Words of Jesus Podcast - Whose Chair Are You Sitting In

Episode Date: April 19, 2024

Why do you call me LORD and not do what I say? Remember the Sermon on the Mount - give in secret, pray in private, give to those who cannot repay. We must understand that it was the rejection of the Jews of the authority of Jesus which led to empty seats at the table. Jesus turned to the halt, the blind, the lame - us (the Gentiles). Don't boast against the natural branches. We are less than the guests expected by Jesus. ***71: Jesus is Warned of Herod Luke 13:31-35On the same day certain Pharisees came to Jesus, saying:            “Get thee out and depart hence. For Herod will kill thee.”            Jesus answered them, saying:            “Go ye, and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.’ Nevertheless I must walk today, and tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate; and verily I say unto you, ‘Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”’”***72: Jesus Teaches At The Table Of A Chief PhariseeLuke 14:1-24Jesus Heals A Man With DropsyOn a Sabbath day Jesus ate in the house of one of the chief Pharisees. He was being watched closely.            A man came before him who was afflicted with dropsy. Jesus spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, asking:            “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?”            The lawyers and Pharisees remained silent. Thereupon Jesus healed the man and let him depart. Then he said to the lawyers and Pharisees:             “Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath day?”            And the lawyers and Pharisees were unable to give any answer.The Parable Of The Wedding Guest While he was eating at the home of the chief Pharisee, Jesus, who noticed how certain of the guests always pushed themselves into the positions of honor, said to them: “When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room: lest a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him, come and say to thee, ‘Give this man place;’ and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”  Jesus Instructs The Pharisee Jesus also said to the Pharisee who had invited him to eat: “When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither they kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind; and thou shalt be blessed;...

Think Red Ink Ministries presents the Words of Jesus series with Don C. Harris. Hello my friend and welcome once again to the Words of Jesus broadcast. We really do appreciate you being here. This series has just been so wonderful for me. You know, this bolsters my faith as much as it does yours. Well, I hope it's doing that to you. You know, there's only a couple of ways to bring the Word of God into your ears, and that is with resistance or with welcome. You know, there's only a couple of ways to bring the Word of God into your ears,

and that is with resistance or with welcome. And I hope you're of a welcoming spirit as the Spirit of God teaches us from the Scriptures. Now, we are in chapter 72 now. On a Sabbath day, Jesus ate in the house of one of the chief Pharisees. He was being watched closely. A man came before him who was afflicted with dropsy. You know what dropsy is, by the way? It's congestive heart failure. Just a little note of interest.

Jesus spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees asking, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day? And the lawyers and the Pharisees remained silent. Well that's the smartest thing I've ever read that they've ever done. Thereupon Jesus healed the man and let him depart. And he said to the lawyers and Pharisees, which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a ditch and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath day?

And the lawyers and the Pharisees were unable to give any answer. This was, as we talked about in a couple of shows earlier, the other example of them working on the Sabbath day and feeling like it's okay because it's livestock. That's money. We're not going to lose any money on the Sabbath day. So here we find they were unable to give an answer. Over there they were ashamed. And they should be.

While he was eating in the home of the chief Pharisee, Jesus, who noticed how certain of the guests always pushed themselves into positions of honor, and said to them, When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room, lest a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him. And he that bade thee and him come to thee and say, Give this man place. And thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.

But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room. Then he that bade thee cometh, and he may say to thee, Friend, go up higher. Then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that meet with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

I adopted this particular philosophy in my own life, and I remember in particular, I guess I remember this situation in particular and over and above any others, because the person who spoke to me actually used this scripture. I was invited to preach. It was in a little church in Nigeria. And so I arrived at the church and I sat down in the back pew. And because the service had started, I was a bit late. And they were very gracious about it. But I was sitting in the back view.

And the pastor, while they were singing a song, I love to hear the Nigerians sing. And while they were singing a song, he walked back there and he said, Friend, come up higher. And it was just so obvious that he was quoting the scripture that it really did tickle me that he understood that I'm not just going to prance myself up in front and shake hands and glad hand everybody and pat them on the back and say, well, everybody just

don't fear. The preacher's here. Well, you've seen that. But I think we could all use a little bit of humility. I wonder here sometimes if Jesus isn't just teaching plain character. This is good advice for a lost man. But again, here it is, Jesus teaching character. He's not teaching the way of salvation he's not giving us one of the steps to salvation he wasn't saying if you don't do this you're going to hell

he was he was teaching character hey do you know who you are do you know how humble you ought to be do you realize you're not better than anybody in this room uh man he's just speaking to us very much well like my dad would speak to me um all right then it says jesus said to the pharisee who had invited him to eat when thou makest a dinner or a supper call not thy friends nor thy brethren neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors, lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast,

call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and thou shalt be blessed, for they cannot recompense thee. And thou shalt be blessed, for they cannot recompense thee. And thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. Lot in this. There's a lot here. One thing that's here that's obvious

is a recollection, a recall from the Sermon on the Mount. Didn't he say this very same thing that what you do in private is is going to be made manifest he says don't give your alms where people can see you do that don't ever have your name attached to a gift don't do it where anybody can see you i mean this ought to be so secret that as you drop the coins in the box with your right hand your left hand doesn't even know what you're doing That's the the only way to give and be recompensed of the father

Don't pray in public you pray in public. You're going to pray You're going to pray and I don't care who you are. I don't care how much self-control you think you have If you pray in public you are praying and you are saying what you say so that the people in front of you can hear what you have to say. It's a fact. Some people aren't even ashamed of it. Some people speak to their congregation by praying. They do it all the time. Hey, will you mark this in your head? Will you put this thought into your brain and pay attention to this the next time you're around Christian people that pray? I don't care if they're praying at the table, praying over the food, praying over the offering, praying over the preaching, praying over saying goodbye, praying over the benediction the convocation praying praying

praying praying when they pray out loud you just mark it down they're expecting you to hear what they say friend that's that's hypocrisy in the worst way the worst way Jesus said, don't do it. Is there anything else you need to know? No, there isn't anything else you need to know. Don't do that. Don't give money in public. Somebody pass an offering plate under your nose, take something out, and they won't do it again. Okay, I'm kidding. But, you know, we don't need to live this way, do we? Do we just need to live in constant violation of what Jesus said? I remember working with a preacher one time, and he said, we're going to need you to help take up the offering.

Get somebody else. What? What? You don't want to help, right? You're just thinking you're just being obstinate no i'm a christian i'm not taking up an offering with my lord jesus telling me not to do it and you telling me to do it i think we ought to obey god rather than men don't you well he you know he found somebody else but then he said you, I want to talk to you about this. Okay, fine, I'll talk to you about it. And I did.

And he made it clear in no uncertain terms. I can't put a box at the back of this auditorium and tell people to put something in it. They won't do it. So what? Let them not do it. You don't really care why the money's given where it comes from what what spirit it was given in you know you don't really care that doesn't matter to you it doesn't matter if these people are blessed of god for giving as long as you've got the money really is that it aren't you ashamed of yourself not in the least bit?

And the attitude about it was, look, we need money to keep this ministry going. Therefore, this is the way. If I do it your way, I'll get a tenth of what I get if I do it my way. So? You don't feel any uh compulsion to do what jesus said to do i i don't even well i what am i saying am i putting myself above them by saying i don't understand why people do that shoot i did that for years didn't bother me at all. First, we had a lot bigger offerings back then. All right. Jesus is saying that when you make a supper, I want you to

invite people that cannot recompense you. Now, this particular idea, I think this filters into very nicely, hand in glove nicely, to building a church. Why are we filling the church with people who love us? Why are we filling the church with people who can recompense us? Why are we filling a hospital with healthy people? Why are we doing that? I understand why the pharmaceutical industry keeps lowering the normal blood pressure. Every time they do, they just gather in another million subscribers

to their god-awful pills that they sell. I get that. That's business. But I don't understand why we fill the church with people who should be well on their way of being a Christian and preaching to them and telling them that they're sinners and they need to rededicate their life. I got an idea for you, preacher. Why don't you just shut the church down this Sunday

and go down to the city park and have a service there. Don't even tell your friends. Don't even tell your church what you're doing. Go down there and find the halt and the maimed and the blind and the indigent and the naked and the hungry and preach to them the gospel. How about that? You know what you'd have for the first time in your life?

A biblical church that's what you'd have i believe that this is the instruction on how to make a congregation i think that it's it's very important that you understand that we don't we don't need a congregation full of friends we need a congregation full of friends. We need a congregation full of ministers. Can you imagine if your whole church did this? Can you imagine if all the people in your church that, you know, claimed to be Christian, you know, wanted to be empowered with the Spirit of God, they lived a life according to the Spirit of God, they were empowered with the Spirit of God. They lived a life according to the Spirit of God.

They were guided by the Spirit of God. And they took this advice. Can you imagine? Hey, let's say you got 100 people in your congregation. Let's cut that group in half, because you always got to cut the group in half, because half of them are all fakes. And let's take 10% of that.

We've got five people, don't we? We're dealing with five people. You and five other people go and take this advice and find people that cannot pay your way, they cannot buy your tent, they can't buy your dinner on the ground. They can't put you in a nice car. They can't put you in a nice suit of clothes.

They cannot recompense you. You're down there preaching because you're called to do so. You're down there preaching, hopefully, the Word of God that's made available to you because you obey what he says to do. You think this is just a suggestion? I don't think so because Jesus says, why do you call me Lord and not do what I say? Why do you call me Lord and still take up an

offering in public? Why do you call me Lord and still pray in public? Why do you do that? I told you not to do that. Why do you call me Lord and still call yourself reverend? I told you not to do that. Why do you call me Lord and still call the Pope father? I told you not to do that. How long do you want me to go on here? We have a lot to answer for as so-called christians it says one of the guests said blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of god now this is this is one of these religious people that just can't keep their mouth shut you've met them they're the most irritating people on earth they want to say something holy They want to say something, you know, spiritually, you know, strange or weird or I don't know what they're trying to do.

But they talk, you know, in that tone. You ever been standing outside the restaurant and you see somebody, you know, and you kind of strike up a conversation. You talk about the weather and you talk about football. You talk about your job. Talk talk about football you talk about your job Talk about your kids talk about your car And then you say yeah well the other day my wife and I are in church and oh you guys go to church I'm a Christian. Yes. Thank God. Hallelujah. Thank you Jesus Well where did all that come from? You didn't say praise the Lord., hallelujah, thank you, Jesus,

when you're talking about your football team. Why are you talking that way now? Are you trying to impress me or something? Oh, you're talking religious. Here's one of those people right here. Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. What? What? What?

Jesus is talking about having a feast, you know? So he takes the kind of message or subject that Jesus is talking about and he turns it into this holy. You have to go down a couple of octaves if you really want to sound holy And you say blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of god. Oh, oh i'm flushing No You know what? Shut up Why don't you just be yourself? Why don't you just be honest?

Why don't you just stand there and be quiet no you just got to make people think that you're more holy than they are well we all know you're not he says a certain man made a great supper and bade many and send his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come, all things are ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it. I pray thee, have me excused. And another said, I bought a yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them. I pray thee, have me excused.

And another said, I've married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came and showed his lord all these things. Then the master of the house said, being angry, said to the servant, Go out quickly into the streets and the lanes of the city, and bring hither the poor and the maimed and the halt and the blind and the servant said lord it's been done as thou has commanded and yet there's room and the lord said unto him to the servant go out into the highways and the hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled.

For I say unto you that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper. This is the most indicting thing that was ever said about Israel. Jesus came to present this supper. He came to spread the table for the sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and for the 12 tribes of Israel, and for his people who have proven to be his people for centuries to come, see him for who he is and accept him as the Lord of this feast. They came

or they were bidden to come because of who they were. These people did not care. They did not care about Jesus. They didn't care about the feast. They only cared about themselves. And so they make excuse. I don't care what your excuse is. You know what I can tell you? You don't come to this supper. You don't make yourself a part of this supper. And us as gentiles we as gentiles we know

that we're sitting in seats that were not designed for us we're sitting in seats that were not that doesn't have our family name on the back it's got some other family name you want me to sit here this is for somebody named isaac is that okay sit there isaac's not gonna be here he's not coming wow really why isn't he coming you know what we're not going to talk about it so what he did was as he said he says this supper was made for my people they're not here all All these rich guys, they don't really care about what we're doing. Fine. Go find others of my people who are in such a position as this would appeal to them. Well, who would that be? The halt, the maimed, the blind, go get them. Well, we did that and there's still room at the table my house is going to be

full i am going to fill this feast with people and this is where the interpretation of this scripture is hugely derogatory toward the Jewish nation. When he says go out into the highways and the hedges, you know where he was sending them? Outside of Israel. He said, go get the Gentiles and bring them in. And that's exactly what he did. He went and got the Gentiles, and we sat in seats that that's exactly what he did. He went and got the Gentiles and we sat in seats that really weren't made for us.

We weren't invited to this supper. This is not our gift. This is not even our Lord speaking to us. In many cases, they didn't even know what they were doing there. We're going to read about this story again and we're going to find out how to attend this supper and there is certain criteria that you need to be aware of and we'll get into it as

as we continue but in this particular one i want you to see that his intention was these men that make all these excuses, these men that don't care about what I'm doing, they will not even taste my supper. Perhaps some of them showed up when they heard all the uproar going on over here. Oh, that must be that party I was invited to. You're not invited anymore. Oh, but I had things to do.

Really? You bought a piece of property, and you never even saw it before you bought it. I must needs go and see it. What? You bought a piece of property and you've never seen it. I'm sorry, friend. I think you're lying to me.

And you, you want in now? Well, yeah, I'm a little late, but I thought I could get in. No, you're not invited anymore. But I bought yokes of oxen, and I needed to prove them. Really? You bought oxen without proving them? I'm sorry, friend. I don't believe this. You just want to drive your new car. Not test drive it. You just want to drive it. This is pure selfishness on your part. And then some poor little red-faced bloated guy shows up there and says, Hey, are you still offering supper?

Well, not to you. Why? Well, because you didn't come. I invited you, but you didn't come i invited you but you didn't come and then he says something that every married man on the earth understands and no married woman seems to get this i pray they have me excused why i married a wife and therefore i cannot come that there are a lot of men that essentially can't serve God. They can't do what they're supposed to do.

They can't have the guts, the intestinal fortitude to push ahead. They can't put their head up above the rest in the crowd because their wife won't let them. You know, I know there's such a thing as a woman being concerned about the health and the welfare of her husband i get all that but most of the time it's just some bossy woman wanting to tell her husband what to do goes all the way back to the garden of eden when he told eve you know you've you've thwarted the authority of your husband. And I'm telling you, the curse that is on you is that you're going to constantly try to walk up his back like a stepladder

and sit on his shoulders and have your head higher than his. But I got news for you. He is going to rule over you. You're going to be frustrated the rest of your life until you submit to your husband. You think that's happening? Yep. I think it's happening. I think it's been happening for a long, long time. So where are these men? Where are these men that are going to stand up and run their households?

Why did God choose Abraham? Because he was good looking? Because he was rich? No. The Bible says he chose Abraham. I know Abraham and he'll command his children to walk after me. Friend, I don't know of a man that commands his children anymore. I don't know of a man that commands his wife i don't know of a man that commands anything he gets a job he makes a paycheck he plays around he buys toys and he never really grows past six eight nine twelve years old he just never becomes a man what is that well the church the body of christ is suffering because there's no men in it. You wonder why the church is full of women because women are more spiritual than men. No, there's more women in church

because men don't want anything to do with it. That's why. Look, don't want to drive any wedges between men and women there's enough already but men ought to be men women ought to be women and if you want to call yourself something else go do that someplace else please don't bother me with it i happen to know that your system is not going to work i happen to know the system that does work, and it's this one. The body of Christ doesn't work. The body of Christ is impotent and crippled

and ineffectual on the earth because men and women traded places. The social order of the world is in the mess it's in. Men and women traded places. The workplace has changed because men and women traded places. The military is in the mess it's in men and women traded places the workplace has changed because men and women traded places the military is in turmoil because men and women had traded places how do I need to go on do I really need to go on it's a basic fundamental rule of life that if you ignore it you ignore it to your own peril. Hey guys, stand up.

Hey women, how about letting them, how about letting a guy run his family? There's a great idea. Anyway, what happens is the body of Christ suffers. The will of God suffers. And there's really no need for it.

All right. Didn't make you mad, did I? No, no. You understand, don't you? You have the love of Jesus bubbling in your heart right now, right? Yeah, good, good, good. All right, our time is gone. I'd really love to know your questions and your comments.

Even you ladies are welcome to write to me at don at thinkredink.com. Be glad to talk with you or do whatever I need to do to minister to you and to help if I can. All right, time for us to go. Until I see you again, think ready, my friend. Bye-bye. 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. you