BEWARE OF THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES

BEWARE OF THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES
“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.” (Luke 12:1-2)
• You are warned against portraying false qualities.

• You shall not be rewarded for what you succeeded in pretending to be.

• Whatever you do to please God, it is from Him you shall receive your reward, and anything you do to please men, you must remember to take your reward from them.

• The higher you climb the greater the temptation to make use of the leaven of the Pharisees.

• We are more concerned about what we do than why we do them, but God is more concerned about why we do what we do.

• Only God knows the motives with which people do what they do!

• We are admonished to do all things to the glory of God.

• A leader does his followers a great disservice by resorting to the leaven of the Pharisees.

• Closeness to God will help you overcome the pride that tempts you to go in for the leaven of the Pharisees.

Reasons why you must avoid the leaven of the Pharisees
• It will make you lose your reward. Matthew 6:1
• It will make you vulnerable to spiritual intimidations.
• It destroys a leader’s reliability and trustworthiness.
• It is itself a burden that is hard to carry.
• It takes you out of God’s will.
• It takes away your sense of fulfillment.

• Great men and women of God will still have to win the battle of resisting the leaven of the Pharisees.
“For am I now seeking the favour of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10)

“I am too afraid of God to be afraid of men.”- John Wesley

“The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.” (Proverbs 29:25)

• One of the things that prevent us from yielding to the leading of the Spirit is the fear of man.

• Our focus must be centered on Christ.

• It is proof of your fear of God if you do not fear men.

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…” (Hebrews 12:2)

• It is God’s favour we must seek, not man’s.
Benefits of avoiding the leaven of the Pharisees
 You please the Lord. John8:29
 You become deeply rooted in the Spirit.
 You increase in boldness
 You find inner peace and fulfillment.
 You become a good role model.
“Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” (Philippians 4:9)
How to avoid the leaven of the Pharisees
Focus on pleasing the Lord.
Resist the fear of man or the temptation to please men.
Prioritize your personal devotional life.
Let God’s word dwell in you richly.
Let the Spirit of God lead you.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eyes are watching

Eyes are watching!!!!!!! Most things when done out of the sight of others, especially, things that are not worthy, what do we most of the times hear the perpetrators say; “nobody saw us or nobody was around”. Yes indeed, to them nobody saw them. But the most appropriate thing to be said is, “we did not see anybody around”, for all you know eyes are watching. The eyes that watch us one way or the other affect us, because a time will come when these same eyes are going to make decisions about us and pass out judgments. Yes, a time will come when the eyes that are monitoring and watching us will determine our future. One may ask in what way will these eyes determine our future? Let’s go to scripture and read something from there, ACTS 1:23, when the disciples had to replace Judas Iscariot, the bible says “so they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas and Mathias”. But before that, they had their criteria for choosing these two men. So you ask yourself how were the disciples able to c...
Read more

A Punctuation in History

 #BeInspiredToday 20-12-2022 A Punctuation in History The birth of Jesus has permanently altered the course of history in many ways, including how dates are recorded. The current global standard for the measurement of dates is known as the Gregorian calendar, named after Pope Gregory XIII, under whose tenure it was instituted. Both the Gregorian calendar, and its predecessor - the Julian calendar - are based on the supposed birth date of Jesus Christ. It was Dionysius Exiguus, a Christian monk, who first proposed in the year 525 that dates be recorded in reference to the birth of Jesus Christ, hence the invention of the acronyms BC ("Before Christ") and AD ("Anno Domini" - Latin for "In the year of the Lord"). In relatively recent times, some have tried to change this with the excuse that it is not fair to other religious faiths. But no matter who likes it or not, the birth of Jesus has become a globally accepted reference point for the reckoning of dates....
Read more

IS GOD SILENT OR WE ARE DEAF?

Erwin W. Lutzer in his book, Seven Reasons Why You Can Trust the Bible, narrates the story of Ingmar Bergman, a Swedish film director who one day stood next to a portrait of Christ in a cathedral in Europe and whispered, “Speak to me!” He only encountered dead silence after waiting enough while. It has been said Bergman was motivated by this experience to come out with a movie entitled Silence, which portrayed people who despaired in their attempt to seek God. Bergman’s frustration was evident in his words: “In our world, we hear only ourselves. No voice comes to us from outside the universe. When we seek a word from God, we are confronted with dead calm”. Well, a portrait of Christ cannot speak. It is only Christ himself who can speak. Imagine I take a photogragh of the prime minister of Britain and pose a question to it. I will certainly be confronted with dead silence. Does that mean Britain’s prime minister never speaks? If we cannot hear from God, the most logical conclusio...
Read more