Now you all know the story of Judas. He was numbered with the Twelve. You read Matthew chapter 10 and it lists the Twelve disciples and Judas Iscariot is in there. For three years, what did Judas do? He played the role. The others never caught on that he was an unbeliever and a fake. I have to say Judas is the most perfect example of a hypocrite in the whole human race. He played the hypocrite for three years, and even carried the moneybag and scripture tells us that he even stole from it. That’s how much they trusted him and yet he was never part of them. He just simply played along, and sad to say, like so many do in the Church and especially in leadership rolls do and are today.
John 6:70
"Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?" Jesus said he was a demon! Well, he didn’t just become a demon in the last month or so. He was one from the beginning. He was just simply playing along.
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."
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."
Judas then becomes a good example of someone who was enlightened. He tasted and he was a part of the ministry. But what in finality did he do? He turned his back on it and had nothing more to do with it and betrayed the Savior. Oh, it’s a horrible thing, but yes it’s possible. Now Paul gives us an example of one as well in Colossians chapter 4. Now these aren’t men that were at one time saved and totally in – no they were merely walking on the outside, they had never really partaken of the things of God. They just played the part and possibly fooled everyone around them.
Let’s just drop down to verse 12, in Colossians 4 to we pick up the flow. Paul is just rehearsing the men that had been working with him.
Colossians 4:12-14
"Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayer that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. For I bear him record, (that is Epaphras). that he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in Laodicea and those in Hierapolis. Luke the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you."
In other words, they were in his traveling party. They were working with Paul in his evangelistic endeavor. Alright, now let’s go over to II Timothy chapter 4 and verse 10. And what a sad, sad commentary. Let’s just again, for sake of picking up the flow, go up to verse 8. Of course here, Paul now realizes that his life is coming to an end. He will shortly be martyred and his ministry is over. And so he’s writing to Timothy, his farewell letter you might say.
I Timothy 4:8-10a
"Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only but unto all them also that love his appearing. Do thy diligence (remember he’s writing to Timothy) to come shortly unto me. For Demas (the same one he referred to back there in Colossians) hath (what?) forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica;… "
So yes, this is very, very possible that someone can be enlightened. It’s so possible, whether it’s an Old Testament economy or whether it’s in Christ’s earthly ministry or whether it’s now during this Age of Grace, we’ve had instances of people who were enlightened, they tasted, they went along with it, but they never embraced it wholeheartedly. I guess we could look at it this way. How about people today that have gone through that same kind of a situation? Well, it’s just like the parable that the Lord gave with the sower. We've touched on that, some fell on rocky ground, only had a little bit of topsoil. What happened? It sprung up but as soon as the noonday sun hit it, what happened? It died and it never amounted to anything. Some fell on thorny ground. And nothing happened to it. It had no place to germinate. And some fell on hard, untilled ground and the birds picked it up. But then only a small portion fell on fertile ground and it was able to spring up and bring forth as Jesus Himself uses the terminology. Some fifty fold, some a hundred fold. But there are many who were never truly believers, for they know not the abundant life. For what ever reason they fall short of what God has planned for them, good and not evil.
I don’t claim to be a theologian, for all we try to do is just pick these verses apart and get everything out of them that we possibly can and help folks understand that the Word of God is not that difficult. And of course, the secret is to be able to separate God's dealing with Israel from His dealing with the Gentile and His dealing with the Body of Christ. Until you do that, it is confusing. It’s hard to comprehend and we sometimes wonder what in the world the Bible is all about. But, once you separate it and realize that what God is speaking to the Hebrew is, for the most part, under the first Covenant and Levitical Law, and the external ministry of Aaron's priesthood, we can learn from it. But that’s not where we are. We’re under Grace and the promised New Covenant. Also remember Grace is not license but it is that tremendous fulfilling of God’s tremendous plan of redemption - we enter in by trusting in His Faithfulness and Faith alone. But we don’t stop there. We move on into a life of works and service for the Lord but even this has its own doctrine for our understanding. As our works are not of a physical nature but rather spiritual as we learn of Him and our obedience of Love working outwardly in His power and strength with all manor of prayer and supplication. To the pulling down of strongholds, that the Fathers Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
No comments:
Post a Comment