WARNINGS

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LUKE 12:1-12
Lesson #35
WARNINGS

• Memory verse: Psalms 9:10
• The crowds around Jesus were getting so large there was a danger of being trampled.
  • You can imagine that with everyone that had some kind of illness that came to Jesus for healing was healed, the crowds would grow larger.
  • Jesus did not turn anyone away that asked for healing, but He healed them all.
• As in chapter 11, Jesus is still dealing with this “perverse generation”.
  • These were people that looked only for signs, wonders, and miracles. They did not seek God.
  • Then Jesus declared judgment on the religious leaders in a series of 10 woes.
• Read Luk 12:1-3 The First Warning
  • Jesus takes his disciples aside and gives them various warnings.
  • Warning =1= “Beware the leaven of the Pharisees”. (1)
    • What is the leaven of the Pharisees?
      • Before we discuss the warning of the leaven of the Pharisees, we must first decide what leaven represents. I am going to spend a little time on this because it is so often misused and misinterpreted.
      • In the Bible throughout the Old Testament and here in the New Testament, leaven ALWAYS REPRESENTS SOMETHING EVIL, SINFUL, OR SIN ITSELF.
        • Puffed up with pride.
        • Self-importance.
    • Read Mat 13:33-35 The Parable of the Leaven and the Meal
      • A parable that is often misinterpreted because teachers do not keep in the context of the entire Bible.
      • The common and popular misinterpretation of this parable:
        • This parable is said to mean that Christianity, hidden in the lump of the world, will permeate the world and become the conquering power.
        • Therefore, Christianity will cause the world to be saved. That idea is totally foreign to all the rest of the Bible.

The Bible teaches that the world will get worse and worse not better and better.

Christians will never be a majority, but always a minority, or what the Bible calls a remnant.

• • • • What is the symbolic meaning of leaven?
        • The characteristics of leaven:
        • Leaven (yeast) permeates dough over time to make it rise and expand.
        • Moisture, heat, and time are required for this expansion of the dough before it is baked.
      • The use of the word “leaven” in the Old Testament.
        • The first time it is used in the Bible is in Gen 19:3.
        • Lot gave unleavened bread to the angels because he knew the meaning of leaven, and that nothing unclean should be given to these angels.
        • The next reference is when the Jews left Egypt. (Exo 12:15-20)
        • No sacrifice offering should be made to God that contained leaven. (Lev 2:11 Lev 6:14-18 Exo 12:8, 15, 19, 29)

In the tabernacle on the table of showbread, only unleavened bread was allowed. This bread represented Jesus Christ, the bread of life, the sinless one.

In the Leviticus offerings some of the offerings have leaven and some do not.

When the offering was to point to Christ, the one without sin, unleavened bread was used. (Lev 2:1-11)

When the offering was to point to man or the church, leavened bread was used. (Lev 23:15-21)

• • • • The use of the word “leaven” in the New Testament:
        • Jesus used the word leaven to indicate something evil. Notice that leaven is something bad to be warned against.

Jesus spoke of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees as leaven. (Luk 12:1 Mat 16:6, 12 Mat 22:23, 29)

Jesus used it to mean worldliness when he spoke of the leaven of Herod. (Mar 8:14, 15)

• • • • • Paul’s use of leaven:

Paul used leaven as a symbol of sin. (1Cor 5:6-8 Gal 5:7-9)

We notice three things in Paul’s use of leaven:

=1= it is something which exerts a powerful and moving influence.

=2= it is something that hinders men from obeying the truth.

=3= it is specifically said that it is not from Him (God) which called you.

• • • • Notice the action of the woman in the parable of the leaven and the meal:
        • She hides the lump of leaven.
        • Therefore, leaven cannot be something good.

It cannot refer to the Gospel as many people think, for we are told not to hide the Gospel.

We are to share it openly.

• • • • • The leaven is, therefore, a false doctrine that she secretly hides and scatters. Her purpose is to stealthily introduce a foreign and corrupting element into the meal to affect its deterioration.
      • What is meant by the three measures of meal?
        • When Jesus spoke of three measures of meal, He used a phrase known by all the Jews of that time.
        • When Abraham prepared a meal for the Lord in Gen 18:6, it was a meal of fellowship.
        • Three measures of meal are equal to an ephah which was the amount offered in the meal offering (Eze 45:24 Eze 46:5,7,11)

This offering was done after the sin offering where the atonement for sin was accomplished.

The meal offering, therefore, was an offering of fellowship. (Lev 2:11)

When we accept Christ as our Savior, we realize He paid for our sins.

We are no longer separated from God by sin.

We now have fellowship with God. (Exo 16:36 Num 15:9 Num 28:12, 20, 28 Num 29:3, 9, 14)

The number, 3, in the Bible is a symbolic number that represents the Trinity. Therefore, the believer’s fellowship is with the three members of the Holy Trinity: God, the Father; Jesus, the Son of God; and God, the Holy Spirit.

• • • • What is the central truth of the Parable of the Leaven and the Meal?
        • Sin, false teachings, and false doctrine will permeate the church during the church age. They will permeate and pollute fellowship with God.
        • As a result, there will be a falling away from God (a great apostasy) at the end of the church age.
    • Therefore, the “leaven of the Pharisees” is a warning against the evil hypocrisy that Jesus discussed in detail in the ten woes of our previous lesson.
      • Jesus said that this evil will eventually be revealed openly.
      • In other words, it is impossible to live a dual lifestyle of holiness and sinfulness without the hypocritical nature eventually being revealed.
• Read Luk 12:4-7 The Second Warning
  • Warning =2= The warning about fear
    • Do not fear man that can kill the body. (4) Why?
      • Because the believer belongs to Christ, he does not need to fear physical death.
      • At physical death the believer will go to enter into eternity with Christ.
    • “But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.” (5)
      • This verse, too, is interpreted in various ways. Some say the one to fear is Satan because he is the power of the underworld.
      • However, God has the ultimate authority and power, for even Satan, death, and hell are eventually cast into the lake of fire by the power of God. (Rev 20:14)
      • Therefore, it is God Almighty that men should fear for He has the final say over the division between those who are saved and those who are not. He has power over spiritual death (an eternal separation from God).
    • Do not fear anything because the believer has ultimate value to God.
  • God knows the smallest and most intimate details of every believer that has placed his heart and life in Christ’s hands. (7) With that knowledge, there is nothing for the believer to fear.
    • Fear is the opposite of faith.
    • The believer should walk by faith and not by fear, by sight, or by feelings.
• Read Luk 12:8-12 The Third Warning
  • Warning =3= The warning about belonging to Christ
    • We see the division of mankind into believers or non-believers.
    • Therefore, the warning is to be sure you make the correct choice.
      • You identify yourself with Christ and confess Him before men, and He will identify Himself with you and acknowledge you before God, the Father. (8-9)
      • Do not speak against the Holy Spirit because that sin will not be forgiven. (10)
        • We discussed this unpardonable sin in Lesson #33.
        • We came to understand how the Holy Spirit is the means by which the unbeliever comes to Christ. To cut yourself off from the ministry of the Holy Spirit means you cut yourself off from eternal life with God.
    • And having made the correct choice by belonging to Christ, surely persecution will follow.
      • The warning to believers is to be prepared to face persecution because of his identity with Christ.
      • That preparation comes by recognizing and trusting in the presence of the Holy Spirit.
        • The indwelling Holy Spirit will guide the believer in every situation.
        • The indwelling Holy Spirit will give the believer the words to say to one’s enemies in difficult circumstances. (11-12)
  • While the eternal blessings of belonging to Christ are worth more than any manner of events on this earth, the believer must recognize that to belong to Christ puts the believer in a spiritual war that requires walking by faith through enemy territory.

Homework
Luke 12:13-34

• Application of Luk 12:1-12
  • Which of the three warnings speaks more closely to your current circumstance?
    • Warning #1 = evil teachings, doctrines, or people.
    • Warning #2 = fear
    • Warning #3 = identity with Christ
  • What encouragement did you gain from the lesson today?
• Preparation for Luk 12:13-34
  • Read Luk 12:13-34
    • Count the number of times the word “I” appears in verses 17-19.
    • Count the number of times the word “my” appears in verses 17-19.
    • What is your definition of a fool?
• Memory Verse: Luk 12:34