Jesus says, beware! Does anybody care? - “Bringing sons to glory” - Session 23 of 24 - The Living Word - thelivingword.org.au

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Jesus says, beware! Does anybody care

In Matthew 16 Jesus tells His disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees were religious zealots. (The Sadducees are called Herodians in the account in Mark 8. In other words, the Sadducees were Jews who allied themselves to King Herod and to secular power.) It is clear from the context that Jesus is not talking about hypocrisy and legalism. There is a larger question.

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Dear Subscribers and Readers,

I have decided to provide the transcript below because so many Christians are under the control of the organized church religion also known as the religious church system.  Jesus does not need a religions system.

Transcript

• 0:07 Jesus fed thousands with a few loaves. 
• 0:11 Then He walked on water. Then He healed 
• 0:15 everyone who came to Him. 
• 0:18 Miracles. Impressive? 
• 0:21 Not to everyone it seems. The Pharisees 
• 0:24 said "Your disciples don't wash their 
• 0:27 hands before they eat". 
• 0:30 That's religion for you. 
• 0:32 Faith says, "My God is a miracle-working 
• 0:36 God". Faith says, "My God will supply all my 0:40 needs in Christ Jesus." 
• 0:44 Religion says, "the show is the thing". 
• 0:48 Religion says "Do what we tell you to do". 
• 0:53 Religion says, "Don't break our traditions". 
• 0:59 "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees 
• 1:02 and Sadducees" Jesus said. 
• 1:05 The leaven is the teaching of these 
• 1:08 religious types, we are told. 
• 1:11 And that's what their teaching does. It 
• 1:13 makes the managers of the religious 
• 1:16 system powerful. It gives them control. 
• 1:20 It gives them authority. And religious 
• 1:23 groups fight to protect their status. 
• 1:27 But Jesus tells His disciples "God works 
• 1:32 supernaturally". You don't have bread? 
• 1:35 Don't fret. 
• 1:37 You've seen ... God multiplies. God doesn't
• 1:41 respond to religious rituals and rule 
• 1:44 keeping. God is looking at your heart. 
• 1:48 Do you believe? 
• 1:50 Don't set up a religious system. 
• 1:54 Teach people to know Me and trust Me, 
• 1:57 Jesus is saying. 
• 2:01 There was a tax levied to pay for the 
• 2:04 running of the temple. 
• 2:06 The collectors came to Peter. "Does your 
• 2:08 Teacher pay the tax?" they asked. And Jesus
• 2:12 said to Peter, "We are sons. Sons are 
• 2:17 exempt. But, so we don't offend them, go to 
• 2:20 the sea, throw in a hook, take the first 
• 2:22 fish and in its mouth you'll find the 
• 2:24 money to pay the tax." 
• 2:28 Religion collects a church tax. 
• 2:32 Faith trusts God to provide. 
• 2:35 And for God it is ridiculously easy to 
• 2:38 provide, if we will trust Him. 
• 2:41 The only reason to set up organization, 
• 2:45 resources, money-raising, 
• 2:47 is to establish something man can 
• 2:50 control. 
• 2:53 In Jerusalem, Jesus cleansed the temple, 
• 2:57 once at the start of His ministry, and 
• 2:59 again before His death. 
• 3:02 Jesus drove out the people trading in 
• 3:04 the temple, doing business in His house. 
• 3:08 "My house is a house of prayer", He said. 
• 3:11 "You have made it a den of robbers". 
• 3:18 The first teaching on the Kingdom of 
• 3:21 heaven says, 
• 3:22 "A man sleeps, 
• 3:24 and while he sleeps, the seed sprouts and 
• 3:26 grows. He has no idea how!" The soil 
• 3:31 produces the crop by itself. That's the 
• 3:35 life force of God working in hearts ... 
• 3:38 hidden. Man can't do that. That's God's 
• 3:43 work. 
• 3:47 Jesus' first parable is the parable of 
• 3:50 the sower. It's found in the Gospels of 
• 3:53 Matthew, Mark, and Luke. 
• 3:56 Seed is the Word of God. 
• 4:00 The seed is cast wide. Some 
• 4:03 listen. Some don't. Some grow. Some don't. 
• 4:09 Is the message forced on some, and 
• 4:11 withheld from others? No. Seed falls on 
• 4:15 soil. 
• 4:17 Soil is the heart. 
• 4:20 Fruitful soil has vital characteristics. 
• 4:27 Number 1: Good soil is an understanding heart. 
• 4:32 And the understanding is about Jesus, and 
• 4:35 forgiveness and grace, in the cross. Not 
• 4:40 self-serving, but knowing Him. The word 
• 4:45 for "understanding" is the 7,396th word in 
• 4:49 the original Greek text of the New 
• 4:53 Testament. 
• 4:55 The word order is not accidental. God has 
• 4:59 arranged it this way. 
• 5:01 7,396 
• 5:03 is 86 times 86. 
• 5:09 And 86 is the numeric value of the first 
• 5:12 word in the Bible for "God" (Elohim). 
• 5:20 Number 2: Good soil is someone who 
• 5:23 accepts the Word. 
• 5:26 Mind is engaged ... understanding. Will is 
• 5:30 engaged ... free-will. The fruitful person 
• 5:34 believes and responds. Christianity isn't 
• 5:37 something that is done to us. It's a life 
• 5:41 we participate in. 
• 5:45 Number 3: Good soil stands for the 
• 5:48 person with a good and noble heart. Mind 
• 5:53 is engaged, will is engaged, and heart is 
• 5:56 engaged. 
• 5:58 This word translated "good" or "noble" is 
• 6:01 the 35,828th 
• 6:04 word in the original 
• 6:06 Greek text of the New Testament. 
• 6:09 And that number works out at 26 times 26 
• 6:13 times 53. And that is not an accident. 
• 6:19 26 is the value of the Old Testament 
• 6:22 word that represents the name of the 
• 6:25 LORD. 
• 6:26 Jesus is the LORD. 
• 6:31 The first heart condition ... understanding 
• 6:34 (86 times 86). The ultimate condition ... 
• 6:39 a good heart (26 times 26 times 53). 
• 6:47 What is the context of the parable of 
• 6:49 the sower? 
• 6:52 Context tells us something. 
• 6:55 Immediately before the parable, Jesus 
• 6:58 says "These are My brothers ... those who do
• 7:01 the will of God". 
• 7:06 Israel, as a nation, was chosen by God. But
• 7:11 people had to respond individually, in 
• 7:14 faith. Did they believe? 
• 7:18 If they didn't believe God, then they 
• 7:20 excluded themselves from His promises. 
• 7:24 The parable of the sower shows this. Some
• 7:28 seed grows, but doesn't develop deep 
• 7:30 roots, and those fall away in time of 
• 7:34 trouble. 
• 7:37 Some seed gets choked by thorns. The 
• 7:40 cares of the world, the deceitfulness of 
• 7:42 wealth, and the desire for other things, 
• 7:44 kills the life of the Spirit. 
• 7:48 But God's people endure. Mind, heart and 
• 7:52 free-will respond in faith. And out of 
• 7:56 the life of the Spirit, fruit comes. 
• 8:01 Immediately after the parable of the 
• 8:04 sower in Luke, we read "Light your lamp ...
• 8:08 put it on a stand ... let everyone see." 
• 8:12 Jesus is the light. And that's our 
• 8:15 response. We lift up Jesus. We confess Him.
• 8:18 It's His life ... His light in us. And then 
• 8:24 Jesus builds His Kingdom. And He doesn't 
• 8:29 need a religious system to do it.