Words of Jesus Podcast - Jesus Came To Remove Communication Hindrances

Episode Date: November 22, 2024

The mission of Jesus was to become King of Israel, however, the rejection of Jesus by the religious leaders and their determination to remove Jesus through death (to rid Israel of this troublemaker); put an end to the plan and will of God. Read the gospels again and count the times instruction from Jesus was rejected. Many corrections were refused outright. Jesus observed their traditions were used to the make the will of God of no effect. A a moment of honest sobriety will reveal the conviction and need for change. We must also repent and become obedient children. Ready to be instructed by the Spirit of God from day to day. We must be born again. ***98: Jesus Rebukes The Scribes And PhariseesMatthew 23:1-39; Mark 12:38-40; Luke 20:45-47Jesus Rebukes The Scribes And PhariseesThen Jesus spoke to the people that were assembled and to his disciples saying:Pride            “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works; for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men. They make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ But be not ye called Rabbi; for one is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth; for one is your Father, which is in Heaven. Neither be ye called masters; for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. Various Sins            “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye shut up the kingdom of Heaven against men; for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!For ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayer. Therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, 'Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor.’Ye fools and blind, for which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And, ‘Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.’ Ye fools and blind, for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. And he that shall swear by Heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!For ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse...

Think Red Ink Ministries presents The Words of Jesus series with Don C. Harris Hello my friends, welcome once again to the Words of Jesus series. The words have gotten thick and powerful, but they're still red. So what we want to do is go through this fireball sermon that Jesus preached, the one that actually got him killed. And I want to go through it in more of a steady manner and pick out some of the things that he said here that I think are going past us,

misunderstood, ignored, not heard, whatever. But we do need to take a look at them. This was the Willing to Use Scri pharisees hypocrites sermon and um jesus starts this out talking to his disciples actually and then he switched over to the pharisees um but when he was talking to his disciples, he said, and I realize I'm very critical about the so-called clergy, the men of the cloth. And I'm probably very critical of religious leadership. And it would be easy for you to think that I see no purpose for them whatsoever. I've been accused of actually saying that. Haven't you ever heard

of the five-fold ministry of Christ? Five-fold ministry of the church? And they want to quote this to me like I've never read it. But I say, you know, what you need to do is just finish reading the verse and quit pulling out these apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Oh, are you surprised that I knew what they were? Of course I know what they are. And they all have their purpose. And they all have their place in the kingdom of God and in our congregations. But if you continue reading the verse, you'll see that all these people are put into that place

so that we might come to the unity of the faith. Well, my question is, when are we going to do that? You know, the unity of the faith is being taught of Christ. Unity is all of us sitting at the same teacher's feet. You know, we're not supposed to be living under apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers for the rest of our lives. Why, that would be nuts. Oh, that's what we're doing. Hmm, okay.

Well, here's the idea. Go ahead, listen to the apostles and the prophets and the evangelists and the pastors and the evangelists and the pastors and the teachers listen to them but uh your goal is not to just learn what they know your goal is to come to the unity of christ boy when you come when you get there and christ is your teacher um you're going to wonder what you were waiting for. So Jesus is actually addressing this very same thing when he says, the scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.

Now, what is Moses' seat? Well, I've got a picture of me in the Holy Land sitting in Moses' seat. And this particular seat was a place that a person would sit and read from the Torah. And so as they read from the Torah, they were talking about the laws of God and the ways of God and how things are supposed to be. And Jesus is saying, you really can't pay so much attention to the person that's in the seat. Although I felt very priestly sitting there, I'm not the authority. But he's saying that when they're reading the law, the law is not to be ignored. I don't care who's got it in their lap.

The law is not to be ignored. I don't care who's saying it. Look, don't take the fact that these guys are hypocrites and phonies and fakes and charlatans and money-grubbing lying preachers. Don't take that into account when it comes time for you to hear the voice of god whether by the word of god or even by prophecy apostles and prophets and evangelists pastors and teachers these kind of men sometimes through no cognizance of their own are speaking the word of god we talked about this in earlier shows um sometimes they get lucky i didn't say that sometimes they say things that

do minister to us well there's nothing wrong with listening to that. But this isn't our final goal. Our final goal isn't to know what your preacher knows, know what your deacons know, know what your grandpa knew or your favorite preacher. That's not your goal. What your goal is is to find out what is between me and God that is hindering the communication that Jesus Christ promised. Now, if they can tell you that, first of all,

they're out of a job. Second, they've taught you something that is really wonderful. And Jesus was trying to say, look, I know these guys are hypocrites and fakes and phonies, and they drive you out of your mind. But buddy, when they're sitting in Moses' seat, and they're reading from the law, well, read what he said he said the scribes and pharisees sit in moses's seat all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe do what they say to do now he's not saying do what they say to do when they're not in moses's seat doesn't say do what they say to do, obey them, keep whatever church ordinances they think are important. Whenever they open their mouth,

you should listen to everything they say. He's saying, when they sit in Moses' seat. Now what does that mean? When they read from the law, they have something to say. Those words, it doesn't matter if they come out of the mouth of a jackass or they come out of the mouth of a jackass or they come out of the mouth of the preacher in the three-piece suit.

They're still the words of God, and they're worthy of your attention. So when these men speak from Moses' seat, all that they bid you observe that observe and do now don't do after their works see there's a caveat isn't there there's a there's a condition to this now i want you to know that when they speak and they speak in my words to you those words are valuable and they'll set you free and they'll they'll do you good but now don't do after their works because i'll tell you something about them they say but they don't do so even though they say this is this is you know honor thy father and mother,

they have actual laws on their books now. And like, for example, the laws of Corban that excuse you from the fifth commandment. What? What was that? Well, you see, now you're talking about their works, their ideas, and their opinions. Those you need to shun, because they might read the law, but they don't do the law. Jesus said, it's your traditions that make the law of God of no effect. You make the law of God, the commandments of God,

of no effect by your traditions. This is why he says you need to be very careful. Don't do as they do. Do as they say do. As long as they're in Moses' seat. And as long as they're reading from the law of Moses. All right. But all the works that they do they do to be

seen of men they make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their garment what is that about what what is he saying here i know these are words we're not necessarily familiar with but what they're what he's saying is let's see if we can put it in modern terms they sew bars on their robes that they preach in that's essentially what jesus is saying they wear clothes that appear to men to make men think that they are where you need to be they are holy men they're to be revered and respected and he says man that's all just that's all play acting he said that they take the law which is simple and easy to observe they add to it little little uh you know they put codicils they write in between the lines they say that this means this and this means that and and he's saying that that when they

do that they're taking the law of god and turning it into a burden grievous to be born now they don't touch any of these burdens not with one of their little fingers but they make sure that this is so difficult that you are going to be bound down and weighted down by it this is just what they do and why do they do it? Well, they love to be called rabbi. They love to be called reverend. They love it. I always think of a situation in my own personal life where some silly woman was introducing her silly husband who was pastor so-and-so,

and I stick my paw out, and I said, you know, didn't tell me his first name. Said he was Pastor, I don't want to give his name. You know, this is, introduced her husband as Pastor Somebody. And I didn't know the first name, so I said, oh, Mr. So-and-so, You know, I was trying to be cordial. Oh, oh, pastor. I said, really?

Well, it just lit a fuse, man. I thought, do you have a Bible? Doesn't the Bible tell us not to take on those kinds of titles i love the way job says it i don't give flattering titles to men i think that if i gave flattering titles to men the lord would take me away from the earth well that's the way i feel so um i you know i still you know he insisted on being titled pastor and so i said i said well glad to meet you pastor so and so i'm refrigeration mechanic don i'd appreciate it if you'd call me that oh boy i've just been a thorn everywhere i go well i did i just want people to just live live what you're preaching can you do that you know and if you believe this and you know i'm you know i'm

sure i don't remember specifically but i'm sure he had a bible in his hand i am sure that if he had a bible it was a king james bible i know that about him and i happen to know that if it was a king james bible it had 14 books removed from it that he doesn't care about i happen to know that it changed from you know its earliest renditions of english uh to you know roman lettering he doesn't care about that um you know he calls it a 1611 King James Bible, but it's not. You know, all these little inconsistencies, they just don't seem to bother people. Well, they don't bother people because they have what they want. And they like to be called pastor.

They like to be called reverend. They like to be in the marketplace. Oh, rabbi, rabbi. You know, this kind of silly stuff. Why are we doing this? Why are we doing this why are we doing this now you know if a guy's a he's a medical doctor i call him doc i call him doctor i don't i don't mind doing that but you know what when respect and reverence that is due only to my God, moves into the religious realm, I have real trouble with that.

So we have, he says that they enlarge the borders of their garments. We're talking about the phylacteries where they took, it's almost comical. I'm sorry, my Jewish brethren. I just, I don't understand what you're thinking. When the Bible teaches us to keep the scriptures in the center of our forehead, I think I know what that means.

And, you know, frankly, I think you do too. But to take the scriptures and write them on a little piece of paper and put them into a little leather box and then attach straps to that box and tie them on your head so that you can have the scriptures in the middle of your forehead, I think you might be missing the point. The tzitzi on the garment, they liked them long, where everybody could see them. The scriptures don't talk about them being long at all.

Jesus condemned them because they were long. This isn't to be seen of men. This is for you to remember to keep the commandments uh and in it it obviously aggravated him and he and he goes on to say that you know there you have one teacher that's me don't call any man father on the earth you know it's always amazing to me too because people don't know this but the the King James Bible is a Catholic Bible. The Protestant Bible was actually the Geneva Bible. And the King James Bible continued to say this, even though they are real big on calling a particular man on the earth Father.

I mean, that's what Pope means. And that comes right on down through the chain of command. Many leaders in the Catholic Church are called Father. Jesus absolutely prohibits that. Don't call any man on earth Father. And it's written in a Catholic Bible. It didn't get taken out like other things did. Then he moves on and says,

he says, you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men. Really? How are they doing that? What in the world is he talking about? It was like I said. How do you receive the kingdom of God? Well, you keep the commandments. But their traditions are making the commandments of God of no effect.

Effect. What effect are the commandments supposed to have well you know in our day at our in in the the new testament realm in which we're living in today this is extremely dangerous because the bible says that the that the commandments are a schoolmaster to bring us to christ and so if their effect is to be the school master to bring us to christ we don't want that effect to be mitigated not in the least not for any reason do we want that to happen so to attach our own rules to the commandments of god is a very dangerous thing to do it's a dangerous thing for you for your family for your neighbors for everyone around you because we need to let the the commandments do their work which is to bring

people to christ he said um you devour widows houses for a pretense i'm sorry you devour widows houses and for a pretense make long prayers long prayers uh have you ever been in one of these boy i have i don't and you know what i i don't know i've i've heard of how in the world would you know about people who pray in private for hours and hours and hours and hours thinking of a particular situation not it is it it's of no concern or addition to what i'm saying but there are people who brag about you know being able to pray for hours and hours and hours i can't think of anything that i need to tell God that he doesn't know. I can't think of anything. Can you? Boy, when it comes time for you to pray,

you've certainly got a lot to say to him. Is it because you think he doesn't know? Or because you think he doesn't care? You know, our prayers are not to be just long, verbose prayers. And if you want to make them that way, the best way to do that, put a bunch of people in the room and pray out loud. It happens every time. This is why Jesus said, do this in your closet. We don't care that that's what Jesusesus said we don't care we pray in public he says don't do that we do it anyway why do we do that because we don't care i don't know i guess uh it's more effective to stand in front of a congregation and say oh lord god move on the hearts of the people

let them know that we can't pay that asphalt bill for pavement in the parking lot let them know that the pews that they're sitting in were paid for on credit let them know that well you know what i can hear god say i don't need to let them know you're letting them know now what am i an idiot do i not know you're talking to those people and not me and we do this sometimes with good intention oh god move on the hearts of the people if there be anybody here that needs to know christ we pray that you might move on them oh good i'm glad you i'm glad you told me i could move on them i'm glad you told me I could move on them. I'm glad you told me that I could convict them by my spirit. I was hoping you wouldn't forget to ask me.

You know, these are some of the silliest things I've ever heard. Like it's not God's intention to do the right thing, to do what he said he was going to do, to fulfill his promises, to save the world, unless you pray for it, it's really kind of odd when you think about it. But we know what those prayers are for. We know what they're for. It's the difference in getting up in the morning, rolling out of bed while you're putting your socks on and saying, Lord, you know, this ministry's got bills.

And I'm ashamed of myself that I'm so worried about them, but I want to just kind of bring them to you and just, you know, and man, if you can see fit, I sure would like to see these things taken care of. And, you know, just kind of a broken heart, kind of a humble, kind of a mumbling little prayer that you're you're actually praying that to god maybe nobody's in the room maybe your wife's still asleep nobody heard it well here's what you can do you can go get on your tv show and say the very same thing and then behold, this wonderful miracle happens. You know, I mean, there's people that are spending millions of dollars

building their own houses and building cities under the guise of ministry. I guarantee you, those millions didn't come because they're standing in the shaving mirror asking the Lord for six and a half million dollars. Like they ought to be. No, they go get on their satellite network and say it to the whole world. Well, no wonder.

You see, I know why we're doing what we're doing. And there's no good reason for it. There's no way for you to explain to me why you pray on your satellite network and you don't pray in your closet. There's no reason. There's nothing you can say to me. I've been there. I'm old now.

I've just seen it too much i know why you don't why you pray in public and you don't pray in private i know why i get it jesus said you're making a huge mistake but the other thing that he that he gets into is is you guys are so enamored with stuff don't swear you know if you if you want to swear by the temple you know that's you know that that has validity because the temple oh that thing's worth a lot of money by the gifts of the altar yeah that's that's you know that has value and jesus is saying so who lives in the temple who sits on the on the throne who who is the one that is in charge of all things do you really think that it's wrong to that uh if a man swears by the gold on the altar, he's a debtor.

But if he swears by the altar itself, it's okay. You know, you guys have some really strange ideas about what's valuable and what's not. What's powerful and what's not. And he's saying that, look, you need to understand that it's god it's it's it's he who makes all these things possible and you need to quit being so enamored with the temple and the gold and and the this and that and the wonderful church buildings and all the junk that we mess with.

The other thing that Jesus talked about in here that becomes very, very clear to me anyway, a lot of people who try to talk against paying tithes say that tithes aren't mentioned in the New Testament. Well, I don't know if it's mentioned in their New Testament. I've seen their New Testament. The binding isn't even bent. You can't read the New Testament. I've seen their New Testament. The binding isn't even bent. You can't read the New Testament and find verses about tithing.

I don't know why they even feel comfortable saying such a stupid thing as that. Usually they're quoting somebody that they trust has read the Bible, but that will prove to really snag you because even the greatest among us are liars. And if you know anything about tithing and you've read the words of Christ,

you'll find that he's condemning the Pharisees because they would take even the spices, the tiniest of seeds and herbs and such, and divvy off one-tenth of their increase and use that for tithes. And he says, but he was contrasting that with, you do the smallest, tiniest little things. You're straining at gnats and swallowing camels.

You do that, but you forget the weightier matters of the law. Justice, mercy, love, and kindness, and the weightier matters, by the way, of the law. The law is full of these kinds of instructions. Now, did jesus say about the tithe did he say just forget it did he say just walk away from it there's more there's weightier matters than tithe no that's not what he said at all and as a matter of fact when he's talking about tithe here he's saying this you ought to have done when it comes to tithing this you ought to have done but not to leave the other undone it is it is so clear when you read it it makes you wonder if you've ever read it before

he talks about the the hypocrisy of the pharisees extended to the way they looked in front of people and the way they present themselves as holy men. And he says, you're not fooling me. You're full of extortion and excess. You're full of dead men's bones. And I don't care what you look like to other people. I don't care what kind of garment you're wearing. All of us can take that to heart.

Jesus said, you know, I have done all I can do. I hear him also say, and it becomes pretty obvious, my father has done all that he can do. There isn't anything left for us to do. My father has bankrupted himself trying to save you. I will, in just a few days, give my life in a situation of violent murder. And we've just given everything.

We've done everything there is to do. There is nothing else to do. So if what you see in church or the scriptures or your preacher or wherever it is you're looking to try to find some reconciliation to God, if it's not enough, if you're waiting for the gold letters in the sky, you're waiting for a big shot miracle, you're waiting for something that's undeniable. I'm sorry. You're going to be hugely disappointed. It's not coming. There is nothing else to be done. Everything has been done. Now, my friend, it's up to you. We'll see you on the next show. Until then, Think Red Ink. C. Harris of Think Red Ink Ministries. Email don at thinkredink.com. That's thinkredink.com.

Join us again for the next episode in the Words of Jesus series. I love you.