Matthew 13, verse 33. Another parable spoke He, that
is, our Lord Jesus Christ. And He said unto them, spake
unto them, The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a
woman took and hid, in three measures of meal, till the whole
was leavened." This is another one of our Lord's seven parables
found in this chapter. And you know, seven is the number
of perfection. Our Lord, it's not mere coincidence
that He gave seven parables, but it's by design, on purpose. telling us that His Word is perfect. His words, His truth is perfection. The Word of our God, of our Christ
amazes me, us, all of us, doesn't it? It amazes us. Our Lord wrote
and said things in a few words that are so full of wisdom. It
is so full of truth and light. The entrance of Thy Word, David
said, gives light. It dispels all our ignorance
and superstitions and our fears and our worries and gives us
light. The parables of our Lord are
a perfect example of that, of what is profound. That means full of infinite wisdom
and truth. and eloquent. When you think of eloquent, you
think of high, lofty speech. That's not really what the word
means. To be eloquent is to be able to put amazing, wondrous,
deep things into simple phrases and terms. It's to be able to
take high and lofty things and bring them down and make them
understandable. That's eloquence. Our Lord is truly eloquent in
his word. He can say so much in a few words.
In this one verse, Matthew 13, verse 33, the kingdom of heaven
is like unto leaven. Leaven, which a woman took and
hid in three measures of meal. Everything is significant here.
Kingdom of heaven, the life of God is what this is talking about.
Eternal life is the kingdom of heaven in the soul of man. Life
of God. The kingdom of heaven is the
church of God. The kingdom, the church of God,
that organism, not organization. an organism, a living thing,
a body, the body, the family of God. These two things is what
Levin represents here, the life of God in the soul and the kingdom
of God or the church of God throughout the world. He says it's like
Levin. Levin. Now, the Lord uses this
very simple, ordinary, everyday That's what leaven is. It's a
living thing. Leaven is a living organism. He uses this to describe the
kingdom of heaven, how it works, how this leaven works and operates
and grows and develops. Or that is how God uses this
leaven to work in our hearts, in the heart of man and in the
world, bringing about his kingdom. Leaven is often spoken of in
the Scriptures, often spoken of in the Old Testament and the
New. Sometimes it's used in a bad
way. All through the Old Testament,
for that matter, leaven is warned of. We're told not to use leaven. The children of Israel were warned
not to put any leaven in the bread when they were going out
of Egypt. Put away the leaven out of your
houses. Remember that? Eat no leavened bread in anything. And then our Lord warns in Matthew
16, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is their false
doctrine. So leaven is often used for something
bad. Paul said this, he said, purge
out The old leaven, which is hypocrisy, which is malice. Purge out, get rid of this malice,
this leaven of malice. But our Lord uses leaven, and
this is what I'm saying about His Word. He can take one word
and use it in many different ways. The Lord uses leaven because
it has different qualities, some good, some bad. Like other words,
the Lord uses many words with a double meaning, not in confusion,
but all right, for instance. Christ is called the Lion of
the tribe of Judah. Satan is called the Lion, right? Who devours and is a roaring
lion and things like that. There are many ways that the
Lord uses different terms and that's how we need to be careful
and using the Word of God, rightly dividing it, making sure we know
what he's saying, to whom he's speaking, what he's speaking
of, and who's speaking. Alright, leaven, like mustard
seed. We just studied the mustard seed, didn't we? Leaven, like
mustard seed, represents the same things. Three things, basically. The Word of God is just leaven. Christ, who is the living Word,
and grace, the grace of God. And you and I know that you can
use all three of those words interchangeably. Every time you
see one of those words, you can substitute the other two. Christ,
grace, the Word. Christ is even called the Word
of God in it, the Word made flesh. Christ is the grace of God. The
Word is His grace, the Word of His grace, and on and on again.
So these three things are one. The Word of God, the Christ of
God, and the grace of God. A little leaven will leaven the
whole lot. In a good way. In a bad way.
False doctrine. You know, much of what is said
and preached today is true. When men stand up and open God's
Word, if it's an accurate translation, they're preaching what is true. But they're not necessarily preaching
the truth. Because it takes the whole counsel,
the whole Word of God. And all of the Word of God, the
counsel of God has its fulfillment in one person, Jesus Christ. He said, I am the truth. So you may be preaching the Bible
when you're not preaching Christ. You may be saying true things,
but you're not preaching the truth as it is in Jesus. Right? So a little leaven, like false
doctrine, will leaven the whole lump. Well, so will the truth.
A little truth. A little faith is saving faith. One word of God used by the Spirit
of God, the word of His grace, the word that is Christ, If the
Spirit of God takes one word and puts it in like seed, like
leaven in the heart of a human being, you have life. And that
whole person is full of life. Heart, mind, and soul. And as
I said, this represents what the Lord does to a person and
represents what He does in the world, His kingdom, His church
that He puts in the world. The Word of His grace, the gospel
of His grace, the gospel of God's Son, like a seed or like leaven,
when He put it in this world, it just spread all over the earth,
all four corners of the globe, until the whole kingdom of God,
the whole church of God is established with grace, is established upon
Christ the solid rock, is established upon His Word. his word. Leaven, the word of God, the
Christ of God, the grace of God, is a living organism. Now listen to this. Barnard used
to say, we only need a Bible and a dictionary. Those are the
only two books we need. Pretty good statement. If you'll
just look at the dictionary and these terms, leaven, By the way, I think Daniel Webster
and Noah Webster were believers, those of you who know something
about them. Look at some of the definitions in the Webster's
dictionary, biblical term. At any rate, leaven, described
in the dictionary, is any substance that causes fermentation. Now
listen carefully. This is good. Fermentation is
the state of agitation. It's a state of unrest. It causes
tumult within whatever is blackened. Fermentation is an inner activity,
inner mind you, inner activity that promotes purification, development or growth. It is
a catalyst that transforms something, changing its nature. Now, isn't
that a good description of the Word of God in the soul of a
man, of the grace of God in the soul of a man, of the Christ,
Christ in you, a new creature. The state of agitation. Oh, my. The Word of God. It's like a
fire, like a hammer. God said, He said, I kill and
I make alive. I wound and I heal. The Word
of God is quick, powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword. The Word
of God in the hands of God through the preaching of the Word causes
great agitation, unrest. That's the first thing the Lord
has to do to us, create tumult within us. Break these hard hearts. It causes inner turmoil, disturbance. It's a living thing. Quick. The
Word of God is quick. It's powerful. Sharper than a
two-edged sword. And the first thing it does is
agitate us. We need it, don't we? We need
to tore up. The Word of God will make us tore up. That's what
we need. It's a catalyst, or that is something
that transforms It changes the nature. The Word of God will
create a new creature in Christ Jesus. The Christ of God. Christ
in you is the hope of God. Not just the Bible, but Christ
in you. And it's the Word of His grace,
the Word of Christ, grace, the Word, it's all the same. The Word of God, the Christ of
God is this living. It's a living thing. Christ is
a living Person who takes up residence, abides in the people
of God. The grace of God permeates the
whole being. Their mind, their heart, their
soul is filled, their life is filled with the grace of God
until they act like Christ, they think on Christ, they love Christ
as in the heart, Christ is on their mind. Their actions are
like Him, like living. That's great power. Great power. It says a woman, verse 3, a woman
took this leaven and did this work. He had this leaven and
three measures of meat. A woman. A woman, Scripture says,
is the weaker vessel, right? The weaker vessel. Oh, God's
women don't mind that. They know. They know what they
are. So does the church, who is the bride of Christ. Every
one of God's wives, Christ's bride, they know they're the
weaker vessel. They know they're totally dependent
on Him. They're not independent women. They're not liberated
women. They like nothing more than to be owned by and told
what to do by their Lord, married to Him and under His rule and
leadership and direction and His care and protection. That's the weaker vessel, the
weaker vessel. And she, this woman, is a type of preacher
of the gospel. We have this treasure, this precious
treasure which is the gospel, which is the gospel of God's
grace, which is the gospel of Christ in earthen vessels, weak
vessels. Paul said, who is weak and I
am not weak. He said, who needs comfort and
I don't need comfort. He said, who is sufficient for
these things? Just try to imagine Simon, Peter,
and James, and John, and Andrew who had spent their whole lives
doing nothing but fishing. I'm sure they didn't talk much.
You can't talk much while you're fishing, can you? And they didn't
talk much. And then the Lord called them
to preach. And He who calls those that he
calls to preach will equip them to do so. But I'm sure when they
first went out, they thought... Like Moses was a shepherd for
40 years, and he said, Lord, I can't speak. I've been watching
sheep for 40 years. Jeremiah said, I'm a child. I'm
24 years old. I don't know how to... Who makes
man's mouth, Moses? I'll be with you. I'll speak
to you. the weak vessel. Paul said, who is sufficient
for these things? No man is sufficient for these
things. No one is capable in and of themselves to do this.
Those disciples would go out into the world preaching, and
they would face educated people, kings, noble, nobility, the wise,
the mighty, the noble of this world, and yet they, the world,
could not stand up to the wisdom of, the courage of, the eloquence,
if you will, of these mere fishermen, term preachers. Which is proof
we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of
the power, that it might be clearly known that's what's coming out
of the mouths of these babblers, of these uneducated men from
nowhere, is the very wisdom of God and power of God. Even their
enemies took notice that they'd been with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Nobody could take simple fellows like they were and bring out
such truth as they did. Stephen says they could not resist
or stand before the wisdom of that man. He was just a deacon,
a table waiter. That's a deacon. A servant. Oh, my, we have this treasure
in earthen vessels, weaker vessels, a woman, as it were. The church. Now, the preacher is not the
only one that goes out with the Word. His church does. Every one of his people are witnesses,
male and female. Females can't stand up in the
pulpit and preach, but they can sure go out in the world and
witness and testify. And I wish you could hear some
of the messages My wife has preached to me. And these other ladies,
you know, you talk to them. You talk to them like Manoah's
wife. Oh, my, what a message she preached
to her husband. And we and I preach it all the
time. But, you know, you know the reason
why women are not allowed to stand up here as a type of the
bride of Christ and being the one who listens and Christ is
the the head who does the talking, does the preaching. And that's
the order in which God made it, isn't it? The man is the head
of the woman as Christ is the head of the church. I love it
that way. Don't you love the order of God?
God's people do. Rebels don't. God's people do.
The church is the bride, the wife, the servant of the Lord
who goes out into the world with the Word, with the gospel of
Christ, with the grace, the gospel of God's grace, goes forth. And
it says, this woman took this leaven, this gospel, and hid
it in three measures of meal. Hidden. The gospel, the grace
of God, the gospel of God, Christ, when first preached, like this
leaven, is hidden. It's put in the inner man. That's
where it begins. That's where this work begins.
In the hearts. Because out of the heart are the issues. of
life, and that's where the Lord first produces life, in the heart. Not the head, but in the heart. The heart. It certainly doesn't
bypass the head, but it begins here. If you know all the doctrine,
you will. And if Christ is not in you,
you don't know Him. But this manna, or this leaven,
yeah manna, same thing, this leaven is hidden The woman took
it and hid it like seed, planted it, and it's on the inner man. And no one knows but God when
this leaven begins its work. And I'm thankful. I'm glad for
that. Only the Lord knows it when conception
begins, when the seed gives life. Which comes first, life or faith?
Life. You can't believe you're not
alive. Life. And no one knows when this happens
but God. But God. That way no flesh can
glory in this thing. God does the work. We just plant. No. We water. Who gives the income? God. That
way He gets the glory. And we don't know who. And it
doesn't matter who. Does it? It doesn't matter who
the preacher is. It doesn't matter who the witness is. It doesn't matter, does it? God
gets it all. This seed, this leaven, is put
on the inner man, hidden, hidden in three measures of meal. Three
measures of meal. A meal is not meal until it's
crushed and broken. Any kind of seed or kernel is
hard, like corn or even wheat. The bread corn is a scripture
I preached from years ago. I didn't write it down, so therefore
I've forgotten what it is. But it talks about the bread
corn being bruised under this wheel. It must be crushed. And the heart must be broken,
hard heart. It's coarse grain. It must be
broken. It must be softened in order
to receive this leaven, which is the Word of God, which is
the truth of God, the cry. The heart must be broken over
sin. Blessed are the broken in heart,
those that mourn over their sin. But I'll tell you what the Lord
has done. He's put this leaven in them. That's why. That's why they're broken. The
Lord has leavened them. Three measures of meal. Three
measures. The man, our man, person consists
of three things. The heart, the mind, and the
soul. The heart, mind, and soul. The whole being. When God does
this work, the whole being is filled with the Word of God. The Word of God. All of what
we believe. All of what we love. All of what
we are. is based on the Word of God.
The Christ of God. Heart, the mind, the soul is
filled with Christ. If you cut into the heart of
a believer, you'll find Christ there. Love for Christ. Trust in Christ. Confidence in Christ. Unshakable faith in Christ. That's right. That's right. You
cut into their mind and you ask them anything. What do they think
about anything? And they'll tell you, Christ. They'll think of everything on
this earth, everything we are involved in or deal with in relation
to the Word of God. The Word of God. Though we can't
quote it, the principles are there. The truth is there. God's
Word. We are born by, and that's what
we eat. That's the milk of the Word.
We grow up in eating the meat of His Word, the bread of the
Word. And if you cut into the heart and the mind and the soul,
the bowels of a child of God, what you'll find is Christ. Christ in a heart, soul, and
mind, and body, and body. Action, service unto the Lord,
the works of Christ, only the grace of God, only the Christ
of God, only the Word of God will do this work. A little leaven
will eventually leaven the whole lot. And then I said that this
leaven represents the kingdom or the church of God. Plan it this way, really, but
both messages today are in regards to the kingdom, the church of
God. And they go together, this message and the one following
go together. The church of God, the church of Christ is built
upon the word of God. The church of God, the kingdom
of God, the church of God is built upon the word of his grace. The church is built on one foundation,
which is Christ. That's your foundation. And through
the preachers of God, the church of God, this gospel of the kingdom
has spread all over this world. Three measures of meal. Every
nation, kindred, and tongue. Three measures of meal. Every
nation, every nation has heard the truth. Every nation
is full of believers, or at least some believers anyway. Every
nation. In our little sphere, our little
whatever, lighthouse that we have here, this little church, This little church alone, you
know, goes out over the airwaves, the radio locally, and then the
internet. And last month alone, 38 states,
38 states, people from 38 different
states listened to the gospel from here. 28 different countries. That's just that. And you know
how many brave men we have preaching the gospel. So I guarantee you,
Every single nation is hearing this gospel. Every state in this
nation. Every nation. Every nation, every
kindred. The Lord is so merciful. The
Lord is so gracious that He sent every family on earth as kindred. Have you
ever thought about that? Every kindred. Every family is
going to hear this gospel and believe it. Somebody, God's going
to have a people, going to have one of His elect in every single
family on earth. Does that astound you? That astounds
me. That's amazing grace, isn't it?
None of us deserve to have this gospel. Not one family. Not Shem, not Japheth, and not
him, but everyone else. Every kindred. Every family. Oh, I'm so thankful. You know,
the Mahan clan come from the McMahons. They were Irish and
Scottish, and they were a bunch of heathens. Want to find out
where your family's from? Your family tree? You'll find
them hanging from trees somewhere in your past. That's where your
family is. Don't look them up. Don't look them up. You'll find
them. You came from bad stock. The Irish, everybody wants to
be Irish, don't they? They were the most heathen people
on the planet. The Celtics. They ran around
naked. When they went into battle, they
ran naked. That's why they were so tough. People ran from them. They were
wild men, long red beards and hair. Wild men. Not good people. But God has
a people that He tames like that That gathering demoniac. And
there's only one thing to tame a wild man. The grace of God. The Word of God. Christ. Put
Christ in them and He'll sit them down. Clothe them in their
right mind. Have them sitting at the feet
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Create a new creature. A brand
new creature. A radical transformation. A change
in nature. A new nature. Every kindred,
every tongue, every language, every language. There is no language,
Paul said, where their voice is not heard in Psalm 19. No language where the voice of
creation, the book of creation, where the voice, the Word of
God is not heard. Day unto day uttereth speech. Twenty-four hours a day this
gospel is being proclaimed all over the world in every tongue.
God is so good in it, so merciful. God is not to be blamed. God
is to be thanked. And God sends out this Word that
is like leaven, the Gospel of Christ, the Spirit of Christ
who is this leaven. And the whole kingdom, every
nation, every kindred, every tongue, the whole man, heart,
mind, and soul is leavened, wisdom, full of truth, full of light,
full of life. Wonderful. One little word, the
Lord said, the kingdom of heaven is like Lebanon. Isn't that amazing? Isn't he amazing? This is how
we know it's his word, you know. This is one way in which we know
that this is his word, when he can take something so simple,
and make something so simple yet so profound, and something
so profound and make it simple. And take one word and describe
everything. If somebody asked you to describe
something indescribable with one word, if he hadn't revealed
this to you, you wouldn't know. You couldn't do it. You couldn't
do it. But God does and can, and now you can. Let anybody
ask you any question, and you can give them one word answer,
and it will be the answer. Anything. Grace. Truth. Thank you very much.