Words of Jesus Podcast - Jesus Erases

Episode Date: July 1, 2022

By what authority will you relinquish inherited ideas or traditions?  We are partial to the “truth we already believe” but, at any price? We have been trained to have faith in our truth.  Jesus wants us to have truth as the foundation of our faith.  If what you believe is not true, do you want to know it? Jesus came to make corrections to our understanding. Let’s do things HIS way! “Think Red Ink” – What did Jesus say?"You have heard of old…but, I say…"  Do you know that you don't know? Prefer the authority of Jesus over the Bible! "Turn the other cheek." Obedience; willing to die or willing to kill? We must hold all things in an open hand. It is our job to loose. Jesus suffered wrongfully. Bless them that curse; so that YOU CAN BE CHILDREN OF GOD. When I do good to my enemy I prove my regeneration. - STRIVE! Christians are EXPECTED to do more than others.***Chapter 19: The Sermon on the Mount... You have heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That you repay not evil: but whoever will smite you on your right cheek, turn to him and offer the other also. And if any man will sue you at the law, and take away your coat forbid him not, let him have your shirt also. And whoever will compel you to go a mile, go with him two miles. Give to every man that asks of you, and from him that would borrow of you, turn not away. And of him that takes away your goods ask them not again. You have heard that it has been said, You will love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love them which love you, what reward have you, what thank have you? Do not even the publicans the same, for sinners also love those that love them? And if you salute your brethren only, if you do good to them which do good to you, what thank have you, what do you more than others? Do not even the publicans and sinners so? If you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what thank have you? For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again and your reward will be great, and you will be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Be therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect. Take heed that you do not your charity before men, to be seen of them: otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when you do your charity, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when you do alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand does: That your alms may be in secret: and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, you will not be as the hypocrites are for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. But when you pray use not vain recitations, as the heathen do: for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking. Be not therefore like unto them: for your Father knows what things you need, before you ask him. After this manner therefore pray: Our Father who is in heaven,...

Think Red Ink Ministries presents The Words of Jesus series with Don C. Harris Hello friends and welcome once again to the Words of Jesus series. I'm Don Harris, your host. Hope you've been enjoying this. I know I have. My favorite readings in the scriptures are the words of our Lord Jesus. And so as we read them, we hear the Word of God speaking to us,

which is just a wonderful, wonderful experience. I hope you have had that as well. And as we continue, Jesus is finishing out the portion of the Sermon on the Mount where it begins, where each subject begins with, you have heard that it was said of them of old time. He says this several times here, talking about certain ideas and laws. And I know, he's saying, I know this is what you've been taught,

but I say unto you. But being a contrasting conjunction here, he's not saying, I know you've heard it's been said, and I say unto you. You see, that would be an additive, wouldn't it? It would be something that is added to something you already know. And this concept that keeps reappearing every time he wants to discuss a particular law or an ordinance for the state and country

of Israel. And it begins with I know that you have been told this, but I say unto you. What he's doing is he's trying to erase a previous idea. Now friend, I can't To erase a previous idea. Now friend. I can't tell you. How much I doubt. That you know.

Everything you need to know. To be a Christian. I know you don't know it. Do you know you don't know it? It's very important for you. To know that. You don't know it. Do you know you don't know it? It's very important for you to know that you don't know. It's very important for you to doubt that what you know is exactly what the Lord wants you to know. And if that is true, then there's many things to learn, is there not? And if there are many things to learn, is there not?

And if there are many things to learn, what you're going to find is when you find a new concept of your theology or your doctrine, and you go to put it on the shelf of your mental shelving where you store these things, you're going to find the little cubbyhole where it fits has got something else in there. And you pull it out and you read it and you think, whoa, I forgot about that one. I don't believe that anymore. Well, toss it.

Toss it away and make place for the new revelation. You see, we live by the word of God. The Bible says that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. We are to live by this bread. We're not to, I mean, everybody thinks that this is just, you know, our Bibles, why, they're just bakeries.

And they just turn out bread. Well, no, they say the same thing. They're making the same bread they made last week, last year. And some of our Christian Bibles, 3,500 years they've been saying the same thing. And they certainly haven't fixed world hunger. They haven't fixed world war. I mean, look at the state of our so-called Christian country. They certainly haven't fixed world hunger. They haven't fixed world war. I mean, look at the state of our so-called Christian country.

You know, there's something hugely missing. What is it? Relationship with God. We all have relationships with our Bibles. We all have relationships with our churches and our pastors and our deacons and the people that we respect, our mamas and our daddies and our grandmas and our grandpas. But that's not enough. We need a relationship with the Lord of hosts. I mean, he's the one that is the only one that's going to give us what we need to live on a daily basis.

Now, if he's going to do that on a daily basis, then all of a sudden the prayer that we're going to get into after this section, all of a sudden it will make sense to you that the Lord is not only talking about our daily provision of food when he says give us day by day our daily bread. And this is what we're supposed to be doing. We seek him on a daily basis. We take time every day to hear the voice of God. Rule number three. And when we do

we're given revelation. Perhaps not at that moment. I believe that you do receive it at that moment. But as your life presents its little problems and starts making demands on you, you're going to call upon a power that, frankly, you didn't have before. You're going to call upon wisdom that, frankly, you did not have before. Well, that comes because the Lord has given it to you. That is what I want you to listen for as we read these very familiar scriptures. And not find yourself in that position of, yeah, heard that.

Yeah, we studied that in Sunday school last week. Or something like that. The most powerful thing that any revelation that can come to anybody is that you don't know. You just don't know. And so I need to know. So when Jesus says, I know you've been told this, but I say unto you, he's about to replace, he's about to pull something out of a cubby hole and give you something to put back.

And this is what I want you to do. So just to acknowledge that he said, for example, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is where we're going here. You've heard that it's been said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you, okay, what is he saying? You need to get that little eye for an eye and tooth for tooth thing out of that cubbyhole it doesn't belong there you're a christian you have to do things differently now those who worship their bibles and those who believe that you know that you're not allowed to change anything in it and you're not allowed to change words or definitions or whatever

you know they get very antsy when you start talking about these kind of things. But we, I mean, about changing something. The Bible says an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Well, you have to understand that, yeah, perhaps it does say that, but that concept was kind of cherry-picked out of the Bible, and it was done actually literally and Jesus was saying that's not the way we're supposed to act toward one another. I don't care. I know, boy,

people are going to go nuts when I say this, but I don't care what the Bible says. My Lord is Jesus Christ. He is my God. And I do. He is my God. And I do what he says to do. And I don't care if he says, you know, that thou shalt not forswear thyself. Make sure that when you do swear, you tell the truth. I don't care. Jesus said, don't swear at all.

Okay, that's what I'll not do. And when he says, you've heard it's been said, an eye for an eye and and a tooth for a tooth I don't want you to engage yourself in that kind of thing here's what I want you to do you know what I'm going to do I'm going to dispense with the first idea and I'm going to take his second idea am I a heretic am I anti-jew am I anti-semitic am I am I uh anti-bible anti-old testament anti-Jew? Am I anti-Semitic? Am I anti-Bible? Anti-Old Testament? Anti-Torah? I don't know. I guess that's up to you to judge. Frankly, I think I'm really pro-Jesus.

I think he's the Son of God. You know, call me crazy, but I think Jesus is the Son of God. I think that he's the Anointed One, the Messiah sent to the earth to tell us how to escape this thing with our souls intact and enter into the kingdom of heaven.

I really believe it. Furthermore, I believe he's alive. I believe he raised from the dead. And I think, whether figuratively or not, I don't know, don't really care. I think he's sitting at the right hand of the father right now making intercession for me and he can make it for you if you'll accept him as being the son of God which means

your boss. Alright you have heard it has been said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth but I say unto you that you resist not evil but whosoever Now notice that he was saying an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, and he's talking about being struck on the cheek. In my earlier days, of which I am ashamed now, I would consider a fight won if parts of that guy were coming off. And so I understand when he says

somebody smites you on your right cheek. You don't talk about slapping you. He's talking about knocking your tooth out. So you think slapping you on the cheek and turning the other was difficult? How about this? He's talking about if teeth are missing because of it. Say, hey, I got teeth on the other side too. These are very difficult things.

People say, well, that's just being a sissy. That's letting people walk on you. Have you ever thought that that might just be being obedient to your God? Have you ever thought about the fact that dead people don't feel these kind of things? And that we are called to die? Jesus says, you want to be different? You want to be regenerated? You want to have a different life? You want to be the person that you were want to be different? You want to be regenerated? You want to have a different life? You want to be the person that you were designed to be?

Then deny yourself. Take up your cross. What does that mean? You have to be willing to die for what you believe. Oh, I'm willing to die for Jesus. I'm not willing to have a tooth knocked out. So what you're saying is what most every Christian says when he says, I'm willing to die for Jesus.

He's got some Hollywood thing in his brain where the jackbooted thugs of the godless hordes of the Russians are hordes of the Russians or bust into the room and hold their little Russian burp guns in their hand and throw everybody against the wall and say, now deny Jesus or we're going to kill you. And I'm not denying Jesus.

I'm going to say that I'm a Christian and he can just shoot me if he wants to shoot me. Because I'm not going to deny Jesus. This is the little Hollywood reel that's running in people's heads. When they talk about dying for the Lord. And you know what they're actually saying? I'm willing to die for Jesus. But I'm not willing to live for him.

You know, it's that same thing that happens in wartime when young men start to, I mean, I don't know if they do this anymore, but back when we had character, back when our country was young, back when people could think and guys were guys

and girls were girls and all those kind of things. Remember that? I think they called it the 40s. But back in those days when the enemies were overrunning peaceable people and taking their freedoms away, and our country decided to stand in and make a difference, there were young men that were going to war.

And they would lie about their age in order to be inducted. And from that, in today's vernacular, you can find men anywhere. Well, perhaps. Maybe not as many as you'd like. But there are men out there that are saying they're willing to die for their country. Are you one of those? Is that really what you mean when you say, I'm willing to die for my country? Or are you actually saying, I am willing to kill for my country?

There's a huge difference. Huge difference in those two things. But I think in our minds, we've got them kind of mixed up. And they're kind of the same thing now. Same thing in Christianity. I'm willing to die for Jesus, but I'm not losing a tooth to him. And I'm certainly not going to turn him the other cheek and let him knock a tooth out of that side either. That would just be cowardly. That would be

whatever, whatever reason they've got. But you're willing to die? You know what, friend? I don't believe you. Sorry. All right, so he's going on to say that you should turn him the other also. He then gives an example. He says, if any man sue you at the law and take away your coat, let him have your shirt too.

What does this mean? This means to live in such a way that nobody can steal from you. Nobody can sue you with the law and take away your goods. Everything you have in your life is held in an open hand. Everything you have. This is Christian character, friends. How much of that have you got is there anything in you that says that you think that uh be careful with these thoughts because we live in a modern

age today we have insurance nowadays you know there's people that are insured against theft you get mugged on the street yeah give me give them your wallet. Give them your credit card. Give them it all. Let me go home and make a phone call. You get it all back. No big deal. That's not the case. That's not the society that this was preached in. We need to be willing to lose. We need to be willing to be stolen from and done wrong. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ suffered wrongfully and in doing so, he left a pattern for us

to walk in his steps. You know what my duty is? To make sure that if I am cheated, detained, arrested, whatever else, I can't help what the cop's going to do. I can't help what the, you know, whatever government agency is harassing me or whatever they're doing or threatening to put me in jail.

I can't stop any of that. Here's the only power that I have. I know a fellow that was telling me one time that he was being persecuted. We were talking about being persecuted for righteousness sake. And he says, one time I got a ticket by a highway patrolman that made it clear to me that he was an atheist. And I

said, what? You got a ticket for what? And he said, yep, I had one of them fish on my bumper. And he pulled me over and gave me a ticket. Now that's just suffering for Jesus. Is it really? Yeah? Well, why would you think so he would ask and i'd say well i haven't heard all the story let me hear the story well it turns out he's doing 80 in a 45 zone or something like that and i say friend you're not being persecuted for righteousness sake. You're being persecuted because you are a scofflaw. You are, you're an outlaw.

This is a problem. You deserve a ticket. You deserve to be arrested, plastic fish or not. You can make this out to be like you're suffering for Jesus, but you're not. You're suffering for your own sins. The Bible says you suffer for your own sins. You're getting what you deserve. Now, what can we do?

We can make sure that whenever we suffer, and this is something you need to do, whenever we suffer, we suffer wrongfully. We don't deserve it. You know what? That's the only thing in my power. That's the only thing in my power. Have the IRS come into this ministry

and flip all my filing cabinets upside down and thumb through a cash box or go over my books or whatever else. Well, they can do that if they want to. But you know what I have already made sure of? That if they pin me for a million dollars of tax evasion, it's not true. That's the only thing I have control of.

I can't stop them. I can't keep them from doing whatever it is they do or whatever it is they want to do. Can't stop that. I can't stop it. Can't stop them from carrying me to court and trying me for the crime. I can't stop the judge for throwing me in jail for a crime I didn't commit. But there is one thing I can do, and that is I can make sure that whatever they're accusing me of, it's not true. Do you understand this? It's suffering wrongfully.

You suffer for your own sins, you deserve it. But you suffer for righteousness' sake. In other words, you're living right. And you're not really suffering for righteousness sake, but you're suffering for something that you didn't do because you're living righteously. You're living correctly. You're doing the right thing.

And if that is the case, now you're involved in something you can do something about. So, you're not going to stop the guy from hitting you on the cheek. I don't know what you can do about that, but my advice from my Lord is, give him the other cheek. And if they sue you at the law and take away your money, why don't you buy a few tickets to the policeman's ball?

Or, you know, just let them know. I mean, it's not really a matter of witness. It certainly would turn out to be one, though, that if they take away your coat, give them your shirt, too. This is the characteristic of a Christian that he's talking about here he says to if a man compare you to go with him a mile i understand that i'm no historian i don't claim to be but i understand that a roman soldier had the right after they occupied Israel, to ask any Israelite, any citizen of that country, to carry his armor.

These soldiers carried swords and shields and coats of armor and all kinds of stuff. And it was difficult for them to move from one place to the other. They made it a law that any Roman soldier can ask any citizen to, in other words, go with him a mile. And that he would help him carry his goods at least a mile. It absolutely infuriated the Jews. You know, here you are invading our country, taking away our laws, making yourself out to be God, you know, ridiculing us, taking away our country, taking away our temple.

You're doing all these horrible things and then we're supposed to facilitate this? This is why I tell people, you know, look, i don't like the government using my tax money to pay for abortions i don't like the government using my tax money to pay for colleges that teach children to live in ungodly ways and teach them that you know that we're all we all come from monkeys or that uh that there's no such thing as what do they say? That's your truth. This is my truth. And all the rest of this hokey stuff that comes out of colleges. I think they all ought to shut the doors and chain them shut. Personally,

I don't like the fact that my tax dollars go to that kind of thing. You know what they're doing? They're compelling me to go a mile. So, okay, fine. The Lord knows how much my taxes are. He knows that if I make X number of dollars that I got to pay X number of dollars. He's fully aware of that. Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. I'll repay. Just do as you're told. Have a good witness. Have salt in yourself in yourself all right so he's saying that uh if he compels you to go a mile go with him twain give to him that ask of thee and from him that would borrow of thee turn thou not away now listen to this this just came on the tail end

of all this discussion on how to handle your enemy. These are not friends of yours that knock your teeth out or take advantage of your generosity or sue you at the law and take away your clothes. What did he say? Give to him that ask of thee and from him that would borrow of thee. Turn thou not away. What? We're supposed to lend to our enemies you know what that might have been the word of god speaking to you just now you have heard it has been said thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate

thy enemy but i say unto you love your enemies oh there it is love your enemies. Oh, there it is. Love your enemies. Bless them that curse you. Do good to them that hate you. And pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. That, and you can always put the word so in front of the word that if you'd like, if it makes it easier for you. So that you can be the children of your father. This is what the children of your father act like. This is what they think like. This is what they do.

And if you want to be the children of your father, this is what you do. This is how you, you know, the Bible says love your neighbors and hate your enemy. No, not anymore. I don't care what it says. I'm not going to hate my enemy. I'm going to do good to him, even if he persecutes me and throws me in jail.

Why? So I can be the children of my Father, which is in heaven. Well, that sounds like works-oriented salvation. I don't know when you're going to quit saying that. It's all works-oriented salvation. That's how you become a Christian. You'll work at it with fear and trembling. So he continues and says,

For if you love them which love you what reward is there in that do not even the publicans the same and if you salute your brethren only what do you more than others here it's here it is clear that jesus is expecting us to do more than others he asked the question like this is stupid this is silly, this is nuts. What are you thinking? So you salute your brethren. You know, hello, Rabbi so-and-so.

Hello, Brother so-and-so. Oh, you know, here comes a homeless person. Or somebody you don't like or something. You shun them and you accept the good people in your life. He says, how is that? Or somebody you don't like or something, you shun them and you accept the good people in your life? He says, how is that more so than what anybody else in this world does? It's just so obviously implied in Jesus' speech at this point. You are expected to do more than others.

What do you do more than others? You know what the answer to the question is? Nothing. to do more than others. What do you do more than others? You know what the answer to the question is? Nothing. Nothing, sir. I'm no different than anybody else. Exactly right. And I expect you to be.

Why, he's adding words to the Bible. Well, it's time somebody does that. You know what? This has been sitting on your table at home. All you have to do is read it. All right. Not that I'm complaining. I'm enjoying everything I do here. So he says, what do you more than others?

Do not even the publicans so? The people you hate, the Roman tax collectors, the Jews that have sold out to Rome and collect taxes from you? Isn't that what they do? The people you hate, don Roman tax collectors, the Jews that have sold out to Rome and collect taxes from you, isn't that what they do? The people you hate, don't they live that way? So, big deal. Be therefore perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. Again, here's that word perfect that throws people off.

We're called to be perfect. And there are people that have extended the idea of perfection to the point that they say that anything short of perfection is sin. This is why people, I guess, why they walk around saying that they sin every day. Well, you might fall short of perfection every day, but sin is a transgression against the law. That I don't do, but I am short of perfect. Did that come as a surprise to anybody? No, I didn't.

All right, time is gone for the day. Glad to have you as a part of the show. Look forward to seeing you next time. Time for us to go. See you next time. Bye-bye. you've been listening to don c harris of think red ink ministries ThinkRedInc.com. That's ThinkRedInc.com. Join us again for the next episode in the Words of Jesus series. you