Matthew 23:1–39 The Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees

[Study Aired October 13, 2025]

Today’s study is about Jesus exposing the hypocrisy of the leaders of the church system of this world or Babylon, symbolized by the scribes and the Pharisees. Before we can understand today’s study, we need to know the use of the word “woe” in the Bible. A woe in the Bible can have various meanings depending on the context. It can mean an expression of deep sorrow, pain, or a state of great misery and trouble. It can also mean a solemn declaration of God’s judgment against those who persist in sin or hypocrisy. A woe can indicate a lament over one’s own pitiful state, as seen in Isaiah’s vision of God’s holiness.  

Isa 6:5  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts [here Isaiah is lamenting over his spiritual poverty].

Rev 8:13  And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! [This is talking about our judgment]

In today’s study, Jesus pronouncing seven “woes” against the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy and spiritual blindness serves as a divine pronouncement of their judgment. As we are aware, the number seven spiritually means complete. Therefore, the seven woes show us the complete judgment of the Lord on our old man or flesh for our deeds during our time in the church system of this world. It also shows our spiritual poverty during our time in Babylon.

Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees

Mat 23:1  Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, 
Mat 23:2  Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: 

Here we see Jesus speaking to both the multitude and His disciples. As we have indicated in this study of the Book of Matthew, the multitude represents us in the churches of this world, and the disciples signify the Lord’s elect. We must first be part of the church system of this world before we are given to become the Lord’s elect. The Scribes and the Pharisees sitting in Moses’ seat means that in this age, it is the church system of this world or Babylon who are the custodians of the law of Moses. This implies that the church system preaches only the law of Moses, and therefore, they are not given to know Christ. In other words, the church system of this world does not have the keys of the kingdom of Heaven. 

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 

We know that the law of Moses only serves to make us aware of our sinful state. That is why we must first be in Babylon so that we know our sins through the law. Knowing our sins is a prerequisite to knowing Christ and His words. It is when we begin to see our spiritual poverty that the Lord comes to us with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness to open our understanding to know Him. 

Rom 7:7  What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. 
Rom 7:8  But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. 
Rom 7:9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 

Mat 23:3  All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. 
Mat 23:4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.   

During our time in the churches of this world, the Lord required us to be obedient to the law of Moses which is taught in Babylon. This is because it is through our disobedience that we can know our sinful state. It is in Babylon that we saw the works of the leaders which reflect our state. That is, we worshiped the Lord with our mouth but our hearts were far away from Him.

Mat 15:8  This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 
Mat 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 

In Matthew 15:9, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men is the same as teaching the law of Moses. 

Rom 2:14  For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 

As shown in verse 4, these commandments of men are like heavy burdens which are grievous to be borne because we do not have what it takes to obey them – not even the leaders of the church system of this world or Babylon. This heavy burden we bore during our time in the churches of this world is depicted by the people of Israel’s reaction to Rehoboam, Solomon’s son who succeeded him as king. Rehoboam’s insistence on increasing the burden on the people of Israel was what brought about the separation of the northern kingdom from Judah. We can therefore deduce that this heavy burden that we bore when we were in the churches of this world was what accelerated our exit from Babylon.   

1Ki 12:1  And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king.
1Ki 12:2  And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it, (for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;) 
1Ki 12:3  That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying, 
1Ki 12:4  Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee. 

1Ki 12:12  So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day. 
1Ki 12:13  And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men’s counsel that they gave him; 
1Ki 12:14 And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. 

1Ki 12:16  So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents. 

1Ki 12:17 But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. 

Mat 23:5  But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, 
Mat 23:6  And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, 
Mat 23:7  And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. 
Mat 23:8  But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. 

In these verses, the Lord is warning us, His disciples, of the Nicolaitan system in the churches of this world. The word “Nicolaitans” is found in the following verses of scripture:

Rev 2:6  But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 

Rev 2:15  So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.

It means conquerors of the people or victory over the laity. These scribes and Pharisees were lording over the Lord’s people, and this nicolaitan doctrine is what prevails in the church system of this world where the pastors rule over the Lord’s people. The Lord has warned His disciples of this tendency as follows:

Mat 20:25  But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. 
Mat 20:26  But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 
Mat 20:27  And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: 
Mat 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

As indicated in verses 5-7, these scribes and pharisees, who represent the leaders of Babylon, want their works to be seen by everybody. This runs contrary to what the Lord wants His elect to do.

Mat 6:3  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 
Mat 6:4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.  

Mat 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 

Mat 6:17  But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 
Mat 6:18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. 

Mat 23:9  And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. 
Mat 23:10  Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. 
Mat 23:11  But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. 
Mat 23:12  And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. 

We are called to serve and not lord over the Lord’s people as we see in the churches of this world or Babylon, where the pastors reign as kings over the Lord’s people. 

Gal 5:13  For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 

1Pe 4:10  As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 

Php 2:3  Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 
Php 2:4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 

In verse 12, the Lord is warning us to humble ourselves before Him and men and we shall be exalted. On the other hand, if we exalt ourselves, we shall be abased. The story of Nebuchadnezzar is a reminder of how the Lord brings us down if we exalt ourselves.

Dan 4:28  All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. 
Dan 4:29  At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. 
Dan 4:30  The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? 
Dan 4:31  While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. 
Dan 4:32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.   

Mat 23:13  But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Mat 23:14  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. 
Mat 23:15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. 

We were the scribes and pharisees during our time in the churches of this world. The question is, “How do the scribes and Pharisees shut up the kingdom of heaven against men?” When we preach the doctrines of men or false doctrines, we are shutting up the kingdom of heaven. As indicated earlier, the doctrines of men are just like the law of Moses, which only requires obedience from our end, but does not provide the way to obedience. This implies that those who preach the law of Moses cannot live according to what they preach and therefore cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. If those leading the way cannot enter, then the followers are made worse off.

2Pe 2:17  These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. 
2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
2Pe 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 

As indicated in the introductory portion of this study, woe can mean a lament over our pitiful state of being worse off. The Lord’s use of woe to the scribes and pharisees shows our worsened state as we become entangled with the pollution of this world during our time in Babylon.

The next question is, “How do we devour widows houses?” It is when our message makes them worse off. The widows here represent the church system of this world or Babylon, who is without her husband Christ. As indicated in 2 Peter 2:17 above, it is in Babylon that we are made worse off, using prayer as a smoke screen to deceive many. Receiving greater damnation means that we shall be judged severely.

2Ti 3:6  For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 
2Ti 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Compassing the sea and land to make one proselyte means putting in significant resources and effort to win a convert. We can see everywhere around us, many Christian TV stations and so-called mega pastors, travelling all over the world in the name of the gospel. In the final analysis, these converts become worse off than when they started in the faith.      

2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
2Pe 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 

The Lord predicted how these men of God (scribes and Pharisees) will make His people worse off through the prophet Joel as follows:

Joe 2:2  A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. 
Joe 2:3  A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. 
Joe 2:4  The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
Joe 2:5  Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 
Joe 2:6  Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. 
Joe 2:7  They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march everyone on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:
Joe 2:8  Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk everyone in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. 
Joe 2:9  They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
Joe 2:10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: 

Mat 23:16  Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! 
Mat 23:17  Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? 
Mat 23:18  And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. 
Mat 23:19  Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? 

In verse 16, Jesus is referring to the scribes and the Pharisees as blind guides. This sums up what the leaders of the church system of this world are – they are blind guides. In other words, being blind, their eyes are not opened to perceive the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. We know that our bodies are the temple of the Lord. These scribes and Pharisees, who represent our lifestyle when we were in the churches of this world,  focus on the gold of the temple instead of the temple. This implies that many consider financial gain as a form of godliness instead of the cleansing of our hearts and minds (the temple).   

1Ti 6:5  Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. 
1Ti 6:6  But godliness with contentment is great gain. 
1Ti 6:7  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
1Ti 6:8  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 
1Ti 6:9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 

In verses 17-19, Jesus is showing us that we are indeed fools and blind to consider the gold of the temple (riches) more than the temple (the sanctification of our hearts and minds). The parable of the rich fool demonstrate the point that Jesus was making.

Luk 12:15  And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 
Luk 12:16  And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 
Luk 12:17  And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 
Luk 12:18  And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 
Luk 12:19  And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 
Luk 12:20  But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 
Luk 12:21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. 

Mat 23:20  Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. 
Mat 23:21  And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 
Mat 23:22  And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. 

Verses 20 to 22 show us the importance of our body as living sacrifice to the Lord. The altar is within the temple, and the temple and the heavens all refer to our hearts and minds, where the throne of the Lord is. The sanctification of our hearts and minds is the work of the Lord who uses judgment as His cleansing tool. We can therefore see that the work of the Lord in our lives pertains to building of our temple or hearts and mind. This building of our temple is the cleansing of our hearts and minds. To ignore our temple, the center of the Lord’s work, and to focus on anything else means that we have been blinded and as a result, we have become fools.

Zec 6:12  And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:   

Mat 23:23  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 
Mat 23:24  Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. 

These verses show us that the church system in Jesus days is not different from what the churches are doing today. Obsession with tithing was what drove the leaders in churches in Jesus days and it is the same as today.

Ecc 1:9  The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. 

Here three things are mentioned as being of greater significance than tithing – judgment, mercy, and faith. Judgment is the means the Lord uses to take us out of the miry clay and to establish us on the rock which is Christ. It is through the suffering we go through that the Lord is able to destroy our flesh, or old man, who is the source of sin in our lives. The importance therefore of judgment is without question. It is the process the Lord uses to prepare us as His bride as we learn righteousness. As the church system in Jesus’ days ignored the issue of judgment, so is the church system of this world today. We can therefore see why the Lord called the scribes and the pharisees blind guides. This is because they do not have a clue as to how the Lord prepares us to be like Him. The same is today. The church system or Babylon today is ignorant of the Lord’s judgment, and therefore they are as blind as their fathers. We were also blind until the Lord came to us to open our eyes to see and ears to hear the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. 
Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

The church system in Jesus’ days and today do not understand the extent of the Lord’s mercy. The Jews thought they were the only people to whom the Lord will show mercy. The church today also thinks the same way in the sense that the Lord will show mercy to them but will not show mercy to all but burn them forever in the lake of fire. That is not the Lord we serve, who will show mercy to all in the fullness of time.  

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. 

The third item of importance is faith. Our walk with Christ is a walk of faith, and it is through faith that we receive a good report and are able to overcome. It is through faith that we might obtain a better resurrection (first resurrection).

Heb 11:33  Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 
Heb 11:34  Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 
Heb 11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 

The biblical phrase “strain at a gnat and swallow a camel” in Matthew 23:24 means to focus on trivial rules and external appearances while ignoring weightier matters that leads to salvation, such as, judgment, mercy and faith.

Mat 23:25  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 
Mat 23:26  Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Mat 23:27  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. 
Mat 23:28  Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 

When our focus is on outward godliness, we miss out on the power of the Lord to cleanse us from within. As a result, we become worse off. The Lord does not see as we men see, in the sense that He focuses on the inward while men pay attention to the outward. The whole of the church system of this world pay attention to the outward. No wonder during our time in the churches of this world, we were filled with all sorts of evil.  

2Ti 3:5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 

1Sa 16:7  But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. 

Mat 23:29  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, 
Mat 23:30  And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 
Mat 23:31  Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. 
Mat 23:32  Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 

These scribes and Pharisees claimed innocence of the shedding of the blood of the prophets, but want to kill Jesus. The word of the Lord says that what we do to any of His messengers, we have done it to the Lord. This implies that the church system of this world is guilty for shedding the blood of Jesus and the prophets. We, His elect, were part of the church system at a certain stage of our walk and therefore were equally guilty.

Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.  

Mat 23:33  Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? 
Mat 23:34  Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 
Mat 23:35  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. 
Mat 23:36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. 

The first time that the word vipers was used in the Bible, it referred to the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to John the Baptist to be baptized. That was when John the Baptist asked them if it is because they want to flee from the wrath of God that they have come to be baptized. 

Mat 3:7  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

This shows that vipers represent the Lord’s people who think they can escape from the wrath of the Lord or His judgment. This is confirmed in verse 33 where Jesus referred to them as generation of vipers who think they can escape from His judgment. Jesus also referred to them as serpents. Since the serpent represent the devil, it shows us that when we were in the churches of this world, our father was the devil. In verse 33 therefore, the Lord was revealing to us our state when we were in the churches of this world – we were deceived to believe that we have escaped the Lord’s judgement and were not aware that our father was the devil.   

Mat 12:34  O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil (being of our father the devil), speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 

As indicated in the previous verses, we were guilty of the blood of the prophets including our Lord Jesus Christ and therefore cannot escape the Lord’s judgment. Every generation of the Lord’s elect is guilty of the blood of Jesus and the prophets and must go through the Lord’s judgment.

Lament over Jerusalem

Mat 23:37  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 
Mat 23:38  Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 

Jerusalem in verse 37 represents the church system of this world or Babylon, of which we were part before the Lord came to rescue us. 

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 

As we are aware, hating a brother or sister means murder. We were therefore guilty of killing the Lord’s prophets sent to us as we rejected their message and considered them dead in the street of Jerusalem.

1Jn 3:15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 

Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 

Verse 37 is showing us that while we were in the churches of the world, the Lord wanted to gather us together as His elect, but He gave us a spirit of rebellion so that we were not willing. In verse 38, we are given a reason why we were not willing. Our house must become desolate before the Lord steps in to deliver us. In other words, we must come to see our spiritual poverty before the Lord comes to intervene in our circumstance.  

Mat 23:39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. 

Here in this verse, the Lord is showing us how He comes to us with the spirit of His mouth and His judgment, that is, through His elect. Recognizing His elect as coming in the name of the Lord is therefore an indication that we have indeed, seen the Lord. Jesus told Thomas that anyone who has seen Him, has seen the Father. Since we are His Christ, anyone who recognize us as messengers of Christ has also seen Christ. 

Joh 14:8  Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 
Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 

May the Lord continue to uphold us in Him as we see the day approaching. Amen!!

Matthew 22:1–22 The Parable of the Wedding Feast

[Study Aired September 29, 2025]

We shall look at the parable of the wedding feast as our main topic for today. In addition, we shall review the question posed by the Pharisees and the Herodians about whether they should pay tribute to Caesar. 

To make it easier to understand today’s study, we need to know what the wedding feast means spiritually. We know from the word of the Lord that by the things that are made, we are able to understand the Lord’s eternal power and Godhead. 

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 

One of the significant activities of a wedding feast is the lunch or the dinner where the guests are able to eat to their satisfaction. So the whole wedding feast is about eating. In the scriptures we are going to review today, we are told that the oxen and the fatlings are killed and ready for dinner. 

Mat 22:4  Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. 

What this dinner is about is that we are going to eat. Spiritually, this means that we are going to know Christ. So, the wedding feast is about we, His elect, seeing Christ as He is. The word of the Lord says that when we see Him as He is, we shall be like Him. That is what the wedding feast is about. We shall be like Christ because we shall know Him as He is.

1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 
1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

The question is, “When does this wedding feast of Christ and His bride begin?” It starts right at the first resurrection, when the Lord’s elect are raised from death with an incorruptible body.

1Th 4:15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 
1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words. 

The story of Isaac’s marriage to Rebekah depicts this marriage feast. 

Gen 24:64  And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel. 
Gen 24:65  and said to the servant, “Who is that man, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. 
Gen 24:66  And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. 
Gen 24:67  Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

When Rebekah saw Isaac, she dismantled from the camel. This means that in the first resurrection, we shall put away this fleshly body (camel which is perishable) and put on a resurrected body (imperishable) just like Christ. Rebekah taking the veil means that we shall see the Lord as He is. 

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 
1Co 15:53  For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.  

With this in mind, let’s turn our attention to the details of the parable of the wedding feast.

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

Mat 22:1  And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, 
Mat 22:2  The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, 
Mat 22:3  And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. 

Jesus answering and speaking to them refers to the chief priests and the Pharisees in the previous chapter, who represent our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world or Babylon. They are the many who are not given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. That is why Jesus speaks to them in parables.

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 

The king who is having a marriage for His son is God, the Father. The son is Jesus Christ, and the marriage is between Jesus Christ and His elect. 

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 
Rev 19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.  

The servants in verse 3 signify Moses and the prophets who were sent to the house of Israel. Those bidden to the wedding therefore in verse 3 represent the house of Israel. As indicated in verse 3, not all those invited to the wedding would come. The children of Israel refused to become the Lord’s bride. 

Isa 1:2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. 
Isa 1:3  The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. 
Isa 1:4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. 

Mat 22:4  Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. 

This category of servants are identified by their message, which is to tell them who are bidden that the dinner is ready as the oxen and fatlings have been killed. The oxen represent our Lord Jesus Christ and His elect. A fatling in the Bible means a young animal, such as a calf, lamb, or kid, that has been deliberately fattened for slaughter, typically for sacrifice or a special feast. The Lord’s fatlings therefore also signify the Lord Jesus and His elect. Our Lord Jesus had to physically die at a young age to deliver us from our sins and to become the source of salvation for us, His elect, and the world. Our death as His elect is a spiritual one as we die daily to the flesh. Our death to the flesh is what makes us ready as the Lord’s bride for the marriage feast.    

Rom 5:6  For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Rom 5:7  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 
Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.  

Based on this message of the cross, this category of servants sent by the Lord represents the Lord’s elect in every generation after John the Baptist. 

Mat 22:5  But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: 

Making light the message of the servants sent means neglecting or paying no attention to the word of the Lord. Here in verse 5, we are given a reason why they did not pay heed to the Lord’s words – one went to his farm and another to his merchandise. This implies that the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, are what rob us of becoming part of the marriage feast. This is what our Lord Jesus has to say about this:

Mat 13:22  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.  

In the parable of the great banquet which talks about this same wedding feast of Christ and His bride, we are given more reasons why many refuse to attend this feast. 

Luk 14:16  Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: 
Luk 14:17  And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. 
Luk 14:18  And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. 
Luk 14:19  And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. 
Luk 14:20  And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. 
Luk 14:21  So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. 
Luk 14:22  And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.
Luk 14:23  And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 
Luk 14:24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

The excuses given for not attending the great banquet were as follows; I have bought a piece of ground, I have bought five oxen, and I have married a wife. Going to see the piece of ground bought means focusing on the cares of this world at the expense of the Lord. Those who own oxen in the Bible days were wealthy people. Therefore the one who bought five oxen, and as a result refused to go to the wedding feast, stands for those who feel they are spiritually rich but are not. The negative aspect of the number five means famine which brings poverty. 

Gen 45:11  And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty. 

This implies that the one who bought five oxen are those who consider themselves as spiritually rich but are spiritually poor. They therefore cannot inherit the kingdom of Heaven. 

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 

The one who had just married a wife symbolizes those who are made worse by the church system of this world (the harlot), making them unfit for the marriage feast. 

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 
2Pe 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. 

At a certain point in our walk with Christ, we taught we were married to Christ. However, we did not know that we had been deceived by the whore, just as Jacob was deceived to marry Leah. That is why the Lord wants us to leave Babylon or the church system of this world, who, to the natural man, is the bride of Christ, but to the Lord’s elect, she is a whore.

Eze 16:32  But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband! 
Eze 16:33 They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom.  

Mat 22:6  And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. 

We were all guilty of the blood of the prophets and our Lord Jesus Christ at a stage of our walk in the church system of this world or Babylon. This is what the Lord had to say about this:

Luk 11:49  Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: 
Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
Luk 11:51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. 

Mat 22:7  But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 

The city here in verse 7 is the same as the harlot woman who is Babylon. The murderers refer to all in Babylon of which we were part, during our sojourn in the churches of this world. As indicated earlier, we were responsible for the blood of all the prophets. 

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 
Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. 

Rev 17:18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. 

In this age, it is Babylon within us, His elect, which is being destroyed through the fiery trials we are enduring. In the fullness of time, Babylon will be destroyed outwardly for all to see.  

Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. 
Rev 18:9  And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 
Rev 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. 

Mat 22:8  Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. 
Mat 22:9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. 

Our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world or Babylon, are not worthy of attending the marriage feast of Christ and His bride. We, His elect, were also not worthy to be at this marriage feast at a certain stage of our walk with Christ. However, through the mercies of the Lord, He has made us worthy to attend this marriage feast. The highways represent all those who have escaped from the city of the harlot woman or Babylon. As we are aware, the Lord is urging His elect, to leave Babylon.

Jdg 20:32  And the children of Benjamin said, They are smitten down before us, as at the first. But the children of Israel said, Let us flee, and draw them from the city unto the highways.  

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 

We, His elect, are those on the highways who have escaped from the city of Babylon. We are therefore, the Lord’s bride and are going to be part of this marriage feast of Christ and His bride. 

Mat 22:10  So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. 
Mat 22:11  And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 
Mat 22:12  And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. 
Mat 22:13  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

As indicated, those on the highways represent the Lord’s elect who have escaped from the city Babylon. However, leaving Babylon does not mean we are perfected. The fact that there are both good and bad on the highways invited means that we have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling to be on the good side.  This implies that we can be the Lord’s elect and yet miss out on wearing the appropriate wedding garment for the wedding feast. We know from the word of the Lord that on a positive note, a garment represent righteousness. The appropriate wedding garment to put on therefore is the righteousness of Christ which is attained through the Lord’s judgment of our old man or flesh. Without the righteousness of Christ, we shall be disqualified from attending this wedding feast of Christ. The verses below show us how we can be disqualified from this wedding feast: 

Heb 10:26  For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remained no more sacrifice for sins, 
Heb 10:27  But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 
Heb 10:28  He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 
Heb 10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?  

We are, however, encouraged by the Lord to keep our confidence of making it to the wedding feast. This is because He who has started preparing us for this wedding feast will see to its completion. 

Heb 10:35  Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 
Heb 10:36  For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 
Heb 10:37  For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; 
Heb 10:38  but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” 
Heb 10:39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. 

In verse 13, the man without the appropriate garment for the wedding feast is cast into outer darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The outer darkness is a condition where we are not given the light of Christ to understand His words. The weeping and gnashing of teeth speak of the sorrow we experience when we realize that we have missed the blessing, just like Esau.  

Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; 
Heb 12:16  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 
Heb 12:17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. 

Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen. 

Right from the beginning of creation to date, the Lord has been calling many to come and work in His vineyard. However, it is the few who came after Christ who are chosen to receive everlasting life first. The few who are given everlasting life means that they are given to know Christ first in this age. This is what the parable of the laborers in the Lord’s vineyard seeks to illustrate. 

Mat 20:8  So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. 
Mat 20:9  And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. 
Mat 20:10  But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. 
Mat 20:11  And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,
Mat 20:12  Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. 
Mat 20:13  But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? 
Mat 20:14  Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. 
Mat 20:15  Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? 
Mat 20:16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.  

Paying Taxes to Caesar

Mat 22:15  Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. 
Mat 22:16  And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, 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. 
Mat 22:17  Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? 
Mat 22:18  But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? 

After failing to ensnare our Lord Jesus Christ through His conduct, the Pharisees in league with the Herodians attempted to trap Jesus in His speaking. The Herodians were not a religious sect. They were political foes of the Pharisees, differing on the best way to navigate Jewish life between their Jewish faith and Hellenistic cultural influences, which they often chose to compromise with. The Pharisees coming together with the Herodians to entrap Jesus is to highlight the fact that all humanity including His elect, were involved in the murder of our Lord Jesus Christ. At a certain stage of our walk, we were just like the Pharisees and the Herodians trying to kill Jesus and His elect. 

Psa 2:1  Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 
Psa 2:2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 
Psa 2:3  Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 
Psa 2:4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. 

In verse 16, we see some of the qualities of our Lord Jesus when He lived here on earth. He was true, taught the way of God in truth and was no respecter of persons. As He is, so are we. When people see us, they must see us as genuine in our conduct as we teach the way of the Lord in truth. We must not be respecter of persons. 

Eph 4:1  I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, 
Eph 4:2  With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
Eph 4:3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 

Another characteristic of our Lord Jesus Christ while He walked here on earth was His ability to discern the intent of people who come to Him as if they want to know the truth. In verse 17 and 18, the Pharisees and the Herodians asked Jesus a question about paying tribute to Caesar, but the Lord was able to see their inward wicked motive. If Jesus says that the Jews should not pay tribute to Caesar, it makes Jesus a rebel to Rome. Saying that the Jews should pay, makes Him a traitor to the Jews. Jesus made it clear their intent by exposing them as hypocrites.    

As He is, so are we. We are sometimes approached by our brothers and sisters in Babylon about our understanding of the word of the Lord. On the surface, it seems as if they want to know the truth. However, they really want to entrap us by our words. May the Lord help us to discern the motives of such people  who come to entrap us by our words. 

Pro 6:2  Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.

Pro 6:5  Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler. 

Mat 22:19  Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. 
Mat 22:20  And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? 
Mat 22:21  They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s. 
Mat 22:22  When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way. 

Jesus’ response that we should render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and unto God the things that are God’s, shows us how we are to live in this world as His elect. Being God’s children, we must not interfere with politics. However, we are to submit to our governments as we pay our taxes and obey the rules of the government. On the other hand, we must render to the Lord what is due Him in this life. This implies offering ourselves as a living sacrifice to the Lord. We do this by not conforming to the standards of this world, as we are transformed by the renewing of our minds daily. 

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.   

May the Lord be merciful to us as He makes us ready for this marriage feast. Amen!!

Matthew 16:1–12 The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees 

[Study Aired July 28, 2025]

Our study today is centered on the Pharisees and Sadducees demanding a sign from the Lord. The study also explains the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

The Pharisees and Sadducees Demand Signs

Mat 16:1 The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. 

In the Bible, the Pharisees were a prominent Jewish religious and political group during the time of Jesus. They were known for their strict adherence to both the written Law of Moses and their interpretations of it through oral tradition. They believed in the resurrection of the dead, the existence of angels and spirits, and the importance of both written and oral law. 

The Sadducees on the other hand, were known for their adherence to the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) and their rejection of the “traditions of the elders,” which were interpretations of the law developed by other Jewish groups. They were often in conflict with the Pharisees, and they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead or the existence of angels or spirits.

These groups represent the church system in Jesus’ days. They therefore depict the church system of this world which is divided into millions of different factions based on their numerous beliefs. The fact that these religious groups were divided shows us that the church system of this world has failed in its walk with Christ. This is what the word of the Lord says about this:

1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 
1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 
1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? 
1Co 3:5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? 

1Co 1:10  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 
1Co 1:11  For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 
1Co 1:12  Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 
1Co 1:13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?  

In verse 1, we are shown one of the key characteristics of the church system of this world or Babylon represented by the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Their belief system is based on physical evidence of signs and wonders; that is why they wanted Jesus to show them a sign from heaven. No wonder the church system of this world or Babylon, thrives on signs and wonders. When our faith is based on signs and wonders, then we are not walking by faith at all. This is because faith is based on what we have not seen. 

Heb 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.    
Heb 11:2  For by it the elders obtained a good report. 

Mat 16:2  He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. 
Mat 16:3  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? 

In these verses, the Lord is telling us, His elect, through the Pharisees and the Sadducees, about one of the key principles of understanding the word of the Lord. That is, from the things that are made, we are able to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. 

Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 
Rom 1:19  Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 
Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 

However, in the case of these Pharisees and Sadducees who represent the apostate church in this world, they could not discern the signs of the times because they were not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom. This implies that it is not given to our brothers and sisters in the churches of this world to discern the times we are in or simply, they are not given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. 

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 
Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

The signs of the times refer to the reformative work of the Lord in this dispensation which enables us to worship the Lord in truth and in spirit. It involves the changing of the law of sin and death to the law of the spirit of life. As a result, our worship of the Lord is now spiritual. 

Heb 7:11  If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? 
Heb 7:12  For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. 

Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 
Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Unfortunately, our brothers and sisters in the churches of this world cannot discern the signs of the times as they still cling to the law of Moses with its physical interpretation of the word of the Lord, just like the Pharisees and Sadducees who were adept at predicting the weather but did not understand spiritual reality of the Lord’s words. The letter or physical interpretation of the word of the Lord kills or profits nothing. It is the spirit that gives life.

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 

2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 

Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 

Mat 16:4  A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.    

The wicked and adulterous generation refers to us during our time in the churches of this world where we were enthused by signs and wonders. This is the situation with our brothers and sisters in the churches of this world who authenticate their belief in the Lord by the miraculous signs and wonders they observe in their churches. As indicated earlier, our faith is not based on what we see but what we believe, even though we have not seen. 

Joh 6:2  And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.  

We must understand that the signs and wonders were initially necessary to authenticate the resurrection of the Lord as we saw the disciples performing miracles, signs and wonders in the early part of the church history. 

Act 4:33  And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. 

However, over time the Lord cut back on physical signs and wonders as the disciples had to learn to walk by faith and not by sight. For example, in the letters of Paul, we see Trophimus being left sick, while Timothy had problems with the stomach. One would then ask, where were those signs and wonders that even the shadow of Peter brought about healing?  

Act 5:14  And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.) 
Act 5:15 Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them.  

2Ti 4:20  Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.

1Ti 5:23  Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.  

We are not saying that the Lord is not in the business of signs and wonders. Our walk with Christ every day is a miracle. It takes a miracle for us to be lifted out of the miry clay and be established on the rock, who is Christ.

Psa 40:2  He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. 
Psa 40:3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD. 

The very signs and wonders which testified of the resurrection power of the Lord at the birth of the church of the first born, is now being used to deceive the many. That is why we are warned by the Lord to pay attention so that we are not deceived by false prophets.

Mat 24:4  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 
Mat 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 

Mat 24:11  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

The question is “By what means are we deceived?” It is through signs and wonders as shown in the following:

2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 
2Th 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 

Now let’s turn our attention to the sign that the Lord has given to us – the sign of the prophet Jonah. What is the sign of the prophet Jonah? We know from the word of the Lord that Jonah was swallowed by a whale for three days and three nights in the depth of the sea. After these three days, the whale vomited out Jonah on dry land.   

Jon 1:17  Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jon 2:1  Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly,

Jon 2:10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

Jonah’s three days and nights experience in the belly of the whale is what  Jesus is referring to as a sign for this wicked generation. Spiritually, the three days and nights of Jonah in the belly of the whale signify Jesus’ death and burial in the heart of the earth. The whale vomiting Jonah on dry land after the Lord spoke to the whale represents Jesus’ resurrection after three days. Jesus’ death and resurrection is therefore the sign for us who were part of this wicked generation. 

The healing of the lame man at the gate of the temple by Peter and John demonstrated the power of the resurrection of the Lord to take us out of the miry clay and to establish us on the rock, which is Christ. Now, what the Lord is doing is all spiritual. In effect, what the Lord is telling us is that if we are able to understand the mysteries of the kingdom and our flesh is being crucified daily, then we are seeing His resurrection power (signs and wonders) at work in our lives.

Luk 7:22  Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. 

Act 4:9  If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; 
Act 4:10  Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
Act 4:11  This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 
Act 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.      

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees

Mat 16:5  And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 
Mat 16:6  Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. 
Mat 16:7  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. 

The disciples at this stage of their walk with Christ, did not know Him. Therefore, while Jesus was talking to them regarding spiritual matters, they were thinking about physical issues. This situation is what characterized our walk when we were in the churches of this world or Babylon. Our focus was on the physical as we had no understanding of spiritual reality of His words. In other words, our attention was on the letter of His words and not on the spiritual significance of His words. We were therefore spiritually dead since the letter kills or profits nothing in our spiritual journey with Christ. 

2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 

Our circumstance at that time of our walk in the church system of this world was characterized by the Samaritan woman’s encounter with Jesus at the well. While Jesus was talking about deep spiritual truth regarding the water of life, which is His word, the woman was only paying attention to ordinary water, which represents the letter of His words. This was what transpired between them at the well:

Joh 4:7  There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
Joh 4:8  (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) 
Joh 4:9  Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 
Joh 4:10  Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 
Joh 4:11  The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? 
Joh 4:12  Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? 
Joh 4:13  Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 
Joh 4:14  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. 
Joh 4:15  The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. 
Joh 4:16  Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. 
Joh 4:17  The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: 
Joh 4:18  For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. 
Joh 4:19  The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 
Joh 4:20  Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 
Joh 4:21  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 
Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Joh 4:25  The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. 
Joh 4:26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. 

We know from the word of the Lord that a woman represents the church. This Samaritan woman therefore represents the church system of this world. We were fetching water regularly as we read the word of the Lord daily. However, because our focus was on the letter of His word, our spiritual thirst were never quenched, until Jesus came to us to show us the living water (the spiritual aspect of His word) which quenches all thirst. 

Jesus pointed out the problem of the woman – she has had five husbands and the man she was with was not her legitimate husband. The negative application of the number five is famine which leads us to spiritual poverty as shown in the following verse:

Gen 45:11  And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.   

Jesus telling the woman that she has had five husbands means that when the devil is our husband, we go through a famine period of the word of the Lord which brings us to spiritual poverty. The fact that the man the woman was currently with was not her husband signifies that during our walk in the corridors of the churches, Christ was with us, but He was not yet our husband. That was our situation in the church system of this world, just like the disciples when they were with Jesus. 

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 
2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
2Co 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. 

Coming back to Matthew 16:6-7, the Lord cautioning His disciples to be wary of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees was to let them know of the danger that false doctrines of the churches of this world pose to our marriage with Christ as leaven signifies false doctrines. This leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees refers to man’s wisdom and traditions which prevent us from coming to know the truth of the word of the Lord. 

Mar 7:5  Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?
Mar 7:6  He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 
Mar 7:7  Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 
Mar 7:8  For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 
Mar 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. 

We know from the word of the Lord that by the things that are made, we are able to understand the Godhead. In a marriage, for example, when we are filled with false knowledge of our partner, the marriage suffers, and in most cases it leads to divorce. 

The  leaven or false doctrines serve as idols of our hearts and minds and therefore becomes the stumbling block of iniquity, which bounces off the truth of the word of the Lord. 

Eze 14:1  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. 
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? 
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; 

Mat 16:8  Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? 
Mat 16:9  Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 
Mat 16:10  Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 
Mat 16:11  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? 
Mat 16:12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. 

There are three instances in the Bible when Jesus rebuked His disciples for being of little faith. Verse 8 is one of them. The other two are as follows:

Mat 6:30  Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

Mat 8:26  And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.    

These instances show us that during our time in the churches of this world, our faith was negligible. We know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of the Lord. 

Rom 10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 

This implies that when we were in the church system of this world, we were not understanding the Lord’s word which brings us the faith that we needed. We were just like the disciples who were hearing the word of the Lord but were not given to understand. It was after Jesus’ resurrection that they were given the power to understand His word. 

Luk 24:44  And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
Luk 24:45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,   

The next three verses (Verses 9-11) confirm the lack of the disciples’ understanding of the word of the Lord, just like us, during our time in the churches of this world. It was not until faith came to us through the Lord’s coming to us with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness that we left behind the law of Moses which emphasizes the letter of His word, to understand the Lord’s words in spirit and in truth.  

Gal 3:23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 
Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 
Gal 3:25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster (the law of Moses). 
Gal 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.   

In verse 12, the disciples understanding that the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees refers to the doctrine of these religious groups is to make us aware that we, His elect, shall come to know His word. That is the same as being given the keys of David. It is these keys that grant us access to understanding the word of the Lord in the spirit and to be able to worship the Lord in truth and in spirit. 

Isa 22:22  And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 
Isa 22:23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house. 

Rev 3:7  And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; 

We thank you our Heavenly Father for your mercies towards us in this age. May your name be praised. Amen!!    

Conscience – A Convicting Conscience, Part 5

Christ’s spirit convicts us to know truth from error – 1 Jn 4:6

[Study Aired November 11, 2023]

We can be convicted to know truth from error all our lives and still not be given to be our Lord’s Wife at the First Resurrection. As frequently stated and expressed in different ways in this series, if we didn’t know evil, we wouldn’t know good, and even if we do, unless we walk and live dynamically in the Commandments of Christ, we will be made to do so in the Resurrection to Judgment, the Lake of Fire.

What does “Conviction” mean according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary?

conviction
noun
con·​vic·​tion kən-ˈvik-shən 

Synonyms of conviction

1. The act or process of finding a person guilty of a crime especially in a court of law
2. 2. A strong persuasion or belief

a the state of being convinced

3. The act of convincing a person of error or of compelling the admission of a truth

a the state of being convinced of error or compelled to admit the truth

As with all nuances of conscience, a convicting conscience is a foundational theme from Adam taking of the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil to the New Adam’s total conversion; then, the perpetual purity of God being all in all makes the notion of conscience utterly foreign. As stated in the previous study, God doesn’t live in a dichotic state of conscience since good in his Kingdom isn’t polarised by evil.

2Co 5:16  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

The Bride of Christ is first to be given to fully understand the meaning of a “convicting conscience” since she, in trembling honour and respect for her Lord, is convicted that she was a whore and is now being made new.

As seen in all 16 topics of conscience, there are hundreds of scriptural references denoting different nuances of the 16 subjects, yet, for each subject, there is mostly only one scriptural direct reference.

Following is the account of the woman caught in adultery and the only Biblical narrative using the term “convicted by conscience”. The italics used in John 8:9, “… being convicted by their own conscience,” is added by the King James translators. Normally, you would think that if you are convicted by conscience, whose conscience does the convicting? It seems that the KJV translators had a little insight to see that the conniving Pharisees would try to separate Mose’s Law from pointing to Christ, knowing that conscience is conscience no matter what creed one adheres to.

Joh 8:1  Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. 
Joh 8:2  And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. 
Joh 8:3  And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 
Joh 8:4  They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 
Joh 8:5  Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? 
Joh 8:6  This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. 
Joh 8:7  So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 
Joh 8:8  And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
Joh 8:9  And they which heard it, being convicted [G1651] bytheir own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 
Joh 8:10  When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 
Joh 8:11  She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. 

Convicted G1651
Definition: 

1. to convict, refute, confute 
2. generally with a suggestion of shame of the person convicted
3. by conviction to bring to the light, to expose
4. to find fault with, correct 
5. by word 
6. to reprehend severely, chide, admonish, reprove 
7. to call to account, show one his fault, demand an explanation
8. by deed 
9. to chasten, to punish

A person convicted is directly affected by his conscience at a point of divergence to choose good or evil. Such a person, be he a gentile or an Elect, is emotionally ready to accuse or excuse. Yet, it is only the Elect of God by His spirit who is convicted to consistently choose neither since his spirit is his Lord’s written in their hearts that instantly connects spirit with spirit. 

Rom 2:14  For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 
Rom 2:15  Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) 

By default, we, like Adam and Eve, try to substantiate our righteousness by excusing our actions by blaming anyone or anything rather than owning by acknowledging the sin.

Rom 2:16  In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. 

Rom 8:10  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 
Rom 8:11  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 

We shall use John 8:1-11 as a demonstration of how our conscience is endemic to every mostly unconscious thought that crosses our minds thousands of times each day.

Jesus’ act of going to the Mount of Olives to teach the Apostles the deeply impactful illustration of spiritual forgiveness was subject to His utterly convicted conscience. He was on a mission to wallop slavery to the Laws of Moses with His new Commandments for His followers to rely on His spirit and liberating light yoke ~ Jesus went to the Mount of Olives – Joh 8:1. Jesus was immutably convicted in agreement with the Father the timeliness to call to account a gradual change in the Law, and all in accord with the meaning of convicted (G1651).

Joh 8:2  And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. 
Joh 8:3  And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,

The people mostly unconsciously were convicted to attend the Temple and be instructed in the Lord’s ways, and none were more convicted of stringently keeping their version of the Laws of Moses than the scribes and  Pharisees. They are us, particularly when we were a “twofold child of hell” in Babylon, full of conviction for ‘another Jesus’, ready to thoroughly catch the Lord’s Elect in their presumed pomposity of understanding. We brought the Lord’s Elect before him, a Woman caught in both physically and to them/us, unwittingly blinded for a lesson in spiritual adultery for a most satisfying Saul of Tarsus-like stoning. The Pharisees, who were us, were full of accusing being excused (defending their stance) by the letter of the Law.

Like the Lord’s very own chosen Elect, this Woman, sat squarely in the midst of Babylonian Christianity, convictedly condemned, frightened and assured of death. By the letter of the Laws of Moses, one of the most outstanding convictions of a broken Law was adultery. The smug scribes and Pharisees were convicted that they had pinned Jesus to the wall of their temple since nobody could argue against the Commandments of God; they said,

Joh 8:4  They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
Joh 8:5  Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

Whether the scribes and Pharisees stumbled upon or spied upon this woman about to commit adultery, scripture doesn’t say. Either way, their evil consciences convicted them to let the fullness of adultery be committed. In the One-Thousand Year reign, Christ and His Christs can likewise choose when to enforce the rod of iron either before, when the would-be sinner is “thinking above what is written” (1Co 4:6) or after the sinful event. All of Exodus 20–23 confirms that process as portrayed in Exodus 22:1-2 with the stealing of sheep or oxen or being killed upon breaking into another’s dwelling or business.

Exo 22:1  If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.
Exo 22:2  If a thief be found breaking up [breaking in, burglary], and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.

One of the primary purposes and effects of the rod of iron is to severely impact the remembrance of the sins committed under the Rod of Iron in the resurrection to judgment with the stark reality that without the holy spirit, it was impossible to consistently choose righteousness, even if convicted of the underlying laws. An iron rod symbolises the rigidity of conviction by dynamic forced living by every commandment of Christ. Every knee shall bow in submission and acknowledgement that without Christ within, eternal life is impossible.

With the presumed assurance of a ‘gotcha’ moment and most haughtily, with more convicted impudence than any whore, the scribes and Pharisees tried to convince Christ to keep the Laws of Moses and said, “… but what sayest thou?”.

Joh 8:6  This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

The blind scribes, Pharisees and we were utterly convicted by Mose’s Laws to outsmart Christ with the ultimate humiliation and backdown of Christ by his conscience convicting himself. Christ always righteously uses the same method on us by His every spiritual law. The scribes and Pharisees were witless to a dynamic shift with the gradual implementation of how every Law of Moses was to be lived, now, spiritually. With blissful ad nauseum, we shall read the entire account of how we are becoming less a scribe, and Pharisees have already been convicted of a spiritual conscience since Adam.

Rom 2:12  For as many as have sinned without law [a Barbarian largely witless to God’s spirit (1Co 14:11)] shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law [since they have a convicted conscience to know truth from error]; 
Rom 2:13  (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. 
Rom 2:14  For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 
Rom 2:15  Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) 
Rom 2:16  In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
Rom 2:17  Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law [as these scribes and Pharisees are doing with Christ with the woman caught in adultery], and makest thy boast of God [… oh, yes!], 
Rom 2:18  And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law [by the holy spirit discerning spirit in an by one’s conscience];
Rom 2:19  And [the scribe and Pharisee that we are,] art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, 
Rom 2:20  An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes [for our cause, ‘this Jesus guy has no idea! We will wear our own clothing and eat our own bread’], which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.
Rom 2:21  Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? 
Rom 2:22  Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? 
Rom 2:23  Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God? 
Rom 2:24  For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you [particularly unskilled use of God’s word by an Elect], as it is written. 
Rom 2:25  For circumcision [a verified commitment to Moses’ Law] verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law [as we all do without the spirit of truth], thy circumcision [imagined purity] is made uncircumcision [ie. Deliberately by design made null and void]. 
Rom 2:26  Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? [In other words, if any man or Barbarian’s good conscience at the Lord’s hand causes him to abide by the Law, he, as does all men, have the law written in their hearts since Adam and he is judged as righteous]
Rom 2:27  And shall not uncircumcision [not knowing the Law] which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law? [… answer: We all have transgressed now most conspicuously since the spirit of rightly dividing the Law by Christ’s spirit convict our scribe and Pharisaical hearts ~ and likewise, off we slink without recourse and ‘hiding‘] 

Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 
Jer 17:10  I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.)

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 
Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. 

Joh 8:7  So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

For the scribes, Pharisees and particularly us in our time, what a mesmerising experience of foreboding we all have experienced when starkly realising that our conviction of righteousness wasn’t particularly strong. A new and unsettling compunction driven by the holy spirit was shaking our conscience, an earthquake increasingly experienced as a glorious feeling and celebrated joy. It’s not initially easy, but he who is given by experience to glory in Christ for that maturity is happy, indeed.

Joh 8:8  And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. 
Joh 8:9  And they which heard it, being convicted [G1651] by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

Of course, a mature Christ wouldn’t have slunk off morose for his outing and have delightedly stayed with ‘the Christ’ and the mirror of his adulterous self to further and excitedly discuss the nuances of a convicting conscience precisely as we are doing this very hour! 

Joh 15:10  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. 
Joh 15:11  These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

Being full of Christ’s spirit marvellously and excitedly exposes the lying dogs that we have been and causes our pricked consciences to stay like Mary at Jesus’ feet to learn more. A parallel account is when Peter spoke boldly before the men of Judaea in Jerusalem of the holy spirit’s convictions in Acts 2:14-43. Most present glorified Christ for what the holy spirit does to their consciences; this is their response,

Act 2:36  Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. 
Act 2:37  Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 

… and as opposed to the scribes and Pharisees’ sullen conviction, what were those given a whiff of the spirit their response in verse 41…

Act 2:38  Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 
Act 2:39  For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. 
Act 2:40  And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 
Act 2:41  Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

Instead of Pharasically skulking off without a word, you and I now receive the glory of Christ with gladness for the convicting freedom from slavery to the Law and His recreation of the New Adam.

Joh 8:10  When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 
Joh 8:11  She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. 

No matter how heinous our sin, formally worthy of a physically jolly good and satisfying stoning, we in Christ are utterly liberated to go and practice sinning no more. 

Pro 24:15  Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; spoil not his resting place: 

Although, like us caught in adultery, our acknowledgement of our sins and the growing new Adam within is counted as righteousness, with our convicting consciences continually being freed.

Pro 24:16  For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief. 
Pro 24:17  Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: 

We will not rejoice in the enemies of the cross during the One-Thousand Year rulership under the rod of iron when they stumble and are unequivocally corrected, though, no doubt a righteous satisfaction will be felt by the Christs for their coming end to lawlessness as we felt and continue to feel in our time.

Pro 24:18  Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him. 

As have we, the scribes and Pharisees who lay in wait for both the woman to catch her in adultery and for this Jesus man upsetting the status quo of our formally imagined righteousness by the physical Law, we do not spoil the uncalled depicted by the scribes and Pharisees who are resting for forgiveness all the way until the end of the One Thousand Year reign by forcing the Lord’s truth on them. It is not their time to have their convicted consciences walk righteously and excitedly pursue Christ. As restless spirits with pricked convicting consciences, all that they can do is live with that tortured spirit, unwittingly awaiting the Resurrection to Judgement.

Mat 8:28  And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
Mat 8:29  And, behold, they [the scribes, Pharisees ~ the world, and the dragged for a brief time] cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?)

Continuing in Proverbs 24…

Pro 24:16  For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief. 

Interestingly, the adulterous woman we are is the righteous man who has fallen seven-plus times, and right now, having been forgiven, the spirit of adultery termed “fornication” precedes adultery since it is rare to commit adultery without fornication (Mat 19:9).

Pro 24:17  Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: 
Pro 24:18  Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him. 

We rejoice when we find ourselves as the enemy, and he falls, yet we can marginally, as did Joseph upon outing his brothers, have some sense of satisfaction when they fall since it heralds God’s Kingdom ruling all within. We don’t rejoice at the pain written on the faces of our brothers; in fact, their pain severely destresses us; rather, we rejoice for the changed hearts of men and from where we have come.

Conclusion

1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. 

A convicted spirit foundationally in Christ immutably knows God and keeps his Commandments. The world, including the many called and not chosen and the many chosen and not given to follow through with their conviction, become subject to various levels of a tortured spirit, awaiting authentic conviction in the Lake of Fire. Unknown to mankind, being convicted of keeping all the Commandments of Christ in the Lake of Fire will become a phenomenally liberating experience.

Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away [being dreadfully convicted!]; and there was found no place for them. 
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead [everyone not in the First Resurrection the entirety of humanity] were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works [being convicted by their evil consciences about to be made righteous]. 
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their [convicting] works. 
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. 

It sounds dire, but it is the only way to eternal life for all humanity to go through the fire of God’s word (Jer 23:29, Jer 5:14, Rev 11:5). It is well drilled into the Lord’s Elect, the woman caught in adultery, that her refining ‘fire’ (not the Lake of Fire) is a result of her being given the first trust in Christ. It results in a pure conscience (Eph 1:1-14) joyously having her works of wood, hay and stubble consumed by the unquenchable fire of His word to bring forth only refined gold (Zec 13:9). She is the heavenly Jerusalem above through whom humanity becomes and goes through her gates that are never closed.

Rev 21:21  And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate [each gate] was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. 
Rev 21:22  And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. [As He is, so are we the Temple]
Rev 21:23  And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
Rev 21:24  And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
Rev 21:25  And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 
Rev 21:26  And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. 
Rev 21:27  And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie [all of which make unclean through an evil conscience]: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life. 

Acts 24:1-27 Felix Heard Paul Concerning the Faith In Christ

[Study Aired September 24, 2023]

Act 24:1  And after five days Ananias the high priest descended with the elders, and with a certain orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul.
Act 24:2  And when he was called forth, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence,
Act 24:3  We accept it always, and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness.
Act 24:4  Notwithstanding, that I be not further tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou wouldest hear us of thy clemency a few words.
Act 24:5  For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes:
Act 24:6  Who also hath gone about to profane the temple: whom we took, and would have judged according to our law.
Act 24:7  But the chief captain Lysias came upon us, and with great violence took him away out of our hands,
Act 24:8  Commanding his accusers to come unto thee: by examining of whom thyself mayest take knowledge of all these things, whereof we accuse him.
Act 24:9  And the Jews also assented, saying that these things were so.
Act 24:10  Then Paul, after that the governor had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, Forasmuch as I know that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself:
Act 24:11  Because that thou mayest understand, that there are yet but twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem for to worship.
Act 24:12  And they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogues, nor in the city:
Act 24:13  Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me.
Act 24:14  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:
Act 24:15  And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
Act 24:16  And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.
Act 24:17  Now after many years I came to bring alms to my nation, and offerings.
Act 24:18  Whereupon certain Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with multitude, nor with tumult.
Act 24:19  Who ought to have been here before thee, and object, if they had ought against me.
Act 24:20  Or else let these same here say, if they have found any evil doing in me, while I stood before the council,
Act 24:21  Except it be for this one voice, that I cried standing among them, Touching the resurrection of the dead I am called in question by you this day.
Act 24:22  And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them, and said, When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter.
Act 24:23  And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul, and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him.
Act 24:24  And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.
Act 24:25  And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.
Act 24:26  He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him: wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him.
Act 24:27  But after two years Porcius Festus came into Felix’ room: and Felix, willing to shew the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound.

In chapter 23 we saw that the chief captain, Claudius Lysias, had assembled the Sanhedrin and placed Paul before them to help the chief captain understand why the Jews so passionately despised Paul. If Paul has spoken the day before in Greek, Claudius Lysias might have noticed that it was Paul’s insistence that God had sent him to the Gentiles which had set the Jews into an uproar. However, Paul was speaking to the multitude in Hebrew, and the chief captain had no idea why the Jews were so upset with this man, Paul, who was a fellow Jew. The chief captain witnessed Paul being smacked in the mouth. Paul realized that this time he was between a rock and a hard place. He noticed that the Sanhedrin was split between Pharisees and Sadducees, and he cried out “in hope of the resurrection of the dead am I called in question this day.” Since the Sadducees do not believe in a resurrection, another uproar ensued, and Claudius Lysias, for the second time in as many days, had to rescue Paul from the hate-filled mob.

That same day Paul’s nephew heard a group of “above forty men” conspiring to kill Paul, and he went into the castle and told Paul what he had heard. Paul called a centurion to himself and instructed him to take his nephew to the chief captain because the young man had something to tell him. Claudius Lysias, the chief captain listened to what the young man had heard, and that very night he had Paul transferred to Caesarea with a letter to Felix the governor of Judea, under the guard of 470 men for 42 miles of a 68-mile trip. The last third of the journey Paul was still guarded by 70 horsemen and delivered safely to the governor, Felix, who told Paul that he would be kept in “Herod’s judgment hall” until his accusers came down from Jerusalem. That took place five days after Paul arrived in Caesarea.

A ‘bodyguard’ of four hundred and seventy men demonstrates the Lord’s ability to minister to our needs “abundantly above all that we ask or think”:

Eph 3:13  Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
Eph 3:14  For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Eph 3:15  Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
Eph 3:16  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
Eph 3:17  That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Eph 3:18  May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
Eph 3:19  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Eph 3:20  Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Eph 3:21  Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Paul would never have even thought of asking for a 470-man bodyguard against his enemies, but that is what the Lord gave him. He can and He does do the same for us as He sees fit to provide for our needs.

Act 24:1  And after five days Ananias the high priest descended with the elders, and with a certain orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul.

The highest principality of the church in the wilderness, along “with the elders”, all made the 68-mile trip down to Caesarea from Jerusalem in the hope of destroying the ‘seed of the woman’:

Act 24:2  And when he was called forth, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence,
Act 24:3  We accept it always, and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness.
Act 24:4  Notwithstanding, that I be not further tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou wouldest hear us of thy clemency a few words.
Act 24:5  For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes:
Act 24:6  Who also hath gone about to profane the temple: whom we took, and would have judged according to our law.
Act 24:7  But the chief captain Lysias came upon us, and with great violence took him away out of our hands,
Act 24:8  Commanding his accusers to come unto thee: by examining of whom thyself mayest take knowledge of all these things, whereof we accuse him.
Act 24:9  And the Jews also assented, saying that these things were so.

The high priest and the elders all conspired to accuse Paul of sedition and of profaning the temple:

Psa 2:2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed,

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.

Paul pointed out the obvious fact that there was no proof of anything he had been accused of. The lesson for us is that God’s elect are so hated by the established churches that even the church leaders think nothing of falsely accusing us of heresies, the very thing of which they themselves are guilty, and they will lie and bear false witness against us and our doctrine.

Christ gives us these instructions:

Mar 13:11  But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.

Act 24:10  Then Paul, after that the governor had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, Forasmuch as I know that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself:
Act 24:11  Because that thou mayest understand, that there are yet but twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem for to worship.

Here are those twelve days. There is absolutely and manifestly no time anywhere in these twelve days for Paul to have been a “mover of sedition”, and he certainly would never have done anything while he was in Jerusalem that would have “profaned the temple.”

Day one:

Act 21:15  And after those days we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem.
Act 21:16  There went with us also certain of the disciples of Caesarea, and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge.
Act 21:17  And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.

Paul had brought a gift of alms from the Gentiles to the Jews (Act 24:17). The apostles and elders of the church knew that Paul was “walking orderly and keeping the law (Act 21:24) and the brethren received [him] gladly.”

Day two:

Act 21:18  And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.
Act 21:19  And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.
Act 21:20  And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:
Act 21:21  And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.
Act 21:22  What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come.
Act 21:23  Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
Act 21:24  Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.
Act 21:25  As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.

That statement by James, referring to the letter to the Gentiles mentioned in Acts 15, was the fruit of the Jerusalem conference. That conference had produced an eleven to three consensus that the Jews had to keep the law of Moses, but the Gentiles had to “observe no such thing.” That consensus is later referred to as “the decrees of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem”, and that is what Paul was really “teach[ing] all of the Jews which were among the Gentiles”, and that is what the scriptures reveal in these verses:

Act 16:4  And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.
Act 16:5  And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.

Paul was a physical Jew, and he was living by and keeping “the decrees… that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.” He had no problem demonstrating that ‘he himself was walking orderly and keeping the law of Moses.’

Day three:

Act 21:26  Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.
Act 21:27  And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him,
Act 21:28  Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place.

We are not given the hour of the day when the chief captain rescued Paul from the Jews, but we do know that Paul became a Roman prisoner on this third day since he had gone up to Jerusalem to worship. At this point Paul had been in Jerusalem less than three days when he became a prisoner of Rome.

His accusers had conspired to lie against him, but it demonstrates how the religious leaders of this world will tell outright lies about the Lord’s elect. “Think it not strange” when this world tells lies about you (1Pe 4:12).

Day four:

Act 22:30  On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them.

The high priest commanded the men next to Paul to slap him in the mouth as soon as he began to speak, and the holy spirit gave Paul the words he needed to deliver himself “out of the mouth of the lion” (2ti 4:17):

Act 23:6  But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.
Act 23:7  And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided.
Act 23:8  For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.
Act 23:9  And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees’ part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God.
Act 23:10  And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle.

The Lord sends out armies in our defense when the need arises!

Day five:

Act 23:11  And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

It is in “the night” in our darkest hour, that the Lord comes and gives us correction, direction, hope and instructions:

Job 33:14  For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.
Job 33:15  In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;
Job 33:16  Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,
Job 33:17  That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.
Job 33:18  He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.

Paul himself was blind and in total darkness when he was given his instructions from the Lord:

Act 9:6  And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
Act 9:7  And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
Act 9:8  And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
Act 9:9  And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.

Joseph also received instructions through dreams he had at night when all his brothers “hated him and could not speak peaceably unto him.”

Gen 37:4  And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
Gen 37:5  And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.

The same is true for Abraham (Gen 15:12-17), Pharaoh (Gen 41:1-40), Abimelech (Gen 20:33), Laban (Gen 31:24), and Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 2:1, Dan 4:5). In every case, the Lord gave each of these men corrective instruction, and He does the same with us.

In the New Testament, Joseph was instructed in a dream to take Christ and His mother, Mary, into Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod (Mat 2:12). Peter refers to the prophecy of Joel 2 which tells us the Lord will speak to His elect in dreams (Joe 2:28, Act 2:17).

Christ told Paul he would go to Rome in the night of the fifth day. Let’s get back to what else occurred on the fifth day since Paul went up to Jerusalem to worship:

Act 23:12  And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
Act 23:13  And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy.

Act 23:16  And when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul.
Act 23:17  Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him, and said, Bring this young man unto the chief captain: for he hath a certain thing to tell him.
Act 23:18  So he took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him, and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee.
Act 23:19  Then the chief captain took him by the hand, and went with him aside privately, and asked him,  What is that thou hast to tell me?

“The night following” (Act 23:11) is the night after Paul’s appearance before the Sanhedrin. Remember, the Jews begin the day at sunset, so all the events related in Acts 23:11-19 took place on the fifth day since Paul had come to Jerusalem to worship. The promise to Paul that he would testify of Christ in Rome, and the conspiracy of “above forty men” to kill Paul, and Paul’s nephew overhearing the conspiracy were all on the fifth day.

The sixth day:

Act 23:23  And [the chief captain] called unto him two centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, and horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night;
Act 23:24  And provide them beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix the governor.
Act 23:25  And he wrote a letter after this manner:
Act 23:26  Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix sendeth greeting.

Claudius Lysias made his plans to send Paul to Felix, the governor of Judea, on the fifth day, but those plans began to be executed “at the third hour of the night”, which means they began to be implemented on the sixth day because the Jewish day begins at sunset.

The two hundred soldiers, the seventy horsemen and the two hundred spearmen marched all night long, forty-two miles, on the sixth day and then left the seventy horsemen at Antipatris and returned to Jerusalem. From Antipatris the seventy horsemen took Paul the remaining 26 miles to Caesarea and delivered him to Felix. This all took place on the sixth day after Paul had first arrived in Jerusalem from Caesarea.

Act 23:31  Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and brought him by night to Antipatris.
Act 23:32  On the morrow they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned to the castle:
Act 23:33  Who, when they came to Caesarea, and delivered the epistle to the governor, presented Paul also before him.
Act 23:34  And when the governor had read the letter, he asked of what province he was. And when he understood that he was of Cilicia;
Act 23:35  I will hear thee, said he, when thine accusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod’s judgment hall.

The Lord saw fit to use an incredible amount of taxpayer dollars, and an overwhelming show of force and manpower, to save Paul and deliver him safely to the governor, Felix, in Caesarea. Paul signifies all of God’s elect.

The seventh day through the eleventh day was spent in Herod’s Judgment Hall, waiting for Paul’s accusers to descend from Jerusalem to Caesarea.

Act 24:1  And after five days Ananias the high priest descended with the elders, and with a certain orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul.

Five days after Paul arrived in Caesarea, Ananias the high priest conspired with the elders, and they all arrived in Caesarea to accuse and tell lies against the apostle Paul once again falsely. It was the same lies that the Jews of Asia were spreading, accusing Paul of teaching the Jews which were among the Gentiles to forsake Moses. They also falsely accused him of bringing Gentiles into the temple at Jerusalem. All these false accusations were being made once again before Felix on the twelfth day since the apostle Paul had gone up to Jerusalem to worship as a practicing Jew who was “walking orderly and keeping the law” (Act 21:24).

That accounts for all twelve days until this second appearance before the high priest and the elders in Jerusalem where Paul once again defends himself. Knowing that Paul was a prisoner for over nine days of those twelve days makes it obvious that he had very little time to prepare a sedition against the Jews.

Act 24:12  And they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogues, nor in the city:
Act 24:13  Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me.
Act 24:14  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:
Act 24:15  And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
Act 24:16  And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.

Paul had said the same thing just before he was slapped in the mouth when defending himself before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem:

Act 23:1  And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.
Act 23:2  And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth.

That did not happen here in Caesarea while the Sanhedrin was under the watchful eyes of Felix the governor. Now Paul is at liberty to defend himself:

Act 24:17  Now after many years I came to bring alms to my nation, and offerings.
Act 24:18  Whereupon certain Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with multitude, nor with tumult.
Act 24:19  Who ought to have been here before thee, and object, if they had ought against me.
Act 24:20  Or else let these same here say, if they have found any evil doing in me, while I stood before the council,
Act 24:21  Except it be for this one voice, that I cried standing among them, Touching the resurrection of the dead I am called in question by you this day.

“Except it be for this one voice…” What Paul is confessing is that he did indeed cry out before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem that he, as a Pharisee, believed in the resurrection of the dead, knowing the Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection of the dead. It was indeed that statement which caused all the contention which occurred when he was testifying before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. That move was by the inspiration of the holy spirit:

Mar 13:11  But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.

Luk 12:11  And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say:
Luk 12:12  For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.

Christ has already instructed us:

Mat 10:16  Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

Whenever we obey those words, it is a work of the holy spirit and not of ourselves. The Lord had in mind just such a situation as Paul was in there before the council when He gave us that admonition as the very next verse demonstrates:

Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils [G4892: ‘sunedrion’, Sanhedrin] and they will scourge you in their synagogues;

Felix, being a Roman, was given to favor the apostle Paul who was also a Roman citizen. Paul’s defense of himself before Felix took place on the twelfth day after Paul went up to Jerusalem to worship. For nine of those days and part of his third day in Jerusalem Paul was a Roman prisoner in no position to carry out a sedition of any kind.

Act 24:22  And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them, and said, When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter.
Act 24:23  And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul, and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him.

We know that Paul had the acquaintance of Philip, and no doubt other Christian brothers there in Caesarea, who would want to visit their brother in prison for the Lord and the gospel’s sake, being aware of the Lord’s words:

Mat 25:31  When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32  And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36  Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37  Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38  When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39  Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Mat 25:41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44  Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Mat 25:46  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

The fiery trials we endure during this age (1Co 3:13-15, 1Pe 4:12) are not “prepared for the devil and his angels.” The lake of fire/second death at the white throne judgment is “prepared for the devil and his angels.”

Act 24:24  And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.
Act 24:25  And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.

The Greek word translated as ‘reasoned” is G1256 (dialegomai) from which our English word ‘dialogue’ is derived. It suggests strongly there were some back-and-forth discussions between Paul and Felix and his Jewish wife, Drusilla. Notice that Paul did not preach that “the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God” (1Pe 4:17) to an unconverted Roman nor his unconverted Jewish wife. However, he did witness against them that there was indeed “judgment to come”.

Act 24:26  He [Felix] hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him: wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him.

Felix was hoping Paul would give him a bribe. Instead of a bribe, Christ, through Paul, gave Felix a great witness.

We are given no indication that either Felix or his wife Drusilla were being dragged to the Lord, but they were certainly witnessed to by the Lord’s apostle, and at the appointed time Paul’s words will yet perform their fiery work of burning out all the false doctrines within Felix and Drusilla.

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Act 24:27  But after two years Porcius Festus came into Felix’ room: and Felix, willing to shew the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound.

Like all politicians and like all men, Felix was attempting to please everyone, including the Jews who wanted Paul dead.

Act 23:10  And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle.
Act 23:11  And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

As we pointed out, Jerusalem signifies the Lord’s chosen people to whom we witness and who are being judged in this present time (Gal 4:26). Rome signifies the rest of mankind who are not being judged in this life and to whom we will witness and be merciful judges at the great white throne judgment.

Acts 23:1-18  We Will Eat Nothing Until We Have Slain Paul

[Study Aired September 10, 2023]

Act 23:1  And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.
Act 23:2  And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth.
Act 23:3  Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?
Act 23:4  And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God’s high priest?
Act 23:5  Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.
Act 23:6  But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.
Act 23:7  And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided.
Act 23:8  For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.
Act 23:9  And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees’ part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God.
Act 23:10  And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle.
Act 23:11  And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.
Act 23:12  And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
Act 23:13  And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy.
Act 23:14  And they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul.
Act 23:15  Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow, as though ye would enquire something more perfectly concerning him: and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him.
Act 23:16  And when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul.
Act 23:17  Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him, and said, Bring this young man unto the chief captain: for he hath a certain thing to tell him.
Act 23:18  So he took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him, and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee.

Our study today begins with Paul being brought before the Sanhedrin after being saved from the blood-thirsty Jewish mob, which had been stirred up by false accusations from “Jews which were of Asia”, a province in which Paul spent much of the time of his ministry. The chief captain had permitted Paul to address the mob, but when Paul told the mob that the Lord had warned him that the people of Jerusalem would reject his testimony, and that the Lord had told Paul “I will send you hence to the Gentiles”, at that word ‘Gentiles’ the mob began once again demanding Paul’s death. At that point the chief captain told the soldiers to take Paul into the castle to be interrogated by a beating. As the soldiers were binding Paul in preparation of his beating, Paul called the centurion in charge and pointed out to him that they were in the process of beating a Roman citizen who had not yet been condemned. The centurion informed the chief captain that Paul was a Roman citizen, and the chief captain immediately stopped the preparations for the scourging and decided instead to bring Paul before the Sanhedrin to determine what laws Paul had broken:

Act 23:1  And Paul, earnestly beholding the council [G4892: ‘sunedrion’ the Sanhedrin] said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.

“Paul earnestly beholding the council” means that he was looking everyone in the eye, just as everyone looked upon Peter and John when they healed the man who was born lame and had been begging for decades at the gate of the temple. The Greek word for the two English words, “earnestly beholding” is G816, ‘atenizo’. The ‘z’ always has an ‘idz’ sound when being pronounced in Greek, and it would be pronounced at-en-id’-zo. It means that you give something or someone your undivided attention.

Act 3:11  And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.
Act 3:12  And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?

All four English words “look ye so earnestly” are properly translated from the single Greek word, ‘atenizo’. Peter and John had the undivided attention of the multitude, and they took advantage of that ‘attention’, that ‘atenizo’, to witness for Christ, just as Paul is taking advantage of the attention being placed upon him by the members of the Jerusalem Sanhedrin. Paul knew this Sanhedrin whole-heartedly agreed with the mob which had “[gone] about to kill him” the previous day. The high priest made his own sentiments concerning the apostle Paul perfectly clear, just as the religious leaders of this day feel about those who proclaim the doctrines of Jesus Christ:

Act 23:2  And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth.

Paul is Christ’s ambassador:

2Co 5:20  Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

Make no mistake about it. If you or I, as ambassadors for Christ, make the statement that we are not to become entangled in the affairs of this age, or that we are not to take up arms against our enemies, the religious leaders of the churches of this day we live in would think nothing of “smiting (us) in the mouth.”

Act 23:3  Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?

Notice how quickly our own flesh, when breaking the law, thinks nothing of appealing to the law when it serves the interests of the desires of our flesh as those who wanted to smite Paul did:

Act 23:4  And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God’s high priest?
Act 23:5  Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.

Paul would not have rebuked the high priest if he had known the man was the high priest. Paul had rebuked the high priest not knowing he was the high priest. However, he could not deny the truth of the words he had spoken. He might well have thought that because Ananias had acted so unlawfully, he was not behaving as a high priest.

Here now we have another example of what Christ meant when He admonished us all to be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Mat 10:16):

Act 23:6  But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.

We are made aware of this difference between Pharisees and Sadducees in all three of the synoptic gospels:

Mat 22:23  The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,

Mar 12:18  Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying,

Luk 20:27  Then came to him certain of the Sadducees, which deny that there is any resurrection; and they asked him,

The priests were almost all Sadducees, demonstrating that the highest-ranking religious leaders have always been the most corrupt and the most ignorant of the Truth of God’s Word.

Act 23:7  And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided.

Paul had been told by the holy spirit that his testimony would not be received by the Jews at Jerusalem.

Act 22:17  And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, [from Damascus] even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;
Act 22:18  And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.

Paul is relating what the holy spirit told him two decades earlier, but nothing has changed, and the Jews at Jerusalem are still rejecting ‘the testimony of Jesus Christ’. Both the Jews and the Christians, “the seven churches of Asia” reject “the testimony of Jesus Christ” until this very day. That fact is signified by placing the apostle John “in the isle that is called Patmos”:

Rev 1:9  I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Paul had given his testimony, and it had been overwhelmingly rejected by the religious leaders and by the people of the city of Jerusalem as a whole. He was now being tried by the very same people who so hated him, and it appeared there was no way out. The holy spirit made the apostle Paul to be “wise as a serpent but harmless as a dove” and provided a strategy for saving Paul’s life and snatching him “out of the mouth of the lion” (2Ti 4:17):

Act 23:8  For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.
Act 23:9  And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees’ part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God.
Act 23:10  And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle.
Act 23:11  And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

“The night following” is that very night after the “great dissension” between the Pharisees and the Sadducees over whether there is a resurrection. These words of the Lord… “Be of good cheer, Paul: As you have testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome”… were of great comfort to the apostle Paul as they should be also to us. This promise of the Lord’s providence over our lives will see us through the storms of life, signified by Paul’s stormy journey to Rome to appear before Caesar. The venom of serpents which Paul will face on this journey to Rome signifies the serpents we handle and cast into the flames of the Lord’s fiery words, as we make our own journey in this life.

Mar 16:17  And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
Mar 16:18  They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

Notice that it does not say, “They shall deliberately take up serpents” or “intentionally drink any deadly thing.” Such foolishness would be “tempting the Lord thy God” which Christ expressly told us not to do:

Mat 4:5  Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
Mat 4:6  And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Mat 4:7  Jesus said unto him, It is written again [“the sum of Thy Word” (Psa 119:160 ASV)], Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Jerusalem, where Paul was apprehended by the Jews, signifies the religious world which passionately despises the testimony of Jesus Christ. Rome signifies the secular world, which also hates the doctrines of Christ, but not to the point of wanting to kill Him:

Act 3:13  The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.

The Lord is telling Paul, in type, that he will judge this world and will then go on to judge angels in the lake of fire.

1Co 6:2  Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

The Lord is telling Paul, and through Paul, He is telling us, that we are in His hands even in the midst of our severest trials. This is what the Lord is reassuring Paul:

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

We cannot see how our trials are working anything good while we are enduring the pain they bring us.

Joseph lived for 13 years from the age of 17 when his brothers sold him into Egyptian slavery until he ascended the throne of Egypt at the age of 30. During all that 13 years he outwardly appeared to be going steadily downhill. First, he was betrayed and sold into Egypt by his own physical brothers. Then he was sold as a slave to Potiphar, and from Potiphar’s house he was sent to Pharaoh’s prison. That is 13 years of fiery trials of Joseph’s faith in the Lord’s promise to make him a ruler and to make his brothers bow down to him.

It is the same with the apostle Paul, and it is the same with us. The enemies of the gospel are fervently determined to destroy Christ and His kingdom within us:

Act 23:12  And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
Act 23:13  And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy.

The fact we are told… “And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy” and the meaning of the number four (the whole of what is under consideration), being multiplied by ten, (the perfection of corruptible flesh), simply confirms these words of Christ:

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Conspiring with others to destroy the Lord’s chosen few comes as naturally to our flesh as breathing. All of Babylon has conspired to reject the Words of Truth throughout scripture. The scriptures teach “the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Eze 18:4 and 20). The great harlot and her daughters have conspired to teach the false doctrine of eternal torment in literal flames of fire. The scriptures teach “it is not of him that willeth” (Rom 9:16). The churches conspire together to teach the false doctrine of ‘free moral agency.’ The scriptures teach that the fire of the Lord’s words will save all men (1Co 3:15). The churches of Babylon teach that the ‘fire’ will torment most of mankind for all eternity. The scriptures teach that the Godhead is understood by the relationship of a man with His wife (Rom 1:20, 1Co 11:3). The scriptures plainly state, “There is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and [besides this ‘one God’ there is also] one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things” (1Co 8:6). The great harlot and her daughters have all agreed to teach the false doctrine of a triune God head.

The Great harlot conspired to slay the apostle Paul, but once again the Lord delivered His elect ‘out of the mouth of the lion’:

2Ti 4:17  Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

Act 23:14  And they [the “above forty” conspirators] came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul.

This situation was first prophesied in the book of Genesis where the Lord cursed the serpent in the garden:

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Act 23:15  Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow, as though ye would enquire something more perfectly concerning him: and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him.

“Above forty men” had conspired to kill the apostle Paul.

In 1972 I was working on ‘the mail analysis team’ at the headquarters of the World-Wide Church of God. In the span of five workdays, we received 25 paperback copies of a book entitled “None Dare Call It Conspiracy” by a man named Gary Allen. It was a book which documented the establishment of the unconstitutional and therefore unlawful, and purposely mislabeled Federal Reserve System. At that time, I was the most unpolitical person in the world. I despised the fact that the news headlines would interrupt my country music on the radio every hour on the hour. I was a member of the only true church, and I was convinced that by virtue of being a member of that church I was going to be carried to a “place of safety” which we had been told would be the city of Petra in Jordan. Our doctrine forbade us from taking any part in the affairs of this world, and that was fine with me. Therefore, I had no interest whatsoever in politics. Nevertheless, it was my job to ‘ analyze’ any trends in the mail we received, and those 25 paperbacks were definitely a trend. We were also receiving many other letters asking about what was in that book.

So, I took the book home and read it and began to have my eyes opened to whom the Lord is using to control all the nations on the earth. The scriptures reveal who that is in this verse:

Pro 22:7  The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

As it turns out the Federal Reserve Bank is neither ‘Federal’ nor does it have the ‘reserves’ it is supposed to keep on hand to avoid a depression. Back in the 70’s we had something called ‘telephone books.’ Some of you will remember that. In all those phone books there was a section called the blue pages which had the phone numbers of all agencies connected to federal, state, and local governments. The ‘Federal Reserve’ was nowhere to be found in the blue pages for the simple reason that it is not connected to nor subservient to the U.S. government, even though it is indeed a quasi-governmental organization, but with absolutely no ability to be audited by the federal government until this very day.

The Federal Reserve Bank is a privately owned bank, and it was to be found in the white pages right next to ‘Federal Express’, the privately owned package delivery service here is the United States. It is no more ‘federal’ than any local bank yet it wields incredible power because the nation is in debt to the Federal Reserve Bank to the tune of trillions of dollars which cannot possibly ever be paid back. Every dollar is a “Federal Reserve Note”, and it is plainly labeled as such. What that means is that it must be repaid, and it must be repaid with interest. The payments on the debt are fast approaching the point of this nation not even being able to pay the interest on its debt.

The Lord was not lying when He told us:

Pro 22:7  The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

That book documented how the Federal Reserve Act was passed through Congress just before Christmas day in 1913, after all the patriotic congressmen were home with their families. It ignored Article One section 8 of the constitution which demands that “Congress shall… coin money and regulate the value thereof”, and it gave the right to print paper money from thin air to a group of already very wealthy men, with very little accountability to the federal government. The independence of the federal reserve is acknowledged until this very day.

I am relating all this just to tell you that when I read that book entitled ‘None Dare Call It Conspiracy’ which documented how this cabal of wealthy men conspired to become the owners of all the money in the nation, I went to the most highly regarded historian in the World-Wide Church of God. It was a minister and professor named Dr. Herman Hoeh. With my newfound knowledge of the history of the creation of the Federal Reserve Act, I asked him, “Dr. Hoeh, what does the Bible have to say about conspiracies? Is there anything in scripture about a conspiracy to rule the world through the banking system?” Dr Hoeh brushed me off with an emphatic, “No, there in nothing in the scriptures about conspiracies. If there were, Mr. Armstrong would have written something by now.” He then turned to a fellow German and said, “Hello, Herr Haupt, how are you today?” There would be no discussion of what I had learned with Dr. Herman Hoeh.

The fact is that the scriptures are full of accounts of conspiracies being carried out against those who were sent by the Lord to speak for Him. Beginning with Joseph’s brothers conspiring to destroy him, to Absolom and Ahithophel and many other conspirators who were determined to dethrone and kill King David:

2Sa 15:12  And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counsellor, [also Bathsheba’s grandfather (2Sa 11:3, 2Sa 23:34)] from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.

The most famous of all conspiracies was that of the chief priests with Judas who betrayed our Lord into their murderous hands.

Mat 26:14  Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests,
Mat 26:15  And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted [conspired] with him for thirty pieces of silver.
Mat 26:16  And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

The holy spirit saw to it that Christ was always made aware of those who conspired to kill Him until His time to be betrayed arrived. Then Christ went up to Jerusalem knowing He was going there to be killed. Notice the difference between these two sections of scripture:

Joh 7:1  After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him.
Joh 7:2  Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand. [Notice how John distances himself from ‘the Jews’]
Joh 7:3  His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest.
Joh 7:4  For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world.
Joh 7:5  For neither did his brethren believe in him.
Joh 7:6  Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready.
Joh 7:7  The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.
Joh 7:8  Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come.

Twice Christ told His own unbelieving brothers, “My time is not yet come… My time is not yet full come”, and then later, when He knew His time had “full come” this is what He told His disciples:

Mat 20:17  And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them,
Mat 20:18  Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,
Mat 20:19  And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

When Christ returned to the area of Jerusalem to raise Lazarus from the dead, His apostles somehow knew that the Jews wanted to kill their Lord:

Joh 11:1  Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
Joh 11:2  (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)
Joh 11:3  Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.
Joh 11:4  When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
Joh 11:5  Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.
Joh 11:6  When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.
Joh 11:7  Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.
Joh 11:8  His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?

The point to be made is that the holy spirit looks well to the Lord’s flock and warns those who would do harm to His prophets:

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
Isa 1:22  Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
Isa 1:23  Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
Isa 1:24  Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:
Isa 1:25  And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:

Obviously Paul’s time was “not yet full come” because the Lord had “Paul’s sister’s son” strategically placed to hear and warn Paul about the conspiracy among “above forty men” to kill Paul:

Act 23:16  And when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul.

The Lord has people who are strategically placed in our lives to be in the position to help “the apple of His eye” when the need arises. Jonathan, the son of David’s arch enemy, King Saul, was just such a person. The Lord placed Jonathan in Saul’s household for David’s sake. This is a true statement:

Zec 2:8  For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

The scriptures do not tell us whether any of those 40 men starved to death, but it does tell us that Paul was still alive for several more years.

Act 23:17  Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him, and said, Bring this young man unto the chief captain: for he hath a certain thing to tell him.
Act 23:18  So he took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him, and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee.

The whole world hates the Lord and His Christ. Nevertheless the Lord also gives us favor in the eyes of those who are of this world when we need it most. This ‘chief captain’ was just such a person. He was a Roman whom the Jews hated, but Paul’s ways apparently pleased the Lord because we are told:

Pro 16:7  When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Next week we will see how the Lord takes care of the apple of His eye, both then and now.

Gospels In Harmony – The Trial of “The Christ” – Part 2

Matt 27:15-18, Mark 15:6-10, Luke 23:13-17, John 18:38-39

[Study Aired March 8, 2022]

Luke 23:4 Then said Pilate to the chief priests and [to] the people, I find no fault in this man.
Matt 27:12 And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders,
Mark 15:3 the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing.
Luke 23:5 And they were the more fierce, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place.
John 18:30 They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee.
Matt 27:13 Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee?
Mark 15:4 And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing?
Matt 27:14 And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.
John 18:31 Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:
John 18:32 That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die.
John 18:33 Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?
John 18:34 Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?
John 18:35 Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?
John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
John 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
Luke 23:6 When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilaean.
Luke 23:7 And as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time.
Luke 23:8 And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him.
Luke 23:9 Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing.
Luke 23:10 And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him.
Luke 23:11 And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate.
Luke 23:12 And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for before they were at enmity between themselves.
John 18:38 (a) Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? 
Luke 23:13 And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people,
Luke 23:14 Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined [him] before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him:
Luke 23:15 No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him.
John 18:39 (a) But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover:
Matt 27:16 And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas.
Mark 15:7 [which lay] bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection.
Luke 23:16 I will therefore chastise him, and release [Jesus].
Mark 15:8 And the multitude crying aloud began to desire [him to do] as he had ever done unto them.
Mark 15:9 But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
Mark 15:10 For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.

In our last study Jesus was turned over to Pilate at the judgment hall, and Pilate began questioning him.

Luke 23:4 Then said Pilate to the chief priests and [to] the people, I find no fault in this man.

Matt 27:12 And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders,

Mark 15:3 the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing.

Luke 23:5 And they were the more fierce, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place.

John 18:30 They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee.

Matt 27:13 Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee?

Mark 15:4 And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing?

Matt 27:14 And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.

John 18:31 Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:
John 18:32 That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die.
John 18:33 Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?
John 18:34 Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?
John 18:35 Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?
John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
John 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

Our story picks up with Pilate realizing Herod has jurisdiction in this trial and sends him to Herod.

Luke 23:6 When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilaean.
Luke 23:7 And as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time.
Luke 23:8 And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him.
Luke 23:9 Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing.
Luke 23:10 And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him.
Luke 23:11 And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate.
Luke 23:12 And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for before they were at enmity between themselves.

Herod finds no guilt in Christ and sends him back to Pilate. Jesus lets Pilate know His kingdom is not of this world, and He is the bearer of the truth.

John 18:33 Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?
John 18:34 Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?

John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
John 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

Here is Pilate’s response.

John 18:38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?

Pilate, just as all the chief priests, elders and all of Judea for that matter, had no clue that “The Truth” was among them. Only the disciples were given this knowledge, and yet they all forsook him. Here is “The Truth” according to Christ.

John 1:15-18 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

John 14:1-7 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.  And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Christ is “The Truth” but not only Him. He is the head of His body, and His body is also “The Truth”. The scriptures tell us this in Zechariah and Isaiah.

Zec 8:3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.

Isa 43:1-13 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him. Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth. Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God. Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?

1 John 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Col 1:14-20 In whom [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

Rev 3:14 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

This is “The Truth” that Pilate and the world cannot know or understand.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
“before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.”
“My kingdom is not of this world”
“I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
“I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.”

Pilate continues the trial of Christ.

Luke 23:13 And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people,
John 18:38 And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault [at all].
Luke 23:14 Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined [him] before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him:
Luke 23:15 No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him.
John 18:39 (a) But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover:
Matt 27:16 And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas.
Mark 15:7 [which lay] bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection.
Luke 23:16 I will therefore chastise him [Jesus], and release him.
Mark 15:8 And the multitude crying aloud began to desire [him to do] as he had ever done unto them.
Mark 15:9 But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
Mark 15:10 For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.

Envy is a sin that will destroy us if it is not dealt with properly. When we act as these chief priests and do not judge righteously, which is the work of the flesh, we commit the sin of envy.

Gal 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

To properly deal with the sin of envy we are given the following.

1 Pet 2:1-10 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

The chief priests and elders can only do what is written in their books so that the “Book of Christ” can be fulfilled. We must examine ourselves to ensure we are not guilty of envy.

2 Cor 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Gospels In Harmony – Is it Lawful to Give Tribute To Caesar?

Mat 22:15-22, Mar 12:13-17, Luk 20:19-26

[Study Aired June 29, 2021]

In our last few studies Christ spoke in parables to the chief priests, scribes and Pharisees. These parables, as we saw, accused them of wrong doings and showed them their standing in the kingdom of God. As we know these parables are for us to understand what is happening within each of our heavens. Here are the verses for tonight’s study.

Luk 20:19 And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken these parables against them.
Luk 20:20a And they watched him,
Mat 22:15 Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.
Luk 20:20b They sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, 
Mar 12:13a And they sent unto him certain of the Pharisees, 
Mat 22:16a their disciples, 
Mar 12:13b and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words, 
Luk 20:20c that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.
Luk 20:21 And they asked him 
Mat 22:16b 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,
Mar 12:14b but teachest the way of God in truth: 
Mat 22:17 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?
Mar 12:15a Shall we give, or shall we not give? 
Mar 12:15b But he, knowing their hypocrisy,
Luk 20:23a he perceived their craftiness,
Mat 22:18 and Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?
Mat 22:19 Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.
Mat 22:20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?
Mat 22:21 They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.
Mat 22:22a When they had heard these words, they marvelled,
Luk 20:26 And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and held their peace.
Mat 22:22b and left him, and went their way.

Our first verses under review tell us something about what is happening today within the body of Christ. In the body of Christ there are those that are sent among us to do the following (This is happening within and without at the same time):

Luk 20:19 And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken these parables against them.
Luk 20:20a And they watched him, 
Mat 22:15 Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.
Luk 20:20b They sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men,
Mar 12:13a And they sent unto him certain of the Pharisees,
Mat 22:16a their disciples,
Mar 12:13b and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words,

Christ is warning us to be aware of those sent forth as spies presenting themselves as just men. He is working this for our benefit to train us to be faithful until the end. The Pharisees of today send their disciples trying to entangle us in our talk. Therefore the body of Christ must be diligent to be of the same mind. We are told that we will be delivered up to those with power and authority of this world. It is all for the purpose of killing our old man within. The Pharisees of today are the doctrines of the world. These doctrines act as wolves trying to divide the flock of God.

Eze 22:23-27 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Mat 10:16-18 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.

Act 20:29-30 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

All this is done so that we will be delivered up to the power and authority of the “governor”. Our next verses give us an idea of how these Pharisees try to “entangle us in our words”.

Luk 20:20b They sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, 
Mar 12:13a And they sent unto him certain of the Pharisees, 
Mat 22:16a their disciples, 
Mar 12:13b and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words, 
Luk 20:20c that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.
Luk 20:21 And they asked him 
Mat 22:16b 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,
Mar 12:14b but teachest the way of God in truth: 

These men within and without speak to us trying to appeal to our trust in the truth. They then ask us to explain our beliefs about matters of this world seeing if we are in agreement with their doctrines.

Mat 22:17 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?
Mar 12:15a Shall we give, or shall we not give? 

Giving tribute to Caesar is today’s equivalent of paying taxes to the government. It is the spiritual type and shadow of our interactions with the world, as we will see later in the study. Continuing with our scriptures, Christ responds to their question.

Mar 12:15b But he, knowing their hypocrisy,
Luk 20:23a he perceived their craftiness,
Mat 22:18 and Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said,
Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?

Christ recognizes their hypocrisy. We must remember, as our last study pointed out, that these people the Lord sends to us appear to be our “friends” and are being used to try us to show us where we are in our process of entering into the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 22:11-13 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

We are to try the spirits of everyone that asks us a question. This is part of the trial of our faith. We are shown by these experiences where our strengths and weaknesses are.

1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the   spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

As we are exercised, we grow and are strengthened.

Heb 5:11-14 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Christ continues his answer.

Mat 22:19 Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.
Mat 22:20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?
Mat 22:21 They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.

Paul gives us the explanation of Christ’s words “Render therefore unto the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.

Rom 13:1-7 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

Our old man does not always want to comply with what Christ and Paul is telling us we must do. If we are not careful, the ways of the world may overcome us, and the will from time to time be overcome because this is how the Lord strengthens us. This exercise gives us the ability to shut the mouths of our “friends”.

Mat 22:22a When they had heard these words, they marvelled,
Luk 20:26 And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and held their peace.
Mat 22:22b and left him, and went their way.

We will be given the ability to overcome the false doctrines of the world by seeking the mind of Christ. We will fall from time to time but as we grow in knowledge and truth we will be able to do the following.

Rom 12:9-21 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

We will be hated by the world, but as we know, this is to give us the ability to receive the crown of life.

Joh 15:18-27 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. He that hateth me hateth my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

Luk 12:11-12 And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.

Jas 1:2-12 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

Rev 2:8-11 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

We do give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s so that we can give unto God what is God’s.

[Study Aired September 15,2020

Luk 18:9-14 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Christ speaks another parable. We all know and understand why our Lord speaks in parables. He speaks so they cannot understand and so we can understand.

Mat 13:10-15 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Once again, he mentions the “two men”. Who are the “two men”?
They are the men within each of us if Christ is in you. The Pharisee and the publican are within our heavens.

As with the other parables we reviewed earlier in this series one of the men must be taken and the other left. In this parable which will be taken, and which will be left? The Pharisee is not as “other men” he is better than them. He fasts and he gives. What more would God want from us? We are told to fast and we are told to give so it must be the Pharisee within us that will remain. We are all familiar with the following verses, but it answers the question of which man will be taken and which will be left.

Isa 58:3-5  Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? 

The above verses are what the Pharisee within us in our parable is doing. The below verses are what the publican within us does and therefore will be justified.

Isa 58:6-7 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

When we properly come to the Lord as the publican, we will gain all the following within our heavens.

Isa 58:8-14 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

In Zechariah, with some additions the same thought is repeated. The first section of verses is the Pharisee’s way of life. Also, notice when this takes place spiritually and the meanings of the names involved.

Zec 7:1-7 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, [he that informs himself] that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah [Jehovah remembers] in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu; [confidence] When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer [prince of fire] and Regemmelech, [to stone the king] and their men, to pray before the LORD, And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years? Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying, Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? Should ye not hear the words which the LORD hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain? 

Zec 7:8-14 And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, [Jehova remembers] saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. But they [the Pharisee within] refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. Yea, they [the Pharisee within] made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts. Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts: But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate. 

Only the publican within us can hear these warnings of our Lord. Paul tells us the same thing here in Romans 9.

Rom 9:30-33 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 

The fasting and giving that the Pharisee brags about is not true fasting and giving. The Pharisee is doing all this with his own righteousness and following the law of the flesh and cannot serve God properly. We know what the Lord thinks of our righteousness’s.

Isa 64:6-7 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

That is the Lord speaking about the Pharisee within us. Our Pharisee within will go through the process of judgment: the baptisms of water, fire, and the holy spirit. Ultimately the publican will be born within us, and we will become humble and be able to truly fast and give as the Lord has commanded. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians what the publican within us will be able to accomplish once the Pharisee is overcome.

2Co 10:1-18 Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you: But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled. Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ’s, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ’s, even so are we Christ’s. For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed: That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters. For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible. Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present. For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they [those with the mind of a Pharisee] measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you. For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ: Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men’s labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly, To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s line of things made ready to our hand. But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.

We, with the publican within, are given the ability to strive after the righteousness of the Lord. We are given to act as the “publican standing afar off” and be justified among all men.

Luk 18:13-14 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

When we are given eyes to see and ears to hear the meanings of the parables Christ speaks to us, we will understand the reason for the process of judgement we are enduring until the end of this age. Though we feel at times this age will never end the Lord says differently.

Rev 3:10-13 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Rev 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

Rev 22:6-21 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God. And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

In conclusion, here are the thoughts of the publican within us if Christ be in us.

Psa 40:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD. Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation. Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me. For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me. Let them [the Pharisee within] be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil. Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha. Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified. But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.

[Study Aired March 31, 2020]

Luk 16:14 And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. 
Luk 16:15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
Luk 16:16 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.
Luk 16:17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail. 
Luk 16:18 Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery. 

Our first two verses are dealing with the Pharisees and their covetousness. 

Luk 16:14 And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. 
Luk 16:15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. 

The prophets have been warning Israel of this for generations. 

Isa 56:10 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. 
Isa 56:11 Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. 

Jer 8:10 Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for everyone from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest everyone dealeth falsely. 

Eze 22:25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.
Eze 22:26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. 

Each of us has been like these Pharisees in our walk. If our heart is not moved to be changed, we will miss our reward, as demonstrated in the parable of the “Rich Fool”. 

Luk 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. 
Luk 12:16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 
Luk 12:17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 
Luk 12:18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 
Luk 12:19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 
Luk 12:20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 
Luk 12:21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. 

What did the Pharisees treasure? What did they covet most? This brings us to our next verse. 

Luk 16:16 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. 

The Pharisees coveted the law and the prophets. These were their doctrines and way of life. Of course, they were not able to keep the law. 

Joh 7:19 Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me? 

Gal 6:13 For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. 

Christ came to fulfill the law and the prophets and to change the law. The Pharisees did not want this to happen. 

Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 
Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 

Luk 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. 

Mat 5:27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 
Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. 

Mat 5:31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 
Mat 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. 

The Pharisees hated Him for this. 

Luk 19:47 And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him, 
Luk 19:48 And could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him. 

Joh 5:18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. 

Back to the verse we see there is a continuation into something different. 

Luk 16:16 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. 

The ASV translation puts it this way. 

Luk 16:16 The law and the prophets were until John: from that time the gospel of the kingdom of God is preached, and every man entereth violently into it. 

As you know, these parables are all dealing with the kingdom of God, and this is within each of us. 

Luk 17:20 And being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God cometh, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo, here! or, There! for lo, the kingdom of God is within you. 

Every man enters the kingdom violently. 

Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 

Joh 12:30 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. 

Continuing with the next verse we see that the law will not fail until it has completed what it was designed to do. 

Luk 16:17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail. 

Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 
Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 
Mat 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 
Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. 

“That except your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Here is Christ’s explanation to this teaching in the last verse of the study. 

Luk 16:18 Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.

The wife represents the church, in this case Babylon, the great whore, and until we divorce this wife, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Putting away is not enough. 

Deu 24:1 When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. 

If we do not completely divorce this wife, we are committing spiritual adultery. 

Just as in the days of Christ, the Pharisees of today’s “Christianity” have their own laws. Just yesterday we were among them. The following is a list of the “Christian” treasures which they covet. This list came from the online source below. https://www.equip.org/bible_answers/what-is-essential-christian-doctrine/ 

The essential tenets of the Christian faith are: Deity of Christ Original sin Canon Trinity Resurrection Incarnation New creation Eschatology 

We must be careful to not commit spiritual adultery and must divorce the above doctrines and all idols of the heart. Day by day we are dying to these things by the renewing of our minds. 

1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 

Eph 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 
Eph 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: 
Eph 4:19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
Eph 4:20 But ye have not so learned Christ; 
Eph 4:21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 
Eph 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 
Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 
Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.