Matthew 17:22-27 - "A Word to the Wise Is Sufficient"

Highlights:

* A true minister of Christ is not much more than an echo of what the Spirit is already saying to God's people.

* If you hear the truth, whether from me, or a testimony, or a song, or a dream, or directly from the Spirit, or anywhere else, you are hearing it from Jesus.

* UNDERSTANDING IN THE THINGS OF GOD IS ALWAYS A REVELATION

* God will help us to want what He has given us.

* If you believe and receive what comes from heaven, you are eating and drinking the way Jesus was talking about (in John 6:54-58, for example).

* When Paul said, "the letter kills," he meant that the Bible kills, as men understand and use it. To trust the Scriptures as you understand them can be a deadly error.

* May God deliver us from believing the Scriptures as we understand them, but to believe them as the Spirit reveals them to be!

* Holy men of God were moved by the Spirit of God to produce the Scriptures, and we must be moved by the Spirit to understand them rightly.

Or, as my father, "Preacher Clark" taught us, "It takes the same anointing to understand the Scriptures that it took to write them."

* Christianity is the best that men without God can do with the Bible.

* The reason the Son of God kept the law was to avoid offending God's people.

* Jesus was free not to keep the law, but he was also free to obey the law if that is what the Jews needed him to do. Jesus was free to live for others whose conscience was still "in bondage" to the works of the law that God had given them. How do we measure up to that humility and love?

* To be like Jesus includes willingly humbling ourselves to earthly laws and customs for the good of those around us whom God may call.

* It is our purpose on this earth to be ambassadors for God's heavenly kingdom, and Jesus showed us how to do it right.

* Our heavenly Father wants us to follow Jesus' perfect example and use our liberty for good, and not to gratify ourselves, demand our rights, and show off our liberty.

Scriptures referenced in this video:
(Scriptures are from the PJV version, found online at https://goingtojesus.com/gtj_translation.html

omans 10:8
Philippians 2:13
John 6:35, 38, 49-50, 54, 56-58, 63, 66
Leviticus 17:10
2Peter 1:20-21
Exodus 30:12, 15-16
2Corinthians 5:17
1Corinthians 15:45-47
Isaiah 66:18
Philippians 2:5-8
1Peter 2:16
1John 4:7-8