Words of Jesus Podcast - Led Of The Spirit of God

Episode Date: November 1, 2024

“But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:” Acts 24:14We have lost words, many pages and books in the Bible. It's okay. The Scriptures are not complete or perfect. This is not a deterrent to finding a relationship with Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus said, if you keep my commandments, the Father (Holy Spirit) and I will teach you "from the inside." Greatest commandment, "Shema, Israel." "Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength; the second is like unto it, "Love your neighbor as yourself." I'm the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God of the Living not the Dead. Silenced; not convinced. ***96: Jesus Is Asked Three QuestionsMatthew 22:15-40; Mark 12:13-34, Luke 20:20-40Shall We Pay Tribute To Caesar?The chief priests, scribes, and elders sent spies into the multitude that gathered around Jesus, hoping that he might do or say something that would enable them to turn him over to the civil authorities.            These opponents of Jesus asked him, saying:            “Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man; for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?”            Jesus perceived the craftiness behind the question. He said:            “Why tempt ye me? Bring me a penny, that I may see it.”            When it was brought, he said to his tempters:            “Whose is this image and superscription?”            His opponents said:            “Caesar’s.”            Thereupon Jesus said to them:            “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”            Jesus’ enemies could find nothing in this answer that warranted accusing him; so they went away.Which Of The Brothers Shall Have The Wife In The Resurrection?            Some Sadducees, a sect that denied that there was a resurrection, came to Jesus and said to him:            “Master, Moses wrote unto us, ‘If any man’s brother die, having a wife, and he die without children, his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.’ There were therefore seven brethren, and the first took a wife and died without children. And the second took her to wife and he died childless.And the third took her and, in like manner, the seven also. And they left no children and died. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them is she, for seven had her to wife?”            Jesus replied to them:            “Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?For when they shall rise from the dead, they...

Think Red Ink Ministries presents the Words of Jesus series with Don C. Harris. Hello my friends and welcome once again to the Words of Jesus series. We're continuing with the life of Jesus here at the end of his life. His end is on its way and it's probably not going to be pleasant. But at this particular point he's asking questions and being asked questions, one of which we dealt with yesterday about giving tribute to Caesar. Today we have the Sadducees and the Sadducees as part of the priestly line of the Jews, had a couple of, I don't know, preoccupations, if you will,

one of which was sex, and the other one was with their unbelief or discrediting any ideas of spirituality. The Bible, yeah, it's true. The Sadducees in their particular form of belief did not accept things like spirits, angels, resurrection, these kind of things were a real problem for them. And they took every opportunity to

dispel people and try to dispossess them of such foolish notions as that. So when Jesus talked about the resurrection, he was angering the Sadducees, but not the Pharisees, but the Sadducees certainly. And then, of course, when he was talking about his own authority and these kind of things he was angering the pharisees but he just seemed to anger one denomination after another and i know very well what that's like uh as a matter of fact there's a cute little story

well i don't know how cute it is uh but it's interesting that Paul one time was arrested, and they said, you're just causing too much trouble. And he says, I'm not causing trouble. I know. I mean, everybody's saying that what I'm preaching is heretical, but if you call that heresy, call what heresy? Well, that I believe everything written in the law and the prophets. I guess that's heresy now because people have dissected the Bible so much

that a person who actually believes everything that's written there looks like a heretic. But okay, after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things that are written in the law and the prophets. Well, it's one of the reasons why I adopted that as a verse that I just love to publish. People want to know, you know, so what's your ministry all about? Well,

I'm a heretic. Well, they say I am, but they have to say I am knowing that I believe all things written in the law and the prophets. I don't tear out the Old Testament out of my Bible. I don't, you know, say that things have passed away and all this stuff. I mean, unless the scriptures say that certain laws have been abolished and certain of them have. But you don't do so ignorantly. You don't do things flippantly. You don't do it arbitrarily. And you certainly don't do it because your particular denomination, heads of state, say so. Have a brain in your

head. Have a spirit in you that's alive that can hear the voice of God. Yeah, you need to be willing to change. Why? Because we're basically, you know, stupid and ignorant creatures that just do selfish things. That is just totally incompatible with our God. So yeah, there's going to be changes to be made. You're not going to learn this in eight years of seminary and walk out realizing that you're never going to learn another thing or don't have to. So these, did I get off on a rabbit trail? The fact of the matter is, is that the Sadducees had certain preoccupations with, first of all, with sexual things, which was common among that particular faith in all lines of that faith.

I would encourage anybody who takes exception to that to take some time and read some excerpts from the Talmud, and you'll find that it was a preoccupation. But the thing with the resurrection was a real problem with the Pharisees. So they come to Jesus, and they denied that there was a resurrection. The Sadducees did. And they came to Jesus and said to him, Master, Moses wrote unto us us if any man's brother die

having a wife and he die without children his brother should take his wife and raise up seed unto his brother there were therefore seven brethren and the first took her to wife and he died childless and the third took her and uh and the second took her and the third took her and they left no children and uh i mean so you see the scenario and he says uh now the question is in this resurrection thing that you talk about you i mean you can just hear it in their voice in this in this impossible idea that you have about resurrection, whose wife will she be? All seven men had her to wife.

Well, Jesus' answer here, I guess I will talk about it because I don't know that we're going to get an opportunity to say this again. But he says, he says, do you not therefore err because you know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? In another gospel, he actually says, you do greatly err because you do not know the scriptures nor the power of god i i really got interested in this because i'm thinking at this particular point what scriptures

where do the scriptures explain this i I don't know the scriptures. And these were in the days when, you know, I was listening to the preachers in the pulpit and, you know, following the denominational guidelines and realizing the only thing that God is ever going to tell us is all written in the Bible. It's all complete. It's all there. You just have to read it, memorize it.

And so it wasn't even in my thinking that there could have been scriptures that we don't have well friend there's nothing further from the truth these people had scriptures that we will likely never see. But don't fret, don't worry, because our salvation is not based on how much we know about the Bible. Our communication, our education at the feet of God have little to do, little to do with the Bible. It's really a fact. He is so much bigger than this book he knows

so much more than this book actually prints out and puts in front of your face he can't handle any situation i don't know where you're going to find in here that insider trading is a sin that it's theft. I don't know where you're going to find that. But if you sit at the feet of God, if you happen to be a stockbroker, or you happen to be a CEO of a company that can make millions of dollars on an insider trade, and you happen to be Christian,

you happen to keep the commandments of God, and you don't disobey your conscience, and you sit before the Lord to hear his voice, he'll tell you. He'll tell you in no uncertain terms. You know, I don't know why we discount that communication so much, and actually many times shame people who say that you know i i believe that a man ought to be led of the spirit oh no no you can't be led of the spirit the spirit's liable to take you anywhere really how is that does he tell me the spirit of God is going to take one man in one direction and another man in another direction? Really? You think so? I don't think so.

Well, what if it's the voice of the devil? Well, Jesus had something to say about that. He said, my sheep know my voice. A stranger, they will not follow. They know not the voice of strangers now either jesus is mistaken or you are where am i betting hmm i happen to believe that if that the the voice that guides us from within and i and the word voice. I hope you understand. But you know when God leads us with that voice I don't think we have anything to worry about. Listen friend you don't have anything to worry about if it's the devil speaking to you.

How can you say such a thing? It's simple. If you're hearing the voice of Satan, you don't belong to Jesus anyway. He said that if my sheep know my voice, a stranger, they won't follow. They don't know the voice of strangers. Well, friend, if you know the voice of strangers, if the voice within you is indeed Satan, you're no worse off than you were before you heard it.

All right, so what am i telling you we need to seek god on these things why because the bible is insufficient it's just a fact i hate to say it i know people get mad at me when i do say it but there's a just a whole lot that is missing about this Bible. It's one of the reasons why I'm so adamant about having such a thick Bible. I want to see this Apocrypha that was removed. Do you think that the Apocrypha being moved 100 plus years ago by the American Bible Society, do you think that's the first time that books have been taken and i assume if they had their way they would have been destroyed some of them were you know we don't know anything about the book of jasher the bible talks about it we don't know anything about the book of wars where

is that when we hear about prophets you know the book of enoch and these kind of things we know very little about these kinds of things and frankly a lot of the i know you know some of you have the book of enoch and some of you have what they call the book of jasher and um and i understand that those books are out there i want you to be very careful with some of the translations because some people really took some some awful leaps in in there as far as their translations are concerned. But good news is you can sit at the feet of the Lord and he tells you, he says, you'll hear a voice behind you and it'll say, turn to the right or turn to the left.

When you step out of the way, he'll guide you. You don't have anything to worry about here. You're perfectly capable of listening to the voice of the way he'll guide you you don't have anything to worry about here you're perfectly capable of listening to the voice of the lord obeying what he says to do and finding yourself one day in the kingdom of god you're perfectly capable you have no need that any man teach you wow the bible ought to say that somewhere yeah it does you have no need that any man teach you. The Spirit of God that brought you into this way of thinking, perfectly capable of teaching you. Perfectly capable of teaching you what you need to know. I don't know where you're going to find in here

how to deal with your boy that just got suspended from high school for smoking pot. They probably don't even suspend them for that anymore. But I don't know how you're going to deal with the troubles of life that are, you know, they're a problem of our modern day. And, you know, we need the guidance of God on these things. Well, so Jesus is saying, you want to know what you Pharisees, what you Sadducees' problems are all stemming from the fact that you don't know the Scriptures, nor the power of God.

Now, notice that the power of God in this situation is indeed the very thing I'm telling you right now. And that is that God has the ability, the power. That's what ability is, it's power that's what it is he has the power to lead us and guide us but the and the pharisees did not have that jesus is correct there but i just got intrigued with that statement you don't know the scriptures and i'm thinking where do the scriptures make this clear i can't find it i can't find it anywhere um you know it's like paul saying well remember the words of our lord jesus it's more blessed to give than to receive hmm where is that written where where where where did he say that obviously paul wasn't aware that the jesus only speaks through the bible

now i'm telling you if if you think that you have a complete book in front of you and you're relying on it on that basis, you may find yourself in trouble. And most of all, and I would say the most fearful thing is that you'll find yourself dependent upon something like that, and it will lead to your disappointment. You might not think that's a big deal but you know when disappointment just continues and continues and continues and you get just more and more disappointed you know it's event upon situation upon another event upon a non-answer to prayer

upon you know more troubles hitting your life. You start adding all this stuff up, well, it leads to huge depressions and problems. And I'll tell you, there's some people that turned away from the faith simply because they realized this, meaning modern-day Christianity, meaning whatever you want it to mean in these in these areas but this doesn't work i get better results in my healing by going to a doctor so i'm going to the doctor i get better results taking my teenager and taking them to a psychiatrist than I do trying to form within them a dependence upon the spirit of God and they say these things sardonically and sarcastically and and demeaning toward where did all that where did all that animus come from toward the scriptures toward

Christianity just being disappointed just disappointed so long that they just they don't care anymore how did that happen by putting way too much emphasis on how complete and how perfect the bible is and it's it's not leading them it's not guiding them and you know some people even say you know if it's not the king james it's not the word of god yeah go somewhere else tell somebody else that stuff get away from me i've lived long enough i've studied the scriptures long enough i've been a christian since i was 14 years old come on let's let's just face the facts i've been around you could have had influence on me 30 years ago but you don't have influence on me now i've just i just been there i know better and i'll

tell you something else i've tasted that heavenly gift i've seen i've felt i've i've i've experienced within my spirit the powers of the world to come. Man, I don't know that you can shake me. You can try if you wish, but I don't think you can shake me. You couldn't tempt me to go and sit under some Bible teacher for two minutes

if I had to sacrifice five seconds before the Lord God in meditation and clear communication between he and I. You couldn't tempt me for that. Nothing in the world. Been there, did that. I got the teacher. All right.

So the Pharisees are saying, what about all this resurrection business? What's that all about? How's that work? Whose wife will she be? Jesus said, you're greatly erring because you don't know the scriptures nor the power of God.

For when they shall rise from the dead they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are as the angels which are in heaven and as touching the dead that they rise now you notice he sees this as a two-part question you see do you see that? And pertaining to the dead as they rise, actually he says, pertaining to the dead that they rise. Have you not read in the book of Moses how the bush God, in the bush God spake to him saying, I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Really? You think God is the God of the dead

or of the living? So now there's people here. I've had people quote this scripture to me because they hear me say, when you die, you go into the grave, and you sleep until the resurrection, and they're saying, right here Jesus is saying that these people's alive right now. No, he didn't. He says, as pertaining to the resurrection, that they rise. It's not that they've risen. Nobody's been resurrected. Nobody's been made alive from the dead except one man.

The Bible, did you know the Bible actually says only one has immortality? You thought your grandma had it? You thought your grandma had it you thought your uncle had it you thought that the little bit you little babies that die you think that they're they're living now no only one has immortality that's our lord jesus christ the first begotten from the dead first begotten from the dead so the resurrection is in our future it's in abraham and isaac's future you see that's how this is this is what jesus means when he says if a man believe in me though he were dead yet shall he live if you believe in me he will never die he's coupling those thoughts together just because there's a time of sleep in between doesn't mean that their life has ended it's really a beautiful thought when you think about it it's it's a wonderful thing and we don't have to rely on magic or fairy tales or make up stuff

to shovel in the gaps of our theology you don't have to do that jesus makes these things i think he makes them very clear so he says you don't know you don't know the scriptures nor the power of god and um so i can't find in scriptures where it deals with this whose wife will she be thing. I can't find in the scriptures where it talks about that when we do enter into this next life, that marriage is not going to be a part of what we do or who we are, that we're going to be like the angels of God. I don't know where that's said. I can't find it.

Man, you can't either. And so we have to wonder, well, what is he talking about? Well, when he changes the subject from the marriage aspect to the resurrection aspect, he's saying the resurrection is obvious. It's obvious to people who read about Moses. You don't need me to preach this to you moses preached it to you if you got any brains that's jesus talking to the pharisees not me

talking to you you understand so he says that when you read moses and he talks about i'm the god of abraham isaac and jacob do you really think that god is the god of dead people? Or is he the God of the living? Well, he put it in such a distasteful term, the God of the dead, that they couldn't dare agree with it. And he put it in such a beautiful term, God of the living, that they had to agree with it. Well, he didn't change the Sadducees' mind

at this particular point, but he sure made his. All right, one more question. A Pharisee learned that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, silenced them, didn't change their mind, but he silenced them. One of them, a lawyer, asked Jesus, Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus replied, the first of all commandments is, now this is interesting because

he did not choose from the Ten Commandments. Isn't that amazing? He said, the first of all commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength. And this is the first commandment. The second, by the way, he says,

this is a bonus, is namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. None other greater commandment? What about all ten? There's none of the ten thatment greater than these none other greater commandment what about all 10 there's none of the 10 that's greater than that according to jesus there's not i have i when i talk about keeping the commandments and it's very distasteful to protestantism it's very distasteful to christianity in general because you know they they label that as being very Jewish

and we're not Jewish and the law has passed away and you've heard all the arguments um I I always get a kick out of when people say well you know I don't keep the 10 but I keep the two and I'm thinking the two what two love you love the Lord your god with all of your heart soul mind and strength i think you're lying to me sorry you love your neighbor as you love yourself you're more concerned whether your neighbor has clothes than whether he has clothes than you he has something to eat than you he has a place to live than you really i'm sorry i don't believe that god God gave us the Ten Commandments because we can't keep those two. We can't. He wouldn't ask us to keep commandments that is impossible to keep. But he did say those are the greatest commandments. And in another gospel, he says

that on these two commandments hang all the law. What is he saying here? Well, he's saying that these are great commandments. Chances are you're not going to keep these commandments. Do you really want to bank your eternal life on these two? You're going to lose. You're not going to get this done. Here's what I can do for you.

I'll tell you what. I know you can't love me with all your heart, soul you i'll tell you what i know you can't love me with all your heart soul mind and strength i know you can't love your neighbor as yourself but here's if you just keep these 10 you can do all 10 of these if you'll keep these i'll attribute this to you this will be satisfactory with me keep these 10 we split them up these are this is the important aspects of these two laws and if you can just do these 10 everything's cool between you and i friend the 10 commandments are not a curse they are a blessing from god that it allows us to say I haven't sinned today. I'm without sin. Like the rich ruler says, I've kept these commandments from my youth. It's entirely possible. It's not a problem.

And you know why? Because it's a gift from God. So the lawyer responded saying to Jesus, Master, thou has said the truth for there is one, and there is none other but he. And to love him with all your heart, and all your understanding, and all your soul, and all the strength, and to love your neighbor as himself is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus heard the lawyer, he he said you know what he said here's a guy that's saying

the commandments are our friend we can keep these commandments and they are wonderful and they are better than any sacrifice any offering any tribute anything that we could give to God it's better do you know what Jesus said to him any offering, any tribute, anything that we could give to God, it's better. Do you know what Jesus said to him? You know, when you're talking about commandments here, keeping the commandments, you're not far from the kingdom of God. What a lovely thing for our Lord Jesus to say to anybody. You're not far. You're getting close. In other words, you're getting

warmer. It's a beautiful thing. We got to go. Hey, write to me, will you? Don, thinkredink.com. See you here next time. Until then, think red ink. You've been listening to Don 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.