THE LEAVEN OF LEGALISM

Mat 12:1 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. 3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; 4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? 6 But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. 7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

The Mercy of God is this: He gave His Law to His people not so He could condemn them to Hell if they didn't obey…His Law was given so His people would prosper, so they would acquire wisdom, understanding, and so their lives would be successful and their days would be long upon the earth.

Jos 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Transgression of His Laws, Statutes, Precepts, and Commandments would result in poverty, folly and failure. Read the entire chapter of Deuteronomy 28 for a clear Word on this. God wants to bless His people, but those blessings can only come through following the instructions of the Creator. His Precepts are true…Obedience to His Word begets blessings.

Joh 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

Keeping His Word is a prescription for the physical, spiritual, and emotional health of the child of God. In His mercy, He has taught us how to keep healthy. Those who are caught up in legalism don't understand this…they preach "do this, don't do that, or you'll wind up in Hell!" God the Father sent His Son because He knew we all like sheep have gone astray, and because He knew that we are prone to sin. He made a Way for us to obey Him, not through our own ability or our own works, but through the Presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He has enabled us to obey. Now we are to choose to remain IN HIM, so we can experience His blessings and the victory He has for us.

1Jo 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. 23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. 24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

Psa 119:97 MEM. O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. 98 Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. 99 I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. 100 I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. 101 I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word. 102 I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me. 103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. 105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

The motive for our obedience to the gospel should be nothing less than the fact that we obey the Word of God out of our love for God and our desire for His Will to be done in our lives. Too often those who are in leadership stress "obedience to the letter of the Law or burn in Hell". There are many ministers of the gospel who don't understand what the Mercy of God is, so they allow the leaven of legalism to creep in, which spawns a critical and judgmental demeanor in their behavior toward others, and those they disciple reflect that same leavening influence:

Mat 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

Legalism generally spawns more commandments and traditions that the church embraces which are not of God:

THE LEAVEN OF TRADITION

Mat 15:1 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, 2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. 3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. 5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; 6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. 7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

The preacher strongly infers you are not saved or you don't care about God if you don't give honor to God in the way you dress. Many preachers preach entire sermons a few times a year on the importance of dressing your best for God. Dressing modestly is one thing. But many congregations look so much like fashion shows that the person who doesn't have any "good clothes" doesn't feel comfortable going to that church. It does accomplish one thing: If you can afford to "dress up for God" you can probably afford to give considerable amounts into the church's coffers! The dress code custom is a good way to weed out the haves from the have-nots.

James is a good example of how man-made tradition (dressing your best for Jesus) makes the commandment of God (love thy neighbor as thy self) of none effect:

Jam 2:1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. 2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; 3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: 4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?

It's not wrong to dress nice…but if it's being preached from the pulpit, you have allowed some bad leaven to creep in. There are other traditions that men observe that have nothing to do with the Word of God, such as paying homage to dead saints of God, while the Word of God condemns necromancy (Deut 18:11); waiting for people to come into the congregations to "evangelize" them, rather than going into the world (Matthew 28:19,20; Acts 1:8); having a fellowship where only pastors and deacons or church boards comprise the ministry, instead of the five fold ministry working intimately with one another to train the members to become fellow ministers (Eph 4:11-17); having a once a week 2 hour service consisting of some songs, a collection plate, and an oration by the star speaker, in contrast to 1 Cor 14:26:

1Co 14:26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

While 1 Corinthians 12 -14 are wonderful chapters as to how the Church is supposed to function, most "church services" are so far removed from these instructions, that the tradition of the 2 hour meeting has made the Word of God in these chapters of none effect. The pastor may reply: "We live in a busy world, and something like that might take all day, and most people won't want to stay for that!"

See how far the leaven has taken us? The believers used to go from house to house daily! They couldn't get enough of the Word. Pastor, you are called to obedience and to feed the flock of God in the Way they should go.

Saul was afraid of what the people might do, so he violated God's commandments in favor of the people. This may offend you, but most ministries in America operate in a Saul anointing where they fear the people, and compromise the word of God. As a result, most Christians have been conditioned to believe that the things of God are NOT as important as the roast in the oven or the Sunday afternoon football game, and they have grown apathetic and do not seek the Kingdom of God first.

God doesn't change. There was a tent set up in New Orleans for over a year and a half after hurricane Katrina devastated the city. Every single night 7 days a week there was a service under the tent. Different ministries took part in the services, and the people that came were hungry for the Truth of God. That was more than 574 consecutive days of services at night, not to mention the Sunday morning service and the 6 Days a week that there was a devotional in the morning. That's more than 1148 services held under that tent in 16 months. To put that in perspective, most churches in America normally hold 156 services a year, (figuring 2 services on Sunday, and a mid-week service), and if you factor in a few weeks of "special meetings" you might be able to find some that hold 200 services a year. Most large churches that hold multiple services still just technically have just one service that is repeated a couple of times. So the typical church in America only holds approximately 300 2 hour services in a 16 month period out of approximately 11,520 hours because of the religious mindset that the leaven of tradition has fostered!

Where does God really rank in your life? The pastor of the tent was available 24/7 for ministry to anyone who needed ministered to. Many times he was up until 3:00 in the morning counseling individuals who needed help. He never had any overly large congregations, because most people are given to being comfortable with Air Conditioning or heat in the winter. But those who came were hungry for the Word, and they were consistent in their coming. For the first four months of the tent, Christians came from all over the United States to minister and to seek God's face. For ten days in a row, there was 20 hours of ministry a day going on under the tent in the form of prayer, worship, the prophetic, and evangelism. There were many more days when ministry exceeded 12 hours. All of this was possible because the BODY of Christ participated, and it was never a one man show. Many souls were saved and discipled.

All who were regular attendees of the services became able ministers of the gospel, were encouraged to share testimonies, songs, revelations and whatever else the Lord gave them from the pulpit, and were actively engaged in leading others to the Lord. The only motivation for the pastor to do this was because he understood the call of the Lord in his life. It wasn't done for wages, or for recognition. No collections were taken under the tent, but there were unsolicited offerings given that enabled the work to continue. So for those of you who say that the 1 Corinthians 12-14 and the Ephesians 4:11-16 models of church services are unrealistic in this day and age, the truth is that it can be done with wonderful results. You can get rid of your tradition. Just think what you could do with air conditioning and heat, and a staff! What would happen to your city if the leaders got serious with God and got rid of the leaven that has lulled them into vain religious works and traditions? At the time of this writing (May 1, 2007) the tent is still up, the services are still being conducted, souls are still being saved and baptized, but it may be taken down soon either at the request of the leadership of the church the pastor is working with, or by the Will of God, whichever comes first!

Another tradition in the church is the "altar call" where the attendees are told to bow their head, close their eyes, and not to look around, as the call is made for those who want to give their heart to Jesus to surreptitiously raise their hands so they won't be embarrassed by their decision. This tradition teaches new converts right from the outset that they can hide their faith.

Mar 8:38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

God desires pastors with a David anointing…men after His own heart who will not compromise His Word to amass huge followings, who'll forsake their personal comfort for His sheep regardless of the cost. Some of the traditions of men lead to even worse consequences:

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