Luke 12:1-3 ESV
In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or 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 on the housetops.
So, I looked up the word “leaven,” and I got a surprise. The
definition in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary said, “Something that modifies or
lightens.” I had never thought of leaven in that way before. But, that fits
perfectly!
For, I also looked at the word “leaven” in a Greek
Interlinear. And, it said that it is figurative for “the spreading influence of
what is typically concealed;” “a symbol of the spreading nature of evil” (1).
So, this leaven is a word that is used to symbolize the
spreading influence of evil, but an evil which is hidden from sight, so this is
speaking of deception. But, this evil and this deception, which are being
spread, lighten and modify what they touch (influence). And, leaven is
something you put in bread, and bread is symbolic for the Word of God. So, this
is about lightening and modifying the Word of God for evil purposes and in
order to deceive.
So, then this goes to the issue of hypocrisy, which is “a
feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not: behavior that
contradicts what one claims to believe or feel; the false assumption of an
appearance of virtue or religion” (M-W).
For, to “feign” is to fake and to pretend one thing while
doing the opposite. It is to pretend something is true when they know it is a
lie. And, the purpose is to deceive, and it is to trap, and it is to destroy
human lives.
So, what this is all about is the cheap grace gospel which
is “a spreading influence of evil,” and it is also what lightens and what
modifies the gospel message of our salvation. For, it is a flesh-driven gospel
instead of the Spirit-driven gospel taught by Jesus, and by his NT apostles.
For, this cheap grace gospel teaches people that they can
repeat some words after someone and they can then be congratulated that they
are now part of God’s family and that heaven is guaranteed them no matter what.
Or, they are told that they can merely acknowledge what Jesus did for us in
dying for us on a cross to save us from our sins, or they can accept his
forgiveness for their sins, and that secures them heaven, too.
And, those who teach this cheap grace deception also either
imply or they say outright that you can “believe” in Jesus and heaven secured
for you, but that it doesn’t have to alter your lifestyle. In fact, some take
it to the point to where they literally declare that God does not require
repentance, obedience, or submission to his Lordship for your salvation.
So, we need to beware this “leaven” so that we don’t buy
into this cheap grace and think that heaven is secured us while we go on living
for sin and self, still dead in our sins, and still bound for hell. For,
scripture says that if we walk (in lifestyle) according to the flesh that we
will die in our sins, not have eternal life with God (Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 8:1-17;
1 Jn. 1:5-9).
Luke 12:4-7 ESV
“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
One of the big things about this cheap grace gospel is that
it does not teach the fear of the Lord. It does not teach that we must honor,
respect and obey God, our Lord. In fact, it gives an image of God as a doting
grandfather in the sky there to grant one’s every request and to pamper people
even while they are willfully living in habitual sin, and while they do so in
God’s face.
The whole premise of this cheap grace gospel is a slight on
God’s divine character and will. It assumes that God just does everything for
us but that we don’t have to do anything in return, and that we can keep on in
our sinful practices without guilt or remorse, and then they call that “grace.”
But, God’s grace, which brings salvation, instructs us to
say “No!” to ungodliness and worldly passions (fleshly lusts) and to live
self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we wait for Christ’s return. So,
don’t take God’s grace for granted. Don’t treat it lightly. For, he does have
the authority to cast into hell those who refuse to bow to him as their only
Lord and master.
[Tit. 2:11-14; Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24; Gal. 5:19-21; Gal.
6:7-8]
Luke 12:8-9 ESV
“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.”
Acknowledging or denying Jesus Christ before other people is
not something we merely do with our lips. For, there are many people who acknowledge
Jesus with their lips, but by their lifestyles they deny him. For, how we truly
demonstrate that we accept (receive) Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Savior is
by our actions. Our behaviors are what reveal whether or not we truly believe
what we say we believe.
For, if we say that we believe that Jesus Christ died to
save us from our sins, and yet we feel that we have the right to continue on in
our sinful addictions, then we don’t really believe what we say we do. For,
Jesus died on that cross, not just to forgive us our sins, but that we might
die with him to sin and that we might live with him to righteousness (1 Pet.
2:24).
Jesus died on that cross, and he rose from the dead, not
merely to deliver us from the punishment of sin, but to deliver us from our
slavery (addiction) to sin, and so that we might now become slaves of his
righteousness. For, he died that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for
him who gave his life up for us (Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24; 2 Co. 5:15, 21).
Thus, scripture teaches us that it is those who are walking
(in practice, in lifestyle) according to (in agreement with) the Spirit of God
who have eternal life with God, not those who merely make a profession of faith
in Jesus Christ. For, if we merely profess Christ as Savior, but we don’t do
what he says, then we are hypocrites. For, with our lips we profess him, but by
our lifestyles we deny him.
So, please know that if you deny Jesus by how you live your
life, that he will deny you. If you live to please the flesh, from the flesh
you will reap destruction (decay, death). But, if by the Spirit you live to
please the Spirit, then you will reap eternal life with God (Gal. 6:7-8; 1 Jn.
1:5-9).
Have
Thine Own Way, Lord
Words
by Adelaide A. Pollard, 1907
Music
by George C. Stebbins, 1907
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just
now,
As in Thy presence humbly I bow.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Wounded and weary, help me I pray!
Power, all power, surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway.
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!
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