Mark 8:14-21 - Ruining bread and the Church
Gospel of Mark • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 10 viewsJesus teaches on false doctrine and Christian growth
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Pray
Joel and Mary Nadel, Covenant Church
Joel and Mary Nadel, Covenant Church
From J.C. Ryle’s “Expository Comments on the Gospels - Mark”
From J.C. Ryle’s “Expository Comments on the Gospels - Mark”
House Rules: Phones, Respect, Stay on the Text
House Rules: Phones, Respect, Stay on the Text
And they had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. And He was giving orders to them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” They began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? “Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.” “When I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?” And they said to Him, “Seven.” And He was saying to them, “Do you not yet understand?”
Jesus’ Ministry Travels
Jesus’ Ministry Travels
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
Introduction
Introduction
Mark is one of the Gospels - it tells us how we can be reconciled to God and gain eternal life
Preceded by John, Jesus came from Galilee
John got the people’s attention
Jesus began his ministry
Signs and wonders demonstrated His lessons
Cripples, diseases, resurrections, casting out demons
Created food from nothing - controlled the weather
Knew He was going to the cross - trained His disciples
Last week: We saw how Jesus fed a crowd of 4000 people over in the Decapolis - a predominantly gentile area.
This week: After another encounter with the Pharisees, Jesus instructs His disciples on two subjects - False teaching and patience in Christian growth
And they had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. And He was giving orders to them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
1. A warning about false teachings
1. A warning about false teachings
The Lord gives a serious warning at the beginning of this passage
If we look to Matthew, we don’t have to guess the meaning
Matt 16:12 “Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
by leaven, Jesus is talking about the teachings
Pharisees were self-righteous and legalistic
The Law is strict and unforgiving - the Lord is not
Herod’s officials were driven by worldly ideas and concepts - the mixed Jewish beliefs with worldly political philosophy
Jesus warns His disciples to be on guard against these kinds of teaching
Across history, Christians would have done well to remember Christ’s teaching here
Attacks from outside the church have never done nearly as much harm as the rise of false doctrines within
Easy believism in our day
False prophets who claim to be in the church have done far more damage to the cause of Christ than the persecutions of Rome or Russia , China, North Korea, or Japan
Speech and the pen have done far more damage
Leaven (yeast) is a good example or analogy to teach about false teaching
Describes small beginnings of false doctrine, the way it subtly works its way into religion, then changes the whole character of Christianity (health and wealth)
This is the great danger of false doctrine (boiled frog)
We need to check ourselves to see if we are truly in the faith
The Bible is our metric/mirror
We cannot toy with false teaching any more than we can toy with lies
Once we begin to accept them, they will infect us and our beliefs in a bad way, lead us away from the faith
Its like a crack in a dam, first a trickle, then a flood
Gal. 5:9 “A little leaven leavens the whole lump.”
And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? “Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember,
2. The dull understanding of the disciples
2. The dull understanding of the disciples
Thought He was talking about bread
He was actually speaking of doctrine
Obviously, they didn’t need to worry about bread - twice fed thousands
These disciples were saved Christians, yet they were having trouble understanding spiritual things
Their spiritual eyes were dim and they were slow in understanding things about the kingdom of God
Let’s be careful not to think too highly of ourselves
We may have high thoughts about our own wisdom - this should keep us humble
We need to be patient in learning biblical truth
Our knowledge, like everything else, is far from perfect, but our wisdom has grown since we came to know Christ
We are more ignorant than we are aware of
1 Cor 8:2 “If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.”
Bringing it home - dealing with new Christians
Bringing it home - dealing with new Christians
We need to remember this lesson when sharing with new Christians
Cannot expect perfection in a new convert
Leaven can be especially damaging to a new Christian
We need to understand when they come off as godless or graceless - gently correct - from the Bible
Heart may be right with God, but slow in understanding he may see only part of the truth, the whole truth comes later, with the Holy Spirit
Must bear patiently, but not cast aside
Needs time to grow in grace and knowledge, just like Peter and John
Christ despises none of His people
Frustrating as their slowness is, he is always patient
Persistently teaches “line upon line, precept upon precept”
We need to do the same - never look down on the weakness or dullness of new Christians
Wherever we catch of glimpse of true grace, no matter how dim or mixed with misunderstanding, we need to be helpful and kind
Just the way we would ask others to do for us.
Prayers
Prayers
Questions
Questions