Words of Jesus Podcast - One is Your Teacher, Even Christ

Episode Date: August 27, 2021

Specialization in the post industrial age leads to excessive trust on professionals. We feel insecure in our abilities, so we look to others to form our opinions and support our decisions. Christians, however, have a more sure word of prophesy (more sure than tradition or observation). Interested? You should be. The Bible is a gift to modern man, subject to a sovereign God, which should be read in context, not in extracted sound bites that tickle our ears. Let the recorded witnesses encourage you; let the Son of God teach you. A giant step toward equity. ***Chapter 9: Jesus Heals the Nobleman's Son (Part 1) Jesus returned to Cana in Galilee, the place where he had made the water into wine at the marriage feast.  Hearing that Jesus had come back to Galilee from Judea, a nobleman, whose son was sick to the point of death in Capernaum, went to meet him.  He besought Jesus to heal his son. To the nobleman Jesus said: “Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.” The nobleman replied: “Sir, come down ere my child die.” Jesus responded: “Go thy way; thy son liveth.” The man believed the promise Jesus had made to him and started toward home.  While still on his way he was met, the following day, by his servants, who said: “Thy son liveth.” The nobleman inquired as to the hour his son began to amend and his servantsreplied: “Yesterday at the seventh hour [1 o’clock] the fever left him. So, the father knew that it was at the same hour Jesus had told him his sonlived.  Accordingly, he believed as did all others in his house. ***

Think Red Ink Ministries presents The Words of Jesus series with Don C. Harris Hello and welcome once again to the Words of Jesus series brought to you by Think Red Ink Ministries in Pytown, New Mexico. Always glad to have you as a part of our show and we hope that you're enjoying the series. You do know this is a series, right? We've been broadcasting now for a good while and we are well into the red words of Jesus Christ.

The red words referring to the words in your Red Letter Edition Bible. I know there's some people that don't have a Red Letter Edition Bible. It's news to them that there is such a thing. They've been around for about 100 years or so, but it was a design and an idea by a man who thought that the words of Jesus should be highlighted, that we should know exactly what Jesus said. That coupled with the fact that there's no such thing as quotation marks in the King James Bible.

He thought that perhaps it was dubious or somehow doubtful or uncertain as to which words Jesus actually said. And he thought that the words of Jesus should carry a certain weight. Well guess what? I agree with him. I agree with him wholeheartedly. I think when the Son of God speaks, not only should we be aware of what He says, but we should listen to what He says and do what He says. Well, thus the birth, the impetus,

the motivation behind Think Red Ink Ministries. If you'd like to be a part of what we're doing or would like more information about what we talk about here on the air, I invite you to go by thinkredinc.com. And from there, it's pretty much a hub to just about everything we do. And from there you'll be able to find whatever happens to interest you. We are in a what would you call that? It's kind of a paradox situation

because I've been called of God to teach and to preach that we essentially don't need preachers and teachers. It's an odd position to be in. I've had people criticize me for that reason, saying that you don't believe in teachers teachers but you're a Bible teacher. Well yeah, but what am I teaching you? I'm teaching you that you don't need a teacher. And that's not necessarily my words, but the words of the Apostle which says that you have no need that any man teach you. And there's a, I don't know,

a default mode into which Americans and modern man seems to fall that when it comes time to advance ourselves in whatever area, it doesn't matter if you're building a birdhouse or you're learning theology. Nowadays we just go to Google or we ask Siri or something like that. I don't know what people are doing, but it does seem that they default to finding someone who does know, asking them, and

employing them in one way or another to teach them what they need to know. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is a very precarious thing. It's almost a dangerous thing. You can find yourself in a situation where you're being taught something and you're accepting what's being said as

truth because of your merited or unmerited honor or respect that you have for your teacher. You know, we kind of grew up in a society where, well, when our parents say, you do it because I say so, we kind of applaud the attitude of rebellion. You don't just necessarily have to do something because somebody says so. Well, essentially, essentially yes you do. Especially when there's people that are in authority over you.

But we do have a tendency to not question our teachers and the people who have things to say to us for a lot of different reasons. The main one is just respect. If I didn't respect this person as a teacher, I wouldn't have employed him as my teacher. So when he says something, I have a tendency to want to believe it. to expect or at least we offer to our teachers an emotion, an impetus, a motivation on their

part that they may or may not have. And that is that, okay, if they're a teacher, then they have my best interest at heart. Do you know that's not always true? That's, well, I'll tell you the fact is I don't know that it's true in a lot of cases. Most people are self-promoting and they just want bigger and better for themselves and you're just a stepping stone to accomplish that.

Well there's going to be teachers out there and preachers out there hearing this and saying that's not true. I really care about people and I'm sure you do friend but do you really filter what you know? Do you really test what you know? Have you really come to that conclusion because of a deduction of so-called facts? Have you come to that conclusion because of your own personal study, your own opinion? You see, I think that when it comes to students, I didn't plan on talking about this, because of your own personal study, your own opinion.

You see, I think that when it comes to students, I didn't plan on talking about this, but I think that it's important. I think that students that go to teachers, I think that a lot of times that happens because of a feeling of inadequacy on their part that I'm really not qualified to do this. I'm really not qualified to find my own spiritual direction. And then there's the default in the other direction of

saying that I'm fully qualified to do so when the truth is somewhere in the middle. Well you need to know that there was a time when the most respected Bible teacher, the one that you hold in the highest regard, there was a time when he felt the very same way. And so he sought out a teacher or a college of teachers or a group of counselors or whatever,

and he believed what his teacher said for the same reason that you're believing what he says. This is a convoluted, even circular situation that just never seems to get any better. Nobody seems to break out. Nobody ever seems to fly off of this merry-go-round except in extreme cases and people that we've called essentially nuts over the years. A man like Martin Luther is a guy who flew off of the merry-go-round unfortunately I mean I don't agree with everything that Martin Luther did or said or his attitude about things he tried to climb back on that merry-go-round too many times to satisfy me but usually when there is a man

that has a revelation or that doesn't necessarily go with the status quo, we have a tendency to say that he's a nut. We say that he's strange and he's weird and stay away from that guy. Why? Because he doesn't say what everybody else says? Is that why we're supposed to do that? Or are we supposed to indeed discern for ourselves exactly what is true? Oh my goodness, you can't mean that it's going to be my responsibility.

That's not what you're saying, is it? Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. It is your responsibility. And if you think this is just way too much responsibility, I'm sorry about that, but you're not going to ever be anything more than the pitiful examples of Christianity that you see around you all the time until you decide that, first of all, you are fully and even uniquely qualified to make these judgments and discernments within yourself. God didn't leave us comfortless. He didn't leave us with nothing. He didn't leave you with that puny little brain working on 7% to 11% of its capacity

to try to figure out how to get to heaven when you die. He didn't leave us comfortless. There's a reason why our brains don't function like they do. We can't handle them at this level. We can't even control our thoughts at this level. It's amazing to even think about what a human being would be like like Adam operating on 100 percent. It's amazing to even think about what a human being would be like, like Adam operating on 100%. It's just hard to even fathom with our puny little brains. Well, he didn't leave you with your...

I always hear people who make judgments or they make evaluations, and you think, well, how did you come by this? Is this some scriptural principle? Well, it may not be in the scriptures, but God gave us a brain. Well, he gave Adam one. What you've got, I'm really not sure. If it's anything like mine, I know it's nothing like Adam's. I know that we have suffered a degradation in our bodies and in our minds, in the world.

We're on that devolutionary spiral downward and that's why things tend to get worse. And the worst among us say that things are getting better. It's weird, the world that we live in. Well, the good news is, is God didn't leave you with that to help you find your way back. It's pitch dark outside. There's no moon. It's totally black. You can't see. Well, you know, what do you want? Do you want a lamp for your path or do you just want a book of matches?

Or do you just want to holler ahead and say, is there anybody up there? Yeah, we're up here. Well, I'm going to just keep walking towards you, you know. I don't know where I'm going, but I'm going to follow you. It's amazing how unimportant this is to us. And so there are people who inordinately attach themselves to their Bibles, attach themselves to their churches and their pastors and whatever spiritual leadership there is around you. And it's a dangerous thing to do. And it's almost foolish to do so. As a matter of fact, there's a wonderful scripture that

illustrates what I've been saying to you all along here. We have also a more sure word of prophecy. Now you're talking to a man named John at this point. This is an apostle of the Lord who is saying that, look, there's three that bear record on the earth. Bear record of what? Of the Messiah having been here and accomplished what he accomplished. He said, and those things, do you know the scripture talking about the water and the blood

and how he is testifying to the fact that I was there, I saw this happen, I am an eyewitness of this situation. And then he goes on to say something that is really strange to the modern ear and that is he says we have also a more sure word of prophecy you want to see when i start saying this those of you who have memorized scripture and such immediately launch into that that mimicking parroting mode and you start to repeat the scripture along with me or perhaps this is

the first time you heard it i don't know but we have a tendency to just kind of in some certain cadence or a sing-song manner, we tend to quote scripture. We have also a more sure word of prophecy, where until you do well that you take heed. As a light that shines in a dark place. And you're not listening to what it says. You're not paying attention. Listen, I don't know about you,

but if somebody tells me that there is a more sure word of prophecy, more sure than an eyewitness account, I'm interested in that. I'd like to know what that is. You're saying that there is something that is more sure than seeing is believing? He said, I stood at the cross. I saw the water come out.

I saw this man destroyed in front of my eyes. He also witnessed the resurrection. These are not things you've seen, my friend. You've not seen these things. You accept all these things by faith he didn't have to he was there then he introduces an idea we have also a more sure word of prophecy where until you do well that you take heed. Have I lost you in the old English? He's saying that there's something more sure than seeing this with your own eyes, than witnessing this with your own life.

There's something more sure than being there. And you would do well to take heed to that thing that I'm about to tell you about, the more sure word of prophecy, you would do well to take heed to that. Then he uses this very same example I used a while ago. He says, as a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your heart.

The Bible teaches that not it, not the book itself, but that the word of God, the living word of God, and I told you there's only two definitions of the word of God according to the scriptures. One of them is the title of Jesus Christ, and thus revealing His origins and His life and His future. And when the Lord God, by way of Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit or He Himself,

which would be a rare situation, but when he communicates with mankind on the earth, when that is going on presently, that is called the Word of God. This is the Word of God to you. This is him speaking to you. The only two definitions in the scriptures of the word of God. And he's saying that the word of God

is that more sure word of prophecy. This is better than eyewitness account. Better than eyewitness account? There are people who bank their entire lives, and unfortunately, their eternal lives on what they read in the Bible. They have to have as much faith in the Bible as they ever do in God. Now, are you saying that we shouldn't have faith in the Bible?

No, I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying that faith in the Bible is not faith in God. The Bible tells us about him. It tells us his name. It tells us what he's done. You know, the past all the way back to creation. Talks about what he's going to do into the future a thousand years after he returns and sets up his kingdom on the earth.

It's a wonderful book. It has tons of information in it. Things that we should know, things that we need to know. However, there's something more sure than that. What in the world could be more sure than that? There's people that think that what I'm saying right now is blasphemy against the Scriptures. The Scriptures don't make the claims for itself that preachers make for the Bible.

You'll never find in the Scriptures where it teaches you that every word in this book is absolutely complete. There's nothing that can be added to it or taken away from it. Oh, wait a minute, Don. I know there is scripture that says that. No, you know it in two places. One of them is the law of God is not to be added to or taken away from, and the revelation of Jesus Christ is not to be taken away from or added to.

That's all. It's not talking about the King James Bible. It's not talking about the library of books you have in leather bound edition in your hand. It's not talking about that book at all. It's talking about the revelation of God, which by the way was the word of God to John. And it's talking about the law of God. The thing that Jesus said would never pass away. You're not allowed to add or take away from that. The Bible

does not make claims for itself like we make for it. That it's a complete book and nothing can be added or taken away. That all you ever need to know about life is contained in the scriptures. That's not so. We all know that's not so. But what do we do? We add weight and credence to what our Bible teachers say to us for reasons of respect, for reasons of love, perhaps an affection for that particular Bible

teacher. It's hard to learn from somebody you don't love or that you don't care about or you'd rather not be around. You can do it, by the way. But for whatever reason, we've added credence to what they've said. So therefore, it's become a truth with us. But if we let the Bible speak for itself about itself, we find exactly what it's here for, exactly how much confidence we're supposed to have in it,

and it falls into a rank and file that it is subject to our sovereign God. It's like when God came to Eli and said, Hey, Eli, I know I promised you that your sons were going to be on the throne forever. They're going to be priests before me forever. But not anymore. Oh, wait a minute.

I got your word on it you know and and in uh you know modern word of faith style shake your bible in God's face and tell him I have it in print I got it in writing I got a contract you can do that if you want to I wouldn't advise it but there are people who feel that way God he's totally sovereign. He doesn't wake up in the morning and read his Bible to find out what he's going to do today. The scriptures, yes, they're true, but we have to understand that they are what they say they are,

not what we say they are. There are people who read verses out of the Bible and claim them for themselves. Well, you can claim it if you want to, but it wasn't said to you. It was said to somebody else. Well, I happen to know it works. I'm thinking, is that the criteria we're going to go by? It works. You know, there's people that take placebo medications that work. It doesn't mean that the medication is worth a dime. It just means that it works. So I'm getting what I want, so everything's copacetic.

I don't know that that's a good way to live. So how are we supposed to live? Well, why don't we look at some of the men who lived in the way that we're supposed to live and see what they have to say about it. And here you have John saying we have also a more sure word of prophecy. Using the example that I used earlier, he says it's like a light shining in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your heart. Now friend, if

it is indeed true that our scriptures, our understanding of history, whatever we can learn through our five physical senses is very much like a man holding a flashlight or a torch in the dark, waving it back and forth in the path as he goes. If this is, you know, in the middle of the night he's trying to find his way home in pitch black, it makes perfect sense

that he's got a flashlight or a torch. But if you saw a man doing that at noon, you'd think, he's nuts. He's crazy. Well, this is exactly what John was saying. The word of God revealed to our soul when he speaks from the inside up, when God speaks to us and teaches us and guides us and leads us

and tells us what we need to know and reveals things to us, this is the day star. Do you know what the day star is? It's the sun. It is as silly as a man out with a flashlight after the sun comes up trying to find his way. You don't need that flashlight at noon. And I'm telling you that I find millions

of Christians scouring their Bibles and scouring their Sunday school literature and scouring their different books and going from seminar to seminar and church to church and preacher to preacher and listening to Christian radio and listening to Christian TV and trying to suck up some kind of spiritual understanding. You know what? It's just a bunch of people with a bunch of flashlights trying to make their way through the darkness. All the time the scriptures are teaching us, you have no need that any man

teach you. The Spirit of God that brought you into this way of living, that same Spirit will teach you and lead you and guide you. What did Jesus mean when he says, you have one teacher? That's me. One teacher? Really? One? Can that be? I've got to have a rabbi. I've got to have somebody to haul me around and tell me what to do. Jesus says one is your rabbi. One

is your rabbi. One is your rabbi, even Christ. And all of you are brethren. Nothing wrong with talking with your friends and talking with acquaintances and people that you love about the things of the Lord and learning from one another. That's what we're supposed to do. But we're supposed to do it with a very jaundiced eye. And we're supposed to do it with a critical eye. We're supposed to do it with an eye and ear trained by these scriptures, and

especially the red ink in there, what the Son of God actually had to say when he came to the earth. Don't you care about what he thought was important? What he thought was important. And what he thought was important, it hardly looks like it fits in our lifestyle, but it does. It is important. Do you realize if you were the person that you're supposed to be, all the situations in your life would be different. They would be, they'd feel different, they'd look different.

You perhaps would solve 90 of them instantly if you were the person you need to be so it doesn't surprise me that the son of god comes to the earth and says you know what we need to be different people that's what we need to do and he didn't know this he didn't understand this until he came to be one of us. And so he stands in a unique position like none other could ever stand. Jesus Christ is different in character. I get so tired of the arguments that Jesus Christ is like,

he's like Mohammed or he's like Buddha. No, no, no. He's the son of God in flesh, like the flesh you're wearing right now. Time's gone already. I'm sorry. Long introduction, eh? Join us next time to hear more from the words of Jesus.

Thank you for being a part of the show. I want to hear from you. If you're listening to the show, if you're enjoying it at all, or if you're just sitting there scratching your head and wondering what in the world is this all about, I invite you to go to thinkradink.com, or you can send me an email. Ask me a question. We answer them on the radio all the time. Just send an email to don at thinkradink.com. We'll 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