JD Abshire

Yes. John 6:70 states "John 6:70 “Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?”

He also fulfilled his calling as prophesied. 

Psalms 41:9 “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.”

Zechariah 11:12 “And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.

Zechariah 11:13 “And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.”

Matthew 27:3 “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
Matthew 27:4 “Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? See thou to that.”
Matthew 27:5 “And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.”

John 6:70 “Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?”

John 13:26 “Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon."

John 13:27 “And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

John 13:30 “He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.”

John 17:12 “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.”

John 18:9 “That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.”

Acts 1:25 “That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.”

November 20 2013 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Anthony Clinton Teacher in China

If Judas was designed by God for one purpose in his life to be the betrayer, as if by the Imposing will of God, then how could a devil be sent by Christ as He sent them two by two to heal the sick and cast out demons, raise the dead and declare that the Kingdom of God wherever they went? Judas was given power over unclean spirits. If he was a devil the Kingdom would be divided against itself.

But of course, at the time, he was not a devil at all. The sin that caused him to fall from his election and become a devil, had not been committed and he had not been "a branch in Christ dried up" at that time.

So here he is mentioned having been given power over unclean spirits which was the "Holy Office" he owned as an apostle. So we do not see Judas lost here but as the scripture clearly says, he became lost by sin. Jesus had 12 but He lost one. Which means He had 12 apostles initially that were not lost, but he lost one because 'Judas by transgression fell' from his holy election.

Matt 10:1 "And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease".

Judas had clearly been, as all the Apostles, in Christ and carrying out that miracle ministry and preaching and teaching gifts imparted to them by Him! We know that at that time he had forsaken all and followed Jesus. While he was in that initial state of being a Holy Apostle, Jesus promised that he would be sitting on a throne in the new Jerusalem. 
Mat 19:27 "Then answering Peter said to Him, Behold, we have forsaken all and have followed You. Therefore what shall we have"? 
Mat 19:28 "And Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory, you also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel". 

All of the 12 had forsaken everything, including Judas, and He spoke to all of them. Jesus, if He was not including Judas, would have said "Some of you standing here will sit on thrones in the New Jerusalem" if Judas at the time was not included. He was included because at the time he had not fallen from his election.

If Judas' election had been to be an evil devil, then what would Matthias have been when he took what "Judas by transgression" fell from. Acts 1:20: For it is written in the Book of Psalms, "Let his estate become forsaken, and he not be living in it." And, "Let another take his overseership." ('Episkope' in Greek)
So Judas indeed had a Holy Election as a Christian and a Holy Apostle, but sin took it away from him so that that Holy Election and Calling he once had was taken by another. 

Rev 3:11 Behold, I come quickly. Hold fast to that which you have, so that no one may take your crown. 

If a saint throws away his Holy Election, like Judas who lost his, another will be given the Crown of leadership or ministry.
One might refer to the Old Testament where "King Saul" Received his Crown of Kingship,
1 Sa 15:17: And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel? 
1 Sa 15:22: And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 
1 Sa 15:23..For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. 

At the initial stage Saul was humble and the right choice to be King. There was none more qualified in all Israel but then Saul by transgression lost that calling because of his pride and rebellion. He went on to be a total apostate.

This Scripture is true also of Judas and also this spoken to Solomon.
1 Ch 28:9: "but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever".

November 21 2013 • 2 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report