PROGRAM 57 WEIGHTIER MATTERS OF TORAH (PART 1) I WHO IS GREATEST IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN? A. BE AS LITTLE CHILDREN 1. We have been talking about the importance of Torah in the believer s life. 2. Human nature is to focus on the physical without seeing the spiritual essence. 3. It is imperative to see that there are weightier matters of the Torah. At that time the disciples came to Y shua, saying, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Then Y shua called a little child to him, set him in the midst of them, and said, Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in my name receives me. Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! - Matthew 18:1-7 (NKJV) 4. There seems to be a concern as to who is going to be more important. a. Jockeying for position 5. Little children are oftentimes ignorant but have a heart to please. a. Breakfast in bed analogy. 6. Sometimes make a mistake, but are corrected in love and privately. 7. There are those who learn and quickly forget to be as children. Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Y shua said, Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 19:13-14 (NKJV) 8. Unless we have the attitude of a child in wanting to please our Father, we cannot hope to succeed as leaders. B. SERVANT LEADERS Now Y shua, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again. Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling
down and asking something from Him. And He said to her, What do you wish? She said to Him, Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right hand and the other on the left, in your kingdom. But Y shua answered and said, You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They said to Him, We are able. So He said to them, You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by my Father. And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. But Y shua called them to Himself and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. - Matthew 20:17-28 (NKJV) 1. Don t be as Gentiles and lord over those under you. a. God s people are not to do this. 2. We are to serve, not seeking to cause others to serve us. a. Messiah s last Passover seder. 3. Preferring our brothers and sisters. 4. Those who lord over people are following after the pattern of the Gentiles - the heathen. 5. Those with notable position are not necessarily the greatest in the kingdom, but those who are as little children with a heart to serve. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. - Matthew 23:11-12 (NKJV) 6. Those who wish to use their position in order to subject others to themselves will be humbled. 7. They may be able to present themselves as righteous, holy and God-fearing, but they have neglected the true message of Messiah, and thus the Torah. 8. In short, those who are, in this manner, seeking to be great in Kingdom will not be. C. RANK IN THE KINGDOM Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 5:17-20 (NKJV) 1. We have covered what Y shua meant by pass from the law and fulfilled will not here. 2. Rank in Heaven is based on obedience of God s Word (Torah).
a. Notice one is not necessarily excluded from Kingdom for failure to do so. 3. But obedience to Torah is crucial in the eyes of the Kingdom. 4. In fact, it must EXCEED the obedience of the scribes and Pharisees. a. Don t get bogged down in the minutiae and miss the substance. 5. Scribes & Pharisees placed heavy loads upon the people to pursue the minutiae while overlooking the substance Y shua. 6. Righteousness must go beyond obeying man s adaptation of righteousness. 7. Righteousness of the Torah is made perfect because of the Spirit of Messiah. a. He came to make the Torah perfect fulfill or full of meaning. REFERENCE: Romans 8:3 8. We are to be led by the Spirit of God, not the code of conduct prescribed by men. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. - Romans 8:14 (NKJV) 9. We want to be regarded in the Kingdom as sons of the Most High
PROGRAM 58 WEIGHTIER MATTERS OF TORAH (PART 2) II RELIGION VS. RELATIONSHIP A. BE LED OF THE SPIRIT For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. - Romans 8:14 (NKJV) 1. Paul also says that carnal minds are not subject to the Torah of God. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. - Romans 8:6-8 (NKJV) 2. Inferring that those spiritually minded are subject to the true Torah of God. 3. Spirit of Truth will always lead us into truth and relationship not religion. 4. Borrowing from Brad Scott: Stones as opposed to bricks. a. Stones created / bricks man-made of mixture. 5. Therefore, anything that teaches to be justified before God one must follow a man-made system, even one inspired by spiritual truths, is not teaching what Messiah taught. Rabbinical Judaism Orthodox Christianity Evangelical Christianity. My Pentecostal background. 6. This what Y shua spoke of: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. - Matthew 23:25-28 (NKJV) 7. Religion emphasizes the outside, not the inside relationship focuses there. 8. The perfect law of liberty (James 1:25) made perfect when we grasp the substance of the picture - the weightier matters. B. WEIGHTIER MATTERS
Woe to you, blind guides, who say, Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it. Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? and whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it. Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! - Matthew 23:16-24 (NKJV) 1. They did things to be seen of men, and thus emphasized those things which were outward. a. The gold of the temple, the gift on the altar. 2. Those are the things that those who look on the outward would notice. 3. Yet, the weightier matters of Torah are - justice, mercy, faith. 4. The Hebrew equivalent weightier is kavod which also means glory. a. These are the more glorious matters. 5. So, do commandments, but to learn and to do should lead one to humility and acknowledgment of God s justice, mercy and true faith. 6. Flashlight analogy: knowledge by itself puffs up; need understanding & wisdom. 7. His justice is tempered by His mercy - Elohim v. YHVH analogy 8. Faith to believe His promises comes as a result of this humility and acknowledgment of mercy. 9. The true reflection of Torah in someone s life is not if they do all the letters perfectly, but if they produce justice, mercy and faith. 10. If the seed is the Word (Luke 8:11), then the fruit of that seed should reflect the seed. 11. Thus, the fruit of the Spirit of truth is found in the seed - the Word, the Torah. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Messiah's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. - Galatians 5:22-26 (NKJV) 12. This is the substance of the Torah - not religious superiority (self-righteousness). 13. Only made possible by the perfecting work of the Messiah, who is the substance of the Torah. C. EVERYTHING IN ITS SPECIFIC ORDER 1. DNA of any living thing determines all the specifics of that thing. a. Everything derives from the DNA. 2. The DNA, therefore, must be in its proper order. 3. The DNA is God s Word, the Torah, and that determine the specifics of everything that is
derived from it (fruit). 4. So if all the things listed in Gal. 5 describes the fruit, then all those things are in the seed. 5. The seed is the word of God the Torah. 6. For there to be life, everything must be in its proper order (justice, mercy, faith). 7. That is why when man has misappropriated, twisted or altered God s Word, the result has always been deformity and/or death.