Sermon:
Beware!!
by Chris Cumming
Before we begin the sermon today, I want you to see a video:
Baking Bread Rolls (time-lapse, yeast
fermentation, bread dough rising) 2:44
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGmmWTJdLmY
Today, as you know is the first day of Unleavened Bread.
I want to read to you an excerpt from our booklet, "God's
Seasonal Plan" regarding these days we have just entered.
~Begin quote~
God's springtime holy days picture repentance, acceptance of Christ's
shed blood, allowing Christ to dwell within us through His Spirit (by
eating unleavened bread for seven days), and shows us that we
are part of an early harvest, a "firstfruits" unto God (James 1:18). It
also shows us that God is not trying to save the whole world now, that
there is to come a later, fall harvest unto God.
Quoted verse:
James 1:18
Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a
kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
This is a vitally important point, for the vast majority of professing
Christians simply do not understand the schedule of events in God's
plan. If they knew the beauty of His plan as revealed seasonally through
His annual Sabbaths, they would never suppose most of the world is lost
forever, never believe that God could be so cruel as to punish, in a
blazing hell fire, little oriental infants who have never so much as
heard the name of Christ.
Ample biblical proof exists to demonstrate that Paul, the apostle to the
Gentiles, not only kept God's annual Sabbaths, but taught Gentile
converts to do so.
He wrote to the Corinthians, "Your glorying is not good. Know ye not
that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
"Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye
are unleavened [a clear contradiction of terms,
unless he plainly means they were observing the Days of Unleavened
Bread, for he had just told them they were "leavened," meaning they were
guilty of sins which needed to be purged, or expunged. When he said "as
ye are unleavened," it can only mean that they received this missive
during the Festival of Unleavened Bread, that they were keeping it!].
For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:
"THEREFORE LET US KEEP THE FEAST, not with old leaven, neither with the
leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth" (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).
Quoted verse:
1 Corinthians 5:6-8
6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth
the whole lump?
7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye
are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the
leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth.
~end quote from "God's Seasonal Plan"~
We can easily see this is talking about the first part of God's plan
after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, namely our entering
into the Salvation Process. The Days of Unleavened Bread picture our
time of judgment in the process. We see this constant admonition to
purge out leaven. Leaven, as we know, in this context, is sin and
sometimes God gets very specific in the meaning of the sinful leaven. He
sometimes even commands us to beware of certain leaven.
The word beware is used 26 times in the Word of God. It is used 12 times
in the Old Testament in a number of different ways. However, as we go
into the New Testament, it is used 14 times and virtually everyone has
to do with false doctrines and false people.
The purpose of my sermon today is to teach you about leaven and to
encourage you to beware the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees
[false doctrine].
Beware of False Doctrine.
Let us begin with a key verse.
Matthew 16:6
Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
The leaven. - Christ’s thoughts were still
fixed on the late disputants, whose powerful influence on popular
opinion called for forcible warning. By "leaven" he does not here refer
specially to the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Sadducees, as in Luke
12:1, but to the evil influence which they exercised, which was diffused
far and wide, and penetrated to all ranks and classes. Their unsound
opinions, their inability or disinclination to enter into the spiritual
sense of Scripture, vitiated their whole system, and made them dangerous
teachers directly they attempted to explain or amplify the letter of
Holy Writ. It was this same perverse blindness that led them to refuse
to accept Jesus as Messiah in spite of all the proofs which had been
brought before them. That leaven, in one aspect, was regarded as a sign
of impurity and corruption, we learn from the strict rules which
banished it from Divine service, and especially during the Passover
season. Says Paul, "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump" (Galatians
5:9); and, "Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, even as
ye are unleavened" (1 Corinthians 5:7). Elsewhere Christ makes a
distinction between what these teachers taught ex cathedra, and what
they put forth on their own authority or what they practiced themselves
(Matthew 23:2-3, where see note). ~Pulpit
commentary
Quoted verses:
Luke 12:1
...one of the 14 leaven scriptures in the New Testament
In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable
multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began
to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the
Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
Galatians 5:9
...one of the 14 leaven scriptures in the New Testament
A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
1 Corinthians 5:7 ...one of the 14 leaven scriptures in the New
Testament
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are
unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
Matthew 23:2-3
2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do;
but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
Now back to the phrasing in Matthew 16:6:
Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees -
That is, of their false doctrine: this is elegantly so called; for it
spreads in the soul, or the Church, as leaven does in meal. Luke 12:1.
~John Wesley Explanatory Notes
Take heed and beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees and of the Sadducees - Mark, instead "of the leaven of
the Sadducees", says, "the leaven of Herod"; either because Christ might
caution against all three; or because the Sadducees were generally
Herodians, taking Herod to be the Messiah; or were on his party, or for
his government, which the Pharisees disliked; and the Herodians were
generally Sadducees. By "the leaven" of these is meant their doctrine,
as appears from Matthew 16:12. The doctrines the Pharisees taught were
the commandments and inventions of men, the traditions of the elders,
free will, and justification by the works of the law: the doctrine of
the Sadducees was, that there was no resurrection of the dead, nor
angels, nor spirits: now because they sought secretly and artfully to
infuse their notions into the minds of men; and which, when imbibed,
spread their infection, and made men sour, morose, rigid, and ill
natured, and swelled and puffed them up with pride and vanity, Christ
compares them to leaven; and advises his disciples to look about them,
to watch, and be on their guard, lest they should be infected with them.
~John Gill
Quoted verses:
Matthew 16:12
Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of
bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Now from Barnes Notes
The leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees -
Leaven is used in making bread.
It passes secretly, silently, but certainly through the mass of dough.
See the notes at Matthew 13:33. “None can see its progress.” So it was
with the doctrines of the Pharisees. They were insinuating, artful,
plausible. They concealed the real tendency of their doctrines; they
instilled them secretly into the mind, until they pervaded all the
faculties like leaven. ~Barnes Notes
Note: This is a very important part
of this sermon as we are about see three distinct elements of leaven,
namely leaven itself and the two elements that leaven represents in
biblical/spiritual metaphor, the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the false
doctrine of the Pharisees [all sources of false
doctrines]. Leaven is a good element when used to explain how
the gospel is spread on this earth. Leaven is a bad element when used to
explain how false doctrine leavens/permeates the mind of the person
embracing it. God uses the same powerful substance [leaven]
to demonstrate the two most powerful realities on the planet; the
eternal life-giving Gospel and the eternal destructiveness of false
doctrines and the lies of Satan.
Quoted verse but I will read verses 31 and 32 before reading the quoted
verse 33:
Matthew 13:31-32
31 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven
is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his
field:
32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is
the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the
air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
Matthew 13:33
Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto
leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the
whole was leavened.
Notice the commentary on this verse 33:
| The kingdom of heaven - The meaning here is the same as
in the last parable [the parable of the mustard seed]; perhaps,
however, intending to denote more properly the secret and hidden
nature of piety in the soul. The other parable declared the
“fact” that the gospel would greatly spread, and that piety in
the heart would greatly increase. This states the “way” or
“mode” in which it would be done. It is secret, silent, steady;
pervading all the faculties of the soul and all the kingdoms of
the world, as leaven, or yeast, though hidden in the flour, and
though deposited only in one place, works silently until all the
mass is brought under its influence.
~Barnes Notes Notice another... The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven - As the property of leaven is to change, or assimilate to its own nature, the meal or dough with which it is mixed, so the property of the grace of Christ is to change the whole soul into its own likeness; and God intends that this principle should continue in the soul till all is leavened - till the whole bear the image of the heavenly, as it before bore the image of the earthly. Both these parables are prophetic, and were intended to show, principally, how, from very small beginnings, the Gospel of Christ should pervade all the nations of the world, and fill them with righteousness and true holiness. ~Adam Clarke One more... The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven - The word "leaven" is every where else used in a bad sense; as malice and wickedness, or false doctrine, such as that of the Pharisees and Sadducees: but here it seems to be taken in a good sense, and the Gospel to be compared unto it; nor for its disagreeable qualities, but on account of its small quantity; it is a little leaven that leavens the whole lump, and may express, as the grain of mustard seed does, the small beginnings of the Gospel, and its meanness in the eyes of men; and on account of its piercing, penetrating, and spreading nature: so the Gospel reaches the conscience, pierces the heart, enlightens the understanding, informs the judgment, raises and sets the affections on right objects, subdues the will, and brings down all towering thoughts, to the obedience of Christ. ~John Gill |
This all reminded me of our sermon,
Glory to Glory which does a full immersion on the verse
2 Corinthians 3:18 which reads, " But
we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,
are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the
Spirit of the Lord."
How are we changed into the very image of our Lord, Jesus Christ? In the
exact same way that bread is fermented by yeast. Indeed, in the exact
same way the Gospel is spread throughout the world:
Matthew 24:14
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a
witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
God is using this powerful image of leaven to demonstrate at least four
things we cannot readily see with the eye:
1] the effect of yeast in bread making.
2] the spread of the Gospel.
3] the converting of the true Christian to the image of Christ.
4] the destructive power of false doctrine.
This sermon is surely about item four, the destructive power of false
doctrine. Notice this metaphor of leaven as it relates to false
doctrine:
Erroneous doctrines are like leaven in the following respects:
1. They are, at first, slight and unimportant in appearance.
2. They are insinuated into the soul unawares and silently, and are
difficult of detection.
3. They act gradually.
4. They act most certainly.
5. They will pervade all the soul, and bring all the faculties under
their control. (A. Barnes.)
~Biblical Illustrator
The influence of evil doctrine unperceived, yet injurious to our future
welfare
Like leaven put into the dough and working unperceived, such is the
nature of false doctrine on the mind of man. The results are not often
seen until damage has been done. As we read in a recent Bible study on 2
Timothy 2:18, "The way of error is down-hill; one absurdity being
granted or contended for, a thousand follow." All the while, the victim
believes he is holding truth. There is an example from nature that
graphically shows this. For those seeing this sermon live, you are about
to witness this video. For everyone else, please see this short video.
Body Invaders – National Geographic 4:43 ...an ichneumon [ik-noo-muh
n] fly [actually wasp]
has put its eggs in body of caterpillar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMG-LWyNcAs
In this video, we easily see a number of living metaphors for the
introduction of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees or the leaven
of false doctrine. Isn't it interesting that the caterpillar is the
immature stage of a butterfly. The immature caterpillar is
generally an insect pest to man and does damage to crops. Ironically,
once it matures into a butterfly, it is abundantly beneficial to man and
nature. Makes me wonder why God set it up this way.
Notice some elements here:
The life cycle of a butterfly is in four stages: egg, larvae, pupa and
adult butterfly. We can easily apply each in spiritual metaphor to the
life of man:
1] egg: man is born on this earth.
2] larvae: man exist on the earth as a human.
3] pupa: This is where we the caterpillar in cocoon or chrysalis.
This is where the greatest changes take place in the life of a
caterpillar. This is likened to the human being called into the
Salvation Process.
4] adult butterfly: this is likened to being born into salvation
and eternal life. Interesting here is the fact that if one manually
breaks the chrysalis, he dooms the butterfly to death. The changed
caterpillar must fight his way out. This is likened to the trials and
tribulations of the firstfruit--"...we must through much tribulation
enter into the kingdom of God [Acts 14:22b].
More metaphorical application here:
1] the ichneumon [ik-noo-muh n] fly
is likened unto Satan.
2] the ichneumon egg it lays into the "immature man" is likened unto
false doctrine.
3] in the video we see the human harboring the false doctrine.
4] later the false doctrine immobilizes the man.
5] still later it takes over his brain as the man fully supports and
protects the false doctrine.
6] in doing so, the caterpillar is prevented from entering into the pupa
stage [the salvation process] or
more accurately taken from it.
7] the caterpillar sacrifices his life to keep the false doctrines
protected, alive and spreading.
8] the false doctrines ultimately allow the man to die as we see the
ichneumon [ik-noo-muh n] flies feed
on the body of the caterpillar.
Oh, yes, there is one more thing we need to know about the ichneumon [ik-noo-muh n]
fly. There is not just one species of this insect. Not 12
species or even 500 species. There are over 80,000 species of this
parasite wasp. Makes me think that God wanted us to see what was
in that video.
One added thought about that video.
When the
Ichneumon
Wasp larva come out of the caterpillar, you witnessed them forming a
cocoon around them. The caterpillar, because his mind is affected,
applies his cocoon material on top of the Ichneumon Wasp larva cocoon
material. Metaphorically the caterpillar gives up his salvation for the
false doctrine. He gives up this life and his next life as a butterfly
for the false doctrine.
Let us see this even more clearly as we get back into the commentary on
our key verse of Matthew 16:6
Matthew 16:6
Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Beware of the leaven - What the leaven of
Pharisees and Sadducees was has been already explained, see Matthew
16:1. Bad doctrines act in the soul as leaven does in meal; they
assimilate the whole Spirit to their own nature. A man’s particular
creed has a greater influence on his tempers and conduct than most are
aware of. Pride, hypocrisy, and worldly-mindedness, which constituted
the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, ruin the major part of the
world. ~Adam Clarke
Let us finish here with the phrase in Matthew 16:6, "Take heed and
beware."
Take heed - That is, be cautious, be on
your guard. ~Barnes Notes
From Strong's:
Take heed 3708: horaō - Properly to stare
at, that is, to discern clearly (physically or
mentally); by extension to "attend to"; rendered: behold,
perceive, see, take heed.
Beware 4337: (figuratively)
to hold the mind towards, that is, pay attention to, be cautious about,
apply oneself to, adhere to: rendered: (give)
attend (-ance, -ance at, -ance to, unto),
beware, be given to, give (take)
heed (to, unto) have regard.
Quote on Beware:
"Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance."
Jesus says in Matthew 24:4, "Take heed that no man deceive you." He then
says in verse 11, "And many false prophets shall rise, and deceive
many."
So Beware!!
-----------------------------END OF SERMON------------------------
Videos that go with this sermon:
Baking Bread Rolls (time-lapse, yeast
fermentation, bread dough rising) 2:44
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGmmWTJdLmY
See also:
How Yeast Works in Bread 4:14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXYZYKfjNBg
Do you see the analogy of the kneading of the dough; the shaping and
forming?
Effects of false doctrines shown in nature 3:03
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuKjBIBBAL8
Here is another video from nature showing how false doctrines affect the
human mind
Body Invaders – National Geographic 4:43
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMG-LWyNcAs