JUDAS - A REGENERATE BELIEVER
By
EDWARD HOWARTH.
[This tract should be read in conjunction with Thirty
Pieces of Silver]
Dear
reader, My Motto has always been: - In fundamentals, UNITY; in opinions, LIBERTY;
in all things, CHARITY: These notes are given tentatively for your
consideration and search, never believe anything you read or hear or sing until
you test it by the Word of God, Acts 17: 11;1 Thess. 5: 20-21. Unfortunately our minds have been case hardened by tradition, and it is a 1000 times harder to UNlearn than learn or relearn.
When
we begin to think about Judas our minds are loaded against him by word and
words we read about him. Not for a
second would we minimize his great sin, but let our bias minds be balanced. The word Judas according to the English
dictionary means, a traitor, treachery, a stab in the back, but we should not
be interested in the English, for the New Testament was written in Greek and it
is what the Greek means that guides our minds.
Let
us look then to the more difficult scriptures about Judas. Acts 1: 25.
That
he (Matthew) may take this place of deaconship
and apostleship from which Judas stepped aside to go into his own
place, really the
own the place, (no word for "his"),
but of course we believe the only place for him is Hell*, but Scripture does
not say that, we read it into it. Hell
and the lake of fire were prepared for the Devil and his angels, not for man,
although the unregenerate will go there. Now believers are warned not to be
hypocrites, Matt. 7:33; Romans 12;9;
Gal. 2:13. Even Barnabas and
Peter were carried away with hypocrisy by the brethren from
Next,
Mark 14: 21; Matt. 26: 24; Luke 22: 22. Good for that man he had never been born, Woe
to that man, what a solemn and serious statement, but because we reject the
warnings and threats of God to believers and pass them on to the sinners, we
cannot accept Judas was a genuine believer, this is
because we "gospelize" the scriptures which
are addressed to the Christian! But look at these verses in Matt. 18: 5-6. A brother who stumbles a young believer, it
were good for him that a great millstone turned by an ass were hung around his
neck and he cast into the depths of the open sea, 5 miles down, I ask you were
it not good for him he had never been born? Look at 2 Peter 3:
18-22, he is speaking about teachers
who teach error, teach falsely, "better they
had not fully known, experimentally the way of righteousness, then turn back
from the holy commandments delivered to them, they are worsted and their last
is become worse with them than their first."
Now
let us examine the words that guide our thinking with regards to Judas, from
the common translation used, the Authorized Version, we see Judas has no chance
of ever being in heaven, he was born to be in Hell, the one designed to fulfil
the prophecy of Psalm 41:9! You would not believe that would you? Nevertheless that is the result of the
reading.
PARADIDOMI.
This
Greek word occurs 121 times in the New Testament. Mr. Darby's translation always translates this
word by "delivered up" the Revised
Version tells you it must always be translated "delivered
up" so Panin's Numeric New Testament, so
also Mr. Newberry, Rotherham and Kellys translations. The Authorised Version always translates the
word by "betray" but only when
it relates to Judas, this occurs 36 times. Why? With
Darby and R. V. "delivered up" occurs
98 times out of the 121. "Give up" 10 times. This word occurs in Romans
4:25; 8:32. God PARADIDOMI His Son, delivered Him up. The word occurs twice in Matt 26:14-16 and Judas says deliver Him to you, v.16 the word is translated "betray" and so in 1 Cor. 11: 23, I received
from the Lord that which I delivered unto you that the
Lord Jesus the night he was betrayed took bread,
using betrayed when relating to Judas. It
is used in 1 Peter 2: 23. He Committed = Paradidomi Himself to Him who judges justly.
DIABOLOS.
This
word occurs 38 times in the New Testament, when it has the definite article
"the" it is referring to the Devil
himself as a person, this occurs 34 times. Of the other 4 times, 3 times it is translated
slanderer, that is the meaning of the word, the other time it is used is in John 6:70, and referring to Judas it is translated
devil, why?. The
word in John is not a noun it is an adjective, a describing word, Judas is a
slanderer. The same old serpent who put the suggestion into Judas's heart entered Peter's
also in Matt.16: 22-23. Get thee behind me
Satan = SATANAS. He also entered
the hearts of two other saints and they yielded, Ananias
and Sapphira, Satan has
filled thy heart Acts 5: 1; 1 Peter 5: 8.
Says, Your
Adversary the Devil = Diabolos goes about as a roaring lion seeking who he may devour. In 1 Cor.
11:14 Satan has fashioned himself as an angel of light
.... In Luke
6: 16 the A. V. supports the false thought that Judas was always a
traitor, even when Jesus choose him, and we believe it! To me such a notion casts a shadow on the Saviour,
to choose a man to fulfil the prophecy of Psalm
41:9. The friend of my bosom, the man of my peace, in
whom I trusted, had confidence in, has lifted his heel against me, (Jesus
omitted "in whom I trusted") He knew what was in
man. Tell me, would you ever think there was a man born to be in Hell? This would be the outcome of Judas, if he were
to fulfil this prophecy, such reasoning must be false. Let me ask you some
questions. Was the Lord Jesus always
flesh? No, He became flesh. He became something He was not before. Was He always a curse? No, He became a curse, something He was
not before. Was He always poor? No, He became poor, something He was
not before. Was Judas always a traitor?, no, he became a traitor, something he was not
before. Judas
Iscariot who became a traitor, (Greek) it was when the Devil entered his heart, from then
he became a traitor, John 13:2.
We [regenerate believers] are warned not to become traitors, slanderers in the last days 2 Tim. 3:1-5.
Did
John fulfil God's purpose of Isa.40: 3? Did Judas fulfil God's purpose of Ps.41: 9?
Note.
Psalm 41: 9; 2 Sam. 11: 3, 23: 34 is the type figured in Ahithophel.
Ahithophel, Davids own counsellor and familiar friend, was
grandfather of Bath-sheba who delivered up David to
Absalom; his counsel was not taken so he went out and hanged himself. (2 Sam. 17: 23.)
See 15:
12 for
(1)
His Greatness
(2)
His Grief. 11: 2-4.
(3)
His Guilt 15: 12; 16: 20-23.
(4)
His Grave. 17: 23.
BEWARE LEST, WHY?
Thirty pieces of silver for the
Lord of life they gave;
Thirty pieces of silver only the
price of a slave!
But this was the priestly value
of the Holy One of God ;
And they weighed it out in the
temple,
The price
of the Saviour's blood.
Yes it may not be for silver, it
may not be for gold,
But still by tens of thousands the
Prince of life is sold,
Sold for a godless fliendship, sold for a selfish aim,
Sold for a fleeting trifle, sold
for an empty name;
Sold in the mart of science,
sold in the seat of power,
Sold at
the shrine of fortune, sold in Pleasure's bower.
Sold where the awful bargain
none but God's eye can see!
Ponder, my soul, the question:
shall He be sold by thee?
Sold! 0 God, what a moment!
Stifled is conscience' voice-
Sold! And a weeping angel
records the fatal choice!
Sold! But the price accepted, To a living coal must turn,
With
pangs of a late repentance deep in the soul to burn.
- William Blane.