The Lost Scriptures.

The Gospel of Batholomew

After the resurrection from the dead of our Lord Jesus Christ, Bartholomew came unto the Lord and questioned him, saying: Lord, reveal unto me the mysteries of the heavens. Jesus answered and said unto him: If I put off the body of the flesh, I shall not be able to tell them unto thee. 1 Before the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, the apostles said: Let us question the Lord: Lord, reveal unto us the wonders. 2 And Jesus said unto them: If I put off the body of the flesh, I cannot tell them unto you. 3 But when he was buried and risen again, they all durst not question him, because it was not to look upon him, but the fullness of his Godhead was seen.

Jesus saith unto him: Hades said unto Beliar: As I perceive, a God cometh hither.  And the angels cried unto the powers, saying: Remove your gates, ye princes, remove the everlasting doors, for behold the King of glory cometh down. 12 Hades said: Who is the King of glory, that cometh down from heaven unto us?

13 And when I had descended five hundred steps, Hades was troubled, saying: I hear the breathing of the Most High, and I cannot endure it. He cometh with great fragrance and I cannot bear it.) 14 But the devil answered and said: Submit not thyself, O Hades, but be strong: for God himself hath not descended upon the earth. 15 But when I had descended yet five hundred steps, the angels and the powers cried out: Take hold, remove the doors, for behold the King of glory cometh down. And Hades said: O, woe unto me, for I hear the breath of God.] 16-17 And Beliar said unto Hades: Look carefully who it is that , for it is Elias, or Enoch, or one of the prophets that this man seemeth to me to be. But Hades answered Death and said: Not yet are six thousand years accomplished. And whence are these, O Beliar; for the sum of the number is in mine hands. 16 And the devil said unto Hades: Why affrightest thou me, Hades? it is a prophet, and he hath made himself like unto God: this prophet will we take and bring him hither unto those that think to ascend into heaven. 17 And Hades said: Which of the prophets is it? Show me: Is it Enoch the scribe of righteousness? But God hath not suffered him to come down upon the earth before the end of the six thousand years. Sayest thou that it is Elias, the avenger? But before he cometh not down. What shall I do, whereas the destruction is of God: for surely our end is at hand? For I have the number (of the years) in mine hands.] 18 : Be not troubled, make safe thy gates and strengthen thy bars: consider, God cometh not down upon the earth.

19 Hades saith unto him: These be no good words that I hear from thee: my belly is rent, and mine inward parts are pained: it cannot be but that God cometh hither. Alas, whither shall I flee before the face of the power of the great king? Suffer me to enter into myself: for before thee was I formed. 20 Then did I enter in and scourged him and bound him with chains that cannot be loosed, and brought forth thence all the patriarchs and came again unto the cross.”

We have here a passion Gospel – which begins with a description of Christ’s descent into Hell – and his freeing Adam and the other great souls imprisoned there. This description of Christ’s breaking into Hell parallels the version found in the Gospel of Nicodemus. Jesus then tells Bartholomew that of the 30,000 souls which leave the world each day, only three are admitted into Paradise.

There is another story told of Mary and her divulgence of how she was informed of her mission to be the vessel for G-d’s son. She tells the story to Bartholomew, and when she is coming to the point of sharing the final secrets, “fire came from her mouth, and the world was on the point of being burned up.” Jesus intervenes to silence Mary, for the ultimate grandeur, the name of G-d, the face of G-d, the indescribable and the ineffable nature of the unknown must never be fully revealed. At one point, as the insistence of the Apostles, Jesus brings up Beliar (Satan) from his realm, bound with fiery chains and held by 660 angels. He allows Bartholomew to step on Satan’s neck and to question him. Finally, Jesus reveals to Bartholomew Jesus plan to bring immortality to the faithful and eternal punishment to the wicked (to be determined by Jesus).

We hear that Satan is still active in this world – that Satan is ever present on the earth – and I think we see that every day. To consider that it takes 660 angels to hold Satan down, bound with fiery chains, perhaps we can take solace in the promise that Jesus will one day defeat the devil once and for all time.

Pastor Dave

The Lost Scriptures.

The Apocryphon of James

… the twelve disciples were all sitting together and recalling what the Savior had said to each one of them, whether in secret or openly, and putting it in books – But I was writing that which was in my book – lo, the Savior appeared, after departing from us while we gazed after him. And five hundred and fifty days since he had risen from the dead, we said to him, “Have you departed and removed yourself from us?” But Jesus said, “No, but I shall go to the place from whence I came. If you wish to come with me, come!” They all answered and said, “If you bid us, we come.” He said, “Verily I say unto you, no one will ever enter the kingdom of heaven at my bidding, but (only) because you yourselves are full. Leave James and Peter to me, that I may fill them.” And having called these two, he drew them aside and bade the rest occupy themselves with that which they were about.

The Savior said, “You have received mercy …

Do you not, then, desire to be filled? And your heart is drunken; do you not, then, desire to be sober? Therefore, be ashamed! Henceforth, waking or sleeping, remember that you have seen the Son of Man, and spoken with him in person, and listened to him in person. Woe to those who have seen the Son of Man; blessed will they be who have not seen the man, and they who have not consorted with him, and they who have not spoken with him, and they who have not listened to anything from him; yours is life! Know, then, that he healed you when you were ill, that you might reign. Woe to those who have found relief from their illness, for they will relapse into illness. Blessed are they who have not been ill, and have known relief before falling ill; yours is the kingdom of God. Therefore, I say to you, ‘Become full, and leave no space within you empty, for he who is coming can mock you.”

Then Peter replied, “Lo, three times you have told us, ‘Become full’; but we are full.” The Savior answered and said, “For this cause I have said to you, ‘Become full,’ that you may not be in want. They who are in want, however, will not be saved. For it is good to be full, and bad to be in want. Hence, just as it is good that you be in want and, conversely, bad that you be full, so he who is full is in want, and he who is in want does not become full as he who is in want becomes full, and he who has been filled, in turn attains due perfection. Therefore, you must be in want while it is possible to fill you, and be full while it is possible for you to be in want, so that you may be able to fill yourselves the more. Hence, become full of the Spirit, but be in want of reason, for reason <belongs to> the soul; in turn, it is (of the nature of) soul.” But I answered and said to him, “Lord, we can obey you if you wish, for we have forsaken our fathers and our mothers and our villages, and followed you. Grant us, therefore, not to be tempted by the devil, the evil one.” The Lord answered and said, “What is your merit if you do the will of the Father and it is not given to you from him as a gift while you are tempted by Satan? But if you are oppressed by Satan, and persecuted, and you do his (i.e., the Father’s) will, I say that he will love you, and make you equal with me, and reckon you to have become beloved through his providence by your own choice. So will you not cease loving the flesh and being afraid of sufferings? Or do you not know that you have yet to be abused and to be accused unjustly; and have yet to be shut up in prison, and condemned unlawfully, and crucified <without> reason, and buried as I myself, by the evil one? Do you dare to spare the flesh, you for whom the Spirit is an encircling wall? If you consider how long the world existed <before> you, and how long it will exist after you, you will find that your life is one single day, and your sufferings one single hour. For the good will not enter into the world. Scorn death, therefore, and take thought for life! Remember my cross and my death, and you will live!”

The Apocryphon of James is a document that gives the accounting of the teachings of Jesus in the form of a dialogue between Jesus and two of his disciples, James and Peter. The word Apocryphon is a Greek word that means “Secret Book” – and this book was allegedly revealed to Jesus’ brother, James the Just. The book was discovered in Egypt in 1945. This book is less narrative, and more sayings, prophecies, parables, and rules for the community which are attributed to Jesus. It was mostly written for the edification of an unidentified group of Christians. As such, the Apocryphon of James is a collection of sayings and teachings that is contemporary with other Christian writings of the same style.

Unlike in some other Gnostic texts, in this text, Jesus strongly emphasizes the need for his true disciples to believe that he was actually crucified. “Remember my cross and my death and you will live… None will be saved unless they believe in my cross.” Such sayings appear to be intended to counter other Gnostic schools which denied that Jesus even had a physical body and was thus never actually crucified, but only appear to have been. The disciples must also be willing to endure martyrdom themselves: “In truth I say to you, none of those who are afraid of death will be saved.”

None of us knows what we will see once our eyes close in death. And for some, that fear will never go away. But the more we realize that Jesus has us in his plans for eternal life, then perhaps some of our fear of death will wane the older we get.

Pastor Dave