The Leaven of the Pharisees

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The Leaven of the Pharisees

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Luke 11, verse 53, these are the words of the living God. And as he went away from there, the scribes and the
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Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, lying in wait for him to catch him in something he might say.
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In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together, they were trampling one another, they were trampling one another.
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He began to say to his disciples first, beware of the leaven of the
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Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known.
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Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.
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Our Heavenly Fathers, we come before your throne. I come with a grateful heart today thanking you for being in the house of God today with the people of God, that Lord that truly today already we have heard your word talked to us.
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We have proclaimed your praises in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. We are reminded of your great love for us in dying on the cross that we might have the forgiveness of sins, that we may know eternal life and my prayer is this today as we look at your word this morning further,
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Lord, that you would show us Christ from your word. For if we do not see you and we do not hear from you today, all that we're doing is foolishness.
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It's vain and it's empty. God, I'm so glad that what your word teaches us is this, that the preaching of the cross is to them that are perishing foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God.
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Lord, I'm reminded of what your word said in Rome and what Paul stated in Romans under divine inspiration.
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I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation.
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Our prayer is that you would open blind eyes, that you would unstop the deaf ears, that you would give the ability to believe today to those who may be separated from you and outside of your precious and your holy grace, that today the miracle of the new birth would be brought to men and to women, to boys and to girls alike through the preaching of your word.
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For it's in Jesus' name I pray, amen and amen. Here in Luke chapter 11, picking up in verse 53, it's just kind of a recap.
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Remember, the bulk of chapter 11 has been the beginning of Christ rebuking the
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Pharisees and the lawyers for their wickedness, for their evil deeds.
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These who were supposed to be religiously upright and moral men, they were being rebuked by the
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Lord Jesus because their heart was not right in the sight of God. I'm reminded of the great commission in Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 through 20.
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Jesus said, all authority is given to me in heaven and on earth, therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
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Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.
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That is the great commission. That teaches us that we are to make disciples, that we are to teach people to observe all that the
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Lord has commanded, not part but all. We are called to make biblical disciples.
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We are not called to make mini -me's. I am not called to preach a gospel to you that makes you want to be conformed to my image.
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We are not. You will fail and you will falter and you will find yourself lost and in hell if you try to follow after my example.
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But our purpose and our aim and our goal today is to point you to the one, the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten son who was born of a virgin, that lived a perfect sinless life, actively being obedient to the law of God, perfectly fulfilling the law of God in every way so that he might suffer on the cross in our place, in our stead, taking upon himself the wrath of God.
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Some may say, what must I do to be saved? What must I do to be made a Christian?
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Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. However, these lawyers, these
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Pharisees, Jesus rebuked them again in another gospel account in Matthew chapter 23.
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We read the gospel account of Jesus rebuking them concerning making disciples unto themselves.
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Jesus said, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees and hypocrites, for you travel across sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
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What a rebuke that is being given out here. And so today, and the term that Jesus used, really, if you're taking notes, the title of the message today is this, if you want to put this at the top of your page.
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The leaven of the Pharisees. You remember last week, the sermon was the key of knowledge.
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It was about the fact that the Pharisees and the lawyers had the key of knowledge. They had the law and they had the prophets of God, but they kept them from the people.
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And they did not even use that key to enter into life themselves.
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And so Jesus repeatedly calls them hypocrites. And so verse 53 there, let's pick up.
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The scripture says, as he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things.
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And what were they doing? They were lying in wait for him to catch him in something he might say.
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Now we're talking about the eternal son of God. Jesus did not back up.
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Jesus did not back away. And Jesus did not back down from these threats and these threatenings that were being made against him by these scribes and by these
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Pharisees. But they were lying in wait to catch him. That's the context of what's going on here.
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And then in chapter 12, verse 1, the scripture said, in the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling on one another, the crowds had grown to such an extent and to such a place that the people were pressed in upon one another so that they were stepping on one another's feet, if you would have it, much like Mitchell did to me this morning.
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Hallelujah, though. They were trampling on one another. But he began to say to his disciples first, he began to say to his disciples first, beware of the leaven of the
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Pharisees. Again, there is no mystery here. Jesus explains what he's talking about.
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He says, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy, hypocrisy.
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Vance Havner, an old country preacher, said this, using Christian terminology means nothing if one is not a
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Christian. Havner said this, having a case of athlete's foot doesn't make you an athlete.
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That was sound wisdom from an old country preacher right there. As Christian men and women, we should never accept hypocrisy as the norm.
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Never. There are many people in our day and many people in our time who do just that.
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Churchgoers and non -churchgoers alike will live as though hypocrisy is just a part of life, and people figure that into the calculation of life as though it is okay.
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Hypocrisy is not okay. Hypocrisy is not acceptable. Hypocrisy is a sin against the
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Holy God. Now, we're going to be looking at the definition of what the word hypocrisy means, hypocrite means, but Greg Moore at the
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Deadman Walking podcast said this. He said so many pastors, like politicians, love the middle.
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It's comfortable there. It's safe there. They can hold hands with the world and with the church at the same time, but we live in a current culture where the divide between biblical righteousness and worldly appeasement is exponentially increasing.
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We're about to see, Greg Moore said, we're about to see who these con men really are, that they are wolves, that they are hypocrites, and that they are cowards.
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Again, hypocrisy is not an acceptable sin to live in. Make no mistake about it, as we see in verse two and three, that who we are in private, who you are in private, is just as important as who you are in public.
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Examine yourselves today to see whether you are in the faith.
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Stephen Charnock said this, it's a sad thing to be Christians at supper, heathens in our shops and devils in our closets.
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So what is hypocrisy? Because Christ said, beware of the leaven of the
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Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. What is a hypocrite?
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According to the Old Testament usage, a hypocrite is referred to one who is, get ready for this, this is
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Old Testament usage, the word kone. The Old Testament usage of the word hypocrite is a reference to one who is godless, to one who is a heathen.
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We find the New Testament usage of the word hypocrite a little less strong, a little less severe, but it's intended to point to the idea of the actor, those who acted in a drama.
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So those who would act in a drama or in a play weren't like today where we have CGI. CGI is good,
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CGI is awesome, but back long years ago when they put on dramas, when they put on plays, many times the same actor would play many different roles and that role would be differentiated, let me get that right here, differentiated by that individual taking a mask and putting it over their face, many times even just holding it there.
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And then when they would play the other role, they would take the mask and they would put it on their face playing the other role so that they were referred to as hypocrites, stage actors, play actors.
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But the Old Testament term hypocrite, kone is the Hebrew word, it's referring to godless, profane and irreligious men.
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Thirteen times in the Old Testament we see this word kone used, this word hypocrite used.
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It's rendered hypocrite in the KJV, it's rendered godless in the
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ESV, beginning in the book of Job chapter 8 verse 13. The scripture says, such are the paths of all who forget
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God. The hope of the hypocrite, the hope of the godless shall perish.
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In Job 13, 16, this will be my salvation, that the hypocrite, that the godless shall not come before him.
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Job 15, 34, for the company of the godless, for the company of the hypocrite is barren and fire consumes the tents of bribery.
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Job 17, 8, the upright are appalled at this and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless.
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Job 20 verse 5, that the exalting of the wicked is short and the joy of the godless but for a moment.
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Job 27, 8, for what is the hope of the hypocrite? When God cuts him off, when
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God takes away his life. What more poignant question can you ask yourself today is this, what is the hope of the hypocrite?
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What is the hope of the play actor? What is the hope of the man, the woman, the boy or a girl who pretends to be saved and yet they are lost, who have not been born again by the
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Spirit of God, who have not believed on the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ.
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Job 34, 30, that a godless man should not reign, that he should not ensnare the people.
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Job 36, 13, the godless, the heathen in heart cherish anger and they do not cry for help when he binds them.
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Psalm 35, 16, like profane mockers at a feast, they gnash at me with their teeth.
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Like profane mockers, that's the word kane there for hypocrite. Proverbs 11, 9, with his mouth the godless man, with his mouth the hypocrite would destroy his neighbor but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.
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Isaiah chapter 9, verse 17, therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men and he has no compassion on their fatherless and widows for everyone is godless and an evildoer and every mouth speaks folly.
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For all this, his anger has not turned away and his hand is stretched out still.
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Isaiah chapter 10, verse 6, against a godless nation I send him and against the people of my wrath
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I command him to take spoil and seize plunder and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
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Now it's very, very important for us to understand just how serious this term is that Christ is using aimed directly at these
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Pharisees, these scribes, and these lawyers because that's still what's taking place here and he's addressing his disciples about it.
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It's amazing to hear just how strong this word hypocrite is used in the Old Testament and it is therefore that much more incredible to recognize that when
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Jesus calls these Pharisees hypocrites, he is actually calling them profane, heathen, and irreligious.
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And they know this. And now we know this. We know the strength of the term.
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So the context truly opens up the depth of the meaning of what Jesus is saying to and about these
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Pharisees and these lawyers. So Jesus turns to the disciples in some commentaries, we'll read this to you in a moment, but in some commentaries that term disciples, many of the commentators that have commentated on this passage throughout church history will say that it's not just the 12, but it likely could be the 70 that he had sent out as well earlier.
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There's a great crowd, innumerable crowd around him, but he's speaking to his disciples and he's warning them and he's warning them specifically about the 11th of the
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Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. He began saying to his disciples, again, that word disciple, the
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Greek I think is metetes, but it first has the simple meaning of a learner. So it's those who are there to genuinely learn of Christ.
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For we are taught in the scriptures, Jesus said, learn of me, take my yoke upon you for my burden, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
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So it's likely many, many in the crowd that he was speaking to his learners, warning them. But as we have in MacArthur's commentary, he said this, he said, we've been learning in chapter 11 that false religion is all hypocrisy.
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False religion does not truly know God. It cannot bring someone to God and it cannot bring someone into his kingdom.
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False religion does not provide forgiveness. False religion does not provide redemption and it does not empower people to do what is right.
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It does not please God. It does not lead to heaven. False religion is deception.
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It is all lies and it is all hypocrisy. It is people pretending to know
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God, pretending to know the truth, pretending to do good and to do right, to please
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God and pretending or imagining that they are headed for heaven.
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But let me say this with love and compassion. Do not fool yourself into thinking you are right with God on your own terms.
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The only way that a man, woman, boy or a girl can be made right in the sight of God is to trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
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There is nothing else that you have to do for if you are able to trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ, it is because the spirit of the living
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God has done his work in your heart in such a way that you are translated out of darkness into his marvelous and his glorious light.
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MacArthur went on to say this and all the leaders of false religion are hypocrites who claim to know
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God and who know truth and to be able to lead others in the right way and that yet they are utterly unable to do it.
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So Jesus said, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
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Don't get caught up, MacArthur said, in a damning, hypocritical, false religion.
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Do not get swept away. Do not get swept up by the eloquence of some who stand in pulpits on a weekly basis and say things that are soothing to your soul and lull you into a state of bliss that is a false bliss.
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If you would be blissful, if you would be joyful, if you would be happy, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to know that your sins are forgiven you, not based upon your own merit or your own works, but based upon what
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Jesus Christ himself alone has accomplished. So beware,
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Jesus said. That means to pay attention to. It means to take heed to oneself.
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The Greek word that's used there, it's not a call to simply notice or to sense something, but it means to be on guard against, to be aware, to be alert.
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We're taught throughout the epistles. Peter, once the church scattered abroad, be on guard for your enemy, the devil, roams about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
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So we see this and we see the strong language that the Lord uses here. But the sad thing is these
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Pharisees, because they are blind and because they are deaf and because they are dumb to the knowledge of the true and the living
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God, they are not even seemingly aware of what's going on.
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John Calvin said this. John Calvin said hypocrites are so stupid that they do not feel their own sores.
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And that is exactly the condition of these men that Jesus is addressing. And it is the condition of any lost man, of any lost woman, of any lost boy, of any lost girl.
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They do not aware, they are not aware of the seriousness and the danger that lay before them in dying in their sin.
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Oh, today, trust in the living God, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.
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In Matthew's gospel, in chapter 16, verse 11 and 12, Jesus, again, this is
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Matthew's account of this same incident, Jesus said, how is it that you fail to understand?
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Because Jesus had told them, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, right? Which is hypocrisy.
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Jesus said, and the disciples just didn't get it. They were like, duh. And Jesus tells them, how is it that you fail to understand that I am not talking about bread?
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The disciples actually assume, because in Matthew's account, we'll see that they were in the midst of a crowd and Jesus was just about getting ready to feed the crowd.
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And so Jesus says, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. And the disciples look around and they say, Lord, we don't have any bread.
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They thought he was talking about bread. What does bread have anything to do with anything here? Jesus says to them, basically.
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And he says, then, but the scripture says, then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the
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Pharisees and of the Sadducees. It's as if those disciples had one of those aha moments, right, where you read the text of scripture and you've read it for years.
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And then all of a sudden, the Holy Spirit illuminates the truth of the scripture and you're like, oh,
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I get it. I understand now. So what was leaven used for?
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Leaven is applied to that substance, to bread, to a substance in which it's just a little bit.
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It doesn't take much of it, yet it thoroughly pervades what it's in by way of influence.
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When you make bread, right, you can make bread, you can make a lump of dough, you can make a lump of dough this big with leaven, throw it in a bowl, put it in the refrigerator,
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I guess you put it in the refrigerator and cover it, right? I'm not a bread maker, but do you?
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So, you know, you're fully aware of what leaven does, right? Oh, thank you.
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That's your girl, Greg. Don't bow your head, brother.
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Be proud. She's on top of things. She's listening. That's exactly right. So leaven pervades and it causes it to rise, so it affects it.
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So when Jesus, in Mark chapter 8, 15, Jesus cautioned them saying, watch out, beware of the leaven of the
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Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. We see this expanded in Mark's account. So what
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Jesus is warning against here is the dangerous leaven of the Pharisees. He is speaking about the damning influence of their false teaching.
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False teaching will lead you nowhere but to hell. False teaching is found anywhere you want to find it outside of the word of the living
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God. But if you want truth, go to the word of the living God.
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The word of God stands. The word of God is sure. The word of God is established. The word of God is settled.
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Thanks be unto God for that. MacArthur, in his commentary, went on to say this. The leaven of the
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Sadducees was the leaven of liberalism. They denied because they denied the supernatural.
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Liberalism will deny the supernatural work of the spirit of God. The leaven of the Pharisees was the leaven of corrupting influence of legalism or externalism.
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And the leaven of Herod, in which Jesus Christ spoke of in Mark's account, is the corrupting influence of being politically engaged.
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You will not be redeemed. You will not be saved. The United States will not be saved by political reign.
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The only way the United States will be saved is by and through the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ alone.
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So leaven was used in general in making bread. It required time to fulfill the process.
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Hence, when food was required at a short notice, unleavened cakes were used. At the time of Passover, when the children of Israel were to leave
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Egypt, the Lord said, make the bread unleavened, right? Don't worry about it raising. The Israelites were forbidden to use leaven for seven days at the time of Passover, that they might be reminded that the
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Lord brought them out of Egypt in haste, that it was a quick process. The unleavened bread, not very good tasting, it reminded them, too, of their afflictions and of the need of self -judgment.
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And therefore, unleavened bread is referred to in the Old Testament as the bread of affliction.
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So leaven was forbidden in all offerings to the Lord by fire, being bread of our corruption.
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This is from Bond's commentary, being bread of corruption, spreading through the mass of that in which it is mixed, and therefore symbolizing the pervasive character of evil.
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Leaven was utterly inconsistent in offerings, which typified the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ.
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In the New Testament, leaven is used as metaphorically, it's used in reference to corrupt teaching, to corrupt doctrine, a doctrine that is puffed up, that is all air.
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It's like a bag of chips when you buy them now, right? You go to the vending machine, you get a bag of chips. I guess you go to Walmart and get a bag of chips.
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You go to Kroger. Well, you think, man, this thing is busting at the seams, but it's about a quarter full because all it is is air all the way through.
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Ernie works there, right? He recognized that. I got an amen out of that one. But this is exactly what
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Jesus is warning them against. Spurgeon said this, hypocrisy, however, of a kind that was calculated to spread like leaven.
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If you know that a man is a hypocrite, you do not feel inclined to imitate him.
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But the Pharisees were such well -made hypocrites. They were such excellent counterfeits that many people were tempted to imitate them.
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So in simple terms, Spurgeon said, hypocrisy is play acting.
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And in context, Jesus is referring to play acting at religion. And it is a dangerous role to play because when this play is over, the payment is eternal separation in hell.
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Be very certain of this, there is a heaven to gain and there is a hell to shun. What will it profit you,
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Jesus said, if a man gain the whole world and yet you lose your soul?
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Consider carefully. John Bunyan wrote this little rhyme titled
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Upon the Frog, and the rhyme goes like this. The frog by nature is both damp and cold.
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Her mouth is large, her belly much will hold. She sits somewhat ascending, loves to be croaking in the gardens, though unpleasantly.
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The hypocrite is like unto this frog, as like as is the puppy to the dog.
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He is of nature cold, his mouth is wide to pray and a true goodness to derive.
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He mounts his head as if he was above, as if he was above the world when yet is that which has his love.
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And though he seeks in churches for to croak, he loveth neither Jesus nor his yoke.
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The hypocrite does not love Christ. The hypocrite is separated by his sin from the true and the living
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God. But the good news is this today, though you be an empty, you be empty in and of yourselves with the ability and the want or the desire to be saved today, if Christ the
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Holy Spirit today is beckoning unto you and calling unto your heart, come unto me, then my friend, come unto
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Christ. Simply believe, simply trust that Christ has accomplished your salvation.
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Last of all, verse two and three, nothing is covered up that will not be revealed.
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Nothing will be hidden that will not be known. Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed from the housetops.
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Matthew Henry said a good reason against hypocrisy, a good reason against it is that nothing is covered that shall not be revealed.
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It is to no purpose to dissemble. That word dissemble means to pretend or to to cause there to be a confusion for sooner or later truth will come out.
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And a lying tongue is but for a moment. If you speak in darkness, that which is unbecoming you and it is inconsistent with your public professions, it shall be heard in the light some way or other.
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It shall be discovered. A bird of the air shall carry the voice and your folly and falsehood will be made manifest.
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The iniquity that is concealed with a show of piety will be discovered, perhaps in this world as Judas's was and Simon Magus's was at further in the great day when the secrets of all hearts shall be made manifest.
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If Henry went on to say this, if religion prevail not to conquer and cure the wickedness of their hearts, it will only serve to provide them for a cloak.
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The day is coming when hypocrites will be stripped of their fig leaves in the garden and when
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Adam and Eve sinned, they determined to make so fig leaves together to hide their nakedness.
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But there was no hiding their nakedness before God. For before the Lord, all hearts, all minds, all souls are laid bare before the
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Lord. So to those today who would reject
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Christianity because they say there are too many hypocrites in the church to which many of our responses would be, well, come on, one more ain't going to hurt us, right?
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But that ought not to be our attitude either. Hypocrisy is not acceptable. We don't want more hypocrites in the church.
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We want men, women, boys and girls who have been born again by the spirit and the power of the living
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God. By the way, because there are too many hypocrites in the church for being the reason that you do not come to church, we'll not stand on the day of judgment for you will give account of your own sin before the
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Lord. Focus on who you are. Focus on the wickedness of your heart and you'll realize that the wickedness of other hearts is not much different than you.
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They may sin different than you sin, but they are very much the same. Sin is damning.
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But Christ's blood was shed so that we might have the forgiveness of our sins.
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William Beterwolf said this, I saw about a peck of counterfeit dollars once. Did I go to the window and throw away all my good dollars?
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No, he said. Yet, men and women today reject Christianity because they are hypocrites or because they are counterfeit
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Christians. Praise the Lord today. In closing, Romans 12, 9,
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Romans 12, 9, the scripture states, Paul states, let love be, the King James says, let love be without dissimulation.
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The ESV translates the term, let love be genuine, let it not be a pretended, let it not be a feigned, let it not be a fake love.
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Let love be without dissimulation, abhor that which is evil and cleave to that which is good.
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And I would say this, that which is evil is our sin.
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That which is evil is that which is contrary to the law of God. That which is evil is that which we love more than we love the true and the living
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God. But that which is good, Jesus told us, there is one who is good and that is
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God. Today, will you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?
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Today, you must be born again. Today, hypocrisy from this day forward ought not to be an accepted norm in our lives.
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It ought not to be an accepted norm in the lives of the church, of the living God here at Reformed Baptist Church.
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But hypocrisy ought to be shunned just as all the other sins that we endure in this life.
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And we must cleave to the true and to the living God. Stand with us, if you would, this morning.