OVERCOMING SPIRITUAL DECEPTION
Last Sunday we listened to Jesus powerful words regarding the signs of the times. In His confrontation with the religious leaders, Jesus condemned their lack of spiritual insight to recognize the signs of their times regarding the coming of the Messiah and what God was doing. They saw, heard and experienced numerous undeniable, miraculous signs and they chose to deny them. They were totally blind to what they saw and to what God was doing. Because of their unwillingness to believe the truth, their hearts became hard toward God, causing spiritual blindness and deception.
That is exactly what is happening in this generation. Just as God gave undeniable signs to the generation of Christ’s first coming, even so, He is now giving clear, undeniable signs of Christ’s second coming.
And just as the generation of His first coming were blind to Christ’s arrival, even so, our generation, this generation, is also blind to what God is doing and the signs that announce the nearness of His return.
The Bible clearly predicts that in the days before Christ’s return spiritual blindness and deception would be rampant on a worldwide scale. This is happening right now in our generation. It is another clear sign from God warning us that Christ return is near and very sure.
This morning, I want us to pay close attention to the serious warning Jesus gave to His disciples regarding spiritual blindness and deception.
Matthew 16:5 When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread.
6 "Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." 7 They discussed this among themselves and said, "It is because we didn't bring any bread." 8 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, "You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? 9 Do you still not understand? Don't you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 11 How is it you don't understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." 12 Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (NIV)
There are several things happening here that fully apply to us and this generation.
THE WARNING
First there is Jesus warning and command.
This warning from Jesus to His disciples is the same warning He has for us and this generation. Listen to His words.
Matthew 16:6 "Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
Did you hear the seriousness in His voice and the warning in His words?
Jesus was not making small idle conversation here. He was giving His disciples a serious warning in the form of a command to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. It is the same warning for us and this generation.
The Greek word for “be careful” is horao, which literally means to clearly see and take notice. Jesus is literally saying; don’t be fooled. Don’t get taken by surprise; pay very close attention to the leaven of Pharisees.
To understand what this warning means for us, we must first understand the Biblical meaning of leaven.
Leaven
In the days of Jesus, leaven was used for many purposes and it was especially used as a form of yeast to cause dough to rise in bread. They would save a small piece of unbaked dough and use it to start the next batch of dough. It only took a small piece of leaven / yeast to cause the whole batch of dough to rise.
Throughout the New Testament, the spiritual meaning regarding leaven has almost always represented evil and false teaching. So here’s the point.
Just as a little amount of leaven, can affect and influence a whole batch of unbaked dough; even so just a little bit of false teaching and spiritual deception can also affect the outcome of your life and your eternal destiny.
This is exactly why Jesus was so concerned and why He warned His disciples to stay away from the influence and the false teachings of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He compared their teachings to leaven because like leaven and yeast, their false teachings had the power to spread and have a terrible effect and influence on so many lives.
That brings us to this question; what specifically is the leaven of the Pharisees and what does it have to do with the signs of our generation and the coming of Christ?
BEWARE OF THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES
Throughout the four gospels Jesus condemned the false teachings and false doctrines of the Pharisees and Sadducees. For example;
In Matthew 15, Jesus confronted them because their traditions contradicted God’s commands and rejected the power and truth of His word. They uplifted their traditions as being more important than the word of God. There are whole religions that are doing that today and have deceived millions of people.
In Matthew 5, Jesus further said;
Matthew 5:20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the
Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. (NIV)
The Pharisees believed they could earn God’s favor and earn a place in His kingdom. They believed they could work their work into heaven and earn their righteousness by their works and attitude.
That type of false teaching is extremely dangerous and it is a teaching that so many have bought into. There are many who believe that if they are good enough they can earn the right to enter into God’s kingdom.
However, that is completely opposite of God’s word. The Bible plainly tells us there is only way into heaven and that is through Jesus Christ. It is faith in Jesus Christ that writes our name in the Lamb’s book of Life.
I want to take a moment here because this is so important. You cannot ever be good enough for heaven. It does not matter how good you are or how hard you work; you cannot earn your way to heaven. You may be the almost perfect person who has ever lived, but if you have committed on sin, just one; that one sin is enough to keep you out of heaven. Even if you have only committed one sin, you still must come to Jesus Christ and humbly confess your sin and your sins to Him and then believe in Him as your Savior and as the Son of God. Do not buy into the false idea that you can make things right and earn your way into God’s kingdom, because it will not happen.
Again in Matthew 15, Jesus called them blind guides.
Matthew 15:14 they are blind guides…" (NIV)
In Matthew 23, He pronounced judgment upon them for their deceitful lifestyle.
Matthew 23:13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. (NIV)
Spiritual blindness and spiritual deception will always lead to woe, but spiritual light found in the truth of Jesus Christ leads to eternal life in His Kingdom.
These are just a few of the many times Jesus warned against the false teachings and influence of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
OUR GENERATION OF DARKNESS
So how does this fit into our generation? Based on the word of God, I sincerely believe we are living in the final generation that will see the return of Christ. One of the most unique signs that would distinguish the final generation from other generations is the sign of spiritual deception. The Bible says that just before Christ returns there will be great spiritual deception and that many will fall away from the faith to follow false teachings. The Bible says the final generation will be marked by
the greatest influence of darkness, evil and of false teaching the world has ever known.
That is happening right now on a massive scale all over the world.
Jesus said;
Matthew 24:4 Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. (NIV)
Jesus said, not a few, but many will come in his name and will deceive many. There is no generation in history since the time of Jesus that has experienced the flood of deception and spiritual blindness like this generation has experienced.
The great turning away from God’s word that we see happening all over the world is moving us on a fast forward pace to the final fulfillment of Bible prophecy as found in the book of Revelation. Let me give you two examples from God’s word.
2 Timothy 3:1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-- 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. (NIV)
Compare that with the following verses.
1 Timothy 4:1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (NIV)
These prophetic scriptures are being fulfilled in our generation and they will have their final fulfillment during the tribulation when the whole world believes in the ultimate deception and follows the antichrist.
2 Thessalonians 2:9 The coming of the lawless one (antichrist) will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, 10 and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
This is exactly where we are headed in the near future.
GUARD YOUR HEART
How can we protect ourselves from spiritual blindness and deception?
Jesus gives us four things that He said to His disciples.
First, in Matthew 16:6 He said;
Matthew 16:6 Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
The first thing we must do is guard our hearts and to stand against the false deception of the world.
It is imperative that we guard our hearts and minds against spiritual deception.
We must guard against allowing the world and its emphasis to turn us away from the things of God and from following and obeying God’s purpose.
How do I do that?
The best way to guard against spiritual deception is to know and live by the word of God. The truth of God’s word holds the power to unmask religious deception and false teachings.
Second, we are to focus our lives on spiritual things and not on earthly things.
Matthew 16:7 They discussed this among themselves and said, "It is because we didn't bring any bread."
I can just imagine Peter saying to his brother Andrew, “See, I told you we would need
that extra basket of bread, but no, you had to give it to that little kid.”
The problem is the disciples were still focused on earthly things rather than the things of God. They were so focused on what they didn’t have, that they completely failed to see what they did have. They had with them the eternal Son of God, but just like the Pharisees, they were blind to Him being right there. We need to shift our focus from the things of this world, the eternal things of God. We need our focus to be on His kingdom and not on the false things of this world, which brings us to this point.
SECOND, WE NEED SPIRITUAL PERCEPTION
Aware of their concern, Jesus said;
Matthew 16:8 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, "You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? 9 Do you still not understand?
The disciples thought Jesus was rebuking them for not having brought any bread, when instead He was trying to teach them an important lesson.
They had quickly forgotten the mighty things they had seen the Lord do.
If we are to spiritually survive in this world of sin and deception, we need revelation that comes from spiritual perception.
Spiritual perception is gained by having faith in God; by applying the truth of His word to your life; and by the wisdom that comes from the Holy Spirit.
THIRD, REMEMBER WHAT GOD HAS DONE
Matthew 16:9 Do you still not understand? Don't you remember the five loaves for
the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?
Again, I can picture this scene in my mind. Now, we know the disciples are sometimes a little slow in catching on to things. I can picture Jesus rolling His eyes and saying, surely you remember when I fed the 5000 and the 4000? Surely you remember how much was left over?
The key word is to remember. So many times we forget the great and wonderful things God has done.
We forget His great love of grace and mercy.
We forget the times He carried us when we could not go another step.
We forget the times He spoke against the powers of darkness on our behalf.
We forget His death and resurrection
We forget that by His blood our names are written in His eternal book of Life.
Remember Jesus; remember His words to us; remember His forgiveness; remember that He is with us; remember He has prepared for us a place in His eternal kingdom that will never end.
Remember the Lord; remember His word; remember His truth;
As you remember, believe in Him.
FOURTH, UNDERSTAND AND PERCEIVE WHAT GOD IS DOING
Matthew 16:11 How is it you don't understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
12 Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (NIV)
It was only after the disciples focused on Jesus, and tuned into what He was saying that they were able to understand what He really meant. To survive the great deception of this generation, we must tune our hearts to hear His words and to carefully listen to what He is saying.
Don’t depend on the world to interpret what God is saying, listen to His word.
Before we are too hard on the disciples we must also take a close look at our own lives and see how we fit into this picture. I can assure you there have been times the Lord must have wondered how could Mark not get that. How could Mark not see that? How could Mark have missed what I was doing?
I am sure there have been times in all of our lives when the Lord has had to teach us the same truths over and over. His faithfulness and compassion to teach me and guide me is both overwhelming and humbling.
IN CLOSING, THE HARDNESS OF OUR HEARTS TO BELIEVE THE TRUTH
Look at Matthew 16:4.
Matthew 16:4 … Jesus then left them and went away. (NIV)
Because of their disbelief and their unwillingness to believe the miracles, the signs and the truth of Jesus witness, Jesus turned away from them.
Get that picture in your mind. Their hearts were so hardened against hearing the voice of God and their eyes were so spiritually blind to the truth, that Jesus turned away from them.
Those words express a powerful message. We must not allow the cares of this world, the false teachings of this world, and spiritual blindness to turn our hearts from Christ. We must not allow our hearts to grow hard and cold toward Him and His truth.
