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Let's go and get into the Bible here. Mark chapter 8 verse 13 says, And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod, and they reasoned among themselves, saying, Is it because we have no bread? Untitled sermon this evening is the leaven of Herod. The leaven of Herod. Now most of the time we always hear about the leaven of the Pharisees. Sometimes we even hear about the leaven of the Sadducees, but we typically don't hear about the leaven of Herod. Now I'm going to go into the leaven of Herod in just a little bit, but I want to explain to you first what he means when he says the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Now here we see that Jesus Christ, as he does most often in the Gospels, he'll use some physical object or some natural, you know, thing or event to basically illustrate a spiritual truth. He'll use parables to illustrate a biblical principle. For example, he says, I am the vine, I'm the door, I'm, you know, water. He uses all these things to basically illustrate spiritual truth. Now there's people out there that want to like live. I mean, take that as literal as possible. And they'll say, well, you know, just, you know, in John chapter 15, he says that he's the vine, we're the branches. And if we don't abide in him, you know, we're going to be cast into the fire. We could lose our salvation. But that's so over-literal. That's so foolish to think that. It's as foolish as if I were to tell you, well, Jesus Christ is a literal vine. Or we're literal branches. And by the way, it says that when we don't abide in Christ in John chapter 15, it says men gathered them and cast them into the fire and they are burned. So do men literally grab you and throw you into hell? No, this is a parable. This is an illustration to shed light on a spiritual truth. And you say, what's the spiritual truth there in John chapter 15? It's basically saying that you're good for nothing. Okay. You know, a lot of people get offended when Pastor Anderson says that people are trash. Well, I mean, the Bible says you're good for nothing. God says you're good for nothing. And that's talking to believers. How much more for some reprobate false teacher, false prophet who is damning people to hell and taking people with him, you know, that person's trash. But take it a step further. God says within his word that even believers who have lost their Savior, the salt that has lost its Savior is good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trotted under the foot of men. That's trash. But these are parables. These are illustrations that Jesus Christ uses in order to illustrate a spiritual truth. For example, you have Philippians chapter three where it says beware of dogs. Now that doesn't mean that when you go so many, you got to be aware of the rottweilers and the pit bulls and all that. I've heard people say that. It's like, yeah, beware, you know, Chihuahuas, the ankle biters and all these things. Like, that's not what it's talking about. It's talking about sodomites. It's talking about false prophets. It's talking about the evil workers and the concision. That's what it's referring to. You know, why is he calling them dogs? Because that's exactly what they are. OK, and that's a sermon for another day. But we need to learn to read the Bible in the spirit of the Bible. So when the Bible uses a specific illustration, we're to take the attributes of that object or that event and apply the spiritual truth to it. It's supposed to shed light on a specific truth that we see there. Go to John chapter four, and that's what we see in Mark chapter eight. He's using bread as an example to illustrate or shed light on a spiritual truth. The disciples come to him and they only have one loaf. Jesus Christ takes advantage of that situation and says, take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod. And then they say, well, is it because we don't have any bread? I mean, talk about ignorance. What does that have to do with Herod? What does that have to do with the Pharisees? It's like, hello here. He's not talking about literal bread. Look at John chapter four, verse 31 says, In the meanwhile, his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. Therefore said the disciples one to another, hath any brought him ought to eat? Jesus saith unto them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. So he says, look, I got meat that you know not of. He's like, man, did someone bring him a good meal or something or what? And he's like, this is not what I'm referring to. Look at verse 35. Say not ye that there are four months and then cometh harvest. Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest. You see, the meat that he's referring to is the work of God. It's referring to evangelism. It's referring to preaching the gospel. He's saying, what's most important to me right now is that I preach the gospel, is that I do all those things that please God. And he's using food as an illustration to illuminate the spiritual truth that he's saying, just as food is necessary for our bodies, doing the will of God is necessary for me. That's what he's stating there. Now go with me if you went to Matthew chapter 16. I'm going to read to you from Mark chapter 8 again, verse 15. It says, He charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, Is it because we have no bread? Now, what was he talking about when he said leaven? Now, obviously, leaven is a substance, typically yeast, that causes dough to rise. And the element within leaven that we see specifically illustrated in the Bible is that when it's inserted into dough, it spreads. It quickly spreads. You only need a little bit of leaven to spread all over the dough, to spread all over whatever you're baking. All you need is a little bit. And it is a great example, a great illustration, of what we see in the Bible in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. Now, you don't have to turn there, but in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, what do we have? We have a man who's involved in fornication that's not even named among the Gentiles. The one should have his father's wife, the Bible says. And what do we have the church at Corinth doing? Nothing. What do we have the leadership at Corinth doing? Nothing. What do we have them doing? Tolerating that sin. Just allowing them to come to church, allowing them to partake in the fellowship, allowing them to hear the preaching of the word of God, but they're not doing anything about it. And Paul is just hammering on them and saying, hey, a little leaven, leaven at the whole lump. He's not talking about, hey, just a little bread can just mess up the entire church. He's referring to the fact that the sin that they're allowing, that they're tolerating, is going to destroy the entire church. It's going to create a cesspool of iniquity and sin if it's not knit that at the butt. So the Bible tells us that we need to make sure that we cast out that wicked person from among us. We got to purge out that old leaven. He said, well, you know, people need a second chance. Well, you know what? We need to make sure that we adhere to God's word and not lean onto our own understanding and all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct our paths. So if God says cast them out, you know what? If you want to disciple him, then do what the Bible says and cast them out. Because the Bible says that when you cast them out, you give them over for the destruction of the flesh. So we can learn from that, repent, come back and get right with God. That's what leaven is referring to. Often it's in reference to sin that gets into the church. That's why I'm thankful that there's a new generation of churches that are rising up that are practicing church discipline. Zero tolerance for the sins that we see in 1 Corinthians chapter number five that say, hey, if these people are involved in this type of sin, guess what? You need to purge out that old leaven. Well, I'm discipling them. Doesn't matter. The Bible says purge it out. You need to purge it out. And let me say this. In our church in LA, we've only been around for a little over a year and a half. We've had to cast out people out of our church because of these sins that we see here. And you know what? You know, when we cast them, I'm not like rejoicing when I cast them out. I'm like, yeah, I'm the one under the belt. You know, see ya. I'm actually heartbroken when I cast people out because these are people that I genuinely love. It breaks my heart to know that they're involved in sin. It breaks my heart that they're involved in such wickedness. But you know what? I love God more than I love the people. And if I truly love them, then I'll execute what the Bible says, casting them out. And you know what I've seen is that when you cast people out for biblical reasons, guess what? They get right. We've had people come back to church and say, I repent. I want to get back into fellowship. I'm sorry for what I've done. I'm never going to be involved in it again. I don't want to go back to that. I said, welcome back, brother. I'm glad you're back. Come back to the fold. And guess what? They actually end up being more righteous in the latter end because of that, rather than just allowing them to stay in church, be involved in fornication, thinking that they're good in the eyes of God. And then they have God's judgment on their life because of that. No, the Bible tells us that we need to purge out that old level. We need to purge out the sin out of the church. And people will look at a church like this and say, oh man, you guys are so self-righteous and you know, we're all sinners. Yeah, but here's the thing. We're not all fornicators. We're not all drunkards. I'm not an extortioner. I don't work for the Rothschild. You know, we're not all railers. We're not all these things that the Bible highlights in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. So guess what? If I'm not these things, guess what? I can stay in church. And if you're a drunkard and you're in church, guess what? According to the Bible, that is a valid reason to excommunicate your hindr parts out of the church so you can get right with God. Because in the end, that's going to destroy your life. But not just your life. It's going to destroy the lives of the people in the church. Why? Because a little leaven will leaven the whole lump. If you make an exception for this person, you've got to make an exception for everyone. Look at Matthew 16, verse 4 says, a wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given unto it but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them and departed. And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, Is it because we have taken no bread? Oh, my goodness. I mean, this is another instance. This is not the same instance that we saw before, because the one before was like the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod. He received the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees and the same thing. It's like, man, did we not take bread? You know, who's the guy in charge of the bread? Who's the guy in charge of the bread ministry over here? We keep forgetting bread. He's saying that for a reason, guys. Yeah, but it has nothing to do with the bread. He's using this as a spiritual illustration. Look at verse number eight, which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves? Because ye have brought no bread. Do you not yet understand neither? Remember the five loaves of the five thousand, how many baskets you took up, neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, how many baskets you took up? How is it that you do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread that you should be aware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? So he's saying here, look, why are you even why are you even worried about bread? I mean, is it really that important to you? You know, I've noticed that people who are so worried about the temporal things often always bypass and overlook the spiritual things. Always. If they're so focused on money and material wealth, the spiritual things just go right over their head. It says there, verse 12, then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. They're like, oh, yeah, duh. He's actually talking about the doctrine, not the bread, guys. Now, this is a very powerful statement, because what is he warning about? He's warning them about the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He's warning them about false doctrine is what he's warning them about. You know, the Bible tells us that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, the Bible says. And look, this is referring to Christians. You know, Christians can get into just some really stupid heresies. You know, like the flat earth or something. You know, they can get involved in some really foolish heresies. And the Bible says here, hey, we need to beware of certain doctrines. Why? Because they can destroy your life. And the remedy that we see in First Timothy, Chapter four, is that he says this, exercise thyself rather unto godliness. Well, how do you exercise yourself? He goes on to say, you know, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Later on in the chapter, he says thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee. Why? Because when you give attendance to reading the Bible, you give attendance to doctrine, you give attendance to the preaching of God's word, what are you doing? You're saving yourself from what? From damnable heresies, from false doctrine, from seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Why? Because you're educating yourself. My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. The Bible tells us, be not carried away with diverse and strange doctrines. You see, the Bible clearly tells us that as Christians, we need to grow up spiritually. The Bible says that we ought not to be children tossed to and fro, carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. What does that mean? Don't just be like a child, you just believe everything. Just gullible, just believe in the kukui, and believe in the monster under the bed, and just believe in all, you know, we need to make sure that we're grounded, rooted and grounded in the word of God to know what the Bible says and to discern between good and evil. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Now, go with me if you would to Galatians chapter number 5. The Bible tells us in Titus 3 verse 10, a man that is in heretic after the first and second admonition reject, knowing that he that is such a subverted and sinneth, being condemned of himself. You see, when you go out sowing, you should never get into an argument with anybody. It's the worst thing you can do. Yeah, but you know, I could really just give it to them. You know, just I've been. Yeah, but here's the thing. You're wasting your time. It's not profitable. It's vain jangling. And look, we're not, we shouldn't be Calvinists when we go out sowing. You know what Calvinists do? They love to debate. And at the end of the debate with the Calvinists and the Catholic or whatever, you know, who wins? Nobody. The Calvinist thinks he won. The Catholic thinks he won. They just go back and they give each other props like, yeah, we beat that guy. Yeah, but no one won. No one got one to either or side. You just walk away thinking you won. So when we go out sowing, you know, someone brings up some weird doctrine, you know, put that aside and try to win them to Christ. And they persist to just, you know, give you that false doctrine or their ideologies. Then you say, hey, well, thanks for your time. There's the information. If you have any questions, give us a call. See you later. And move on to the next door. Why? Because after the first and second admonition, the Bible says we ought to reject them. Why does it say first and second admonition? Well, because we're giving them the benefit of the doubt. You know, someone brings up some weird doctrine. We're just going to give them the benefit of the doubt that they're just ignorant. We give them some scripture and they say, well, no, X, Y, and Z. Well, this is what the Bible says. Well, no. And at that point, it's like, okay, rejected. Time to move on. Okay. But look at Galatians chapter five, verse seven says, Ye did run well. Who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? Now, what's going on here in the Book of Galatians? What we see here is that there are men who have crept in unawares, who have privately came in to spy out the liberty of the Christians that were in Galatia, the churches in the region of Galatia. And who were they? There were these Judaizers who were coming in and trying to bring people under the law again is what we see there. And unfortunately, they were persuading a lot of people, even to the point where the apostle Paul was actually questioning the salvation of those who were in the regions of Galatia, because he was saying, look, I mean, were you saved by the Spirit or by the law? And if you're adhering to these things of the law, I question your salvation. And then he says that you did run well. Who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you, a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. So it's not just one person that was affected by it. It was a multitude of people. And in fact, the Book of Galatians is written to the churches in Galatia. So it's not just one church. It was multitudes of churches. It was many churches in that region that were being affected by this Judaizing team. They were trying to proselytize these so-called Christians that were in Galatia. But we see the same concept, that a little leaven in one church can affect a lot of churches. If we don't have people who know the Bible. I have confidence in you, verse 10, through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded. But he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment whosoever he be. And I, brethren, if I preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense of the cross seized. Go with me, if you would, to Matthew chapter 15. But let's get into the specifics here of what the leaven of the Pharisees is. Obviously we understand that it's doctrine. But what were they teaching? Well, we see many times that they were teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Okay, what is that? That could be likened unto standards. I'm all for standards. And I have standards in my personal life. And I believe every Christian ought to have personal standards for their life. But I'm against teaching those standards to people and imposing those things upon others if the Bible does not say that that's what you should do. You see, I have standards for my family, I have standards for my children, but I'm against trying to impose those standards upon people if the Bible clearly does not say that that's what you're supposed to do. That's teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. And that's exactly what we see that the Pharisees were doing. Look at verse number five, it says, But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, and honor not his father or mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition, ye hypocrites. Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Go with me if you would to Matthew chapter 23. Matthew chapter 23. And what I see sometimes even in churches is people, because pastors, for example, preachers, they don't know the Bible. They only know what they want the Bible to say, and that's exactly what they preach. Okay, they preach standards and rules that they want to impose upon the people rather than doctrine. And we're living in an age where we need to preach more doctrine. We need way more doctrine, way more teaching, way more preaching on the books of the Bible, way more doctrine. Why? Because my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. So we need to learn doctrine. You know, and unfortunately, many churches have gone into this mode where it's just like, well, you know, doctrine is boring, you know, going down deep and, you know, I need the practical aspect of the Christian life. We all need that, but we need doctrine too. There's a reason why God has placed much doctrine within the Bible. It's because he wants us to learn doctrine. This is his teaching. This is what he wants us to learn. Matthew 23 verse 15 says, Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye can pass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Go to Luke chapter 12. So I hope you notice that one thing that Jesus Christ keeps calling the Pharisees is what? Hypocrites. Bunch of hypocrites. In fact, there's an entire chapter where he's just like, hypocrites, hypocrites, hypocrites. You know, people who, like, don't like the way we preach, and they think we're a little too abrasive when we preach, obviously have not read the sermons from Jesus Christ. Where he's like, you hypocrite, you whited sepulcher. I mean, if we didn't get it the first time, he repeats it over and over again that they're hypocrites. Look at Luke 12 verse 1. In the meantime, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say to his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is what? Hypocrisy. So what were they teaching? How to be hypocrites? What is a hypocrite? It's someone who says they believe one thing, but they actually do something completely different. That is what you would call a hypocrite. A person who claims to adhere to the Bible, but they turn around and completely reject the Bible based upon their preaching or even their life. That is a picture perfect of what the Pharisees were. You know, people who say, well, you know, I believe in the Bible, I believe in authority, but then they completely rebel against the authority. That's called a hypocrite. Someone who claims, well, you know, I love the new IFB. And then the next day they make a video saying why, you know, the new IFB is a cult. You know what they call it? They call it the doctrine of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. You're a hypocrite. You're a Pharisee. You're a hypocrite. Your sermon is called hypocrisy. And it's a personal testimony. Okay, that is hypocrisy. Look, God does not expect perfection. He expects honesty. He expects integrity. He expects us to just adhere to the Bible as much as we can and be honest, not a hypocrite. You know, don't try to be this holier than thou type of a Christian. Be honest, have integrity and try to obey the commandments of God as much as you can. But don't say one thing and then you do another. That's Pharisaical. That's hypocrisy. You know, we ought to be doers of the word, not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. And why does it say that you're deceiving your own self when you're just a hearer, not a doer? Because the Bible tells us to wherefore lay aside, you know, all the filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness the engrafted word. You know, someone who hears the Bible and thinks that they're just right with God because they're hearing the Bible, they're deceiving themselves. Because the Bible says you need to do what the Bible is actually saying. Lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness. Clean up your life is what you need to be doing. Look into the perfect law of liberty. Look in that mirror of the word of God. See what is lacking, see what is wanting, and fix it. Don't be a hypocrite, okay? Look at Matthew chapter 23. Not perfection, by the way, because we all make mistakes. We all fail. We're sinners like everyone else. But the fact remains is that you can still be a sinner and not be a hypocrite, okay? Matthew 23 verse 1 says, Then spake Jesus to the multitude and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do. But do not ye after their works, for they say and do not. I mean, talk about hypocrisy. They're commanding people, hey, make sure you do this and do this. And Jesus say, hey, whatever they're telling you to do, you should do it because obviously they're sitting in Moses' seat. Just don't live by their example because they say and do not, okay? This is the leaven of the Pharisees. Now go to Matthew chapter 3, if you would. Matthew chapter number 3. So the leaven of the Pharisees is false doctrine, obviously. It's teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. The leaven of the Pharisees is hypocrisy. The fact that they say they adhere to specific doctrines but at the end of the day they don't. You know, it's like the pastor who claims to believe in once saved always saved, but he allows people who are repenting your sins into his church. They claim to believe in the right type of salvation, but when you hear him from behind the pulpit, he's making, you know, specific statements that sounds like he's repenting your sins. And then when you talk to him about it, you corner him, it's just like, well, you know, you know, you got to repent, but it's like just tell me clearly what you believe. Don't be a hypocrite. You know, and the fact of the matter is a lot of members would actually respect their pastor more if they were just to say, hey, this is what I believe. Okay. Even if they're wrong, because if they're wrong, at least you know that they're wrong and you can leave. Okay, well, thanks for being honest with me. See ya. Whereas you run into certain pastors like they're so, they're blending the line so much. You're like, I want to go, but maybe I should stay. I don't know what you believe, man. Like, you just don't know. You know, it's better to just be clear, distinct, and not be a hypocrite. So we see that's the leaven of the Pharisees, but we also see the leaven of the Sadducees. Look at Matthew 3 verse 7. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and the Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, that's not very nice, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits, meet for repentance, and think not to say within yourselves. We have Abraham to our father, for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Go with me if you would to Matthew 22. Go back to Matthew 22. I'm going to read to you from a couple scriptures. Acts chapter 4 verse number 1 says, And as they spake unto the people the priest and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. So what were the Sadducees mad about? They're mad about the fact that they're teaching the resurrection. So the doctrine that the Sadducees did not adhere to was the resurrection. They were completely against the resurrection. They didn't believe in a resurrection. Acts 23 verse 6 says, But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, of the hope and resurrection of the dead, I am called in question. And when he had so said, There arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the multitude was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees confess both. I love this story. Because Paul's like, oh, okay, so we got Pharisees here, Sadducees here. Well, guess what, I believe in the resurrection. Well, one's for, one's against it. So what did he basically do? He had them just basically go against each other. Kind of reminds me of my documentary Dispensation of Heresy. Because we put Adam Fannin in the documentary, okay, you guys know who Adam Fannin is? And you know, after all this came out, they're like, what are you gonna do? You know, he's in the documentary. I'm like, yeah, but I got a bunch of heretics in my documentary. I got Calvinists in there, just, you know, I just kind of let them just fight each other. So the Calvinists can fight Adam Fannin, Adam Fannin can fight both of them, hopefully they destroy both each other. Okay, and that's exactly what Paul's doing here. Why? He understood that the Sadducees were against the doctrine of the resurrection. Look at Matthew 22, verse 23. The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him, Saint Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up seed unto his brother. Now there were with us seven brethren in the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and having no issue, left his wife unto his brother. Likewise the second also, and the third unto the seventh. And last of all, the woman died also. Therefore in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the seven? For they all had her. Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. Now what is the leaven of the Sadducees? Ignorance of the Bible. Ignorance of the Bible. What did Jesus tell them? Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures. So what was their leaven, what was their doctrine? The fact that they weren't going to the Bible. They weren't basing their beliefs off of what the Bible said. You say, well that's pretty obvious. Yeah, but you know what? I've heard pastors actually get up from behind the pulpit and literally say this. I remember I was part of a church plant, and the guy who took over this church plant, he's a false teacher, he believes in repenting your sins. If you ask him when did he get saved, he said the woman who molested him led him to the Lord. And he said behind the pulpit, because you know, I was part of that ministry and I was like teaching people, I was like hey you got to stick to the Bible, stick to the Bible. And he literally got up behind the pulpit and said look, you don't need to study the Bible, just know Jesus. He said that, he said you don't need to study the Bible, just know Jesus. Well look, Einstein, search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life and they are which testify of me. So in order for you to know Jesus, you have to search the scriptures. What do you think, is this like some emotional, like I just want to know you? What do you mean by know? You can only know of Christ through the word of God. So for him to say don't study the Bible, just know Jesus, he's talking about another Jesus is what he's doing. But that is the leaven of the Sadducees. To be ignorant of the scriptures and to deny the power of God. And the Bible says that they have a form of godliness, denying the power thereof. And what is the power thereof? What is that referring to? It's referring to the power of the resurrection, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection be made conformable unto his death. That's what they were denying right there. Go with me if you would to, go to Daniel chapter 12. Hey, the resurrection is a biblical doctrine. If the resurrection didn't exist, all this is in vain. Let's just go home, go have some ribs and stay Texas style, because none of this is even worth it. You know, I question, obviously, you know, Jehovah's Witnesses, it's like, you don't believe in the resurrection. What's the point of life? Yeah, but there's 144,000. Well first of all, did you know there are only men who are virgins? No ladies allowed. It's like a no girls club for the treehouse. No ladies allowed for the resurrection of the 144,000, okay? That's what they believe. And they just think they're just going to live life and go six feet under and then that's the end of it. That is the leaven of the Sadducees. The spirit of the Sadducees lives freely through the Jehovah's Witnesses, okay? The Bible tells us we need to study to show ourselves to prove them to God, a workman that he is not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. The Bible also says in Ephesians 1 18, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe, according to the workmen of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places. God has dedicated an entire chapter in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 to the resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15 is the most extensive teaching on the resurrection. Look at Daniel chapter 12 verse 11 says, And from that time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that make a desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. But go thou thy way till the end be, for thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of days. Oh, you know, the Sadducees, they just didn't know, you know, that was more like a New Testament teaching. This is Daniel. That's in the Old Testament. And he's telling them, hey, you're going to be in your lot at the end of days. What is that referencing? The resurrection is what that's talking about. Okay. So we see that there. Look at, if you would, go to Matthew chapter 14. So we see that the leaven of the Pharisees is false doctrine, most notably the doctrine of ignorance. You know, just hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. Just be ignorant of what the Bible says, you know, but you know ignorance is not bliss. We need to make sure that we fall in love with knowledge, that we love wisdom, that we pray for it, that we ask God to fill us with knowledge. The Bible says grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You know, to know Jesus Christ is to know the Bible. That is the leaven of the Pharisees. The leaven of the Sadducees obviously is ignorance, but now we're going to look into the leaven of Herod. Now what is the leaven of Herod? Who is Herod? Look at Matthew chapter 14 verse 1. At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus and said unto his servants, this is John the Baptist, he is risen from the dead and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him. For Herod had laid hold on John and bound him and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. For John said unto him, it is not lawful for thee to have her and when he would have put him to death he feared the multitude because they counted him as a prophet. So you know Herod is a little different than the Pharisees and the Sadducees in the sense of he wasn't specifically teaching a doctrine. What was he doing? He was by his example teaching. Now what is Herod? Is he like a spiritual teacher? Was he a pastor? Was he a Pharisee? Was he a religious leader? No he was a politician. That's what he was. And the leaven of Herod is referring to the fact that the Bible is telling us, hey beware of the teaching of the rulers of your land. You know like Donald Trump? You know like the Republican Party? Where Christians all across the country are just like, American, Republican Party, yeah I'm Christian, and Judeo-Christians, all this garbage, that's the leaven of Herod. You have Christians who are Baptists who hold to the teachings of the Republican Party and Fox News more than the Bible. They hold to the principles and the convictions of Donald Trump, that immoral man, more than the Bible. That's wicked. You know, Jesus, they need to go back to what Jesus said and say, oh well hold on a second, God told us to beware of the leaven of Herod. You know Herod, the ruler of the land, he said well Donald Trump's not a king, yeah but he tries to act like one. Making all these weird decisions, yeah but you know he's a Republican, the Republicans are more like close to the Bible, really? What Bible are you reading? Not the King James Bible, yeah but Romans 13, you can't even quote Romans 13. You know Herod was an immoral man, I mean is it any different with Donald Trump? Oh you shouldn't speak evil, John the Baptist did. He called out Herod, it cost him his head, but he did it. You know why? Because he understood what Christ was saying when he said beware of the leaven of Herod. We have too many Christians today that adhere more to the Republican Party, Sean Hannity and all this garbage from Fox News. By the way, Fox has never produced anything that's wholesome and family oriented and moral. I don't know if you know that. Look at some of the shows that Fox produces, it's the same network. Oh but you know, you know what? It's the same network. The same network that's producing all this filth and smut and pornography and garbage is the same one that's teaching you through the Republican Party on Fox News. Oh I don't like this. Then plug your ears and just hold on for the next 15 minutes. Yeah but if we're going to survive and maintain our Christian values, we need Trump. No you need the Bible. You need a spirit filled man. You need to be in the local New Testament church. You need soul winning. This country is going to burn. You know, if our hope is in the White House, you need to take your hope off the White House and put it in the church house. That's what you need to do. You know, forget all the politicians, no politician has ever been honest. These aren't the spiritual leaders of the country. Oh yeah but the Democrats, they're the same thing. Democrats and Republicans are the same thing, sorry to break it to you. Sorry to burst your bubble. They're the same party. After they're done debating, they go backstage and just fist bump and man we fooled them. You know, we need to make sure that we beware of the leaven of Herod. Don't let politicians teach you doctrine. Don't let politicians teach you Christian values. Don't let Donald Trump try to move you against what the Bible actually says that we ought to do. You know, we need to be getting our doctrine, our teachings from the Word of God itself. From spirit filled men of God who are teaching the Bible, preaching it in season, out of season, reproving, rebuking and exhorting with all long suffering in doctrine. Not focused on building a wall. How about building a wall of doctrine around your church instead? You know, all the Republican party does is basically create a smorgasbord of racist Christians is what it does. Go to Mark chapter 6. Mark chapter 6. Hey, beware of the leaven of Herod. We need to teach our children the next generation to come. Hey, son, beware of the leaven of Herod. Who's Herod, dad? Any political leader that becomes president, any governor, any politician, you don't listen to them. You don't get your doctrines from them. You don't get your values from them. You get it from the Bible. Mark 6-20 says, For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and holy and observed him. And when he heard him, he did many things and heard him gladly. And when a convenient day was come that Herod on his birthday made supper to his lords, high captains and chief estates of Galilee, and when the daughter of the said Herodias came in and danced and pleased Herod, and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. This is an ungodly man. He's watching like a belly dancer. You know, yeah, Donald Trump's not like that. No, he's worse. He's worse. Look at verse 23, And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask me, I will give it thee unto the half of my kingdom. And she went forth and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, Saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist. And the king was exceeding sorry, yet for his oath's sake and for his sake which sat it with him, he would not reject her. So again, it goes back to what we were talking about this morning. He's more concerned what the people think of him. You know, he heard him gladly. He you know, he liked to hear John the Baptist, but for the sake of those who are watching him, he's like, well, I can't reject her because they're gonna think I'm a weakling. I'm a little wuss. Verse 27, And immediately the king sent an executioner commanded his head to be brought. And he went and beheaded him in the prison and brought his head in a charger and gave it to the damsel and the damsel gave it to her mother. And we see this guy is not grounded in principles. You know, for for a piece of bread, he transgressed. For for a woman, he transgressed. You know, and he's basically the template for what a politician is today. They just go either way, whatever the crowd wants. That's exactly what they what they'll do. Is that a man of a man of integrity? Someone whose convictions change from one end of the spectrum to another, from one decade to another just completely change. That's not something we need to look to as an example of what we who teaches us. Now another wicked person in our culture is Andrew Kumo. Who's he? He's the governor of New York. This wicked, manslaughtering, evil, reprobate who has just signed over this legislation, the Reproductive Health Act that basically allows an abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. This man is wicked and should be hung by his ankles. By the way, this same fool who is who basically allowed for this legislation to pass. He's the same guy who said, no, we should never have the death penalty. You know, it's inhumane. Never have the death penalty. But then he doesn't want the death penalty on those. He just wants them on the children. This wicked reprobate, and not only that, he not only passed for this legislation, or is for this legislation, but once it passed, he celebrated it. So it's bad enough the fact that he wants for babies to be aborted up to 24 weeks. He's actually celebrating it. Celebrating the death of innocent children. This is the leaven of Herod, why? Because he's teaching this next generation to rise up in this country to despise life. He's evil and he's wicked, and I hope he melts like a snail. 82,000 unborn lives, that's what he's responsible for. This guy's wicked. And look, go to Proverbs chapter six, Proverbs chapter six. You know, a lot of this is all show, too, because he's a Catholic and then the Catholic church is getting involved. We don't agree with him. Catholic church, you guys are as wicked as he is. I'm trying to make it seem like you guys are a conservator or something. Look, if they didn't die, you'll molest the children that are actually born. Bottom line. You wicked reprobates. But they try to make them to be like the heroes and like, we don't agree with him, we are for life. Of course you're for life because you want to molest the children and actually make it. But it's all this propaganda, this political propaganda. But at the end of the day, it's the leaven of Herod. That leaven is trying to condition the second generation to devalue life. And we should never adhere to that. We should always reject it. Look at Proverbs chapter six and verse 17 says, it says, verse 16, These six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto him, a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, and heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among the brethren. This sums up a politician like perfectly. Every single point. The proud look, the lying tongue, the hands that shed innocent blood, the heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, he that soweth discord among the brethren. You should add on there, people who are greedy of filthy lucre because that's exactly what they're doing it for, for money's sake. So he said, what kind of leaven should we actually adhere to? The Bible? Unleavened bread. The word of God. You know, we need to train up a generation of children that says, phooey on the Fox News Baptist Church, phooey on the political teaching of Christian values. Let's go back to the Bible. You know, there was a time in this country where something so drastically would take place in the culture that people would go to church to find out what the man of God had to say about it because they could rest assured that the man of God was going to be quoting the Bible, that he was going to come on the behalf of God to teach the people of God. We're coming back to that now where people are waking up and they're saying, you know, this is a bunch of nonsense. This is a bunch of nonsense. I'm not for it. Let's go back to the church house and see what the man of God has to say about it. We have to reject the leaven of the Pharisees, the false doctrine. We have to reject the leaven of the Sadducees, the ignorance of the Bible, hypocrisy. But we also have to beware of the leaven of Herod. Turn off the TV, turn off the Fox News, remove the news app on your phone because they're lying to you anyways. They're not telling you the truth. Open up the Bible. You should know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Open up the word of God. Most news that comes through your phone and through YouTube, it's fake. They're giving you a half truth. They're not giving you the full story. At least you know that when you go to the Bible, you come to the church house, you'll get the truth and nothing but the truth. You will get the word of God that will save you from doctrines of devils. And what devil are we referring to? Herod. The politicians of our day. So what's the sermon today? The sermon is simply this. Hey, let's eat some unleavened bread. Let's go back to that. Reject all the leaven of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and even of, yea, the politician by the name of Herod. Amen. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word. Thank you, Lord, for the preaching of your word, Lord, that has helped us to get right. And I'm thankful for preaching like this in my personal life, Lord. I think of my father-in-law and those who have come before me. I think of Pastor Anderson, of course, Pastor Shelley, and those who are in this country preaching hellfire from the pulpit because this is what we need to hear. We don't need Fox News. We don't need the leaven of Herod. We need the King James Bible and spirit-filled men who are communicating it. And I pray, God, that you'd help us to esteem it more than what we find in the news, more than what we find with Sean Hannity and Fox News. I pray, God, that you'd help us to do so. We love you so much, Lord. May you bless this evening and the fellowship to follow. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.