Sermon On The Mount: Part 36

Do not give that which is holy (the sacred thing) to the dogs, and do not throw your pearls before hogs, lest they trample upon them with their feet and turn and tear you in pieces. Matthew 7:6

Who in the world could Jesus be talking about here? I mean aren’t we suppose to give the Gospel to the world?

And when He entered the sacred enclosure of the temple, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to Him as He was teaching and said, By what power of authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this power of authority? Jesus answered them, I also will ask you a question, and if you give Me the answer, then I also will tell you by what power of authority I do these things. The baptism of John—from where was it? From heaven or from men? And they reasoned and argued with one another, If we say, From heaven, He will ask us, Why then did you not believe him? But if we say, From men—we are afraid of and must reckon with the multitude, for they all regard John as a prophet. So they answered Jesus, We do not know. And He said to them, Neither will I tell you by what power of authority I do these things. 21:23-27

Then they discerned that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Matthew 16:12

Beware of false prophets, who come to you dressed as sheep, but inside they are devouring wolves. Matthew 7:15

Jesus was always willing to give to the poor, the lost, or what we would call the every day people, even though He knew that they did not believe Him. Jesus even gave to and fellowshipped with these people knowing that the dogs would influence them to call for His crucifixion. Regular every day people and their unbelief never stopped Jesus from giving them Holy things; things like health, food, truth, and the best wine that they had ever had. But for the so called religious leaders who were all about greed, pride, and works, He would not give them the Truth or signs that they asked for. Jesus tells us to beware of religious leaders and false teachings. 

The same holds true today. Beware of people who call their ministries after their own names. Beware of people who talk about money all of the time. Beware of people who tell you that you have to belong to their certain denomination. Beware of people who wear objects and have you kiss them or bow to them. Beware of people who seek after titles. Beware of people who love to be seen for their seemingly religious actions. These people have a form of godliness but they deny its power. These kind of people are the dogs.

For [although] they hold a form of piety (true religion), they deny and reject and are strangers to the power of it [their conduct belies the genuineness of their profession]. Avoid [all] such people [turn away from them]. 2 Timothy 3:5