Words of Jesus Podcast - Change Costs Relationships

Episode Date: July 21, 2023

WARNING: The desire to belong and to be accepted is a deterrent to a Christian. "I've never heard anything like that before," the murmurings of any who listen to the words of Jesus. His unique understanding and instruction conveyed the way for lost, dead men to live; ironically, it costs your life. "Deny yourself. Take up your cross. Follow me." It's lonely. It's difficult. It's fraught with persecution. It's change. It upsets the status quo! It's repentance. It's worth it! ***Ch 44: Jesus Warns Against The Teachings Of The Pharisees And SadduceesMatthew 16:5-12; Mark 8:13-21WHEN JESUS had left the Pharisees and Sadducees to whom he had refused a sign, he embarked, with his disciples, to cross the sea.            The disciples forgot to take food with them. There was only one loaf in the ship.            Jesus said to them:            “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.”            His disciples reasoned the meaning of this among themselves, thinking:            “It is because we have taken no bread.”            Jesus knew what they were thinking and said:            “Why reason ye because ye have no bread? Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? Have ye your heart hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? And having ears, hear ye not? And do ye not remember? When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?”            The disciples answered:            “Twelve.”            Then Jesus asked:            “And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?”            They answered:            “Seven.”            Then Jesus said to them:            “How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?”            So they understood that Jesus did not bid them beware of the leaven of bread but of the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Think Red Ink Ministries presents The Words of Jesus series with Don C. Harris Hello my friends and welcome once again. You're in tune to Think Red Ink Ministries' presentation of the Words of Jesus series. I'm Don Harris, and I've been enjoying going through the words of Christ. Hopefully, they're being burned indelibly into your brain. The red ink is soaking through, and you're beginning to think red ink now um this particular

story that we that we started in the in the middle of the show last time chapter 44 um jesus was um crossing over the the disciples they were on their way somewhere. And the disciples had forgotten to bring bread. And because they had forgotten to bring bread, I think they thought they were in trouble. Tells me a little something about the way Jesus organized his missionary journeys. They did have respect for him as a leader. And it sounds to me like he liked things to be just right. And nobody wanted to answer for this mess up on their part nobody wanted to answer for this shortcoming you know it was we've forgotten to take bread and boy when he finds out we're going to have trouble

it was as though they were just a little bit afraid uh that when he finds out that it's going to be a problem so they're in the boat and they're just kind of tooling across the sea as the wind is carrying them and uh jesus says now guys let me tell you something about the scribes and the pharisees and the Pharisees and Herod they have a doctrine that they live by and this doctrine is going to it it's gonna be around for a long time because it's it's within you it's in your it's in your skin and that is this idea that you care what people think of you now i would love to tell you that he said it in just those terms but he didn't he says it the way he says a lot of things in a parable in a simile a metaphor and that was he says i want you to beware of the leaven of the scribes pharisees

inherit now i don't care what you look in i have looked for this in just about every bible commentary that i own and i've got a few of them um i've looked at it in bible dictionaries i've talked to seminary professors about it preachers pastors elders teachers deacons you know it doesn't matter what does the bible mean when it says leaven what is it what is leaven symbolizing you know the answer to the question because you've heard it your whole life haven't you what is it say it with me it's sin right wrong it's absolutely wrong why would you say it's wrong well because the bible actually says exactly what leaven is the bible says that jesus told him not to beware of the leaven of bread, but to beware of the doctrine, of the teaching, of the lifestyle,

of the idea, the characteristic of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and Herod. I was fascinated by the fact that it did not say that leaven was sin. It actually says the leaven which is hypocrisy. Leaven which is hypocrisy. Now, if the Bible says, if Jesus said, if the red ink says that leaven is hypocrisy, why do we say it's sin? It doesn't matter to you? See, it kind of matters to me.

I just, I want to know. I just want to know. Why would I want to beware of the sin of a Pharisee? Why would I want to do that? I don't care. Okay, I care. But I'm saying, how does that affect me? The sin of the Pharisees?

The sins of the Sadducees? The sins of Herod? How in the world does that affect me? But when you just understand that Jesus, he was, see, problem is jesus didn't go to seminary he doesn't know these things so jesus in his own way in his own ideas and you know whatever you think they're worth he says that leaven is hypocrisy. Now, I got fascinated with this.

Because, first of all, when he says beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and Herod, I got to thinking, Pharisees? Religious leader. Sadducees? Another religious leader. Herod? That's a political leader so it's certainly not when it says which is the doctrine of the scribes and pharisees or the doctrine of the pharisees and Sadducees it's certainly not talking about religious doctrine Herod had no religious doctrine why is he putting these three into the same category i got fascinated with that but you see it was before it soaked into my head it's pretty thick head by the way but before it soaked into my head or as jesus says before it let these words sink down into your ears

it was before i understood that leaven is not sin it doesn't depict sin i don't care who says so you're not going to find that idea that concept in the scriptures at all what you find is a clear definition he's saying beware of hypocrisy now buddy if those three people that i'm talking about the pharisees sadducees and herod had something in common buddy boy that was it they were hypocrites now i know that the idea of hypocrite today has been kind of transmogrified into something that you know where people sneak around and do things or they or they they pretend to believe or they pretend to be a christian or they uh you know they catch them doing some kind of sin and and you see them in church the next sunday i'm not going to church because it's full of hypocrites or whatever

else and we use the word hypocrite a lot uh in that way that people pretend to be one thing and not another. And there's truth in the fact that hypocrite can indeed mean that. But this hypocrisy is a little bit different. It's the same in many respects, a little different in another respect. The idea of a hypocrite is actually this idea of acting. An actor is a person who is playing a part in front of an audience. You can't be a hypocrite without an audience. You ever thought about that? You can't be a hypocrite without an audience. You have to have an audience.

Who was the audience of the Pharisees? Well, wasn't it the people of the temple? Wasn't it the people of God? The people of all Jerusalem? The people of all Israel? They all looked at them and expected to see certain behavior from them. And they were willing to act like that behavior was indeed theirs. There was, and the Sadducees are the same thing, a little different doctrine between these two people, but they still had that same thing.

When they, they were disgusted at what Jesus was doing. They were constantly plotting against him. And they would take, and in some cases even seize opportunity, to attack Jesus publicly, and they would always back away. Why did they back away? Well, you might want to believe that Jesus exuded some spiritual force against them. And that could, may or may not be true, don't know. But I really think that the Scriptures, when they tell the story,

I think the Scriptures are telling us exactly why they moved toward him in an attack manner, but then backed away. What was it? You remember? They feared the people. They feared the people. They feared the people they feared the people they feared the people they it was over and over and over again what were they fearing about the people they didn't want to say anything or do anything that might offend someone if they ruined their appearance as a holy man of God or whatever, do you think that they wanted anybody to know

that they put together 30 pieces of silver to kill this rabbi? You think they wanted anybody to know that? You can bet that was done behind walls. Why is that? They feared the people. Why didn't they push him off the cliff that day they feared the people why didn't they accuse him or throw him in jail or or send him to uh the prison by way of some uh they they would come to him about get him to talk about taxes

perhaps we can get him to say something that'll get him in trouble with the with the romans and they feared the people they feared the people and feared the people take herod for example i believe that herod and john the baptist were friends i have no reason to believe that they weren't as a matter of fact the bible says that even when john the baptist was in prison he wasn't in prison because herod wanted him there he was there because herod wanted what his wife wanted which is hypocrisy which is acting which is hypocrisy otherwise known as what leaven he didn't want his wife to be mad at him hey guys can you imagine that so he did what his wife because because see john the baptist was saying hey you enjoying your brother philip's wife

and uh you know and and herod you know because he's a guy he didn't take offense to that it might have made him he might have not appreciated it at all but you know when you got a guy dead to rights, you got him dead to rights. And there's just no fight left. But I happen to believe that Herod and John the Baptist were conversational. The Bible says that Herod used to go down into the prison and visit with him. Did you know it says that? As a matter of fact fact it says that he

used to go down there and hear what john the baptist had to say and and this is one of the mysteries in the bible i'm just gonna love to find out one of these days and and there's just there's just four little words laying there on the page that you know you just kind of read over and move on. But if you just stop and think about it for just a moment, it just makes you wonder, hmm, what was it? It says that he used to go down to the prison and hear John the Baptist and did many things. What? And did many things? What are you, whoa, wait, wait, wait wait wait wait back up here tell me again what happened because you see you have herod going to the prison obviously having conversations

with john well john really didn't have you know a career other than being a prophet he didn't have any hobbies so what was on john's mind repent and be baptized and it says and herod used to talk to him and did many things wow do you think that herod might have been baptized do you think he might have repented you think he might have made peace with john i don't know but i say all that to tell you that herod did not hate john herod did not want john dead i don't think he even wanted him in prison but he couldn't face his wife. More leaven. He couldn't face his wife, so he did what she said. Now, the reason I'm establishing that is

because Herod had John the Baptist beheaded. Why did he do that? Because some tawdry little sex pot, his stepdaughter, Salome, was at a party one time when Herod had all of his friends over and he was drinking too much and she was probably drinking too much and she was dancing and carrying on

and well, we all know that Herod lost his good sense and made a promise to that girl i'll give you anything you want oops problem what's the problem he said it in front of all those people at that party now he has a choice to make he can either fulfill that promise and maintain face with all those people or he can go against that promise and be known as a scoundrel it was so important to him that people believe him as king when he speaks. The people, what the people thought of him was very important to him. What is that? Acting in front of an audience.

It's hypocrisy. It's, as Jesus said, leaven. This is why Jesus had no trouble at all throwing these three types of men into the same canister. Pharisees, Sadducees, herod what what do they all have in common same doctrine of life 11 same doctrine of life hypocrisy same doctrine of life caring what people think about you and actually dispensing with what's right and true, just and honorable, and dispensing with that in order to maintain a certain view, a certain look,

a certain what people think of you. Hey, can I ask you, how important is it what people think of you you know we've talked about many revelations as we've made our way through this book jesus has dispensed with or at least should have dispensed with in your life many doctrines that you've been holding that there's no good reason to hold them there's no scripture to back them up. They have nothing but the church tradition to back them up. The only thing that they do actually accomplish in your life is cement relationships with other people. You can't even imagine having a conversation with somebody, some person in your life

that you have respect for in a spiritual manner. They call themselves a christian maybe it's your preacher maybe it's a deacon maybe it's your husband and a wife or even your children anybody your boss your friend across the fence whoever calls himself christian you can't even imagine dispensing with one of the commonly held doctrines between you because there's no scriptural evidence for it and look at that person in the eye and say, you know what? I no longer believe that because you know it's going to drive a wedge between you and that person. Therefore, you act like it doesn't really matter. You're not going to take a stand against paganism in your

home. You're not going to take a stand against adding, you know, pagan ideas and characteristics to your own Christianity. You're not going to take a stand against that because you know it's going to cost you in relationships with other people. And you know what that is? It's leaven, my friend. It's leaven that a little bit will end up leavening the whole lump of dough. It's going to take you down. It's going to destroy you. Would you rather be long

or be right? Why don't you answer that question honestly? Because if you'd really rather be long than be right do yourself a favor and quit learning the truth because the truth is going to cause you some serious trouble if you're not honest enough to walk in it accept it as your own stand up in front of the people that that perhaps you have an undue and inordinate amount of respect for people that'll throw you under the bus eventually hopefully they will hopefully you'll find out what this relationship really is because friend a lot of times we're protecting a relationship

that's going to be our ultimate destruction in raising teenagers i used to say do you realize how many things you're going to do how many stupid things ridiculous things things that you're going to be ashamed of for the rest of your natural life do you know how many of those things you're going to do to impress a bunch of people in your school that you that you are likely never going to see ever again. We train our children to add leaven to their lives. You've got to have little emblems on your clothes. It's got to be, you know, certain kinds. It's got to be certain brand names.

It's got to be, you know, you have to dress alike and look alike and talk alike and act alike by the way you know why kids do that so they can express their individuality you know what we parents i don't know are we are we just dizzy are we deaf are we dumb are we dead what in the world are we thinking our kids want to express individuality so they all look alike how much how much sense does it take for you to understand they're not trying to be individual from each other they're trying to be individual from you that's that's that's their purpose and that's what they do they drive a wedge between them and their own parents absolutely contrary to the fifth commandment maybe you should have taught your kids to

to obey the commandments instead of just believing in jesus and loving jesus maybe you should have taught them to obey the commandments well what about their salvation well bible says that the that the law is the schoolmaster to bring us unto christ oh you thought you were the schoolmaster no the law is oh you thought your church was no the law is your preacher no the law is that's what the scriptures teach so if they had kept the fifth commandment maybe they wouldn't want to express individuality did i just chase a rabbit i'm afraid i did but the idea of hypocrisy and leaven it's throughout the church it's all over the place it's it's probably the impetus behind every false doctrine in our lives it's it's really really frightening jesus was on his way to take

these men to uh to a place that is going to be loaded with people and he was warning them now look you're gonna when you get there you're gonna see people you know you're gonna see family members you know you're gonna see a lot of people that you would really like to see people you know you're going to see family members you know you're going to see a lot of people that you would really like to impress that you don't want them to think that you're just some kind of a goofball that's following some troublemaker around the countryside you know some sandal wearing goofball hippie and you're just you're caught up in a cult and so you're going to be more than willing more than you even actually want to admit you're caught up in a cult. And so you're going to be more than willing, more than you even actually want to admit.

You're going to be a little more than willing to say, well, you know, that's Jesus. He's kind of goofy. He's kind of good about some things, but he's got some goofy ideas. What are you doing? What are you doing? Are you denying Christ?

Are you really denying him in front of everybody? Really? Really? Yeah, you are. Why are you doing that? Because of leaven. You care what people think. Way too much you care what people think. You've got the idea that the majority is right, don't you?

I know you do because you write me letters and say, you know, if what you believe is right right then why doesn't everybody believe it thinking you know i just want to write back i'll tell you what let's play a game i say something stupid and you say something even more stupid than that so far you're winning i don't understand where did you get the idea that the majority is right where'd you get the idea that if something's true the majority is going to believe it is there an example of that somewhere in the whole cotton picking world i've been fascinated with christians that that talk like that i'm thinking, really, are you looking for a majority? You ought to be a Muslim.

There's more of them than anybody. There's more Muslims than there is people. Oh, you're not a Muslim. You're a Christian? Well, why aren't you Catholic? That's the largest denomination in the world. The largest Christian denomination in the world well why aren't you catholic that's the largest denomination in the world largest christian denomination in the world why aren't you a buddhist why aren't you i don't know really do you really believe the majority should rule if if what you believe is true then

how come more people don't believe it does that really make sense to you or are you just mouthing what you've heard somebody else say oh wait a minute if you're mouthing what you heard somebody else say it must mean that you have some an inordinate amount of respect for somebody that you've probably exemplified leaven and hypocrisy toward is it always going to come back around to this? Yeah, pretty much. Pretty much. We really do care what people think about us. We can't take a stand for anything. You're not an independent nothing. You're not an independent thinker.

You're not an independent Christian. You don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I know you tell people you do, but you don't. You've got a corporate relationship with Jesus Christ. I know you tell people you do, but you don't. You've got a corporate relationship with Jesus Christ or with somebody you call Jesus Christ. This thing just gets nuttier and nuttier and nuttier the more you look at it. So here's my advice. Can we just start over? Can we just start over and not care what people think actually take the words in scripture when jesus says something we say you know what i'm gonna adopt that into my life i'm gonna i'm gonna

do just that just what he's telling me to do right there now you think that's possible? It is possible. Hey, let's see a show of hands. I'm raising mine. That's what I did. That's what I, nothing opened my understanding. Nothing opened my ears, my eyes, my understanding, my relationship to God. All the turmoil and strife and having to take scripture and change meanings and change the syntax of

sentences quote scripture wrong and uh and say you know this isn't for us today and this is for us today and know all the rules to interpret scripture by so that my i could keep my doctrine intact man i just let it all go i said i'm just going to make a new doctrine i'm just going to make a new one and you know what i found myself doing same thing john says i got a new commandment for you what you got a new commandment we've got 10 what are you saying you've got an 11th commandment you've made a new doctrine a new a new commandment he says it's not a new one it's an old one that you love one another oh i see so everything old is new again yeah pretty much i believe that first century christianity was dead on target that's what what I believe. I believe that Christianity, when Christ,

the word Christ in the word Christianity meant Jesus Christ, the one who lived 2,000 years ago on the earth, the Son of God, the Anointed One, the Messiah. I believe that when the word Christ in Christianity meant Him, I think that particular religion, if you want to call it, is worth emulating. I think it's worth duplicating. But it doesn't look like any other denomination

on the face of the planet. Who cares? Really, who cares? I don't. If you do, you may have a problem with leaven. Jesus is trying to tell you, you better beware of leaven, because it'll take you down.

It'll destroy you. You're going to find yourself at the end of your life with almost nothing to show for your christianity other than just a bunch of trite maxims little scripture verses you've remembered or and you're not even going to recognize christ when you see him many people people didn't. And we might be one of them. You might follow the Antichrist off the perdition. I don't know. Better be careful. And the best thing to do is to eliminate leaven from your life. Time's gone.

I want to hear from you. I appreciate those of you who have written. And if you'd like to write to me, my personal email is don at thinkredink.com. And I would love to get your letter. If you have a question or a comment, I'd be glad to help you if I can. All right, it's time to go.

Till next time, think red ink, my friend. You've been listening to Don C. Harris of Think Red Ink Ministries. Email don at thinkredc.com. That's ThinkRedInc.com. Join us again for the next episode in the Words of Jesus series. you