The Riot Act
In an honest confession of sincerity, I admittedly have had my brain a bit too engaged with thoughts that were thrust upon me instead of carefully and diligently choosing only those mental processes that conform to our command by the Holy Spirit through Paul in Philippians chapter four:
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable— if anything is excellent or praiseworthy— think on these things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
(Verses 8-9 BSB)
What clued me into this subtle deviation was a gentle prompting, over and over on the inside, where I was repeatedly hearing (quite clearly) these words: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod…”
Those of you familiar with the Gospel will immediately pick up on this from Mark’s synoptic in the eighth chapter as one of the (many) places the disciples were lovingly and directly corrected by Jesus for wrong believing and wrong thinking. Here is the greater context:
Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. “Watch out!” He cautioned them. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod.” So they began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. Aware of their conversation, Jesus asked them, “Why are you debating about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Do you have such hard hearts? ‘Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear?’ And do you not remember?”
(Verses 14-18 BSB)
Sometimes, we forget that the disciples had a legitimate physical j-o-b in their service to the Master. They were required to take care of the administrative aspects of ministry that were way less exciting than the supernatural wowzers associated with the much more attractive, miraculous parts. Yet, a defining virtue of a disciple is being disciplined about the necessary, even mundane, aspects of life and ministry. A disciple is disciplined (I know, eye-roll moment). In the above instance, they just flatly did not do their job. Failed to bring food for the trip… a pretty blatant fail due to the human requirement for sustenance.
So, Jesus chastised them. But, He did it in that really cool Jesus-esk way where they knew He was fussing at them, yet the way He was doing it was a bit unique, and they did not tie in the spiritual principle because they immediately went to the carnal place. We do this often, Beloved. When I am ministering one-on-one with someone, it is typical for me to try and take a spiritual direction, but experience enormous resistance because of natural or soulish hindrances blockading the attempted route.
This is why the Spirit of God’s correction to me the other day had these words going through my heart like a steam train whistle through a mountain tunnel.
These are verses I have much personal and ministerial experience with. Jesus used this simple statement to warn His proteges about two of the greatest distracting forces that affect us. 1) Religion, and 2) Politics.
Leaven (yeast) is allegorical to sin because it is so seemingly innocuous and commonplace. Additionally, it only takes an itty bitty bit to have a large (bloated) consequence. Also, once it gets mixed in, there is almost no way to get it out… you have to let it go through its natural progression and basically just deal with the end product.
This is how wrong religion (tradition, legalism, self-righteousness, and contentiousness) can affect one’s life and heart. Once it gets in there, it just gets stuck and makes the dough boy gassy. It causes pain (you know that gut pain associated with bubble guts), tons of discomfort, it makes the environment stink, it drives you away from people, it drives people away from you, it produces embarrassment and/or shame, and a plethora of other repulsive consequences. When a person internalizes the wrong religious teaching, it will eventually make them a generally bad person. The only group of people who drew regular and fervent rebuke from the Loving Jesus was the religious crowd: Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, and lawyers of the Torah. The sinners, the prostitutes, the sick, the poor, the lost, and even the Gentile were all accepted and graciously ministered to by Him because they came submissively and humbly (huge key). But, bad religion murders those two traits in an elaborate assassination plan by our uber-successful adversary, the devil, and his kingdom of darkness. This attack is Christian Enemy Number One.
Number two is Herod. Not Herod the historical king, but Herod the philosophy of political power and governmental control. Herod was a narcissistic, unrepentant, and undeniable tyrant, yet it was incumbent on all the people in his territory to have some semblance of compliance, respect, and interaction with his system if they were to survive in that world. This tension led to Jesus teaching on economic issues, taxation, government corruption, Godly submission, and much more. This usually led to radical truths about the superseding power of genuine spiritual living over the lesser forces of the natural cosmos and its Babylonian system that He called, “mammon.”
So, when my heart was being convicted by those subtle words I knew quickly and exactly what I needed to repent of. Sheesh… you would think I would be further or more mature by now… huh? Just a little FYI; we will not likely achieve some place of sinless perfection where repentance and transformation will become obsolete this side of The Day of the Lord. But, we should strive for that with all our hearts because “… for in this world we are just like Him.” (1 John 4:17b BSB).
I allowed my thoughts to get sucked into the political vortex or projections made by unredeemed people about future happenings that were disconnected from the New Covenant. In this New Covenant, we have BETTER promises built on the BETTER foundations of Christ as the Chief Cornerstone. (Hebrews 8 and 10)
This is why I needed to preach on and reinvigorate our calling to being a Covenantal community of people committed to living in Sacred Space together as the family of God. The government HATES this kind of living and is actively persecuting those committed to this New and Living Way (This is the Way!).
Here is a bit of history to consider:
Puritan leader (minister) Oliver Cromwell led the, “Commonwealth of England,” from 1649 till his death in 1658. The Commonwealth was based on the Puritan covenant, a voluntary relationship with representatives, elected by the people, with God. This was antithetical to the monarchical system that England was and is famous for.
Puritan pastor William Perkins stated in a sermon in 1624:
“We are by nature covenant creatures, bound together by covenants innumerable and together bound by covenant to our God … Blest be the ties that bind us.”
That short stint as the, “Commonwealth of England,” had been, in a sense, England’s preemptive experience of what would later be known as the, “American Experiment.”
Os Guinness stated in an interview, “Thinking in Public,” June 5, 2017:
“The covenantal ideas in England were a lost cause, sadly. They failed. The king came back. But the lost cause became the winning cause in New England. And covenant shaped constitutionalism … The American Constitution is a nationalized, secularized form of covenant.”
After the death and bloody overthrow of Cromwell’s covenantal-based governmental, “experiment,” the monarchy was restored under force and the now infamous Charles the Second reascended to the throne (the original ‘bully pulpit’). Once his monarchy was reestablished, King Charles II began an intense period of royal retribution, arresting and killing those who took part in overthrowing their precious monarchy… ESPECIALLY the religious freedom fighters among the protestant populations. In 1662, Parliament passed the Act of Uniformity, which required all preachers to submit and believe exactly what the government told them to believe. Sound familiar, (pssst… look up “Johnson Amendment”)? Later, in 1665, Parliament passed the Five Mile Act. This made it illegal for a ‘dissenting’ preacher (your pastor is one of those guys…) to preach within five miles of any town. If they even dared to, the consequences started with immediate silencing by arrest. State-controlled religious speech was codified into law.
The authentic church went underground and started small group Bible studies and prayer meetings named, “conventicles,” derived from the word, “covenant.” Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in the midst.” In 1664, Parliament passed the Act of Conventicles, which made it illegal for five or more people to have a religious meeting apart from the Church of England. The government’s way or the highway, boys… two weeks to slow the spread… take the jab or lose the job… shut down your school, church, and small business because (meh) science… if we all comply more it will get over quicker… stop being an election denying conspiracy theorist, obey the fact-checkers!
Why am I giving y’all a partial history lesson? Because this is historical evidence of the power of covenant and how fearful tyrants are when a faith culture commits to covenantal living.
There was such terror in the hearts of the oppressors then that it became almost popular in that anti-covenantal government to create new ways to persecute believers. If you were caught with a small group making up your own prayers, the police, similar to the FBI today, would bust into your house and shackle you, with the governmentally approved ‘bishop’ assisting them. You would then be brought to a secret government hearing room called the, “Star Chamber,” because it had stars on the ceiling (mocking the sovereignty of our Creator, Yahwah). Eerily similar to recent January 6th-type hearings, they would threaten you with extended sentences and torture unless you confessed to things you did not do.
Some were branded on the face as heretics or had their ears cut off as a public humiliation for noncompliance to the overlords in London. Then, they were put in an inhumane jail cell for months and even years. They refused to feed them or provide basic humanitarian aid causing the deaths of countless righteous men and women.
The Conventicle Act was changed to the Riot Act because they stipulated that those rebellious, “covenantal,” people could be planning an insurrection in their little Bible study. The police would kick in the door, pull out a piece of paper, and read the Riot Act, which said everyone must immediately disperse or they will be arrested, dragged to the Star Chamber, and thrown in prison. It was so outrageously severe that it eventually birthed the expression — “Read them the Riot Act!”
“If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them. The produce of the earth is taken by all (heiarchial oppressors); the king himself profits from the fields.”
Ecclesiastes 5:8-9 BSB (parentheses mine)
Hierarchy, the ungodly passion for promotion, power, and control drives this type of tyranny, oppression, and evil. Covenantal living is the antidote to the thirst for hierarchical ascension. In the covenantal community, agape reigns supreme.
The Apostle Peter was talking to the covenantal community who were under government persecution and oppression in his first epistle here:
“The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and sober, so that you can pray. Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without complaining. As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another.”
(4:7-10 BSB)
Above all, love one another deeply… ABOVE ALL. Do you know what ‘all’ means here?
I am not saying we have a persecuted church in America… yet. But, I am also not so naive to think that our spiritual adversary and his minions in government are not actively cooking up some wickedness for God’s family. If they will kill infants in the womb and sexually mutilate children, there is nothing too satanic for them. Whether persecution, prosecution, or even execution is our lot or not… either way, it is incumbent upon us to embrace this exhortation of the Spirit to reject the leaven of the Pharisees and the Leaven of Herod by living all-in for the covenantal life that Jesus shed his precious blood to inaugurate. We have already become martyrs because we confessed our allegiant vow to the selfless sacrifice of Jesus on that bloody cross of Calvary. We should live our remaining days free from the fear of death this powerless world threatens us with because we have done all the dying we are gonna do.
Life verse alert!
“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20 NLT
Let’s get busy with this new way of covenantal living as we head into The Great Awakening!
Your covenantal brother in love,
Steve
