Now turn your Bible to Mark chapter
8. Mark chapter 8. Now notice just
for a moment verse 15. My text will be Mark chapter
8 verse 10 down through verse 21. The title of the message
is taken from verse 15. And the title of the message
is, Take heed and beware of the leaven. You see verse 15? He
charged them, that is His disciples, saying, Take heed, beware of
the leaven. Double warning. Take heed, and
then you beware. Beware the leaven, the sin, the
Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod. Our Lord gives a double
warning about the leaven, which is sin. Always a picture and
type of sin. Beware of the sin of false religion,
false religious doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Beware of self-righteousness
and formalism. Our Lord said of those Pharisees
in Luke 16, you are they which justify yourselves before men. God knows your heart. That which
is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight
of God. So beware, beware of this sin
of false doctrine, self-righteousness. One old wise preacher of the
past said this, every error in religion has been said to be
a truth abused. And I believe he's right. A truth
that's been abused and misused. Our Lord not only gives us a
warning concerning the Pharisees and the Sadducees, but He also
says, take heed and beware of this. Notice in verse 15. Beware of the sin of Herod. He was the king in that part
of the country. He had a following called the
Herodians. He gives us a warning, our Lord
does, about the godless leader, Herod. Beware of his sin. Take heed and beware of that
sin of worldliness. That's what Herod represents.
That sin of skepticism. That sin of unbelief. That sin
of paganism. That sin of atheism. That sin
of secularism. You beware of that. So there's
a double warning. Both beware of formalism, ceremonialism,
and also of secularism, humanism, trying to bring God down to our
level. Beware of these errors. And these
errors will creep in among us if we don't take heed. They will.
We need a steady diet of solid Bible preaching and teaching
of the Word of God. When the Apostle Paul departed
from those elders at Ephesus, he gave them a warning to feed
the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. And then
he said, you take heed and beware, because people will creep in
from among your own selves and bring in damning heresies to
bring a following after them. So take heed and beware. A formalism? and humanism, of secularism. So beware. The Lord of Glory had just performed
a mighty miracle of grace. He took seven loaves of bread
and a few small fishes and fed thousands and thousands of people
on several different occasions. And they took up all these baskets
full. They had fed all these thousands
of people on two different occasions, and then they took up baskets
full of food. They had all eaten, all had been
satisfied, and yet there was plenty left over. The storehouse
of God's mercy is infinite. You cannot exhaust the storehouse
of His love. You cannot exhaust the storehouse
of His grace. You cannot exhaust the storehouse
of His salvation, His forgiveness, and His righteousness. Oh, He
was rich in mercy for His great love, wherewith He loves us. He's able to supply all our need. And I tell you, my need is great. But He's able to supply all my
need according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus. I remember the Scripture in Romans
11. Don't turn. Let me just quote
it to you. the breadth and length and depth of God's love and His
mercy. In Romans 11, 33, one of my favorite
scriptures, Oh, the depth of the rich is both the wisdom and
knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His judgments and His ways.
Past. Past. Finding out. God is infinite. Infinite. Now
notice, if you will, verse 10. Mark chapter 8, verse 10. And
straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came
to the part of Dalmanutha. And the Pharisees came forth
and began to dispute with him, question him, seeking a sign
from heaven, tempting him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit
and said, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? Verily I say
unto you, there shall be no sign given to this generation but
that which is already written in the word of God. All the prophets
give testimony to him. And he left them and departed
from them and entered into the ship and went to the other side. The Lord once again is on the
move. He dismissed the crowd and immediately he boards a ship
and sails away. What a great privilege these
people had of Magdala and Dalmutha. They had a great privilege. The
Lord of Glory was in their midst among them. Yet we do not read
of one person that took advantage of the privilege given to them.
The Lord was met by a group of religious debaters who wanted
to argue doctrine. Because of their foolishness,
the Lord turned away from them, entered into the ship, and sailed
away. He left them. What a sad day for that city.
A solemn and sad day for those people. The Lord of glory left
them. May the Lord be pleased not to
remove the gospel preaching from our city, our country, our county. May the Lord be pleased to establish
a gospel witness here for our children, for our children's
children, that the gospel of God's grace may run well, that
the gospel of God's grace may be clearly, distinctly preached
and declared unto this generation, and generations to come. May
the Lord be pleased to continue the gospel ministry here among
us and not leave us and depart from us, this community. Now
we see in our message today the Lord deals with two different
groups of people, does he not? Two different groups of people
we see here in this text. Friend and foe. Friend and foe. The Pharisees
were certainly enemies to the gospel of God's grace. The disciples
were His chosen, His beloved people. All of us fall into one
of these two groups, friend or foe. Our Lord said, those who
are not with me are against me. Friend or foe, and there's no
middle ground. Now, here's the first thing. We see
the Lord Jesus confronted and challenged by the foe, the enemies
of the gospel, the enemies of God's grace, in verse 11 down
through verse 13. And the Pharisees came forth,
verse 11, and began to dispute, wrangle with Him, argue with
Him, seeking of Him a sign from heaven. and putting Him to the
test. Now notice carefully, they did
not come with a sincere interest to learn of Him. They came with
a self-righteous attitude to ensnare Him, to challenge Him,
to debate with Him. They come with their mind already
made up that He's not the Christ. But rather, they come with their
mind made up that He is. An imposter? They came to question
and to debate with Him, to investigate Him, to quibble with Him, to
quarrel with Him. They didn't come to learn of
Him. Such is the way of the enmity
of the old fleshly nature that we have. Always debating, questioning
God and His wisdom. The carnal mind is yet enmity
against God. The enemies of the gospel of
God's grace always put to question His Word, His providence, His
gospel, with question, debate, and quarrel, instead of bowing
to the Lord Jesus Christ. They're always objecting to the
gospel of God's grace. And it usually comes in a form
of, but, what about this? But, what about that? Or it comes in the way of this
objection, well I thought. The problem is our thoughts left
to ourselves are totally contrary to truth. Now you mark it down. What you think salvation is in
your own wisdom, mind and thinking, God's salvation is just the opposite.
Mark it down. It's just the opposite. I like
what my pastor used to say all the time when people wanted to
question and debate with him and argue with him. He would say this, you just sit
still and listen to the Word, listen to the Gospel, find out
what God says in His Word and study His Word. You sit still
and listen and all your questions will be answered. You just sit
still and listen. Wasn't this the same thing that
Moses was commanded at the Red Sea to tell the people? God told
Moses to say this, when the people were up against the Red Sea and
the army pouncing down upon them, they couldn't go back, they couldn't
go forward, they couldn't go to the right or to the left,
and no doubt they were saying, well, Moses, why didn't you just
leave us alone? They began to reason and debate
among themselves, and God said this, Moses, you tell them to
stand still and see the salvation of God. Our Lord said the same
thing to David. Be still and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth.
They came to question him. Why did you come today? Did you
come to seek Him who is salvation? Did you come to learn of Him?
Or did you come to argue? Come to debate? Secondly, they came to tempt
Him. You see that? Seeking a sign from Heaven, tempting
Him. They came to argue with Him.
They came to challenge Him. They came to tempt Him. Not to
be taught by Him, but to challenge Him. Saying, produce a sign.
Produce a miracle from Heaven. Show us a wonder in the heavens
and we'll believe you." You think they would have believed? Remember
what they said when he was nailed to the tree in this same religious
crowd? They said, he saved others, himself
he cannot save. If you be the king, you come
on down, unfasten yourself right now, come on down and we'll believe
you. Show us the sign, we'll believe
you. Were not all the miracles he performed, the feeding of
the thousands, the raising of the dead, the healing of those
who were blind, and the cripple, the healing of the leper, were
all those miracles that he performed from heaven? Weren't they all
signs from heaven? And yet they refused to believe
the miracles he had already done. The apostle wrote this in 1 Corinthians
chapter 1, The Jews require a sign. Religious people are always looking
for a sign. And the Greeks seek after wisdom.
They're not any better. But we preach Christ crucified
unto the Jews a stumbling block, unto the Greeks foolishness,
but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ
the power of God and Christ the wisdom of God. Now notice this
in Mark 8 verse 12. When they came debating with
him and tempting him, he sighed deeply in his spirit. He sighed deeply. He sighed. He groaned over their unbelief. He groaned over their wicked
heart. He groaned over their sin. He
groaned being grieved by the hardness of their heart. You
see, this is not the first time he had heard this. Turn back
to Matthew chapter 12. This is not the first time he
heard this clamor from this religious crowd. Matthew chapter 12, verse
38. Then certain of the scribes and
the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from
thee. Look what he said. But he answered,
and said unto them, An evil An adulterous generation seeketh
after a sign, but there shall be no sign given to it but the
sign of the prophet Jonah." You don't need a sign. What you need
is the Word of God. What you need is the truth of
God. For if Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's
belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights
in the heart of the earth. That whole story of Jonah preaches
the gospel of God's grace to us. The men of Nineveh shall
rise in judgment with this generation, and I shall condemn it." They
repented at the preaching of Jonah. Behold a greater, a greater
preacher than Jonah is here. A wicked and adulterous generation
always seeking after signs, instead of seeking mercy where mercy
is found. They were seeking signs, wonders,
miracles, and feelings. Isn't that the essence of sin?
The essence of sin. Finding hope of salvation in
something or someone other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Unbelief. Trusting feelings,
traditions, or miracles. I like what the old Reformer
Luther said about feelings. Feelings come and feelings go.
Feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the Word of God. Nothing else is worth believing. The Lord repeats His answer in
Matthew 12 and in Matthew 16 and here in Mark 8. He directs
them to one source, a safe source, the Word of God and the Gospel
of the Lord Jesus. He repeats His answer and gives
them The truth. What you need is to hear the
Word of God. The Word of the Lord. Our Lord
said on another occasion to this same crowd in John chapter 5
verse 39, He said, you do search the Scriptures and in them you
think you have eternal life, but they are they which testify
of Me to all the prophets. All the prophets give witness
to Him. They all speak of Him. Moses. wrote of him. Abraham, our Lord
said, he saw my day, he rejoiced in my day. Isaiah wrote of him. Jeremiah wrote of him. All the
prophets, including Jonah and Micah and Obadiah and Zechariah,
all those prophets speak of who? Who do they say? Who do they
point sinners to? The Lord Jesus Christ, Him alone. And the story
of Jonah, his life, And his story is certainly a type and picture
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus. Jonah, when he was swallowed
by that fish that God had prepared, and was taken down to the bottom
of the sea, and the seaweed wrapped around his head, and the acid
from that stomach began to eat on him, And then he was vomited
out. And he declared salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation
is of the Lord. And all that happened to Jonah
to proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus. That's exactly what
he says. As Jonah was three days in that
fish's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days in the heart
of the earth. Salvation is of the Lord in its planning. God determined salvation. Him being delivered by the determined
counsel and foreknowledge of God. Salvation is of the Lord
in its purchase. He bought us with His own blood. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
even pointed these enemies to the gospel message of Christ
Jesus. And that's what the enemy needs
to hear. What do they need to hear? The truth. Salvation of
the Lord in His planning. Salvation of the Lord in His
purchase. He bought us with His own blood. Salvation of the Lord
in His performance. You see, salvation is not based
upon my performance. It's based upon His performance. Psalm 57 says that He has performed
all things for us. Our Lord prayed in John 17, Father,
I've glorified thee on the earth. I've finished the work you gave
me to do. Salvation of the Lord in its
planning, in its purchase, in its performance. Salvation of
the Lord in its preservation. We're kept by the power of God.
Our Lord said, I give my sheep eternal life and they'll never
perish. Neither can any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave to me is greater than all.
Can you pluck one of God's precious jewels out of His hand? He said
none can stay in my hand. None can say unto me, Lord God
Almighty, what are you doing? My Father which gave to me is
greater than all and no man can pluck them out of His hand. I
and my Father, we are one. Salvation is of the Lord and
it's perfection. It's perfection. predestinated
to be conformed to the image of Christ. That's His doing. Salvation of the Lord in all
from A to Z. From Alpha to Omega. Everything
in between. Salvation of the Lord. And that's
what the Lord is telling us. Well, they didn't want to hear
that message. Look at verse 13. He left them. Entered into the
ship. again and departed to the other
side. He leaves them to perish in their
sin. What a judgment against them!
And it is a just punishment. They sinned against such privilege. The Lord of Glory in front of
them, face to face! And all they want to do is argue,
challenge, instead of bow to the Son of God. God the Son. They sinned against the privilege
they had. God visited them and they rejected Him. He came unto
His own and His own received Him not. He left them in the
darkness of their own light. And it was darkness. He left
them in the corruption of their own self-righteousness. He left
them in the ignorance of their own wisdom to perish in their
sin. To those that trust Him, He said,
I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. Turn
to Matthew 28. The last words of Matthew 28.
Record this for us. Matthew chapter 28. The risen Lord declared to his disciples,
all power is given unto me in heaven and earth. Verse 18. Go
ye therefore and teach all nations. preached the gospel, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you. And lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the world." He departed and left them to
perish in their sins. To those who look to Him, to
those who trust Him for all of salvation, He said, I'll never
leave you. No, never, no, never will I leave
you. I'm with you always, even to
the end of the world. Now, the second part of this
message, the Lord's instructions and warnings to His friends,
to His disciples. And Matthew, or rather Mark 8
verse 14, Mark 8 verse 14, Now the disciples had forgotten to
take bread, and neither had they in the ship with them more than
one loaf, or not even one loaf. And he charged them, saying,
Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod,
the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves,
saying, Is it because we've taken no bread? He instructs his friends. Our
Lord said, you are my friends if you do whatsoever I command
you. Now his strong warning here,
take heed and beware. Be cautious about the false doctrine
and teaching of salvation of sinners apart from Christ Jesus. False doctrine, how do we define
false doctrine? False doctrine is any doctrine
which makes salvation dependent upon the sinner and not upon
Christ. False doctrine is that preaching
that says that salvation depends upon you, your performance, rather
than what Christ has done. False doctrine says that God
has done all He can do and the rest is up to you. False doctrine
says God's trying to save you, but you won't let Him. Poor God.
That's false doctrine. Salvation that's taught in the
Word of God is always dependent, determined, accomplished, and
applied by the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is conditioned upon
His, as Brother Scott Richardson used to say, salvation is always
conditioned upon His doing and dying, not mine. Salvation is
always conditioned upon Him, His performance, His faithfulness,
not mine. Now, three or four things here
we need to beware of. Beware of that preaching that's
not according to the Word of God. Beware. He says that. Take
heed and beware the sin of the Pharisees. Beware of that preaching
that's not according to the, Thus saith the Lord, Isaiah 8.20. Declared, if they speak not according
to this Word, it is because there is no light in them, no salvation
in them. In Galatians chapter 5 we read,
A little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump. You remember our
study from Galatians chapter 5, where he declares, Stand fast
therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has set us free, and don't
be entangled again with the yoke of bondage. If you be circumcised
in order to be saved, Christ shall profit you nothing. If
you do something thinking that recommends you to God, if you
do something thinking that God is going to save you because
of something you do, Christ shall profit you nothing. That's what it said. A little
leaven leavens a whole lump. You bakers know what leaven does
to a lump of flour. swells up and infects the whole
lump. So beware of that preaching that
is not according to the scripture. Secondly, beware of that preaching
that does not honor all the attributes of God in justifying sinners. The gospel of God's grace magnifies
His love and His justice, does it not? It magnifies His love
and His justice. The gospel of God's grace magnifies
His mercy and His righteousness, does it not? His grace and His
holiness. You see, the death of the Lord
Jesus Christ doesn't change the attributes of God, doesn't change
the character of God, it doesn't bring Him down from being, it
doesn't change Him from being angry to make Him loving. God
is always the same. He does not change. But in the
death of the Lord Jesus Christ, all the attributes of God are
honored. His grace and His mercy. His love and His justice. His
holiness and His truth. Jot down Psalm 85 10 and go back
and read it sometime. Mercy and truth are met together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Where did
that happen? At Calvary. You see, true gospel
preaching honors all the attributes of God in the salvation of a
sinner. And that's how we see how God
can be just and justify the ungodly. How God can be a just, holy God
and a Savior. How God can save me, not at the
expense of His holiness. But in the gospel, His holiness
is honored. His justice is honored. His law
is honored in Christ crucified, in Christ dying for the sin of
His covenant people. So beware of that preaching that's
contrary to the Scripture. Beware of that preaching that
does not honor all of God in the attributes, all the attributes
of God in the salvation of a sinner. Thirdly, beware of that preaching
that would discredit and discount God's ordained method of revealing
His gospel. Beware of that. Beware of those
who say that God works without means. No, He works by means. The Lord is the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world, but what happened in time? He
did come and He did die. So beware of that preaching that
would discredit and discount God's ordained method of revealing
His gospel to His people by His Word, written and preached, and
by the revelation of God the Holy Spirit. It takes God to
reveal God to our heart. So beware of that. Fourthly,
beware of that preaching, that message that does not exclude
all boasting in the sinner. God forbid that we should glory
save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. True gospel preaching
excludes all ground of boasting. except in Christ. Now we glory
in Him. We boast of Him. And we rejoice
in Christ Jesus. Fifthly, beware of that preaching
that does not make everything of Jesus Christ in salvation
and all of salvation in Him. Beware of that message that says
that you must perform a righteousness to satisfy God. Now beware of
that. You remember what Paul wrote
in Romans 10? Those Jews being ignorant of God's righteousness,
going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted
themselves unto the righteousness of God. Where is the righteousness
of God revealed? In the Gospel. He is our righteousness. So beware of that message that
says salvation is something other than Christ alone. Christ alone. The Lord Jesus Christ is all
the sinner's righteousness. He is the Lord our righteousness.
The Lord Jesus Christ alone is all our redemption. In whom we
have redemption. The forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of His grace. Beware of that message. It's
contrary to those five things. Now in closing, I want you to
notice this. The Lord had just profoundly
told them, beware of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Beware of the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves,
saying, is it because we have no bread? And it's almost like
they didn't hear a word He said. And the Lord said to them in
verse 17, Why reason ye, because ye have
no bread? Perceive ye not, neither do ye
understand? As your heart yet hardened, verse
17, having eyes ye don't see, having ears ye do not hear, and
don't ye remember what I have already done? You have been an
eyewitness to the miracles. And yet their heart was so unmoved. When I break the five loaves
and fed five thousand, took up baskets full, 7 loaves and 4,000? How you still have plenty left? How is it you don't know? How
is it you don't understand? Verse 16, they started blaming
one another for not bringing enough bread for lunch that day.
The Lord reminded them what He had already done. And yet they
worried about feeding 13 people. How slow we are to recognize
how the Lord has provided all things for us. He is Jehovah
Jireh. He's provided all things for
us and yet we're going to quibble about, did you bring lunch today? John, did you forget to bring
bread? Peter! He reminds them of his past performance
as a guarantee of his future supply. In this, you know what
we see? We see the dullness and unbelief
of our own understanding in spiritual things. Now, if you can't identify with
them, I fear for you. We see the dullness and unbelief
of our own understanding in spiritual things. One old preacher said
this, How much are we like them? There is more ignorance in our
heart than we are aware of. I'm fearful that that's true.
Filled with worry and doubt, when the Lord says throughout
His Word, little children, fear not, I am with you. And yet we
fret. And yet we worry. Psalm 37 says
fret not. Fret not, but trust the Lord.
As long as we're in this flesh, we'll struggle to grasp and really
understand completely all spiritual blessings. In this sinful flesh,
we'll always know in part and preach in part. You remember
what the Lord said to those men the risen Lord that approached
him on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24, O fool, slow of heart
to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ
to have suffered and enter into His glory? And you are slow of
heart to believe all things. Now, someday in His presence,
without this vile nature that we are plagued with, We say with
the Apostle Paul, O wretched man that I am, someday in His
presence, without this vile, sinful nature, we'll completely
know as we have been known, and we'll have all understanding,
see all mysteries clearly, but now we see through a glass, darkly,
in a riddle. He rebukes him in verse 21, How
is it you don't understand? How is it you don't understand? Now listen to me. Why is it that
our Lord so plainly, throughout the Word, sets before us the
weakness, failures, and sin, and unbelief, and dullness of
understanding in the lives of His own beloved people? Why does
the Lord tell us about the weakness and failings of David? of Abraham,
of Jacob, of Peter, who denied the Lord three times. Even in this same chapter, Mark
chapter 8, look at verse 31. Mark 8, 31. He began to teach
them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected
of the elders and of the chief scribes, the chief priest and
scribes, and be killed after three days raised again. He began to teach them, the Son
of Man must suffer, must go, must die, must be raised up.
Look at verse 32. And he spake that saying openly,
and Peter took him and began to rebuke him. I tell you, And when he had turned
about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get
behind me. You're an ally to Satan. If you're trying to prevent Christ
crucified, you've lined up with the enemy. For thou savest not
the things that be of God, but those things that be of men.
Why does the Lord so plainly set before us the failures of
his own people? Why did he cover it up? Why does
He expose their weakness, their sinfulness, their doubts, their
fears? Let me send you home by having
you think upon these things. I'll give you several reasons
why, four reasons why, and I'll send you home. You think on these
things. Why does the Lord expose us as we are? Here's the first one, to show
us that salvation is for weak, frail, dependent sinners. He
said, I didn't come to call the righteous, sinners to repentance. This is a faithful saying worthy
of all acceptation that the Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners. Paul said, I'm the chief one.
Why does the Lord expose us so? To show us that salvation is
for sinners, for the weak, the dependent. Paul wrote this in
Galatians, or rather Colossians, 1 Corinthians actually where
it's found. God, but God had chosen the foolish things of
the world to confound the wise, and God had chosen the weak things
of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and
the base things of the world and things which are despised
had God chosen, yea, and the things that are not, to bring
to naught the things that are, that no flesh should glory in
his presence. God had chosen the weak, the
base, the foolish, that he might get all the honor and glory. Why does God expose us for what
we are? Secondly, to show us and remind
us that our salvation is totally dependent upon His work, not
ours. His faithfulness, not ours. Now hold your place, or if you
just turned to Galatians chapter 2, I want you to see this. That we might put no confidence
in the flesh, Galatians 2 verse 16, Knowing
that a sinner is not justified by the works of the law, but
by the faith of Jesus Christ, or the faithfulness of Jesus
Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ that we might be justified by the faithfulness of the Lord
Jesus Christ, not by the works of the law. For by the works
of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight. You see,
it's not by my faithfulness. It's by His. By His. Thirdly, to show us that we need
to be patient and understanding, forbearing and forgiving one
another. How patient the Lord is with
His erring people. His people who stumble. His people
who are weak. Teaching us that we need to be
long-suffering, patient and gentle with those who need understanding. Lastly, why
does He expose us for what we are? To remind us we must never imagine,
not as long as we're in this body of flesh, that we have arrived
at anything close to perfection. The Apostle in Philippians 3,
Oh that I may win Christ and be found in him. Oh that I may
know him and the power of his resurrection. David recorded in Psalm 17, As
for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be
satisfied when I awake with his likeness. So then my friend,
Take heed and beware of the leaven, the doctrine, the sin of the
religious and the irreligious. Formalism, secularism. We need a steady diet of thus
saith the Lord.