Rough Draft of 7 Leavens

We all like great tasting food. What’s your favorite meal? What ingredients make it absolutely scrumptious to your taste buds? What dish makes you want to say, this delight must be just a little slice of Heaven? We all have something that we really enjoy. Have you ever had a meal, either that you made, or that someone prepared for you, that you thought was going to be delicious, only to find out, something went wrong, some ingredient was awry. Either something was spoiled or rotten, or an ingredient was added that didn’t belong there.

Donna, having coffee with salt, rather than sugar. My lunch, that had been sitting in my cubicle for a weekend.

This morning we are going to look at a warning that Jesus gives to the crowd, concerning a recipe for a blessed life, enjoying the fruit of the Spirit within our lives. Mother’s this is the very likely some of the best “cooking advice” you’ll ever get. I could have given you a list of 7 things to avoid as ingredients in your life, but I turned it around and will instead propose 7 ingredients that will create a marvelous, glorious perfection of a life for you.

Luke 12:1–3 ESV

1 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees. Hypocrisy is the leaven of man’s wisdom. Hypocrisy= false/fake religion. Fraudulent liars, deceived and deceiving.

Mark 7:6 ESV

6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;

We can think of these 7 things as a list of ingredients that will create a mouthwatering fruit salad, that is for a Fruit of the Spirit salad, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

Luke 13:20–21 ESV

20 And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

Fear God!

Fearing man, rather than God the Father, the Hypocrite/actor cares more about what other men think of them than what God thinks of them. They are more concerned with the outward appearance than the state of their heart, which God knows.

Luke 12:4–5 ESV

4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

God is the One deserving of our fear and respect. We aren’t helping ourselves or others if we aren’t honest about the judgement of God. NOT CONDEMNATION, Compassion of guiding them to reality.

Praise Jesus!

Luke 12:8–9 ESV

8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, 9 but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

For the Christian, giving praise to the Lord Jesus Christ, is one of the most easily spoken and habitual communications, that come out of our mouths, and a life of adoration and gratefulness is clearly seen by our words and deeds.

We are the light of the world, we are a city on a hill that cannot be hidden. It is not “what we do”, it is “who we are” in Christ Jesus.

Believe the Breath of God!

Blaspheming the Holy Spirit

Luke 12:10–12 ESV

10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Reviling, slandering or rejecting the Holy Spirit is what blaspheming the Holy Spirit means. Instead of slandering or rejecting the counsel of the “breathe of God” we should trust the counsel of the Holy Spirit.

When the Spirit prompts us, we act, when the Spirit guides us toward peace and rest, we remain at peace and at rest.

We’ve covered three of the “7 Leavens”. Maybe you picked up on this already, but I thought it was worth pointing out. These are the three main ingredients to a spiritually fruitful life and that is because the three of them relate to the Three Persons of the Trinity.

These first three “leavens” are relating to the Trinity directly

Fear the Father, Praise the Son and Believe the Spirit

Three In One, Father Spirit Son- One God in three persons, that we Love with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. That is the key ingredient to a life of Spiritual fruit.

Now we will move on to the other “4 leavens” which Jesus taught His disciples about in Luke 12.

Seek Heavenly Treasures

Luke 12:13–21 ESV

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

It is not a sin to have wealth or riches, to be blessed financially or materially, but those who are should not “love” it rather than love God. 1 Tim 6:17 teaches us that God gives us all things to enjoy. But the warning here is that we should not forget the provider and sustainer, who is the One that blesses us with such things.

Beware of covetousness and greed. The love of money has many paths that lead to the wide gate, which leads to destruction.

What does it mean to be rich towards God?

Matthew 6:21 ESV

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Luke 11–17: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Application

The antidote to foolish, sinful, materialistic greed is to use what God has given us for His glory and the benefit of others.

Don’t Fret the small stuff

Do not become anxious about the things of this life

Luke 12:22–34 ESV

22 And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. 32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

You’ve heard the saying, money talks. Well, that is very true. Our use of the blessings and resources that God has given to us, says a lot about where our focus and attention is. It says a lot about what our priorities are.

I can tell you countless examples of both rich and poor, that have exemplified the love of God with the things that God has given them. I could also tell you stories of people who made poor choices, that had a tremendous, life altering effect on their lives, because their priorities were on earthly things, and their anxiety and worry over such things, lead them to additional poor choices and other stories of people who were very poor, but lived in contentment, behaving as good stewards of the few things they had, and as a result have brought honor and glory to God our Father, and have many opportunities to lead others to know His peace.

Always be ready

Luke 12:35–40 ESV

35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

There was a Christian movie series, that was released back in the early 70’s. The series included, A Thief In the Night & A Distant Thunder. I have a very vivid memory of watching those two films as a young boy, and wanting to be absolutely certain that I was going to be ready for Christ’s return. Though the movie was not worthy of an Oscar nomination, and may have not been completely theologically accurate, it left a big impression in my mind for years. Being ready for the Lord’s return is one of the key ingredients, that Jesus taught His followers. It is a good question to ask ourselves, not because we doubt God’s ability to keep us and preserve our inheritance, but because there are some who claim to know Christ, who may not truly be saved. It is well worth considering and reflecting upon.

And so we are to the last of the 7 ingredients, which we find in verses 54-56.

Luke 12:54–56 ESV

54 He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

Know the way of God

How is it that we interpret the present time? We do so by meditating on the Word of God, by seeing things through the lens of Scripture. Jesus was accomplishing the very things the prophets foretold, yet the Scribes and Pharisees, denied that He could indeed have been the Promised Messiah. They gave lip service to God, and sought to convince men, that they were holy, but their hearts were not receptive to the Words of Scripture.

We can not be ignorantly foolish and lazy, when it comes to being a student of the Word of God. The Word that is profitable for teaching, reproof correction and instruction, that is able to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. The very thing that Jesus said, at the beginning of chapter 12, what is said in the dark will be revealed in the light.

7 Leavens

Fear God!

Praise Jesus!

Believe the Breath of God!

Seek Heavenly Treasures

Don’t Fret the Small Stuff

Always Be Ready

Know the way of God

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