Matthew 16:6. Then Jesus said to them, Take heed and beware of the leaven (yeast) of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
HAPPY CANADA DAY!
Well friends, this Lazy -day Saturday has certainly opened into a bright and sparkling summer’s day, although with some warnings of smoke. But, despite that negative attachment, it promises to be a wonderful celebration of our country’s birthday! So, a Happy Canada Day to all you my Scrip-Bit friends and families! May the Lord bless us with all we need to enjoy this memorable weekend, as we remember that Canada is still one of the few countries you can move around with a fair amount of freedom and without too much provocation re racial and religious and political matters.
And most of all, let’s remember the One who gave us all the good things that we have; Almighty God, and give Him the proper thanks, praise and reverence that He deserves. Now, as one sincere voice, let’s say our Lazy-Day Saturday prayer. ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’
Oh my faithful brethren, every time we say that prayer, it touches something deep within me. I guess it just seems to bring us closer to our heavenly Father in real time. And it seems to be ever so appropriate for a lazy-day Saturday, where we have no pressing commitments, so we can afford to relax and spend some satisfying quiet time with our Creator and Provider, our Comforter and place of Refuge. And I hope you all feel the same way, and do spend some quiet time with the One who LOVES us so much that He sacrificed His only Son Jesus for our benefit.
And do I ever LOVE the Good Library, for as always, when I don’t know what to say and I open it, it always points me to something interesting. And today it opened unto the 16th Chapter of Matthew where Jesus had just finished berating the Pharisees and Sadducees re asking for a sign from heaven, an outward miraculous manifestation, then left them standing in awe and confusion. (Matt. 16:1-4) Then He went on to warn the disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
The Good Library relates it thus: ‘And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said to them, Take heed and beware of the leaven (yeast) of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them. O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many baskets you took up?’ (Matt. 16:5-10)
And it is indeed amazing that the disciples could forget the two miracles Jesus did with little food to serve a multitude and then have plenty left over. And those miracles you can find in several of the gospels, but for easy access, I’ll just quote them from Matthew; Chapter 14:15-21 and Chapter 15:32-38. So they should have realized that it really had nothing to do with them not bringing bread, for if the situation truly warranted it, Jesus had the awesome power to provide actual bread for them, to fill all their physical needs and still have much left over.
But their young, uneducated minds never considered those things, thus Jesus had to explain it further to them. ‘How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, but that ye should beware of the leaven (yeast) of the Pharisees and Sadducees? Then understood they how he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine (teaching) of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’ (Matt. 16:11-12) And yuh know what my fellow believers, that warning of Jesus still holds true for all of us today, because there are still many out there who are teaching a false or incorrect gospel, one slanted to their own unscrupulous desires.
That leads us to these prophetic words of Bruh Paul to Timothy. ‘This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous (money lovers), boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers (irreconcilable), false accusers (slanderers), incontinent (without self-control), fierce (brutal), despisers of those that are good,
Traitors, heady (reckless), highminded (haughty), lovers of pleasures more than (rather than) lovers of God: Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts. Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.’ (2 Tim. 3:1-7)
Oh my bredrin, I don’t know if these are the last days or not, because there are many arguments over the signs etc., but what I do know for sure is that all those things Bruh Paul warned Timothy about are very rampant in our current world. And if you don’t see them, then you’re living with your head in the sky or in the dirt. Lawlessness and irresponsibility are at unbelievable heights. Promises are made and broken without remorse. Pleasure is our number one activity. And we boast so much about what we don’t have that it’s shameful.
Oh friends, apostasy, that’s abandonment and renunciation of our religious beliefs is definitely alive and well. You see people all over the place turning away from God, and there’s even a foolish movement afoot to try and completely rid our society of God. Hn! That’s undoubtedly a fool’s wisdom! For it will never happen, because God will never allow it. He might allow us to do all sorts of other nonsense, but rid the society of His awesome presence…NEVER!
And we’ll close with a couple of explanations from the scholars on those verses above. They say that ‘A form of godliness is mere religion without power or spiritual life. Paul commands Timothy to turn away from those false teachers who prey upon silly women laden with sins, who are especially susceptible to false teachers. Ever learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth condemns not intense study, but some esoteric quest for truth apart from God’s word.’
And is there ever much questing for truth today my fellow saints. Never knew there could be more than one truth. But everybody seems to have their own truth in these perilous times. And those who don’t have it, are unfortunately searching for truth in all the wrong places, when it’s right in front of their very faces, in the Word of God! Much LOVE!
…hereby knoweth ye the Spirit of God…every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh…is of God… (1 John 4:2)
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