Jesus Hates Religion
/Philippians 3:9-10. Difference between acts of righteousness and the gift of righteousness
9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is
Performance
of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith/:::/
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
This verse says being made conformable to His death. The word means that something takes the same morphology or form as something else—to be made like something or someone else. In this case, Paul is saying, “I want to take on the form of His death.” We know that the Apostle died the martyr’s death, but he is speaking of something spiritual here.
He is speaking New covenant truth—faith in Jesus makes me one with Him. I die with Him. I resurrect with Him. I become a new creation in Him with a new source of life. My new life is the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the one conforming, fashioning and molding me into the image of Jesus. In this way, I must be conformed to His death. As He died, I die in Him, not physically yet. Once born again, the Matt born in Adam slowly dies as he yields to the work of the cross through the Holy Spirit, as the new creation trusts in the work of the cross, it results in resurrection power. This power brings new life. This power is the miracle working power. It is the wonderful power of the Holy Spirit!
How different Jesus and His cousin look compared to religious tradition and complacency.
John the Baptist
Matthew 3:7-12
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? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: 12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
Talking about the root
Jesus is the vine and there are natural branches [Jews] and unnatural branches [Gentiles] that are grafted in, and the purpose of the branches are to bare fruit. The root is the foundation of the plan. The root is eternal life, eternal salvation for the lost creation. That root ultimately produces Jesus, which is the vine/ tree that the branches grow out of. . There are times where God’s work looks dead in a life or on the earth. In Isaiah, the word said:
Isaiah 11:1-2 And there shall come forth a rod (green growth) out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him…
That’s what religion does, it sits dry, dead and idle. It cannot produce life. This prophesy perfectly describes what things looked like when Jesus came to earth. The religious system was a dried stump. Many churches are a dried stump, if we’re not careful, a spirit of religion will try to make us a dry stump.
Jesse is King David’s father. The promise was that a King would be born of David. God stayed true to His promise. And a green sprout shot forth out of what looked like a dead, religious stump.
A green shoot would come forth and the Spirit of the Lord would be upon Him. That is how God works, the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2).
But religion is the works of man’s hands and man’s plan. The Lord showed me an axe head and it was chopping in a downward motion.
Then this scripture came…the axe is laid to the root. As the days grow darker and God’s light shines brighter, we do not want to be caught under the influence of a religious spirit that prevents the Holy Spirit from having His way. Whether it’s corporately or individually, we want to allow God to have His way in our lives.
The spirit of religion manifests itself in many different ways/
It wants to be seen and get its recognition —Matt 23:5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others/::/— John 12:42-43 42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
It wants its dignity and respect more than God’s will— Matt 23:6 they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others— /::/Matt 20:20-21 sons of Zebedee
It can’t see the value in someone else’s ministry—Matthew 26:8-9 8 But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? 9 For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.
It has malice in its heart towards others— 1 cor 13:4-5 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful
It is controlling and thinks that it’s the only one that can help you— Luke 9:49-50 49 And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. 50 And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us—Numbers 11:27-29 27 And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. 28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. 29 And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD's people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!—Philippians 1:15-18
If it feels threatened by you, it will try to make you ineffective, trying to kill you or your ministry—Luke 4:27-29 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff
Matthew 23:1-12
Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees
3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
So when we are being made conformable to His death and knowing Him and the power of His resurrection, we are not only being set free from the bondages of sin like drugs, alcohol, fornication…, we are also being set free from the bondage of religion and becoming a vessel where His Spirit of truth can flow out of us in love. Rivers of living water bring life.
Jesus exhibited selfless actions long before the cross
Jesus had things heavy on His heart. His cousin just died:
Mark 6:27-29
27 And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother. 29 And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.
Mark 6:30-31
30 And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught. 31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.
Mark 6:33-34
33 And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him. 34 And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.
Mark 6:35-36
35 And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: 36 Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat. Do you ever feel that way, just tired and feel like go get your own bread?
Mark 6:37-38
37 He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat? 38 -- He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.
The disciples had to be willing to work even though they were tired
If either one those things breaks down, the miracle does not take place.
In order for this miracle to take place, the disciples had to be willing—they were tired, they were hungry. The people had to be willing to believe that God could meet their needs and to sit still and wait.
Jesus understood that the disciples were tired and hungry, it was His recommendation that they rest and eat; yet, when he saw the people’s needs, He was moved with compassion.
What happens here if the disciples are just too tired think that Jesus is insensitive and they decide to go home for a week or two?
After all, they were just on an amazing evangelistic crusade, they healed the sick, they casted out devils in the name of Jesus, can’t someone else organize this buffet and pick up the scraps? I’m tired.
He takes what we have
He uses it and
He multiplies it
Commitment vs compromise
Commitment- the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause
Compromise- the acceptance of standards that are lower than desirable