Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Matthew 16:6
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Isaiah 26-30
The Pharisees and the Sadducees asked Jesus for a sign to show that He was the coming Messiah (Matthew 16:1). Meanwhile the people requesting for a sign were doctors of law. They knew the scriptures like the back of their hands. Isaiah 7: 14 says therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. They knew a virgin conceived Jesus, they saw Him perform miracles, yet they wanted another sign just to tempt Him. When Jesus got to another part of town, He warned His disciples of the leaven of the Pharisees. Matthew 16:6 says then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. The disciples must have thought that, Jesus was warning them not to buy bread from a bakery owned by a Pharisees or Sadducees since they had no bread on them but Jesus meant something else.
When baking bread, one will mix flour, and water to form dough. After that, one will add yeast to the dough and the dough begins to rise. That yeast is what is called leaven. What yeast does is, it literally adds air to the dough. Leaven bread is usually big but empty inside. When Jesus was talking about the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, he was comparing them to leavened bread, very big outside, but utterly empty inside. The Pharisees and Sadducees were full of public good works; they prayed aloud outside; they paid tithes even tithes of their vegetables (mint, anise, cumin, etc) and so on. Their public life was fantastic but their secret life was nothing to write home about. Outside in the presence of the whole world, they were full of activities – they prayed a lot, sang and danced in church , loved reading the bible during service, loved teaching , but inside their closet they don’t pray, they don’t sing praises to God, they rarely read their bible. There are some of us like the Pharisees, in the church, we are full of activities, we are so respectful and humble , so lovely and sweet, but at home and our places of work, we are terror. Let us look at some super cars e.g. Bugatti Veyron, Ferrari, McLaren, etc. What makes Bugatti Veyron a Bugatti Veyron is not the upholstery. What makes a Bugatti Veyron, a Bugatti Veyron is the engine that is locked out of sight. Although the upholstery, wing mirror, steering wheel, etc, are visible, the power (engine) behind the Bugatti is invisible. What makes one a genuine Christian is not public activities, but activities in the secret where no one is watching. Our spiritual lives are far more important than our physical lives. Romans 8:8 says so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
PRAYER POINT: Father, please purge me of every old leaven.
Bro Samuel – Reaching the world for Jesus.
The Pharisees and the Sadducees asked Jesus for a sign to show that He was the coming Messiah (Matthew 16:1). Meanwhile the people requesting for a sign were doctors of law. They knew the scriptures like the back of their hands. Isaiah 7: 14 says therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. They knew a virgin conceived Jesus, they saw Him perform miracles, yet they wanted another sign just to tempt Him. When Jesus got to another part of town, He warned His disciples of the leaven of the Pharisees. Matthew 16:6 says then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. The disciples must have thought that, Jesus was warning them not to buy bread from a bakery owned by a Pharisees or Sadducees since they had no bread on them but Jesus meant something else.
When baking bread, one will mix flour, and water to form dough. After that, one will add yeast to the dough and the dough begins to rise. That yeast is what is called leaven. What yeast does is, it literally adds air to the dough. Leaven bread is usually big but empty inside. When Jesus was talking about the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, he was comparing them to leavened bread, very big outside, but utterly empty inside. The Pharisees and Sadducees were full of public good works; they prayed aloud outside; they paid tithes even tithes of their vegetables (mint, anise, cumin, etc) and so on. Their public life was fantastic but their secret life was nothing to write home about. Outside in the presence of the whole world, they were full of activities – they prayed a lot, sang and danced in church , loved reading the bible during service, loved teaching , but inside their closet they don’t pray, they don’t sing praises to God, they rarely read their bible. There are some of us like the Pharisees, in the church, we are full of activities, we are so respectful and humble , so lovely and sweet, but at home and our places of work, we are terror. Let us look at some super cars e.g. Bugatti Veyron, Ferrari, McLaren, etc. What makes Bugatti Veyron a Bugatti Veyron is not the upholstery. What makes a Bugatti Veyron, a Bugatti Veyron is the engine that is locked out of sight. Although the upholstery, wing mirror, steering wheel, etc, are visible, the power (engine) behind the Bugatti is invisible. What makes one a genuine Christian is not public activities, but activities in the secret where no one is watching. Our spiritual lives are far more important than our physical lives. Romans 8:8 says so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
PRAYER POINT: Father, please purge me of every old leaven.
Bro Samuel – Reaching the world for Jesus.
ONE-SIDED DEBATE BY STEVE FINNELL
ReplyDeleteWhen debating the proposition of water baptism being essential for salvation; there is only one side found in the Scriptures. The Bible clearly teaches that water baptism is for the forgiveness of sins. There are no contradictory verses of Scripture to disprove that water baptism is essential to salvation.
Mark 16:16 ....has been baptized shall be saved....
There is no Scripture that states has been baptized shall not be saved.
John 3:5 ....unless one is born of water...he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
There are not any antithetical Scriptures that state men do not have to be born of water to enter the kingdom of God.
Acts 2:38 ...and each of you be baptized......for the forgiveness of your sins...
Search as you will, you cannot find one contradictory Scripture that says water baptism is not for the forgiveness of your sins.
Romans 6:3-6 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?........6 know this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
There is no verse of Scripture that say our body of sin was not done away through being baptized into Christ.
Colossians 2:12-13 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead . 13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircuncision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.
There is no opposing Scripture that says being buried with Him in baptism has nothing to do forgiveness of transgressions.
Ephesians 5:25-27 ...just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.
There is not a verse in the Bible that says Jesus did not cleanse the church by the washing of water with the word.
1 Peter 3:21Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you......
It is impossible to find the Scripture that states water baptism does not save you.
The statements you will not find in the Bible.
1. Baptism does not save.
2. Baptism is not essential to be saved.
3. Baptism is not for the forgiveness of sins.
4. Baptism is only for men who are already saved.
5. Baptism has absolutely nothing to do with salvation.
Jesus never said any of these five things. No apostles ever uttered any of theses five things.
THE FIVE STATEMENTS ARE ONLY FOUND IN CREED BOOKS, BIBLE COMMENTARIES AND OTHER WRITINGS OF MEN.
IF YOU USE SCRIPTURE ALONE, WATER BAPTISM IS A ONE-SIDED DEBATE!
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