Sadducees and Pharisees Reject the Counsel of God

Luke 7:29-30
 29. And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.
 30. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him

The religious leaders of that day walked in darkness. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the priests, and the scribes.  In their refusal and blindness, (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)  there were those around them that did receive the message given to the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel. “And all the people that heard him, and the Publicans, justified God, being baptized with he baptism of John.  
But! This is the Word of God......” the Pharisees and Lawyers, rejected the counsel of God, against themselves”. 
Is it the same today? How man reject the counsel of God?

Israel is blinded. Set aside for a while

Luke 13:

6 He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.

7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?

8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:

9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

This parable confronts the blindness of Israel.  Jesus has been ministering to the “lost sheep of the House of Israel”, the vine if you will, for 3 years. He offered them the kingdom, and they refused. 3 years of His ministry, they walked in unbelief. 

Now they are severed, better said set aside for their refusal to believe upon Him as the Messiah.

He came seeking fruit on this fig tree, but found none. 

The lost sheep were rightly named. They are still blinded today. But will one day, believe upon Him as they are loosed from their blindness and see the one they should have seen all along.

Love not the world. 

1 John 2:15-19 

I was raised in a religion that preached that using those scriptures almost every service. Preachers screamed, “Do not look like the world, act like the world, and smell like the world” 

But what is the world? 

While this teaching is no longer taught, it needs much attention in a rightly divided manner.

1 John 2:15-19

15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 

17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

18  Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. 

19  They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

The apostle John writes, “Do not  love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 

The principle of the world began in the garden of Eden, when Eve, disregarding the word of God, saw that the forbidden fruit was:

     good for food, 

     that it was pleasant to the eyes, 

     and a tree to be desired to make one wise. 

This was  the Biblical definition of the world displayed for all to see.

Plain and simple. That angers most in the religious circles. It reveals their worldly desires and appetites. 

Verse 16 declares as with Eden, what is in the world we are not to love. Plainly spoken.  

     1. Lust of the flesh

     2. Lust of the eyes

     3. Pride of life.

So a clear definition comes from this as these are the elements of the world.

That scriptural truth will help us to be able to distinguish between what is of the world and what is of God. 

     In these scriptures, the interpretation of John is that,   

     When what is visible influences and controls our feelings, our time, our efforts, or our actions, it is the world. 

IT IS THE WORLD. 

This is what the scriptures declare as the world and to flee from it.

It is these things that creates a desire to miss out of our assembly with believers, miss our prayer time, miss out of witnessing time, miss out of bible study time.  

If at the end of the day, if you will look at your time and effort spent, or your time redeemed as Paul put it for the masses, God will always be last. The least amount of effort and time will be allowed to God.

Most will spend least time with Him than any other activity of the day. Masses will put every activity in their life, ahead of God activities. 

 And sadly we teach our children the same. God help us. 

So what does all this do? It shows us and all others around us, to whom we really belong. 

Plainly spoken that none of these worldly affections exists from or with the Father. 

And also plainly spoken and rightly divided John in these passages,  all the things that do influence us or control us is of the Devil. Fleshly, lustful, fulfilling of those desires rather than God.

The love of this world,  separates the true fellowship of believers from the “tares” of the field.

1 John 2:19 identifies some people who claimed to be Christians but eventually left the fellowship: "They were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us; but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

We are told not to love the world,  Satan is the god of this world, and he has his own value system contrary to God's system, and has his own followers.

(2 Corinthians 4:3-4)

3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Masses are so blinded, that they  can not even read and understand what the world is.  Blinded as Israel was and still is. So blinded by Satan, it is impossible for them to see what they are doing in loving this world, is separating them from the true Love which is God.

Jesus speaking to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, declares We are to “seek first” God’s kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:33). 

Further declaring, No one can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24), and we cannot be devoted to both God and the world at the same time.

The world is what we leave when we come to Christ.  Isaiah 55:7 

So we find in  this letter, John tells us it is not possible to “claim fellowship with God” and pattern our lives after the world. 

He repeats this theme throughout his letter. 

He tells us we must “walk in the light” (1 Jn 1:7), and that we cannot simultaneously walk in the light and walk in darkness. 

Now if  we love either of these two, we are warned, “the love of the Father is not in him.

 The world obviously has a different view of how we should live and this has filtered into the fellowship of believers. The  culture of today, and sadly to include masses of the people that profess that they know God in which we live believes that all ideas are equally valid, and that we are all free to believe and practice whatever we desire, in the name of diversity and tolerance and also Inclusiveness.

To continue to love the world the way unbelievers do will cripple our spiritual growth and render us fruitless for God's kingdom (Matthew 3:8; Luke 6:43-45; John 15:1-8).

In John 12:25, Jesus took this thought a step further when He said, "Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life." Not loving the world extends to our own lives as well. Jesus said if we love anything more than Him, we are not worthy of Him Matthew 10:37-38).

To love and enjoy the society of the world is to have a heart “destitute of grace” – be aware of it; the world is a bitter foe to grace; it is an enemy to God, and if you befriend it, you make yourself an enemy of God (Jam 4:4).

Matthew 7:22-23

There are going to be many people at the great white throne judgment (Rev. 19:11-15) who will say, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out demons? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will [Jesus] profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me."

Now look at what Paul says about the love of the world.  Seperation from the world. 

The love of this world which comes from the god of this world (Satan) is set against God and His ways. Take time to look this scriptures up and draw close to God.

Titus 2:11-14   1:16. 

Philippians 1:21

Romans 12:2 

Romans 8:14-16

Col. 3:1-4

This will also separate you from the true body called into His fellowship.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 Study carefully. 

In order to set him free from the things of the world, all of this Bible Study, you must either remove the things that influence you altogether, or you must remove the state in which you are in. 

“Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:5). 

It is not merely the faith which effects the deliverance, but the Person, Jesus Christ.