Reg
12-02-2007, 05:57 AM
Since today is Sunday and I am stuck at home because of the snow storm I thought now would be an appropriate time for this. Are you folks ready for today's sermon? :rolleyes:
Here's a followup from the Tribal Dynamics thread where I said to HB I would post a separate thread on.......
"The Leaven of the Pharisees"
Lu 12:1 ¶ In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first [of all], "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
On-Line Bible Commentary:
"which is hypocrisy." We have been occupied with the divine intent that there should be a lamp lighted here and set upon a lampstand to shine for God, and thus to anticipate morally and spiritually the shining of the holy city; and we have noticed how the Lord draws attention to that which would darken the shining. I suppose nothing could be more darkening than hypocrisy; therefore it was the first thing that was on His heart to say to His disciples. If every form of hypocrisy was got rid of, we should be like the city. We read in #Re 21:11,18,21, "Her shining was like a most precious stone, as a crystal-like jasper stone"; "and the city, pure gold, like pure glass"; "the street of the city pure gold, as transparent glass." It suggests a medium that in no way obscures the light; and that is the Lord’s thought for us spiritually now. Hypocrisy is passing off as having a character which is not genuine; that is the leaven of the Pharisees. Hypocrisy is a principle to which we naturally gravitate, so that we need to take heed to the wholesome words of the Lord. The character of Christianity is indicated in the river of the water of life: "He showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, going out of the throne of God and of the Lamb," #Rev 22:1. Every darkening influence will be gone when the city is displayed, but then it will be gone, as I understand it, not only by a mighty act of divine power, but through a process of spiritual exercise which brings about this crystal-like clearness so that there is no need to pretend to be what we are not. As Christians, we are not under the slightest necessity to pretend to be what we are not. The gospel in its own native power would make us all crystal-like so that there is no darkening element. It is the character and nature of God that we begin with. "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all," and the gospel which has come to us has that character. It comes in such grace that it dispels all the spirit of hypocrisy.
In the verses we see two dangers. The leaven of the Pharisees is to pass off as being better than one is; on the other hand, one may not shine in the light that is in one’s heart; one may hide it through the fear of man. There are the two dangers. The first is illustrated in the action of Ananias and Sapphira, and the second in the dissimulation of Peter recorded in Galatians 2. In Acts 6 there were those who wanted credit amongst the brethren for devotedness which was not in their hearts. It was a very solemn thing, and was visited by instant judgment. Then on the other hand Peter changed his course, "fearing them of the circumcision." He had the light of the gospel in his heart, but he allowed it to be obscured by the fear of the circumcision, and I suppose at the bottom of it was a desire to keep up his own reputation as a good Jew. Paul speaks of it as dissimulation-a very strong word, certainly of an apostle. Peter at that moment was not free of the system that darkened the light.
The revelation of God in Christ received in its proper character would take away all desire to appear different from what we are. Everything has come out into the light; there was a whole history of covered and secret things with every one of us, but the gospel has shown us how God has dealt with all those things; He has brought them out into the full light in the judgment-bearing of Christ, and dealt with them so effectually that there is not a single jot or tittle of that kind of thing remaining to obscure the light in which He shines. We should not be ashamed to have everything told out in the most public way possible. Things covered are going to be revealed, and secret things, whispered in the ear, are going to be known publicly. We move in the light of that. #Ezekiel 1:22 speaks of the crystal, but he says, "the terrible crystal"; it is the idea of being shone through by divine light. Who would like to be made of crystal so that the most hidden thoughts and secret motives could be seen by everybody? No natural man would like it. But then Ezekiel shows that there is something for God in the terrible crystal, something on a higher plane. He sees a throne and the appearance of a man upon it, and the throne surrounded by a rainbow. God is able to act in the faithfulness of His own covenant towards sinful men, because the very Man who sits upon the throne has died on the cross for them, and everything the light has exposed love has removed, so there is no need for covering anything up; it is all out. That is where the gospel puts us. So now the covered up and secret things with Christians are such as we should be very happy to think of being brought out in the most public way possible. It will come out, What were you doing in secret? The Christian was on his knees in the secret of his chamber seeking a better knowledge of God and of Christ and praying for his brethren. Those are the new kind of secrets going to be manifested in a coming day; there is a new kind of secret history now.
If we are going on with things that we should not like the brethren to know, these are certainly things which we ought not to go on with, and it will all come out. It is a very bad business for any of us to allow the leaven of the Pharisees, and it will have a very short history; it is all going to come out publicly. If a saint is pursuing an evil course it would very likely come out now. If a man had never been converted it might be left in the dark. If we are content to be just what the grace of God would make us, it would simplify everything. Paul could say, "By the grace of God I am what I am." That is what he was and he did not want to be anything else. He could also say: "We are made manifest before God, and I trust to your consciences."
The judgment of God is the way God regards things. When He said, "Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I have found my delight," that is the judgment of God. It is the appreciation of Christ; He has formed a judgment and expressed it, and our wisdom is to pay attention to the judgment of God; then we come into the apprehension of the love of God, and then go on to the wisdom of God.
The light is the revelation of God. We see that in the previous chapter; the revelation is there, and in the light of the revelation of God a man prays. True prayer would eliminate the darkness. If one prays, the darkness goes, because prayer means that you get near to God, and near to God there is no darkness. John Bunyan said that either prayer makes a man cease from sin, or sin makes a man cease from prayer.
Lu 12:56 "Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?
Lu 11:44 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them."
Job 20:5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment?
Job 27:8 For what is the hope of the hypocrite, Though he may gain much, If God takes away his life?
Job 36:13 "But the hypocrites in heart store up wrath; They do not cry for help when He binds them.
Isa 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; Fearfulness has seized the hypocrites: "Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?"
Jas 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
1Pe 2:1 ¶ Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,
Here's a followup from the Tribal Dynamics thread where I said to HB I would post a separate thread on.......
"The Leaven of the Pharisees"
Lu 12:1 ¶ In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first [of all], "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
On-Line Bible Commentary:
"which is hypocrisy." We have been occupied with the divine intent that there should be a lamp lighted here and set upon a lampstand to shine for God, and thus to anticipate morally and spiritually the shining of the holy city; and we have noticed how the Lord draws attention to that which would darken the shining. I suppose nothing could be more darkening than hypocrisy; therefore it was the first thing that was on His heart to say to His disciples. If every form of hypocrisy was got rid of, we should be like the city. We read in #Re 21:11,18,21, "Her shining was like a most precious stone, as a crystal-like jasper stone"; "and the city, pure gold, like pure glass"; "the street of the city pure gold, as transparent glass." It suggests a medium that in no way obscures the light; and that is the Lord’s thought for us spiritually now. Hypocrisy is passing off as having a character which is not genuine; that is the leaven of the Pharisees. Hypocrisy is a principle to which we naturally gravitate, so that we need to take heed to the wholesome words of the Lord. The character of Christianity is indicated in the river of the water of life: "He showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, going out of the throne of God and of the Lamb," #Rev 22:1. Every darkening influence will be gone when the city is displayed, but then it will be gone, as I understand it, not only by a mighty act of divine power, but through a process of spiritual exercise which brings about this crystal-like clearness so that there is no need to pretend to be what we are not. As Christians, we are not under the slightest necessity to pretend to be what we are not. The gospel in its own native power would make us all crystal-like so that there is no darkening element. It is the character and nature of God that we begin with. "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all," and the gospel which has come to us has that character. It comes in such grace that it dispels all the spirit of hypocrisy.
In the verses we see two dangers. The leaven of the Pharisees is to pass off as being better than one is; on the other hand, one may not shine in the light that is in one’s heart; one may hide it through the fear of man. There are the two dangers. The first is illustrated in the action of Ananias and Sapphira, and the second in the dissimulation of Peter recorded in Galatians 2. In Acts 6 there were those who wanted credit amongst the brethren for devotedness which was not in their hearts. It was a very solemn thing, and was visited by instant judgment. Then on the other hand Peter changed his course, "fearing them of the circumcision." He had the light of the gospel in his heart, but he allowed it to be obscured by the fear of the circumcision, and I suppose at the bottom of it was a desire to keep up his own reputation as a good Jew. Paul speaks of it as dissimulation-a very strong word, certainly of an apostle. Peter at that moment was not free of the system that darkened the light.
The revelation of God in Christ received in its proper character would take away all desire to appear different from what we are. Everything has come out into the light; there was a whole history of covered and secret things with every one of us, but the gospel has shown us how God has dealt with all those things; He has brought them out into the full light in the judgment-bearing of Christ, and dealt with them so effectually that there is not a single jot or tittle of that kind of thing remaining to obscure the light in which He shines. We should not be ashamed to have everything told out in the most public way possible. Things covered are going to be revealed, and secret things, whispered in the ear, are going to be known publicly. We move in the light of that. #Ezekiel 1:22 speaks of the crystal, but he says, "the terrible crystal"; it is the idea of being shone through by divine light. Who would like to be made of crystal so that the most hidden thoughts and secret motives could be seen by everybody? No natural man would like it. But then Ezekiel shows that there is something for God in the terrible crystal, something on a higher plane. He sees a throne and the appearance of a man upon it, and the throne surrounded by a rainbow. God is able to act in the faithfulness of His own covenant towards sinful men, because the very Man who sits upon the throne has died on the cross for them, and everything the light has exposed love has removed, so there is no need for covering anything up; it is all out. That is where the gospel puts us. So now the covered up and secret things with Christians are such as we should be very happy to think of being brought out in the most public way possible. It will come out, What were you doing in secret? The Christian was on his knees in the secret of his chamber seeking a better knowledge of God and of Christ and praying for his brethren. Those are the new kind of secrets going to be manifested in a coming day; there is a new kind of secret history now.
If we are going on with things that we should not like the brethren to know, these are certainly things which we ought not to go on with, and it will all come out. It is a very bad business for any of us to allow the leaven of the Pharisees, and it will have a very short history; it is all going to come out publicly. If a saint is pursuing an evil course it would very likely come out now. If a man had never been converted it might be left in the dark. If we are content to be just what the grace of God would make us, it would simplify everything. Paul could say, "By the grace of God I am what I am." That is what he was and he did not want to be anything else. He could also say: "We are made manifest before God, and I trust to your consciences."
The judgment of God is the way God regards things. When He said, "Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I have found my delight," that is the judgment of God. It is the appreciation of Christ; He has formed a judgment and expressed it, and our wisdom is to pay attention to the judgment of God; then we come into the apprehension of the love of God, and then go on to the wisdom of God.
The light is the revelation of God. We see that in the previous chapter; the revelation is there, and in the light of the revelation of God a man prays. True prayer would eliminate the darkness. If one prays, the darkness goes, because prayer means that you get near to God, and near to God there is no darkness. John Bunyan said that either prayer makes a man cease from sin, or sin makes a man cease from prayer.
Lu 12:56 "Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?
Lu 11:44 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them."
Job 20:5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment?
Job 27:8 For what is the hope of the hypocrite, Though he may gain much, If God takes away his life?
Job 36:13 "But the hypocrites in heart store up wrath; They do not cry for help when He binds them.
Isa 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; Fearfulness has seized the hypocrites: "Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?"
Jas 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
1Pe 2:1 ¶ Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,