From the desk of Pastor Ben

Receiving Greater Light – Part 3

“How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.         (Matthew 16:11-12)

Jesus’ use of the term “leaven” here represents the tainted spiritual influence of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Such teachings and lifestyles have no part in His kingdom of righteousness. For the Pharisees, it was hypocrisy (Luke 12:1) — religiosity marked by external purity that sought to cover up internal unrighteousness. For the Sadducees it was religious liberalism, whose system was focused primarily on temporal ends.

Later in Matthew, Jesus denounces the Pharisees’ legalism and ritualism:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness” (Matthew 23:27). For the Sadducees the problem was their human-centered, anti-supernatural approach (Acts 23:8) that was thoroughly materialistic. Both phony religions adversely influenced Israel’s religious scene.

Neither kinds of leaven are friends of the gospel (Galatians 3:2-3; Colossians 2:8). Both kinds corrupt God’s truth and His people. We must never fool around with false doctrine or minimize its potential adverse effects. In fact, Jude tells us how carefully we must act when trying to deliver another person from a false system: “And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some, have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh” (Jude 22-23). We must run away from error and heresy and, if need be, oppose them whenever, wherever and however we encounter them.

Ask Yourself:
Do you sometimes grow weary with so many false religions and incorrect belief systems floating around, taking scores of people captive, corrupting their minds and distorting their take on truth? How can you keep discouragement from weakening your prayer time?