In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. (Luke 12:1)
God does not like hypocrisy, the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform, pretense; or as the old saying goes, "being two faced". The Pharisees ...false teaching is like a little yeast [leaven] that spreads through the whole batch of dough! I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you. (Galatians 5:9-10 NLT) For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. (Luke 12:2-3) As much as we can, we have to do our best to always speak the truth; Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (II Timothy 2:15) Then we won't have to be ashamed when what we have said in the dark is heard in the light, nor when what we've said in secret is told to others.
“And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him! “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Luke 12:4-7) No matter what any human being may think of us, we ALL are of great value to God! We are the only things He create in His and His Son's ... image, according to Our likeness... (Genesis 1:26) We should not be as concerned with man's opinion of us, as we should be of God's opinion. Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant. (Galatians 1:10 NLT) Man doesn't have a heaven or a hell to put us in, but God does, so we shouldn't fear false teachers or unbelievers opinions of us. Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!
“Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. “And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven. “Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” (Luke 12:8-12) We have to be bold witnesses for Christ, no matter what the consequence may be. (see THE GOSPEL: Price of Being a Follower of Christ) We have to be sure that we are saved and not just "surface" believers, but that the Holy Spirit is "planted" in us. (see THE GOSPEL: First Parable, the Sower) Without the Holy Spirit, we can not be saved because He is our confirmation from God that we are saved. (see THE GOSPEL: "The Unforgivable Sin") Through the Holy Spirit, God will speak through us, For the Holy Spirit will teach us what we ought to say.
Nothing man can do to us compares to what God is going to do through and for us! We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. ...we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke." [Psalm 116:10] ... That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. (II Corinthians 4:7-18 NLT) AMEN
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