, because there
was no human explanation for what they did. They were lacking in
humility, in faith, in commitment, in spiritual understanding, and
lacking in power, which
are some pretty critical areas and they had no religious, social or
economic prominence, in other words, they were as common as common gets.
If God didn't use common, weak and powerless men, I wouldn't be here
today. Thankfully, our Lord recognizes our potential behind our
weaknesses.
First
there's "Simon, whom He also named Peter," notice Peter's name is
always first mentioned among the apostles, that's because he was the
leader, however he was not yet the leader that Christ intended him to
be, like all of us, he was still a work in progress. Proper training is
absolute must for anybody in leadership, Peter had the right raw
qualities to be a leader curiosity, a strong drive, and a willingness to
take charge, but there would be a long crucial process of training
ahead for him to become the leader that Jesus needed him to be. While
leaders may be born, but they have to be properly reshaped and refined
to reach their greatest potential. It was through every question, every
failure, each experience and every act of grace that Peter eventually
learned the critical lessons he needed to be molded into the future
leader Jesus envisioned him to be. If we think in terms of our own
lives, each of us has been called to be used by God in various ways,
whether it's within our families, our workplaces, our communities or His
church. However, we must open to the necessary lessons that come from
the Lord, even when they challenge us as He chisels away at our own
rough edges. I believe it is through our greatest trials and trusting in
His perfect timing that our true character is revealed. Peter started
out over confident, but he learned by experience that he was vulnerable
and weak, unable to trust his own resolve, allowing him to be used by
Satan. If you remember, he said he wasn't like everybody else, saying "Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!" Of course, we know that he ultimately denied Him later that very night.
Andrew
was Peter's brother, always in shadow of his over zealous brother,
never really gets out of the shadows, content to be the background kind
of guy, bringing people to Christ which I believe speaks volumes about
his character. Initially a follower of John the Baptist, the forerunner
of the Messiah, which tells us that Andrew was a devout Jew, on a quest
for truth. he was committed to the worship of the true God, eagerly
anticipated the Messiah's arrival and the fulfillment of all the
covenant promises that entailed. Interestingly enough, it was Andrew,
the missionary Apostle who prepared the way to bring his brother Peter
to Christ, reminding us of the power of our witness. Immediately upon
learning that Jesus was the Messiah, Andrew rushed to find Peter to tell
him that he has found Him, the day John the Baptist announced Him as
the Messiah. And, it was Andrew who, in the massive crowd of people,
found the little boy with five barley loaves and two fish and takes him
to Jesus that fed thousands of people.
It
was at that same time Jesus was by the Sea of Galilee, He came across
two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, who
were also fisherman. These four clay pots were not only the first to be
called, they made up the most intimate circle of all of the twelve. It's
sad to say that we really don't make much out the heroes of faith, in
fact, there are a number of Christians who do not even know who the
twelve Apostles are, they might know Peter, John and Paul and of course
even unbelievers know something about Judas Iscariot. But for the most
part, we go around quoting Scripture, and we know very little about
those, who under the inspiration and direction of the Holy Spirit, wrote
it. It's even more alarming how little some Christians know about
Christ Who personally selected these twelve very common, ordinary men,
who were called and immediately left everything to follow Him, with the
exception of Judas Iscariot, and we know how that turned out. Which by
the way, proves the point that authentic preachers are chosen, they're
drawn by the Holy Spirit, they're compelled to preach, they aren't a
group of people who applied for the job. I believe that those chosen,
have a passion for ministry, are willing to leave everything and
genuinely care about the sanctification of the flock. James was
passionate, zealous, ambitious, judgmental, narrow, sectarian,
explosive, competitive whose ambition had to be redirected to the glory
of Christ, for the building of the church, rather than tearing people
down. Jesus taught John how to love by loving him so much understood
that that he always referred to himself as, "the apostle whom Jesus
loved."
I
was recently reading an article, it was interesting to me that there
was a list of words most used to describe modern preachers, ironically,
none of them are on my list, but here's some of the words used: real,
relevant, innovative, inclusive, contemporary, cool and cultural. I'd
like to note that missing from that list are the words; biblical,
compassionate, confident, faithful, godly, holy, humble, integrity,
loving, submissive, trustworthy and unselfish. Character traits that
matter in spiritual leadership are made by what a man experiences, they
must be developed. That's why James 1 says "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
Verse 14 wraps up with "and Philip and Bartholomew." Philip
is a Greek name, it means "lover of horses," we don't know why he got
that name, where it came from, being Jewish, it's unlikely that his
parents would have given him a Greek name, but maybe, if he had a Jewish
name, we don't know it, we only know him as Philip. Philip grew
up in Bethsaida, the same town as Peter and Andrew, so he may have been
a close friend or perhaps he was a fisherman too. Again, we just don't
know much about him. In John chapter 1, verse 43 it says "The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and "He found Philip," which is interesting, that language makes Philip kind of unique. No one brought Philip to Jesus, so obviously He wanted him in the group. He was the leader of group two, kind of the administrator, everything fit into a category for him, that's impossible, he worried
about the possibility of everything. Remember when Jesus asked him
where they were going to get bread to feed the massive crowd? Philip
replied we're in big trouble here Jesus, "Two hundred denarii worth of
bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little."
Philip
was the common sense kind of guy, who worshiped the true God, with
little understanding of the supernatural. He couldn't seem to get past
being analytical, pessimistic, and skeptical. It's funny how the supernatural possibility kind of escapes people who believe that God can do anything,
even today. I have a hard time understanding why anyone would want to
live like that. I can't speak for anyone else, but for me, one of the
greatest aspects of being a Christ follower is a sense of hope in the
impossible.
Philip was a student of the law and the prophets, a term commonly used to refer to the Old
Testament, which no doubt prepared his heart, even with all of his
flaws, he was exactly what Christ was looking for, there was no
reluctance, he didn't hesitate to follow Jesus, becoming one of the twelve most important people in the history of the world. It's interesting, the Lord found Philip but from a human perspective Philip felt that he found the Lord, he was so excited to embrace the fact that the Messiah was Jesus of Nazareth, that
he went and told his friend and close companion, who lived in Cana,
that he had found the One they've been waiting for. Nathanael, a God
fearing Jew, whose name was actually Nathanael Bartholomaios,
bartholomaios means the son of Tolmai.Nathanael means "gift of God."
When Philip told Nathanael, he said "We've found the Messiah and you'll never believe it, it is Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph," he was right, Nathanael couldn't
believe it. Nathanael knew the Scriptures, however, he flawed just like
everybody else, it was inconceivable to him that the Messiah could come
from Nazareth, he even said to
Philip, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Prejudice is used by
Satan to blind people, to keep them from hearing the Truth, and holding
them back from coming to Christ for salvation. Prejudice works on both
sides, people often think that Christians believe that they're better
than everybody else, and Christians often think certain groups of people
aren't worthy to be saved. The real Truth is, none of us are worthy to
be saved.
Cana,
a small village in Galilee, best known for being where Jesus performed
His first miracle, by turning water into wine. Within walking distance
from Nazareth, by all measures, it was really no better than Nazareth,
except they had a little class, so there was obviously some sort of
local rivalry going on there. Not really a good beginning, is it? But
Nathanael had a seeking heart, because the Lord will never call to
follow Him one whose heart isn't already prepared, "No man comes unto
the Me except the Father draws him." Jesus saw Nathanael sitting under a
fig tree, with his heart wide open, He knew he was searching for God,
so when Jesus walked up to him He said, "Behold, an Israelite for real,
in whom there is no hypocrisy." When Nathanael saw Jesus, he knew
immediately, this is the Son of God! Its a good thing that God can even
use flawed people consumed with the sin of prejudice to bring others to
Christ, fallen people are all He has to work with.
Verse 15, "And Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot."
Matthew,
the despised tax collector, a traitor named Levi, there was no denying
that he was hated even more than the Romans, by everybody, including the
eleven. He would have been considered to be one of the most detested
persons in all of Capernaum, considered to be an outcast, though he
couldn't go the synagogue to worship, he obviously knew the Old
Testament, in fact, he quotes it more in his Gospel than Mark, Luke and
John combined, so perhaps he studied on his own. Matthew is a testament
to the fact that no one is beyond redemption, and that in God's eyes, it
is not our past does not determine our future, but are willingness to
follow Him.
We
don't know if Jesus passed by Matthew's tax collector's booth before
calling him to follow Him or if he ever heard Jesus teach. We only know
that when Jesus saw him sitting in the tax office, He said "Follow Me,"
and Matthew immediately did just that, leaving a very lucrative job and
everything he owned behind, indicating that that his heart was ready to
believe and follow Jesus. I love the way Luke puts it "He forsook all."
What a tremendous response. This is a picture of someone who recognizes
his true spiritual condition, there's no grumbling or complaining about
what he would have give up, as we often hear today. Matthew willingly
walks away from everything to follow Jesus and never looks back. Thirty
years after his conversion, probably still in shock that Jesus called
him, he humbly wrote the Gospel according to Matthew, in which he says
very little about himself, only two sentences, a testimony to his
humility. If you will remember back in Luke 5, Matthew was so excited to receive salvation, he threw a big celebration for dinner for Jesus, inviting everyone he knew,
tax collectors and sinners. Prompting the Pharisees and their scribes
to grumble and complain to His disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and
drink with the tax collectors and sinners?" To which Jesus sarcastically
said to them, "It is not those who are well who need a physician, but
those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to
repentance." I have found that religious sinners are prone to defend
their sin; while the most vile of sinners are more likely to confess
their sin and turn to Christ for redemption and forgiveness.
I
believe that Christians, of all people, must be willing to admit that
we are flawed, imperfect, broken people who recognize just how flawed
and broken they are and their need for a Savior. I am shocked by the number of people who act like they're too "good"
to be around those they consider to be "lesser" people. Broken people
don't need your self-righteousness judgement, they need your compassion,
they need your help to get to Christ.
Now,
we turn our attention to Thomas, or Didymus, which means "twin," so he
may have had a twin brother or sister, but there's nothing in Scripture,
so we can't be dogmatic. Thomas, has really gotten kind of raw deal, in
that his name will be forever linked with the phrase "Doubting Thomas,"
in fact, we still call people that name today, it's become sort of a
derogatory term for negative people who are pessimists, who anticipate
the worst in everything and seek answers. But like most of us, there's
more to Thomas than just his flaws, he has some redeeming qualities.
John tells us it was Thomas, who is called Didymus, that said to his
fellow disciples, "Let us also go, so that we may die with Him," after
Jesus said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again" when He had
heard that Lazarus was dead. The rest of the disciples were all afraid
if they went back there, they'd be killed by the Jews, they just escaped
with their lives and now, You want to go back? Jesus already knew that
wasn't going to happen, His time to die had not yet come, this trip was
so that He could put His glory on display in the resurrection of
Lazarus. I love the illustrative language He uses, "Are there not twelve
hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble,
because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the
night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." In other words,
"Listen, I know what I'm doing. God has a purpose for Me going back
there and nothing is going to happen us that God doesn't intend to
happen, so stop worrying, that's not going to happen." Thomas was
devoted to Christ, he'd rather die than live without Him. Sadly, his
greatest fear came to pass when Jesus was crucified on the cross. Being a
pessimist, he was certain that he would never see Jesus again. He was
heart broken, I believe that's why Thomas wasn't there with the
disciples in the upper room after the resurrection when Jesus first
appeared.
Next, we have James the son
of Alphaeus, also called, "James the mikros," or James the Less, it
could have been because he was small, or possibly is was just to
distinguish that he younger in age than James, son of Zebedee, or James, the half-brother of our Lord, who later became the leader of the Jerusalem Council and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote the epistle James. As far as Alphaeus, it's
interest that we really don't know anything about him, apparently, only
his name remains in the pages of Scripture. Interestingly enough,
Scripture makes no effort to distinguish between the two Alphaeus's,
since Matthew's father was also named Alphaeus, so it could be the
Matthew and Little James were brothers, which wouldn't be uncommon,
since Peter and Andrew were brothers, James and John were brothers,
again
we just don't know. His mothers name was Mary, who was a follower of
Jesus, so he could have even been Jesus' cousin. Little James, was
obscure, indicating he may have been content to remain in the shadows,
the kind of person who seeks no recognition. Apparently, according to
tradition, he was sent to Persia, or modern day Iran to preach the
Gospel, which was rejected and he was martyred for his faithfulness to
Christ, crucified just like his Lord. We do know one thing, that none of
that is really important to the Lord,is it, He can use virtually
anyone, even you and me.
Simon who was called the Zealot, a revolutionary member of the Jewish extremist political party, full of zeal, a Jew passionate for the law of Moses living under Roman occupation. The Greek noun "zélótés," from which we get the word zealot, means jealous, one burning with passion or zeal for a particular cause, primarily Jewish independence by overthrowing
the oppressive Roman occupation. In fact, they were so zealous, they
even murdered Jews whom they believed compromised with Rome. The Hebrew
word is "qanah,"meaning the same, which has unfortunately been
translated as a Canaanite, from the word "Kananaios," however, that is
not correct. The Zealot's were political assassins, basically
terrorists, who hated literally anybody that imposed upon Judaism and
they believed that the pagans who occupied their land, should be killed.
And, we know that the Romans were guilty of that. Josephus records that
the Zealot's activity was the primary reason for the destruction of
Jerusalem. It's been said that the Zealot's were so passionate about
their cause, you could torture them and you could kill them, but you
could not change their passion. Since we can safely assume that his life
as well as his priorities dramatically changed after his encounter with
Jesus, the name Simon the Zealot was likely kept only to distinguish
him from Simon Peter. I believe what is most important to remember about
Simon the Zealot, is that He was
chosen by our Lord to be a better Leader for a much greater cause.
That brings us to verse 16, "Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor." Judas, in those days was actually a nice name because it means "Jehovah leads," then, Judas Iscariot, messed it up for everybody, now nobody names their baby Judas. Matthew calls him Thaddaeus, which means breast child, interpreted as momma's
boy, he also acquired the Hebrew name Lebbaeus which means heart child,
which may suggest that he was a tender-hearted gentle soul. In John 14,
he's known as "Judas, not Iscariot," how's that for a name? Jerome, a
fourth-century Bible scholar, dubbed him "Trinomious," meaning the man
with three names. Verses 22-24, "Judas
(not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, what then has happened that You are
going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?" Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He
who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you
hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me." I love Jesus' answer
to Thaddaeus' question, "I
can only reveal Myself to a loving, obedient, believing heart." By the
way, according to some traditions, Judas son of James became known for
his preaching and healing ministry, healing a man named Adgar, who was a
king of Syria, whose apostate nephew had Judas son of James killed,
beaten to death with a huge club, because of his preaching. If you
remember James son of James for anything, remember that he was a man of
courage, faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ until his death.
Lastly, we come to Judas Iscariot, certainly one of the most infamous characters found in the entire Bible, best known as the disciple who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Frankly, it's beyond difficult for me to
comprehend that anyone could spend three years with Jesus, see and hear
everything He did and said and yet still be so unwilling to believe,
that they would end up betraying Him, such profound wickedness is
incomprehensible to me. Yet, the truth is we are living in a world where
such unbelievable wretchedness exists; terrorists, mass murderers,
school shooters, pedophiles, rapists not only exist, they are on the
rise, ungodly people, under the influence and control of Satan, many of
which seem to have some kind of bizarre preoccupation with the occult. I
believe that it's important to recognize that the darkness of evil can
be more clearly seen because of the stark contrast of the brilliance of
the Light shining that makes it more evident. In Matthew 6:23,
Jesus said
"
But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If
then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
The problem is, the church is afraid to shine, because it might expose
the darkness in our own lives. Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:4-6,
"But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake
you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are
not of night nor of darkness, so then let us
not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober." Are we truly
seeking God’s will to be done on earth and in our lives? Or do we simply
want Him to bless our wants and desires?
I
imagine that Judas Iscariot's life started out like most any other
newborn baby, with parents that were hopeful for all the best. The name
Judas indicate that his parents were probably devout Jews, as we
mentioned earlier Judas means "Jehovah Leads." Certainly, Judas's
parents were like any other God-fearing parent, they prayed for God's
direction in his life. John tells us in chapter 6, Judas is the son of Simon Iscariot, his mother remains unnamed, was a Keriothite from
the rural farm town of Kerioth which is about twenty miles south of
Jerusalem. Not to be confused with Kerioth over in Moab, which is across
the Jordan. I mention this because the other eleven were from Galilee,
from the very beginning he was an outsider as the only non-Galilean.
I've heard some theologians say that because nobody knew him or his
background, Jesus really didn't know that he wasn't a good guy. That's
absolutely ludicrous, from the very beginning of His ministry,
Jesus knew what was in the heart of man. John 2:25,
"He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew
what was in man." I've often been asked, "So, if Jesus knew Judas
Iscariot wasn't a good guy, then why in the world did He make him an
apostle?" The answer is, because Judas Iscariot had a divine roll to
play in God's redemptive plan. God knew his heart, even if Judas didn't
know it himself in the beginning. In John 6,
Jesus said "Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you
is a devil?" Jesus knew what Judas was, but it never registered with
the other apostles. In fact, Judas himself didn't even react to that
description.
Psalm 41:9, affirms this prophecy of Judas, "Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me."
"Breaking bread" or eating at someone's dinner table is a sign of a
close, intimate friendship even today. And we know that Judas was
sitting next to Jesus at that last supper when He said, "'He who dipped
his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me.'"
I
believe that Judas Iscariot may haven been drawn to Jesus in an
earthly, political, military sort if way, and all of Israel's enemies
will bow down, and the Messiah rule over the whole world, but lurking
beneath that superficial facade was his insatiable allure for material
greed, which eventually took over and consumed him, ultimately leading
him down a path of betrayal. Satan seized the opportunity to use his
compelling desire for personal gain to cloud his judgment and override
any initial good intentions he may have once had, although I'm not sure
there was ever really any spiritual interest, but rather a belief that
this person seems to be the Messiah, He can take me my desired
destination, to become rich. Everywhere Jesus went, people were
awestruck by Him, there's never been anybody like Him before or since.
Judas Iscariot's tragic story is the greatest wasted opportunity ever in
the history of the world.
There is a very explicit statement in Zechariah 11,
of Christ being sold for thirty pieces of silver and those pieces of
silver being thrown on the floor of the house of the Lord, "I said to them, "If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!" So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages. Then the Lord said to me, "Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them." So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord."
And, we know from history that's exactly what happened, Jesus was sold
for thirty pieces of silver because of Judas' greedy ambition.
Understand this, while God was at work effecting the fulfillment of
prophecy through him for His purpose, Judas Iscariot is guilty of
committing his own sins of his own volition, no one made him do it.
Judas followed Jesus, he would've been there all those times when Jesus
was warning people that no one can serve two masters; you will hate the
one and love the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
I
don't know about you, but sometimes it feels like when I'm preaching, His
words are meant directly for me. Do you ever feel like He's talking to
you when He said in Matthew 6,
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust
destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys,
and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also." Or like Judas, does His words calling
for repentance never penetrate your heart when He says "You hypocrites,
rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you, by saying: ‘This people honors Me
with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me." Oh my friends,
if it's just going in one ear and out the other every time you hear me
proclaim the truth, you could be guilty of heading down that Judas path,
I beg you to examine your own heart very carefully to be sure that your
heart isn't becoming harder and harder when you're confronted with the
Truth because it didn't register to Judas either. Even Jesus, the Son of
God Himself, couldn't penetrate his prideful, greedy, hardened heart.
The
phrase "the son of destruction" or "the son of perdition," depending on
your translation, is only found two times in Scripture, one is in
reference to Judas, describing his utter lostness in John 17:12,
"While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name, which You have
given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished except
the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled." And
the other is in 2 Thessalonians 2:3,
a reference to the Antichrist. That doesn't mean they are the same
person, it means they have the same nature, headed to eternal damnation.
There was nothing about Judas on the outside to indicate that he a
defective character, that's why none of the twelve suspected Judas when
Jesus said "One of you is going to betray Me." The eleven became better
because of Jesus Christ, only Judas Iscariot became worse. It is what
comes from the heart that defiles the person, only God knows the hearts
of men. Jesus chose Judas, because he was wicked enough to betray the
Son of God, in order to fulfill the divine prophecy predetermined by
God. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for Jesus,
knowing Judas would betray Him and yet, He continued to show him the
same love and affection as He did the others, He even washed his feet,
never exposing him. The night of His arrest, He only said "What you are
doing, do it quickly." The eleven had no clue why Jesus sent him away,
but Jesus knew he sought an opportunity to betray Him. What kind of vile,
wretched person does that?
In Acts 1,
Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one
hundred and twenty persons was there together), and said, "Brethren, the
Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the
mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who
arrested Jesus. For he was counted among us and received his share in
this ministry."
(Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) What a wasted life, but even taking his own life could not end his misery, now in hell for all eternity. "Judas turned aside to go to his own place."
(Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) What a wasted life, but even taking his own life could not end his misery, now in hell for all eternity. "Judas turned aside to go to his own place."
Judas'
story is tragedy at its worst, but even today false disciples are
willing to sell Christ for whatever they think they can get, many of
those standing in pulpits. It may not be for silver, but for selfish
ambition, fame, fortune and a name for themselves, even political power.
For those of you hearing these words today, you can't be neutral, what
else do you need to know to believe?
Jesus
said "It would’ve been better for that man if he had never been born."
Judas' took his own life, because his sin was so unbearable, he thought
he could put an end the misery of his conscience, but that's what hell
is, never ending torment. And so it will be for all those who reject
Christ today. May we each continue to seek Him, serve Him, and support one another as we navigate this beautiful, though notably sometimes tumultuous, journey of life, believing that He will continue to equip us to face whatever comes our way.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Copyright © 2019-2024 All Rights Reserved
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Copyright © 2019-2024 All Rights Reserved