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Every Judas

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It is my great honor to have The Together Magazine publish this article in their current issue. For those readers who may not have access to this wonderful publication, I am posting a copy of it here:  – MB

judas with the bag

Every Judas

Just ten miles from Hebron and eighteen miles from Jerusalem was the little known village named Kerioth. It was a haven for bandits, thieves and highwaymen. People from the area were known to be assassins, murders.

Into this environment a man named Simon raised his son Judas. In Holy Scripture he was called Judas Iscariot, signifying that he was from the town of Keriot(h)

Simon must have been somewhat responsible for his son’s raising and behavior. His name is always mentioned together with his son’s name. He was called Judas, Simon’s son.

We know nothing of the boy’s mother. What was she like? What kind of teaching did she give him as a boy?

By the time the scriptures introduce us to him, we quickly see that Judas was outspoken and didn’t hesitate to disagree with what he saw.

“Why wasn’t this sold and given to the poor?”

That’s what he said criticizing Mary’s extreme sacrifice. But the Bible is quick to point out that he cared not for the poor, but was a thief and that he held the bag. There was a reason that was said. Why would Jesus allow him to carry the bag?

As a Judean he was a misfit among the disciples. The other disciples apparently were Galileans. He was no doubt a loner. He couldn’t let them see him sneaking money from the bag. He was a thief. I am sure that Judas had a less than stellar past before he met Jesus. Some Commentaries even call him a murder.

The sad news is, that no amount of the preaching and confronting that Jesus did seemed to change Judas into a John The Beloved. The same is true today. If all the words and actions of Jesus could not transform Judas in the Bible days, then neither will our preaching and confronting convert a modern day Judas.

Thirty is number of pieces of silver Judas agreed on to betray Jesus. There are thirty obvious and negative characteristics of a Judas. The Judas Iscariot of the Bible may be dead, but his spirit is still alive today.

 

Here Are Some Keys To Recognize The Judas In Your Midst.

  1. Every Judas Shows Enough Potential To Be Placed In A Leadership Role.
  • Judas was hand picked. He was allowed to be a privileged disciple. He was chosen to be in charge of the group’s finances.
  • Confidence was placed in him.

 

  1. Every Judas Thinks And Acts Like He Owns His Appointed Position.

John 12:5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?

  • Every Judas loves to take the finances with him when he goes.

 

  1. Every Judas Lives On A Carnal Level And Is Oblivious To The Spiritual.

John 12:5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?

 

  1. Every Judas Lets His True Colors Show At The Wrong Time.

John 12:6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.

 

  1. Every Judas Has A Personal Agenda That Is Separate From The Leaders.

John 12:6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.

 

  1. Every Judas Gets Disenchanted With His Leader.
  • He is willing to sabotage the whole thing if there is enough in it for him.

 

  1. Every Judas Receives A Warning From The Lord But Continues Anyway.

John 6:70 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?

John 6:71 He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.

 

  1. Every Judas Sees The Same Miracles And Hears The Same Sermons But Is Unaffected, Unconvinced And Unconverted.

Luke 9:1 Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.

 

      Peter Talked About Judas In The Upper Room

Acts 1:17 For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.

 

  1. Every Judas Plans His Move Carefully.

Matt. 26:16 And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

 

  1. Every Judas Is An Opportunist.

Matt. 26:16 And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

 

  1. Every Judas Is Driven By Greed.

Matt. 26:15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.

 

  1. Every Judas Courts Those Whom He Thinks Can Help His Cause.

Luke 22:4 And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them.

  • A modern Judas may recruit his people with private meetings,
  • Private dinners
  • Facebook likes

 

  1. Every Judas Possesses An Evil Spirit.

Luke 22:3 Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.

  1. Every Judas Can Even Fool His Own Friends And Brothers.

John 13:27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

John 13:28 Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him.

 

  1. Every Judas Gets His Key Players In Place Before He Makes His Play.

Luke 22:4 And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them.

 

  1. Every Judas Gets A Divine Warning And Still Ignores It.

Matt. 26:24 The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.

 

  1. Every Judas Should Have Been Still Born.

Matt. 26:24 The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.

 

  1. Every Judas Gets Revealed By The Lord And Has A Chance To Repent.

Matt 26:21 And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.

 

  1. Every Judas Lives In Denial To The Truth And Deceiving Himself And Others.

Matt. 26:25 Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.

 

  1. Every Judas Makes His Move When He Thinks The Odds Are In His Favor.

Matt 26:16 And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

 

  1. Every Judas Is A Hypocrite.

Matt. 26:49 And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.

 

  1. Every Judas Is Controlled And Guided By Satan.

John 13:27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

 

  1. Every Judas Displays False Affection Toward The Leader.

Matt. 26:49 And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.

 

  1. Every Judas Is Surprised When God Still Manifests Himself In The Midst Of The Betrayal.

Luke 22:50 And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.

Luke 22:51 And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.

 

  1. Every Judas Is Temporarily Happy.
  • He could go back to doing what he was doing before.
  • He had brought Jesus down in his own mind to the point that he no longer believed in Him.
  • He actually believed he could live with his choice.

 

  1. Every Judas Has Second Thoughts.

Matt. 27:3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,

 

  1. Every Judas Tries To Appease His Guilty Conscience.

Matt. 27:3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,

 

  1. Every Judas Wakes Up To His Horrible Sin Too Late.

Matt. 27:4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.

 

  1. Every Judas Repents Too Late.

Matt. 27:4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.

 

  1. Every Judas Will Hang Himself.

Matt. 27:5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.

 

In Spite Of Judas

 

In Spite Of Judas – The Will of God was accomplished.

In Spite Of Judas – Jesus rose from the dead.

In Spite Of Judas – The Holy Ghost was poured out.

 

In Spite Of Judas – The Church was established.

In Spite Of Judas – Revival came.

In Spite Of Judas – The Gates of Hell did not prevail.

 

In Spite Of Every Judas Today

 

In Spite Of Every Judas Today – God still has a triumphant church.

In Spite Of Every Judas Today – The church will prosper and go forward.

 

In Spite Of Every Judas Today – The Glory will fall when the bad spirit is gone.

In Spite Of Every Judas Today – The church will rally and unify like never before.

 

In Spite Of Every Judas Today – Worship will be better than ever.

In Spite Of Every Judas Today – The Pastor will be loved more than ever.

 

Judas Was Replaced With A Man Named Matthias.

His name means, “Gift of God.”

There was a gift of God for the church back then. There will be a gift of God after your storm today.

 

Have You Had To Deal With A Judas?

Take hope, your Matthias, your Gift of God is coming!

 

Written by Martyn Ballestero

January 14, 2016 at 2:26 pm

Posted in Failure, Leadership, Ministry, Submission, Try The Spirits, Uncategorized

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The Power Of Babble

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The Power Of Babble

Prov. 10:19 In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.

  • If you talk long enough, sin will enter the picture.
  • God’s word warns us about what we say.

Notice These Three Different Words.

(1.) Talebearer

Prov. 18:8 The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly

  • Words hurt. True or not, they hurt. The hurt will last for a long time.
  • We don’t white wash ourselves by blackening others.

Some people are clearinghouses for rumors. They know all the gossip. They have no desire or intention of verifying the story. The gossip will not be checked out. (It seems they want to believe the worst.) They just pass it along, oblivious of the damage and destruction their words cause.

Remember, you’ll reap what you sow.

God’s Bookkeeper never makes a mistake. Someday there will be a Divine accounting. You cannot injure one of His ‘Little’ ones and get away with it. It would be better that there was a milestone tied around your neck. God monitors your words.

(2.) Prating

Diotrephes loved the preeminence, or in plainer words, he loved being in charge. The appearance of the Apostle John was a threat to him. His reaction was to talk about John to the local church people and try to destroy his reputation with malicious gossip. The Apostle exposed Diotrephes for what he was.

3John 9 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.

3 John 10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

It is human nature to shoot arrows at folks that our carnal flesh perceives to be higher up or in leadership. We want to bring them down to our level… or lower.

Some people think themselves superior spiritually, doctrinally, or maybe even intellectually. They see the sin in every one but themselves.

  • They delight in half-truths if it will help further their cause.
  • They are willing to believe the worst.
  • They will not return phone calls that would have answered their questions. Nor answer emails so that the problem can be corrected. They want to believe what they believe.
  • Their mind is made up.
  • God is not happy with these self-righteous assassins.

(3.) Accusations

1Tim. 5:19 Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.

I know the Bible says not to even listen to an accusation against a man of God unless you can produce two people who were there and witnessed it themselves. Why not take that a step further and not receive an accusation about anyone unless you have two witnesses?

Why Are We Mortals So Quick To Believe A Story, Even If It Is A Lie?

A number of years ago, I was in a room with four other men. The host announced that a ‘Brother’ had a serious problem.

“What kind of problem,” I asked.

“Moral problems.”

“That’s not good,” I said.

I heard a noise behind me and I saw Bro. Steve Pixler sliding slowly down the wall on the stairsteps. It was like he’d been shot and the strength to stand was no longer in him. He crumpled.

I turned to Bro. Pixler and said, “I don’t know this Brother we’re talking about. I’ve never met him. I couldn’t pull him out of a police line up. But I like how your body language defends him and is hurt just thinking a bad thought about him. Like Louis L’Amour would say, ‘You’ll do to ride the river with.”

Turning back to the host I asked, “Who is making the allegation?

“His Wife.”

That’s not good.”

“Who else?”

“No one.”

“Then let the record show right here that this conversation is over. I cannot receive an accusation against him unless there are two witnesses. As far as I’m concerned this conversation never took place.”

The next day, it was proven to be a false charge. The wife’s over medication had created a psychotic reaction.

Another man thanked me for defending this man I didn’t know.

My response was, “Don’t thank me, it’s like paying my tithes, that’s what I’m supposed to do.”

How many rumors could we stop, if we just refused to hear it out?

God Hates These Six Things

  1. A proud look,
  2. 2. A lying tongue,
  3. Hands that shed innocent blood,
  4. An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,
  5. Feet that be swift in running to mischief,
  6. 6. A false witness that speaketh lies,

This Seventh One, Is An Abomination In God’s Eyes…

7. He that soweth discord among brethren.

Prov. 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

Prov. 6:17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

Prov. 6:18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

Prov. 6:19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Are you saying or repeating things that might bring injury to one of God children? If you wish to be saved, repent, make it right and never do it again!

Written by Martyn Ballestero

January 7, 2011 at 1:33 am

Posted in Gossip

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