THE CHURCH OF SAINT JUDAS

By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi

John 13:29 "For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor."
        The word 'bag' is the Greek word 'glossokomon ' which means a purse. This gives us an idea of how sensitive Judas' position was, he was the financial secretary or treasurer of the ministry : a position given to the most trusted and reliable person in an organization.
          The other disciples had no complain about Judas' appointment because of his track record in society, yet he had evil intentions against Jesus Christ which culminated in his betraying Jesus for the love of money.  Judas is typical of a false teacher or prophet in the church of Christ. The false prophet or teacher is that fellow that could be considered as being very religious and like Judas very godly. What could be godlier than working with Jesus? The personal assistant to the Pope is considered very godly yet his office couldn't be compared to that of Judas Iscariot. The scriptures says in Luke 10:17 "And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the  devils are subject unto us through thy name." Amazingly Judas was among those who celebrated their victory over demons.  In  Mathew 10: 8 Jesus commanded the twelve including Judas to " Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead,  cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give." .If Judas had a church today, there will be miracles of the raising of the dead, casting out of devils and healing of all manner of sicknesses and diseases.  He will in no doubt be a celebrity preacher as is common today.
                There is no reward in heaven for the working of miracles  ,because the power for miracles doesn’t come from man  , the scriptures says in Matthew 7: 22-23  "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in  thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name  done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I  never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity". We were commanded by Jesus to teach righteousness (Matthew 28:19-20) and the teaching of the truth mustn't always  be accompanied with miracles ( Mark 6:5-6) .God used a donkey one's to speak to a prophet (Numbers 22:28 )and the scriptures never said the donkey was revered. God can use anyone and anything to fulfill His will on earth. In one instance Paul used satan to assert divine authority in a case of incest in the church ( 1cor.5:1-5) .The scriptures says in Isaiah 54:16 ..."I have created the waster to destroy " that means everything has been created for a purpose and to give room for the exercising of our rights to choose.
      The tree of good and evil in the garden of Eden  is a symbol of God’s right to judge humanity based on the choices we make ,likewise in the church there is a tree of good and evil which is the false teacher that puts on a front and often mixes truth with error. There is a church for the corrupt ( 2Thes 2:6-12) and another for the uncompromisingly righteous . Paul  describes the corrupted church as the mystery of iniquity because it looks in every way like the church with miracles signs and wonders following but filled with corruption.  It is hard to detect, it requires critical biblical analysis and prayers to detect the falsehood in them . The singular proof that God’s servants are actually doing what they were instructed to do by Jesus is the prevalence of righteousness and the fear of God in the society were they are domiciled (.Jonah 3:1-10). False teachers facilitate corruption in any nation that's why the most corrupt nations on earth are those with the highest concentration of false religious teachers .
               False prophets promise peace when there is no peace teach  that God's grace allows a person to continue living in sin after giving their lives to Christ . They claim there is no punishment for sins in the new testament (Jer.14:11-16) this is contrary to the scriptures (Rev.21:8) they are wolves in sheep's clothing (Mathew 7:15,Acts 29:29-31) they disguise themselves as ministers of the gospel gifted in seeing visions (2Cor.11:1-15) they turn converts into virtual slaves of their ministries with no lives of their own (2Pet.2:17-22). They introduce teachings that destroy families (2Pet.2:1-3) they encourage people to abandon their families and scatter churches (Jer.23:1-40)
           Unfortunately, false prophets are popular  and loved by many because their teaching does not emphasize the need for truth,forgiveness,  accountability ,transparency , probity and faithfulness in the success of a christian.  The scriptures says in Jeremiah.5:30-31 " A wonderful and  horrible thing is committed in the land;  The prophets prophesy  falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love  to have it so:"People love to hate and false prophets encourage hate and are loved for it.
     We are admonished not to be gullible (Gal.3:1-9) but probe every  doctrine, testing the spirit in operation  (1john 4:1-3,Acts 17:11) and should not be carried away by preachers who preach on a God who breaks protocols and allows lawlessness (2Pet.3:17-18) this is contrary to the scriptures 1 Corinthians 14:40 "Let all things be done decently and in order."
       Jesus commands the church to test what it hears and never to tolerate false prophets (Rev. 2:2-3) this requires a willingness to go through temporary hardship which is part of the Christian training. We should be like the Berean Christians who examined the scriptures everyday to see if what was preached was logical and  true (Acts17:11).
      As you make Jesus Christ your lord and saviour and read this now, receive grace for protection against the manipulations of false prophets in Jesus name.
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