Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion covers Mark 8:15. 

 

^“And He (Jesus) was giving orders to them, saying, “Watch out!  Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”  Mark 8:15.  (Parenthetical identification added.) 

 

 

Leaven refers to teachings or doctrine.  Matthew 16:12 states:  “Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

 

Obviously, neither Pharisees nor Herod nor the Sadducees are around today to mislead us with their teachings.  But, we need to be concerned with false doctrine from wherever source that it comes.

 

Jesus warns us in Matthew 7:15:  “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” 

 

Consider the obvious fact that these false prophets will not come to us wearing a T-shirt with the words “False Prophet” on their chest.  These false prophets come to us “in sheep’s clothing”, meaning that they look very innocent and that they look like the rest of us in the congregation.

 

And, there are many false prophets .  Here are just some of the very many Scriptures concerning false prophets, so we can better understand how big of a danger they are.

 

Matthew 24:11
“Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.

 

Matthew 24:24
“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.

 

2 Corinthians 11:13
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

 

2 Corinthians 11:26
I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren;

 

Galatians 2:4
But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage.

 

Philippians 3:2
Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision;

 

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.

 

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

 

Revelation 2:2
‘ I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;

 

So, what are the remedies? 

 

First, as stated by Jesus in our Scripture for today, each of us, individually, must “Watch out!  Beware” of such false teachings.  I refer to this in the title of this post as “vigilance”.  

 

Second, the Church needs to exercise discipline which is one of the marks of a true church.  Article 29 of The Belgic Confession provides:  “The marks, by which the true Church is known, are these: if the pure doctrine of the gospel is preached therein; if she maintains the pure administration of the sacraments as instituted by Christ; if church discipline is exercised in punishing of sin: in short, if all things are managed according to the pure Word of God, all things contrary thereto rejected, and Jesus Christ acknowledged as the only Head of the Church. Hereby the true Church may certainly be known, from which no man has a right to separate himself.”  Click here: The Belgic Confession of Faith   

 

And yet, we see too many churches either unwilling to exercise discipline altogether or unwilling to exercise discipline sufficiently.  The result is that the congregation’s members are “tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming”.  Ephesians 4:14.

 

Third, the Church needs to preach “the pure doctrine of the gospel” which is also one of the marks of a true church as stated in Article 29 of The Belgic Confession.

 

This point is also confirmed by Paul in 2 Timothy 4:1-4:  ^“I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:  preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”