Rabbi Schneider - Seek Not the Glory of Man

Our heart needs to be so pure that God’s Spirit can shine through it without any interference. a lot of people dismiss the Sermon on the Mount, especially the Beatitudes, as just kind of poetic pleasantries. But Jesus was actually giving us the keys for how to live while we’re on the earth and beyond as His disciples. And I believe that there’s a special anointing right now as I minister these words. And the reason that I’m saying that is because where I’m preaching these words from, years ago now, I’m going back over 20 years, I had thought about going to Israel. I had not yet come because I didn’t really have the money to go at the time. I wanted to go. I knew I would come to Israel by the grace of God. I was just waiting to save up for the trip. But I had a vision of the night one night.

Some of you have heard me tell this story. I was sleeping, but it was in a dreamlike vision state, and I saw the world as if I was an astronaut from outer space. In that vision of the night, I saw the globe of the world, and I was looking down at the world from outer space, and on top of the globe, there was like a sphere. And I don’t know how big the sphere was. It was several miles coming up from the top of the earth. And the sphere that extended from the top of the globe, it went all the way up into the heavens. I felt the glory of God. And on top of that sphere that was in the heavens with God’s glory was Israel. The Lord revealed to me, beloved one, in that instant that he was still connected to this geographical spot on the planet like no other place on the earth.

God is connected to Israel in a way that He’s not connected to any place else in the world. It’s like a portal for the glory of God. Of course, we can experience God’s glory anywhere in the world. Remember, Yeshua said, «It’s not in this mountain or that mountain that men will worship. For those that worship the Father must worship Him in spirit and in truth». And I realize that. Whether you’re in Africa, India, the United States, wherever, we can encounter the Lord through the spirit. But somehow, paradoxically, He’s connected to this particular place on the globe like no place else on the planet. So for those reasons, I’m sensing a very unusual anointing on me as I’m ministering now Yeshua’s longest sermon in the New Testament, the Sermon on the Mount.

Now, I’m continuing where I left off last time. Again, go back, please, if you have a hunger for God, and watch the first two episodes in this series. I’m picking up where I left off last time. I’m picking up in Matthew 5:8. And if you’re joining me for the first time today, you’ll be able to tune right in to where I’m at. It’s not like you need to go back and listen to the other sermons to understand what I’m gonna be saying today. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of the Lord, Baruch Hashem, abides forever. Hear the word of God. «Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God».

So how do you have purity of heart? We have to always be aware, beloved ones, of what’s going on inside us. And we always have to be asking ourselves, in the light of the Holy Spirit, what our motives are. I think so many times we’re not aware of what’s in our heart and why we do the things we do and why we say the things we say. But when we’re serious about coming under the blade of God’s authority, under the blade of the Holy Spirit, and under the blade of His word, and put ourselves in subjection to Him and make up our mind to be pleasing to Him and come under the obedience of His lordship, when we make that our focus, and at the same time we become so aware of God’s presence in our life all the time, we’re then able to judge what’s going on in our heart, and we can then control our heart to keep it pure.

I mean, how many words come out of our mouth that really aren’t coming from a pure place? I mean, when we really ask ourselves what our motives are for saying something, even asking about somebody, are the motives really pure? I mean, even sometimes we’re sharing with people about others, their prayer requests. Oh, we say, «Pray for this person. They’re going through this in their life». But often it’s when people say that, and maybe you’ve even done that, were your motives really, really pure? Or were you somehow gossiping about that person? Or was there maybe some kind of evil in your heart? Sometimes we act like we’re giving people instruction about something. But what’s really the purpose? Are we really just wanting to have authority or power over them?

We have to be examining our heart and be willing to be open and transparent to the Holy Spirit in Jesus. You see, Yeshua, who is the Spirit, is also the Word. Listen to what I said. The Spirit proceeds from Yeshua. The Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. The Word also proceeds from Yeshua. In fact, Yeshua is the Word, right? John 1, In the beginning was the Word. He was in the beginning with God and He was God. And the Word, John 1:14, became flesh. So Yeshua who is God and is the Word, became flesh. So we need to submit ourselves to the living Word of God, who’s revealing Himself to us continuously by the Spirit and examining our heart to see, beloved ones, if it is really pure.

If you do it, as I know I do, the more I do that, the more I realize there’s things that I need to root out of my heart because they’re not really coming from the right place. Beloved, Jesus said, blessed are the pure in heart. Listen now, for they shall see God. When you think about the reward of having a pure heart as being able to see God, what that means is our heart needs to be so pure that God’s Spirit can shine through it without any interference, because His Spirit can shine through it without being tainted. That our heart has become such a transparent vehicle for His presence, that when His heart shines through us and His Spirit shines through us because our heart is pure, we’ll literally, Jesus said, be able to see God.

Now, I want to encourage you today. Be willing to let the Lord show you your heart. Be willing. Humble yourself enough to seek to let the Lord reveal your heart to you 24-7. Whenever you’re about to talk, and whenever you’re talking, ask the Lord, Am I coming from the right place? Are the words that I’m saying right before You? And if you’ll do that, if you’ll make it your ambition to let your heart be a filter for everything that’s coming through you, so that you’re filtering in what’s from God and keeping out what’s not from God, what’s gonna happen? You’re gonna be empowered, and you’re gonna be able to more clearly see Him more and more in your life. You’re gonna be transformed.

You see, if you want to see God, you have to be so pure that His reality can shine in you and through you. A lot of people they have a religion. They believe in God, but they really don’t have fellowship with Him. In order to have fellowship with Him, we have to be like Him. And in order to be like Him, we have to have a pure heart. I don’t know what more I could say. I’m trying to really convey to you this is a 24-7 battle. This is a 24-7 daily overcoming, to continually be examining our heart and make sure that it’s pure and to root out of it what’s not pure, to root out of it spirits of hatred, to root out of it spirits of fear, to root out of it spirits of rejection, to root out of it spirits of lust. Everything that’s not from God we have to root out and battle and overcome so that our heart can be pure and we can see God.

You see, seven times in the book of Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, Yeshua said, «He that overcomes will inherit these things». You’ll inherit the paradise of God. What do we have to overcome? The world, the flesh, and the devil. We have to overcome, beloved, the enemy in our own lives. We have to overcome the flesh in our own lives. We have to overcome the world from entering in and conforming us to His image. I just want to encourage you. A lot of people have compartmentalized their walk with the Lord. They think like if I do this and I do these religious things, you know, if I talk Christianese, if I don’t cuss, if I don’t steal, if I go to church and I tithe, if I don’t commit adultery, then I’m good, I’m a Christian. But it goes so much, so much deeper than that.

How many Christians are there that are self-deceived? Like the Pharisees of old. There’s an appearance of godliness that’s devoid of reality and power. In order to walk in true fellowship with the Lord, beloved, our hearts need to become purified. This is a painful process. The Bible teaches us that as we mature, as we grow up, as we more and more cooperate with the Holy Spirit and do what I’m talking about, we gain the ability, the Word of God tells us, through maturity, to discern the difference between good and evil. And the more discernment we have, the more we’re able to move into the light as we cling to the light and commit ourselves to moving forward in the light, and the more pure our heart becomes. And as that happens, beloved, listen, the more clearly we’re truly able to see Jesus for who He is. To see Jesus for who He is.

A lot of people think they’re seeing Jesus, but the Jesus that they’re seeing is not the real Jesus. Jesus is so far beyond the boxes that we put Him in. He’s Spirit. And if we’re gonna see Him, we need to be able to transcend the flesh and to be able to get a supernatural vision. God wants to transform us and He wants us to be able to ascend out of the natural and out of the different levels of darkness so that we can more and more see Him as He is. I remember that one in the Gospels, that one of the Gospels said, He said… He came to the disciples and He said, «Sir…» Do you remember that famous verse? He said, «Sir, I wish to see Jesus». Well, I know that that is your heart and my heart today too. Sir, we’re saying with that man of old, I wish to see Jesus. And Jesus is saying, «Yes, I want to show you myself. Purify your heart. Love me. Cling to Me. Examine yourself». Because the Bible says, if we’ll examine ourselves, the scripture says, God will not have to judge us.

So I just want to encourage you, fight the battle. Fight the good fight of faith. This is hard. It’s hard to live a life of self-examination. It’s hard to live a life when you’re waking up every morning examining your heart and refusing to let into your heart, refusing to move through your heart that which is evil and not of God. It’s a constant battle to put that shield up every day and to choose good and to overcome, to resist gossip, to resist hating, to resist fear, to resist compromise, to resist manipulating, to resist using the arm of the flesh to accomplish the purposes of God. The Holy Spirit wants to reveal all these things to us that we do without even knowing it.

And as we allow Him to show us ourselves, beloved, and say yes to Him and cling to Him and His word and not let the enemy in, we’re gonna, beloved, be able to have a cleansed heart, a pure heart, and we’re gonna see God. David said, «In thy light, I see light». Let’s not be amongst those that are deceived, that think we’re seeing light, but the light that we’re seeing isn’t really the Lord’s light. You know, in Matthew 24 when the disciples asked Yeshua about the signs of His return, what would be happening on earth, they asked Him, immediately before His return and the end of the age, you know what the first thing that Jesus talked about was? Deception. He said, «What it’s gonna be like on the planet before I return is that there’s gonna be a spirit of mass deception». Mass deception.

People will believe lies rather than the truth. And the problem with people that are deceived is that they don’t know they’re deceived. This applies even in the realm of spirituality and religion. There’s even a lot of gospels that are going forth right now that some of you have bought into. Jesus, beloved, wants to sanctify our hearts. We have to die to caring what man thinks about us. We have to stop pleasing man and putting man first and doing what we think the world tells us we should do or doing what we do to be accepted by the world if we’re gonna have a pure heart. You see, Jesus said this. Listen to this. We’re talking about having a pure heart in order to see God.

Jesus said this in the Gospel of John. He said, «How can you believe when you seek the glory that comes from man rather than seeking the glory that comes from God»? And if you’ll examine your heart, my beloved friends, I think you’ll find that some of the things that you’re doing are not because you’re seeking God’s glory, it’s because you’re seeking man’s approval. See, this is some of what Jesus is talking about when He said in the Beatitude, «Those that are pure in heart shall see God». If we’re seeking the approval of man, if what’s motivating us is being accepted by our family, our friends, our coworkers, rather than pleasing God, is that having a pure heart before God?

I’m gonna move on, but I guess what I’m trying to do is to let you know how heavy this is. It’s a big yoke. It’s a big yoke to take on the responsibility of letting Jesus be the Lord of your life and being willing to submit to His Lordship in your heart. So finally, before moving on, let me just read the verse one more time, and we’re gonna go to the next verse. «Blessed are the pure in heart,» Yeshua said, «for they shall see God». Now we move to the ninth verse. «Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God».

Now, remember what I said. These beatitudes give us the road of how to walk a kingdom lifestyle in the earth. Many people call themselves Christians, but they’re not willing to submit to Yeshua’s precepts. When Yeshua said, Go preach the gospel to the entire world, I think the gospel means not only salvation, but everything that Jesus taught. And one of the things that Jesus taught was: «Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God». Think about how many church splits there are. Think about how many things that you have said and I have said and the people that we go to church with have said that are not building bridges of peace with people but are dividing people.

See, being a peacemaker is looking to be that bridge builder. The Bible says, Be at peace with men as much as you can, as much as it depends on you. Try to be at peace as much as possible with every man. But how many of us are operating in a spirit of division? We’re not looking to build bridges, we’re not looking to build roads of peace, we’re looking for what divides us. We’re looking for doctrinal disputes. It’s an evil spirit. I want to continue more on this on the next episode, but my heart had to be transformed before I realized that.

A lot of Christians don’t realize that they’re working in the opposite spirit of what Jesus taught. They’re always looking for division over doctrine, over this difference and that difference. But the Spirit said, «Blessed are the peacemakers…» Beloved, being a person of peace, being a person of shalom is walking in the very nature of Jesus and in the fruit of the Holy Spirit. I want you to remember that, and I want you to apply it, beloved one, to your life. His disciples should be known as peacemakers.