Words of Jesus Podcast - Church Leaders Reject Jesus' Message

Episode Date: July 16, 2021

Jesus said, “I testify of that which I know…” “I speak of the secrets of the kingdom of God.” “I do miracles.” “I always obey my Father.” “Why do you not believe me?”  The church leadership was threatened by the authority of Jesus.  Jesus did not study in the yeshivas and did not minister the way the Pharisees anticipated Messiah would minister, i.e. within their established traditions and hierarchy.  Yet, his relationship to YHVH God was undeniable.  In like manner, when we are born of the Spirit people will not understand what we are doing, where we are going, or how we are guided.  Compromise, not syncretism via Constantine, has removed persecution from Christians. ***Chapter 7: (Part 3) JESUS' WORDS TO NICODEMUSOne night a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, came to Jesus and said: "Master, we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." Jesus answered: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, 'Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Perplexed by the answer, Nicodemus asked: "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus replied: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, 'Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God'. That which is born of flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, 'Ye must be born again.' The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit.'" Nicodemus asked: "How can these things be?" Jesus answered: "Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, 'We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.' If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to Heaven, but he that came down from Heaven, even the Son of man which is in Heaven. "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. "He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."

Think Red Ink Ministries presents The Words of Jesus series with Don C. Harris Hello friend, Don Harris here, your host on the Words of Jesus series. And it's brought to you by our ministry in Pytown, New Mexico, called Think Red Ink Ministries. You know, the other day it was brought to my attention. We have over the years become international ministry. We have people all over the world that actually tune in to our daily radio show. Also, TRI TV or ThinkRedInc.TV. And they're ordering materials and such, you know, from all over the world.

And I'm just really pleased to be able to do that. Well, that just goes for anybody. Anybody who wants the materials of TRI, just write to me. I would love for you to have them. And the Lord's people out there see to it that we have what we need so that we can offer these things to you and not charge anyone for anything. But it's through the faithfulness of people who appreciate what we do,

and they want this message out as badly as I do. And so if I can help you, write to me. You can write to me at don at thinkredinc.com and I'll get your email and I'll see to it that you have what you need. We've been talking about Nicodemus. The last show we were talking about the problem of a funneling effect that a language or living in a particular

society or what people understand, what they don't understand. It's like the Lord has had to take the wisdom of the ages, had to take the power of all time, which is His power, and explain it to people that are, wow, man, we just don't have the language to do it. And Jesus is finding Himself in this situation all the time, trying to explain to people about

spiritual things. He is talking to Nicodemus about becoming born again. It's obviously on Nicodemus' mind. And so he's trying to explain to him that except a man be born again, Nicodemus is rejecting the term born again saying that's an impossibility. It can't be done. Jesus is saying, well you think it can't be done because you just don't understand. It's the best I can do to explain to you

what happens to a person when he decides to follow God, when he decides to keep God's commandments and then he starts following the voice of God within himself. See at this point Jesus was bringing something to the earth that was unheard of. There were hundreds of people and I'm sorry to say but it's probably hundreds out of 10,000 but there were people who were keeping his commandments and loving him by

obedience were people who were keeping His commandments and loving Him by obedience and for that they will be rewarded. However, there was a greater aspect to being a Christian than simply just obeying ten rules. But He knew that he could make us different from the inside. He could plant within us a seed like unto his own

that would, as Paul says, Christ would be born in us, would be brought up in us. We would become more and more like him. And he was trying to tell the rich young ruler, and I think that he would love to have said to Nicodemus at this point, this isn't about dodging hell. This isn't about escaping hell. This is about us being regenerated.

And if you understood anything about the kingdom of God, what was ahead of us, what was in store for us, where we came from, what our Father God is all about, what's important to Him, what's not important to Him, if you understood all these things, if you did, you would not balk at the idea of being born again. You would find out, my goodness, that's as close as we can get in our language to that idea. And Jesus says, well if you're having trouble with born, hang in there because it gets

hairy from here. And of course that's the Harris translation, but we'll move into this one. Nicodemus asks, how can a man be born again? How can he be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus replied, Verily I say unto thee, except a man be born of the water and of the spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of spirit is spirit.

Marvel not that I say unto thee you must be born again. The wind, here he goes again. Here he goes again. He's going to compare the spirit of God to wind. I guess it's because it's the closest spiritual equivalent or the closest physical equivalent to a spiritual concept. I mean you almost go to feeling sorry for him. I'm sorry we didn't have a better

language for you to use when you got here. But he said, the wind blows where it listeth, or where it wants to. The wind goes wherever it wants to. And thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth. Anybody having trouble with the King James? It just says you can't tell where it comes from and where it goeth. Anybody having trouble with the King James? It just says you can't tell where it's coming from and where it's going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

So is everyone. What? You mean if we are born of the Spirit of God, nobody's going to know where we're going? And they're not going to know where we came from? Well, in a manner of speaking, yes. That's exactly what's going to happen. You are going to be a stranger to everybody around you.

Some of the disciples were having political problems among themselves about who was going to be great in the kingdom of God. Jesus made a comment to them one time about that saying, you know, it's one thing for, you know, it's one thing for, you know, no servant is greater than his Lord. No student is greater than his master. It might do that a student or a servant might be as great as his master, but never above him. There's no way that can happen. Well, so what exactly are you saying? Jesus is saying that

this is the way I want you to be. And you are going to be like me, but you should know something. You should remember something. You should keep something in mind. Don't forget this. Do you see the way these people are treating me? No, not those people over there. Those are people outside the church. These are hoodlums and thieves and whores and drunks and people that have problems in life. Or they're just ne'er-do-wells. They're just getting along.

That guy, he's a sheep rancher. That guy over there grows barley for a living. Nothing wrong with their particular professions, but they're not priests. They're not scribes or Pharisees. They're not members of the Sanhedrin. These people think I'm wonderful. They follow me around, and they love me.

I don't have trouble with them. No, it's the church people. Those are the ones. And let me tell you something. And let me just jump out of time here for just a moment. Do you know that's never changed? Do you know that if you are the Christian you need to be, you will find that the people who need what you have

will love you and they will care about you and you will be friends with them and you will be able to help them. And in turn, as time goes by, they will help you and they will comfort you. And it just builds this wonderful relationship but if any one of these guys wanders over and gets into that church thing they turn into a monster that will try to kill you for what you believe. It's true. It's just absolutely a fact. Don't you

dare think that the sinners of this world crucified our Lord. Don't you dare think that the Romans killed our Lord Jesus Christ. It wasn't Romans, people. I know. I sat in the Sunday school class too. You know, little Miss X, whoever she was, sat there and taught us and hung little paper things on the flannel graph. I was there. I saw it. And here's a little paper cross and here's a little paper Jesus and here

are little paper Roman soldiers coming to take him away. Look in your scriptures, friends. See who came to take him away. It wasn't Roman soldiers. The Romans weren't even involved in this until they were turned over to the Romans by the Sanhedrin, by the so-called church, by God's people. Read your scriptures and see who came after him in the garden. Do you think that Peter decided that

we're going to fight for your life? And Peter drew a sword out and decided that he was going to fight this. I always thought he was going to fight a Roman soldier. So you got a fisherman? A guy that hasn't done much more than had his fingers stuck by a fish hook? You're going to have a fisherman pick up a sword against a trained Roman soldier? That's suicide, man.

Why would Peter look at a Roman soldier and say, I'm going to cut your head off? No. No, it wasn't a Roman soldier that came to get Jesus. It wasn't a team of Roman soldiers rattling in their armor, coming up the road, trudging, tromp, tromp, tromp, and coming to get Jesus. No. I know you've been told that. I was told that.

Look in your scriptures. Who was it? It was the deacon board. It was the preachers of the day. It was the church leadership that came to get him. The fellow that he did, you know, we always talk about Peter cutting off his ear. Do you think Peter reached over there with that sword and sawed that guy's ear off? Absolutely not. He took

a swing at him. And that guy ducked. And when he ducked, he didn't duck quite far enough. And it took his ear off. Peter was going to kill that man. Do you know we know the man's name? It was Malchus. And who was Malchus? He was the executive administrative assistant to the high priest.

The church will kill you. The sinners will love you. The church will kill you. What am I love you. The church will kill you. What am I saying all this for? Am I off the subject? Not really. Jesus is saying, servant's not greater than his Lord. You don't think that they're going to treat me this way and they're going to treat you better?

Look, friend, they treat you better than they treated me. It's because you're not imitating me. You don't look like me. You don't act like me. you're not imitating me. You don't look like me. You don't act like me. You don't talk like me. You don't smell like me. And if you don't, you're safe. And you're going to be happy.

But beware when all men speak well of you. Do you know who they spoke well about? The false prophets. That's who they spoke well about. You know who they decided to kill? Who was it? John the Baptist or Jesus? I forget which one of them was said. But he says, which of the prophets didn't you guys kill? Did any of them escape your sword? Did any of them escape your persecution? Did any of them escape your persecution?

I don't think so. The church, the church, the church crucified Jesus Christ. The Romans, you want to blame the Romans? That's your own lookout. I don't know how to help you with that other than what I just told you. But the Romans were tools. The Romans didn't crucify Jesus any more than a hammer crucified him or a nail crucified him or a wooden pole crucified him. They were tools being used by the church. Jesus said the church persecutes me.

They're after me and they're going to be after you as well. If you don't think so, and if it doesn't happen, chances are it's because you're not where you need to be. Now, my ministry, the Lord speaking here, my ministry is that I move by the Spirit of God. Where the Spirit tells me to go, I go. What it tells me to say, I say. Do you know who knows that path?

Nobody knows that path. Nobody, but nobody. You see, I am of the Spirit. The Spirit is very much like the wind. You don't know where it's coming from and you don't know where it's going. That's the way I want you to live. It's the only safe place for you to live. I can tell you where, I can watch a preacher on television and tell you exactly where he's going.

No, I didn't mean that the way that sounded. I mean, I know the direction that he's going. I know what he's trying to accomplish. I can hear in what he's saying and what he's trying to accomplish. But a man of the Spirit of God, you can't do that. You just can't do that. They're a mystery. And he wants us to be a mystery as well. The only way to do that is to be

born of the Spirit of God. When you're born of the Spirit no man knows where you're going or what you're doing. And how do we do this? We do this by keeping His commandments. By living by our conscience. never disobeying our conscience, by taking time every day to get our marching orders from the Lord God Himself. That's the way we do this.

You can be born again. You can be changed from the inside. And I'm telling you that being born again, you don't understand born, you don't understand what that's all about, it's okay. You will. You don't understand how the Spirit of God

can move and move from here to there and you don't know where it's going or where it's coming from. And you can see the effects of it while it's here just like you can see a tree waving in the wind. You see the effects of the wind but you can't see the wind itself. He said this is very much like God. You don't understand this? Well, you will. You'll understand this. You know what Nicodemus is doing at this point? He's over in the chair and he's

got his face in his hands like this and he's rocking back and forth. And he's saying, how can these things be? Nicodemus asked, how can these things be? Jesus answered and here's a here's a question for

every preacher out there are thou a master of Israel? are you a teacher of all Israel? and knowest not these things. You don't know what I'm talking about. You're a teacher of all Israel. They look up to you. They come to you for answers. This is why Jesus at one time was looking out over

Jerusalem and it said that it occurred to him that they're just a sheep with no shepherd boy oh boy does anything change over 2,000 years we haven't gotten any better at this we have boxes and boxes full of people on Sunday sheep without shepherds at this? We have boxes and boxes full of people on Sunday. Sheep without shepherds. When is this going to quit? It's going to quit when you answer the question for yourself, Jesus'

question, are you a master? Are you a teacher? Are you a pastor? Are you a leader? Are you reverend something? Are you priest so and so? Are you father so and so? And you don't understand these things. Jesus was absolutely bewildered. Who am I talking to here? You're coming to me wanting to know about being born again? Really? I can hear his frustration.

And knowest not these things, he says, for verily I say unto you, we speak that we do know, and we, and that, and testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our witness. He's saying, okay, fine, You don't know it? I do. Why don't you receive my witness? Now, yesterday we talked about the chronology of some of the Gospels and how difficult it is sometimes to follow it.

And if you happen to believe that this story happened at the beginning of Jesus' ministry it would have a little less weight than it does. But when Nicodemus shows up and says we know that you're a man sent from God because nobody could do what you do all the miracles that you do except God be with him. He had seen, he had witnessed, he had heard. He'd grown up the last few years

in the city where Jesus did all these miracles. Now, here we have a fellow, I know Nicodemus is usually painted in a nicer light. And, you know, that he cared and that he wanted to be a Christian and he wanted to get saved or whatever else. And we make it out like Nicodemus has good intentions. I don't think so. I don't think so at all.

First of all, he came to him by night. Second, he came to him in secret. I don't know that he wasn't trying to get Jesus to say something to accuse him. I don't know. But there's no reason to believe that his intentions were honorable at all. And here Jesus is not condemning him, but certainly holding him to account. He's saying, you're out preaching about things you know nothing about.

You're talking about things you know nothing about. You're discounting things. You're setting things aside. You're ridiculing being born again. And you're doing that with absolutely no knowledge whatsoever. Now you're looking at me, and you're saying, oh, you're a man of God. You're a wonderful man of God.

Nobody could do these things except God be with him. And Jesus' attitude is, yeah, yes, that's right. I testify to things I know. I testify to what I've heard, what I've experienced. I talk about stuff I know about. But here's the funny thing, Nick. All the years that you've seen me do this, why would you believe my testimony? Why are you still where you are? Because I testify things that, only about things that I know.

You talk about things you don't know anything about. And several weeks ago, we talked about this, that Jesus, one of my biggest complaints with modern Christianity is we talk about and we tell people how to get to a place we've never been. We know nothing about this, and we don't dare send people to the throne of grace for the Lord Jesus to teach them and guide them by the Holy Spirit? No, we hand them a book and say, here, read this. Well, I can't read this. This is written in 17th century English.

Well, fine, just show up for Sunday school and we'll read it to you. All the time the Spirit of God is the promise of Jesus Christ to anybody who keeps His commandments, that He'll lead them and guide them into all truth. What do you think when He speaks from the inside, that He's speaking in Hebrew? You think when He speaks from the inside it's Greek or some dead Latin language or something like that? Is that what you're thinking? No, you understand every word that He has to say,

because you're led of the Spirit of God. You're doing what the Lord tells you to do and he's leading you and guiding you. He says, why don't you pay attention? Why didn't you receive my testimony up until today? Why are you here even testing me and asking me questions? Why haven't you received my testimony? And he said I'm talking to you

about the kingdom of God. I'm talking to you about being born again. You're ridiculing being born again? I say born and you say how can that happen? How can you enter into your mother's womb and be born again? You know, he said, what are you talking to me like that for? You don't understand me when I speak of earthly things? I'm telling you about the wind. I'm using the wind as an example for so you can understand the way the Spirit of God moves. I'm talking about being born

so you can understand the regeneration the Spirit of God moves. I'm talking about being born so you can understand the regeneration of a human spirit. I'm trying to show you and use earthly language. He says, if I tell you of earthly things and you don't believe me, how are you going to believe me when I tell you of heavenly things? I'd love to tell you this. I'd love to tell you this within your own spirit. I'd love for the Father to speak to you from the inside upwards. From the inside up. And if he

did that and explained these things to you, you'd understand them perfectly. I'm trying to do it from the outside. I'm getting nowhere. But boy, when he explains these things to you you're going to know and he says and no man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven even the son of man which is in heaven now why did he say that well you're going to find as we continue in the next episode that he starts to mention Moses. The Jews were under the

impression that Moses was a great leader, and he was, granted. However, they felt like all heaven and earth just was centered upon Moses. And Moses ascended that mountain, came down with the glory of God on his face and with the commandments and had power and understanding. And the Spirit of God was all over Moses. And he's saying, do you think that's something?

Well, here's what you need to know. No man has ascended up to heaven to know the Father except me. I'm the only one that's ascended that high. I know Moses went up on the mountain, but I've been higher than that. I have things to tell you that you're going to have real serious trouble understanding, but you need to listen to what I have to say. Jesus wasn't shy about his power and authority or his experience.

Our time's gone. I want you to join us next time to hear more from the words of Jesus. And we want to hear from you. If you're there watching, perhaps you're a recording listener. You watch by recording. I'd like to know that. Send an email to don at thinkreading.com.

I'd like to know how you listen, when you listen, when you watch. And mostly, I just want to know how you listen, when you listen, when you watch and mostly I just want to hear from you I'd like to know that what we're doing is helping and doing some good if you'd like to write to me you can do so at Think Red Ink Ministries P.O. Box 718 Pytown, New Mexico alright we'll see you next time. Bye-bye. ThinkRedInc.com. That's ThinkRedInc.com. Join us again for the next episode in the Words of Jesus series. you