Judas (Not Iscariot), Labbaeus (Matthew), Thaddeus (Mark), Judas, Son of James (Luke)

“Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, ‘Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?'” (John 14:22).

This follower of Christ was called TRINOMINUS, by Jerome, one of the early church fathers. The word means “the man with three names.”

The name Judas is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Judah. Jude is the Latin form of the name Judah.

Judas was an honorable name that went back to the founder of the tribe of Judah.

About 164 BC when Israel was occupied and the great tyranny that was manifest in that country was persecuting the people severely, the dominant ruler that possessed the land was named by himself Antichus Epiphanes which means the “great and mighty God.” He rededicated the house of God to the goddess Olympus Zeus. He profaned the house in so many ways and one way in which he did was he brought pigs into the house of God and had them sacrificed on the altar. To the Jewish people that was the most blasphemous degrading thing that could happen.

He then sent his soldiers out into the countryside to have the same thing done in the various villages. They went to one village just a short distance from Jerusalem in which there was an old retired priest of the temple living there. The soldier in charge of the battery of individuals assigned to enforce the law called this old priest out of the ranks and said you are to be the first to sacrifice the pig here in your village then you will be first to eat of its flesh. The old man stood there stony faced in defiance. Finally someone from the crowd stepped out knowing the age of the old retired priest and said, I will take his place. The old retired priest first attacked him then attacked the soldiers and his four sons got involved in the battle. One of those four sons was named Judas. They called him Judas Macabee which meant Judas the hammer. They were few in number with no reserves and no military strength and training. But in the weeks and months that followed their insurrection delivered the people from the bondage imposed upon them.

Unfortunately this admirable name was defamed by Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus. Therefore, when this Judas is mentioned the gospel writer hastens to add, “Not Iscariot.”

To distinguish him from Judas Iscariot let’s refer to him as Jude.

Another of his names, Labbaeus, in Arabic means courageous, brave, or hearty. Thaddeus in Arabic means lively, vivacious. Names in the Biblical era were intended to reveal something of the personality or character of an individual. If so this Judas was a dynamic individual.

After having followed Christ as an apostle for three years, Jude, along with the other eleven, met with Christ for the last time in the upper room. The event is called the “Last Supper.” In reality it is the lasting supper.

There Jesus said to His beloved followers, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14: 1 – 3).

Then Jesus said, “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18).

There must have been comfort in the words that followed: “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also” (John 14:19).

Then came this intriguing question: “Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, ‘Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?'” (John 14:22).

Jesus response forms a stable platform for life: “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him'” (John 14:23).

Jesus did not deal directly with the “how.” Some things are too complex to have a simple answer. How does a computer chip work? There is no simple answer. I saw a cartoon of a child going through a grocery check-out line with his mother. There are chess sets on the counter as a special item for the day. As they are checking out the child asks, “How do you play that game?” There is no simple answer. Neither was there a simple answer to Jude’s question. There was however a wise response. Distilled, it is: Because you love Me, you will keep my word. Because you keep My word, I will reveal Myself to you.

This is an appeal to be steadfast. “Stead” means a place or position. A homestead is a home place. “Fast” means to be fixed unmovably in a place.

In a time of military conflict soldiers from North Carolina were called “Tar heels.” It was said they were so steadfast that it was as though they had tar on their heels and could not be moved. Jesus response to Thaddaeus’ question is an appeal to steadfastness.

There are three conditions for Christ fulfilling His promise in John 14: 21, “I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

1) We must have His “commandments” (Vs. 21a). By God’s grace Christ’s commandments are preserved in his Word.

2) We are to “keep them.” Obedience is the issue.

3) We are to love Him. Only when we love Him do we desire to know His commandments enough to search them out. Only when we love Him will we do what we know He has commanded us.

Commandants such as: a] love your enemies, b] love one another, c] be His witnesses unto the end of the earth.

There is a song with these words: “To know, know, know Him is to love, love, love Him.”

There is a book in our New Testament that bears his name, “Jude.” He may or may not have been the Jude who penned the book, but it speaks of steadfastness such as that for which an appeal is here made. In it he repetitiously appeals for steadfastness. He pleads:

Do not drift away from the truth as a result of personal indifference.

Do not be deceived into following false teachers. There are two types of false teachers:
1) Those who teach false doctrine.

2) Those who teach enough sound doctrine to maintain a good front, but who are themselves false. That is, hypocrites.

Do not be misdirected away from the basic gospel.

Do maintain the faith, “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 3, 17, 20, 21).

One way to maintain the faith is to keep “praying in the Holy Spirit.”

After the appeal for us to “keep yourselves in the love of God,” Jude focuses on the resource for doing so: “Now to Him that is able to keep you from falling … the only wise God …” (Jude 24, 25).

Judas, not Iscariot, remained faithful. Legend says he later ministered in Armenia and Persia where he was martyred. He was faithful unto death.

Why Did God Create Human Beings?

The fact that God created is foundational to Christianity because if His creation is capricious, unstable, and disorderly, so He might be also. This erodes the Bible view of a loving God who has a wonderful plan for your life just as He has of His total creation.

Alan H. Guth, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in 1980 first postulated this “inflationary universe theory.” He concluded the universe began with the creation of space-time out of nothing. Mathematical calculations indicate that space began expanding in time, out of nothing, at an enormous rate. Paul J. Steinhardt wrote in “Scientific American”: “In the course of this stupendous growth spurt, all the matter and energy in the universe could have been created from nothing…” In that creation God created human beings, why?

“For who hath known the mind of the Lord?” (Romans 11:34)

“Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why have you made me like this?” (Romans 9:20) Inquiring minds want to know.

“The Lord has made all things for himself…” (Proverbs 16:4)

“For thus says the Lord, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited…” (Isaiah 45:18).

The psalmist in part explains why He created man in His image: “You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands, You have put all things under his feet….” (Psalms 8:6)

“You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For you created all things, And by your will they exist and were created.” (Revelations 4:11)  One of our purposes is to praise and glorify God.  He created us to be objects of His love and blessings so that we might find fulfillment in praising and honoring Him.

The evolutionary low view of human kind has so devalued human life as to create an environment in which man’s inhumanity to man is tolerable.

God had a purpose in creating you.  Out of love He created humanity for fellowship, as an object to which He might express His love.  If your life is aimless and purposeless, it is because you have failed to realize His great love for you and how His plan for you is best for you.  His plan is for you to have fellowship with Him in time and for eternity.  If you cut yourself off from that plan, life loses much of its meaning.

Sin has broken this fellowship between God and His creation. Therefore, God has followed His miracle of creation with an even greater miracle.  It is the miracle of recreation called new birth through faith in Jesus Christ.

The Caring Capacity of God

John 1:1 – 5

If you have a seemingly unmanageable problem and need the help of a God dealing with it, the Scripture passage is for you.

John’s Gospel begins: “In the beginning was the Word…” The term Word translates the Greek “Logos.”  To understand the meaning of a word, it is helpful to see what it meant at the time of use.  Philo had used the term Logos meaning all that is known or knowable about God.  Thus, Jesus is all that is known or knowable about God.

John further describes Jesus as being “in the beginning.”  The Greek text literally reads “Before time began to begin the Word was.”  Two things are apparent.  Jesus is God who has always existed in eternity.  Second, there was an instant when time began.

Evolution, which is the opiate of the atheist, argues against such divine origin by such a loving Creator.  More and more scientists who are evolutionists are maturely conceding that theirs is a theory lacking in proof.

Robert Jastrow, noted astrophysicist and agnostic, in an address to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1978), gave an address entitled “God and the Astronomers.” Therein he said, “”..now we see the astronomical evidence leads to a biblical view of the origin of the world.”

He further wrote: “For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream.  He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.”  Thus, he is saying the answer is theological.  The writer of the Gospel of John gave us the answer a long time ago.

Honest agnostics who have intellectual integrity make such concessions.  It is for other reasons persons want to deny the God of the Bible and the creative power of that God.

Physics professor, T.L. Morgan of Cincinnati U. wrote: “To talk of thought evolving from sea slime to amoeba to self-conscious, rational thought means nothing.  It is the lazy answer of a thoughtless brain.”

God did not create a universe apart from His loving care for the supreme joy of creation . . . human beings. “For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish.”

“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (John 8: 32)

That is the God who does not immune us from difficulty, but enables us to manage it. Ask Him for help, and trust Him to bless and guide you. He is able.

Faith Is Defined by Example

Hebrews 11: 1 – 3

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”

Faith is most faithfully defined I these verses. At the time of this writing Judaism had deteriorated into a system of works. self-effort, self-salvation, and self-glorification. It was no longer the faith system God intended.  

Faith is substance. (Vs. 1A)

Our word “substance” is made up of two words meaning: “to stand” and “under.”  Substance is that which stands under us to support us..  It is the superstructure of life.

Their faith in God was so strong that they had such “assurance” that they responded as though the things promised were already a reality.

Substance (hpostasis) is a scientific term opposite of theory or hypothesis. 

Substance also means “the title deed.”

Faith is evidence. (Vss. 1B & 2) Evidence means proof.  Our faith is in the unseen, but not the unknown.  We see the world, but not that of which it is made — atoms.

Evidence (elegchos) is a legal term for that which is necessary for conviction.

Faith convicts us that God will keep His Word.

This expression carries the first one further.  It is the outward evidence of the inward assurance.  The life is committed to what the mind believes.

The expression we have “obtained a good report” means a good testimony,  by “so great a cloud of witnesses.” We live by faith.

We live in a day when everything outside man’s experience is denied.  Do you understand how a sheep, cow, pig, and goose can eat grass in the same field and one grow wool, another hair, another bristles, and the other feathers?

In “Pilgrim’s Progress” John Bunyan writes about a pilgrim locked in the deepest dungeon of the Giant of Despair.  The pilgrim is about to give up for lost when he remembers that in his pocket he carries a key called “Promise” which will unlock any dungeon door.  Actually, we have such a key called faith.

Spare yourself frustration, fear, and anxiety . . . use the key.

What Happens to Persons Who Never Hear the Name Jesus Christ? 11/1/98

John 3:16-21
Page 1554 Come Alive Bible

JESUS CHRIST is living proof that God loves you AND the whole world. Jesus, Himself said, “God so loved the WORLD He gave His only begotten Son…”

Why did God do that? Two quick answers are deserved.

One, God is love (I John 4:8). The very nature of love is to give. He being the personification of love fulfilled His nature and gave.

Second, He had to give because there was no other way to have a restored relationship with us. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ” (Romans 6:23).

The expression “wages of sin” refers to the big pay off made by sin. In today’s carnal world market the wages of sin can be quite high but there are no benefits and retirement is pure hell.

Likewise, the “free gift of God” means the free gift given us by God. It is without cost to us but it costs Christ dearly.

Both “death” and the “gift” are earned.

Death is earned by the sinner. The gift is earned for the sinner.

The person who in faith trusts Christ receives the most for the least. Such a person receives everlasting life for nothing.

“Everlasting life” means fellowship with God through Jesus Christ through all eternity.

On one recent Sunday I was asked by three unrelated persons about what happens to the person who never hears the name of Jesus Christ. That is a legitimate question. Often as in these cases the question is posed hoping for a simple one sentence answer. There is an answer but it is neither one sentence or simple.

We have so much and know so much; but how about others in far away places like Zaire, Sri Lanka, and Guyana? What happens to those who never know the name of Jesus: the Hottentot, Inue, and Lapplander? What about those of previous generations who never heard the gospel?

There has always been and there is more evangelism than the world recognizes and reports. For example, after Christ’s resurrection, a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit happened at the celebration of a feast called Pentecost. Acts 2: 5-11 lists the languages of 18 different languages spoken there. Years before Alexander the Great laid siege to Jerusalem. The priest came out of the city to greet him with the Book of Daniel and convinced him Daniel wrote of him. Thereafter he carried a large contingency of Jews with him in his world conquest. They were scattered over most of the known world. They learned the languages of their adopted countries but returned to the land of their ancestors to celebrate Pentecost. Many of these were saved when they heard of the resurrection of Christ. Extra-Biblical sources tell of a great wave of evangelism that swept the world in the first century as these people carried the gospel back to their adopted lands.

A letter from Pleny the Elder to Emperor Trajan referred to the large number of believers throughout the area.

Peter and Thaddaeus worked in Persia where King Agbar became a zealous follower of Christ and many people in his realm were converted.

Pontius of Alexandria went to India in 190 AD where he found many Christians resulting from the work of Matthew in that region.

In the 6th Century the Nestorians went to China as evangelists. For years there were more believers than non-believers in China. This continued to be true until the emergence of the Khans.

Globally our Lord has been at work throughout the ages. He is presently.

Traditional mission fields are experiencing marvelous growth. These are countries where there are between 15,000 and 100,000 converts a year with 75 to 200 new churches being started a year. Some of these are in Korea, the Philippines, India, Mexico, and Brazil.

Some traditional mission fields in which there is great revival going on are Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Uganda.

There are people groups being reached as never before in non-traditional mission areas. In Cambodia large numbers are being saved and churches started.

In one people group in India amid great persecution 400 new churches were started last year.

In China similar growth is being experienced among certain people groups.

In North Africa there is a house church in every town and village.

In Kazakhstan there is a bright movement of God in spite of efforts to stifle and disrupt the work.

In the Middle East, in Iran particularly, there is a great movement of the spirit currently.

This is a sampling of what the Lord is doing all over the world which He loves.

Today as in those days more people are saved than the world cares to report. Still the question lingers; how about those who have never heard the gospel. Those who live in areas where we have not exported the gospel. In the next few moments a Biblical answer will be offered. Five points are needed to answer the question. Note them please.

I. THE DOCTRINE OF DIVINE ESSENCE.
This point of beginning is the highest level possible. It is the character of God. One characteristic of God is absolute righteousness. That means God cannot sin. He never has an improper motive. Our human righteousness conduct is relative; that is, sometimes we act righteously and sometimes we don’t. God is consistently absolute righteous. That means He has never been nor can He ever be unfair or unjust to anyone. He is incapable of being unfair. All people of all ages are in the hands of a just and righteous loving God.

Install it on the hard drive of your mental mainframe and store it in permanent memory: God can not be unfair, and God can not be wrong.

God wanted to get so intimately involved in opening the door to heaven that He manifested Himself on earth in the person of Jesus Christ. He is defined and described as “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). Get the message. He is identified as “our great God and Savior.” This answers the question as to who Jesus Christ was.

Romans 9:5 defines Jesus as “Christ…who is over all, the eternally blessed God.”

II. THE DOCTRINE OF UNLIMITED ATONEMENT
Atonement is not a word in the working vocabulary of most moderns. The word means reconciliation or to make peace between two parties. It refers to a sacrificial offering to remove the effect of sin. In the New Testament it refers to reconciliation between God and humanity achieved by the sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The purpose of Christ coming to earth was “to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

“When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son” (Rom. 5:10).

The way in which the way of salvation was made possible is clearly spelled out. The body of believers is depicted as “the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). This raises the question: when did God shed His own blood? Jesus Christ, God in flesh and blood, did it on Calvary.

It can be understood by way of illustration. Formerly native Americans thought a drought was caused by the gods being angry. They went through ritualistic dances to make the gods happy in hopes they would be rewarded with rain.

The Biblical reference to the principle of atonement refers to what Christ did to satisfy the righteous demands of God the Father. After sin entered the world God saw all persons as the sinners they were. In love He devised a plan to solve this sin problem. Let’s call it “Operation Grace.” The plan called for God the Son to come into the world and remove the sin barrier that existed between God and mankind. This barrier could not be removed by any human effort. The purpose of the virgin birth was to provide the sinless Son of God to die on the cross to do what no mere mortal man could do. That is, remove the sin barrier.

Get this! On Calvary He bore EVERY sin of EVERY person who has ever lived.

This made forgiveness available to the “whosoever” of John 3:16. Don’t leave me at this point. That does not mean every person is saved. It means any person can be saved. The individual must personally appropriate this forgiveness by faith.

The fact Christ died for all sin of all persons means God wants to save all persons. Observe these texts:

II Cor. 5: 14, 15 “…one died for all…”

I Tim. 4:10 speaks of Christ “who gave Himself for all.”

I Tim. 4:10 also speaks of Christ “who is the Savior of all men.”

Again I say this does not mean all persons are saved. It means salvation is open to all. Each person must personally receive it by faith.

Hebrews 2:9 says, “…He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.”

I John 2:2, “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”

John 1:29, “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.”

In love God extended Himself on the cross on behalf of every person. God in love has exhausted His every effort to make salvation available to every person.

III. THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD OR GOD’S WILL.
Through the prophet Ezekial God spoke: “‘Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?’ … says the Lord God, ‘and not that he should turn from his ways and live.’” (Ezekial 18:23). The clear answer is that God desires all to turn and be saved.

II Peter 3:9 states God’s will clearly. He is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” Thus, God has stated He wants everyone saved. For any person not to go to heaven they have to violate God will which is for them to be there. To accomplish this from His vantage point Christ died for all.

Again the will of God is noted in I Timothy 2:4. Therein He is described as the God “who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth.” That is His will. What is yours.

IV. THE HUMAN MIND.
The determining issue is what do people think.

In the life of every person there is a time when they become God-conscious. That is, the Holy Spirit convicts them there is a loving God. No matter when or where a person lives, there is a point in their life when they are convinced by the Holy Spirit of their being a loving God.

Acts 2: 17 God said, “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.”

I Cor. 7:17, “God hath called everyone …”

John 7:17, “If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know…”

At a point in the life of every person they are made God-conscious by the Holy Spirit. That is, they become aware there is a loving God.

Romans 1 tells us of the reaction of many at the point of God-consciousness.

This brings us to the fifth point.

V. THE HUMAN HEART
At the point of God-consciousness every person responds in one of two ways:
a. I want to know more about this God, or
b. I don’t want to know more about this God.

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man; and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things” (Romans 1: 20 – 23).

It is at the point of God-consciousness that most people reject. At the point of God- consciousness they respond negatively and in their heart say: “I don’t want to know more about this God. I want to make my own god of wood, stone, or metal.”

This shouts this fact:
THE HEATHEN IS NOT A HEATHEN BECAUSE HE IS IN SPIRITUAL DARKNESS, BUT HE IS IN SPIRITUAL DARKNESS BECAUSE HE IS A HEATHEN.

IT IS NOT THE SPIRITUAL DARKNESS THAT CAUSES THE HEATHEN-NESS; IT IS THE HEATHEN-NESS THAT CAUSES THE SPIRITUAL DARKNESS.

However, there are those who send up positive signals at the point of God-consciousness indicating they do want to know more about this loving God. Then God takes it upon Himself to get the gospel to them through His obedient people.

No matter WHO, WHEN, or WHERE any person wants to know the gospel message, God gets it to that person through a human instrument.

God can tell who has said “no” and who has said “yes” at the point of God-consciousness. We can’t. We must assume all have said, “Yes, I want to know more.” Therefore, we must evangelistically reach out to them. That means we are to export the gospel. Have you said “Yes” to Jesus?

For any person to be saved, they must “accept Jesus Christ.” What does this involve? It involves:
1. An attachment which is: a) intellectual, b) emotional (God never intended for you to be a plaything of your emotions), c) willful.

It is as though three little people are sitting on a bench under the dome of your cranium. One is named Mr. Intellect, one Mr. Emotions, and the third Mr. Will. Each is to give a testimony.

Mr. Intellect stands to say, “I believe the Bible to be the sole authority for faith and practice. I believe Jesus Christ the only begotten son of God was born of a virgin to be the Savior who died for the sins of the world.

This intellectual ascent is wonderful but at this point the person isn’t saved.

Mr. Emotion speaks with great depth of feelings. Emotion is evident in his every word as he shares how deeply he feels about Jesus Christ. Poignantly with passion he tells of his sensitive regard for Jesus. He speaks in terms of chill bumps, thrills, a tingling spine, and tears of joy.

Now Mr. Emotion and Mr. Intellect have joined in testifying of their regard for Jesus, but the person still isn’t saved. The devil believes and trembles. He has intellectual knowledge with which he agrees about Jesus as the Son of God and is emotional about it, but he isn’t saved.

Next, Mr. Will stands to testify saying, “I ‘Will,’ will that my will be thy will. Not my will but thy will be done. Knowing the will of the Father to be to trust Jesus Christ as Savior I join with Mr. Intellect and Mr. Emotion in declaring my will is for Christ to forgive and give me new life.”

When the three join as one then the person is saved.

2. This attachment is: All-inclusive. We don’t accept his Saviorhood today and wait until tomorrow to decide on His Lordship. Our life orbits around Him.

3. This attachment is: All-exclusive.