JUDAS’ QUESTION
John 14:22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.25 ¶ These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. 26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
This Judas, as is noted, is not Judas Iscariot the traitor, but Judas the brother of James. For there were two of the same name. Luke 6:16 And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.
And his question is highly important, for the answer will be given by the Holy Son of God as to how the Spirit shall only effectually convey the redeeming gospel to the elect in the presence of all others. And especially this modern generation of religionists will not have a single clue as to the meaning of the answer which the Lord gave.
Yet reread his answer as listed above in verses twenty-three and twenty-four. Yet the entire concept of today’s ‘evangelism’ is by the religionist talking someone into a mental assent of their argument. But the scriptures clearly state that the kingdom of God is not attained according to this manner. 1 Corinthians 4:19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. 20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. (That is, the power of the Holy Spirit.) Zechariah 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, (the power of human effort), but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
Souls are not saved by your team winning an argument. Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Soul’s are only spiritually redeemed by the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. One can argue until he successfully convinces another to raise up his religious sails. But only when the Holy Wind of God blows does the ship move into the harbor. John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
The Lord Jesus was informing Judas the brother of James, and us all, that it would not be oral and vocal lectures that would be the tool for redemption. It would be the inner working of love for God, imparted by the sovereign act of the Holy Spirit which would invade the lost soul, dead in trespasses and sin, raising them up in a spiritual resurrection of life. That is why oral evangelism is called, “the foolishness of preaching.” 1 Corinthians 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
And just why did the Lord Jesus say that he preached to the scribes and Pharisees? He clearly stated that it was to uncover their hatred for God, not to win their souls! Matthew 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. John 15:22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. 23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
It is love, God, as love in the heart, called “charity,” which is that which believes! 1 Corinthians 13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
For it is faith which works by love and not love that works by faith! Galatians 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. When the Lord would have it known if Peter would be faithful to him, he asked him three times if he loved him.
And why else would the Lord choose a denier like Peter to represent him and the New Testament faith on the day of Pentecost, except that he well knew, having given him his heart of love? We would have said, “Sorry Peter. You had your chance, but you failed. You denied the Lord, same as Judas Iscariot. We can’t take a chance on you!” But since the Lord knows the hearts of all who profess, he knew Peter was to be the spokesperson for the preaching of the first gospel message.
True gospel succession does not proceed from one religious performer to a newly convinced professor. It is passed on in the succession from faith to faith! Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
And no believer having faith, can pass or share their faith with any other human being. No matter how much the Apostle Paul yearned for his fellow Israelites to be saved, he had no power to affect that! Romans 9:2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. 3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
One can show you their faith by their works. But no one can share their faith with another. James 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. For the line of true faith was originated by the Author, then delivered unto all believers. Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Jude 3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
Christ authored, or originated true faith by ‘enduring the cross!’ For he came to endure it by believing that the Father would not leave his soul in hell! Psalm 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. And according to that same pattern, believers, abiding on their own crosses, have their faith strengthened.
Consider these verses: Psalm 119:67 Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. 71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
Jeremiah 31:18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
Hosea 5:15 I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.
In verses seventeen and nineteen of John chapter fourteen the Lord informs us that neither Himself, nor the Holy Spirit, shall from now on ever be seen by the world. John 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. And if you will read the first eight verses of the fifteenth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians, you will find a detailed, historically accurate description of those who saw the Lord thereafter. And not one of them was a lost person!
Yet in that nineteenth verse he does state, but ye see me. Yet we have to deal with Peter’s words as recorded in 1 Peter 1:8. Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: There seems upon a light reading to be a contradiction. But the problem is solved when you realize that the Lord was not speaking of a physical viewing of his human person. But he was speaking of the Holy Spirit’s revelation of his glorious person to the heart of all believers.
So Peter is correct. We have not seen him. But having the Holy Spirit dwelling both “with us,” and “in us” (John 14:17), as Peter states, we love! Therefore none of the world have ever seen the Lord Jesus again. And neither have the believing saints seen him physically! But His promise that “ye see me,” is true, because his life is in us as our new life in redemptive grace! Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Would you like to read the true description of Jesus Christ as set forth by the Holy Spirit and recorded in your Bibles? Here it is:
Revelation 1:12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. 17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
THAT is how your spiritual minds are to ‘picture’ the Person of the Son of God! We are to view Him in these symbols in the understandings of their spiritual meanings. Compare this with Romans 1:20. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: The invisible things of his personal being “are clearly seen.” How? “…being understood by the things that are made…”
But these matters are only conveyed by the spirit of love in the hearts of those who keep his commandments. And that is the answer the Lord gave Judas, not Iscariot. The rest of religion must have their paintings and statues to ‘see’ Jesus. Even though this violates the very commandment of the God they seek to reveal! Exodus 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Religion today, like Thomas of old, are still determined to dig their bony fingers, with their hard fingernails into the tender wounds of Christ. Wanting more to satisfy their own fleshly curiosity, far more than needing to bow before his unseen glory! But listen to that which the Lord told Thomas:
John 20:25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. 26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Pastor Gene Breed
July 07, 2021
