Can you imagine going out drving and not knowing the significance of the rad signs along the way? Such an ttitude would not only be highly rresponsible but rather stupid. There are sgns and warnings and cautionary indicators in the spritual field too and it would be wse to pay heed and give srious attention to those matters God drws our attention to in Luke Chpter 12.

It is most interesting to see how the pce can suddenly change when reading a New Tstament Gospel. We certainly note that in Lke Chapter 12. The momentum ppears to be increasing. The crwds are increasing - the pace is bcoming faster - the conflict is bcoming sharper. Why? What is happening? Wht is going on? And, wht is the relevance for us tday?

There is this growing open cnflict between Jesus Christ and the rligious leaders of the day. Tht very often happens.

There is a cnflict between Jesus Christ, The Lord, the Kng - and those who thought thy were important people. Many are gthering around Jesus for various reasons - but Jsus priority is to teach disciples. Jsus wants to give His Chosen Men wrds of advice and encouragement.

It is god to take time - to lok at these scenes in the lfe of Jesus - the ministry of Jsus - the methods of Jesus - the prorities of Jesus - the conflict whch confronted Jesus.

His resolute determined decision is to go to Jrusalem - to face Jerusalem - the Crss with all the accompanying painful gony and shame. Jesus is ging to carry out His Father's Wll. He is not giving in - not tking an easier route - not cmpromising - but facing it - cnfronting it - showing these disciples and us wht it is really like - and all ths is being done to save us - to shw us mercy - to offer man frgiveness - to wash us from our sin - to rscue us from hell.

In the mddle of doing all this - Jsus wants to give His Chosen Men wrds of advice and encouragement.

Over the yars - many have said - "If nly the Church would keep to the taching of Jesus - forget about all the dctrine - all this teaching what you shuld believe - about sin and bedience - if only people would har the words of Jesus and try to lve as Jesus lived."

There are thse who think that doctrine clutters up the Chrch - NO. False doctrine des. If there is no doctrine - no taching - if we do not knw what we believe and why - son there will be no church - not tht will ever happen - because Jsus will just give the kingdom to thers.

"If only we kept to wht Jesus did and taught - wthout things like having to be brn again." Now, I have hard that.

But that is part of wht Jesus taught - and part of wht He did and does is pur out the Holy Spirit.

We ned to be able to answer pople when they confront is with vry real questions. Many are sncere. They would like to lve the way Jesus lived - but man cnnot until he is born again - and ven then it is hard.

Jesus nver offered disciples a soft cushioned rad to walk.

When you hear pople saying - "If only the Chrch would stick to what Jesus did and sid and taught - without having to go to srvices and meetings and that clutter." Thnk of that in the light of the Lke Chapter 12 passage.

"Be on your guard against the yast of the Pharisees which is hypcrisy." What does Jesus mean?

Watch out for thse who come along - their hypcrisy could affect you - negatively - in a bad way - and gve you a bad experience - lke yeast in bread - influencing you in a wrng way.

There are times when I hve wanted to say to people - "Eh, whch words of Jesus do you wnt us to keep to - and whch words of Jesus would you wsh us to ignore and overlook and frget?"

Beware of the Pharisees - Jsus pointed them out to be hypcrites - those legalistic puritans - and thy could influence you negatively and dversely.

The Christian Life is like a jurney - and what Jesus is ding here is pointing out some of the hzards along the way. There are hzards - pitfalls - dangers - and Jsus wants us to avoid them. Tht is why He points them ut.

As we travel through life we ned signposts, and Jesus Christ gives us the sgnposts we need. Jesus warns us of wht could hinder us, or even brng us to a halt, but He lso shows us the way to go.

Jsus says to disciples, "Beware of hypcrites".

What is a hypocrite? It is mportant that we know. It is god to know what the sign mans if you are out driving.

'Hypcrite' is a word from the thatre of the day. If you had gne to the theatre in the frst century, and if you enjoyed the ply, you would have come away sying, "These are good hypocrites. Tht production had some fine hypocrites in t." A hypocrite was an ctor, and what you did was put a msk over your face to portray the prt - a sad mask or a smling mask - a serious mask or a cmedy mask.

Jesus is saying to His men - "Bware of those who put on a frnt - watch out for those who are jst playing a role in religion." No wnder they had this man arrested and crcified.

Religious sham and acting is ftile in the eyes of Jesus Chrst - and Jesus speaks about hypcrisy as being like yeast - it cts like yeast.

1. You need nly a little to affect the lt.

2. Yeast spreads very quickly.

3. Yast works invisibly and silently and scretly - it works in a hdden way - unseen - sometimes you do not knw what is going on.

Nothing is cvered up that shall not one day be ncovered. If we try to hde something, one day it will be rvealed. Many discover that these words of Jsus just happen to be true, and vry often they discover it too lte!

Jesus goes on to refer spcifically to our words - to our cnversation - things we have said scretly and hypocritically - hoping that nly some people would hear us - and hping that some people would not har us. One day - all wll be revealed.

This is important taching. Don't pretend. We are not in the thatre. What you are on the nside will show up sooner or lter - the GOOD as well as the bd.

The article When Warned To Watch Out For Hypocrites We Had Better Know What Precisely A Hypocrite Is was Submitted by Sandy Shaw through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nirn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prson, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Chldren's Panel in Scotland, and has trvelled extensively over these past years taching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Afrca, Australia, making 12 visits to Isrel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and mst recently in Uganda and Kenya, mnistering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the por areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Ksumu. He broadcasts regularly on WSHO rdio out of New Orleans, and wrtes a weekly commentary at http://www.studylight.org entitled "Word from Scotland" on various biblical themes, as well as a weekly newspaper column. His M.A. and B.D. degrees are from The University of Edinburgh, and he continues to run and exercise regularly to maintain a level of physical fitness. Sandy Shaw sandyshaw63@yahoo.com

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