Highlighted New Testament Bible

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Sunday, September 30, 2012

St Matthew, Chapter 16, verses: 7-8, The Leaven: The Accusation.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees) Part 2.    

Christ was in the presence of evil as he spoke to the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  For they were the agents of evil, they were the evildoers.  Evil can not operate of its own but must operate through man.  So they sought the highest authority and corrupted the priest to do their evil.  And they spread the plague throughout the towns and villages that evil would prevail.  And Christ know of the plague.  He knew of the leaven that was being spread by evil through the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  He told his disciples to beware of that evil, to beware of the leaven being spread by the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  But they did not heed his warning.

And so the disciples became infected with the plague.  They themselves began to show signs of the infection.  They began to show signs of the leaven that was spreading about.  But they themselves were not aware.  They did not know what was happening.  They did not see yet how the leaven was affecting them.  So they began to argue among themselves about little things.
They began to show signs of the leaven taking hold of them while they were traveling.  For the leaven brought strife.  The leaven brought chaos.  The leaven brought anger, fear, hatred, hopelessness, jealousy, and many other evils that would infect the person who caught it.  And they did not know.  But Christ knew and he warned his disciples so that they would not be infected.  He warned them that they would know and see the change that it brought about within themselves.  And yet without faith, the cure to the leaven, all would be infected with the leaven.   But they began to argue among themselves, saying, "We have brought no bread.But Jesus knowing this, said, You of little faith, why do you argue among yourselves that you have no bread ?   

And the disciples became infected with the leaven because they had little faith in the one who was the source of all faith and hope.  Are we affected with the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees today?  Are we without hope?  Are we without faith that the one who came down from heaven will not provide?  Do we argue among ourselves as to where we are to get bread, where we are to get food, where we are to get clothing, where we are to get money to provide for ourselves?  After all, we are the ones, so we are told, that provide for ourselves.  We are the ones who are not dependent upon a hand out from the government or from others to provide for ourselves.  We are independent.  We have jobs, we have houses, we have cars, and money, and clothes, and big screen TVs, and smartphones, and ipads, and Internet data plans that allow us to be happy in the world we live in.  And those who are without?  Well they must be independent and provide for themselves.  This is the leaven of today.  We are independent and do not need hope, we do not need faith. 

Christ came that we may have new life.  For without belief in his sacrifice, his death and his resurrection we are dead, we have no life.  Yet, we say we believe.  We say we have faith.  We go to church each week in belief of that faith and that hope.  But when the bills come due, the money runs short, when we fear the loss of the jobs we hold, do we believe, do we have faith?  The creator of the universe wants to provide for us.  He wants to protect us.  He wants to show his love for us and yet we are infected with the leaven of the world.  Is it hard to let go?  Is it difficult to trust in the Lord

We expect miracles to happen when we pray.  Yet we are not patient enough to see them happen.  We are not faithful enough to allow our God, our Father to work in our lives.  We know not the life that has been given us is not the life in the world but the life of the spirit within us.  Faith is the belief in the desire to be one with Christ.  Are you one with him?  Do you know who you are?  Has your spirit been robbed by the evil in the world?  Mine was but now I am found in Christ.   Come, find yourself.  Come, find the truth of who you are in Christ and heal yourself of the leaven of the world.  For with the truth, you will know the life that is within you and with the truth you will be able to throw off the fears and doubts that are brought on by the passions of the physical life.  You will know the true nature of who you are in Christ.  Follow the path.  Read the signs.  Open your heart and you will see the life Christ has given you. 

Read the signs of the times!  Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ.  Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself.  Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding.  Read it for knowledge.  Read it for faith.  Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ.  The Holy Spirit awaits you.  Christ seeks to know you.  Open the door and let him in!