Words of Jesus Podcast - Examine Your Salvation

Episode Date: March 21, 2025

Are you growing in imitation of Christ? There is a clandestine nature to the Kingdom of God. A revelation, a visitation, a hearing of the Word of God is required to begin the process of salvation. Jesus was not interested in the type of promotion so familiar in our day which seeks after crowds, money and popularity. Jesus' ministry is not based on persuasion or education. Many times Jesus told his disciples and those he healed to "Tell no man." What is the source of that thought? Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:” ...for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth hears my voice.” Jesus said, those of are of the truth hear my voice. John 18***111: Jesus Before CaiaphasMatthew 26:57-68; Mark 14:53-65; Luke 22:63-71; John 18:12-27 Jesus Before CaiaphasJesus was taken before the high priest. Assembled were all the chief priests, scribes, and elders.            Peter followed the crowd into the palace and sat with the servants, warming himself at the fire.            The chief priests and the council sought to find witnesses so that Jesus might be put to death. Many testified against Jesus, but the testimony of no two agreed.            Then certain witnesses arose and said:            “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands!”            But even the testimony of these did not agree exactly.            Then the high priest arose and said to Jesus:            “Answerest thou nothing? What is it which these witness against thee?”            Jesus remained silent. Again the high priest asked him:            “Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”            Jesus replied:            “I am. And ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of Heaven.”            The high priest then tore Jesus’ clothes and said to the council:            “What need we any further witnesses? Ye have heard the blasphemy. What think ye?”            Thereupon they all condemned Jesus to death. Some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to strike him, and say:          “Prophesy!”***112: Jesus Before PilateMatthew 27:2, 11-14; Mark 15:1-5; Luke 23:1-12; John 18:28-38Jesus Before PilateThe next morning Jesus was taken, by his accusers, to Pilate. Pilate asked them:            “What accusation bring ye against this man?”            They replied:            “If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up to thee.”            Pilate...

Music Think Red Ink Ministries presents The Words of Jesus Series with Don C. Harris Music Hello my friends, welcome once again to the Words of Jesus series. Don Harris here, your host, taking you through The Red Ink, something I enjoy doing. I hope you've enjoyed the book so far. It's really hard to enjoy toward the end, as I say, this is just the worst of having As I say, this is just the worst of having to go through these stories that really don't put us in the best light.

I'm afraid that mankind has just showed his colors way too many times. You know, the Lord can deliver us from a horrible thing and we'll be worshipping idols tomorrow. How in the world is that so? Well, you know, when you're talking about the people who were God-fearing people back in the Old Testament days, I understood that. These people weren't born again. They weren't changed from the inside. They weren't regenerated. They're just doing the best they could. And the best they could was keeping the law of God and allowing Him to essentially overlook everything else. And you know I don't recommend that lifestyle today. No I can't recommend that lifestyle because

the Lord Jesus has changed things. There was a time when God winked at the ignorance of men but now He commands all men everywhere to repent. Why is that? What changed? Well, we killed his boy. That's what changed. That's what changed. He's bankrupted himself to save us. And he's not messing around anymore. Most of us, most of us shouldn't even be alive and he just continues to preserve us and to work with us and to forgive us and to overlook some of our stupidity, make offers to us to be regenerated, to be changed, to be different. Things are different. I'm glad they are.

Really if we're living like those men in the Old Testament, having trouble back and forth in sin and back and forth and not being able to, there's no real change happening in your life. You kind of mentally ascend and you call it faith. You hope and you call it faith. You act and you're just kind of pushing an agenda and you're doing it in front of people and being hypocritical and it's just a struggle. Man, it's just so difficult being a Christian. Well, I got some advice for you. Perhaps you should look into becoming regenerated. It's so much better than trying really, really

regenerated. It's so much better than trying really, really hard. You can actually be the person that the Lord wants you to be. Don't look at the commandments like they're some kind of finger wagging condemnation of mankind. Look at them as if they're a prophecy, a prophecy on your behalf. And all you've got to do is add in front of them the thought you know what when you become a Christian that should do no murder you know what when you become regenerated thou shall not commit adultery you know what when you love your neighbor as, you're not going to lie about him in court. You're not going to treat him badly. You're not going to steal from him. These are, the commandments of God are very easily considered to be prophetics about us. Once we come into that faith of Christ and become and enjoy the pleasures

of being the seed of Abraham saved by faith, all these things tend to fall away. So it's not thou shalt not. When you are who you're supposed to be, you won't do these things. So, you know, it's really good news for us. What is the Apostle saying? He says, the commandments of the Lord are not grievous. Well, see, he understood this. And really, you know, the commandments he expects of us? They're not grievous. They're not difficult.

They don't weight us down. You know what weights us down? Breaking the commandments of God. Paul says the sin which does so easily beset us. And if we don't set these aside, we're not going to be able to run this race that is set before us.

Alright. We're in chapter 111 now where Jesus is before Caiaphas. Jesus was taken before the high priest. Assembled were all the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. Evidently the same guys who went and got him are sitting and listening to this mock trial. Peter followed the crowd into the palace and sat with the servants, warming himself at the fire. The palace had a staff that certainly weren't welcome in these proceedings and in the places of the royalty

without certain permissions. And so evidently they would gather. This was at the time of the Passover. So it was early spring, nights are probably getting colder. And so they had built a fire out at their place, wherever their place was sectioned off or whatever place that these servants gathered. And so Peter saw them at that place in the fire and so he went over to warm himself.

The chief priest and the council sought to find witness so that Jesus might be put to death. Many testified against Jesus, but the testimony of no two agreed." Now what does that, what does the Old Testament say about that? That testimony is no good. It's to be thrown away. Then certain witnesses arose and said, we heard him say I will destroy this temple that is made with hands and within three days I'll build another one made without hands. And I can just see the chief priest say, are we gonna go with this? Really, that's all we've got on this guy?

Some esoteric, some ethereal, spiritual, metaphorical saying, that's really, that's all we've got? Well, he did say he was gonna destroy the temple we can't have that all right I guess we can go with that and so they obviously took the testimony of this particular person but even the testimony of these did not agree exactly. Then the high priest arose and said to Jesus, Answers thou nothing? What is it which these witness against thee?

Aren't you going to answer these charges? Jesus remained silent. Again the high priest asked him, Are thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? Wait a minute, wait a minute. What was this destroying the temple thing and now we're asking if I'm the Messiah? What's that all about? Well I've told you before, it's understood by some of the ancient Jews and some of the Orthodox of today who have studied ancient Judaism

that It was just understood that when Messiah came He was going to destroy the temple Not destroy as much as dismantle, but he was the temple would have no use after Messiah got here, and it would be removed. Not one stone upon another, so to speak. So when he says, I'm going to destroy the temple and raise up one made without hands in three days. I think they knew what he was talking about and they knew so much so

that there was not a subject change here at all. Who do you think you are? The Christ? That's essentially what they were asking him. Well, Jesus replied, I am. Now, there's people that make a lot out of the two words, I am, saying it's some name of God or whatever else. It's not a name of God, it's a declaration of God.

But it's certainly not His name. And there are people who want to believe that Jesus was God when He was on the earth. Use scriptures like this, say look there, He says I am. That means He's God. And not in any thoughtful person's mind it doesn't. Not with a person with the ability to read on a 12th grade level. Not anybody that understands who the Messiah is and what the Son of God means. I mean, nobody thinks this except people that are pushing an agenda. So you need to cancel that on your repertoire proving that Jesus was God when he was on the earth. He says,

he says, are thou the Christ then the Son of the Blessed? Jesus replied, I am. And ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. sitting at the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven." It was like, you're not intimidating me. You think I'm afraid to say that I'm afraid to say the truth? I mean Paul asked the question one time. I always loved this particular way he said this. Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the question one time. I always loved this particular way he said this. Am I therefore become your enemy

because I tell you the truth? Wow, you don't even wanna know how many opportunities I've had to say that. But he's saying, I'm telling you, I am. And you wanna know even more so than that? It's not just that I am, but I'm going to prove to you that I am. Well, I can just imagine these high priests, I mean their voice had to be a little shaky at this point, their hands had to be a little shaky, a little sweaty, but here he's saying that, man you guys have gotten this so wrong.

And so the high priest then tore Jesus's clothes and said to the council, What need we of any further witnesses? It's not really good when somebody says that. What they're saying is, is okay, we had these witnesses, they didn't work, those witnesses, they didn't agree, this witness, that was pretty weak. But now, he's committed blasphemy. So, we don't even care about these witnesses. Just send them out.

That's not a problem. We got a new charge. These people were desperate. They were desperate to destroy Jesus. And they had to get it done pretty quickly because Passover was on its way. And they didn't want to do this crucifixion at Passover for the optics as we say now and in the risk of being unclean and not able to keep Passover.

So they're saying what need we have any further witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy? What think ye? Thereupon they all condemned Jesus to death. Oh, there's a surprise Some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him saying prophesy Tell us the you know do us a little magic act here, preacher, big shot, son of God, whoever you think you are. See, these are blasphemous words said to Jesus Christ. The blasphemy didn't come from Him. It came from them. Alright in chapter 112 we find Jesus before Pilate. Alright here we see him before the Sanhedrin. He stood a religious trial

if you want to call that a trial but now he's going to Pilate. The next morning Jesus was taken by his accusers to Pilate. Pilate asked them, what accusation do you bring against this man? They replied, if he were not a male factor we would not have delivered him up to thee. That's not the question I ask you. Why are you saying that? Why are you qualifying, over-qualifying your particular actions here? These people were, they had, they were not convinced at all that they had a legitimate

case. So why are you, what's the accusation against him? Well, if he wasn't a bad person, we wouldn't have brought him here. That doesn't answer my question. Okay, fine, okay, fine, he's a bad person. What has he done? You can see this is so obvious that these people had nothing. They were absolutely bankrupt when it came to having an accusation, a viable accusation against Jesus Christ. To bring action against Him, especially by the Roman government. The Roman government doesn't care if he's breaking a commandment or he's not keeping the Sabbath day.

They don't care. So these people are trying to think on their feet. So what accusation bring you against this man? They replied, if he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him to thee. Pilate said, take him and judge him according to your law. His accusers answered, It's not lawful for us to put any man to death. Pilate then called Jesus and asked him, Are you the king of the Jews? Now look at what's happened here.

Here's Pilate thinking, yeah, okay, let's bring him in here. He sees him and his mind must have been flooded with different thoughts. And so Pilate jumps into the purpose that, like I say, I don't know that the Lord put this in his head. I don't know. But for some reason Pilate was thinking to himself, I could use this guy. So he asked him, are you the king of the Jews? Jesus says, you tell people that I am. I'm telling you, it's not only in his thoughts. I think that he's been bouncing this off of people and talking to different people, running

it up the flagpoles, see if anybody salutes as they say I think that he was he was testing this what do you think of this Jesus guy he could replace Herod man people love this guy well isn't he an insurrectionist never said anything against Rome in fact they were trying to get out of their taxes one day and he says, No, no, no, give Caesar what belongs to him. I'm telling you they had no trouble with this fellow. Thou sayest this thing of, and so he says, Art thou the king of the Jews? And then Jesus after, I mean in one particular gospel says you say I am and of course you know it was either verbally or non verbally but I don't

think that Pilate would have denied that and when it wasn't denied Jesus asked him a question he said say is thou this thing of thyself? Or did others telleth thee of me? Jesus is looking for the source of the thought in Pilate's head. So did you say this of yourself? Did this come from inside you? This idea that I'm king? Did this come from inside you? This idea that I'm king? Did this come from inside you? Or are you

just repeating what you've heard other people say? It was important to Jesus to know exactly who and what and how He was going to have to deal with this particular person. So He wanted to know, are these thoughts generated in your mind by facts and figures and opinions and what other people have said? Have you simply deduced that I am the King of Israel? Or I mean by what you've heard others say? Or is this thought coming from the inside. Like I say, even though Jesus has resigned himself to this execution, there are a few times when he does stop and try to save, does stop and try to make people

aware of their thoughts, where they come from. These are the kinds of things you hear when you spend time before the Lord. And I mean, when you've been keeping His commandments and you're not disobeying His conscience, and you are taking time every day to hear the Lord, sometimes you'll hear yourself say to Him, say something to Him, and He'll want to know where the thought come from. Not because he needs to know, but because you do. Where did that thought come from? You'll find that our ministry, we have just a little watchword that we use all the time and

especially when I'm counseling with people on the phone or perhaps even having an argument. Well it can happen. And I ask him, who told you that? I'm or perhaps even having an argument. Well, it can happen. And I ask him, who told you that? I'm curious, who told you that? Where did you get that idea? And it forces them to look at,

where did I get that idea? And it also exposes the fact that they didn't read that in the scriptures. So where did you get that idea? And a lot of times people say, you know, I don't know. Well, there's a sign of hypnosis. We'll deal with that another time. Pilate says, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priest delivered thee unto me."

In other words, when you're talking about the king of Israel and these kind of things, and you're asking me, did others tell thee of me? What, do I hang around Jews? This came from inside. Am I a Jew? When was the last time you seen me sitting at a table with a bunch of Jews or a bunch of Pharisees or a bunch of scribes? These people aren't influencing me. He was telling him this thought comes from in me. Sayest thou this thing of thyself or did others tell it of me?

Friend, we need to ask ourselves about that when we confess that Jesus Christ is the Christ, the Messiah of God. Sayest thou this thing of thyself? Or did others tell that they of me? I instructed my disciples not to tell anybody. I wanted the Father to reveal that I am the Christ, like He did with Peter. I made it clear to Peter, flesh and bone, flesh and blood did not reveal this to you. But my Father, which is in heaven,

sayest thou this thing of thyself? Or did others tell it thee of me? Friend, if your salvation, whatever it is you call your salvation, whatever your doctrine allows in that area, if that salvation, if in your own mind can't be traced back to a revelation, a visitation, but it just goes back to a day in a time that you evaluated all the facts and you deduced that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. You deduced that you needed to be saved. Yeah, it's better to go into hell. I'm afraid you may not have much because you see Christ has to be revealed to us.

It has to be a revelation from God to us. A visitation. You wanna know how the visitation goes? Luke 3. That's not a Christmas story. It's a salvation story. And the Lord visits and we respond Lord be it unto me according to your word

alright so he says am I a Jew? Thine own nation and and and the chief priest delivered thee unto me what is thou done? Jesus answered my kingdom is not of this world if my kingdom were of this world then would my disciples fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews. Delivered to the Jews, not mentioned in being

delivered to the Romans is he. Now is my kingdom not from here? You need to understand this is not my kingdom. He was sort of answering his question, Art thou the king of the Jews? No, the Jews kingdom is here. My kingdom is someplace else. Pilate asked, Are thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a

king. You tell people that I am, and to this end I was born. And for this cause came I into this world, that I should bear witness to the truth and everyone who is of the truth, they hear my voice. Now you know it just does not take a whole lot of sense or a whole lot of deduction or a whole lot of literary knowledge, grammar, understanding of syntax of sentences to just take a statement that is positively true. Look at it in its reciprocal and and be able to understand something else. He says, everyone that is of the truth hears my voice. You know you. You can take that fact from that

particular statement. You can also take from that people who are not of the truth, they don't hear his voice. They just simply don't. Very dangerous place to live. Pilate said to Jesus, what is truth? Then the governor went out to the accusers and said, I find no fault in him at all. Oh, well he gets to go free then. Well, no. Because evidently, fault. Even though they find no fault, that's not enough.

That's not enough. There's no reason to accuse him. The Jews couldn't find fault with him. The Roman government can't find fault with him. We're gonna have to get him killed somehow. Oh, oh, I got an idea. And we're gonna talk about it next time. As we get into chapter 113.

I hope you're enjoying the excursion into the red letters. You know, it can be fun studying these things and talking about these things, defining these words and understanding and kind of putting yourself there. But boy, when you stop and you think, and you stop and you allow yourself to be there, to stand there, and you realize what's going on, that grip of sadness, that's what I want to avoid. I mean, I've been there so many times, it's such a sorrowful thing to see this happen,

but it's inevitable, it's gonna happen, and we're gonna cover it as time goes by. Thanks for being a part of the program today. I look forward to seeing you again here on the Words of Jesus series. If you'd like to ask me a question or make a comment about the show, I'd love to know who you are, where you're listening, how you're listening. If you'd like, write me an email, don at thinkreading.com.

I'll be glad to get your email, answer your question, and any way that I can minister to you, that's what I'm interested in doing. Alright, until we see you again my friend, Think Red Inc. Bye-bye. of ThinkRedInc ministries. Email don at thinkredinc.com. That's thinkredink.com. Join us again for the next episode in the Words of Jesus and Red Letter Edition features. Tune new podcasts from Thank Red Ink Ministries with host Don C. Harris.