12:1Luke 12:1

While a vast crowd pressed together to hear Him, He spoke first of all to His disciples to be on guard against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.Ms 43, 1896, par. 1–3+1 Like yeast hidden in flour, that influence works secretly until it spreads through and changes the whole character and life.Ms 43, 1896, par. 1–3+3 It fills the mind with pride and desire for self-glory and personal greatness, reshapes God's law to fit human practice, and puts human theories, traditions and commandments in place of God's commands.Ms 43, 1896, par. 1–3+3 What is hidden will be brought to light, so His followers are to fear God rather than those who can only harm the body, trusting the Father who remembers even sparrows and numbers the hairs of the head.Ms 83, 1909, par. 1–3 They must therefore keep perpetual watch over the heart, refuse ostentation, praise-seeking and living to please self, and with supreme love to God live and practice the truth in lowliness and self-abasement.Ms 43, 1896, par. 1–3+2

In the meantime an innumerable multitude had gathered together, pressing so closely that they trod upon one another to hear Him, drawn because His teaching was simple and plain and because His searching truths laid open the character of their sins and aroused conscience, and to that throng He began to speak first of all to His disciples.Ms 43, 1896, par. 1–3+1 Scribes and Pharisees also gathered around Him and the disciples under pretense of interest in truth, feigning desire to draw as close as possible to the inner circle and to understand truth.Ms 43, 1896, par. 1–3 Their aim was to divert minds by starting questions and creating controversy, interrupting Him as on many other occasions, leading His mind into other channels, and ensnaring Him.Ms 43, 1896, par. 1–3

The warning to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees repeated His earlier teaching that the influence of the Pharisees and Sadducees could spread unbelief and distort understanding of His works.DA 407.3–408.2 Leaven pictures that hypocrisy as yeast hidden in flour, whose presence is unknown until it produces its effect.Ms 43, 1896, par. 1–3 It is also sin itself, and as leaven was to be removed from homes at Passover, so sin is to be put away from the heart.Ms 43, 1896, par. 1–3+1

Like yeast hidden in flour whose presence is unknown until it produces its effect, hypocrisy insinuates itself and works secretly until it pervades the whole mass, quietly permeating and changing the whole character and life.Ms 43, 1896, par. 1–3+4 Deceptive teaching spreads in the same way, with evil spreading as leaven spreads.Ms 83, 1909, par. 1–3+2 If indulged, this leaven fills the mind with pride and vanity through self-seeking and desire for self-glory and personal greatness, which made even the disciples slow to understand His self-sacrificing mission and the mystery of redemption.Ms 43, 1896, par. 1–3+1

It conceals neglect of family duty beneath a show of religious generosity and artfully teaches deceptive principles that, once accepted, transform character and make His words harder to receive.DA 408.3–4 It reshapes God's law to fit human practice and replaces God's commands with human theories, traditions, and commandments taught as doctrine, seeking human approval or an easier way while appearing not to attack the law but undermining its principles and destroying its force.Ms 27, 1897, par. 16–18+2

Evil suspicion and malice are part of this leaven, and once received they pervert a person's thoughts, actions, and character.Ms 27, 1897, par. 16–18 Unbelief about the teachings of the Spirit of God is this leaven, spreading through the church until most reject the testimony.LJAHS 1.2 The immediate context teaches that hidden things will be revealed, that disciples should fear God rather than people who can only kill the body, and that they need not fear because God remembers even the sparrows and numbers the hairs of their heads.Ms 83, 1909, par. 1–3

The disciples were to listen to Christ's words and not let anything attract and hold their attention away, and all who believe in Him must be on guard against imbibing the hypocritical spirit and becoming like those who tried to ensnare Him, since the same deceptions are practiced now.Ms 43, 1896, par. 1–3 Those blessed with great light must put the whole heart into His service instead of striving in a tame, listless way without religious interest.Ms 185, 1898, par. 7–10 This requires daily prayer and watchfulness, and supreme love to God and to those for whom He died, so that believers not only claim to believe the truth but live the truth and practice the truth.Ms 185, 1898, par. 7–10

The verse is a lesson of great importance requiring refusal of ostentation and display, refusal to live to please self and to court praise, and refusal to thirst for human appreciation and honor, which only injures those who receive it.Lt 20, 1897, par. 5–7 It requires guarding the heart with perpetual vigilance and jealousy lest it be estranged from God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, hiding self in Him, and walking in self-abasement and lowliness, since inward spiritual perception of the truth never exalts the human agent in his own estimate and sanctification brings lowliness.Lt 20, 1897, par. 5–7 Applied to giving and building, it means contributing to the necessities of the cause with sacrifices He understands, without ostentation or display.Lt 20, 1897, par. 5–7 It means building only a plain, neat, tasteful, well-built house dedicated to God free from debt because interest on debt is great loss, spending none of His money on needless adornment and erecting no cathedral, because all are pilgrims and strangers whose citizenship is above, and devoting that house to educating and training children and youth and not elder members alone.Lt 20, 1897, par. 5–7

The surrounding teaching that hidden things will be revealed, that disciples should fear God rather than people who can only kill the body, and that they need not fear because God remembers even the sparrows and numbers the hairs of their heads, assures those who obey His Sabbath command despite fear of losing work or providing for their families that God knows their circumstances and cares for them and will not allow them to be tempted beyond what they can bear.Ms 83, 1909, par. 1–3 The warning applies to theories that could mislead believers, nullify truths intended to be proclaimed worldwide, and concentrate control of many minds in one person, as in the case of J. H. K.Lt 338, 1905, par. 8–10 It applies to philosophical, falsely scientific, and spiritualistic ideas that corrupt minds and undermine faith in God's messages, including the deceptive misuse of inspired writings to support theories that oppose the truth.10MR 47.2–48.2 The leaven must be purged from the heart of a critical, accusing spirit that disparages His servants and seeks to undermine their influence, and criticism of others must be guarded against, since God judges people for the way they judge others.Lt 14a, 1898, par. 10–13