LUKE 20 (PART 4): A COVERING OF PROTECTION FOR THE REMNANT OF CHRIST

As I listened in to the conversation
between the Jesus and the Sadducees,
I started to get nauseous
and felt my stomach grow sick.

Just when I thought
there was nothing worse
than a Pharisee,
and his self-righteousness,
I learned about a hollow man
who was held up
by an external cast
of total falsehood!

The Sadducees had to be
the most repulsive kind
of human beings!

They lived in the Temple
and worshipped God
through false testimony
and unrighteous lies.
Their favorite way to worship
was by making sacrifice,
offering innocent animals,
but not their own hearts.
Laying down their life
on the Altar of God,
would never have even
entered their minds.

Their religion was so thick
that it coated their cold hearts,
and their swollen minds
created thoughts of a mucousy kind.

The Sadducees only adhered
to the written form of law -
they did not believe
in the living Breathe of God!
They did not accept that a soul
would live after death,
and they did not believe
in angels, spirits
or the resurrection from the dead.

It makes me wonder
if they even read
the written Word of God
that they so adamantly stood on.

It’s not even possible
to wholeheartedly believe
that you can have intimacy with God
if you’ve never truly experienced
the full presence of Him.

It is true, Holy Spirit
can be witnessed by everyone,
and anyone, because He is found
in all of creation.

Holy Spirit is alive and well -
He is the writer of the Old
and the New Testament.
And He is the author
of most of my poems,
although there are times
when I some of my thoughts
come from myself.
In fact, He helped to write
“The Spirit of God,” -
a short poem I had written
on April 14 of 2020.
The Spirit showed me
that He has existed
from the very beginning of time.
He hovered over
the waters of the earth.
Holy Spirit has always been with us,
because He is the breath of all creation!
 
He has the power
to resurrect the dead,
and He has the power
to do as He says.

And while He lived
in the Temple at that time,
He clearly did not descend
upon the men who said
that they served Him.

I mean how is it possible
not to believe in angels,
when Daniel says
that the angel Gabriel
came to visit Him?
And what about the angels
that came to Father Abraham
right before the evil men
tried to rape them
in the town of Sodom
where Lot lived?

These Sadducees were definitely
evil men!
Their false theology even makes
the Pharisees look good!

If we think our Supreme Court is bad,
can you imagine
what the Sanhedrin must have been?
The judging seats of the Israelites
were comprised of 70
Pharisees and Sadducees,
not like our nine
that sit on the Supreme Court.

The corruption
must have been devastating!
God certainly has perfect timing.
He picked exactly
the right time to intervene.
If the temple had not been destroyed.
If Jesus has not come when He did,
I can only imagine where we would be.

Political and socio-economic power
invaded the Temple of God,
through marketplace men
who were driven by worldly intent.

Instead of the love of God
being delivered to others through them; 
to the widows and the orphans,
and the poor and oppressed;
these religious men
put nails of despair 
right through them.

Isn’t that what we see today,
Wicked men
falling into the hands of lobbyists -
who bribe the people’s representatives
with their own self-interests.

Instead of living under
“In God we trust” -
the God haters
want to take our God
out of the Supreme Court! 
I knew it was only matter of time,
since He has already been removed
from the public schools.

What then?
What do you think will happen
if we remove God from our halls?
What kind of government
do you think we will have?

If we walk away from God,
He will abandon us to do as we will!
Read Romans 1 -
it will give you a good look
of what is to come!

There is no man on earth
worthy to take the seat of Jesus!
There is no man righteous enough
to deliver justice for all of us!

The body of Christ is called
to take care of the poor,
the government was never meant
to do that at all!

The body of Christ is called
to put an end to racial oppression!
We aren’t called to sit back
and let this happen!

We are supposed to be
an example to men;
we are to set the tone
for what is accepted!

Instead we turn our back on sin,
and we use the word "love"
to accept what is wrong!

We allow division
based on the color of skin,
or what side of town we live in!
Yet we permit abortion,
domestic violence and
the dissolution of marriage!
We say yes to changing one’s sex
and no to teaching
the an identity based in God!

The Church is being wrung out!

God is not pleased
with what we have done!

Yet,
He is giving us another shot -
the stem must stand up!

If we do not stand up and speak out,
He will abandon us, and we will rot!

Think about the amount
of religious men,
who walked inside the Temple Mount.
The men who went to offer sacrifice
but didn’t allow
the lame man to come in.

He sat on the steps of the Beautiful Gate,
where he was placed to beg for treats,
but not once was he invited in
to be healed from his illness.

It wasn’t until the disciples came
and offered Him
the only thing they had
that he found freedom.

Peter said,
“Silver and gold I do not have,
but what I do have I give you:
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
rise up and walk.”
And he took him by the right hand
and lifted him up,
and immediately his feet
and ankle bones received strength.”
Acts 3:6-7

Luke 20: 27 to 40 says,
“There came to him some Sadducees,
those who deny
that there is a resurrection,
and they asked him a question,
“Teacher, Moses wrote for us
that if a man’s brother dies,
having a wife but no children,
the man must take the widow
and raise up offspring for his brother.
Now there were seven brothers.
The first took a wife,
and died without children.
and the third took her,
and likewise all seven
left no children and died.
In the resurrection, therefore,
whose wife will the woman be?
For the seven had her as wife.”
And Jesus said to them,
“The sons of this age marry
and are given in marriage,
but those who are considered worthy
to attain to that age
and to the resurrection from the dead
neither marry nor are given
in marriage,
for they cannot die anymore,
because they are equal to angels
and are sons of God,
being sons of the resurrection.
But that the dead are raised,
even Moses showed,
in the passage about the bush,
where he calls the Lord
the God of Abraham
and the God of Isaac
and the God of Jacob.
Now he is not God of the dead,
but of the living, for all live to him.”

I love this!
Jesus responded to their question
with proof of the resurrection
of the dead!
And then He tops it off
with referring to resurrected men
as equal to angels, as sons of God!
And then He ties it all back
to the the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob!

Some of the scribes answered,
“Teacher, you have spoken well.”

Ha!
They no longer dared
to ask him any question.
They saw that He had just shut them down
by refuting the very things they believed in.

Then Jesus presented them with a question,
“Why is it that they say
that the Messiah is David’s son?
For David himself says
in the Book of Psalms,
“The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies
your footstool.”
David thus calls him Lord,
so how is he his son?”

Of course none of them
could answer Him!
If David's dead son rose again,
then there would have to be
a resurrection!
And what did they call the Sons of God?
They are angels, are they not?

Their minds were closed to who God is -
this is why they could not answer Him.
There was no room for revelation!

Then with the crowded listening,
He said to his disciples,
“Beware of the scribes,
who like to walk around in long robes,
and love greetings in the marketplaces
and the best seats in the synagogues
and the places of honor at feasts,
who devour widows’ houses
and for a pretense make long prayers.
They will be severely punished.”
Luke 20:46-47

So in the end
what I have learned
is that Sadducees
were even worse
than Pharisees!

And all of them
are self-righteous, religious men
have no idea who Jesus is!

Jesus warned His disciples
not to listen to them,
but instead to follow Him!
He warned them of
their shamelessness;
and told them to be sober-minded.

In this hour, we have to be careful.
The witching hour has begun.
Watch diligently
for wolves in sheep’s clothing!
Do not mingle words with the dead,
because it will only lead to
sticky entanglement.
Be careful of religious falsehood,
instead look to the Spirit of Truth.
 
October will bring
many tricks and treats;
be careful what your spirit eats.

Submission of hearts
in the Lord our God 
is the only way
to stay away from it.

Do not turn your head
from side to side.
Do not pay attention to all the lies.
Do not grow weary when "all else fails,"
because the Lord's justice will prevail.

In God We Trust
MUST be written into your hearts;
society may take Him off of our walls;
society may take Him out of our halls;
society may take Him out of our schools;
but the Lord knows
what is written in your hearts.
And that, my friend, is what counts.

God administers a just justice,
and in the end
everyone will stand before Him.
Decide for yourself who you will serve.

Satan is the price of this world
and his primary objective
is tempt the flesh to do as it wants.

But when Jesus enters
a pliable heart,
the Temple of God is made within.

Holy Spirit 
is the only One
who can transform us
from the inside out.
He is the One who helps us
with temptation.
So in this witching hour,
I stand on the Word of God,
Jesus Christ himself,
who makes intercession for men -
and I ask Him
to wrap his covering of protection
around His beautiful bride,
​the remnant who is being wrung out.