The Bible, or God's Word, is
full of warnings. Warnings. All the prophets warned
their generation to flee from the wrath to come. The apostles
warned their generation. The Lord Jesus Christ warns every
generation. There's a story of a man named
Lot living in Sodom in the Old Testament, the book of Genesis.
Lot was living in a decadent, wicked, evil city called Sodom,
which the Lord likens to this whole world today. And the Lord
warned Lot through the angel, through the messenger, to flee
for his life, to bring his family out of that place. Is the danger
over? Has God changed? No. The message is the same. From
the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples whom He calls
friends, here in Luke chapter 12, I'm reading Luke chapter
12, He warns of many things. And yet, in mercy and grace and
kindness and love to His disciples whom He calls friends, He gives
precious promises and comforts to them. Now, the Lord just ate
with Pharisees and scribes and lawyers. Who? Who are these? Who are the Pharisees, the scribes,
and the lawyers? What is the modern-day equivalent
of these men? Well, these men were the religious
leaders of that day, the moral upright. They dressed religiously. They had their religious garments
on, robes and various paraphernalia they wore make them appear to
be godly or religious people. The present-day equivalent of
these Pharisees and scribes and lawyers are bishops, cardinals,
priests, evangelists, pastors, teachers, deacons, Sunday school
teachers, youth pastors, praise leaders. They're everywhere.
They're everywhere. These are those who seem to be,
to the outward eye and ear, They seemed to be Christian. Well,
the Lord had nothing but harsh words for these scribes, Pharisees,
and He called them hypocrites. And He warned His true disciples,
His true chosen one, true Christians, true disciples, followers, lovers,
believers of the Lord Jesus Christ, He warned them of these scribes
and Pharisees, these hypocrites, to not be like them. In verse
1 of Luke 12 it says, In the meantime, when they were gathered
together, an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they
trod one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples, first
of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. He warned them of hypocrisy,
of the Pharisees, that they were nothing but hypocrites. John
the Baptist did the same thing. He called them snakes and vipers,
meaning they were sneaky and subtly would appear and did their
evil work under a guise of a guy. Someone may argue, you shouldn't
question people's religion. People are sincere. Maybe so.
Maybe sincere. Paul said this in Romans 10,
I bear them record they have a zeal for God, but not according
to knowledge. They don't know God. How did
Paul know that? Because he was just like them.
He was a Pharisee. He was a zealous religious person,
but he didn't know God. You shouldn't question people's
religion, some say, their sincerity. Well, the prophets did, the apostles
did, the Lord did, and He found most to be untrue. Fact is, you
cannot offend a true believer by hard things, by reproofs,
by rebukes, by corrections, by searching questions from God's
Word. You cannot offend one of the Lord's true disciples with
searching questions. They want to be searched. They
need to be searched. Like David in Psalm 139 said,
Search me, O God. He said, Cleanse thou me from
secret faults. Keep back thy servant from presumptuous
sin. He needed to know. He wanted
to know those things of hypocrisy in him. The true people of God
don't want to be Pharisees. They don't want to be hypocrites.
They are true. They are Christ's true disciples.
And they hear the Word as little children. And they want to be
exposed. They want to be found out. They
want these hidden things to be discovered. They come to the
light, as Christ said, that their deeds might be made manifest,
that they are truly wrought of God, that this is God's work
in them and not hypocrisy. But it says, an innumerable multitude
trod one upon another. It was a loud, boisterous crowd,
much like religious gatherings today. And they all heard what
the Lord said. This was another version of the
Sermon on the Mount is what it was. They all heard, but this
was to His disciples. That's what it said. He began
to say unto His disciples first of all. Do you know who the Lord
speaks to? Do you know who the Lord reveals
the truth to? Do you know who the Lord loves? Do you know who the Lord teaches?
John 6.45, the Lord said, They shall all be taught of God, which
is taken from Isaiah, which says, All thy children shall be taught
of thee, and great shall be the peace of thy children. And the Lord said, They shall
come to me, Christ said. His disciples are those whom
He chose And those are the ones He reveals Himself to, reveals
the truth to, reveals to themselves that they're sinners in need
of mercy, in need of grace. Not worthy people, but unworthy.
He reveals to them what they are and who He is and why He
came and what He did for them, and they are grateful. He said,
They shall all be taught of God. Words of warning first to his
disciples. Verse 1, he says, Beware of the
leaven of the Pharisee, which is hypocrisy. Oh, my. Hypocrisy. What that means is
playing a part, acting a part, pretending to be what you're
not. We get the modern day word of actor from the word hypocrisy,
hypocrite. Isn't hypocrisy a product of
vanity and pride? David said this, Surely every
man walketh in a vain show. Look at me. Listen to me. Look
at what I have accomplished. Look at what I own. Look at what
I've become. Look at what I've done. Look
at what I wear. Look at what I drive. Look where
I live. The Son of God had none of those things. meek and lowly. Verse 15 here in the text says,
Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not
in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Scripture
says, He that hath the Son hath life. These things are not life,
If things are your life, that means you're dead and trespassed
in sin. Hypocrisy means appearing to
be what you are not, trying to look, trying to act a certain
way, acting and playing a part to be seen or heard. Oh, we are
heard and seen, all right, by God. Because all things are naked
and open before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. And
then our Lord said in verses 2 and 3, There is nothing covered
that shall not be revealed, neither hid that shall not be known.
Whatever is spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light.
That which is spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed
upon the housetop. Beware, He said. In a very short
time it shall all be known. It shall all be revealed. Everything
shall be exposed for what it truly is. All the Lord's true
disciples will be known, and those who just sounded like disciples
and looked like disciples shall be exposed for the hypocrites
that they are. The Lord is warning His friends.
He calls them friends. Now, if the world is in your
heart and you think on You go after, you walk with, you look
like, you sound like. If you're a friend to the world,
you're not the friend of God. That's what the Scripture says.
That means you're of the world. And God's people are not of this
world, not His disciples. Listen carefully. Hats and bonnets
do not make one a Christian. Long clothing doesn't make one
a Christian. Abstaining from alcohol and tobacco
doesn't make you a Christian. There's nothing entering the
mouth that defiles a man. Sin comes from the heart. God
makes Christians and it begins in the heart. Here's more words
of warning. He says in verse 4, I say unto
you, my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body, and
after that they have no more that they can do. I will forewarn
you whom you shall fear. Fear Him, that is, God, which
after He hath killed hath power to cast into hell. Yea, I say
unto you, fear Him. The Lord says to His disciples,
His true people, His chosen ones, I will forewarn you, fear God. God who says, I kill and I make
alive, I wound and I heal. Fear Him. It used to be said
of those who were thought to be Christians or true believers
that they were God-fearing men and women. Not anymore. David
said in Psalm 36, the transgression of the wicked saith within my
heart there is no fear of God before their eye. In other words,
everything he saw and heard from the wicked, that means openly
immoral, outwardly wicked, and religious wicked. False religion
says there is no fear of God before their eye. The same thing
is true today. What men say, using God's name
in vain and religion is the worst. What they say about God, making
Him to be like a man, says there is no fear of God before their
eyes. That's what Paul said in Romans 3.18, no fear. Who really
believes God is God? Killed, making alive, sovereign,
reigning and ruling, doing as He will. Who really believes
His Word? Those who do, Fear Him. Those who do believe God, those
who fear God, repent. They cry unto the Lord, O Lord,
forgive me. O Lord, have mercy upon me. They
worship Him in spirit and truth from the heart. They thank Him.
They live before Him, conscious of Him, in His sight. To those
who do, those who fear Him, believe, repent, call, worship, the Lord
says fear not. He says to them, Verse 6, Are
not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them
is forgotten before God? Even the very hairs of your head
are all numbered. Fear not, therefore, you have
more value than many sparrows. You see, those who fear God do
so because He gave them that fear. He gave them a knowledge
of themselves. Those who repent, it's the goodness
of God that leads them to it. Those who call, call because
He first called them. And they know that they're nothing,
and they know that Christ is all. And to those whom Christ
is all, that's who Christ died for. That's who Christ paid an
infinite price for. Those who Christ died for, God
loves them. God loves them, and they are
worthy to Him. because of the payment Christ
made for them. Scripture says the world is not
worthy of them, but they are worthy to God and shall be with
Him in glory someday because that's who Christ came for. That's
who Christ died for. That's whom God loved. What about
you? Do you fear God? Do you fear
the Lord? I pray that He will make it so
with you. Until next Sunday, good day.