Words of Jesus Podcast - One Sign

Episode Date: July 14, 2023

God will not prove himself to mankind. Ch. 43 The issue is faith. Did Jesus mean what He said? We cannot believe in Jesus apart from His words. Ch. 44 The lesson continues in our day as in his, Jesus versus tradition. ***Ch 44: Jesus Warns Against The Teachings Of The Pharisees And SadduceesMatthew 16:5-12; Mark 8:13-21WHEN JESUS had left the Pharisees and Sadducees to whom he had refused a sign, he embarked, with his disciples, to cross the sea.            The disciples forgot to take food with them. There was only one loaf in the ship.            Jesus said to them:            “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.”            His disciples reasoned the meaning of this among themselves, thinking:            “It is because we have taken no bread.”            Jesus knew what they were thinking and said:            “Why reason ye because ye have no bread? Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? Have ye your heart hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? And having ears, hear ye not? And do ye not remember? When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?”            The disciples answered:            “Twelve.”            Then Jesus asked:            “And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?”            They answered:            “Seven.”            Then Jesus said to them:            “How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?”            So they understood that Jesus did not bid them beware of the leaven of bread but of the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees.***Ch 43: Jesus Again Refuses To Give A Sign To The Pharisees AndSadduceesMatthew 15:39, 16:1-4; Mark 8:10-12IMMEDIATELY AFTER he had fed the four thousand, Jesus and his disciples went by boat to another part of the country.             The Pharisees and Sadducees came and tempted Jesus, asking him to show a sign from Heaven as evidence of his authority.            Jesus refused them, saying:            “When it is evening, ye say, ‘It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowering.’ O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah.”            Then Jesus immediately left them.

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. Don Harris here, and we're going to continue with the red ink in chapter 43 of our book. We left off last time talking about Jesus, making it clear that it is those who lack relationship with God who need a sign from heaven.

And we have to admit that he was not necessarily chiding the popular understanding of sinners. He was actually talking about many of us who have the trouble of the we can be put into the category of the wicked and adulterous generations and although that's a discouraging thought you know the good news is that we we serve a merciful god who loves us and who wants to fix these kinds of things. And as I've explained so many times, tried to explain to people, especially those that are dealing with divorce and trouble in their marriages,

they say, well, isn't adultery a reason for divorce? And I try to make it clear that the scriptures are plain that they say that no, divorce is not a reason, I'm sorry, adultery is not a reason for divorce. Adultery in a relationship is an opportunity for forgiveness and for healing and for fixing those problems. It's not a turnkey deal that, oh boy, my spouse has committed adultery, therefore I can divorce her and everything's okay between me and God. No, that's not what the Bible says at all. And we've talked about that. I don't want to belabor that subject. But I want to add that idea to what we were talking about before, about the fact that we have to admit that we are that adulterous generation. We are that adulterous wife,

that God divorced Israel, God divorced Judah for these very reasons that they worshiped other gods. And we allow these gods, these pagan ideas, the the pagan teachings these kind of things into christianity and therefore you know we're kind of playing around with mistresses and such but um it's not a reason for god to give up on us his uh you know his mercy does endure forever he does he does forgive. We need not think that we're going to get in such shape that God is going to be finished with us, especially if it is revealed to us that we are in that condition. Now, I have to say there that, and I've told you before,

that I believe millions of people may be saved in ignorance and not one one person is ever going to be saved in rebellion now that you know it might be a little different situation because um god doesn't handle rebellion very well um he just doesn't handle the rebellious wife at all. So if these things have been revealed to us, it's just a matter of forgiveness. It's a matter of changing our ways and trying to heal that relationship. And it can be a beautiful thing. As a matter of fact, sometimes it can actually strengthen a relationship. When a person realizes or it's revealed to them that they are in that condition i think that i think forgiveness awaits many of us so i don't want to discourage anybody

but if we find ourselves in that situation we need to do something about it jesus talking about a sign says that it is the wicked and adulterous generation that seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Now, this particular book does not go into the detail of the sign of the prophet Jonah. But if you look in Matthew 15, if you look in Luke 16, if you look in Mark 5, or Mark 8 actually, you'll see that there's a whole story that comes together, especially when you combine the scriptures where Jesus explains the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Here, unfortunately, they don't do that. But I feel that it's important that you understand that Jesus was adamant that no sign shall be given to this generation except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Now, what except the sign of the prophet jonah now what was the sign of the prophet jonah he says as jonah was in the belly of that fish for three days and three nights so must the son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights there has probably not been a um a biblically referenced prophecy that has been so raped and torn by the by the christian populace out there

than this sign i told you for the last show if if you tune in at this show, I'm going to show you that Jesus was not the Messiah. I'll make it very clear to you. He says that this is the sign that I am who I say I am, that this is how you're going to know that I am who I say I am. And what did he say he was? He said he was the Son of God. He said he was the Anointed One. He said he was the Messiah. He made this very, very clear. And he said that just to show you that I am who I say I am,

I'm going to give you this sign. And when I die, when I give myself as a ransom for the sins of the world, it is going to require my death, because that is the wages of sin. And if he takes on our sin, then that wage is paid to the recipient, which is death. Jesus had to die he had to lose his physical life in order to pay now he says no i'm not going to die for 15 minutes i'm not going to i'm not going to die and be miraculously brought back by a emt squad. What is going to happen here is that I'm going to die.

I'm going to be put into the heart of the earth, into the grave, actually into a tomb, and there remain for three days and three nights, and then I'm going to emerge again. If that does not happen, if this prophecy is not so so then i'm not who i say i am so you want me to prove to you that jesus is not the messiah here we go he died on friday night right everybody knows that he died on friday night they put him in the grave he rose sunday morning so he's not the messiah he can't be the messiah because he wasn't in the in the ground for three days and three nights like he said he would he said he was going to be in there three days and three nights and many people are satisfied saying well he died on friday

he stayed there saturday and he rose Sunday. There's three days. Friend, are you not listening? Three days and three nights. It's not three parts of three days, like a whole day and part of the Sunday and part of the Friday. That wasn't the prophecy. If you say it doesn't matter,

he forecasted, he prophesied 72 hours in the grave is 36 really enough for you is is that enough well he was in there for 36 hours according to the the common understanding of the death burial and resurrection of Jesus, 36 hours, and that's enough. It's not enough for me. I happen to believe what he said. It's the sign of the prophet Jonah. How long was Jonah in the belly of the fish? Three days and three nights. Are you sure he wasn't in there for 36 hours? If 36 hours, exactly half, by the way, exactly half of what he said, if that's enough, how about three and a half hours? Is that enough?

How about three and a half minutes? How about dying for three and a half seconds? How about, I mean, is any time okay? And when does it start to be okay? When it ticks over halfway? Well, you know, half's better than nothing. Really, I'd like to know, how is that okay with everyone? Is it that we just ignore this?

Do we run to our preachers and say, hey, what about the three days and three nights thing? Well, you know, back then, now you know you're going to get an earful of manure. They're going to say to you, you know, well, you know, back then, you know, the Jews considered any part of a day to be a whole day. Oh, did they really? Wow. When I went to Israel, I asked about that well i was concerned you're going to rent a car and they're going to charge you so much a day and they consider any part of

a day a whole day i need to know this going in i'm going to make a contract with these people have you ever heard of such an idea no they've never heard of such an idea? No, they've never heard of such an idea. A day is a whole day. Jesus says, are there not 12 hours in a day? Well, there's 12 hours a day and there's 12 hours of night. Three days and three nights. You know, this is just basic math. I mean, this is a guy counting on his fingers. You know, a piece of paper and a pencil.

And you can figure out that jesus is not the messiah he said he was going to be dead for 72 hours and he wasn't end of story let's all go home or we can find out what actually happened now i don't want to go into that whole story, because, of course, we're going to be studying, and it keeps coming up. But there is a, there's a scriptural way of understanding exactly when Jesus went into the grave, how long he stayed there, when he arose from the grave. But the problem is that when you start laying this out on paper, all of a sudden you realize

oh, he was in the grave for 72 hours, just like he said. He was in the grave three days, three nights, just like he prophesied. This is amazing. This is great. Until you realize that you're destroying most all of Christianity's ideas of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter doesn't work anymore because Easter insists that he rose on Sunday. Well, there's no truth in that at all. He rose Saturday night. He rose on the Sabbath day

just before the sun went down on the Sabbath day. You know, well, we can't have that. What happened to Easter Sunday? Well, if he actually did die on a Wednesday, then what's Good Friday all about? What's Monday, Thursday? What are all these things that have been added to the church through the Catholicism, through the Church of England, through most every Christian religion? We have all these traditions and ideas and stuff that just don't work anymore. So here you are faced with it again.

Would you rather be right or would you rather belong? Because, friend, you're not going to get to have both. You're not going to get to have it. If it is more important to you to belong than it is to be right, then you need to forget science. You need to forget math. Forget logic, common sense, the ability to count on your fingers,

the appreciation for the prophecies of Jesus Christ, what actually happened. You need to forget all that because these other things just simply do not fit. Don't fit what the only sign that he says i'm going to give that wicked and adulterous generation this is your only sign he's not going to give you another he's not going to appear to you over your bed he's not going to give you another. He's not going to appear to you over your bed. He's not going to whisper in your ear that he's the Son of God

and that he rose from the dead and that he now sits at the right hand of the Father. He's not going to do that. He has already done it. Anyone who believes in him believes what he says. You know, are you saved? Yes. How do you know? I believe in Jesus yes how do you know i believe in jesus really do you really believe in jesus yes but you don't believe what he said well yeah i believe what he

said i don't think you do i don't think i don't know how you can because he said 72 hours. You say 36. And somehow that's okay with you. Do you see how a wicked and adulterous generation can't even handle a sign? They don't know what they're looking at when they're staring it straight in the face. This is an age-old problem of jesus christ versus tradition religion the church and we can never forget it would it was not going to do you a bit of good to forget that it was the church it was is Israel, the first church, the called out ones,

the group of people who believe and supposedly fear God, it was they who murdered Jesus Christ. The world was in shock. The sinner thought that Jesus was the greatest thing that ever lived. The Greeks, not even in the salvation plan at the beginning, they thought he was wonderful. We just got finished teaching on the Syrophoenician woman who was just aghast that the people that he came to save couldn't care less about what he had to say. And she's saying, okay, I'm not a chosen one, but I believe.

Jesus looked at the centurion. He says, look at this guy. He comes to me, and he asked me to heal his servant? It's not even in his family. Here's a man who has compassion. He's not one of God's chosen ones. Here's a man who, at risk of his own stature in the Roman army, goes and consults with a Jewish rabbi. This is a man who laid it all aside to come to me. And when he does come to me, he doesn't say,

you know, would you please anoint a handkerchief for me? Would you please give me some anointing oil? Or some magic sand? Or any other, you know, magic dirt or magic spit or magic mud? He didn't ask for anything. He didn't say, would you come to my house would you touch and yield my servant you know he says i'm a man under authority i know what authority means i'm a centurion for pete's sake i got a hundred men to do whatever I say to do. And I am in a group of men that are under

another authority and we do what we're supposed to do. I know what authority is. I know authority when I see it and I see it in you. And therefore I know within myself, all you have to do is say the word. If you say the word, my servant will be healed and I don't even have to go home you don't even have to come to my home I'm not even worthy for you to come under my roof there's humility this Roman centurion had it all Jesus was so impressed with him he says I have not seen so great faith no not in all israel

you know this this was so impressive to him you know what this man was doing believing in jesus he has more faith than many of us do certainly more more than the Jews had in that day. So please don't tell me that you're saved because you believe in Jesus and believe every fairy tale that is vomited over the pulpit every year. Well, I mean, you can tell somebody else that, it's okay, but please don't tell me that because I'm really thinking bad of you at that particular point. I don't believe you to tell you the truth. And what's really sad is I feel sorry for you because I kind of think that you believe that. And it's just not even so. Why is that? Why is it that he could take the time, the effort to give us, to share with us a prophecy of his death, burial, and resurrection, and

we butcher it up and leave it butchered to save our own rituals and traditions and holidays and all the things that have been foisted upon the body of Christ by man-made religion. I don't get it. I don't get it. And you believe in Jesus? You think that kind of faith is capable of saving you?

It's not. It's absolutely not. Faith without works is dead. And if you say you believe in Jesus and you don't believe anything he says? You can't even prove, or you don't even allow basic mathematic, basic arithmetic, the ability to count on your fingers? You don't even let that kind of logic even cause a question to come into your mind? Wow. You know what? If you had the kind of faith in Jesus Christ that you do in doctrine and denomination and church and preachers and all the rest of this organization that we call religion, you might have a faith

that's worthwhile. But you know what? He takes not the second seat, not even the third, not even the fourth, not even the fifth seat in your life. Again, we're dealing with people whose christianity is a hobby it's just a hobby are you going to believe what he says or are you not you know who you know who these people are that keep these these unholy days you know who people are who who uh add words to the scripture and add um uh prerequisites to the scripture and and teach salvation is is uh you know through this little list you know check here and check here and check here and sign here you know who these people are people carrying around a bible saying that their faith is based on the Scriptures. Really? Is that so?

It's not so at all. It's not so at all. It's based on what you've been taught the Scriptures say, or worse yet, what you believe that you read in the Scriptures. And there's no truth in it. And nobody seemed to care. All right. Let's move to chapter 44 in our little book. And we find that Jesus warns against the teachings of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

Sounds familiar. When Jesus had left the Pharisees and Sadducees to whom he had refused a sign, he embarked with his disciples to cross the sea. The disciples forgot to take food with them. There was only one loaf in the ship. Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the pharisees and the sadducees

his disciples reason the meaning among themselves thinking it's because we've taken no bread he knows that we haven't taken any bread he's tricking us he's you know he's saying something and you know everybody's wondering i wonder what he meant by that it's because we've taken no bread jesus knew what they were thinking and said why reason you because you've taken no bread perceive ye not yet neither understand have you have ye your heart yet hardened having Having eyes, see ye not? And having ears, hear ye not? And do ye not remember?

When I break the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up? The disciples said, Twelve. Jesus said, And when the seven loaves among four thousand how many baskets full of fragments took you up and they said seven jesus said to them how is it that you don't understand that i speak it not concerning bread that you should beware of the leaven of the pharisees and the sadducees so they understood that jesus did not bid them beware of the leaven of bread,

but of the teachings of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Here we are again. It just keeps coming back over and over and over again. We have, who was it that said so many years ago, the Bible is so easy to understand, you have to have help to misunderstand it. And friend, we have had just a whole lot of help here, haven't we? It's the idea of organized religion,

the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the pastor, the preacher, the seminary, you know the list? The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the pastor, the preacher, the seminary. You know the list. It's all those things added to what Jesus is saying that makes it difficult to understand. Why couldn't they understand this parable? The same reason they couldn't see the sign. Because of their own downfall, their own missing the mark their own sin it's because they had done something wrong and they were totally fascinated with what they were doing wrong

that they couldn't even hear the most dire warning of jesus and what was it was it that they all snuck off and went to the brothel the night before? Did they all get drunk? Did they all do cocaine the night before and have a big party with loud rock music? No. We're not talking about gross and heinous sin here. It was because they forgot to take bread. Oh, I've done something wrong and and god knows about it do you know many times when we have done something wrong and many times when you talk bad about people behind their back

and the next time you see them in the back of your mind you're wondering i wonder if that person told them what i said and everything they say you think, hmm, I wonder what they meant by that. Why are you doing that? It's your own guilt. It's your own understanding of your own fakery, your own hypocrisy, your own mouth. It's the sin. It's's the downfall it's the missing the mark in your life it colors everything that everybody says here jesus is trying to give them a warning about the pharisees and the sadducees be careful be careful be careful and they can't even hear what he said so this idea of being a wicked and adulterous generation that blocks our ideas of of being able to see signs and understand what we see understand what's right in front of us we can't understand it same

thing goes for good advice and you taking shortcuts in your life or being overly fascinated with your own downfall with your own shortcomings, and you're just wondering when Jesus says something, hmm, I wonder what he meant by that. Why are we doing this? Because we're just frail human beings, and we need to understand he knows all these things. Yeah, he has, yeah, everything's under control. Everything's under control. Everything's fine. You know, I don't know. Maybe they were concerned about not having any bread.

Maybe they were afraid that he was going to think that they were tempting him to make bread. I don't know what was going through their minds. It was just a mistake. It was just a little shortcoming. That's all. They just forgot. It's okay. It's okay. Jesus says, don't you know who's in the boat with you? My goodness. What do you have to see me do to understand who I am? He's fascinated with the way people think because it's just taking their life, just minute by minute,

taking their life away. Is our time gone already? My goodness. I'd love to hear from you. Would you please write to me? I'd appreciate it. Until next time, think ready, my friend.

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