I've entitled this message, Levin,
Good and Bad. When I was a little boy and I
would hear the story of the Passover, which I heard quite frequently,
Brother Mahan preached on Passover as it should be preached on quite
a bit. And I would hear about Levin being purged out of the
house. I thought, what's the deal with
Levin? Is it bad? Why is it that leaven
is purged out of the house? Now leaven is yeast. That's all
it is. Yeast. And I think that through
preaching through first Corinthians, uh, just recently, I've come
to, uh, have some understanding of what the significance of leaven
is. It's puffy. It makes bread rise. You know what a yeast roll is?
I like them, but there's not a lot of substance to them. I
mean, you can squish them and they're real flat. And Paul said
to the Corinthians on five different occasions, you are puffed up. Leaven is working in you. You're swollen. You have a higher
opinion of yourself than you ought to have. Is there anybody
in here that's not guilty of that? A higher opinion of yourself
than you ought to have. Now, 11 is used both in a good
sense and in a bad sense in the scripture. The Passover. was to be eaten without any leaven
in the house. You got rid of all of it. There
was no leaven to be left, nothing to swell you, nothing to puff
you up like the Corinthians with pride. That was all to be taken
away and you were to look to the blood alone because God looks
to the blood alone. I don't know of a scripture that's
more precious to me Then when God says, when I see the blood,
he didn't say, when I see your faith, he didn't say, when I
see your repentance, he didn't say, when I see your doctrinal
understanding, he didn't say, when I see your experience, he
said, when I see the blood, that's the only thing he was looking
for. When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. He didn't say most of the time
I'll pass by. He said, I will pass over you. That's the one thing God was
looking for, the blood of his son. And to leave room for anything
else is 11, huffing up with pride. Now in verse six, Paul says to
the Corinthians, your glorying is not good. Look what he says in verse two
of the same chapter. And you are puffed up, swollen. You've been eating yeast. And
you've not rather mourned that he that hath done this deed might
be taken from among you. And he's talking about that.
We considered that last week at length, this man who was cohabiting
with his father's wife. And he said, you're all okay
with this. You're thinking, no big deal. And he says, your glory is not
good. Now there's only one kind of
glorying that's good, isn't there? Glorying in the Lord. Glorying
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not glorying in anything
else. Anything else is the introduction of leaven, isn't it? Only glorying
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ is good. I love what Paul
said. He said, God forbid that I should glory, that I should
boast, that I should have confidence in anything save the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when he says your glorying
is not good, it's because they weren't glorying in this. They
were perhaps thinking, well, we're such a nonjudgmental accepting
people. There's no problems right now. We are just filled with love
and we accept people and we accept everybody and everything. And
he says, your glorying is not good. No, you not that a little
leaven. It just takes one little bit
of yeast. And what does it do? It works its way through the
whole batch of dough. A little leaven leavens the whole
lump. Now the Lord gave us a parable
where leaven is used in a good sense. Would you turn with me
to Matthew chapter 13 for one, for a moment, we're going to
get back to first Corinthians six, but turn to Matthew 13. The principle of leaven is just
a little bit, just any works its way through the whole batch
of dough. Now in Matthew chapter 13, these
are the words of the Lord. And he says in verse 33, another parable spake he unto
them, the kingdom of heaven. Now he's talking about the kingdom
of heaven now. Every time we hear him say this, we ought to
listen hearing ears, as God gives us the grace. This is important.
The kingdom of heaven is likened to leaven, which a woman took
and hid in three measures of meal. Now that was a great deal
of meal, three measures. I read somewhere how much it
was, and I can't remember exactly what it was, but it's more than
we'll ever use to cook. It was a great big batch of dough. And the whole was leavened. Now, some say that this means
that the visible kingdom of God will become more and more corrupt
until Christ finally returns. But I can't see that. I can't
see that at all. As a matter of fact, that's what
most commentators say, but it seems very clear to me. The yeast represents the small
start of the church. with a bunch of ignorant, uneducated
fishermen. I mean, look at the spread of
the gospel in spite of the means and nothing could stop it. Aren't
you thankful it's that way? That's the way the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ works. He doesn't need great people. Matter of fact, he doesn't need
people at all. It's his work and it spreads and no man can
stop it. I love to think of the gospel
in its initial stages when it didn't have no influence, no
money, no power, no armies, no backing, and it was spread throughout
the whole world by the power of God and nothing could stop
it because it's God's work. And then you think of an individual
believer, starts very small, Very insignificant, but that
yeast is gonna work its way through the whole dough and nothing can
stop the salvation of that person. Turn with me to Isaiah 55 for
a moment. While Rich was reading that passage
from Isaiah 45, I thought I'd love to hear a reading from the
Gospel of Isaiah. I love it called that the gospel
of Isaiah. It's a gospel book, just like
they all are, but it's so clear from Isaiah, but look here in
Isaiah chapter 55, beginning in verse five. I'm sorry. Verse six, seek ye
the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he's near. Let the wicked forsake his way.
The way of works and the righteous man, his thoughts, wrong thoughts
of God, wrong thoughts of salvation, and let him return into the Lord.
And he will have mercy upon him and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon. For my thoughts are not your
thoughts. Has there ever been a truer statement
made? Neither are your ways my ways,
saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my
thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down and
the snow from heaven And returneth not thither, but watereth the
earth and maketh it bring forth and bud that it may give seed
to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that
goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper
in the thing wherein do I send it. The Lord never sends out
his word in vain. He always accomplishes His purpose. But this Word is
the living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. God sent Him forth to
save His people, and He prospered in what He did. Everybody He
came to save, He saved. Oh, the Word of God, it can't
be stopped. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians
chapter 10. I want you to look at these verses
with me. 2 Corinthians chapter 10. Aren't you thankful that
the Lord always prospers? He never fails. He shall not
fail nor be discouraged. He shall prosper in the thing
we're into. I've sent him. Look in 2 Corinthians chapter
10. I love this passage of scripture. Paul is speaking of the weapons
of our warfare. And he says in verse three, for
though we walk in the flesh, we don't war after the flesh.
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, fleshly. man-made, but mighty through
God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and
every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge
of God and bringing every captivity, bringing into captivity every
thought. To what? To the obedience of
Christ. Now, most people, when they read
that, they say every thought is brought into captivity in
obedience to Christ. Well, I would like every thought
to be brought into captivity of obedience to Christ. You'd
like that, wouldn't you? But that's not what he says.
Any thought I have that's contrary to the obedience of Christ as
the only righteousness I have before God is wrong. And what
the Bible does is it comes and it pulls down those strongholds
and those every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge
of Christ and brings every thought into captivity. You know, my
mind's captive to this. And this is a captivity I like. My mind is captive to the obedience
of Christ being the only righteousness I have. I love it that way. I
wouldn't want it to be any other way. I love that passage of scripture
in Isaiah, chapter 45, we read where God is a just God and a
Savior. Every thought is to be brought
into captivity to the obedience of Christ. So this is true with
regard to the progress of the gospel. This is true with regard
to the salvation of an individual believer. If God wills to save
that one, the yeast of his grace cannot be stopped. It's going
to permeate everything and bring that man to a knowledge of himself. I love this song. Let me quote it to you. I know
you love it too. Hail sovereign love that first
began the scheme to rescue fallen man. Hail matchless, free, eternal
grace that gave my soul a hiding place. Against the God who ruled
the sky, I fought with hand uplifted high, despised the mention of
His grace, too proud to seek a hiding place. Enwrapped in
thick Egyptian night and fond of darkness more than light,
madly I ran the sinful race, secure without a hiding place. But thus the eternal counsel
rang. Almighty love arrest that man. That's irresistible grace. I
felt the arrows of distress and found I had no hiding place. Indignant justice stood in view. To Sinai's fiery mount I flew. But justice cried with frowning
face. This mountain is no hiding place. Ere long heavenly voice I heard
and mercy's angel form appeared and led me on with gentle pace
to Jesus Christ, my hiding place. On him eternal vengeance fell
that must have sunk a world to hell. He bore it for a chosen
race and thus became their hiding place. Should storms of sevenfold
thunder roll and shake the earth from pole to pole, no flaming
bolt can daunt my face, for Jesus is my hiding place. A few more rolling storms at
most will land me safe on Canaan's coast, there I shall sing of
sovereign grace. to Jesus Christ, my hiding place. This is the almighty, unstoppable
yeast of His grace. You put it in, it's going to
work its way all the way through and no one, no thing, no demon
can stop it. I think of what the Lord said
with regard to Peter, he said, Whom do men say that I am? Well,
they say good things. Whom say ye that I am? Thou art
the Christ, the Son of the living God. Blessed art thou, Simon
Bar-Jonah, flesh and blood didn't reveal this to thee, but my Father,
which is in heaven. I say unto you, thou art Peter,
and upon this rock, this confession of me. Thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God. Not Peter, but this confession
of Peter's gospel. He's the Christ, the Son of the
living God. Upon this rock, I'll build my
church. And listen to this word, the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. They'll try to, stay
out, but this is almighty grace. And he goes into the very gates
of hell and snatches out every single person for whom Jesus
Christ died. The salvation of all of God's
elect is an absolute necessity. It's an accomplishment. Now turn
back to our text in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. Here he's using the word in a
negative connotation because it can be used in a good way,
we saw that from the Lord, and it can be used in a bad way.
Your gloring is not good, know ye not that a little leaven leavens
the whole lump. Here yeast is used as a corrupting
influence that corrupts all that it touches. You know, one sin
can open the door of Pandora's box. Sin's never isolated. It always opens up the door to
something else. I think of what Paul said in
1 Corinthians 15, verse 32. He said, evil communications
corrupt good manners. Evil associations, they always
bring you down. You never bring them up. Verse 6, your glorying is not
good. Know you not that a little leaven
leavens the whole lump? It'll permeate everything. Now
here's an example. Galatians 6.14 says, God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross. If you glory in anything
else, what's going to happen? It will leaven its way through
the whole lump every time. Only one thing to glory in, one
person to glory in, one work to glory in, the work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Not my works in any way. Not
my anything. I glory only in the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And if I glory in anything else,
that leaven will work its way through the whole lump. Now, he says in verse seven,
purge out therefore the old leaven, the swelling, the things you
can be proud of, the things that puff you up. And that's what
this is a reference to, this leaven of yeast that works its
way and causes this rising. He says, purge it out. that you
may be a new lump as you are unleavened for even as Christ
our Passover is sacrificed for us. Now this, Christ our Passover
is sacrificed for us. That's the way I started this
message. What was God looking for? He didn't say when I see
your works. He didn't say when I see your
sincerity. He didn't say when I see your faith. He didn't say
when I see your repentance. He didn't say when I see your
ability to overcome sin. He said, when I see the blood, when I see the blood, I will
pass over you. In every circumstance, wherever
he saw the blood, somebody says, well, what if that person was
a really wicked person? What if they killed somebody
that very day? Did he pass over him then? Yep. When I see the
blood, I will pass over you. Somebody says, well, how could
that be right? You see, that blood satisfied
God's justice. And that blood made a way for
God to be just and justify the ungodly. When I see the blood,
I will pass over you. Therefore, verse eight, let us
keep the feast. Now he's not talking about reinstituting
the Passover feast. You know that. He's talking about
this by faith. We keep the feast. Faith in Christ
is the keeping of the feast. He said, therefore, let us keep
the feasts, not with the old leaven, neither with the leaven
of malice and wickedness. Malice, ill will, wickedness,
evil purposes and actions. Let us keep the feasts, not with
the old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness,
but with the unleavened bread of, I love these two words, sincerity
and truth. Now these words are used together
in Joshua chapter 24, if you'll turn with me there, the last
chapter of Joshua. God is speaking through Joshua
to the Israelites. He says in verse 13, and I have
given you a land for which you did not labor. and cities which
you built not, and you dwell in them, of the vineyards and
oliveyards which you planted not, do ye eat? Now therefore,
fear the Lord." The only evidence of the fear
of God is faith in Christ. You know, I've heard this term,
good God-fearing people. There ain't no such thing. The
only person who fears God is that person who looks to Christ
only. Any other person has no respect,
no reverence, no awe of God. It is only looking to Christ
that demonstrates this reverential awe and fear of God. That's the
beginning of wisdom. That's the fear I want. That's
the fear I want for me, I want that for you. And you want it
for me and you want it for you. The fear of God, that's the beginning
of wisdom. Now therefore fear the Lord and
serve Him." How? In sincerity and in truth. Now here are two things that
cannot be separated. If somebody doesn't have the
truth, they're not sincere. I don't care how sincere they
may seem. Truth. Sincerity. But what is sincerity? Well, Everybody here knows what
insincerity is. That's an easier way to describe
sincerity is by describing insincerity. You can feel it when you're around
someone who's insincere and manipulative and you know they don't really
mean what they say they do. It's insincere. Now, here's a
scripture that I think that will give us some real light as to
what this thing of sincerity, the unleavened bread of sincerity
and truth is. The Lord said in Luke chapter
12, verse 1, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is what? Hypocrisy. Now, a hypocrite is
what you called the movie stars back then. It means a stage actor. You act it. What you're doing
is an act. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees,
which is acting, acting things out, being insincere, but acting. Two things Paul said he didn't want to have anything
to do with. Feigned faith. Feigned comes
from the word hypocrite, acted out faith that's not real. Who's
the best actor? The one who you can't tell he's
acting. He's so good at it, you can't tell he's acting. But it's
still an act. Feigned faith and feigned love. I'm not acting. Jesus Christ
is the only hope I have. This is not an act. This is absolutely
sincere. The only righteousness that I
possess is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The only hope
that I have is that Jesus Christ died for my sins. That's why
I hate and despise any teaching that says that Jesus Christ can
die for your sins and you wind up in hell anyway. Why? If that's
the case, I'll wind up in hell. I know I will. My only hope is
that Jesus Christ, when he said it is finished, my salvation
was accomplished. It's enacting. And I, God knows whether I'm
telling the truth. You don't. God does. I love God
as he is. I love his word. I love his attributes.
I love his holiness. I love his justice. I love his
sovereignty. I love his independence. I love
his immutability. I love his power. I love his
wisdom. I love it. I love him as he reveals
himself in his word. And you know what else? I sincerely
love everybody that loves him. If somebody loves Jesus Christ,
I love that person. I'm their biggest fan. If somebody
loves Jesus Christ, I love that person. That's not an act. That's
not an act. Sincerity and where there is
not truth. Sincerity and truth. What that
means is the truth of the gospel. They that worship him must worship
him in spirit and in truth. There is no worship of God. There is no sincerity apart from
the truth of who he is and how he saves, the truth of his word. Sanctify him through thy truth. Thy word is truth. Sincerity and truth. And notice what he says in verse
14. Now, therefore, fear the Lord
and serve him in sincerity and in truth. And here's what you'll
do when you're serving him in sincerity and truth. Put away
the gods which your father served on the other side of the flood
in the Egypt and serve ye the Lord. Put away those false gods,
those false imagination of gods. And look at verse 15. Some people
think this proves you've got to choose to believe. But look
what he says. If it seem evil unto you to serve
the Lord, if you don't find any safety in that and you don't
find any joy in that, if it seem evil to you, choose you this
day whom you'll serve. Pick your poison. Whatever false
god you want to follow, follow it. This is not talking about
our choice being the cause of salvation. He's saying, if you
don't like what I'm saying, Believe one of those other gods that
can't do you any good. Kind of like we read about just when
Rich was reading that passage of scripture, they have no knowledge
that pray into a God who cannot save. If you pray into a God
that can't save you unless you do something, you're praying
to a non-existent God, a God that can do nothing for you. Last scripture I want to look
at with regard to Levin is found in Galatians chapter five. Galatians chapter five, verse nine. A little leaven leaveneth the
whole loam. Now here he's speaking of leaven
in a bad sense. Once again, look what he says
to the Galatians in verse seven, you did run well. When Paul first
went and preached the gospel, he was so encouraged. You did
run well. You seemed to rejoice in the
gospel. You remember how he opened this
epistle? I marvel that you're so soon
removed from him that called you to the grace of Christ to
another gospel. You did run well. Who did hinder you that you should
have not obeyed the truth? This persuasion, this belief
you have, cometh not of him that calleth you. What you're standing
for in spousing, he says, didn't come from God. A little leaven
leavens the whole lump. Now we touched on this this morning,
but look up in verse one. Stand fast, therefore, Galatians
chapter five, verse one. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty, the freedom wherewith Christ hath made us free. You remember John 8, verse 36,
where he said, if the Son shall make you free, oh, you're free
indeed. You stand perfect before God. You have no sin. You're justified. What a freedom there is in Christ. There's nothing I need to do
to earn God's acceptance. I've already got it. There's
no law I have to keep. I can't get any more loved. I
can't get any more holy. I can't get any more perfect
than I am in Christ Jesus. Now that's free. You give me
something that I gotta do in order to obtain that, you're
taking away my freedom. The only freedom I know of is
the free grace of God in Christ Jesus. Oh, the freedom. And he
says, you stand fast therefore in the liberty, the freedom.
where with Christ has made us free and be not entangled again
with the yoke of bondage. Law works. It's a yoke of bondage. Look in chapter six, verse 12. As many as desire to make a fair
show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised only unless
they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For
neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law. They
say you need to keep the law. They don't keep it. You need
to obey. They don't obey. It's hot air. Nothing more. All they're trying
to do. Look what he says. They desire
to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh.
Look how I've influenced this person to good. I'm a pretty
good person. Look how the Lord's using me.
I'm being used of God. Now, these fellows who say you
need to be circumcised, these fellows that try to introduce
works, they don't do them. It's lies. It's hypocrisy. Now go back to Galatians 5 verse
2. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you, that if you be circumcised, now
understand that this is where people were saying, yes, you're
saved by grace, but you need to be circumcised as well. That's
any addition to Christ. He's not just talking about the
physical act of circumcision. He's talking about any addition
to Christ alone. If you be circumcised, forget
Christ. Just forget it. He'll profit
you nothing. You know that straight gate and
narrow way, it's so straight and it's so narrow that if you
have anything but Christ, you can't get through the gate and
you can't walk along the way. Verse three, for I testify again
to every man that circumcised. That circumcision's not enough.
You're a debtor to do the whole law. You have to keep all 10
commandments perfectly and never sin one time. Pretty tall order, isn't it?
But if you or if I introduce anything other than Jesus Christ
in my salvation. If I had anything, I've made
myself a debtor to keep the whole law. Verse four, Christ is become
of no effect unto you. Whosoever of you are justified
by the law, You've fallen from grace. Now, here's a term people
use, you've fallen from grace. Somebody has some kind of moral
failure, well, they've fallen from grace. No, they haven't,
you have, when you say something like that. Grace is the only
hope they have. The only hope you have. Don't use language like that.
You've fallen from grace when you had to work. Now, I pray
that none of us, by the grace of God, falls in a way that brings
dishonor to the gospel. I don't want to do that. I know
you don't want to do it. We want to live in a way that
honors the Lord. But the point is, my standing is not in my
walk. It's in Christ's walk. It's not
in my righteousness. It's in Christ's righteousness.
It's not in my steps. It's in Christ's steps. And if
I introduce anything else, I've fallen from grace. Verse five, for we, through the
Spirit, this is the work of God the Holy Spirit, wait for the
hope of righteousness. Now hope is something you don't
see. If you see it, it's not hope. We hope for that which we see
not. Now I'm waiting for the hope that when I stand before
God, I'm going to be perfectly righteous in Christ. And I'm waiting for that. For in Jesus Christ, neither
circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision. Somebody says, well, I understand
salvation is done by works. Just saying that doesn't avail
anything either. The only thing that avails with God is faith. And that faith loves Jesus Christ. It works by love. You did run well. Who did hinder
you that you should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh
not of him that calleth you. A little leaven. A little swelling. That's what it is. A little swelling.
A little yeast. Turn into a yeast roll. No substance. It works its way through the
whole lump. I'm thankful for the irresistible
leaven of his grace. Aren't you? And I'm scared to
death of the leaven of anything else. We're getting ready to observe
the Lord's table together, and let me remind you, the Lord said,
this do in remembrance of me. What's the requirement to take
the Lord's table? There's one requirement, faith in Christ. Shouldn't we use it for discipline?
No. Shouldn't we fence the Lord's table, keep people from taking
it, who ought not take it? No. I keep my head this way,
I don't know who takes it, and I don't want to know who takes
it. The Lord's Table is for sinners. And we celebrate the life, the
death, the broken body, the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if we, somebody says, I'm
not ready to take the Lord's Table, then you're not ready
to die. What is the readiness? What is
the requirement to take the Lord's table? To be a sinner who trusts
the savior as all in his salvation period. Let's pray. Lord, as we prepare to observe
your table, we ask that you would give us the grace to know what these symbols mean
that The broken body and the shed blood of our dear Redeemer
is everything in our salvation. In his name we pray, amen.