BY AL BUCHANAN
The last time that I gave a sermon here was on the First Day of Unleavened Bread. The title of that sermon, if you remember, was A Little Leaven Leavens The Whole Lump. Today I want to follow up on that sermon and actually what I’ve decided to do I asked Mr. Lee to go back on the way and change the title on that sermon that I gave on the First Day of Unleavened Bread and just add Part I to it. And this is going to be Part II. So the title of the sermon today will be A Little Leaven Leavens The Whole Lump, Part II.
One of the reasons that I want to make this Part II and follow up on this message is because I need to correct a mistake that I made in that sermon. I don’t know how many picked up on it but I did make a mistake there and I want to correct that today. So hopefully anyone that listens to the tape or DVD or whatever of the sermon given then and take note that it is Part I will also listen to Part II to get the correction.
Before I get to that though, some might ask, “Why would I spend time today discussing leavening? The Days of Unleavened Bread are past. We’re looking forward to Pentecost now. So why would we take the time today to discuss leavening again?” Well, there’s a good reason for it. Let’s go to Leviticus 23 and let’s take note of something. Leviticus 23, very, very familiar area which we go to virtually every Holy Day. Leviticus 23 and in verse 4, it states
Leviticus 23:4. ‘These are the feasts of the [Eternal], holy
convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.
So these days, as we go back to verse 1, Moses was
instructed to give this instruction to physical
Then verse 5.
Leviticus 23:5. ‘On the
fourteenth day of the first month at
twilight is the Lord’s Passover.
And we know that physical
Then verse 6.
Leviticus 23:6. ‘And on the
fifteenth day of the same month is
the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the [Eternal]; seven days you must eat
unleavened bread.
And we know that in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul made it very, very clear that we are to continue to keep this festival. We are to keep the festival of the Days of Unleavened Bread. We are to keep it not just physically in that we still continue to put leavening out of our homes, off our properties. We eat unleavened bread physically during those days. We continue to do that but we are to keep it as he said, “in sincerity and truth.” We’re to keep the spirit and the intent of the meaning behind these days as well.
“Seven days,” it says, “you must eat unleavened bread.” And we saw back on that First Day of
Unleavened Bread how that in John 6, Jesus Christ is shown to be the
fulfillment of what the manna pictured in that He was this living bread coming
down from heaven. Not as
Then in verse 7.
Leviticus 23:7. ‘On the
first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on
it. 8) ‘But you shall offer an offering
made by fire to the [Eternal] for seven days.
The seventh day shall be a
holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.’”
Now we know, again, that Jesus Christ fulfilled all of what these offerings and sacrifices picture so we no longer have to do them today.
Then verse 9.
Leviticus 23:9. And the
[Eternal] spoke to Moses saying, 10)
“Speak to the children of
Now this “sheaf” in the Hebrew is omer which is a dry measure. And you read other places where it’s one-tenth of an ephah, one-tenth of an ephah. Now most of us wouldn’t know what that means or how much that was but it was a dry measure of flour that Mr. Schmidt went into some time back here. It was approximately five pints or just over, actually, five pints which is about two and a half quarts—and we can relate to that a little bit better—or significantly more than a half gallon. So there was about that much. This finely ground flour was prepared from the very first of the harvest.
Now since it was still in the state of just being a pulverized ground flour, it obviously was not leavened. It was unleavened at this point. And, again, as we get into this, we understand that the leavening didn’t take place until the flour was mixed with water and then the leavening was injected into it. So this was still in the flour state. So it would have been unleavened at this point.
Now it says here that this is “a sheaf of the firstfruits.” Now this word “firstfruits” here is the Hebrew word reshith. We’re going to see firstfruits later in this chapter and it’s going to be a totally different word, Hebrew word, an entirely different word. This word means the first in place, in time, in order, or rank. It means a firstfruit. So this sheaf, they were to bring this “sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.” So this omer or this sheaf represented the very first of the spring harvest or the first of the firstfruits when you think of the entire spring harvest as the early harvest or early crop or the firstfruits of the year.
Then in verse 11.
Leviticus 23:11. ‘He shall
wave [or elevate] the sheaf before the [Eternal], to be accepted on your
behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.
So this sheaf or this omer was elevated by the priest before the Eternal on the first Sunday following Passover each year. It is a special day that was set aside. It represented the resurrected Christ ascending to His Father to be accepted as a suitable sacrifice and offering on our behalf. So it was fulfilled following His resurrection on that Sunday that followed Passover.
This offering and sacrifice would make possible the
forgiveness of the sins of all humanity.
Now it’s very important that we understand how significant that
particular event was. Had He not done
that, had He been sacrificed, had He been resurrected, but never had appeared
before the Father to be accepted by the Father, our sins could never have been
forgiven. He had to go through this
whole process and appear before the Father.
The Father had to accept what He had done as a suitable sacrifice, as a
suitable offering. Then it was possible
for those who would take advantage of it to have their sins forgiven. It would make possible the removal of the
death penalty from every human being who would accept this opportunity. God’s great plan to expand His Family could
now begin to move forward. It would have
been on hold. It couldn’t move forward
until this event had taken place. So
now, once this had taken place, the sins of humanity could be forgiven.
Now let’s go to verse 15. Leviticus 23 and verse 15.
Leviticus 23:15. ‘And you
shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath [or from Wave Sheaf
Sunday], from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed.
So beginning on Wave Sheaf Sunday seven Sabbaths were to be counted. So if you’re beginning on a Sunday and you’re counting seven Sabbaths, you are in effect counting seven complete weeks or forty-nine days. Today, actually, this year marks the fourth of those seven Sabbaths as we’re counting them this year. This is the fourth of the seven.
Now verse 16.
Leviticus 23:16. ‘Count
fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new
grain offering to the [Eternal].
So the count was to continue beyond this forty-ninth day, beyond the seventh Sabbath to the day following the seventh Sabbath or to the fiftieth day to what came to be known as the Festival of Weeks. In my New King James Bible, the heading of this section has “The Feast of Weeks.” There are other places. There are numerous places, actually, where it is referred to as The Feast of Weeks. Other places it is referred to as the Feast of Harvest. You can find that in Exodus 23 verse 16. It’s also called the Day of Firstfruits, Numbers 28 verse 26. In the New Testament, it is referred to as Pentecost and it’s commonly known by us as the Day of Pentecost or the Fiftieth which is what Pentecost means.
Today marks the twenty-eighth day then—since this is the seventh Sabbath—this is the twenty-eight day—or the fourth Sabbath rather—this is the twenty-eighth day in the count to fifty. So it’s the fourth Sabbath and the twenty-eighth day.
Then verse 17.
Leviticus 23:17. ‘You shall
bring from your [habitations] two wave loaves
of two-tenths of an ephah.
So twice the amount that was used for the dry measure that represented Jesus Christ. So apparently there was one ephah, one-tenth of an ephah for each one of the loaves.
Leviticus 23:17. ‘You shall
bring from your [habitations] two wave loaves
of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be
baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the
[Eternal].
Now this word “firstfruits,” again, is entirely different Hebrew word from the one used over in verse 10. This one is bikkuwr in the Hebrew. It means the firstfruits of the crop or the firstfruits of that particular harvest that year. It’s a different word and it represents the rest of the firstfruits or the rest of the harvest of this early harvest that year.
Now it states here that they are to be baked—these two loaves are to be baked—with leaven. So the command specified that these two loaves representing the rest of the firstfruits were to be baked with leaven. Now here’s where I want to begin to correct the mistake that I made back on the First Day of Unleavened Bread.
I want to go to definition of this word “leaven” here. It means to ferment, from the root meaning to
be sour from fermentation. Now, as we’ll
read in a moment, when this fermentation took place in the dough, it produced a
sour taste in the dough. Hence, we call
today this type of dough “sour dough,” “sour dough.” Okay, going on Zodhiates goes further in
defining this word “leaven” this way, “anything which is fermented or
leavened.” And then he comments: “The normal process of bread making included
some form of yeast to make the bread rise, in other words, the natural
fermentation of benign bacteria.” Here
is where the problem came in.
This is an incomplete definition. This is partially true but not entirely so. This definition is incomplete and it resulted in the mistake that I made in Part I. I proceeded from this definition to emphasize that the fermentation involved living organisms which it does. There’s living organisms that takes places that produces this fermentation. My focus then was on the living bacteria that’s involved while I neglected to explain that the yeast is also a living organism but not a bacteria. Now I don’t know how many of you picked up on that but I emphasized the bacteria in this. I did not emphasize the involvement of the yeast. Of course, we know—most of us know—that the yeast, rather than being a bacteria, is a fungus, also alive and it’s a microorganism but it is not a bacteria.
Today I want to attempt to clear this up and then further
develop the importance of the fact that this leavening involved these living
microorganisms. Now as I pointed out
then on that sermon, today we have other means of getting the same effect in
bread dough. We can put baking soda or
different chemicals in dough and get the same effect. And there is no life there. You can get the same effect, but there is
nothing alive working where during the days of the Bible—and we’ll read it here
in just a moment—where this is something that was perpetuated for years and
years and years and years and years, for thousands of years, this means of
leavening bread before the chemicals came along.
Now it’s important for us today, since we have these chemicals, to also remove them or bread that’s been baked using them from our homes because there is a good lesson to be learned, a very definite lesson to be learned from the puffing up effect of any of these leavening agents. And so, we should apply the rule to whatever leavening agent it is.
But the point is the leavening that was used when the Scriptures were written and when it refers to leavening, it’s referring to something that is alive. The leavening that was commonly used during ancient times was the same leavening used today to make sour dough bread. It’s the very same process. The leavening used in sour dough is called “a starter.” The leavening that is used in sour dough we call “a starter.” You might say the starter contains leavening but it really is itself leavening and we’re going to see that as we go on.
The starter is made by mixing flour and water into a dough and then under the right circumstances allowing wild yeast and lacto bacillus bacteria to invade the dough. And it becomes then an environment where these living microorganisms can grow and spread. And it actually fills this starter dough with these microorganisms.
Now let me read from a couple of sources about this process.
Sour dough bread is bread made without added yeast by making a starter in which wild yeast can grow. The sour dough baker can raise bread naturally as mankind did for thousands and thousands of years before a packet of yeast was an available convenience at local markets.
Now you can go now and you can buy a little package of yeast. I think it also comes in a little brick form. I’m not sure but different means that you can buy this yeast and it’ll work just fine. But it’s not what we’re talking about here.
Now another source definition for sour dough.
Sour dough refers to the process of leavening bread by capturing wild yeast in a dough of batter. Sour dough more specifically refers to a symbiotic culture of lacto bacilli and yeast.
Now “symbiotic” rather refers to a “symbiotic culture of lacto bacilli and yeast.” “Symbiotic” simply means that you have these two different forms of life. You have the fungus. You have the bacteria. And you have them compatible with one another and able to grow alongside one another and do their work alongside one another in an atmosphere in which both can thrive. Okay.
Sour dough more specifically refers
to a symbiotic culture of lacto bacilli and yeast giving a distinctly tangy or
sour taste—hence, its name—due mainly to the lactic acid and acetic acid
produced by the bacteria.
Now another source.
The novel thing about sour dough baking is that it requires that you keep something alive in your fridge.
You keep something in your fridge that is alive.
I think of my starter as a “pet.’
Or something that is alive, like a pet. Now this is interesting when we get to a word later that we’re going to focus on that Paul used.
I think of my starter as a “pet.” Sour dough starter is a batter of flour and water filled with living yeast and bacteria. The yeast and bacteria form a stable symbiotic relationship and as long as you keep the starter fed can live for centuries.
You could actually keep this alive and perpetuate it for
years and years and years and years and years.
Now those of us in the
The yeast and bacteria form a stable symbiotic relationship and as long as you keep the starter fed can live for centuries, a thriving colony of microorganisms.
So this starter actually becomes a mass that’s just teeming with life of these microorganisms.
To make sour dough bread then, you blend the starter
You take a portion of the starter.
…and you blend it with some flour and make dough. The yeast then propagates [or spreads] and leavens the bread.
And so the point is that I want us to all understand is that this is something that is alive. You take a little bit of it. You put it in the dough and this life begins to do its work. These little microorganisms begin to work and do their job.
And we’re going to come back in comments a little bit later about the effect of this on the dough. I’m not going to get into the technical part of it but let me just say now that when these little guys do their work in there, they actually change the structure of that dough chemically. They change the structure of that dough; make changes to it to the point to where if you were able somehow to go in and remove every one of the little living microorganisms, the dough would never be the same again. It has been changed by what effect these microorganisms have had on it. So just keep that in mind as we move forward.
So this starter, again, is just a mass that’s teeming with life.
Now back to verse 17.
Leviticus 23:17. ‘You shall
bring from your [habitations] two wave loaves
of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be
baked with leaven.
So these loaves representing the rest of the firstfruits were to be baked from dough that had been leavened in this way. Okay? They had been leavened this way. This is a sour dough loaf, two of them here. Now, why was it necessary? Why was the command given specifically to leaven these loaves? What was the purpose of that?
We find, especially when we go into the New Testament and we scrutinize as we did on the First Day of Unleavened Bread, what leaven is linked to. We find that leavening is linked to sin and that’s the most common association we make with it. That leavening is linked in our mind and when we think of leavening, we think of sin. But it also is linked to anything that is evil. It is linked to that which is false. Remember Christ said, “Avoid the leavening of the Sadducees and the Pharisees,” and they finally come to understand that it was their teaching that He was saying to avoid. It also is linked to that which tempts, tests, or troubles us and we’ll see that in a moment. So it’s linked to these things.
Now let’s go to 1 Corinthians 5 and let’s look at this. 1 Corinthians 5. We’ll quickly read through this. 1 Corinthians 5 and verse 1.
1 Corinthians 5:1. It is
actually reported that there is
sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named
among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife! 2) And you are puffed up,
Or you have developed an arrogance as a result of this as the margin would have it.
1 Corinthians 5:2b. and have
not rather mourned,
And so, as we pointed out on that First Day, his comments are directed toward the group and the effect that this was having on the group.
1 Corinthians 5:2. And you
are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this [thing]
might be [put] away from among you.
So right away he is alluding to the fact that this is something that needs to be removed, taken out from among them as we are instructed to take the leavening out during the seven days.
Verse 3.
1 Corinthians 5:3. For I
indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though
I were present) [concerning] him who has so done this [thing]. 4) In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when
you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord
Jesus Christ, 5) Deliver such a one to
Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day
of the Lord Jesus.
So this was to have a positive effect, both on the individual involved as well as on the group. By removing him temporarily—as it turned out to be—from the group it would benefit them, but it also would benefit the individual to get his attention to how serious this was.
Verse 6.
1 Corinthians 5:6. Your
glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens
the whole lump?
So here the leavening could represent the sin of the individual and the impact it was having on the individual itself or it could be referring to the puffing up or the arrogance that resulted within the group. And that seems to be the focus and that seems to be the thing that was spreading. And this was the thing that he seems to be most concerned about as far as the group as a whole is concerned.
So this thing had, in other words, taken on life and it was spreading through the group. And he said
1 Corinthians 5:6b. Do you
not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
It’ll spread. It’ll affect everybody.
Then verse 7.
1 Corinthians 5:7. Therefore
purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are
unleavened. For indeed Christ, our
Passover, was sacrificed for us.
And so this certainly is instruction that would apply to a group as he’s applying it here. It also would apply to an individual. The principle would apply to an individual. Once you recognize a sin within ourselves, we are to get rid of it and fight it and try to put it in control. Put controls on it to keep it from spreading and developing within ourselves.
Then Matthew 16 and verse 5. We looked at both of these examples in Part I.
Matthew 16:5. Now when His
disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 6) Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and
beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” 7) And they reasoned among themselves,
saying, “It is because we have taken
no bread.” 8) But [when] Jesus
[perceived] it, [He] said to them, “O
you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have
brought no bread? 9) “Do you not yet
understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many
baskets you took up? 10) “Nor the seven
loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?
Where He had taken a small amount of bread and fish and had fed so many. In other words, the little bit of bread expanded and spread and it became more. So it was something that started small and became large. So that’s in the context of what He’s saying here.
Then verse 11.
Matthew 16:11. “How is it
you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread [at all]?—But [you should] beware of the leaven of
the Pharisees and Sadducees?” 12) Then
they understood that He did not tell them
to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine [or the teaching as the
margin has it] of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
And so here leavening is linked to false teaching. And false teaching is something that can take on life of itself and spread. And we used the example of what happened in the Worldwide Church of God and how that the false teaching started out rather small relatively speaking. And it expanded and it grew and it grew. And it is still growing and still spreading till this day. It hasn’t stopped yet. This is something that started little and it has spread.
Now here’s one that we did not look at on the First Day, Galatians chapter 5. This is the other place where we find the words “a little leaven leavens the whole lump.” And I want to get into this and see what the context is in which it is used here. Of course, this is apostle Paul writing. Galatians 5 and verse 1.
Galatians 5:1. Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
Verse 2.
Galatians 5:2. Indeed I,
Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you
nothing.
And so here there were those—as he is going to say in a moment—troubling them with a teaching at the time that caused them trouble. Now this very same teaching today probably would not have any negative effect for us as we live in a different time and we have a different background. We’re a different culture, everything else. But here these who were troubling them were trying to convince them that they needed to be circumcised. In other words, they needed to do as the Jewish teachers had taught prior to the truth that came to them in the way that sins are forgiven through Jesus Christ. They had understood this. They had had this new truth given to them but here there’s those troubling them where they need to go back and start earning their salvation themselves. That they had to do it on their own.
Verse 3.
Galatians 5:3. And I testify
again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the
whole law.
So you have to be obedient in everything. You cannot be disobedient in anything or you will fail.
Verse 4.
Galatians 5:4. You have
become estranged from Christ,
Or separated from the sacrifice of Christ and what it’s intended for.
Galatians 5:4b. you who attempt to be justified by law;
And, again, this is something today that if somebody coming here would try to convince us of this, we would reject it immediately. But the folks in those days, it was a different situation, different background, and everything else. And it had an impact on them.
Galatians 5:4 cont. you have
fallen from grace.
Today we’re troubled with other things and we’ll talk about that in a moment.
Verse 5.
Galatians 5:5. For we
through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
We are going to be granted white linen to clothe us. We are going to be presented. Jesus Christ is going to present us to Himself without spot, blemish, or any such thing. We’re going to be granted to be arrayed in fine linen. And it is the righteousness of Jesus Christ that is gifted to us that clothes us.
Galatians 5:5. For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6) For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
Verse 7.
Galatians 5:7. You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8) This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you.
And then he says
Galatians 5:9. A little
leaven leavens the whole lump.
If you let a little of this in, it’ll spread. It’ll begin to spread. It’ll take life.
Verse 10.
Galatians 5:10. I have
confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind;
You won’t let this affect you, in other words.
Galatians 5:10b. but he who
troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.
Now I want to look at the definition of the Greek word that’s rendered “he who troubles.” It’s from a single Greek word. “He who troubles,” it’s interesting. It means to stir up, to trouble, to agitate, to stir up or trouble with questions, meaning to disquiet.
It’s interesting. I have been receiving now mailings from an individual who I’ve known in the past. I haven’t had contact with him for a long time. But he sends a mailing. I think it averages about one a week. And in each one he brings into question something that we believe. Even one of the last ones, he brought into question whether we’re even to keep the Passover anymore. And it’s just a barrage of these things. About one a week that comes. Calling into question what we believe.
This is what this is talking about.
Thayer’s defines this as “to cause one inward commotion, take away his calmness of mind, to render anxious or distressed, to perplex the mind by suggesting scruples or doubts,” suggesting that someone’s scruples are in question, or bring to doubt something.
And this is what he is saying here.
Galatians 5:10. I have
confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who
troubles you
Now today there are many who will trouble us if we allow them to do so. If I were to read and get into every one of these arguments that this gentleman is sending to me—I mean there’s a possibility—if nothing more, it would be a huge distraction for me. It would take up a good deal of my time just wading through and trying to prove that he’s wrong. But it would just be a distraction. It would be a trouble. It would be a constant harassment—you might say—to the foundation on which we stand.
Now there are others who trouble the people of the
I don’t know how long it will take for people to believe Jesus Christ when He says, “No man knows the day or the hour” when Christ is going to return. You see if you know when the 1,335 days begin, you know when Christ is going to return. Now in order for that to be possible, in order for you to know that, something has to render that statement of Christ invalid. Now what would that be? How would you render that statement invalid? Well the way this gentleman does is, “Well, it was true when Christ said that, but now He knows and He’s told me.” Well, if you want to believe that, that’s fine.
Now this man is going to come and go. He’s going to come and go. But there’ll be others. There’ll be others who will replace him. There’ll be others that will say they’ve got it figured out. They can run their calculations and they can figure it out and they’ll know. Well, I would just advise you to please be careful. Be careful and don’t be caught up as many have been in what this man is saying.
Now let me state this. This man, I believe, is sincere. He believes that what he is saying is going to happen. He believes he is a representative of Christ. He believes that. He’s a representative of God, he believes it. I don’t question his sincerity. But in time we will find—I believe—that he’s wrong and it’ll be proven that he’s wrong. But, please, please be careful about letting things like this affect us.
Now let us notice what Paul goes on to say here. Let me read verse 10 again, Galatians 5.
Galatians 5:10. I have
confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles
you shall bear his judgment,
Now those who are guilty of doing this kind of thing will eventually receive their judgment from God. It’s not for us to judge.
Galatians 5:10b. whoever he is.
11) And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still
suffer persecution? Then the offense of
the cross has ceased. 12) I could wish
that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off! 13) For you, brethren, have been called to
liberty; only do not use liberty as
an opportunity for the flesh,
We understand that our sins are forgiven through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, but as Paul says in other places, “Do we sin then, that grace may abound? Absolutely not!” he says. So we have our sins forgiven through His sacrifice and only that way. It’s the only way we can be justified but yet we are not to abandon the determination on our part to live as sinless as we can. And we’re going to talk about this as we move forward.
Galatians 5:13b. but through
love
Notice this! Let me back up and read 13 again.
Galatians 5:13. For you,
brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve
one another.
And so he’s beginning to see now where our focus really ought to be. We ought to have a focus regarding our relationship with the Father and His Son and with one another.
Galatians 5:14. For all the
law is fulfilled in one word, even in
this: “You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.”
This is where our focus should be.
Galatians 5:15. But if you
bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!
In Luke 12 and verse 1, Christ another time said, “Beware of the leaven of Pharisees which is hypocrisy.” It’s another thing that is so much a tendency for all of us. To put up a façade. To be an actor in a sense. To pretend to be someone whom we are not. So easy for us to slip into that mode and it too is like something that’s alive. And it spreads.
Now I want to go to Romans. You don’t even have to turn there. Romans 3 verse 23 just let me quote it. You know this. You’ve heard this so many times where Paul writes
Romans 3:23. For all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
We’re going to begin to address why those two loaves are leavened.
Romans 3:23. For all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
All of us have fallen prey to things that leavening represents. All of us have. Every one of us have fallen prey to what leavening represents; to that which is evil, to that which is false, to that which tempts, tests, or troubles us. And all of us have sinned. Every one of us have sinned. We’ve all fallen prey, in other words, to what leavening represents.
Now, Brethren, it was in God’s plan. It was in God’s plan for all of us to experience sin and the effects of sin. It was in His plan for that to be the case or it would not have happened, but it has. Every one of us have experienced sin. We’ve all committed sin. We’ve all had it affect us not only what the sin we’ve committed ourselves but what the sin of others. It’s all around us and it has affected. No doubt, this is the reason why the two loaves that represents the rest of the firstfruits were required to be baked with leaven because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Now, I want us to notice something in Romans 7. Romans 7 and in verse 17 and also in verse 20, I want to read both of these verses. Verse 17 and we’ll just jump into the flow of what is being said here. Romans 7 verse 17.
Romans 7:17. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
And verse 20, it says
Romans 7:20. Now if I do
what I will not to do, it is no
longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
Now this word “dwells” is oikeo in the Greek. It means to dwell or to inhabit, to inhabit. Now let me just ask you this. In your home you have many things. You have couches, chairs, beds, carpet, whatever. You have your house filled with different things that are not alive. Do you refer to any of them as “dwelling” in your home? Or do you refer to, if you have a relative who lives with you, do they dwell in your home? Yes. Yes. Even some might even refer to their animal as “dwelling” in their home.
This word “dwell” is used nine times in the New Testament, nine different times. Three of those times are used right here in chapter 7. It’s in 17, 18, and 20. We find it used three times there. We see it used a couple of times in Romans 8. I want to quickly go to the other six.
Romans 8, just across the page in my Bible, verses 9 and 11. Notice what we read.
Romans 8:9. But you are not
in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in
you.
And verse 11.
Romans 8:11. But if the
Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who has
raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through
His Spirit [that] dwells in you.
In 1 Corinthians 3 and in verse 16, we find another instance where this word is used. 1 Corinthians 3 verse 16.
1 Corinthians 3:16. Do you
not know that you are the
Remember we talked about this prior to the Feast last year quite a bit.
1 Corinthians 3:16. Do you
not know that you are the
In 1 Corinthians 7 verses 12 and 13.
1 Corinthians 7:12. But to
the rest I, not the Lord, say: if any
brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live
[same word] with him, let him not divorce her.
Verse 13.
1 Corinthians 7:13. And a
woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live
with her [same word], let her not divorce him.
The last place we find it is in 1 Timothy 6 verse 16 and you need to read several verses there to get the context of what is being said. But it’s actually speaking of Jesus Christ there and it says of Him that He now dwells in unapproachable light. He now dwells in unapproachable light.
Those are the six other places we find this word used. In each of these uses, it is speaking of something that is alive and dwelling someplace.
So what does Paul mean when he said that he has sin dwelling in him? Well, I’ve given a great deal of thought to this and wrestled with it and I don’t have the answer for sure. I don’t know for sure. I would love to sit down and talk with him and ask him just exactly what he meant by this. He is referring to sin as if it’s something that is alive that’s dwelling within him. And, as we’ve seen, this word “dwell” applies in that sense. That it’s something alive that’s there.
Now let’s go to Ephesians 2 verse 1.
Ephesians 2:1. And you He made alive, who were dead in
trespasses and sins,
And so we were all in this state. We were all in a state when God began to work with us where we were guilty of sin. We had the penalty of the guilt of that sin on our head. And so we were dead in that sense in trespasses and sins and He made us alive.
But verse 2.
Ephesians 2:2. In which you
once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of
the power of the air, [Notice!] the spirit who now works in the sons of
disobedience,
“The spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience.” This word “works” means to be active and energetic, to be operative, be at work.
You can turn over real quickly to Ephesians 3 and verse 20 and this is the same word. And there Paul writes
Ephesians 3:20. Now to Him
who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that works in us,
Speaking of God, through His Spirit and the way that He works in us. This is the same word. Same word that is used here of this “spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience.”
Now let’s go ahead and read and we’ll come back and comment. Verse 3.
Ephesians 3:2. Among whom
also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the
desires of the flesh
Now keep those two phrases there in mind or the portions of the sentence here in mind.
Ephesians 3:2. Among whom
also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh,
So this spirit working within us resulted in this once conducting “ourselves in the lusts of our flesh,”
Ephesians 3:2b. fulfilling
the desires of the flesh
Remember that!
Ephesians 3:2 cont. and of
the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
So this working of this spirit within individuals resulted in an effect.
Verse 4.
Ephesians 3:4. But God, who
is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5) Even when we were dead in trespasses, made
us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
And then he writes as if this has already happened.
Ephesians 3:6. And raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7) That in the ages to come He might show the
exceeding riches of His grace in His
kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Now when God’s Spirit is given and we’re given life through the impregnation of God’s Spirit into our mind, does Satan’s spirit leave? Does it? I don’t know. I don’t know if we can establish absolutely or not whether that spirit that works in the sons of disobedience completely leaves us. I guarantee you the effects of it doesn’t.
Now, let me explain a little bit more about this leavening and how it works. Again, once those bacteria begin to work, they enter in and they begin to change the structure chemically of the flour. Now I don’t begin to understand all this. And I mentioned to Mr. Lee I hoped that he would follow this up and get into all the technical explanation of all of this and perhaps maybe he’ll do that. I don’t know. It’s up to him. But I don’t understand all of what takes place. All I know is that there are changes that take place in this dough. And even, again, if you remove that life from there, if you remove the microorganisms completely from there, the effects that they have had is still there. It does not change.
Now all of us have sinned. All have fallen short of the glory of God. All of us fallen prey to those things that leaven represents. That experience has resulted in effects that have not gone away. We still have a desire to transgress at times. We have the lusts that are within us that lust for those things that are wrong and we are not to partake of. Now is that still something that’s living or is it just the effect of that which has been alive? I don’t know. I can’t say for sure. All I know is it’s there. It’s real and it is there.
Let’s continue to read. Romans 6, let’s go there. This is interesting. Romans 6 and verse 8. We’re going to read down here to verse 12 pretty quickly.
Romans 6:8. Now if we died
with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9) Knowing that Christ, having been raised
from the dead, dies no more. Death no
longer has dominion over Him. 10) For the death that He died, He died to sin
once for all; but the life that He
lives, He lives to God. 11) Likewise you
also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
Notice verse 12!
Romans 6:12. Therefore do
not let sin reign in your mortal body,
Isn’t this telling us that it’s possible for it to reign? This word “reign” means to be king, to rule, to exercise the highest influence, to control. This sounds like something that has life of itself. That if you’re not careful, it will begin to control you from within.
Romans 6:12. Therefore do
not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
There that “lusts” shows up again. And we asked you to remember that earlier.
Now James 1 verse 12.
James 1:12. Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been [proved], he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13) Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.
Verse 14.
James 1:14. But each one is
tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
Now is this the effect or is this something still alive within us? I don’t know. But it’s very real. It’s something that is very real. We have desires that are contrary to the law of God, to the desire of God. And we can be enticed by those desires.
James 1:15. Then
Verse 15.
James 1:15. Then when desire
has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full [blown], brings
forth death.
Galatians 5 again. We were there earlier. I want to continue on reading a little beyond where we were before. Galatians 5 and verse 16, we read down to verse 15 before.
Galatians 5:16. I say
then: Walk in the Spirit,
So God gives us His Spirit. And as we read on down, the fruits
Galatians 5:22b. of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, 23) Gentleness,
self-control. Against such there is no
law.
So that’s the Spirit of God within us leads us into these areas if we allow it to, if we walk in the Spirit.
Galatians 5:16. I say
then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall
not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
So even though we have the Spirit of God, we still have the lusts of the flesh within us.
Verse 17.
Galatians 5:17. For the
flesh lusts against the Spirit,
So there is like a pull in two different directions here. And it’s up to us to decide which we’re going to follow and which we’re going to allow to govern us and guide us and lead us.
Galatians 5:17. For the
flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are
contrary to one another, [Notice!] so that you do not do the things that you
wish.
So you have this going on within us. Whether it’s the effect of Satan’s spirit that was once there or whether that spirit lingers, I don’t know. But there’s very definitely within us this desire to break God’s law, to do those things that are contrary to His will.
And notice what that involves as we go on.
Galatians 5:18. But if you
are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19) Now the works of the flesh are evident,
which are: adultery,
Or temptation. Some have strong temptations in the area of sex. Others don’t.
Galatians 5:19b. adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, [licentiousness],
20) Idolatry,
We have a tendency. There’s a lot of idolatry within the Church in that we look to human beings to be our leader instead of God and it can become an idol to us, but idolatry. Different things can become idols to us. And there is desires within us that lead us in this direction.
Galatians 5:20b. sorcery,
[even] hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions,
dissensions, heresies, 21) Envy,
murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like;
And so we have these pulls. And there is like a battle that is going on. And we’re intended to fight the battles.
Ephesians 6, notice. Ephesians 6 and verse 10.
Ephesians 6:10. Finally, my
brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11) Put on the whole armor of God, that you
may be able to stand against the wiles [or schemings] of the devil.
Now how do they come? How do those schemings come? Verse 12.
Ephesians 6:12. For we do
not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.
And so we are not immune to the influence that is around us and even within us.
Romans 7, let me hurry here. Romans 7 verse 14, I’ll read through this quickly because we’re all familiar with this. Romans 7 verse 14.
Romans 7:14. For we know
that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal,
And we all are to some degree. Even though if we have the Spirit of God within us and we do think differently than we once did, the carnality has not all of a sudden gone completely.
Romans 7:14b. I am carnal,
sold under sin. 15) For what I am doing,
I do not understand. For what I will to
do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16) If, then, I do what I will not to do, I
agree with the law that it is
good. 17) But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18) For I know that in me (that is, in my
flesh) nothing good dwells;
“But something that is not good dwells,” he said.
Romans 7:18b. for to will is
present with me, but how to perform
what is good I do not find. 19) For the
good that I will to do, I do not do;
but the evil I will not to do, that I
practice. 20) Now if I do what I will
not to do, it is no longer I who do
it, but sin that dwells in me.
And I think that all of us have done battle with certain weaknesses and faults and things within our lives and we get frustrated because of this kind of thing. They keep rearing their head again.
Verse 21.
Romans 7:21. I find then a
law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22) For I delight in the law of God according
to the inward man. 23) But I see another
law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into
captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24) O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of
death? 25) I thank God—through Jesus Christ
our Lord! So then, with the mind I
myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
And 1 John chapter 1 and verse 5.
1 John 1:5. This is the
message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and
in Him is no darkness at all. 6) If we
say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and [we] do
not practice the truth. 7) But if we
walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8) If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from [our]
unrighteousness. 10) If we say that we
have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
No matter how hard we try and no matter how much effort we put into it, we are going to have to claim the sacrifice of Christ. It’s the only way that we can have our sins forgiven because we are sinners.
Chapter 2 and verse 1.
1 John 2:1. My little
children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin.
Yes, we’re to struggle. We’re to fight the fight to not sin.
1 John 2:1b. And if anyone
sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2) And He Himself is the propitiation for our
sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
So Jesus Christ, His sacrifice is sufficient to cover all sins of everyone who has every lived or ever will live.
Now let’s go back for one last Scripture back in Leviticus 23 and let’s take note of something. Leviticus 23 and if you’re not there yet, I’m going to go ahead and start reading in verse 17.
Leviticus 23:17. ‘You shall
bring from your [habitations] two wave loaves
of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be
baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the [Eternal]. 18) ‘And you shall offer with the bread seven
lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as burnt offerings to the Lord,
with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire
for a sweet aroma to the Lord. 19) ‘Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the
goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of
a peace offering. 20) ‘The priest shall
wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as
a wave offering before the [Eternal], with the two lambs.
Notice these Two Wave Loaves when they are offered to God, when they’re presented before God, they’re presented with these sacrifices. Some of which are burnt offerings. All of which represent what Jesus Christ did so that our sins can be forgiven.
It’s interesting that when you leaven a lump of dough that it begins to teem with life and this leavening spreads through the dough and it fills that hunk of dough completely until it rises. You put it in an oven and begin to bake it and when it hits a certain temperature, every one of those microorganisms die. They are killed. They’re erased. They no longer exist. You see Jesus Christ fulfilled what it takes to eliminate sin within us. It was His offering, His burnt offering—you might say—that satisfies God’s requirement for us.
Brethren, God has an incredible plan. We heard in the sermonette there’s no way that we can ever—I don’t think—completely appreciate the great God and His wisdom, His knowledge, His understanding, or even appreciate to its full the great plan He’s working out that benefits all of us.
Transcribed by kb