 Let's get into our study Matthew chapter 16. We're going to look at verses 5 through 12 today We're looking at a warning that Christ gives where he says to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees Now what we do here for those who are visitors is we do a Bible study That means that I'll take you verse by verse And so you may be used to something else where the minister does his his Teaching in a different way what I do is a verse by verse study That way you're able to fully approach what the scripture has to say and as you do that I give to you a lot of information that will help you understand the context and Application and the application will come as we're probably three Three-quarters into the study just preparing you so that you'll know so beginning here in Matthew 16 at verse 5 Reading to verse 12 when his disciples had come to the other side They had forgotten to take bread Then Jesus said to them take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees And they reasoned among themselves saying it's because we have taken no bread But when Jesus perceived it he said to them. Oh you of little faith Why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up How is it you do not do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread But you should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of leaven of bread but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees Now Jesus has just had a confrontation He's had a confrontation with members of the two most influential religious groups of his day He had a confrontation with Pharisees and with Sadducees as They had come to him. They had asked him For a sign from heaven they did that as a test to him You see by now Jesus has systematically undermined their authority because he's been contradicting their teachings So that provoked the religious leaders to openly challenge him and they do this by asking him questions Because as they're asking questions, they're hoping to entrap him with his words The Bible tells us in Psalm 37 32 the wicked watches the righteous and seeks to slay him So they watched him closely. They were looking for something to make accusation of Because he had been confronting them and their doctrines. You see they see him growing in popularity and His teachings are contradicting their teachings and he does so before the people so by him doing so he's bringing correction to them and He's undermining their place in the nation by correcting their teachings. He's actually undermining their authority You see the Bible makes it very clear that these teachers were delegated with the authority to instruct the people about God Jesus mentions that in Matthew 23 in verse 2 when he says that they they are seated in Moses's seat We'll look at that when we get into Matthew 23 But the point he was making is very simple. He's saying they have authority to teach you the law And so these were people who were delegated by God with authority to teach But what's going on is they have now inserted their traditions and their teachings that they have received from Previous generations have been infiltrated with man's kinds of teachings And so Jesus is undermining their their teachings by ignoring their traditions Because as he's ignoring their traditions. He is now challenging their authority You know, it's often true whenever someone's beliefs are challenged at the response of that person whose beliefs are being challenged can be defensive Often the person whose beliefs and teachings are challenged will ask a question of the one who's challenging him They'll say what gives you the right to do or to say this Remember with me that when Jesus cleansed the temple the second time that the Jewish authorities actually came to him And they began to question him Matthew tells us in chapter 21 verse 23 That when he came into the temple the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted him as he was teaching and said By what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority? And so that's common when somebody's teaching is Challenged they will ask that question what gives you the right to challenge those things that I've been saying So one of the ways to undermine someone's credibility is to ask a trick question of them It's a way of catching them in their speech. It has a design the design is to discredit Now that had happened it just had happened between Jesus and a coalition of Pharisees and Sadducees They had asked for a heavenly sign They wanted this heavenly sign in order that he might establish his credentials and he had called them on it He knew that they desired to find something wrong with them so that they could form a charge against him Now they didn't come to him for guidance. They didn't come to him for teaching. They didn't come to him for healing They didn't come for him to explain biblical truth to them They were simply hostile towards him. They had no honor for him nor respect Towards him and so Jesus saw through him and he exposed their hypocrisy and and when he did it He made it very easy to note in verse 3. He simply said you know How to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times You're able to discern the natural, but you're blind to the spiritual See these people didn't follow Christ. They didn't hear his voice They didn't listen to him as someone who was exposing to them teachings from heaven Jesus and John 10 27 said my sheep listened to my voice. I know them they follow me But they were not listening to him because they were spiritually blind Paul speaks of that to the Corinthians in 2nd Corinthians 4 verses 3 and 4 When he says even if our gospel is veiled it is veiled to those who are perishing the God of this age Has blinded the minds of unbelievers So that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God The God of this age the God of this world has blinded that there's a spiritual blindness Some of you share your faith with others and as you're sharing your faith with them You might show them scripture and as you show them scripture and quote scripture to them. They remain blind You think if I give them the right argument I can lead them into the kingdom of God, but you fail to realize that it's not logical blindness that they have It's spiritual blindness and their eyes are going to be open through the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the drawing of the Holy Spirit through the power of the Word of God Because you can win an argument and still not see someone get saved When I first got saved in the first early years of my salvation I Was one of these who would I enjoyed conversations I still do about Jesus and the Bible and that began when I first got saved and so I was three or four years old in the Lord and I enjoyed having conversations and so I began to speak to different faith groups people of What are recognized as being? Cultic non-christian belief systems I started speaking to people who were in Mormonism I started speaking to people who were Jehovah's Witnesses and and I was memorizing scripture And I would share with them and tell them this is what the word says and and in and was learning how to argue persuasively and yet seeing that none of them were coming to faith in Christ and and and it wasn't necessarily that that that I wasn't giving them truth and it certainly wasn't that the Bible isn't true It's that they were blinded and a long time ago I began to realize that that only Jesus's sheep will hear his voice and That the God of this age has blinded the minds of those who don't believe and that's a fact and that's what's taking place here These people are not his sheep. Thus, they don't hear his voice And so as all of this has been taking place in verse 4 Matthew concluded This episode with these words. He said he simply writes he left them and departed Mark 8 13 says he left them and entering into the ship again departed to the other side He did not simply physically leave them. He actually was leaving them in their unbelief But they're going to the other side So when it says in verse 5 when his disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread so When it says the other side we need to remember the geography of this for just a moment if you were looking at a map of Israel And you and we'll say israel is shaped very similarly to the state of california Israel is divided into three sections what we in california would simply say northern central and southern california The sea of gala lee is up in what we would call the northern portion or northern california if you will the sea of gala lee Has the western shore on the western shore is a a region there Magdala, which is also a city and Another place they're called dalmanuta I mentioned to you that jesus was in that series in that section So if you were looking at the sea of gala lee you'd be looking on the western shoreline about two-thirds to three-quarters of a Way up to the north on the out on the western shoreline He's in a place called Magdala. They get into a ship and they go to the northeast as they're going to the northeast They're going to a region there that is being spoken of here. It's called Bethsada Mark 822 says he went to base Bethsada now as they're on their way there It says in verse 5 they had forgotten to take bread again mark adds They did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat So this kind of oversight is under Understandable they've had a long day more than likely of ministry. They've rode across the lake. They're exhausted in so much activity They've forgotten to bring enough food supplies Now you might wonder why jesus didn't multiply the one loaf and feed them Why didn't he perform miracle? He had recently done that with with the feeding of five thousand and the feeding of four thousand He'll even bring it up in just a moment But with so much activity, they had forgotten to bring the food, but jesus does not multiply that one loaf Now here's an aside for you, but it's something that somebody may find valuable as I bring it up Miracles are not performed as matters of convenience with no purpose for performing one Miraculous works have a deeper meaning and were only performed Occasionally it would seem that he had another idea in mind and he used this as an opportunity to teach them It is not that God doesn't perform miracles Is that our faith is on something of more substance than a miracle our faith is in God's declared word There's a movement today that is putting an awful lot Of emphasis on the miraculous But jesus did not perform miracles all the time. That's what made them so wonderful He performed miracles, but here he has something that he wants to teach them and we're going to see that in just a moment So it said in verse five they had forgotten to take bread verse six and jesus spoke to them He said to them take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees Take heed and beware Now he wants to teach them something very deep Matthew records that jesus spoke of Pharisees and Sadducees But you might find this interesting for those of you who've been reading along and studying ahead mark also speaks of this But he speaks of Herod in mark 8 15 Mark said he charged them saying take heed beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod Here you have the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees But mark speaks of it as the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod now Why would he do that? Well, the Sadducees were generally Herodians the Sadducees were what were from what is called the Jewish aristocracy So that would mean that by speaking of Herod's leaven. He was referencing the Sadducees But there's something deeper being warned against He'd be warning against the chief sins that dominated their way of thinking He is warning them against their teachings or their doctrine. You see in Luke chapter 12 verse 1 We see that the leaven of the Pharisees is hypocrisy The leaven of the Sadducees is Unbelief in Acts 23 8 it said the Sadducees say there's no resurrection No angel or spirit, but the Pharisees confess both Now again the Sadducees are normally aristocrats. So Herod's leaven would be the leaven of worldliness the leaven of Pharisees self righteousness Legalism traditionalism and Jesus is giving his disciples a stern warning to be a on guard against these sins And I want you to notice something notice how he exhorts them This would pass you by if I don't Point it out. I'll say it very quickly Notice verse 6. He says take heed and beware Take heed when he says take heed keep your eyes open Recognize and perceive the word beware be on guard be on the alert pay attention Jesus is saying you have responsibility To be on guard and to pay attention You have the responsibility to keep your eyes open to recognize and to perceive what is taking place You have the responsibility to be on the alert. You have that responsibility You see sometimes when people are drawn away by false doctrines. There are others who will Just blame the teacher for giving bad doctrine. The teacher has responsibility and God holds them accountable There's no doubt about that, but Jesus also speaks to us He speaks to the church and he says you have personal responsibility to guard that which has been entrusted to you You have personal responsibility to use discernment See one of the reasons why it's important to teach the Bible and for you to be here on a Sunday to hear a Bible study Is so that you have discernment so that you're capable of hearing something and saying that does not line up with scripture Paul had said that he would not shun to declare the entire counsel of God to the Ephesian elders He said that because he wanted them to be built up in their most holy faith and they needed to understand What is true and what is not true? So when Jesus is speaking here, he is making it very clear that what you believe is what you're going to do because you always behave upon what you have believed Doctrine will always always Influence the way that I live and that's why Jesus is saying you need to be aware of this doctrine You need to take heed of this doctrine Because it's going to make you a Pharisee or it's going to make you into a Sadducee You need to understand that now he speaks of it in this way He says beware of the leaven leaven is a word that you probably haven't gone to the store looking for leaven lately Maybe you have but the word leaven is yeast and every baker in this room knows what yeast does It permeates the dough and causes it to rise it infects the entire mass. That's what it does a small portion 11 can infect entire loaf and so Jesus is saying that there is something insidious. There's something infectious. There's something wrong Even if it starts out small It can permeate an entire life Even if it's just a small thing it can permeate your entire way of thinking Be aware be on guard be perceptive Because it'll destroy your life in first Corinthians chapter 5 verse 8 Paul said let us keep the feast not with old leaven neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness But with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth Malice is the desire to injure Wickedness speaks of evil desires. We are not to have that within us So Jesus is saying beware of the influence of the Pharisees and Sadducees Because their way of thinking and their way of living does not reveal nor reflect my kingdom So the doctrines that the Pharisees Taught where the commandments and inventions of men Their teachings were permeated with traditions the tradition of the elder and Justification by works, but the doctrine of the Sadducees was the rejection of biblical doctrine and that led them to live life As if there is no afterlife Their fruit was the fruit of living for today Because there are no rewards and there are no penalties after death If there's any advantage in life to be had then it should be had right now There's no heaven There's no hell below us You know the anthem of just live for today As permeated our society and that's what In essence John Lennon's song imagine was actually saying No hell below us There's no heaven above us Just get along with each other while we're here Well that's somewhat of the doctrine of the Sadducees There is no resurrection If there's no resurrection then there's nothing to be concerned about If there's no afterlife whatsoever Then the wisest thing that I can do is grab all that I can while I'm alive And live life as I see it to the fullest In first Corinthians in chapter 15 verse 32 Paul said it like this He said if in the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus What advantages it to me If the dead do not die What advantages it to me If the dead do not rise let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die So that's led to a life that's filled with pride and greed Because again all beliefs are revealed by our behaviors And you do what you believe Your convictions will always determine your conduct And if in this life this is all we have Then it makes sense to get out of it as much as you can That's what the Sadducees did And Jesus is warning against that kind of leaven When I was a younger person There was a commercial They don't have this commercial anymore But it's the same theme You'll see the same theme in many commercials It's always interesting In the weekends you always have a hedonism You'll always have a hedonistic kind of thing Eat this crazy chicken here Or wear these clothes there Drink this beer here And you'll see that if you watch sporting events at all You have all kinds of beer commercials right And various different commercials that pertain to eating and drinking That's what you do And that's what we're told So if you're watching a game it doesn't really matter If it's a baseball game, football game, basketball It doesn't really matter There'll be commercials and they'll be telling you This is what you get out of life So there used to be a commercial that would use the word They used it, they said it like this gusto Get all the gusto that you can It's just grab life by the horns and live it now Because eat and drink for tomorrow you die And that is what people believe Many people believe today That I need to grab what I can right now So I'll pursue whatever satisfies me for the moment So if it means that I need to work hard to get This particular car Or if I have to work hard to have a little extra money So that I can wear these kinds of clothes If I work a little extra So I can go to this particular place to get my hair done Or whatever it may be It's all about what's outside Now that doesn't mean that we shouldn't have goals And that doesn't mean that we shouldn't have a life Towards achieving something Make our lives better than what we are now Of course not, I'm not speaking against that When I was growing up My mom and my dad were the kinds of parents Who encouraged me to do the best that I could With what I had And if you can do well, do well son Is the way my dad and my mom thought Get educated and find a profession Provide for your family Take care of your health Do the best you can Don't settle for second best Always go for the best And that's how my parents were It wasn't that they were teaching me materialism They were teaching me the joy of achievement To have a goal and to be able to achieve that There's a certain kind of satisfaction I have four children And when my kids were growing up Marie and I Went to do some ministry in Spain And while I was in Spain We found a shop that was in a region Where there's a story called The Man of La Mancha And some of you have heard of that The Man of La Mancha Don Quixote And while I was there I went into a shop in this particular region In La Mancha They had this little wooden figure Of Don Quixote And they had Sancho Panza And so that's his little right hand man And you all know the story Of Don Quixote Who was tilting with windmills And this and that But they took that book That was written and they made a play The Man from La Mancha And in that play They have a song And the song is Really became for me Something to keep me aware That God wants to do something In my life That is extraordinary And I have in my office I have that little figurine Of the Man from La Mancha And Sancho Panza I have a candle that I burn Before him every day Now I'm just kidding Some of you say oh really No I'm just teasing But I have it in my room Constantly That if I am dreaming Of something that I can achieve Without God's help My dreams are too small My dreams are too small If I can achieve it Without the help of God My dreams too small The dreams that God places In your heart Are to be deeper than your abilities See so forgive me I believe With all of my heart My God is the God of the impossible Shall there be anything Impossible with God I believe that I do And I live my ministry life Like that I know that my God Is able to do abundantly Above all that I can ask Or think I know that according to his riches In Christ Jesus I have not Because I ask not And there are times that I ask A miss hoping to consume it Upon my own lusts So I need the scriptures To tell me what the will of God is That I can pray according to his will And what I wanted to do with my children Is to teach them to dream The impossible dream My parents said Reach for the stars Somebody influenced me when they said To attempt To find perfection And if you seek perfection You will reach excellence So God is the God who is able And it's not that we shouldn't Desire to have an education God bless you as you go and pursue it We need Christians Who are educated and capable of ministry And of course we're to permeate And saturate the society And it's not wrong For you to have a desire To have a nicer vehicle I mean I've had cars That they would shoot smoke signals Out of the tailpipe You know that I've told you this before One of my first cars Was a 57 Volvo And it didn't have a passenger seat So my sister Madeleine Had a doll One of those doll set You know little tables where the kids Would have their tees And the chair was only Like a foot and a half tall And I took it and I put it As the passenger seat Because I didn't have a passenger seat And I took my mom for a ride And it was a stick shift And so I popped the clutch And I was changing gears Just to wash my mom Fall into the back seat And come back up See so I've had I've had those vehicles And thank God for them You know and yet I thought I'd like to have something That actually has air conditioning I'd never had air conditioning I'd like to have something That drives better I'm not saying Please don't think there's Some old hippie up here Saying you know No I'm not saying that To achieve, to work, to have goals All of that is part of the process That God couldn't use But that is not To take the place Of the spiritual satisfaction That he gives to us Through following Jesus Christ Because you will never see A hearse pulling a U-Haul You leave it all behind Like they asked About Rockefeller Who at that time Was the and is still The all time Richest man the United States Ever saw And they said How much did he leave behind And the answer was Everything See so we do not build On shaky sinking sand But we need to understand That the Sadducees Said might as well just Live for today And get out of it All that we can If this life is all there is It makes sense to get out Of it as much as you can take Now we as believers We have a hope that is built On something greater than The passing pleasures of life That's because we have A heavenly perspective In 2 Peter 3, 11 through 14 We read since everything Will be destroyed in this way What kind of people ought You to be You ought to live Holy and godly lives As you look forward To the day of God And speed it's coming That day Will bring about the destruction Of the heavens by fire And the elements Will melt in the heat But in keeping with this promises We are looking forward To a new heaven And a new earth The home of righteousness So then dear friends Since you are looking forward To this Make every effort To be found spotless Blameless And at peace With him And those who don't have This heavenly hope While they look at serving The Lord is losing A losing proposition Because there's no immediate Value to it You see unless they find Some kind of advantage For themselves Then why would I serve him At all? It's like what it says In the book of Job 2115 Where the question is asked What is the Almighty That we should serve him And what profit should we Have if we pray unto him Where do I get out of it So to simply eat and drink Because tomorrow we die Is the fruit of the Eleven of Sadducees Earthly gain without faith And God doesn't profit Anyone in the day of judgment Proverbs 10-2 says Treasures of wickedness Profit nothing But righteousness delivers From death Jesus spoke concerning That way of thinking We already saw it in Matthew 6 When he said in verses 31 Through 33 Do not worry Saying what shall we eat Or what shall we drink Or what shall we wear For after all these things The Gentiles seek For your heavenly Father Knows that you have need Of all these things But seek first the kingdom Of God and his righteousness And all of these things Shall be added to you So these doctrines That Jesus is warning against Resulted in people being Infected with unbelief And materialism People's lives were Becoming leavened Puffed up with pride Resulting in a lack of joy And a lack of hope Remember Galatians 5 9 says a little leaven Leavens the whole lump of dough So Jesus is giving them A spiritual warning How did they respond? Well, they reasoned Amongst themselves verse 7 It's because we have Taken no bread He's giving them spiritual Warning But their maturity Is still developing And they miss his point They're taking him Literally He must be upset Because we only have One loaf of bread Obviously he wasn't speaking Literally He could have created More food out of the One loaf They forgot what Jesus Had taught when he fed The 5,000 Now John records that After Jesus had fed The 5,000 That many who were fed Came looking for him And when they saw Jesus Was gone they got into Boats and came to Capernaum Seeking him So that prompted Jesus into speaking In a very direct manner To them in John 6 26 through 29 We read Jesus answered them And said Most assuredly I say to you You seek me Not because you saw The signs But because you ate Of the lobes and were Filled Do not labor For the food which Perishes But for the food Which endures To everlasting life Which some man Will give you Because God The Father has Said his seal on him Then they said to him What shall we do That we may work The works of God And Jesus answered And said to them This is the work of God That you believe in him Whom he sent Our lives are built On something deeper Than material They're built on spiritual Truth That's why in Luke 12 15 He said Watch out Be on your guard against All kinds of greed A man's life does not Consist In the abundance Of the things He possesses You are not What you wear You are not What you look like Because what We look like Changes over time I've discovered that You're more than that It isn't what you drive It isn't what you eat It isn't where you live It isn't how tall you are Or how short you are It isn't your color It isn't the color of your hair Or the lack thereof It isn't any of that It's who you are within It's who you are within I met a young woman I was one of these guys Who had in my mind The list that I gave to God I knew that God was My heavenly bellboy That he would do what I asked Because the Bible said If you ask anything In my name I will do it So I said She's got to be blonde She's got to have blue eyes She's got to be this tall I had my list So when I go to Bible studies And here comes a girl That's pretty close There she is In Jesus' name She's mine God had different ideas He brought a little Dark skinned Dark haired Dark eyed A little girl that was Kept in his oven A little longer than I thought And he said You've been looking For the outside Not that my girl isn't Beautiful indeed I believe her to be Of course But when I sat down With that girl the first time And she wasn't even saved yet And talked to her I said There's something about this one That's different Than everybody I've known before I got in my little Volkswagen I drove from Ontario back home to Norwalk And I was driving home I said I met the girl I'm going to marry Tonight I know it She wasn't saved yet I went the next day to work And I told these kids I used to coach I met the girl I'm going to marry tomorrow And they didn't care But I did Didn't say anything Other than to Marie And these kids Rather Madeleine And these kids And my sister Madeleine And short time After I believe Probably the One, two, three weeks Within three weeks My sister Madeleine Three weeks or so Sat down with this young woman named Marie And led her to faith in Christ And then she became My girlfriend And has been my wife now For a long time I learned a long time ago Just to say God, whatever your will may be I will trust it Because your will for me Is much better than anything I could design for myself And I know that Beyond a shadow of a doubt So it's not what you see On the outside It's the heart of that person And that virtuous woman Is, well, the kind of woman The proverb says Her husband's heart Does safely trust in her Beauty is fleeting But the condition of the heart Remains permanently And I have seen that And one of the things That we need to understand Is I may want this thing so bad Because I think it's going to make me What I need No, God will give you Your petitions But he will send Leanness to your soul You may gain what you thought You wanted to have But one day you wake up saying I made a poor decision on this one I shouldn't have rushed into this That's why it's so important To wait on the Lord To trust him And not pursue the material To seek God And he leads you into that life And he gives you that place You know, I walk through the valley Of the shadow of death But he takes me beside the still water I just need to know That he's taken me to that place And that's how it works In your walk with the Lord Keep your eyes on the things of the Lord And watch what God will do Because my life does not consist Of the abundance of the things That I possess So Jesus perceives in verse 8 And he speaks to them And says, oh, you of little faith Why are you reasoning? Why are you reasoning in this way? You're reasoning among yourselves Because you have brought no bread? Now, interesting, let me point this out It'll take just a moment This is the fourth time He has used the phrase, oh, you of little faith If he says it one time It must mean something He's repeated it three times before In Matthew 6 verse 30 He had spoken to them concerning Their material concerns And he had said, if God so closed The grass of the field Which today is and tomorrow Is thrown into the oven Will he not much more clothe you Oh, you of little faith In Matthew 8 verse 26 After they thought they were going to drown And Jesus calms the storm He said, why are you fearful Oh, you of little faith He arose and rebuked the winds of the sea And it was a great calm In Matthew 14 verse 31 And after Peter had walked on water It says immediately Jesus stretched out his hand And caught him Said to him, oh, you of little faith Why did you doubt? You see, if they're going to take The message of the gospel to the world They need to grow spiritually They need to be stronger in faith They've been with them They've seen what he does They've heard him as he taught But he's saying You're still thinking like those Who've never partaken in a spiritual work You're not digging deeper Into spiritual meaning of my words You're taking them literally And because of that You don't grow spiritually He intended his disciples To learn spiritual lessons So they could teach others also That's what it means to grow In the grace and knowledge Of the Lord Jesus Christ You need to grow You see, the writer of Hebrews Had something similar to say Believers in Hebrews 5 11 through 14, he said We have much to say about this It's hard to explain Because you're slow to learn In fact, though by this time You ought to be teachers You need someone to teach you The elementary truths of God's word All over again You need milk Not solid food Anyone who lives on milk Being still an infant Is not acquainted with the teaching About righteousness Solid food is for the mature Who by constant use Have trained themselves To distinguish good from evil See, it's not enough for me To have a Bible study taught to me It's important for me To put that study into practice And to dig deeper for myself So I can see the ways of God And how they unfold So he says to them You don't understand You're not remembering my works You're not remembering my words In verse 9 Do you not yet understand To remember the five lobes Of the 5,000 And how many baskets you took up Nor the 7 lobes of the 4,000 And how many large baskets you took up Have you yet to understand My teachings related to God's gracious provisions Have you not understood My miraculous ability To provide your daily bread Do you not remember the feeding Of the 5,000 Do you not remember That you took up baskets as a reminder I taught you the same kind Of lesson a second time Intending to reinforce my teachings In you Not only do you lack faith You are lacking spiritual perception If I were concerned about food I would create it myself But you're just not learning Your spiritual lessons How is it he says in verse 11 That you do not understand That I did not speak to you Concerning bread When are you going to learn You need to apply the lessons That I've been teaching you You need to go deeper Than simply the surface of the lesson That I've been teaching And I'm warning you Concerning something much deeper Than simply bringing enough supplies I'm warning you About the danger of bad teaching You know I bless the Lord Because he teaches us The same kinds of lessons Over and over again We don't always learn the first The lesson the first time He teaches that we know that But he also gives to us In these lessons An opportunity to put If you will a marker A stone of remembrance To remember how God met us In a certain place And he was faithful then And he will be faithful to us now Because God is a faithful God And our church was new We had started in a house We moved into a small building On Vine Street The name of this particular building That we were renting And we rented it for I think about a hundred dollars a month No more than a hundred and fifty The name of this place Was church of God Seventh day on Vine Street So we were in a house We moved from the house We moved to this place The place sat a hundred and twenty To us it was cavernous And we had sixty people Going to the church Sixty adults and a handful of children As we were in this particular place We celebrated an alternative To Halloween We called it a hallelujah party We only had twenty-five kids And they came And we gave them candy And we had them dress up In biblical characters And we just wanted a family kind of thing Where the family could bring their babies And that's all it was And then Christmas came And we had a Christmas play And so our children Were in the Christmas play And we sang Christmas songs And well the church That was renting us The building got angry at us And said you guys are a cult You celebrate Halloween And you celebrate Christmas And we said no It's an alternative to Halloween So the kids aren't running around On the streets dressed like little devils They can be little devils Inside of the church building And Christmas of course We celebrate the birth of our savior Jesus Christ Well we don't Well it turns out they were a cult But they were calling us to be one They said you're a cult And as a result of that They kicked us out They said you have to be out At the end of January We didn't have any place to go I only had sixty people in the church Our weekly offerings were probably About three hundred dollars or so We had enough money to pay for the rent And give me a partial A partial support Marie worked for years When our church first began To help the supply Because we just didn't have the income And at that time We didn't have the income at all To do that With sixty people it's very difficult To be able to carry on ministry And all the way that That could have been But it just wasn't happening So they said you have to leave We began looking around For a place to meet And we finally found the only place That seemed open Because we went to Upland We went into Montclair We looked around There was at that time A Calvary Chapel Chino that was here Being passed by a guy named Denny And so we didn't have any place To go and the only place That we found that we could use Was a place called the Central School Central School there on I believe it's D Street Off of Euclid But it was like fifteen hundred dollars A month We didn't have that kind of money To be able to rent that school And so we had two weeks to go We looked for everything in every place And there was nothing open to us No place for us that we could afford It was a Wednesday night And for some reason Marie And the kids were not there at the house My children were very small at that time And I remember going into the Our bedroom And laying on my face Before the Lord And weeping to him saying God We have no place to go We only have sixty people And though that doesn't seem Like much perhaps to others They are the most dear people in my life And I don't know what to do Oh Father You have to provide a place for us I have gone as far as I can I've done as much as I know to do God help us And I got up, washed my face Went and taught the Wednesday night Bible study We were holding the Bible study At the home of Dave and Connie Signs at that time And I remember walking in And as I walked in A woman named Karen walks up to me And looks at me and she says You look like death warmed over What's wrong? And I said we'll talk about it afterwards I gave the Wednesday night Bible study And I said we've been booted Out of our location We don't have the funds We can't afford the only other place That's open Can we pray? And so they prayed They prayed for me And they prayed for my assistant Dan And I went home I put my head on the pillow As God is my witness This is the truth Some of you won't believe it That's okay It's true Before the Lord And as I was putting my head on the pillow And about to go to sleep I heard the voice of the Lord Speak to my heart And he said you Will need a place That seats 200 on Easter Sunday And I remember hearing that voice Very distinctly insane Within myself That's true That's right The next day I get up And I'm preparing a Bible study John 12-24 Unless a grain of wheat Fall into the ground and die It abides alone But if it dies It'll bring forth much fruit And as I was reading that I prayed and I said Father I believe that I have died I feel dead right now Lord I don't know what to do And as I was praying The mailman walked up And left some mail In the mailbox And I had written a letter To Pastor Chuck Smith And I said I'd like to be Associated as a Calvary ministry And the voice of the Lord Spoke a second time And said your letter is here And I went and I took out the mail And I put this letter from Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa And I opened it up And it said we welcome you Into the association Of Calvary Chapel Fellowship That letter I still have that letter That letter if you've ever Gone out on the north side Of our foyer isleway there That letter is there A portion of it is there Against the wall in our timeline It's there Pastor Chuck's letter It's not the whole letter But a portion of it He said we welcome you Into the family of Calvary Ministries And so the next Sunday The next Saturday Actually was a breakfast And then what happened Is I told him We're going to change Our names to Calvary Chapel Ontario Our name is now Calvary Ontario And so within two weeks Our church began to grow And we now had about 120 As that happened The people who were kicking us Out extended us two more months And here comes Easter And we were now out of Of this small church And it was pouring rain That Easter of 1982 In Ontario And there we were at Central school Because the income came in That gave us the ability To pay the rent demand And it was pouring rain So high that the curbs Were being covered And some of you know Sultana You know the areas in Ontario How that it just floods And the rain was just flooding And I remember walking up To the pulpit On that Sunday Easter Sunday And I remember standing up Saying you don't know this But this is God's promise He said we will need a place Of 200 people on Easter Sunday And there were 200 people Sitting in front of me Who all chaired their approval Of God's will God is able to do abundantly Above all you can ask Or think That's why we are Bewearing of the leaven Of the Pharisees And the Sadducees We do not want a self-righteous Legalism And we do not want to say That God is not moving And alive amongst us now Because he is alive And Jesus said be aware of it Their teaching will infect you And will saturate you They're filled Their teachings are filled with sin They need to be rejected You see all teaching has fruit Because again what we believe Will always fuel the way that we behave And Jesus' teachings are intended To produce loving, faithful Sacrificial, generous And prayerful people But on the other hand Their doctrine produces malice Wickedness and hypocrisy So he says avoid their doctrine Cling to the teachings of Christ Be conformed to his image And remember a student Is not above his teacher But everyone who is fully trained Will be like his teacher So being trained in God's word Results in love, integrity Freedom, stability and grace Beware of the doctrine Of the Pharisees and the Sadducees And stay true to the teachings Of Jesus Christ