The Leaven of the Pharisees

Luke 12:1-3
Jesus has just finished rebuking the Pharisees for their "holy" behavior, which stems from an evil heart, therefore negating any purity in their acts, rendering them useless and detestable (11:39-52).  He then turns to his disciples and further warns them against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy (vs. 1).  He tells them that even though their behavior may appear "righteous", there will come a day when all will be exposed and will be shown to either be from a pure heart, or from an evil heart (vs. 2-3).  Motivations will either complement our good deeds, or expose and condemn them.  And we, present-day, are no different, as Paul gives us this same warning in I Corinthians 3:12-15, showing us that some will stand before God with all their "good deeds" being exposed as nothing.  We will stand before God empty-handed and shamed that we did nothing for the glory of God while here on earth "serving" him, instead serving ourselves the entire time.  We look at our lives and the good behaviors that we display and quickly label ourselves as religiously devout and pious and servants of the Most High.  Well, so did the Pharisees.  They were holier and cleaner than everyone, outwardly, yet inwardly they were motivated by greed and selfishness, not the glory of God.  They believed their lives to be pinnacle examples of God's righteous servants, incurring his favor and blessing.  But their motivations, their hearts displayed a different desire.  Jesus, after warning against their hypocrisy, continues on, telling them to not fear man (vs. 4).  Do not let religious culture, and man's expectation or opinion dictate your actions and behavior, as it did for the Pharisees.  Do not conform your lives to fit in with those around you, whether religious or secular, this is hypocrisy.  Fear God instead, letting him dictate your actions and behavior (vs. 5, 8), because he is good and can be trusted and will not lead you into destruction (vs. 6-7).  If conformity to man's opinion and standard dictates your behavior then you have inwardly denied the Son of God (vs. 9), and you will be exposed in the presence of God as a hypocrite.  God is to determine your behavior, and acts of service, and he will be your source of righteousness and holiness, not clean, religious behavior that conforms to man's expectation (Luke 16:15).  Jesus is warning us that good outward behavior is not always indicative of a pure heart serving God out of love, but perhaps an indication of deception and extreme hypocrisy.  God looks upon our heart, not our actions.  So we too must examine our hearts before God, not our actions.  Only God knows our hearts; we cannot possibly know the motivations that lay within (Jeremiah 17:9).  We must ask God to search our hearts and reveal them to us, and stop comparing ourselves to the standards and expectation of religious man.  There is no shame in confession, but mercy and forgiveness (I John 1:9).  Otherwise we risk consuming the leaven of the Pharisees, and in turn, it will consume us (Galations 5:9).