1 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:05,720 Well, Mimi, please in your bibles in Mark chapter 8 2 00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:11,490 beginning in verse 11, mark 811 the. 3 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:24,320 Word of God reads in verse 11. The Pharisees came and began to 4 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:28,720 argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him, 5 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:36,120 and he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, why does this 6 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:40,380 generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign 7 00:00:40,380 --> 00:00:42,100 will be given to this generation. 8 00:00:42,780 --> 00:00:45,980 And he left them gone into the boat again and went to the other 9 00:00:45,980 --> 00:00:48,580 side. Now they had forgotten to bring 10 00:00:48,580 --> 00:00:52,580 bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 11 00:00:53,420 --> 00:00:57,940 And he cautioned them, saying, watch out, beware of the leaven 12 00:00:57,940 --> 00:01:00,460 of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. 13 00:01:01,300 --> 00:01:03,580 And they began discussing with one another the fact that they 14 00:01:03,580 --> 00:01:07,050 had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said 15 00:01:07,050 --> 00:01:10,810 to them, Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? 16 00:01:11,650 --> 00:01:13,690 Do you not yet perceive or understand? 17 00:01:13,690 --> 00:01:18,130 Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see and 18 00:01:18,130 --> 00:01:19,370 having ears? Do you not hear? 19 00:01:19,770 --> 00:01:23,290 And do you not remember when I broke the five loaves for the 20 00:01:23,290 --> 00:01:25,930 5000? How many baskets full of broken 21 00:01:25,930 --> 00:01:30,530 pieces did you take up? They said to him 12 And the 22 00:01:30,530 --> 00:01:33,850 seven for the 4000 how many baskets full of broken pieces 23 00:01:33,850 --> 00:01:37,400 did you take up? And they said to him seven. 24 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:44,400 And he said to them, do you not yet understand the latter 25 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:46,880 portion of this text we'll deal with at another time? 26 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:50,800 The focus of our time together will be one verse, and that is 27 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:52,840 the verse that we see here in verse 15. 28 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:59,040 And he cautioned them saying, watch out, Beware of the 11 of 29 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:01,600 the Pharisees and the 11 of Herod. 30 00:02:02,460 --> 00:02:06,500 Now turn with me briefly to Matthew 16-6 at the parallel 31 00:02:06,500 --> 00:02:10,100 account of this very same scene, and notice with me a difference 32 00:02:10,100 --> 00:02:13,500 that Matthew emphasizes on that will help make this message more 33 00:02:13,500 --> 00:02:21,820 complete. Matthew 16 verse 6. 34 00:02:23,340 --> 00:02:28,020 Jesus said to them, Watch and beware of the leaven of the 35 00:02:28,020 --> 00:02:31,460 Pharisees. And sad you sees. 36 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:38,400 Lord, we pray again. Open our eyes to your word. 37 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:41,520 Help us behold the wondrous things out of your law. 38 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:45,680 Lord, may this message not just win our attention, may it win 39 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:49,600 our affections for Christ. May there be a special grace 40 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:52,000 upon the delivery of this word. May there be a special grace 41 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:54,920 upon our hearts to receive it with obedience and joy. 42 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:57,280 And may you be glorified in it all. 43 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:00,280 In Jesus name we pray. Amen. 44 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:03,220 Amen. What I want to speak to you 45 00:03:03,220 --> 00:03:08,340 today about is very simple. When combining Mark 8:15 with 46 00:03:08,340 --> 00:03:13,340 Matthew 16 six, it is clear that Jesus issues a warning to his 47 00:03:13,340 --> 00:03:18,460 disciples about three different groups of people, the first the 48 00:03:18,460 --> 00:03:23,660 Pharisees, the second the Sadducees, and lastly Herod 49 00:03:23,660 --> 00:03:26,500 himself. And this exhortation was not 50 00:03:26,500 --> 00:03:28,660 random. This was something that was 51 00:03:28,660 --> 00:03:32,560 given immediately after. The Pharisees themselves 52 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:37,920 encountered Jesus yet again, aggressively seeking to argue 53 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:41,960 with him, demanding A miraculous sign in order for him to prove 54 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:44,960 his claim. And so, after Jesus feeds the 55 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:49,600 4000, there was a challenge, a challenge from his enemies. 56 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:54,920 Jesus after that just dismisses them, leaves and then he speaks 57 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:58,640 to the disciples about the Pharisees and others. 58 00:03:59,170 --> 00:04:01,810 But what was it that He was warning about it exactly? 59 00:04:02,570 --> 00:04:06,530 Was he asking his disciples not to retaliate with antagonism? 60 00:04:07,170 --> 00:04:13,090 Was He cautioning his disciples not to overlook the fact that 61 00:04:13,090 --> 00:04:16,209 there are these people who are after us, after me? 62 00:04:16,209 --> 00:04:19,730 And perhaps, you being my closest followers, remember that 63 00:04:19,730 --> 00:04:24,610 they are scheming for my death. Nothing of the sort. 64 00:04:25,740 --> 00:04:28,140 What Jesus was warning about concerning the Pharisees in 65 00:04:28,140 --> 00:04:30,980 these other groups of people was about their leaven. 66 00:04:32,020 --> 00:04:36,140 Now the Lord here is not giving some kind of instruction about 67 00:04:36,140 --> 00:04:39,140 ingredients for food. You know that very well. 68 00:04:40,060 --> 00:04:43,660 Jesus looks at these people and he understands something more 69 00:04:44,140 --> 00:04:49,100 influential about them, and so he looks to his own and he tells 70 00:04:49,100 --> 00:04:52,900 them that there is something that they need to be aware of, 71 00:04:52,900 --> 00:04:55,910 and it's spiritual. Though they interpret it 72 00:04:55,910 --> 00:04:58,390 materially, right there, after he talked about the leaven, 73 00:04:58,390 --> 00:04:59,590 they're start speaking about bread. 74 00:04:59,590 --> 00:05:02,470 It opened up the subject, and the Lord gives him this rebuke. 75 00:05:02,630 --> 00:05:04,510 How are you guys even talking about bread? 76 00:05:06,190 --> 00:05:07,910 He says. No, you have to be aware of the 77 00:05:07,910 --> 00:05:12,150 leaven of these three groups. And leaven, as you know, is a 78 00:05:12,150 --> 00:05:14,870 fermenting agent that is largely used for what? 79 00:05:14,870 --> 00:05:18,950 For dough to rise. And it is a consistent biblical 80 00:05:18,950 --> 00:05:23,910 metaphor from beginning to end. To describe corrupting spiritual 81 00:05:23,950 --> 00:05:28,310 influence, whether that influence is immorality or 82 00:05:28,310 --> 00:05:31,510 doctrinal error. And so that's what we know 83 00:05:31,510 --> 00:05:33,510 concerning Jesus. He's cautioning and 84 00:05:33,510 --> 00:05:38,470 communicating that these three parties believed and behaved in 85 00:05:38,470 --> 00:05:42,670 a manner that could subtly impact the spiritual health not 86 00:05:42,670 --> 00:05:44,750 just of others, but of his own followers. 87 00:05:46,510 --> 00:05:48,910 These are not three specific sins. 88 00:05:48,990 --> 00:05:51,550 Instead, they are three types of false teachings. 89 00:05:52,070 --> 00:05:55,230 They are twisted ideas to cause you to think something that 90 00:05:55,230 --> 00:05:59,230 would warp your testimony. And now one could say that the 91 00:05:59,230 --> 00:06:03,030 major and the main influence of this coalition of groups is is 92 00:06:03,030 --> 00:06:05,390 unbelief in the person of Jesus Christ. 93 00:06:05,870 --> 00:06:08,670 And you would be right in a general sense, because that's 94 00:06:08,670 --> 00:06:11,950 what the context communicates. But we have to remember that the 95 00:06:11,950 --> 00:06:18,520 Pharisees, the sad you sees. And Herod were distinct in their 96 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:22,320 ideas. They each emphasized a certain 97 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:28,280 shade on the spectrum of Levin, And what we will seek to do 98 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:31,800 today is to understand these Levins individually, since 99 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:33,360 they're prevailing threats today. 100 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:35,720 If you think that this is just a danger and apparel for the 101 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:38,720 disciples, then you have to understand that this is the Holy 102 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:43,790 Spirit's warning to us as well. This is a warning to disciples. 103 00:06:43,790 --> 00:06:48,230 Jesus didn't turn to the world and say beware of the leaven of 104 00:06:48,230 --> 00:06:50,550 these groups of people. He looks to his own. 105 00:06:51,150 --> 00:06:54,470 He and he says with urgency and sobriety both in Mark and 106 00:06:54,470 --> 00:06:55,110 Matthew. What? 107 00:06:55,110 --> 00:07:00,830 Watch out, watch and be aware this is not a distant danger. 108 00:07:00,830 --> 00:07:05,960 This is an ever present problem. And it seeks to be sprinkled on 109 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:10,000 you without you even realizing. It seeks to seep in and to cause 110 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:14,080 things to rise in you that you don't want to rise in you. 111 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:18,760 And so to you, I say with the same urgency and unction as the 112 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:22,560 Lord Jesus. Watch out, be aware and realize 113 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:26,160 that these threats are still alive and well today. 114 00:07:27,090 --> 00:07:29,730 And praying into this message, my prayer, is that the word of 115 00:07:29,730 --> 00:07:32,970 God would expose any of these Levins living in the home of 116 00:07:32,970 --> 00:07:34,530 your heart. Because it's possible. 117 00:07:35,170 --> 00:07:39,130 It's possible for even disciples of Jesus to know the corrupting 118 00:07:39,130 --> 00:07:42,290 factors of what these parties represent. 119 00:07:43,130 --> 00:07:48,210 And if you see that there is some of this in you, that you 120 00:07:48,210 --> 00:07:52,890 would go beyond that and say, OK, Lord, now purge me, cleanse 121 00:07:52,890 --> 00:07:56,490 me, wash me, and make me unleavened. 122 00:07:57,270 --> 00:07:59,350 In fact, that's the language of the Apostle Paul to the 123 00:07:59,350 --> 00:08:02,910 Christian Church in First Corinthians 5, seven. 124 00:08:03,030 --> 00:08:06,310 He speaks to this church because there was contamination in the 125 00:08:06,310 --> 00:08:10,190 midst, there was sin that was tolerated by an individual, and 126 00:08:10,190 --> 00:08:14,150 they had the ability to cause others to also not just tolerate 127 00:08:14,150 --> 00:08:16,870 it, but to imitate it. And So what does Paul use? 128 00:08:16,870 --> 00:08:21,110 He uses Old Testament language and he says in this verse 129 00:08:21,110 --> 00:08:24,590 cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump. 130 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:32,039 As you really are unleavened for Christ, our Passover lamb has 131 00:08:32,039 --> 00:08:35,120 been sacrificed. Here's what this verse tells me. 132 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:39,120 It tells me that it's possible for you and I to be unleavened, 133 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:43,400 free from corruption, whether that is sexual immorality or any 134 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:46,040 other debauchery or even doctrinal error. 135 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:49,560 It's possible for you and I, because of the grace of Christ, 136 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:52,760 to be cleansed from top to bottom. 137 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:56,570 That's encouraging to me. And yet it's a reality that must 138 00:08:56,570 --> 00:08:59,490 be pursued. It's something that you and I 139 00:08:59,490 --> 00:09:02,210 have to engage in. It's something that we must be 140 00:09:02,210 --> 00:09:06,290 watchful and on guard about to ask the Lord, Lord, if there's 141 00:09:06,290 --> 00:09:08,730 any of this Levin me, help me remove it. 142 00:09:09,090 --> 00:09:11,610 And this is not optional in the Christian life. 143 00:09:12,130 --> 00:09:14,770 Actually, it's so fascinating when you study the Old Testament 144 00:09:14,770 --> 00:09:17,570 and you see in Exodus 12, the introduction of the Passover 145 00:09:17,570 --> 00:09:20,610 feast. Passover points to justification 146 00:09:20,610 --> 00:09:22,050 right? The blood of Christ. 147 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:24,760 That helps us escape the wrath of God. 148 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:28,440 But immediately after the Passover feast, you and I are 149 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:30,920 instructed about the feast of what? 150 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:35,080 Unleavened bread? Where there was a series of days 151 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:39,280 that the Jews who also observed the Passover would cleanse their 152 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:43,400 house from any of this fermenting agents in their own 153 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:46,440 home. Because Levin represents sin. 154 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:50,120 And what's amazing about that is when you come to the New 155 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:54,120 Testament. These two feasts are so closely 156 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:57,720 connected, they overlap even in the days that they are 157 00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:01,640 celebrated that they were seen as almost one feast. 158 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:04,840 And you see that I can show you in the New Testament how even 159 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:08,160 the disciples and preparing for the feast of the Passover, they 160 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:11,800 interchangeably use the the words Passover and the Feast of 161 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:15,280 Unleavened Bread. And that is that is not a 162 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:17,600 contradiction. That is not poor writing. 163 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:20,160 That is Holy Spirit strategy. Do you know why? 164 00:10:20,680 --> 00:10:23,760 Because if Passover represents the justification that we have 165 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:27,360 in Christ, then the unleavened bread feast speaks of our 166 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:31,760 sanctification, where you and I are called following Passover to 167 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:35,040 cleanse ourselves from sin. And the fact that even the New 168 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:38,040 Testament brings these two feasts together as an 169 00:10:38,040 --> 00:10:42,320 inseparable thing proves that you and I also in the salvation 170 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:45,320 of Jesus Christ cannot separate the reality of you being 171 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:48,160 cleansed from sin. Do you understand that? 172 00:10:49,110 --> 00:10:53,910 You cannot claim to plead the blood over your life and yet not 173 00:10:53,950 --> 00:10:58,470 actively remove leaven from your life, and that that's just 174 00:10:58,470 --> 00:11:00,790 another point to make against those who claim that you can 175 00:11:00,790 --> 00:11:03,190 believe on Christ and not need to repent from your sin. 176 00:11:04,390 --> 00:11:07,430 You have so many points to to argue against such a thought. 177 00:11:07,430 --> 00:11:10,430 You can't separate the Feast of Unleavened Bread with Passover, 178 00:11:10,710 --> 00:11:14,110 and you can't separate practical sanctification from 179 00:11:14,110 --> 00:11:19,770 justification by faith. There are many types of leaven, 180 00:11:20,730 --> 00:11:24,210 and Jesus here speaks of three three that are embodied and 181 00:11:24,210 --> 00:11:26,650 exemplified by different parties, and so let's deal with 182 00:11:26,650 --> 00:11:32,930 each of these individually. #1 The leaven of the Pharisees What 183 00:11:32,930 --> 00:11:35,930 is the leaven of the Pharisees? What about their way of life and 184 00:11:35,930 --> 00:11:41,050 their teachings that must be rejected and on guard for the 185 00:11:41,050 --> 00:11:42,930 Pharisees? We've talked about them enough 186 00:11:42,930 --> 00:11:48,650 to know that they they exemplify self righteousness and many 187 00:11:48,650 --> 00:11:51,450 other marks do they have that describe them? 188 00:11:51,770 --> 00:11:55,290 But one of them is not just self righteousness but personal 189 00:11:55,290 --> 00:11:58,050 hypocrisy. And those two tend to go hand in 190 00:11:58,050 --> 00:12:02,490 hand. Personal hypocrisy, the practice 191 00:12:02,490 --> 00:12:07,090 of being an actor in the realm of spirituality and religion. 192 00:12:07,850 --> 00:12:09,850 That is confirmed by the words of Jesus and Luke. 193 00:12:09,850 --> 00:12:12,610 Chapter 12, verse one. That is the emphasis that he 194 00:12:12,610 --> 00:12:15,090 wants to put on the leaven concerning the leaven of the 195 00:12:15,090 --> 00:12:16,490 Pharisees. Here's what he says in Luke 196 00:12:16,490 --> 00:12:18,270 12/1. And the second part of that 197 00:12:18,270 --> 00:12:21,150 verse, if you're taking notes, this is a great reference to 198 00:12:21,150 --> 00:12:24,310 confirm this truth, he began to say to his disciples. 199 00:12:24,310 --> 00:12:27,750 First, beware of the 11 of the Pharisees, which is what? 200 00:12:28,350 --> 00:12:31,350 Hypocrisy. Hypocrisy. 201 00:12:31,790 --> 00:12:35,070 The first thing that Jesus warns about to his own disciples is 202 00:12:35,070 --> 00:12:38,350 this. Beware of being infected with 203 00:12:38,350 --> 00:12:42,230 the influence of living as a hypocrite. 204 00:12:43,750 --> 00:12:47,200 As a hypocrite. Now, most of you know why 205 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:50,440 hypocrisy is wrong. Most of us in here despise 206 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:54,800 hypocrisy. Even the unregenerate criticized 207 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:57,480 hypocrites, especially from those who are in powers position 208 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:00,600 of powers, whether that's ecclesiastical power positions 209 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:02,840 or political. Everybody hates hypocrisy. 210 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:05,400 Everybody knows what is even hypocris hate hypocrisy. 211 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:08,040 They don't think they're hypocrites, but they can point 212 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:11,440 out everybody else. And so it's generally understood 213 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:13,760 what it means to be a hypocrite. It's a word that. 214 00:13:14,330 --> 00:13:17,650 Was anciently used for an actor. You would wear one mask and then 215 00:13:17,650 --> 00:13:20,450 you would take that mask off on the stage because that's how 216 00:13:20,450 --> 00:13:23,370 they did plays and and acts. And then you put on another mask 217 00:13:23,370 --> 00:13:25,370 and then you were somebody else and you acted and you sounded 218 00:13:25,370 --> 00:13:27,490 differently. That is precisely what the Lord 219 00:13:27,490 --> 00:13:31,330 is alluding to. Beware of the 11 of hypocrisy. 220 00:13:31,930 --> 00:13:34,490 And what's so fascinating about this warning is because it's 221 00:13:34,730 --> 00:13:36,210 it's more subtle than we might think. 222 00:13:36,210 --> 00:13:38,090 We might all say Amen. Yeah, OK, that I don't want to 223 00:13:38,090 --> 00:13:43,130 be a hypocrite, but it looks much more subtle that you might 224 00:13:43,130 --> 00:13:46,030 perceive. Its influence is much more 225 00:13:46,030 --> 00:13:49,830 discreet than you might imagine, and I want to just briefly show 226 00:13:49,830 --> 00:13:52,990 you a couple of examples through the Pharisees of how hypocrisy 227 00:13:52,990 --> 00:13:55,630 can live in us and we don't even realize it. 228 00:13:56,430 --> 00:13:58,830 How hypocrisy might be dominating us, how this 11 might 229 00:13:58,830 --> 00:14:01,870 be infiltrating our blood, our testimony, our practical 230 00:14:01,870 --> 00:14:05,310 Christian walk, and we may not even see it turn with me. 231 00:14:05,310 --> 00:14:10,750 For one example in Luke Chapter 14 verse 5, Luke 14-5. 232 00:14:12,390 --> 00:14:14,830 Jesus is going to ask a very direct question to the Pharisees 233 00:14:14,830 --> 00:14:17,030 in the context of him healing a man with dropsy. 234 00:14:17,510 --> 00:14:20,030 Here's Jesus invited at a dinner, and there are many 235 00:14:20,030 --> 00:14:24,190 distinguished guests, namely Pharisees and others like them. 236 00:14:25,430 --> 00:14:28,030 And in the presence of this dinner is a man with a disease. 237 00:14:28,030 --> 00:14:30,630 And Jesus wants to, in his compassion, heal this man. 238 00:14:31,350 --> 00:14:34,590 And he does heal this man, Not just at dinner. 239 00:14:34,790 --> 00:14:38,640 Dinner on the Sabbath. And you know what the Pharisees 240 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:41,320 believe about the Sabbath? They had such overpowering, 241 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:44,320 manmade tradition that even somebody being healed could not 242 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:46,440 be permitted. That was a work. 243 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:53,000 And so Jesus, disregarding their Oral Law, takes advantage of the 244 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:56,000 situation, heals this man, and makes a statement. 245 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:57,640 I'm the Lord of the Sabbath, right? 246 00:14:59,840 --> 00:15:03,840 But in this specific context, he brings a question to these to 247 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:06,400 these men who are stunned by the audacity of this. 248 00:15:07,260 --> 00:15:11,260 This figure with such authority, And here was the question after 249 00:15:11,260 --> 00:15:15,340 healing and verse five of Luke 14 And he said to them, Which of 250 00:15:15,340 --> 00:15:20,180 you having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a 251 00:15:20,180 --> 00:15:24,220 Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out. 252 00:15:25,060 --> 00:15:27,460 And they could not reply to these things. 253 00:15:29,420 --> 00:15:32,460 If your son or an ox fell on into a well on the Sabbath, 254 00:15:33,580 --> 00:15:38,270 wouldn't you even you Pharisees? Make it top priority to save and 255 00:15:38,270 --> 00:15:41,310 rescue and they had nothing to say. 256 00:15:42,510 --> 00:15:44,150 What's the Lord getting at with this? 257 00:15:44,790 --> 00:15:47,030 Is there something deeper here than just a record of 258 00:15:47,030 --> 00:15:48,710 conversation? There's a principle here. 259 00:15:48,950 --> 00:15:51,630 It reveals something about the leaven of the Pharisees, at 260 00:15:51,630 --> 00:15:53,950 least one component of it, and it is this. 261 00:15:53,950 --> 00:15:58,630 Pharisees and the leaven of the Pharisees encourages people to 262 00:15:58,630 --> 00:16:02,310 apply strict standards on others while being lenient on their 263 00:16:02,310 --> 00:16:08,650 preferred persons or property. This unfortunately happens even 264 00:16:08,650 --> 00:16:12,610 in Christian circles today, right where you apply you, 265 00:16:12,610 --> 00:16:18,690 preach, you teach you even disciple others with a standard 266 00:16:18,690 --> 00:16:24,930 of spirituality that you are unwilling to apply on yourself 267 00:16:25,090 --> 00:16:28,050 or on even those that are closely related to you in some 268 00:16:28,050 --> 00:16:31,810 way. Parents are in danger of doing 269 00:16:31,810 --> 00:16:34,780 this. Pastors are in danger of doing 270 00:16:34,780 --> 00:16:37,460 this. They may preach or demand a set 271 00:16:37,460 --> 00:16:40,140 of convictions on others, but don't expect the same level of 272 00:16:40,140 --> 00:16:43,940 commitment from their own spouses or from their own 273 00:16:44,060 --> 00:16:47,780 children. Or certain individuals are very 274 00:16:47,780 --> 00:16:50,780 vocal, very vocal, about what other Christians should do 275 00:16:50,780 --> 00:16:54,700 pertaining to Gray areas in our faith, not black and white Gray 276 00:16:54,700 --> 00:16:57,300 areas, matters of personal conviction and conscience. 277 00:16:58,420 --> 00:17:02,630 I've met people like that, but the moment someone related to 278 00:17:02,630 --> 00:17:06,270 them does the opposite of what they expect, what happens? 279 00:17:06,470 --> 00:17:08,470 Their whole value system shifts, doesn't it? 280 00:17:09,829 --> 00:17:12,990 Their whole belief system changes because now it hits 281 00:17:12,990 --> 00:17:15,470 home. Now now it's something that 282 00:17:15,470 --> 00:17:21,310 deals with you. That is the leaven of the 283 00:17:21,310 --> 00:17:26,500 Pharisees. So discreet, willing to 284 00:17:26,500 --> 00:17:30,140 criticize others, whether that be their family, their marriage, 285 00:17:30,140 --> 00:17:32,460 their churches, their ministries, but don't apply the 286 00:17:32,460 --> 00:17:37,580 same rules to themselves or when in their own world those rules 287 00:17:37,820 --> 00:17:40,060 are not honored the way they probably thought they should be. 288 00:17:40,620 --> 00:17:43,580 Oh, all for a sudden now you're open minded. 289 00:17:44,500 --> 00:17:47,740 All of a sudden now you're lenient and and you're merciful 290 00:17:47,740 --> 00:17:49,940 and you're gracious. What changed? 291 00:17:50,300 --> 00:17:54,740 Well, it's your ox now. It's your son now that fell into 292 00:17:54,740 --> 00:17:59,280 the well. And so Jesus exposes here that 293 00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:01,880 part of the 11 of the Pharisees is partiality. 294 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:07,160 Partiality is a major ingredient of this 11 and so beware of 295 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:10,040 that. Beware of being black and white 296 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:12,040 with others. But when the same issue arises 297 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:16,160 in your own ministry or home, you are different and you shift 298 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:19,840 and you change and you pivot. This is something that marked 299 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:23,480 the Pharisees. There's another example I would 300 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:24,760 like to show you. And since we're in Luke, let's 301 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:39,580 go a couple chapters later and Luke 16, Luke 1614, the 302 00:18:39,580 --> 00:18:45,540 Pharisees who were lovers of. Money heard all these things and 303 00:18:45,540 --> 00:18:48,780 they ridiculed him and he said to them. 304 00:18:49,380 --> 00:18:52,700 You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God 305 00:18:52,700 --> 00:18:55,700 knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is 306 00:18:55,700 --> 00:18:57,300 an abomination in the side of God. 307 00:18:57,300 --> 00:19:01,140 What a powerful state. What is exalted among men is an 308 00:19:01,140 --> 00:19:03,500 abomination in the side of God. But we're not touching on that 309 00:19:03,500 --> 00:19:06,380 part. Jesus looks at the same group of 310 00:19:06,380 --> 00:19:11,020 people and says, you are those who justify yourselves before 311 00:19:11,020 --> 00:19:12,980 men. Now where is that coming from? 312 00:19:13,060 --> 00:19:16,100 What does that mean? And the best way to get clarity 313 00:19:16,100 --> 00:19:18,060 is to connect it with the previous verse. 314 00:19:18,590 --> 00:19:21,110 The Holy Spirit gives us commentary about the hearts of 315 00:19:21,110 --> 00:19:24,310 these Pharisees and what was it? They loved money. 316 00:19:24,310 --> 00:19:25,670 That's another mark of a Pharisee. 317 00:19:26,790 --> 00:19:30,390 They loved money. They adored it. 318 00:19:30,790 --> 00:19:33,790 They accumulated it through unjust means, through lies. 319 00:19:34,070 --> 00:19:38,990 They loved money and Jesus. Knowing this about their hearts 320 00:19:38,990 --> 00:19:43,110 makes a link. They loved money, and Jesus 321 00:19:43,110 --> 00:19:45,750 makes this charge and lighted that commentary to say that 322 00:19:45,750 --> 00:19:47,990 these religious leaders were masters. 323 00:19:48,490 --> 00:19:52,610 At rationalizing their idolatry and their covetousness. 324 00:19:54,490 --> 00:19:57,490 So follow with me. Here they were lovers of money. 325 00:19:57,490 --> 00:20:00,610 And then Jesus says you are those who justify yourselves 326 00:20:00,610 --> 00:20:02,970 before men. The connection is in their love 327 00:20:02,970 --> 00:20:07,210 for money in serving mammon. They were still capable and very 328 00:20:07,210 --> 00:20:11,130 good at trying to make excuses for their love for money. 329 00:20:13,220 --> 00:20:15,980 Is love of money wrong? Yes, According to the Bible, 330 00:20:16,140 --> 00:20:18,220 money's not wrong. Savings not wrong. 331 00:20:18,220 --> 00:20:20,980 Spending's not wrong. Hobbies and leisure is not 332 00:20:20,980 --> 00:20:25,100 wrong, but loving money. And these Pharisees understood 333 00:20:25,100 --> 00:20:29,500 that to a degree. But at the same time, they were 334 00:20:29,500 --> 00:20:33,740 good at making excuses for their wrong. 335 00:20:35,100 --> 00:20:37,900 That's part of the leaven of the Pharisees. 336 00:20:39,590 --> 00:20:42,670 Jesus shows that the Pharisees are notorious for refusing to 337 00:20:42,670 --> 00:20:50,310 admit that they are in error, but instead campaign to 338 00:20:50,310 --> 00:20:53,630 continually justify themselves before men. 339 00:20:53,630 --> 00:20:58,510 So what does it look like? Despite your sin, despite your 340 00:20:58,510 --> 00:21:03,270 mistake, this leaven convinces you that you are always in the 341 00:21:03,270 --> 00:21:05,110 right. Always. 342 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:08,440 Like you sinned, evidence, plain and clear witnesses, all 343 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:10,320 conscience, word of God. But you're still in the right. 344 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:14,040 You're always a victim. Always, in every situation. 345 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:16,960 It you are always the victim, you justify yourself. 346 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:21,680 And even when there is a display or demonstration of sinful 347 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:26,600 behavior, attitudes you justify still even in that justify how? 348 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:29,880 Well, perhaps through the idea of the pretense of righteous 349 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:33,810 motivation, Right? It's not clear, but I wonder and 350 00:21:33,810 --> 00:21:37,210 it wouldn't surprise me. The Pharisees ungodly pursuit 351 00:21:37,450 --> 00:21:41,130 and gain of wealth, was explained as a sign of God's 352 00:21:41,130 --> 00:21:41,890 blessing. God. 353 00:21:41,890 --> 00:21:44,810 God has blessed us. This is why we have what we 354 00:21:44,810 --> 00:21:48,730 have. Or like Corbran, right when they 355 00:21:48,730 --> 00:21:51,130 would refuse to honor their father and mother and claim that 356 00:21:51,130 --> 00:21:54,130 it was devoted to God. They also, probably in their 357 00:21:54,130 --> 00:21:56,490 love of money, explained that this was something for the 358 00:21:56,490 --> 00:21:58,810 purposes of God that always selfishly enjoyed. 359 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:06,400 They they were experts at always justifying themselves before 360 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:09,880 men. That is what the leaven of the 361 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:16,800 Pharisees can do to Christians. It can inflate their ego like it 362 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:21,080 inflates bread and makes them think I'm right. 363 00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:24,520 Always perpetually unbroken perfection. 364 00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:28,520 And I'm always able to find a reason to why, even if what it 365 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:32,050 is is wrong, it's in fact justified. 366 00:22:32,930 --> 00:22:35,130 When I when I thought about this, when I meditate on this, 367 00:22:37,130 --> 00:22:40,930 it proved further the absolute treasure and value of humility. 368 00:22:43,130 --> 00:22:46,090 If you want to know the absence of this Levin in your own heart, 369 00:22:46,090 --> 00:22:48,450 if you want to know the absence of this Levin in another's 370 00:22:48,730 --> 00:22:50,930 hearts, and I wouldn't be too worried about another's heart as 371 00:22:50,930 --> 00:22:54,130 much as your own in mind. Do you want to know how it's 372 00:22:54,130 --> 00:22:56,450 missing? You want to know how by the Holy 373 00:22:56,450 --> 00:22:59,290 Spirit's grace, by the word of God, by your watchfulness, that 374 00:22:59,290 --> 00:23:08,890 Levin has no place in you. You can say I'm sorry, I made a 375 00:23:08,890 --> 00:23:13,010 mistake. Thank you. 376 00:23:14,890 --> 00:23:20,130 I made a wrong. I was in the flesh when I did 377 00:23:20,130 --> 00:23:22,290 that. I was operating in my own 378 00:23:22,290 --> 00:23:26,920 wisdom. When I did that, I reacted and 379 00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:30,720 anger unrighteously. I wasn't thinking. 380 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:34,800 I was selfish. If you can say that, I can tell 381 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:36,840 you got confidently my brother, my sister. 382 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:40,520 That's a good healthy sign that this leaven is not in you. 383 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:49,120 But for the Pharisees, they justified themselves always, 384 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:53,160 regardless of their hypocrisy. They were able to justify their 385 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:56,370 hypocrisy. I read something. 386 00:23:56,370 --> 00:23:58,410 You know what book I read recently in the Bible? 387 00:23:59,690 --> 00:24:02,850 Zephaniah. And I read something in 388 00:24:02,850 --> 00:24:08,610 Zephaniah that that I perhaps never saw before, and it deals 389 00:24:08,610 --> 00:24:12,050 with one of my favorite doctrines, the fear of the Lord. 390 00:24:13,170 --> 00:24:16,170 And when I saw this, it added yet another component about the 391 00:24:16,170 --> 00:24:17,570 fear of the Lord that blessed me. 392 00:24:17,570 --> 00:24:21,290 And I hope it blesses you. And so go to Zephaniah. 393 00:24:21,290 --> 00:24:22,810 If you don't know where it is, ask your neighbor. 394 00:24:22,810 --> 00:24:25,690 Where's Zephaniah? They will help you. 395 00:24:26,530 --> 00:24:30,010 Hint, it's on the left side. You go to Zef and I I want you 396 00:24:30,010 --> 00:24:36,370 to see something in chapter 3. There is always something to 397 00:24:36,370 --> 00:24:38,530 learn in the scriptures. I'm telling if you want. 398 00:24:38,530 --> 00:24:40,090 To grow in Revelation. This might blow your mind. 399 00:24:40,090 --> 00:24:41,730 You're ready. Read your Bible. 400 00:24:42,530 --> 00:24:43,810 Read it. Cover to cover. 401 00:24:43,810 --> 00:24:46,370 Don't skip any parts. Don't you dare. 402 00:24:47,650 --> 00:24:50,210 Should make that a quality or condition for membership. 403 00:24:50,210 --> 00:24:52,890 Yeah, you can't skip any parts of the Bible. 404 00:24:53,550 --> 00:24:55,110 You got to read it cover to cover. 405 00:24:56,270 --> 00:25:00,150 Zephaniah 3, verse seven. Look what it said here. 406 00:25:00,870 --> 00:25:02,710 The Lord speaks. I said. 407 00:25:03,070 --> 00:25:08,470 Surely you will fear me. You will accept correction. 408 00:25:08,630 --> 00:25:11,870 Then your dwelling would not be cut off according to all that 409 00:25:11,870 --> 00:25:14,590 I've appointed against you. But all the more they were eager 410 00:25:14,590 --> 00:25:18,790 to make all their deeds corrupt. You see the parallelism. 411 00:25:19,190 --> 00:25:21,990 You see the truths connected in the first two lines? 412 00:25:21,990 --> 00:25:27,230 I said, surely you will fear me. You will accept correction. 413 00:25:27,230 --> 00:25:29,710 Do you want to know if you fear God? 414 00:25:31,070 --> 00:25:36,790 You were able to accept correction sitting home, right? 415 00:25:37,590 --> 00:25:39,750 I told you, it's much more subtle. 416 00:25:40,230 --> 00:25:41,990 All the Pharisees, they're crazy. 417 00:25:41,990 --> 00:25:46,510 There is such religious, filthy rebels. 418 00:25:46,870 --> 00:25:50,800 Yeah, but Jesus warned his own Beware of their 11 I saw this 419 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:54,200 and I thought to myself, Lord. I hope to believe. 420 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:57,240 I fear you. I hope to believe that I honor 421 00:25:57,240 --> 00:25:59,680 you. And yes, this correction comes 422 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:01,760 from God if you accept God's correction. 423 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:05,080 But God's correction can come through God's people who love 424 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:07,920 you enough to bring God's word to you to be the eyes in the 425 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:14,560 blind spots of your life. And so if you really fear God, 426 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:18,680 which means to stand in awe of God when correction comes your 427 00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:25,820 way, you are more willing to analyze it, consider it, and if 428 00:26:25,820 --> 00:26:32,380 it is legitimate to accept it. I'm sorry, yes, perhaps the 429 00:26:32,460 --> 00:26:35,060 parties you've offended. But ultimately, at the end of 430 00:26:35,060 --> 00:26:38,580 the day, the God fearing person will find a place in his home, 431 00:26:38,580 --> 00:26:42,940 find a corner, take a ride, go on a walk and say Lord, because 432 00:26:42,940 --> 00:26:45,060 I fear you, ultimately I offended you. 433 00:26:45,740 --> 00:26:48,700 I'm sorry, Lord. I'm sorry, Larry. 434 00:26:48,700 --> 00:26:52,580 And you talk to your father. You talk to your father, not to 435 00:26:52,580 --> 00:26:54,340 your boss. Your father. 436 00:26:56,020 --> 00:26:59,380 And that's why I heard from others, and I try, by the grace 437 00:26:59,380 --> 00:27:02,340 of God, to make this a discipline. 438 00:27:02,420 --> 00:27:04,820 You'd be amazed to know how people who don't even know 439 00:27:04,820 --> 00:27:09,540 you're willing to offer you correction through different 440 00:27:09,540 --> 00:27:13,260 means these days. Messages and letters and people 441 00:27:13,260 --> 00:27:15,420 that don't even put their names in the correction that they're 442 00:27:15,420 --> 00:27:19,500 trying to give. But I've heard from wise men to 443 00:27:19,500 --> 00:27:23,220 say that even your enemies, even those who seek to persecute you 444 00:27:23,220 --> 00:27:28,420 and discourage you and what they say to you, be willing to look 445 00:27:28,820 --> 00:27:31,340 deeper and ask Is there any truth in this? 446 00:27:33,060 --> 00:27:35,780 Is there any truth in what my enemies are saying about me, 447 00:27:35,940 --> 00:27:38,220 though their motives might be wrong, though they want to hurt 448 00:27:38,220 --> 00:27:40,300 me and bring me down. Is there anything in this that 449 00:27:40,300 --> 00:27:45,010 might be true that I can, I can bring to the Lord and say Lord, 450 00:27:45,010 --> 00:27:46,810 if this is true, remove it from me. 451 00:27:49,210 --> 00:27:51,930 Surely you will fear me. You will accept correction, 452 00:27:52,490 --> 00:27:57,570 Pharisees justifying themselves always, even when they're wrong. 453 00:27:57,570 --> 00:27:59,650 There are times where you are justified, so don't take it to 454 00:27:59,650 --> 00:28:02,010 the other extreme where every time somebody says something to 455 00:28:02,010 --> 00:28:05,530 you, I'm a Sinner. No, there are legitimate cases 456 00:28:05,530 --> 00:28:07,890 where you're standing in the right and people would still try 457 00:28:07,890 --> 00:28:10,290 to blame you. But this is different. 458 00:28:10,650 --> 00:28:14,340 This is clear, blatant, open sin, inexcusable. 459 00:28:14,340 --> 00:28:16,420 And yet you were able. Because that's what the leaven 460 00:28:16,420 --> 00:28:21,180 of the Pharisees does. It encourages, it strengthens 461 00:28:21,180 --> 00:28:25,060 hypocrisy and self righteousness and Jesus looks his own. 462 00:28:25,060 --> 00:28:29,220 He says be careful, this can sneak in and you might not even 463 00:28:29,220 --> 00:28:32,180 realize it. There's much more to say. 464 00:28:32,180 --> 00:28:34,540 We can make this whole message about the Pharisees alone, the 465 00:28:34,540 --> 00:28:36,380 leaven of the Pharisees. But let me make this concluding 466 00:28:36,380 --> 00:28:41,060 thought before we move on. Jesus had the most conflict and 467 00:28:41,060 --> 00:28:43,100 issues with the Pharisees out of the three groups. 468 00:28:44,190 --> 00:28:46,510 Yeah, he dealt with the sad you sees and he dealt with Herod. 469 00:28:47,030 --> 00:28:50,870 But the Pharisees were a constant threat and I argue that 470 00:28:50,870 --> 00:28:56,190 so is the 11 of the Pharisees. Hypocrisy is the most prevalent 471 00:28:56,670 --> 00:28:59,750 among the followers of Jesus. Christ you know, And Mark he 472 00:28:59,750 --> 00:29:03,150 says, the 11 of the Pharisees and the 11 of Herod and Matthew 473 00:29:03,150 --> 00:29:05,430 He says 11 of the Pharisees. And the 11 of the sad you sees 474 00:29:05,430 --> 00:29:08,310 which one did he repeat? Which one is brought forth in 475 00:29:08,310 --> 00:29:10,510 both gospels? Not sad, you sees not Herod 476 00:29:10,790 --> 00:29:15,380 Pharisees. That emphasis says something. 477 00:29:16,060 --> 00:29:21,820 I must be extra alert concerning this particular 11 May God help 478 00:29:21,820 --> 00:29:25,860 us. The 11 of the Pharisees, the 11 479 00:29:25,860 --> 00:29:29,620 of the sad you sees. Now we we, we studied Mark long 480 00:29:29,620 --> 00:29:30,620 enough to know who the Pharisees are. 481 00:29:30,620 --> 00:29:35,100 But who are the sad you sees? Well, they were an influential 482 00:29:35,100 --> 00:29:37,740 Jewish political and religious party in Jesus' day. 483 00:29:38,660 --> 00:29:45,040 Affluent men, elite class. Wealthy, great pedigree, and 484 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:47,800 they operate in places of power as well. 485 00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:50,880 And they, they expressed this party, the scientists, they they 486 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:53,080 had faith in God. And they would confess that 487 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:55,680 though they were liberal in their theology, they only held 488 00:29:55,680 --> 00:30:00,240 to the first five books of the Old Testament, the Torah, the 489 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:03,040 Penituch was something that they held, not the extra books like 490 00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:05,880 the Pharisees. And so they were very limited in 491 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:07,640 their view. They're very conservative in a 492 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:10,720 sense that they just held to these books and these books 493 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:14,560 alone. And the proof of their looseness 494 00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:17,040 in their spirituality is even shown in their interaction with 495 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:18,760 Jesus. The Sadjuses don't show up like 496 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:22,080 the Pharisees do early on in Jesus's ministry. 497 00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:24,160 They come later. Why did they come later? 498 00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:27,160 Because they're not interested in this rabbi that's going 499 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:29,760 around teaching things. The moment they became concerned 500 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:32,520 is when they saw how this message and movement might get 501 00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:36,360 them in trouble with Rome. And these Sadjuses love to 502 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:40,040 interact with Rome and to be in good standing with Rome and. 503 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:42,080 And so this is who we're dealing with. 504 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:44,840 And these people were more involved with in politics than 505 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:48,120 they were in worship to the true God. 506 00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:52,680 And not much is written about the sad you sees within 507 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:54,080 Scripture. But what we have is enough to 508 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:56,120 understand what Jesus was referring to when he warned 509 00:30:56,120 --> 00:31:02,000 about their 11 And it's found in Acts of all places and Acts 23 510 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:08,080 verse 8 here is an ingredient concerning the 11 of the sad you 511 00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:19,650 sees and beware of this 11 the. Holy Spirit says in Acts 23, for 512 00:31:19,650 --> 00:31:24,610 the sad you see, say that there is no resurrection, nor Angel, 513 00:31:25,290 --> 00:31:29,330 nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 514 00:31:30,410 --> 00:31:34,650 This is a difference between these two parties, and with this 515 00:31:34,650 --> 00:31:37,810 we can decipher the essence of their eleven, their false 516 00:31:37,810 --> 00:31:40,450 teaching that produces false living. 517 00:31:41,530 --> 00:31:44,680 And here's how we summarize it. The 11 of the SAD, you see is 518 00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:47,080 not if you don't believe in the resurrection or don't believe in 519 00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:48,760 angels or don't believe in life after death. 520 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:53,640 The 11 of the SAD you see is the belief and practice that you 521 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:58,240 have the authority to subtract from God's word instead of 522 00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:00,240 honoring the whole council of God. 523 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:05,920 It is the spiritual disease that encourages selective 524 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:09,680 interpretation and subjective application of the scriptures 525 00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:16,760 these. Highminded, educated men could 526 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:22,080 not get themselves to believe in the supernatural aspects, at 527 00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:25,560 least to this extent. Yes, you saw miracles take place 528 00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:28,880 in the first five books of Moses, but what they really had 529 00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:34,160 issue with is this idea of eternal life, this idea that 530 00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:37,040 there is a spiritual realm that parallels with this physical 531 00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:40,740 world. And so, to their liking, they 532 00:32:40,740 --> 00:32:43,300 dismissed these things. They ignored these things. 533 00:32:43,300 --> 00:32:45,020 They chose what they wanted to believe. 534 00:32:45,020 --> 00:32:47,620 And how many, you know, ministers and ministries are 535 00:32:47,620 --> 00:32:50,500 doing the very same thing? How many are infected with this 536 00:32:50,500 --> 00:32:54,580 leaven in our very day? It's everywhere. 537 00:32:55,300 --> 00:32:57,500 May not be the same doctrines, but with clear doctrines 538 00:32:57,500 --> 00:32:59,620 nonetheless. And yet, just like the leaven of 539 00:32:59,620 --> 00:33:03,180 the Pharisees, there is a subtlety about the leaven of the 540 00:33:03,180 --> 00:33:05,940 side you sees that you and I must be concerned with. 541 00:33:06,740 --> 00:33:10,690 We can miss it. We can miss how we can slip in 542 00:33:11,530 --> 00:33:14,050 and begin to cause things to arise within us that we don't 543 00:33:14,050 --> 00:33:18,290 want to arise. There is the outright denial, 544 00:33:18,290 --> 00:33:19,610 right? There's the outright denial of 545 00:33:19,610 --> 00:33:22,130 theology, whether that's the resurrection, the spiritual 546 00:33:22,130 --> 00:33:25,370 realm, life after death, which some unashamedly confessed. 547 00:33:25,730 --> 00:33:29,730 And then there are those who may claim to believe core tenants of 548 00:33:29,730 --> 00:33:33,210 the faith but practically deny them. 549 00:33:34,730 --> 00:33:38,780 Practically deny them because. They they don't have a grip 550 00:33:38,780 --> 00:33:44,740 about how these truths that they might believe actually shape 551 00:33:45,660 --> 00:33:48,980 your day-to-day actually have any influence. 552 00:33:49,940 --> 00:33:54,340 In other words, it's not a subtraction of God's Word and 553 00:33:54,340 --> 00:33:57,820 what it says, but a subtraction of how God's Word should shape, 554 00:33:59,020 --> 00:34:01,700 should shape your life, your living. 555 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:05,520 And the fruit of the side you sees proves that it's clear. 556 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:08,280 It's so obvious. As I said earlier, they didn't 557 00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:10,880 even show any interest in the person of Jesus until the latter 558 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:12,440 portion of his three-year ministry. 559 00:34:14,199 --> 00:34:16,760 They weren't too concerned. They weren't as confrontational 560 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:20,120 until near the end. You remember that question that 561 00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:21,320 they asked about the resurrection? 562 00:34:21,320 --> 00:34:23,800 Hey, here's this woman. She got married and that 563 00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:25,360 husband's gone and she gets married again. 564 00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:28,719 And who whose husband will she have in in the resurrection? 565 00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:31,080 I think that's near the end of Jesus ministry. 566 00:34:33,469 --> 00:34:36,790 And so these people were entangled in the here and now. 567 00:34:36,790 --> 00:34:39,630 They were consumed and preoccupied with politics and 568 00:34:39,630 --> 00:34:42,670 the social spheres of life. They weren't concerned as much 569 00:34:42,670 --> 00:34:49,710 with religion, with spirituality, and none of us 570 00:34:49,710 --> 00:34:51,670 would be able to argue against the possibility of those who 571 00:34:51,670 --> 00:34:54,150 confess belief in eternity in the spiritual world but live the 572 00:34:54,150 --> 00:34:58,550 same. And that's the reality that I'm 573 00:34:58,550 --> 00:35:02,000 trying to point to. There are some who might 574 00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:06,600 verbally say I believe these things, but at the core of their 575 00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:10,800 being, they don't really believe these things. 576 00:35:12,240 --> 00:35:15,600 And it shows. It shows. 577 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:20,600 I told you what book was I reading is Effenia is Effenia 578 00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:24,520 again showed something to me that that I believe helps us 579 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:26,120 understand this truth a little bit more. 580 00:35:26,500 --> 00:35:28,540 So if you're still there in Zephaniah, go to not chapter 3, 581 00:35:28,540 --> 00:35:30,340 but chapter one. I want you to see something in 582 00:35:30,340 --> 00:35:33,100 chapter one of the Prophet Zephaniah. 583 00:35:41,230 --> 00:35:44,550 What I'm trying to say is, are those who confess to believe 584 00:35:44,550 --> 00:35:46,750 these things any better than the side you sees? 585 00:35:47,110 --> 00:35:50,350 If they live in the same way that the side you sees lived, if 586 00:35:50,350 --> 00:35:53,110 they had a world view in the same way that the side you sees 587 00:35:53,350 --> 00:35:55,590 lived in their world view, my answer is no. 588 00:35:55,950 --> 00:35:58,390 They're not any better. Look what Zephaniah says in 589 00:35:58,390 --> 00:36:02,470 chapter one, verse 12. God says at that time I will 590 00:36:02,470 --> 00:36:07,110 search Jerusalem with lamps and I will punish the men who are 591 00:36:07,110 --> 00:36:13,270 complacent, complacent those who say in their hearts the Lord 592 00:36:13,270 --> 00:36:19,190 will not do good, nor will he do ill And so the Lord says through 593 00:36:19,190 --> 00:36:22,310 the prophet that there is a a searching that's going to go out 594 00:36:22,310 --> 00:36:24,710 in the land and the holy city of Jerusalem. 595 00:36:25,030 --> 00:36:28,390 And my target for my discipline are those who are complacent. 596 00:36:28,710 --> 00:36:32,790 The NA, the NASB uses the phrase those who are stagnant in 597 00:36:32,790 --> 00:36:40,390 spirit, those who are inactive, those who have no life, those 598 00:36:40,390 --> 00:36:45,030 who are not interacting with the truths that they claim to 599 00:36:45,030 --> 00:36:49,790 believe in, and the characteristic of the 600 00:36:49,790 --> 00:36:52,510 complacent. This is what blew my mind away 601 00:36:52,670 --> 00:36:55,190 because it really offered an answer that. 602 00:36:55,910 --> 00:36:58,470 That I wrestled with for many years. 603 00:36:59,710 --> 00:37:01,830 What are one of the characteristics of those who are 604 00:37:01,870 --> 00:37:06,870 in a perpetual rut spiritually? You know those people, you know 605 00:37:06,870 --> 00:37:11,270 who I'm talking about, those who just they're complacent. 606 00:37:11,830 --> 00:37:16,070 So no matter, no matter what you preach, no matter what you do, 607 00:37:16,070 --> 00:37:20,190 no matter what you say, nothing can get them out of that place. 608 00:37:20,190 --> 00:37:22,190 It's just and if it. If it does, it's just like a 609 00:37:22,190 --> 00:37:24,880 little 2nd and then it just. Like a little look, a little 610 00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:26,520 Wick on a candle just disappears. 611 00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:29,440 How I've always wondered, like, how. 612 00:37:29,600 --> 00:37:32,480 And here's what Zeph and I says. Here's a characteristic of those 613 00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:35,480 kind of people who are complacent, stagnant in spirit. 614 00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:42,280 They say in their hearts, the Lord will not do good, nor will 615 00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:47,000 He do ill What does that mean? Here's what it means. 616 00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:50,520 It's not a denial of the existence of God, but the lack 617 00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:53,280 of belief of how he can intervene in the affairs of men. 618 00:37:58,130 --> 00:38:01,810 This inside shows that people who become spiritually dull, 619 00:38:01,930 --> 00:38:07,410 self-sufficient, consume with the materialism of this life is 620 00:38:07,410 --> 00:38:12,730 because down down, deep inside they don't really believe God 621 00:38:12,730 --> 00:38:14,850 can be known and can be made known. 622 00:38:16,930 --> 00:38:18,530 He won't do ill, He won't do good. 623 00:38:18,970 --> 00:38:21,690 He doesn't interact with us. He's there. 624 00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:24,960 But we can't. We shouldn't expect him to do 625 00:38:24,960 --> 00:38:29,440 things here and now. You know what's so amazing? 626 00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:31,360 Read your Bible closely. They didn't say that with their 627 00:38:31,360 --> 00:38:35,280 mouths, did they? It says who? 628 00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:42,320 Say in their hearts, down deep inside you. 629 00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:44,360 Really. Don't believe it? 630 00:38:44,360 --> 00:38:50,120 That's the leaven that Jesus is warning about unbelief. 631 00:38:51,260 --> 00:38:56,740 Unbelief that contaminates and corrupts your zeal and your 632 00:38:56,740 --> 00:38:58,860 passion and your dedication. Could that be the reason why 633 00:38:58,860 --> 00:39:01,500 people don't pray? Could it? 634 00:39:01,500 --> 00:39:03,580 I'm just offering it. I'm just as a suggestion based 635 00:39:03,580 --> 00:39:05,380 on what's up. And I say, could that be the 636 00:39:05,380 --> 00:39:07,980 reason why people don't take the commands of Jesus seriously? 637 00:39:07,980 --> 00:39:10,460 Could that be the reason why people don't devour the 638 00:39:10,460 --> 00:39:11,740 scriptures? Could that be the reason why 639 00:39:11,740 --> 00:39:14,980 people don't Orient their life around serving the Great 640 00:39:14,980 --> 00:39:17,420 Commission and loving him and honoring him and making him 641 00:39:17,420 --> 00:39:18,580 known? Could it be? 642 00:39:18,940 --> 00:39:24,100 Because, truth be told, they don't really believe how God can 643 00:39:24,100 --> 00:39:29,340 manifest his blessings. If they do, Zef and I, you know 644 00:39:29,340 --> 00:39:33,340 what He would say. Yeah, The complacent are those 645 00:39:33,340 --> 00:39:37,020 who say in their hearts, God really won't do anything. 646 00:39:37,020 --> 00:39:38,860 He's there. Yeah, yeah. 647 00:39:42,020 --> 00:39:44,780 I praise God I saw this, I said. That makes sense. 648 00:39:45,540 --> 00:39:50,410 That makes sense. These people claim to believe, 649 00:39:51,210 --> 00:39:55,850 but that they really believe. So this is where I I want to 650 00:39:55,850 --> 00:39:58,570 encourage you because if you resonate with this, if you 651 00:39:58,570 --> 00:40:05,890 resonate with constant and consistent complacency, perhaps, 652 00:40:06,290 --> 00:40:09,010 perhaps. You have a little bit of this 653 00:40:09,010 --> 00:40:18,190 leaven in you, maybe, and if you ever might become complacent, I 654 00:40:18,190 --> 00:40:20,510 hope that you never forget what Zef and I says here. 655 00:40:20,750 --> 00:40:24,230 Search deeper. Ask more honestly if you lost 656 00:40:24,230 --> 00:40:29,190 sight of the God who is always on the move, if you lost sight 657 00:40:29,190 --> 00:40:32,430 of the God who is working behind the scenes, if you lost sight of 658 00:40:32,430 --> 00:40:35,630 the God who is fulfilling his will on the earth and willing to 659 00:40:35,630 --> 00:40:39,470 use you to make a portion of that a reality, ask yourself, 660 00:40:39,470 --> 00:40:43,110 did I lose sight of that? And if you did, it's because 661 00:40:43,110 --> 00:40:48,930 that Levin got in there the same idea that the sad disease had 662 00:40:49,170 --> 00:40:52,890 this God. There is nothing to expect here 663 00:40:52,890 --> 00:40:55,130 as much there's nothing to expect after this. 664 00:40:56,170 --> 00:41:00,090 And in Zephania's case, in context, that bred complacency 665 00:41:00,930 --> 00:41:06,370 among the people of God. So you see, lukewarmness and 666 00:41:06,370 --> 00:41:11,090 indifference is not always because you're familiar with 667 00:41:11,090 --> 00:41:15,250 things. Sometimes it's a faith issue. 668 00:41:16,790 --> 00:41:19,150 I don't believe. I really don't believe. 669 00:41:19,150 --> 00:41:20,710 That's why I don't get excited about the things. 670 00:41:20,710 --> 00:41:22,310 Like I don't get excited. Why? 671 00:41:22,310 --> 00:41:24,030 Because you really don't believe. 672 00:41:24,750 --> 00:41:26,030 That's why I don't participate. Why? 673 00:41:26,030 --> 00:41:27,830 Because you really don't believe. 674 00:41:28,230 --> 00:41:31,150 Not just because you're busy. That can be won because down 675 00:41:31,150 --> 00:41:35,750 deep inside there are crumbs of the 11 of the side you see. 676 00:41:38,390 --> 00:41:42,270 And Jesus, his grace, his mercy, is willing to help us cleanse 677 00:41:42,270 --> 00:41:45,150 that even out. Let's come to the last 11 that 678 00:41:45,150 --> 00:41:46,990 Jesus warns about the 11 of Herod. 679 00:41:49,990 --> 00:41:52,550 If you remember in our original text Jesus not only warned about 680 00:41:52,550 --> 00:41:55,470 the Pharisees, but about Herod. Now this is probably the most 681 00:41:55,470 --> 00:41:58,550 interesting of all three. And the reason why it's the most 682 00:41:58,550 --> 00:42:00,870 interesting is because the Pharisees in the sad you sees 683 00:42:00,870 --> 00:42:06,390 had some kind of tie to the religion of the Jewish people. 684 00:42:06,550 --> 00:42:08,710 They had some kind of relationship between the God of 685 00:42:08,710 --> 00:42:10,430 Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But when we come to. 686 00:42:10,430 --> 00:42:16,300 Herod Herod is a secularist. Herod is just this public figure 687 00:42:16,300 --> 00:42:21,540 that had no overlap with the religious life of the Jewish 688 00:42:21,540 --> 00:42:24,180 people. At least we might think so. 689 00:42:24,980 --> 00:42:27,780 And so we think to ourselves, What does this figure have to do 690 00:42:27,780 --> 00:42:31,700 with my spirituality? What is this man at this time? 691 00:42:31,980 --> 00:42:33,860 What kind of threat does he propose? 692 00:42:34,180 --> 00:42:36,220 What kind of danger does he offer? 693 00:42:37,140 --> 00:42:39,540 There's something about him. Obviously, Jesus knew something 694 00:42:39,540 --> 00:42:42,760 about Herod. As distance as he was away from 695 00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:46,680 Israel's worship in God's commands, that was noteworthy. 696 00:42:47,120 --> 00:42:49,600 And if you stay within the boundaries of the Gospel of 697 00:42:49,600 --> 00:42:53,200 Mark, you have enough to work with to see and to understand 698 00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:56,640 what it is that Jesus Jesus is cautioning. 699 00:42:56,640 --> 00:42:59,760 Do you remember the last mention of Herod before this? 700 00:43:00,600 --> 00:43:06,800 The very last mention of Herod by name is in Mark chapter 6 and 701 00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:09,360 Mark 6 verse 22. This is the last time Herod was 702 00:43:09,360 --> 00:43:11,750 mentioned before. He warned about the Levin of 703 00:43:11,750 --> 00:43:21,070 Herod in Mark 6/22, for when Herodius, his daughter, came in 704 00:43:21,070 --> 00:43:25,830 and danced. She pleased Herod, she pleased 705 00:43:25,830 --> 00:43:29,310 Herod and his guests, and the king said to the girl asked me 706 00:43:29,710 --> 00:43:31,590 whatever you wish and I will give it to you. 707 00:43:35,750 --> 00:43:39,280 The 11 of the Pharisees is hypocrisy. 708 00:43:39,320 --> 00:43:42,160 The 11 of the sad, you see, is a level of unbelief, whether it's 709 00:43:42,200 --> 00:43:44,000 outright unbelief or subtle unbelief. 710 00:43:45,080 --> 00:43:50,240 The 11 of Herod is worldliness. It's worldliness. 711 00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:56,960 You can say that it is blatant, hedonistic enjoyment of the 712 00:43:56,960 --> 00:43:59,640 things of this life. But it's more complicated than 713 00:43:59,640 --> 00:44:01,880 that. Remember what I'm trying to make 714 00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:05,040 a point about is that how each of these 11, they're much more 715 00:44:05,040 --> 00:44:08,860 subtle than you might think. The worldliness that Herod was 716 00:44:08,860 --> 00:44:12,540 living in was much more deceptive and dangerous than the 717 00:44:12,540 --> 00:44:18,340 plain old atheistic sinning. So Mark 6/22, he was, he was 718 00:44:18,340 --> 00:44:22,700 pleased by the dancing of his stepdaughter which is sensual 719 00:44:22,820 --> 00:44:28,620 and inappropriate and perverted. But then two verses earlier we 720 00:44:28,620 --> 00:44:31,420 read in Mark 6/20. For Herod feared John, knowing 721 00:44:31,420 --> 00:44:34,020 that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. 722 00:44:34,500 --> 00:44:36,540 When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed. 723 00:44:37,060 --> 00:44:41,540 And yet he heard him gladly, that word gladly in the 724 00:44:41,540 --> 00:44:47,340 original, is with pleasure. So here was able to watch the 725 00:44:47,340 --> 00:44:51,300 show of his stepdaughter with his guest with pleasure. 726 00:44:51,740 --> 00:44:55,820 And he was able to, a few days earlier sit under the powerful 727 00:44:55,820 --> 00:45:01,940 convicting preaching of John the Baptist and also enjoy it with 728 00:45:01,940 --> 00:45:05,300 pleasure. This makes sense. 729 00:45:05,300 --> 00:45:08,050 Now. The danger that I believe the 730 00:45:08,050 --> 00:45:10,730 Lord is alluding to is not just adopting an inappropriate 731 00:45:10,730 --> 00:45:13,890 relationship with the world, but with it, a distorted 732 00:45:13,890 --> 00:45:15,370 relationship with the word of God. 733 00:45:18,370 --> 00:45:20,970 Harrod's problem was not that he enjoyed John's preaching. 734 00:45:21,090 --> 00:45:24,770 That wasn't the problem. His problem was that the reason 735 00:45:24,770 --> 00:45:28,930 why he enjoyed it. When he heard John preach, it 736 00:45:28,930 --> 00:45:31,850 was as though it was another form of entertainment like 737 00:45:31,850 --> 00:45:35,790 anything else. And so the value that John 738 00:45:35,790 --> 00:45:39,270 offered Herod was no greater than it being an emotionally 739 00:45:39,270 --> 00:45:42,310 stirring and intellectually stimulating experience. 740 00:45:42,550 --> 00:45:46,030 That's it. It was a sight to see, right? 741 00:45:46,190 --> 00:45:47,790 I mean, think about the outfit he wore. 742 00:45:48,190 --> 00:45:52,470 Camels, hair, leather belt, crazy man locus in his teeth, 743 00:45:52,830 --> 00:45:59,230 cheeks stained with honey and just rebuking Pharisees, calling 744 00:45:59,230 --> 00:46:03,150 them Vipers and calling even Roman soldiers to repentance 745 00:46:03,150 --> 00:46:05,140 like. That's a sight to see. 746 00:46:05,700 --> 00:46:09,300 It's not the crazy guy that's holding out evil signs out there 747 00:46:09,300 --> 00:46:11,540 in the name of Christianity. This guy was getting the 748 00:46:11,540 --> 00:46:17,780 attention of the government. This guy was causing politicians 749 00:46:17,780 --> 00:46:20,300 to be scared. This guy was causing law 750 00:46:20,300 --> 00:46:24,980 enforcement and the oppressive government to bend the knee in 751 00:46:24,980 --> 00:46:26,940 some way. This guy was causing the whole 752 00:46:26,940 --> 00:46:30,860 nation to leave their homes and their cities and their markets 753 00:46:30,900 --> 00:46:32,940 into the desert to hear him preach. 754 00:46:33,650 --> 00:46:35,610 Like this was a national spectacle. 755 00:46:36,010 --> 00:46:39,650 So it's not a surprise that Herod is like, I want to see 756 00:46:39,650 --> 00:46:42,130 this guy. Who's this guy? 757 00:46:42,330 --> 00:46:46,690 I just just imagine, imagine a local church, not no bigger than 758 00:46:46,690 --> 00:46:49,650 this, right? And lineups down the street, 759 00:46:50,370 --> 00:46:57,410 traffic, people coming to hear a man with a prophetic voice. 760 00:46:57,970 --> 00:47:02,340 So here it comes. This is not any indication that 761 00:47:02,340 --> 00:47:05,780 he was yearning to be changed, yearning to come in preparation 762 00:47:05,780 --> 00:47:08,780 for the Messiah. It was entertainment. 763 00:47:09,700 --> 00:47:14,060 He enjoyed it. It moved him on the soul level, 764 00:47:14,140 --> 00:47:18,060 but not in the Spirit. And this is a problem, not just 765 00:47:18,060 --> 00:47:19,580 in Herod's life. This is a problem. 766 00:47:19,740 --> 00:47:23,660 And 11:00 that even from the days of old was present and is 767 00:47:23,660 --> 00:47:26,060 still present today. You know God spoke to his 768 00:47:26,060 --> 00:47:29,320 prophet Ezekiel. And he gave Ezekiel an insight 769 00:47:29,320 --> 00:47:31,880 to how the people of his day heard his preaching. 770 00:47:31,880 --> 00:47:34,520 Can I show it to you? It's an Ezekiel 33. 771 00:47:34,520 --> 00:47:37,280 And here's our final text before we pray. 772 00:47:38,840 --> 00:47:42,080 Ezekiel 33. Look at verse 30 of Ezekiel 33. 773 00:47:47,340 --> 00:47:50,820 Ask for you, son of man, your people who talk together about 774 00:47:50,820 --> 00:47:53,660 you by the walls, at the doors of the houses, say to one 775 00:47:53,660 --> 00:47:57,860 another each to his brother. Come and hear what the word is 776 00:47:57,860 --> 00:47:59,780 that comes from the Lord. That sounds good. 777 00:48:00,380 --> 00:48:03,020 So you have guys gathering together, like let's go hear the 778 00:48:03,020 --> 00:48:05,500 word of the Lord, OK. Amen. 779 00:48:05,500 --> 00:48:09,220 Let's go do it. And they come to you as a 780 00:48:09,220 --> 00:48:12,220 people. Come and they sit before you as 781 00:48:12,220 --> 00:48:16,380 my people, and they hear what you say, but they will not do 782 00:48:16,380 --> 00:48:20,750 it. For with lustful talk in their 783 00:48:20,750 --> 00:48:24,070 mouths they act. Their heart is set on their 784 00:48:24,070 --> 00:48:26,950 gain. Does that sound like Herod? 785 00:48:29,030 --> 00:48:30,670 Come, let us hear the word of the Lord. 786 00:48:30,870 --> 00:48:34,830 But their heart is set on gain. Verse 32. 787 00:48:34,830 --> 00:48:36,510 And this, this part, this description. 788 00:48:37,110 --> 00:48:41,030 Oh, it's it's a beautiful description for this point. 789 00:48:41,030 --> 00:48:46,330 And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with 790 00:48:46,330 --> 00:48:49,810 a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument. 791 00:48:49,810 --> 00:48:54,290 For they hear what you say, but they will not do it. 792 00:48:56,650 --> 00:48:59,770 When this comes and come at will, then they will know that a 793 00:48:59,770 --> 00:49:04,050 prophet has been among them. Here's the translation, Ezekiel. 794 00:49:04,770 --> 00:49:08,090 When you preach, the reason why people come to hear you preach 795 00:49:08,810 --> 00:49:11,330 is because you are, like, to them, a concert. 796 00:49:13,460 --> 00:49:16,780 You were like to them a show. You're a gifted speaker. 797 00:49:16,780 --> 00:49:19,180 You're bold. You do these strange acts to 798 00:49:19,180 --> 00:49:22,180 demonstrate truth and to convey these illustrations, laying on 799 00:49:22,180 --> 00:49:24,300 one side, doing another thing, cutting your hair, throwing it 800 00:49:24,300 --> 00:49:29,340 up in the air. And so you are, to them, a form 801 00:49:29,340 --> 00:49:34,260 of entertainment because though they say they want to hear the 802 00:49:34,260 --> 00:49:36,460 word Lord, their heart is set on gain. 803 00:49:36,580 --> 00:49:39,780 That's Herod. That's the leaven of Herod. 804 00:49:41,710 --> 00:49:46,670 The leaven of Herod gets into you and convinces you and I that 805 00:49:46,670 --> 00:49:49,870 we're spiritual because we like hearing men of God. 806 00:49:51,670 --> 00:49:58,710 We like hearing music about God, you know, Even the heathen enjoy 807 00:49:58,710 --> 00:50:00,310 some of the contemporary Christian stuff. 808 00:50:00,670 --> 00:50:03,830 I was actually just listening. I don't know how I stumbled upon 809 00:50:03,830 --> 00:50:05,230 it. Just two guys on a podcast 810 00:50:05,230 --> 00:50:06,550 talking, and they were talking about. 811 00:50:06,670 --> 00:50:08,870 I won't name the Group A contemporary Christian group 812 00:50:09,230 --> 00:50:13,150 that's been in a lot of heat lately, and they're expressing 813 00:50:13,150 --> 00:50:17,110 how powerful the music was, and they're throwing out cuss words 814 00:50:17,110 --> 00:50:20,670 while they're talking about it. I won't. 815 00:50:20,710 --> 00:50:24,030 I won't entertain your imagination of ages. 816 00:50:24,030 --> 00:50:25,390 I couldn't hear, I couldn't even imagine. 817 00:50:25,390 --> 00:50:29,430 I was like, they're just the language was unbelievable and 818 00:50:29,430 --> 00:50:33,070 yet they're they're trying to express the powerful music in 819 00:50:33,070 --> 00:50:36,830 the name of God, because that's all it is. 820 00:50:37,550 --> 00:50:41,600 It stirs the emotion. It gets them to another place, 821 00:50:41,600 --> 00:50:47,480 was the language of another. But they're still in sin, and 822 00:50:47,520 --> 00:50:49,120 that's what the leaven of Herod does. 823 00:50:49,160 --> 00:50:52,520 It convinces you and I that we are spiritual just because we 824 00:50:52,520 --> 00:50:59,200 enjoy things about God, the delivery of God's word, the 825 00:50:59,200 --> 00:51:02,320 music that sounds heavenly and edifying and pure. 826 00:51:04,240 --> 00:51:08,040 And yet we can enjoy the world just as much, if not more. 827 00:51:09,360 --> 00:51:12,760 And so if I hear the word, if I sing the word, but there isn't a 828 00:51:12,760 --> 00:51:17,400 sense in which I'm desired to be conformed to the word, then 829 00:51:17,400 --> 00:51:19,400 maybe there's a little bit of this leaven in me. 830 00:51:21,920 --> 00:51:27,520 Jesus said, watch and beware of the leaven of hypocrisy, the 831 00:51:27,520 --> 00:51:33,080 leaven of unbelief, the level 11 of worldliness, but a 832 00:51:33,080 --> 00:51:36,360 worldliness that deceives you. Because you can still say I 833 00:51:36,360 --> 00:51:41,440 enjoy the things of God, the people of God, but I am still 834 00:51:41,480 --> 00:51:45,600 not of God. I'm still not walking with God. 835 00:51:48,360 --> 00:51:50,480 Heavy message, a message nonetheless. 836 00:51:51,880 --> 00:51:57,600 And here's the call to action. Let's not be like the Pharisees 837 00:51:59,640 --> 00:52:02,120 and attempt to justify ourselves without examination. 838 00:52:02,120 --> 00:52:06,430 But may we together come before the presence of God, say, Lord, 839 00:52:06,430 --> 00:52:10,230 if there is any of this alive in me, I pray that you cleanse it. 840 00:52:10,230 --> 00:52:12,350 You know your heart. God knows your heart. 841 00:52:13,510 --> 00:52:15,110 Is it the leaven of the Pharisees? 842 00:52:17,030 --> 00:52:18,790 Is it the leaven of the side you sees? 843 00:52:19,390 --> 00:52:21,350 Do you really, really, really, really. 844 00:52:21,350 --> 00:52:24,230 Come on, listen. Do you really believe God? 845 00:52:27,070 --> 00:52:36,980 One way to know is how I interpret his commands, his 846 00:52:36,980 --> 00:52:39,940 promises, how I view the problems that come my way. 847 00:52:39,940 --> 00:52:42,500 Where is God in my thinking when that comes? 848 00:52:43,220 --> 00:52:45,740 When it seems like an unsolvable thing, When it seems like an 849 00:52:45,740 --> 00:52:51,460 overwhelming situation? Is God here? 850 00:52:52,220 --> 00:52:56,620 Is God here? Lastly, the 11 of Herod. 851 00:52:57,780 --> 00:53:00,620 I pray that every person who's sitting here today doesn't just 852 00:53:00,620 --> 00:53:04,200 enjoy hearing God's word, but enjoys hearing God's word 853 00:53:04,200 --> 00:53:09,320 because you want to be like God and live for God and walk in his 854 00:53:09,320 --> 00:53:11,920 ways. Lord, we ask that this 855 00:53:11,920 --> 00:53:16,240 afternoon, with these warnings that have been given to us, we 856 00:53:16,240 --> 00:53:19,320 would humble ourselves before you and we would hear the words 857 00:53:19,320 --> 00:53:23,440 of Jesus who said watch out and beware, Lord, if we are free 858 00:53:23,440 --> 00:53:25,200 from this leaven. We praise you, but we do not 859 00:53:25,200 --> 00:53:27,760 boast in anything. We just ask that you keep us 860 00:53:27,760 --> 00:53:31,920 safe from these ever present dangers and perils. 861 00:53:33,170 --> 00:53:34,970 We asked, Lord, that we would be what Paul said. 862 00:53:34,970 --> 00:53:42,850 We could be unleavened, totally clear, free from it all. 863 00:53:43,570 --> 00:53:47,850 Lord, we do not feel condemned this afternoon. 864 00:53:47,890 --> 00:53:52,450 We rejoice in knowing that you are for us, not against us, that 865 00:53:52,450 --> 00:53:54,450 if you do not love us, you would not have warned us. 866 00:53:55,170 --> 00:53:57,650 And so, Lord, with this message we sit back. 867 00:53:58,730 --> 00:54:02,840 We think we do what the nation of Israel was called to do, and 868 00:54:02,840 --> 00:54:06,400 to go into the homes and cleanse it all out. 869 00:54:06,400 --> 00:54:09,320 Whatever is there. We open the cupboards, we go 870 00:54:09,320 --> 00:54:11,120 down the quarters of our conscience. 871 00:54:11,680 --> 00:54:15,200 We examine our ways. And like that feast, by your 872 00:54:15,200 --> 00:54:17,560 power and mercy we cleanse it all out today. 873 00:54:18,360 --> 00:54:20,360 And so, Lord, if anything needs to be cleansed, let it be 874 00:54:20,360 --> 00:54:22,120 cleansed now. Let it be brought to the altar, 875 00:54:22,120 --> 00:54:25,400 let it be consumed. And may we celebrate what that 876 00:54:25,400 --> 00:54:28,680 feast points to, that through the Passover we are able to know 877 00:54:28,680 --> 00:54:31,560 sanctification. We are able to know freedom, not 878 00:54:31,560 --> 00:54:35,080 just from the penalty, but from the presence and the power of 879 00:54:35,080 --> 00:54:38,160 sin in our hearts. We love you with all that's 880 00:54:38,160 --> 00:54:40,800 within us. In Jesus name, Amen. 881 00:54:41,080 --> 00:54:44,320 Amen. The music team will come in a 882 00:54:44,320 --> 00:54:45,560 moment. But I encourage you. 883 00:54:45,680 --> 00:54:51,760 I encourage you as they come. Come, don't worry, just pray. 884 00:54:52,960 --> 00:54:54,480 Just meditate on the words of the Lord. 885 00:54:55,440 --> 00:54:58,760 Meditate on Zef and I-1. If there's complacency, Lord, is 886 00:54:58,760 --> 00:55:00,840 it because I believe you won't do ill or won't do good? 887 00:55:01,320 --> 00:55:05,800 Meditate on Zef and I3 where surely you will fear me, for you 888 00:55:05,800 --> 00:55:08,200 will accept correction. Ask the Lord for the strength 889 00:55:08,200 --> 00:55:10,440 that when rebuke comes, and it will come at some point. 890 00:55:10,440 --> 00:55:13,880 If correction comes even from those who are not for you, that 891 00:55:13,880 --> 00:55:16,080 you and wanting to honor God with your life. 892 00:55:16,080 --> 00:55:17,440 Saying, Lord, is there any truth in this? 893 00:55:17,440 --> 00:55:20,280 Because ultimately you're my motivation and so help me 894 00:55:20,280 --> 00:55:24,160 perceive what is in me that needs to be changed and altered. 895 00:55:24,160 --> 00:55:27,130 Lord, please ask God for that. We're here to meet with God. 896 00:55:27,130 --> 00:55:29,890 We're not the sad. You sees somebody jokingly said, 897 00:55:29,890 --> 00:55:31,530 no wonder they're called sad. You see, sad. 898 00:55:31,530 --> 00:55:33,090 You see, they don't believe in the resurrection. 899 00:55:33,090 --> 00:55:36,490 They don't believe in life. You're not as sad you see. 900 00:55:37,730 --> 00:55:41,090 So believe God, believe that he hears you and he sees you and 901 00:55:41,090 --> 00:55:42,810 that he can impart something into you. 902 00:55:42,810 --> 00:55:46,090 Now and then we will sing. So if you like this, play 903 00:55:46,090 --> 00:55:47,810 softly. You know you can play softly. 904 00:55:48,170 --> 00:55:50,610 But at this time, just pray, seek the Lord. 905 00:55:50,610 --> 00:55:53,450 We will stand and sing and we will go our own way.