Assaults Against Jesus Christ #2

I want you to look at how Satan is orchestrating all of these things to come down, to create a public opinion against Jesus—anything to do with Jesus—and promote his way. Consider this for a minute: If you rehabilitate Judas, who else do you rehabilitate? Satan! After all, he can present a side of the story that he's misunderstood.

Remember that Jesus said, 'When the Son of man comes will He find the faith in the earth?' You can apply that

• doctrinally
• to those who believe in Jesus—even in a nominal way
• to the Church—because at the end-time you have the Laodicean Church, which is lukewarm

You also have the situation where you need to put all the prophecies together in this. Daniel said that knowledge would increase. Not only will the knowledge of God increase, as He gives us understanding with His Word—and He promised that He would—but also the knowledge of things technological and also of things in the past.

What we are seeing is that Satan operates in cycles and repeats. Let's look at what was happening right as the New Testament Church was coming to its conclusion during the days of the apostles.

Let's see what John says. What we're going to discover is that just before the close of the apostolic age, and the apostolic age ends with the death of John. This is why it's important that everyone read all the commentaries in The Holy Bible in Its Original Order This helps you understand a very major thing that God has done:

• how He's preserved His Word
• why the apostles were the only ones to finish it

This will help us understand why people are so interested in things like the 'Gospel of Judas' and why they are giving equal time to it. With the New Testament you would think that no one would give it equal time, but they do. And some other things that go along with that.

We get some hints of this because what we will understand from the 'Gospel of Judas' is that the movement called gnosticism. It is basically that God is the inanimate God Who transcended and has no form. When Satan wants to subvert a Church of God, what he does is change the nature of God. That's what happened in the downfall of the largest Church of God in modern times.

• they changed the nature of God
• they changed the Bible that they used
• they changed the interpretations that they had
• they brought in mild gnostic doctrine

Gnosticism has to do with light and dark. We can see here in John 1:5 that John is fighting against the gnostics of his day. Gnosticism goes way back. Gnosticism actually, when you understand it, begins in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Gnostic or gnosticism comes from the Greek word 'gnosis,' which means knowledge. What was the tree they ate of? The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which was a way to come to be as God without having to do it God's way. That would be the best way you could explain gnosticism.

{see book: Primitive Christianity in Crisis by Alan Knight}

A lot of people say, 'I can't keep up with all this reading.' Well, maybe you ought apply yourself a little more, because there is a lot of knowledge coming down, and it is affecting the Churches of God this way: There is a movement within the Churches of God by men who were high ranking ministers in the past who are now teaching that Jesus was not God before He became a human being!

Because people are ill-equipped, unstudied, socialized in a church setting, they are not ready for these kinds of things, and they are falling for it! That's why I've mentioned many times, if you want to know where Jesus came from and Who He was before He was human, read the Gospel of John! The first chapter tells you all you need to know. The rest of the New Testament confirms it.

What we also have in the world are scholars who do not believe the Bible is the Word of God. This is what opens the door for things like the 'Gospel of Judas' to have equal footing.

1-John 1:5: "And this is the message that we have heard from Him [Christ]…" That's why it's important that you go back and read and study the Gospels. {see book: A Harmony of the Gospels}

What you will find if you read the commentary on Why This was Written, was because an organization called The Jesus Seminar with some of the leading scholars in the world who are historians and some theologians, having put the New Testament down as very questionable—and the whole Gospel of John was not accepted. They have put out a book called The Five Gospels, which puts the 'Gospel of Thomas' as the fifth gospel.

That's why you have to know what is the message of Jesus Christ!That's what you have to know! What did He teach, especially concerning salvation, human nature and eternal life? Salvation comes by:

• repentance
• forgiveness
• receiving of the Holy Spirit
• enduring to the end after growing in:
  • grace
  • knowledge
  • character

and you await the resurrection!

All those who believe in the immortality of the soul have some level of gnosticism in their belief. The gnostics say—brought up in Primitive Christianity In Crisis—that 'all of us were up here in the stars with the inanimate God and that spark of life was put into human beings, and that spark of life in you is God. That is life! That spark of life in you needs knowledge, and you can work your own way to return back to heaven.' If you want to see the ultimate of that, that's reincarnation through Hinduism and various religions like that.

One of the earmarks of Satan's way is the immortality of the soul and going to heaven; also, light and dark.

"…and are declaring to you…" (v 5). They didn't teach anything other than what Jesus taught and inspired them and led them to do with the Spirit of Truth.

"…that God is light, and there is no darkness at all in Him" (v 5). Gnostics say that the earth being material was created by a lesser god and Jesus—if He's Creator of the earth—is a lesser god. This is all the background by it.

Verse 6: "If we proclaim that we have fellowship with Him… [which gnostics do through knowledge] …but we are walking in the darkness… [not walking in the light of the Truth of God] …we are lying to ourselves, and we are not practicing the Truth. However, if we walk in the light…" (vs 6-7).

That's why John wrote in the Gospel of John, chapter one, that Jesus was the true Light. Here in 1-John 1 he is fighting against gnosticism.

"…as He is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His own Son, cleanses us from all sin" (v 7). Gnostics say that you don't have a sinful nature because you have the spark of the Divine within you, and all you need is knowledge to release it.

Verse 8: "If we say that we do not have sin… [is what the gnostics say] …we are deceiving ourselves, and the Truth is not in us. If we confess our own sins, He is faithful and righteous, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us" (vs 8-10).

All of this is fighting Gnostic doctrine. Also one of the things that the gnostics teach, which we find in parts of the 'Gospel of Judas.' (www.nationalgeographic.com/lostgospel/_pdf/GospelofJudas.pdf) I read the whole thing and it's not as sensational as they try and make it to be. Gnostics do not believe that it is necessary to keep the commandments of God. They say that you have to know God through knowledge or gnosticism.

1-John 2:3: "And by this standard we know that we know Him…" That's the whole basis of gnosticism, to know God. It's just like the modern 'pick yourself up by your own bootstraps' kind of thing: positive thinking—know yourself, know your better self, get in touch with your better self—and you're going to be fine. Gnosticism says, 'Get in touch with the Divine that's within you, because God is in everything. He's in you! You don't have to keep the commandments, you just need knowledge so you can be in touch with God.'

John is setting the record straight, v 3: "And by this standard we know that we know Him: if we keep His commandments. The one who says, 'I know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the Truth is not in him" (vs 3-4). This is a direct reference to gnosticism.

Verse 5: "On the other hand, if anyone is keeping His Word, truly in this one the love of God is being perfected. By this means we know that we are in Him." Because a gnostic says that 'you only know God through the secret things that we tell you.' That's exactly what the problem was in Col. 2.

Verse 18: "Little children, it is the last time…" For them it was the last time; it was coming to the end of the apostolic age. This is also a prophecy for us to know, because at the end-time there's going to be a repeat of what happened there.

"…and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have risen up, by which we know that it is the last time" (v 18). These were all the gnostics claiming to be Christian.

Just like today, we have hundreds and hundreds of groups and sects who all claim to be Christian, with myriad of practices and beliefs and so forth. But they're not! Unless you keep the commandments of God—and we'll throw in the Sabbath and Holy Days—then you have varying degrees of gnosticism.

Verse 19: "They went out from among us… [because as long as the Truth was being preached they couldn't stay there] …but they were not of us because if they were of us, they would have remained with us; nevertheless, they left that they might be exposed to show that they all were not of us. But you have the anointing from the Holy One…" (vs 19-20).

The gnostics believe that you already, with 'the spark of the Divine in you,' have the Holy Spirit. So, John is making it clear that the anointing that we have is the Holy Spirit at baptism.

"…and you have knowledge of all things pertaining to salvation…. [vs the gnostics who were saying they had the key to salvation] …I did not write to you because you do not know the Truth, but because you know it, and you understand that not one lie comes from the Truth" (vs 20-21).

Therefore, when we examine any of these false gospels, we see the lies that are there because of the Truth of the Word of God.

Verse 22: "Who is the liar if it is not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is the antichrist—the one who denies the Father and the Son." They deny both! They deny the Father that He's not an individual. But what did Jesus say to Philip, when Philip said, 'Show us the Father'? He said, 'If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father!'

The gnostics say that God is a transcendent spirit up in the stars. He has no form or shape. They are denying the Father. They deny Christ, His sacrifice, His shed blood and that He was God before He became human.

Verse 23: "Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either." That includes Judaism as well as gnosticism. By the way, a lot of Jews are gnostics because there was Gnostic Judaism a couple of hundred years before the New Testament Church.

Here's another earmark of them, 1-John 4:1: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit…" These are demonic spirits going around. There is a spiritual element and power behind them; that is Satan the devil and the demons.

"…but test the spirits whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (v 1)—which tells you that behind every false prophet there is a false and lying spirit. You can hear this clearly in the so-called Christian religions today.

The Catholic Church even boasts that it could have 'preached the Gospel of Jesus or the Gospel of Salvation without the Bible.' Quite a stunning quote! You have the same thing with the Protestants. The first thing they say when they get in the pulpit is that 'Jesus didn't mean this…' Most people believe that Jesus changed the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day. They believe it because they're told it, and they believe they're going to heaven.

All Protestantism—as Alan Knight wrote in his book Primitive Christianity in Crisis—is a mild version of gnosticism, which denies the Father and denies the Son, while professing it. You couldn't have anything more slick or lying than that!

Another example of Protestant gnosticism: What does the Bible say on how to receive the Holy Spirit? Repent and be baptized! Today a lot of evangelicals say that you don't need that, 'all you have to do is believe. You don't need to be baptized.' They're denying Christ, and they're denying baptism.

Joel Olsteen—who has the largest church in Houston, Texas—says, 'I don't want to hear anything negative about anybody. I want you to think on all the good things that you are and can do, and that God loves you and all you have to do is believe in Jesus and change your ways.' Nothing about sin! Nothing about repentance! People gobble it up!

Here's what it leads to, v 2: "By this test you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God." Tie that together with the other things:

• Jesus was God manifested in the flesh
• the Word was with God
• the Word was God
• the Word became flesh
• Jesus had the same kind of flesh that we have

Verse 3: "And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not from God. And this is the spirit of antichrist, which you heard was to come, and even now it is already in the world."

We notice something about the world, and why the world is going to believe these things, because in order for the world to believe the great illusion that is coming upon it, it's got to be prepared. All of these things are preparing the way for Satan's great deception!

Verse 4: "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them… [they were battling against them and standing doctrinally against them] …because greater is He Who is in you than the one who is in the world." This is telling us that with the power of God's Spirit within us we can withstand all of these assaults against the Church and against Christ.

Verse 5: "They are of the world; because of this, they speak of the world, and the world listens to them. We are of God; the one who knows God listens to us; the one who is not of God does not listen to us. By this means we know the Spirit of the Truth and the spirit of the deception" (vs 5-6). This is what we are going to examine.

I have two books:

• The Secrets of Judas: The Story of the Misunderstood Disciple and His Lost Gospel by James M. Robinson
• The Gospel of Judas (published by National Geographic) Edited by: Kasser, Meyer, Worst, Gaudard

This was planned big time. They had four scholars who understood Coptic and Greek, and who worked on piecing this thing together for years. They had to sign an agreement of absolute secrecy so that the National Geographic Corp. could produce their docudrama about the 'Gospel of Judas.' When you listen to them very carefully they really cannot come up with any sure proof, but they make it sound as though it is true.

from The Gospel of Judas (jacket cover):

For 1,600 years its message lay hidden. When the bound papyrus pages of this lost gospel finally reached scholars who could unlock its meaning, they were astounded.

There are a lot of 'religionists' and scholars who don't believe that the New Testament is the Word of God. They do not believe that it was canonized by the apostles. They do not believe that it was canonized until 397A.D., and as we will see when we get to The Jesus Papers, that that is a lie that has been setup, which Satan is also now going to destroy, because I think he's going to reformulate the whole 'religious system' in the world back to the lines of old Babylon the Great. This is going to be a bigger thing than we have ever imagined!

Here was a gospel that had not been seen since the early days of Christianity…

Notice how they phrase it

…and which few experts had even thought existed–a gospel told from the perspective of Judas Iscariot, history's ultimate traitor. And far from being a villain, the Judas that emerges in its pages is a hero.

Amazing, isn't it? Aren't people all in to analyzing and accepting many, many different propositions on an equal basis.

Let's compare the difference between what the apostles were told to do and what Christ led them to do, and results in the New Testament that we have today, and why the 'Gospel of Judas' lay buried for 1600 years. Here's what they are to do, and if it is truly the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it will be preached! What does it say in Matt. 24 and Mark 13? And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world!

Matthew 28:18: "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore, go and make disciples in all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even until the completion of the age.' Amen" (vs 18-20). Look at the fruits! Has that happened? Yes!

Has this happened, compared to the 'Gospel of Judas'? Broken down and almost destroyed by age and deterioration codex of the 'Gospel of Judas.' Everyone gets all excited about it, because they refuse to believe Jesus Christ and refuse to believe that He actually preserved His Word, caused it to be disseminated.

Mark 13:10: "And the Gospel must first be published among all nations."

Compared to the one tattered, old, buried in the desert for 1600 years, the 'Gospel of Judas'—and let's throw in all the Library of Nag Hammadi, which was discovered in 1945—has been published in all the world.

How many billions of Bibles and New Testaments are there in the world compared to the one 'Gospel of Judas'? So, we can conclude that compared to the one little 'Gospel of Judas' the Gospel of Jesus Christ contained in Matt., Mark, Luke and John, the whole New Testament with the Epistles of Paul, the General Epistles and the book of Revelation have been published and distributed in the world in untold numbers. Jesus said that it would be!

The true Jesus of the Gospels, and of the New Testament and the Bible, His words bear out because of what He said would happen, would happen! What else did He also say? Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away! This is critical to understand: Gnosticism rejects the Old Testament. The false Jesus rejects the Old Testament. What did the true Jesus say when He began His ministry? Do not think that I have come to destroy the Law or the Prophets!

Luke 24:44: "And He said to them, 'These are the words that I spoke to you when I was yet with you, that all the things which were written concerning Me in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.'" Whatever the Gospel of Jesus Christ is it must include the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. Not a new version of knowledge through gnosis!

Verse 45: "Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures." We've given many sermons on how to understand the Bible. God's Spirit has to work with you to open your understanding of it.

Verse 46: "And said to them, 'According as it is written, it was necessary for the Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day. And in His name, repentance and remission of sins should be preached to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. For you are witnesses of these things" (vs 46-48).

• Did it start at Jerusalem? Yes, it did!
• Did it go to all nations? Yes, it did!
• Where was the 'Gospel of Judas'? At the time that Jesus said this, it wasn't even written, and Judas was already dead!

Let's see how far this was to reach. What we're doing here is comparing from the Word of God: did God and Jesus Christ fulfill Their Word in doing what they said they would do with the apostles in preaching the Gospel, having it written, having it preserved to go to all nations, compared to the 'Gospel of Judas,' which laid buried for 1600 years in the desert.

Acts 1:3: "To whom also, by many infallible proofs… [note 1-Cor. 15] …He presented Himself alive after He had suffered…" Let's think on this for a minute:

• If the Romans had stolen Christ's body out of the tomb would they not have displayed it for everyone to see that He didn't rise from the dead? Yes!
• If the Jews also assisted them in that, would they not have displayed the body? Yes!
• If, as some claim, He survived the crucifixion and lived and died a natural death, do you not think that the religionists would have gotten His bones to dedicate cathedrals?
  • Do they not have the bones of Mohammad?
  • Do they not have the bones of Buddha?
  • Do they not have the bones of popes?
  • Do they not have the bones of so-called saints?

Remember what Jude wrote concerning Satan disputing with Michael, the angel, over the body of Moses. Why was there a dispute over the body of Moses? Satan wanted the body of Moses to create a false religion with his bones as the dedication to the main altar of what 'religion' that Satan would have setup under the guise of the 'religion of Moses'!

Just think what Satan would have done with the bones of Jesus had Jesus not risen from the dead! No one has produced any remnant of the body of Jesus! Since they don't believe what is written in the New Testament, 95%-plus scholars reject what is in the New Testament! We'll talk about that later and why they do, and what this opens the door for.

The closest the Catholics have come to having any remnant of the body of Jesus is the so-called Shroud of Turin, which has been proven over and over again to be a fake! How did they get the image on the shroud? There are various theories concerning it, however Jesus did not have a shroud draped over Him! His body was wrapped in linen cloth, probably from rolls about 9-inches wide, so you could not have an image on it.

They even suspect that the Shroud of Turin was done by Michael Angelo or someone similar to him, and they used a primitive type of photography to put some chemical on the cloth and expose that image on it so it would be on the cloth. That's another one of those things that you think about what they would have done had Jesus not risen from the dead and there was a body, and they did have bones.

This is why it's important to understand the witnesses that Jesus Christ chose. That's why you have to go back and understand that:

• He was the Lord God of the Old Testament
• He came to the earth in the flesh
• received human nature like we did
• He was crucified as a sacrifice for our sin
• He was in the grave for three days and three nights
• He rose from the dead exactly as He said
• the only book that truly portrays this is the New Testament

Because of hatred for Jesus, the Jews wiped Him clean from history with the exception of some insertions in the History of the Jews by Josephus.

Historians say, 'Okay, we won't accept the witnesses of the New Testament because we can't trust them, and we can't find the historical Jesus in history. So therefore, until we find the historical Jesus in history, we have no verification that He lived and died,' when the true witnesses are preserved in the New Testament, which they reject! This is why it's very important what is written here.

"…being seen by them for forty days, and speaking the things concerning the Kingdom of God. And while they were assembled with Him, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem but to 'await the promise of the Father, which,' He said, 'you have heard of Me. For John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit after not many days.' So then, when they were assembled together, they asked Him, saying, 'Lord, will You restore the kingdom to Israel at this time?' And He said to them, 'It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has placed in His own authority; but you yourselves shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses" (vs 3-8).

They are going to be the chosen witnesses of God, the Creator, the God of Truth, the God of Life. They were to be the witnesses; that's why the New Testament has been preserved, and their witness has been preserved to fulfill the rest of what He says here:

"…both in Jerusalem… [that's where they began] …and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the ends of the earth" (v 8). That's why there are more Bibles in the world than any other book; to fulfill what Jesus said here!

Here's a very simple little test that you can apply to all of the Bible, and know that the words in it are true: Does what it says happen? By how much of a magnitude of fulfillment does it take place? In the case of getting the Gospel out and published, fantastic. Even in spite of men who want to change the Bible. They have not been successful! They have been successful to a certain degree, and they come under the curse of adding or taking away (Rev. 22).

Compare that with the 'Gospel of Judas,' which laid buried for 1600 years:

…Judas Iscariot is presented as a role model for all those who wish to be disciples of Jesus and is the one apostle who truly understands Jesus.

Think about this in relationship to what Satan told Adam and Eve in the Garden: God doesn't know, I know, you can know. Same attitude!
This volume is the first publication of the remarkable gospel since it was condemned as heresy by early church leaders, most notably St. Irenaeus in 180 A.D.; hidden away in a cave in middle Egypt.

How is the Word of God going to be preached in all the world if it's hidden away in a cave? Because it's not the Word of God.

Discovered by farmers in the 1970s in Middle Egypt, the codex containing the gospel was bought and sold by antiquities traders, secreted away, and carried across three continents, all the while suffering damage that reduced much of it to fragments. In 2001, it finally found its way into the hands of a team of experts…

You always have to have 'experts.' Satan has his intelligencia, his doctors of the law, his experts! When I saw this on the Nation Geographic channel, one man just trembled, he was so thrilled to see this. But they reject the Word of God that has been published and made public to the whole world! Amazing—isn't it?

…who would painstakingly reassemble and restore it. The Gospel of Judas has been translated from its original Coptic to clear prose, and is accompanied by commentary that explains its fascinating history in the context of the early Church, offering a whole new way of understanding the message of Jesus Christ.

 (go to the next track)

Let's talk a little bit about the canonization of the New Testament, the way that a lot of the agnostic and naturalists have defined it. The Catholic Church goes along with it because it gives them control over the Bible. They can claim that they have apostolic authority—which they have none! The truth of the matter is that every central doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church is based upon a lie, surrounded with the name of Jesus, the Father, the Holy Spirit, and things like this. It is quite a highly developed form of gnosticism. They readily say that the New Testament was not finalized until 397A.D. at the Council of Carthage. Not true!

You need to read commentaries in The Holy Bible in Its Original Order on the canonization of the Bible, and it will prove that the apostles canonized the New Testament. God chose them to do it. God would not leave the canonization of the New Testament to former pagan gnostic priests who adopted the name of 'Christian.' They didn't become Christian, they used the name 'Christian' just like a lot of people do today; and a lot of gnostics do.

They claim that the Gospels and everything in the New Testament—except some of the letters of Paul—were handed down by word of mouth and that they didn't start writing these things until the middle of the 2nd centuryA.D.; 'therefore, we can not trust them as to their authenticity or their truthfulness.'

What does this do? Virtually, it did very little until 1945, when they discovered what is now called The Nag Hammadi Library of various gospels. In The Secrets of Judas by James F. Robinson, Editor of the Nag Hammadi Library. If it wasn't settled until 397A.D. then why are these other gospels—which were also written in the 2nd centuryA.D.—not included?

In other words, Catholic Church, you have been partial and have excluded things that should be there, because these gospels are probably more original than the ones that are contained in the New Testament, which only a very few scholars reject that idea. So, the stage has been set.

Now let me give you some of the names of the other gospels that are there:

• The Gospel of Thomas

In an essay entitled Judas the Hero, Ralph Honner quite correctly comments:

This dialog of Jesus with Thomas counts today as very important for the history of religion. Some researchers name the Book of Thomas the fifth gospel. It could be that here even lies the original text from which the official gospels were built.

Do you see what that opens the door for?

Though the Gospel of Thomas is less a dialog than a collection of 114 sayings ascribed to Jesus, it is indeed a very important discovery of the Nag Hammadi library, no doubt the most important gospel outside the New Testament. It may well have older readings than the sayings and the canonical gospels.

What it does, it opens the door for the immortality of the soul, going to heaven; for all of these things that are not taught in the New Testament.

In this sense, nearer to Jesus Himself, in fact, I for one have made just such an argument.

Here are some of the other gospels:

• Gospel of Mary Magdalene

The founder of The Jesus Seminar is Robert Funk and is carried on by others. There was a woman who gave a whole seminar on the 'Gospel of Mary Magdalene' and why it should be in the canonization of the New Testament. You would be surprised at how many scholars and how many churches have endorsed that.

The 'Gospel of Mary Magdalene' also ties in with Holy Blood, Holy Grail and The Jesus Papers, which I'll talk about in part 3 of this series—that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and actually had physical descendants. Why exclude the 'Gospel of Mary'? How about some of the other ones:

• Gospel of Philip
• Gospel of the Egyptians

The Gospel of the Egyptians: The God-written, holy, secret book. Grace, understanding, perception, (and) prudence (be) with him who has written it—Eugnostos the beloved, in the Spirit - in the flesh, my name is Gongessos—and my fellow lights in incorruptibility. Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, Ichthus. God-written (is) the holy book of the great, invisible Spirit. Amen.

That's what they've done to gnosticize the teachings of Jesus. Anybody can take the name of Jesus.

• The Apocrypha of John

Then we have something by Matthew and Philip, allegedly, but they didn't write them. All of these were written during the 2nd centuryA.D. Why were these not included? What did the Catholic Church have to hide in not including them? This, coupled with The DaVinci Code and The Jesus Papers, is going to be a body blow to the Roman Catholic Church and also to all who believe in Jesus.

• Gospel of Truth
• Gospel of the Hebrews
• Gospel of Judas

In reading from the 'Gospel of Judas' put out the National Geographic, all of this was done in time for a media blitz to make lots of money

• If Judas wrote it, when did he write it?

He died before the Holy Spirit was given to the apostles to write and to teach!

• Why is there not anything in the other Gospels concerning Judas if he was the 'key disciple whom Jesus loved more than the other disciples'?

This is a counterfeit concerning the Apostle John! This is a gnostic attack against the Gospel of John, which John's gospel and epistles are defenses against the gnostics!

You see how Satan resurrects this. He keeps it buried and destroys everyone's faith in Christ, coming up to this age, and prepares the way for this great deception at the end. Now they're saying, 'Why did you exclude this?'

The key to remember is that 95%-plus of the scholars do not believe the New Testament. That's what you have to understand. They say there is no corroborative historical evidence. Where are the corroborative historical references to Judas outside the New Testament. The same standard by which they reject the New Testament they embrace these 'gospels' that have been long buried.

Excerpts from The Gospel of Judas (National Geographic translation)

…Jesus is betrayed by one of His closest friends.

He is called a friend (Psa. 41:9)

In the New Testament Gospels, Judas is part of the inner circle of disciples of Jesus, and according to the Gospel of John, Judas' function as the treasurer of the group and is entrusted with whatever funds Jesus and the disciples might have had.

Let's get our perspective for just a minute:

• if you believe that Jesus is the Son of God
• if you believe that He was God before He became human
• if you believe that Jesus never sinned—which means He never told a lie
• if you believe that the New Testament is—and you can prove that it is—the God-breathed words of God

Then let's read what we have here, just before He was betrayed and arrested:

John 17:11: "And I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, those whom You have given Me, so that they may be one, even as We are one. When I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. I protected those whom You have given Me, and not one of them has perished except the son of perdition, in order that the Scriptures might be fulfilled" (vs 11-12). The only other one called 'the son of perdition' is in 2-Thess. 2.

Who are you going to believe? Jesus? or Judas? That's why they want to try and incorporate all of these gospels together. What will happen, just like with the 'fifth gospel' that The Jesus Seminar put out—Matthew, Mark, Luke, John—and the so-called 'Gospel of Thomas.'

The Judas Iscariot of the Gospel of Judas is the betrayer of Jesus, but he is simultaneously the hero of the gospel. He says to Jesus, "I know who you are and where you have come from. You are from the immortal realm of Barbelo. And I am not worthy to utter the name of the one who has sent you." In the spiritual world of the Gospel of Judas, to confess that Jesus is from "the immortal realm of Barbelo" is to confess that he is a divine being…

But not like the Bible.

…and to declare the ineffability of the name of the one who sent Jesus…

The unpronounceable name of the one God? See how Judaism is mixed into gnosticism?

…is to profess that the true God is the infinite Spirit of the universe….

…Jesus says to Judas, with reference to the other disciples, "You will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me."….

Docetism; in other words, the spirit of Jesus only possessed the body of a man; He did not come in the flesh!

…According to the Gospel of Judas, Jesus is the savior not because of the mortal flesh that he wears but because he can reveal the soul or spiritual person who is within, and the true home of Jesus is not this imperfect world below but the divine world of light and life….

Remember where we started, 1-John 1.

In the Gospel of Judas, death is not tragedy, nor is it a necessary evil to bring about the forgiveness of sins. In the Gospel of Judas, unlike the New Testament gospels, Jesus laughs a great deal. He laughs at the foibles of the disciples and the absurdities of human life. Death, as the exit from this absurd physical existence, is not be feared or dreaded….

That's why you have these suicide pacts that people get into. They get into this mystic gnosticism, proclaim themselves to be Christians. Remember how many committed suicide in San Diego some years ago? Thirty-plus all committed suicide! Release the spirit from the body!

Far from being an occasion of sadness, death is the means by which Jesus is liberated from th flesh in order that he might return to his heavenly home, and by betraying Jesus, Judas helps his friend discard his body and free his inner self, the divine self.
When you're refuting lies and heresies, especially coming from the heart and soul of Satan himself, we need to backup what we're saying and refute by the Word of God.

John 10:14: "I am the good Shepherd, and I know those who are Mine, and am known of those who are Mine." We know God because we have His Spirit, we keep His commandments, we do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

Verse 15: "Just as the Father knows Me, I also know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep." He did not say that Judas is going to 'release Me from the flesh.' Judas had nothing to with it. Judas was an instrumentality possessed of Satan the devil when he betrayed Jesus.

Verse 16: "And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring those also, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. On account of this, the Father loves Me: because I lay down My life, that I may receive it back again. No one takes it from Me… [Judas could not have done it!] …but I lay it down of Myself. I have authority to lay it down and authority to receive it back again. This commandment I received from My Father" (vs 16-18). Judas did not help Jesus escape the flesh!

…Judas helps his friend discard his body and free his inner self, the divine self.

The spark of life goes back to heaven in the stars! It says of gnosticism:

God is a spirit and light within—…

Which every man has

…According to the Gospel of Judas, these rival Christians are simply lackeys of the God who rules this world below, and their lives reflect his disgusting ways….

In the central part of this Gospel Jesus teaches Judas the mystery of the universe.

The Gospel of Judas and other gnostic gospels is why God had them buried in the desert. That's why they are excluded from the Word of God! But what happened was all of these gospels that we have mentioned, written by gnostics, were the figment of the imagination of Satan inspired and demon inspired writers in an assault against the Truth!

For scholars and the Roman Catholic Church to go along with it—in the main; not all Catholics do, there are some that want to adhere to the Word of God, and I think God has raised them up as witnesses within their own group to be against what they teach. But nevertheless, this opens the door as to why, in controlling Christianity, 'you have left out these gospels, let's include them.'

Since Jesus teaches Judas the mystery of the universe, in the Gospel of Judas, as in other gnostic gospels, Jesus is primarily a teacher and revealer of wisdom and knowledge, not a savior who dies for the sins of the world.

For gnostics, the fundamental problem in human life is not sin, but ignorance….

Garden of Eden!

…The best way to address this problem is not through faith, but through knowledge.

In the Gospel of Judas, Jesus imparts to the Judas and the other readers of the gospel the knowledge that can eradicate ignorance and lead to an awareness of oneself and God

Watch PBS and these 'pull yourself up by your bootstrap' things; Deepak Chopra talks about the spiritual reality and the inner self and being able to be successful and all of this parses no sin that needs to be forgiven. You just need knowledge and you'll become better.

The gnostics of Alexandria and Egypt did not triumph, nor did the Gospel of Judas in the theological wars that raged during the second, third and fourth centuries.

That's why God had the apostles canonize the New Testament, because He knew what was going to come.

Consequently, texts like the Gospel of Judas with their different perspectives contain ideas that sound unusual today. For these believers in gnosticism, the most profound mystery of the universe is that within some human beings… [not all] …is the spirit of the divine. Although we live in a flawed world, all too often is a domain of darkness and death…

Remember where we started, 1-John 1!

…we can transcend darkness and embrace life. We are better than this world, Jesus explains to Judas, for we belong to the world of the divine. If Jesus is the son of the divine, so also are all of us children of the divine. All we need to do is live out of that knowledge of the divine, and we shall be enlightened.

Very interesting!

…He [Judas] does nothing that Jesus Himself does not ask him to do…

So therefore, it's not Judas' fault that he betrayed Jesus.

…and he listens to Jesus and remains faithful to Him. In the Gospel of Judas, Judas Iscariot turns out to be Jesus' beloved disciple and dear friend.

Think what this is going to do to people not grounded in the Bible. This could only happen in a 'fair and balanced' generation where all opinions are equal. If you believe, it is so; if you believe it, it is true. It doesn't matter if no one else in the world knows it, but if you believe it, it's true!

Additionally, the mysteries he learns from Jesus are steeped in Jewish Gnostic lore, and the teacher of these mysteries, Jesus is the master, the rabbi. The Christian Gospel of Judas…

Notice the slight of hand:

• there is nothing Christian about the 'Gospel of Judas'
• Judas was never a Christian

…is at peace with a Jewish view—…

Jewish mysticism!

…an alternate Jewish view, to be sure—of Gnostic thought, and Jewish gnostic through has been baptized as Christian Gnostic thought.

In this book, Jesus echoes the Platonic conviction that every person has his or her own star and that the fate of people is connected to their stars….

After being lost for sixteen hundred years or longer, the Gospel of Judas has at last been found. The authors of this volume hope that the Gospel of Judas may contribute to our knowledge and appreciation of history, development, and diversity of the early Church and shed light on the enduring issues faced in that formative period.

Again, Judas did not write the 'Gospel of Judas.' It's not mentioned in any place else in the New Testament. There is only one surviving copy, tattered, torn and fragmented. You will not find one word in here that coincides with any of the Truth of the New Testament. Therefore, this has been inspired by lying, satanic, demonic spirits. Someone wrote this inspired that way.

The Earthly Ministry of Jesus

When Jesus appeared on earth, he performed miracles and great wonders for the salvation of humanity. And since some [walked] in the way of righteousness while others walked in the transgressions, the twelve disciples were called.

He began to speak with them about the mysteries beyond the world…

When gnosticism talks about mysteries, it's talking about the 'depths of Satan.' It's not talking about the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, which Jesus said that He revealed in His Word and to His disciples and apostles.

…and what would take place at the end. Often he did not appear to his disciples as himself, but he was found among them as a child.

So, Jesus would change for them and come in as a little child.

[transcriber's note: in the following scenes, there are blank spaces in the text […] which denotes missing words]

SCENE 1:
Jesus dialogues with his disciples: The prayer of thanksgiving or the eucharist.

Bringing in Catholic doctrine.

One day he was with his disciples in Judea, and he found them gathered together and seated in pious observance.

What does that mean? Sitting in the lotus position?

When he [approached] his disciples, [34] gathered together and seated and offering a prayer of thanksgiving over the bread, [he] laughed.

The disciples said to [him], "Master, why are you laughing at [our] prayer of
thanksgiving? We have done what is right."

He answered and said to them, "I am not laughing at you. You are not doing this because of your own will but because it is through this that your god [will be] praised."

It's denouncing the true God in a backhanded way; nothing but the words of Satan.

They said, "Master, you are [...] the son of our god."

Jesus said to them, "How do you know me? Truly [I] say to you, no generation of the people that are among you will know me."

Great revelation of Judas!

THE DISCIPLES BECOME ANGRY

When Jesus observed their lack of [understanding, he said] to them, "Why has this agitation led you to anger? Your god who is within you and [...] [35] have provoked you to anger [within] your souls. [Let] any one of you who is [strong enough] among human beings bring out the perfect human and stand before my face."

That is pure satanic doctrine that you can be perfected by knowledge.

They all said, "We have the strength." But their spirits did not dare to stand before [him], except for Judas Iscariot. He was
able to stand before him, but he could not look him in the eyes, and he turned his face away.

Judas [said] to him, "I know who you are and where you have come from. You are from the immortal realm of Barbelo. And I am not worthy to utter the name of the one who has sent you."

JESUS SPEAKS TO JUDAS PRIVATELY

Knowing that Judas was reflecting upon something that was exalted, Jesus said to him, "Step away from the others and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom. It is possible for you to reach it, but you will grieve a great deal. [36] For someone else will replace you, in order that the twelve [disciples] may again come to completion with their god."

In other words, saying that Judas, 'You know Me, then you're going to know the true God and the other disciples don't know God.

What we're doing is like the movie Patton; remember one of the famous sayings when they first turned back, the Battle of Rommel and the tanks. Patton said, 'Rommel, you blankety blank, I read your book!' This is what we're doing here, so we won't get carried away with these things and give a warning to all.

This is pure hype, lies and nonsense promulgated by scholars and the National Geographic and other corporations to make money!

This is a tool of Satan the devil to discredit Jesus Christ, discredit the New Testament and put it at the same level that Jesus, combined with all of this, was not the Savior of the world.

When Jesus supposedly took Judas aside and taught him differently from the rest of the apostles, that made him the #1 man. If he was made the #1 man, why did he hang himself?

Remember, there was competition of Satan between Peter and Judas. Didn't Jesus say, 'Peter, Peter, Satan has desired you, to sift you as wheat? But I have prayed for you that your faith fail not.'

Remember when Jesus first disclosed that He was going to go to Jerusalem and die, what did Peter say, 'Lord, far be that from You.' And what did Jesus say? Get you behind Me, Satan, for you are an offence to Me. You savor the things of men and not the things of God!' So, Judas was the one that Satan got.

SCENE 2:

The next morning, after this happened, Jesus [appeared] to his disciples again.

They said to him, "Master, where did you go and what did you do when you left us?"
Jesus said to them, "I went to another great and holy generation."

His disciples said to him, "Lord, what is the great generation that is superior to us and holier than us, that is not now in these realms?"

When Jesus heard this, he laughed and said to them, "Why are you thinking in your hearts about the strong and holy generation? [37] Truly [I] say to you, no one born [of] this aeon…

of this age

…will see that [generation], and no host of angels of the stars will rule over that generation, and no person of mortal birth can associate with it, because that generation does not come from [...] which has become [...]. The generation of people among [you] is from the generation of humanity [...] power, which [... the] other powers [...] by [which] you rule."

When [his] disciples heard this, they each were troubled in spirit. They could not say a word

Then it talks a dream and a sacrifice that they saw.

What we're dealing with is the satanic inspiration of this to ridicule Jesus by making Him look like a buffoon, that He laughed and disparaged the disciples. What does this do for people who read the New Testament and are not grounded in the Truth? It makes them want to throw everything out!
JUDAS ASKS JESUS ABOUT THAT GENERATION AND HUMAN GENERATIONS

Judas said to [him, "Rabbi], what kind of fruit does this generation produce?"

Jesus said, "The souls of every human generation will die. When these people, however, have completed the time of the kingdom and the spirit leaves them, their bodies will die but their souls will be alive, and they will be taken up."

That is back to the stars!

Judas said, "And what will the rest of the human generations do?"

Jesus said, "It is impossible [44] to sow seed on [rock] and harvest its fruit. [This] is also the way [...] the [defiled] generation [...] and corruptible Sophia [...]

The female goddess of Judaism and Greek mythology.

…the hand that has created mortal people, so that their souls go up to the eternal realms above. [Truly] I say to you, [...] angel [...] power will be able to see that [...] these to whom [...] holy generations [...]."

After Jesus said this, he departed.

SCENE 3:

Judas recounts a vision and Jesus responds
Judas said, "Master, as you have listened to all of them, now also listen to me. For I have seen a great vision."

When Jesus heard this, he laughed and said to him, "You thirteenth spirit, why do you
try so hard? But speak up, and I shall bear with you."

Judas said to him [Jesus], "In the vision I saw myself as the twelve disciples were stoning me and [45] persecuting [me severely]. And I also came to the place where [...] after you. I saw [a house...], and my eyes could not [comprehend] its size. Great people were surrounding it, and that house <had> a roof of greenery, and in the middle of the house was [a crowd—two lines missing—], saying, 'Master, take me in along with these people.'"

[Jesus] answered and said, "Judas, your star has led you astray." He continued, "No person of mortal birth is worthy to enter the house you have seen, for that place is reserved for the holy. Neither the sun nor the moon will rule there, nor the day, but the holy will abide there always, in the eternal realm with the holy angels. Look, I have explained to you the mysteries of the kingdom [46] and I have taught you about the error of the stars; and [...] send it [...] on the twelve aeons."

Stop and think how the world has embraced all of this. There are going to be some against it, but it's just like 'how is this going to effect public opinion.' They're the ones who are going to be deceived. It's going to further alienate them from anything to with Jesus, anything to do with the true God, anything to do with the Bible. It's going to set them up for the deception that's talked about in 2-Thess. 2

JESUS TEACHES JUDAS ABOUT COSMOLOGY: THE SPIRIT AND THE SELF-GENERATED

Pure gnosticism!

Jesus said, "[Come], that I may teach you about [secrets] no person [has] ever seen. For there exists a great and boundless realm, whose extent no generation of angels has seen, [in which] there is [a] great invisible [Spirit], which no eye of an angel has ever seen, no thought of the heart has ever comprehended, and it was never called by any name.

"And a luminous cloud appeared there. He said, 'Let an angel come into being as my attendant.'

"A great angel, the enlightened divine Self-Generated, emerged from the cloud. Because of him, four other angels came into being from another cloud, and they became attendants for the angelic Self-Generated. The Self-Generated said, [48] 'Let [...] come into being [...],' and it came into being [...]. And he [created] the first luminary to reign over him. He said, 'Let angels come into being to serve [him],' and myriads without number came into being. He said, '[Let] an enlightened aeon come into being,' and he came into being.

Then after Judas had betrayed Jesus, He was received up into a luminous cloud. That's the 'Gospel of Judas Iscariot.' A bunch of dribble! That's true!

2-Tim. 3 sets up the whole thing. The first four verses shows the pleasure society that we have today.

2-Timothy 3:5: "Having an outward appearance of Godliness… [which Judas Iscariot is and the religions of today are] …but denying the power of true Godliness. But as for you, turn away from all these. For from men such as these come those who are worming their way into houses, and are gaining control over empty-headed gullible women given over to various sins, being driven by all kinds of lust. They are always learning but are never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth" (vs 5-7).

What did Paul say about the wise ones in the world who reject God? Proclaiming themselves to be the wise ones, they became fools!

Verse 13: "But wicked men and imposters shall become worse and worse… [we just read of it] …deceiving others and being deceived themselves." The heart and core of proclaiming how great the 'Gospel of Judas Iscariot' is. Why would people believe these things?

2-Timothy 4:3: "For there shall come a time when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but according to their own lusts they shall accumulate to themselves a great number of teachers… [all the experts we have in the world today] …having ears itching to hear what satisfies their cravings; and they shall turn away their own ears from the Truth; and they shall be turned aside unto myths" (vs 3-4).

Isn't that what Paul says in 2-Thess. 2—because they didn't have the love of the Truth they are given over to strong deception that Satan is going to bring on the world!

This is one giant brick in the wall at the end that is going to lead to the deception of the world!

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version by Fred R. Coulter

Scriptural References:

• 1 John 1:5-10
• 1 John 2:3-5, 18-23
• 1 John 4:1-6
• Matthew 28:18-20
• Mark 13:10
• Luke 24:44-48
• Acts 1:3-8
• John 17:11-12
• John 10:14-18
• 2 Timothy 3:5-7, 13
• 2 Timothy 4:3-4

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• John 1
• Colossians 2
• Matthew 24
• Mark 13
• 1 Corinthians 15
• Revelation 22
• Psalm 41:9
• 2 Thessalonians 2
• 2 Timothy 3:1-4

Also referenced: Books:

• Gospel of Judas (www.nationalgeographic.com/lostgospel/pdf/GospelofJudas.pdf)
• Primitive Christianity in Crisis by Alan Knight A Harmony of the Gospels by Fred R. Coulter
• The Secrets of Judas: The Story of the Misunderstood Disciple and His Lost Gospel by James M. Robinson
• The Gospel of Judas (published by National Geographic) Edited by: Kasser, Meyer, Worst, Gaudard
• The Jesus Papers by Michael Baigent
• Josephus: History of the Jews
• DaVinci Code by Dan Brown

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 4-4-14