JavaScript

Transcript

Good morning, brethren. I trust all of you had as wonderful a Night To Be Much Observed as we did. I know the Offertory man and the Announcement man commented on it, but I would be remiss if I did not. It was truly a special evening.

We keep that evening, brethren, because it is wonderful, we look forward to it every year. We love the food. It is a spread unlike any other. We love the fellowship, spending time with the brethren, reflecting on what the day meant and sharing stories with one another, what the day means for us personally and for ancient Egypt. But ultimately, we eat that dinner together because God says that it is a night to be much observed. We are observing something that God commanded us to. That is why we are here today. At its fundament, we are keeping the Days of Unleavened Bread because they are commanded.

Exodus, Chapter twelve. Let’s turn to Exodus, Chapter twelve. Exodus, twelve: fifteen, “Seven days shall,” it is a command, “you eat unleavened bread; even the first day,” that is today, “you shall put away leaven out of your houses…” We already did that prior to the first day. “…for whosoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.” Very serious to God. “And in the first day there shall be a holy convocation,” that the holy convocation that we are presently keeping, “and in the seventh day, there shall be a holy convocation,” on the last day of Unleavened Bread, “to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.” We are going to have a nice meal between services.

“And you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread for,” because, “in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall you observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever.” Pretty clear. “In the first month on the fourteenth day of the month at even, you shall eat unleavened bread,” so, at the end of the fourteenth day, “until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.” Until the end of the last great day. “Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eats that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel…” Verse twenty, “You shall eat nothing leavened…” He is saying it over and over again, in slightly different ways, because it is imperative that we understand the command. “…in all your habitations shall you eat unleavened bread.”

Turn over a page to Chapter thirteen as we continue to set up here. Chapter thirteen and verse three, “And Moses said to the people, Remember this day, in which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage,” hard bondage under rigorous task masters, “for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten.” We will see why in a moment. “This day came you out in the month of Abib.” We are guarding the month of Abib. We know how crucial it is to God’s plan. “And it shall be when the Lord shall bring you in to the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey,” a type of the kingdom, “that you shall keep this service in this month. Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread, and the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord.” Now this is only a chapter away from what we just read, but it had to be repeated.

“Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leaven bread be seen with you, neither shall there be leaven seen with you in all your quarters.” Nowhere. Whatever property we have ownership of, there can be no leaven within it—at work, at home, et cetera. “And you shall show your son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt.” It is a very specific memorial. “And it shall be for a sign unto you on your hand,” it involves action, “and for a memorial between your eyes…” We know that the Holy Spirit is stored, or lodged, between our eyes, the seat of the will. “…that the Lord’s law may be in the in your mouth: for with a strong hand has the Lord brought you out of Egypt.” So it has to do, these days have to do with God’s Law, remembering God’s Law that it may be in our mouths. “You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.”

Leviticus twenty-three, we won’t turn there, says we must eat unleavened bread every day. I remember when I was in a splinter, I did not receive much guidance as to how to keep the Days of Unleavened Bread, but I was handed a white paper that explained to me why I did not need to eat unleavened bread during each of the Days of Unleavened Bread. We read it: “Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.” It is a command. You must eat unleavened bread, Leviticus twenty: thirty-six.

Deuteronomy sixteen, we will turn over there and see why it was unleavened as we continue to set this up. Verse three, “You shall eat no leavened bread within it;” with the Passover, “seven days shall you eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction…” None of those breads that Mr. Orel was talking about, but the bread of affliction. “…for you came forth out of the land of Egypt in haste…” There was no time for this bread to rise, and God wanted Israel to remember their fast exodus out of, start of the exodus out of Egypt. Their fast exodus from, what we know to be, a type of sin. Eat this unleavened bread, because it pictures getting out of Egypt in haste. “…that you may remember the day when you came forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. And there shall be no leaven bread be seen with you in all your coast seven days…”

That is the letter of the command regarding the deleavening and eating unleavened bread. It is simple, right? Easy. Just get the leaven out and eat the unleavened bread for seven days, reflect on what it is you are doing, and when Israel came out of Egypt. Simple. Well, not so much, because human reasoning often enters the equation. I want to tell you about two of my earliest Days of Unleavened Bread memories and then read you an article as we set up a very specific warning from Jesus Christ regarding leaven. So, I mentioned I was in a splinter early on, and my first Days of Unleavened Bread came, I believe, about two and a-half to three months after I began attending. And I did not know much about these days, I had read a little bit in their holy day material; had a basic understanding of what the days meant, but the concept of deleavening somewhat eluded me.

I arrived at potluck following the a.m. service. On the First Day of Unleavened Bread, and I am looking around, and this particular snack that I loved to eat…It was not a full-on potluck, but we had refreshments after services…a particular snack that I looked forward to eating week in and week out just was not at the table. And I am thinking, “Ahh, I have been looking forward to this particular snack, and it is just not here today.” I mean, every Sabbath leading up to these days, I found this at the table and I looked forward to eating it. So I think to myself, “You know what, after services, after the meal at noon or at lunch and the PM service, I am going to go to Wal-Mart.” So I leave services. I had about an hour and a-half drive home, and I stop at a Wal-Mart and I go in and I go to the shelf…

“There they are! Ah! Just what I have been missing.” I take it, I go sit in my car and pop the top and start eating, and “Oh, wow, this is delicious.” And then I start looking at the nutrition facts, and then I start looking at the ingredients, and sure enough, there is some kind of yeast product in this and I am thinking, “Oh no, I have violated the Days of Unleavened Bread.” I knew, I knew as much as to know I was not supposed to eat that sort of thing, but the concept of what was leavened, what was unleavened, well, it just completely escaped me. Three months of attending with no guidance from the ministry about what I was supposed to do.

So the next day, I go over to a deacon’s house who lives near me, an elderly gentleman, to help them with some things around the house, and I tell, “Mr. So-and-So, you are not going to believe what happened. I am starting to understand these lessons about the Days of Unleavened Bread, about how this this leaven can be everywhere, just like our sin.” He said, “What happened?” I explain the story. He said, “Oh, wow, what did you do with it?” I said, “Oh, I locked it in my trunk. That way, that way, I will not eat it during the Days of Unleavened Bread.” Human reasoning, brethren. Makes no sense, but it actually is not dissimilar to something we are going to talk about.

So that was my first Days of Unleavened Bread. I was not going to let that kind of thing happen again. So fast-forward to my second spring holiday season, I had left that splinter and was counseling to come in to Restored, but I was on my own and I whiplashed, as human beings are wont to do, I jumped from one side of the ditch to the other. I started weeks in advance, deleavening my father’s home. I mean, it was a totally unreasonable amount of deleavening, absurd amount of deleavening. Dust, anything I could find, I was taking apart things to the point where they were destroyed. I was, I was, it was cleaning. It did not, did not have much to do with leaven. I could not tell the difference between a crumb and a piece of dust, and it was as it was as good as leaven in my mind. It had to, it had to go.

And this was this was a massive undertaking, And the days kept ticking by, and it kept getting closer and closer to sunset that would start the First Day of Unleavened Bread, and I am thinking, “I have still got, still got my bookshelf. You know, there could be leaven in these in these pages. Who knows? Who knows if I was eating while I was reading these books? And my, my guitar—there could be leaven, you know, in the crevices of the fretboard. What am I going to do?!” So I took a large amount of my possessions, I had been focusing on the kitchen and elsewhere prior to this, and I put them all in a circle in the living room.

My dad had already, you know, he was very patient with me when I was first called, he had already seen, you know, my initial calling and was curious about a lot of the things I was doing. This was this was new, though. And I put it all in a circle in the center of the living room floor, and I said, “Dad, I need to do something. I am formally disowning these items. They belong to you. They are no longer mine. I cannot have them because they might have leaven in them.” And he just, I, he just said, “Okay.” I do not think he had any use for any of that stuff, but he was just being gentle and patient with his son. So a few days later, you know, I need this stuff back. “Dad, may I please have this back?” “Yes, Son, you can have it.” Other side of the ditch.

But both of those stories are not out of line with how the Jews keep the Days of Unleavened Bread, at least certain sects of the Jews. Before we get into this highly specific command by Christ regarding leaven, I want to read to you, from chabad.org, an article titled, “What is chametz?” Now, chametz is simply the Hebrew word for leaven.

The Very Short Answer [First subhead:]

Chametz (also spelled “hametz” or “chometz”) is any food product made from wheat, barley, rye, oat or spelt that has come into contact with water and been allowed to ferment and “rise.”

[Another subhead:] When Is It Forbidden?

According to Jewish law, it is forbidden to eat chametz after the fourth halachic hour on the morning before Passover.

And it is starting to get weird. We read what Moses said about putting leaven out of your house, and I do not remember him talking about the fourth halachic hour, but evidently t is important to some people.

It is forbidden to derive any benefit from chametz at the fifth hour…

So there are some special transition between the fourth and the fifth hour.

…and all chametz should be burned before the sixth hour. From then until after Passover, chametz is completely forbidden.

Why does the prohibition start before the Passover begins?

And then they justify it. I am going to skip a paragraph.

To prevent people from transgressing the prohibition inadvertently…

You know, you do not want to get too close. There are all kinds of stipulations like flossing your teeth prior to the start because you might have some chametz in your teeth. I read that elsewhere. I mean, just very stringent guidelines to prevent people from transgressing the prohibition.

…To prevent people from transgressing the prohibition inadvertently, the sages decreed that the prohibition of eating chametz starts two hours before midday, and the prohibition of deriving any benefit starts one hour prior to midday.

Getting Rid of Chametz, [Here is a header, here.]

Long before Passover begins, we clean our homes, offices, and any other place that belongs to us to rid our homes of chametz.

Now, that is good, in a sense. I do not know that we need to start long before, but that is what it says here.

Although it is praiseworthy to be stringent on Passover…

I wish I had known this.

…keep in mind that dust is not chametz. The main purpose of cleaning and searching for chametz is to remove any chametz that one may come into contact with inadvertently and eat…during the Passover. This obligation does not extend to inedible…or tiny crumbs or particles that are soiled or spoiled.

Basically, indiscernible. There are things about how the kitchen should be koshered and,

…if you are using your regular utensils or appliances for Passover, they will need to be koshered…

Whatever that means.

…If finances permit, it is [actually] better (and easier) to simply buy a set of Passover utensils.

So I mean, these forks and knives and whatnot, maybe in your dishwasher came into contact with leaven during the rest of the year, and this could jeopardize your ability to rid your home of chametz. So they advocate purchasing a separate set of utensils and appliances and such for use during Passover.

The Search

This is where, if it was not already weird, it really starts to get weird.

On the eve of the fourteenth of Nisan, with just twenty-four hours to go to the Seder, we search our property—including home, office and car—for any chametz that may have been missed in the cleaning process.

Now, Moses forgot to include some of this, brethren, so this is new information, so you are aware.

The custom is to conduct the search using a candle, feather, wooden spoon and a (paper) bag for collecting any chametz found…

Now, I did, I did not do this personally this year. I did not know in time. Furthermore,

…Have someone placed ten pieces of bread throughout the house to be found during the search.

You know, it is more righteous, if you are able to find vast quantities of chametz right before the command ends. I mean, this is a great idea, right?

Before we start the search, we recite the blessing…

Now, I read this blessing, but we do not have time to cover it. It is very detailed.

No interruption shall be made between reading the blessing and the start of the search. Additionally, during the search, we only discuss that which pertains to [removing] chametz.

In order to ensure that we remember to conduct the search on time…

I mean, these hours are very specific, very specific check points in this search we read about earlier.

…it is forbidden to eat or even learn Torah…

Cannot even study the Bible prior to this search, it is so important.

…until after the search has been completed.

Now, after all, all the search has been done, could have missed something, you know? It is dangerous, so you have to recite this blessing over your home.

…All leaven or anything leaven which is in my possession…

I practically said this myself to my father. I came up with this on my own; but this is the official prayer, in case you needed it, brethren.

…which I have neither seen nor removed, and about which I am unaware, shall be considered nullified and [otherwise] ownerless as the dust of the Earth.

And then you are safe. Now, if you do not want to get rid of your leaven, if you want to get around, Moses’ commands about getting the leaven out of your house and no leaven being found in your coast, there are provisions. Because, after all, I mean, who wants to get rid of their, you know, Boston cream donuts.

The Sale

Utensils used for chametz (and commits itself that you are reluctant to dispose of)…

You know, “I know it is in the Bible, but I am reluctant.”

…maybe sold to a person who is not Jewish for the duration of Passover…

Not permanently sold. Just for the duration. And we are not talking about selling it to someone who lives elsewhere. Mind you.

The sold chametz and utensils should be set aside in a designated place (for example, a closet or a cabinet in your home), which is rented to the non-Jewish buyer until after Passover.

It is great! You do not have to get rid of your beloved utensils.

…The storage place should be clearly marked, so no one can take anything from there through force of habit.

The sale of chametz to the non-Jew is not a symbolic sale, but a legally binding transaction, and must therefore be conducted by a competent rabbi.

Now we, ministers of God do not offer such services, brethren. I am sorry to report. But you understand what I say when I mention that human reasoning can get in the way of seemingly very clear commands. Whether it was me, a babe in Christ, or these Jews who have come up with traditions of men that not only make it difficult and burdensome to keep God’s commands, but also take away any focus on what He actually wants, that altogether circumvent what He wants. They literally violate it and justify it in absurd ways that, to an outside observer, cannot even be comprehended. I could not believe what I was reading. They totally miss the point. They are pharisaical, I was pharisaical in my deleavening. So this perfectly introduces a very specific and dangerous kind of leavening Christ warned about.

Let’s see what it is, brethren, and how to avoid it. Turn to Mark eight. Now, Christ kept the Days of Unleavened Bread from a very young age. Mark, Chapter eight. Mary and Joseph would have had him going into his area in the home, and taking out any bread or crumbs that may have fallen there, from a very young age. From a small child, He would have observed, as a god-being, Israel deleavening for millennia. In fact, He, along with the Father, devised the very concept of deleavening. So He knows all there is to know about deleavening.

Mark Chapter eight and verse nine. Mark eight and verse nine, “And they that had eaten,” when Christ fed the masses, “were about four thousand: and he sent them away.” So they had just eaten bread, this mass of persons, and Christ took opportunity to teach a lesson coming off of it. “And the Pharisees came forth,” and began to question Christ, seeking a sign and tempting Him. “And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and said, Why does this generation seek after a sign? Verily I say unto you, There shall be no sign given unto this generation. And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side.” So the Pharisees wanted a sign after Christ performed a miracle involving bread.

And this discussion, that now took place with the disciples, was ready to occur. “Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf.” So all these men on a ship and they were hungry, and they only had one loaf of bread. “And he charged them saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we” do not have any bread. They missed the point completely. So somehow the leaven of the Pharisees resulted, in their mind, in not having a loaf of bread on a ship.

It does not really make a lot of sense, so Christ has to clarify, over in Matthew sixteen. Before we go there, though, Verse sixteen, “And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread.” Verse seventeen, “And when Jesus knew it, he said to them, Why reason you, because you have no bread?” Do you not perceive or understand? Have you your heart yet hardened?” Is it still hard, that you cannot understand what I am talking about having? “Having eyes, see you not? And having ears, hear you not? and do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves among the five, how many baskets full of fragments took you up?” They said twelve. He is saying, we have the opportunity, we have the ability to have food. I am not talking about physical food.

So let’s see what He is talking about, over in Matthew sixteen. Going to stay a lot in the Gospels today because we are focused on Christ’s command regarding leaven. Matthew sixteen and verse five, “And when the disciples were come to the other side,” different account, but it amplifies it, “they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said to them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.” Still confused. “Which when Jesus perceived, he said to them, O you of little faith, why reason among yourselves, because you have brought no bread?” Because you brought no physical bread.

“Do you not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves…five thousand, and how many baskets you took up? Neither of the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets you took up? How is it that you do not understand that I [am speaking] not to you concerning bread, [but] that you should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” Not physical bread, some spiritual leaven He is warning about. “Then understood they how that he bade them not beware the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” So we are building a little bit—the leaven of the doctrine of the Pharisees. I mean, if these doctrines are not leavened, if they are not grievous burdens, heavy to be borne, in traditions of men, I do not know what are. We are still building this—the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

He gets even more specific in Luke twelve. Luke twelve. What is this leaven? This leaven that is a kind of doctrine that pertains to the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Luke twelve and verse one, “In the meantime, when there gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, in so much that they trode one upon another, he began to say to his disciples, first of all, Beware you of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” That, at its fundament, is the leaven of the Pharisees—hypocrisy. They profess to be godly, just as we profess to be godly, but they live contrary to God’s way. Hypocrisy there is hupokrisis, “acting under a feigned part, that is, deceit, hypocrisy.” Beware of these actors, Christ said, and beware of becoming an actor yourself. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. You do not want to be an actor, He was telling the disciples,

Well we run that risk, too. We profess to believe God, we profess to live His way, but do our actions align with that profession of faith? Verse two, “For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid that shall not be known.” They can look great on the outside, but they will be exposed. Just as if any of us looks great on the outside, and we are habitually sinning and we do not want to repent, we do not want to grow, we will be exposed. “…there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever you have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that what you have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.”

Christ was warning, do not listen to these phonies and do not become a phony. Practice what you preach, so to speak. Think of an actor, think of the profession of acting, there are men and women who play great, people of great character. People with iron wills who do the right thing, yet look at their lives. There are often some of the most train-wrecked, degenerate lives you can study, just filled with drugs, sleeping around, anything you name, it goes on in Hollywood. Yet they portray these great men and women. I am actors not bashing them, specifically, but just illustrating the point. The Pharisees were actors. They looked so good; but not so much on the inside.

So for the balance of this message, brethren, let’s talk about elements of leaven of the Pharisees that we must never allow to creep in. We have to look good on the outside and the inside. So the first point here: We are in danger of the leaven of hypocrisy, if we are only concerned with the outside and not the inside. We are in danger of the leaven of hypocrisy, if we are only concerned with the outside and not the inside.

Turn back a page to Luke eleven, verse thirty-seven. “And he [Christ] spoke, excuse me, “And as he spoke, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat.” Christ was invited to dinner at a Pharisee’s home. “And when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed before dinner.” There were a lot of ritual washings that were part of the pharisaical code. “And the Lord said unto him, Now do you Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.” You look good on the outside, but spiritually you are a mess, He told him. “You fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also?” God made you from the inside out, He is telling him. He wants you to look good on the outside, yes; but you have to look good on the inside, too, He was telling him.

Now, as we go through these, I know the tendency can be to say, “Well, I am not a Pharisee.” Well, none of us are Pharisees, but recognize that Christ used these interactions with the Pharisees to teach us very important lessons. And if attacking their conduct was not important, why do they form such a large part of the Scriptures? The reason is, they hold lessons for us, as Christians. Right now, we are examining the lesson pertaining to hypocrisy. The leaven of hypocrisy. Verse forty-two, “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees…” Excuse me, that is it for Luke eleven. They may clean the outside of the cup, but the inside is filled with ravening and wickedness.

Earlier this year, I decided to make tea. And I do not do this often, I am more of a coffee drinker, but I have a very beautiful teapot, cast iron teapot, and I made this tea and it tasted terrible. And usually this teapot is just decorative. So, I said, “I do not want to drink this tea. This is horrible.” So I left it there and forgot that I had brewed tea inside this decorative tea pot. Well, about three months later, I open the lid of that, that teapot and it was, let’s just say, it was filled with ravening and wickedness. It looks great on the outside, but it is filthy on the inside. Christ warns about, it is the leaven of hypocrisy. We have got to say, we profess to believe God, we profess to live His way—we actually have to back it up and do it.

Matthew twenty-three. Matthew twenty-three and verse twenty-three, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, and mercy, and faith: these ought you have to have done, and not left the other undone. You blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.” Looks a lot like the overboard deleavening we read about earlier, straining at gnats. “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” hypocrites! “for you make clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.” More spiritual leaven on the inside. “You blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and the platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.” Clean yourselves up from the inside out, Christ was saying. Get rid of the spiritual leaven that is within you. Do not focus so much on the physical he was telling them.

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all and cleanness. Even so, you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” The inside must match the outside. God says, in Samuel, we will not turn there, He looks, man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. He is concerned with what is inside, First Samuel sixteen: seven.

Another lesson here: We are in danger of the leaven of hypocrisy if we trust in ourselves. We are in danger of the leaven of hypocrisy if we trust in ourselves. We just kept the Passover. We recognized our imperfections and the need for a Savior. We did not trust ourselves to clean up our lives, we put forth effort, but we ultimately know we need a Savior. At its very core, we cannot trust in ourselves. Luke eighteen. Luke, Chapter eighteen. We are in danger of the leaven of hypocrisy if we trust in ourselves.

Luke eighteen, and verse nine, “And he spoke this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.” I thought, I am doing fine on my own. “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the [one] a publican.” Could just as easily say the one a hypocrite, and the other a publican. “The Pharisee stood and prayed, thus within himself, God, I thank you, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.” I have got, got my life in order. No worries here. “I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.” I am essentially owning my salvation.

“And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” That is the attitude we had going into the Passover—I have got these issues, I am working on them, I have identified them, but You have got to be merciful to me. I cannot be forgiven unless Christ did what He did for our sakes, “I tell you, this man went down to his house, justified rather than the other: for everyone that exalts himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.” We should look more like the man smiting his chest, who does not trust in himself, who looks to God for help and for mercy.

The Apostle Paul said I can of my own, or excuse me, said, “I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me.” Through Christ, which strengthens me That is not a trust in self. Christ said, “I can of my own self do nothing.” Jesus Christ. That is Philippians, four: thirteen, and John five: thirty, if you wanted to write them down. “I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me,” Paul said. And Christ said, “I cannot do anything by Myself.” Those are not individuals who trust in themselves, they are spiritual titans.

We are in danger of the leaven of hypocrisy, if we—this is tied to the point we just covered—have elevated opinions of ourselves. We are in this time pictured being flat, that pictures us being flat, that pictures us being unleavened, not puffed up like leavened bread. We are in danger of the leaven of hypocrisy if we have elevated opinions of ourselves.

Matthew nine. Matthew, Chapter nine and verse nine, “And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said…Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came down and sat with him and his disciples.” Common, folks. “And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples,” Why does your master eat “with publicans and sinners?” We are above that. Surely, he is, too. What is going on here? “But when Jesus heard that, he said to them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.”

In other words, you Pharisees, I know you have got everything figured out and you do not need God, but these poor, sick people do. “But go you and learn what that means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous,” the self-righteous, those who have an elevated opinion of themselves and trust in themselves, “but sinners to repentance.” We recognize that we need God’s help. We do not have an elevated opinion of ourselves, because we know we will not exist in the long term if we do. We have to rely on God. Philippians twenty-three says we should esteem others is better than ourselves. That is the opposite of the leaven of hypocrisy that elevates self. That was a shorter one.

We are in danger of the leaven of hypocrisy if we are focused on others faults. John, Chapter eight. If we are focused on others faults, we are in danger of the leaven of hypocrisy. John, Chapter eight and verse one, “Jesus went to the Mount of Olives And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.” Verse three, “And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery,” caught in the very act; proud of themselves, I am sure, “and when they had set her in the midst, they said unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.” What are you going to do about this? You profess yourself a wise man and a judge. What should we do about this?

Now Moses in the law commanded us. that such should be stoned: but what say you?” Are you going to contradict God’s law in this situation? “This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him…” They are focused on other people’s faults and using their focus on other people’s faults to ensnare Jesus. “…But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he had heard them not. So when they continue asking him, he lifted up himself, and said to them, He that is without sin among you, let him” cast the first stone at her. And we have speculated that He may have been actually writing their sins on the ground, showing “You have fallen short, too. Should we, should we stone you?” “…He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

“And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even to the last: in Jesus was left alone, [with] the woman standing in the midst.” They were focused on other people’s sins, yet they had sins themselves that they had to address. They were busy pointing fingers when the finger should have been pointing the other way. “When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are your accusers? Has no man condemned you? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn you: go, and sin no more.” Christ is saying focus on your own problems and change them. Do not focus on others faults. We just examined ourselves, whether we be in the faith. It is a personal thing. It is not our job to dig for other people’s sins. If they are overt, it is another thing. That is not our purpose here.

We are in danger of the leaven of hypocrisy if we do not care deeply about people. We should be the most caring people on Earth. We are going to look at an extreme example here in Matthew, Chapter twelve. We care deeply about people, that is why we want the Kingdom. We look around and this world grieves us and wears us down, not just because of the sin, but because of the miserable lives that so many people are living. We want what we have for them in a much greater sense and much greater context. We want them to have health, we want them to have the understanding we have, and we ultimately want them to have eternal life.

Matthew, Chapter twelve. Christ is going through the cornfields here, His disciples were eating on the Sabbath, and He was accused by the Pharisees, but then it ratchets up in Verse ten. “And, behold, there was a man [with] his hand withered.” So, a crippled man. “And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days?” That is what the Pharisees asked Him. This poor man, I do not know if it is from birth or not, but imagine not being able to use your hand. I cannot, I cannot imagine it. It would be terrible, just in this life. Imagine that, brethren. And the Pharisees wanted to use this man’s plight to trap Christ.

“And he said to them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.” You are willing to pull an animal out of a ditch, but you are going to accuse Me of breaking the law for healing a man who is crippled? For making his life wonderful beyond imagination for him? “Then said he to the man, Stretch forth your hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole…Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.” They did not care about people. If we do not care about people, this is a very extreme example, we are hypocrites in a certain regard. They sought to destroy Christ because He gave a man the use of his hand, on the Sabbath.

In the parallel account, excuse me, we are in danger of the leaven of hypocrisy if we are hard-hearted. Similar. If we are hard-hearted. Mark, Chapter ten. We cannot have any of these traits. They are different kinds of leaven, but they are all summarized under the leaven of hypocrisy, because we profess to live God’s way, and if we are living contrary to it, He calls us hypocrites; hard-hearted. Mark, Chapter ten. We cannot be hard hearted.

“And he arose from thence, and came into the coasts of Judea by the farther side of Jordan: and the people resort unto him again; and as he was wont, he taught them again. And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. And he answered and said to them, What did Moses command you? And they said Moses, suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. And Jesus answered and said to them for the hardness of your heart he wrote this precept.” It is, in the Greek, sklerokardia, “hard-heartedness, destitute of spiritual perception.”

“…he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;” and they will both become one flesh. Verse nine, “What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder. And in the house his disciples asked him again the same matter. And he said to them, Whosoever shall put his wife away, and marry another, commits adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she commits adultery.” Hard-hearted. Willing to cast a woman to the side, ruin her reputation and her life, but it was it was allotted in the, in the civil laws of Israel because of the hardness of the Pharisees’ hearts. We cannot be that way.

Let’s turn to First Timothy one. This is how our hearts have to be. First Timothy one and verse five. “Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.” Love out of a pure heart, the opposite, the unleavened form of hard-heartedness.

We are in danger of the leaven of hypocrisy if we will not receive correction. Luke Chapter eleven again. Luke eleven. We are in danger of the leaven of hypocrisy if we will not receive correction. Eleven: thirty-seven. We will loop back through these scriptures and build to something else. “And as he spoke, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat.” This is where He corrected him earlier. “And when the Pharisee, saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed before dinner. And the Lord said unto him, Now you Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.

“You fools, did not he which made that which is without make that which is within also? But rather give alms of such things as you have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.” Live your life correctly and all things will be clean to you. “But woe unto you, Pharisees! for you tithe mint and rue, and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought you to have done, and not left the other undone. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees! for you love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.” These are stern rebukes; correction after correction—woe, woe, woe. And let’s see how they receive this correction. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees! hypocrites for you are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.” Like pits that trap and kill people.

“Then answered one of the lawyers,” close associates with the Pharisees, “and said unto him, Master, thus saying,” and by saying this, “you reproach us also.” Perceptive man. “And he said, Woe to you also, you lawyers!…” I do not know if this man was looking for a beating, or he was admitting his faults, but, “…for you laid men with burdens grievous to be borne, and you yourselves touched not the burdens with one of your fingers.” That deleavening looks like a burden, grievous to be born to me. I do not even own a feather. “Woe unto you! for you build the sepulchers of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. Truly you bear witness that you allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and you build their sepulchers.” Correction, over and over.

“Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them, they shall slay and persecute: that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation.” Were they contrite? “Woe unto you, lawyers! for you have taken away the key of knowledge: you entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in you hindered.” Cutting people off from entering the Kingdom by withholding knowledge and perverting knowledge.

“And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and Pharisees…” And as he said these things, what did the scribes and Pharisees do? They did not say, “Oh wow, we have got to change. We have got to repent.” No. They were completely unwilling to receive correction. “…the scribes and Pharisees begin to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak many things.” Keep talking. Keep talking. Why? Because they wanted to lay wait for Him, “seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.” Totally oblivious to the need to change themselves. Instead, they just wanted to take the opportunity to catch the man in his words, who was trying to help them, who was trying to tell them to repent, and how to change. Astounding. We are in danger of the leaven of hypocrisy if we will not receive correction. Now, that is on a different scale, of course, but we understand the application.

Proverbs three says…We can turn over there, Proverbs Chapter three. We know God corrects us for very good reason. Proverbs three and verse twelve. Actually we will start in verse eleven, “My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord,” they despised the chastening of God, “neither be weary of his correction,” they would hear none of it, “for whom the Lord love he corrects; even as a father the son in whom he delights.” We receive correction because we know it is God attempting to get us back on the right track, because He wants us in His family forever.

We are in danger of the leaven of hypocrisy, if we cannot see the clear hand of God. We are in danger of the leaven of hypocrisy if we cannot see the clear hand of God. Matthew, Chapter twelve. Some of these overlap. Matthew, chapter twelve, verse twenty-two, “Then was brought to [Christ], one possessed,” (A) with a with a devil, (B) blind, and (C) dumb…” This was a person in a deplorable condition. I do not know that I have read about another case where someone was possessed, blind and dumb, and he healed them. “…and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And the people were amazed, and said, Is this not the son of David?” The common folks recognized what they saw. “But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow does not cast out devils, but by the Bible, Beelzebub the prince of the devils.” What a conclusion to draw. Someone speaks, hears and has a demon cast from them, and they attribute it to Satan.

“And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: and if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub, cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is Come unto you.” “You should recognize this,” He was saying. “Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil as goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil the house.

“He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathers not with me, scatters abroad. Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come. Either make the tree good, and its fruit good: or else make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by its fruit.”

Now they just saw something extraordinary, but listen to the question they ask. We are building to it. “O generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by your words, you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.”

Then, in this context of just casting out a demon, healing someone’s hearing and healing someone’s sight, “Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from you.” What?! Look at what he just witnessed. We would see a sign from you. The leaven of Pharisees prevents someone from seeing the clear hand of God. We see God’s fingerprints everywhere in this Work; but occasionally there are some people who just get confused, who cannot see the big picture, and cannot see the clear hand of God.

Now the point, brethren, is not to attack the Pharisees. That is not it at all. Think about the Apostle Paul. He said, “I am a Pharisee of the Pharisees.” That is how he grew up. His father was a Pharisee. He grew up with a zeal without knowledge. He grew up following the Pharisees edicts and doctrines to the letter. He was a titan within their religion. He said that “touching the law, I was a Pharisee.” He wrote the Philippians, “I kept it jot and tittle.” He told Agrippa that not only was he a Pharisee. He was from the [quote] “most straightest,” meaning exact, “sect of our religion.” He said that, after the most outrageous, the most exact sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee. But he listened to the correction, he changed.

And, he was not impervious to these pharisaical attitudes that he had to come out of, just as we are not impervious to these pharisaical attitudes. But at its fundament, we have to live the life we profess to. We cannot allow any of this leaven to creep in. This is the same Paul, who recorded this in First Corinthians five: eight. As we draw to a close here, First Corinthians five, and we will start in verse six actually. “Your glorying is not good. Know you not that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” Any one of these elements of the leaven of hypocrisy can derail us, and can derail us permanently if unaddressed. A little bit of leaven spreads to fill the whole lump. Just a tiny bit of the leaven of hypocrisy is unacceptable in our lives. It places us in grave danger.

“Purge out therefore the old leaven…” Get rid of the physical leaven like Moses commanded, or God commanded through Moses; not like chabad.org commanded. “Purge out the old leaven,” in the way God prescribed, “that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven,” physical leaven, “neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness;” spiritual leaven, summed up in the leaven of hypocrisy, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

The point is, brethren, we understand this, I am not telling you anything we do not already know, we must live the Christian way. It is an active way of life. We cannot just profess to be Christians and habitually disobey God on any point. That is the leaven of the Pharisees, that is hypocrisy, that is the deadly form of leaven that will derail us eternally. We cannot be actors. We look the same on the outside as we do on the inside, and the way we do that is by purging out sinful leaven and replacing it with that unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Matthew five: twenty, final scripture here. Matthew five and verse twenty, “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,” you shall in no wise enter the Kingdom of God.” Christ warned us. God wants us completely to deleaven, brethren. Let’s beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.