"Be careful," Jesus warned them. "Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod." (Mark 8:15). The religious and political spirit have been the two most insidious enemies of the cross since Christ walked the earth. They are both anti-Christ spirits that are used by the enemy to kill the works and purposes of God. You can see in the life of Christ that these two spirits were always at work to kill Jesus and destroy the work that He was sent to accomplish. For example, Herod tried to kill Jesus when he was still an infant (Mt. 2:1-18)—and together with the Pharisees—the Herodians plotted together to kill Jesus early in His ministry (Mark 3:6). Not only did they both oppose Jesus throughout His life, they ultimately worked together to crucify Him. The tricky thing is that the religious and political spirit have a façade of looking like they are from God (Mt. 2:8). They use scripture and religious language to sound righteous, but they are evil at their root. This is why Jesus warns us about them in Mark 8:15, and this is why we need to be aware of these anti-Christ spirits that seek to kill and destroy the church. Check out this week’s audio message to learn more about the political spirit, how it operates, how to discern it, and how to overcome:.
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