I'm with me now to Matthew chapter 13, and today I'd like to consider together the words of verse 33, Matthew 13 and verse 33.
! He told them another parable, the kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour till it was all leavened.
As you'd expect, I'm usually asked a number of questions about my retirement, the most common one being, how is retirement?
How many times I've answered that question, I'm sure everybody who's retired has found the same after they retire.
But another question is, what are you doing with yourself in your retirement?
Well, I'm preaching most weeks, but one thing I've taken up doing since I retired is making bread.
Making bread. And I enjoy making bread.
Making bread is a very interesting process.
Okay, I've got a bread machine.
I don't have to do all that kneading, all that pulling and manipulating of dough and waiting for ages until the whole thing's ready to go in the oven.
You shove it all into the machine and it does the work for you.
Even the baking of it.
You just take out the finished loaf.
But you need to be sure that you've put all the ingredients in that the loaf requires.
And that they are in exactly the right measurements according to what you're given in the guidance for making the different types of bread.
If you don't keep to the guidance accurately, your bread's not going to turn out the way it should be at all.
But it's an interesting process.
And one of the most interesting things about it, as in making of bread at any time, is the use of yeast.
Yeast nowadays, you can still get the old type of yeast, but yeast nowadays is mostly dried yeast, just powder.
And that has to be added to all the other ingredients or else the bread will not rise.
And yeast has fascinating properties.
It's a fascinating material.
It has a fascinating in its substance, in the way it works.
Because as soon as it begins to work, it affects, as we'll see today from the study, the whole batch of ingredients or the dough, if you like, as it's mixed together.
The yeast does its own work so that eventually it produces what turns out to be a loaf of bread.
And the Bible uses yeast, or leaven as it is here.
This is the word leaven that's used, the same thing, leaven, yeast.
The Bible uses that illustratively.
It uses yeast to illustrate, for example, the workings of sin.
Because just as yeast works and spreads through the whole batch of dough, so sin is like that in our lives individually or in the life of any group of people.
If it's left unrepented of, undisturbed, it'll grow in its own way.
Sin is never static.
It's never a neutral negative thing.
It always has growth properties unless the growth is stemmed by the addition of grace or the power of God.
But yeast is also used positively, as it is in this verse here.
The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leavened.
The positive element that yeast is, is also used here in the Bible to emphasize a positive result.
The yeast was put into the batch of dough until the whole batch was leavened and ready just to be put in the oven to be baked as bread.
That's the good use of this illustration, the use of the illustration in a good sense in the Bible.
So what does that actually tell us today?
What are we learning from this brief verse or reference to yeast?
Well, two things.
Look at the second one mostly.
But first of all, yeast is actually a living organism.
You might not think that as you take the wee sachet of powdered yeast or dried yeast and put it into the dough.
But yeast retains its own properties so that when the liquid is added to it, it begins then to use, it begins then to affect the whole batch of dough.
And if you take what used to be the yeast that was kept in a little jar or a little bottle, you just took a little bit of it, added it to the dough,
and the bit that you left behind still kept on growing, you could use it again and again.
It has in itself this property.
It is itself a living organism.
That's what makes it so fascinating.
That yeast has within it the properties that it shows once it begins to work.
And that's true of the kingdom of God.
Now, the kingdom of God, we could spend ages actually trying to define what the Bible means by the kingdom of God.
But the kingdom of God is essentially where God's influence or God's grace reigns and spreads throughout humanity,
spreads throughout any people or even any individual.
Where the grace of God is at work, the kingdom of God is in that person,
the kingship of God is being shown in that person,
allegiance to God as king is evident in that person,
or in a congregation like yourselves, where you find that congregation growing spiritually.
That's the advancement of the kingdom of God.
The God as king is made evident through the way you're showing allegiance to him as a congregation.
And whenever you find the influence of God through his people advancing,
the kingdom of God is seen in that.
The kingdom of God shows itself and grows in that.
Well, here is what he's saying.
The kingdom of God is like leaven,
like this yeast that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour.
And as it's true of the yeast that it has,
as a living organism that has this property in itself,
it makes it a very suitable illustration for the kingdom of God.
Because the kingdom of God, it doesn't depend on us to grow.
Yes, it's something in which we contribute our life,
and in which we contribute as we'll see the things that we can bring to others about the gospel and about Christ.
But the kingdom of God has within itself the properties of growth.
Because God is at work in the growth of his kingdom.
The spirit of God is at work in the growth of his kingdom.
Where you have the word of God,
where you have the faithful preaching of the word of God,
where you have the sacraments,
where you have prayer,
where you have God's people worshiping together,
where you have that witness and commitment to God going on in any congregation or any individual.
There you have, within that commodity,
the principles, if you like, of growth, of effectiveness.
You add the power of God.
You add the grace of God.
And all of that comes together for the advance of the kingdom.
The kingdom has within itself the capacity, the influence,
that by the grace of God, by the work of God's Spirit,
it becomes a living force.
It moves in such a way as to bring people into its provisions.
The kingdom of God is like leaven.
It has in itself that capacity.
It's a living organism.
It's not neutral.
It's not static.
It's not negative.
It's positive.
And it has that capacity.
But secondly, more fully,
the kingdom of God, like yeast,
yeast is a change-bringing organism.
Not just a living organism.
It's a change-bringing organism.
When you add yeast to the batch of dough,
it immediately begins to change things.
It permeates for a start.
It permeates the whole batch.
You see what the verse is saying?
This woman took this leaven and she hid it.
She placed it in three measures of flour until it was all leavened.
She didn't actually do this and then almost immediately try and bake the dough into bread.
She left it until it was all leavened,
until the yeast had done its work through that whole batch of dough.
And Jesus is saying,
that is what the kingdom of God is like.
In other words,
your Christian influence is designed to permeate that society,
that batch of human dough, if you like,
into which God has placed you as an individual,
into which God has placed you as a congregation.
You are here in this town,
you are here in this community,
as God's living organism,
God's living yeast,
God's living leaven,
so that you see yourselves as a congregation,
as actually placed for a purpose,
where God has placed you here in Stornoway,
so that the influence of your life will permeate the whole batch of humanity,
hopefully, prayerfully,
that God has placed you amongst.
That's the growth that you're praying for and looking for.
It's designed to permeate the whole of society around you.
You don't leave any aspect of that society out.
You don't leave any kind of person out of that influence
of the grace of God working through you.
The doctrines that you believe in,
the lifestyle of a Christian,
all of those things are designed to act as the leaven in the part of the dough.
And your part and my part is to be that leaven in our society.
You leave the change to the Holy Spirit.
You can't bring about the conversion of any individual.
Nobody can.
But you have to be,
as Jesus put it elsewhere,
in the position of making disciples.
Bringing the leaven of your Christian life and influence
to bear upon the people around you.
You're leaving the work of regeneration,
the work of bringing to life spiritually,
to the Holy Spirit.
You can't do it anyway.
But the Holy Spirit is not going to do
what the Bible requires you and me to do.
That's to be leaven in society.
It's a bit like what Jesus says elsewhere,
you are the salt of the earth.
Just like salt has an influence
on the whole,
whatever food you're adding salt to,
it doesn't just salt a tiny wee bit of it,
it spreads through the whole lot.
It affects the savor of the whole thing.
So the leaven spreads throughout the dough.
So the congregation that you are in this world,
that God has given you to be,
and where God has placed you,
you're a congregation to act as leaven
in this society around you.
And just like the leaven begins to activate the moment,
you actually add the water to it,
so actually you are to seek the blessing of God,
as you've been doing.
I mean, this congregation itself
has so many things going on,
as I've mentioned, in prayer.
And as I came to know,
when I was ministered here,
these eight happy years that I was with you,
the number of things that are going on alongside with,
alongside of the preaching of the gospel,
the worship of God every Lord's Day,
every midweek,
alongside of that,
fits all of these activities
that you have going on in the congregation.
That is really part of the way
the leavening influence of the gospel is at work.
Because in the work you have with young folks,
with older young folks,
with the smaller ones,
the tiny ones,
think of all that as leavening influence.
Think of all that as an activity that's going on
with a view to bringing about the leavening,
the spiritual development of the whole batch of people
that you are.
And everybody has their own bit to contribute to that.
You know, that's how it is for our situation in life as well.
We're placed by the Lord in order to seek to bring
an influence by his blessing to the community around us.
You know, our tendency,
the tendency certainly of the world around you
is to think that people's problems are entirely external.
And that if you improve people's conditions externally,
then you'll find a difference in their way of life,
in their outlook on life,
in their behavior in life.
Well, people's behavior may to some small extent
be affected by their environment
and by the situations that they have from day to day outwardly.
But people's behavior begins from in here.
It begins from within the soul.
And unless that is turned around and changed,
that person's not going to be much different
to what they always have been.
But here is where the leavening influence
of the gospel, of the Christian gospel,
of the Christian life,
as it's set in society,
it's aiming at, by God's blessing,
affecting people so that they'll begin
to think deeply about life,
that they'll turn to the Lord,
they'll become new creations in Christ.
And you're a leavening influence
towards that objective.
And if I may say so,
one of the rewarding things
that I've done more recently
is to speak at the Road to Recovery
that David leads here in the town.
And one of the encouraging
and really thrilling things about it
is that that work is based on the gospel.
That work is based not on changing
people's outward circumstances,
though, of course, that's not neglected.
But the work is that people
will come to know the Lord,
that people will come to have their lives
changed by the grace of God.
And the leavening influence
of a Christian influence
is designed to bring people
to that point,
by God's blessing,
that the leaven of the lives
of those who are seeking
to help those with needs
such as addictions,
will come to see them converted,
come to see them
coming into the kingdom themselves
and becoming part of it.
The kingdom is like leaven,
which a woman took
and hid in these measures of flow
until it was all leavened.
And you know that should be
our objective as well.
Even if we're convinced
that the world is not going to be
completely changed
before the Lord comes,
we should still have it as our objective
to see as much change
as possible taking place.
And that means through your influence
as a congregation,
through your influence as individuals,
that you seek God's blessing
to bring the change about.
So that permeates,
the leaven as it permeates,
the whole measure
of the batch of dough,
so the kingdom is designed
to infiltrate,
to permeate,
to go through society
and communities.
But secondly,
it's a change-bringing organism
because as you see yeast at work,
one of the things you see
is that the yeast transfers
its own properties,
if you like,
to the whole batch of dough
into which you place it.
Because the batch of dough
is there static.
It doesn't move.
It doesn't change.
As soon as you add the yeast to it,
it begins to change.
And the change is brought about,
not just brought about by the yeast,
but the yeast is seeking
to transform that batch of dough
into like itself,
to grow,
to increase,
to change in its substance indeed,
to some extent.
And that's the same with the gospel.
When you introduce the gospel
into human society,
into human communities,
into human individual experiences,
that gospel enters into that life
or these lives
as yeast is entered
into the batch of dough.
It immediately begins,
if God blesses it as we pray,
to influence the whole batch.
And it begins to transform
that whole batch
into what it's like itself
because the yeast of God's gospel
or the life that God gives
to his people
is something that has
divine properties.
You could be mistaken about that
and I don't want to mislead you,
but of course,
it doesn't mean we are made
into something other than human beings
when we come to know the Lord,
when we have a spirit working within us,
when we're changed from being dead sinners
into living disciples, saints.
But it does mean
this gospel,
this grace of God
that works through the gospel,
this grace of God
that is at work
in the life of God's people,
it has its own divine properties.
It's not been manufactured
by human beings.
It's not something
the church has brought about
in the course of history.
It's not something
that any individual,
however talented,
is actually able to produce
or reproduce.
It is God at work.
And God's work
is always like himself.
It always bears a similarity
to him.
And as the yeast
is entered into
the batch of dough,
so it begins to change
that batch of dough
to be like itself.
It transforms that batch
from within
and it spreads out
throughout it,
as we've said,
until the whole batch
is affected.
You don't find
any other philosophy
that has that capacity.
It doesn't matter
what religion
you look at in the world
with Christianity.
Whatever influences
it has,
it may very well
have a lot of influence
as you can see
in our own society.
There are many religions
and ideologies
that have influences
that bring people
to follow them.
But it doesn't have
the divine capacity
to change human life
from within.
It doesn't have
within it
that capacity,
that divine power
which the Spirit
of God
uses and shows
in people
being born again.
That's why
it's so important
that you and I
and this congregation
act as leaven
in this community.
Because you're
carrying with you
in the gospel,
in your own Christian life,
when you're committed
to the Lord,
you're carrying with you
a power
that cannot be
reproduced
or replicated
by any other power
on earth.
And you have to believe
that that power
is the power
that's able to change
people's lives
radically.
What's going to change
this society
we belong to today
with all its dreadful
excesses,
with its rampant
secularist way
of looking at things,
with all its atheism,
with all the hate
that there is there
for the gospel,
for the things of God,
for the people of God,
for the church?
What is it that's
going to change
church buildings
that for centuries
were associated
with the gospel
and being now changed
into mosques
or whatever else
use they're changed into?
What's going to reverse that?
What's going to change that?
And friends,
we need to see
these changes.
Otherwise,
that's just going to go on
month by month,
year by year,
and we'll be left
with a spiritual wilderness.
What's going to change it
is the gospel,
the power of God
unto salvation.
How do we actually
set about
living to that end?
Well,
being,
yeast being,
leaven in the world.
having an influence
with people
alongside you,
neighbors,
work colleagues,
school friends,
but you and I
have to be the yeast
that looks to change
society by the blessing
of God.
To see the kingdom
of God advance.
That's what we were
praying for with the
children,
wasn't it?
Where,
in the Lord's Prayer,
that's one of the elements
in the Lord's Prayer.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
on earth
as it is in heaven.
Let your kingdom come.
We can't be praying,
let your kingdom come,
and then standing aside
as if that's going to happen
without us being concerned
to live as yeast
or leaven
in this world
for Christ.
God's not dependent
on us.
Yes,
God can work
without us.
God can do many things
without us.
But that's not how
he's revealed
in the Bible
as operating.
He operates
through the life
of his church.
He operates
through God's people
living as yeast
in the society
where they're placed.
Transferring
the properties
of spiritual life
by God's blessing
to those that presently
don't have it.
it's a change
bringing organism.
It transfers
its properties
to the whole batch.
Thirdly,
finally,
it actually grows.
Are we
too used
to seeing
the church
decrease?
Are we in danger
of saying,
well,
that's just how
God has planned it.
That's just how
God is.
That's what providence
has brought about.
Yes.
Are we satisfied
with that?
Are we saying,
that's how it must be?
Are we seeing
ourselves as just
no longer acting
as yeast
in society?
Have we lost
our vision
that the church
is meant
to grow
and not
to be reduced?
I know
everything's
under the authority
and the providence
of God
under the complete
and utter authority
of God
that he rules
sovereignly
over every event,
over every eventuality,
over every turn
in the church's life
and experience.
That's how it's
always been.
But let's not
lose
our vision
of growth.
Let's not
lose our vision
that the kingdom
of God,
the rule
of God
through his people
is meant
to lead
to growth.
A growth
in his cause.
A growth
in people
confessing him
as their Lord.
It's like leaven
which this woman
took and hid
in three measures
of flour
till all
was leavened.
In other words,
the kingdom
of God
has that
spiritual
substance
to it
that is itself
designed
to grow.
And you can
see that
in the early
church,
for example,
in the days
of the Acts
of the Apostles.
Look at the number
of people,
it's not about
numbers,
but just look
at the size
of that batch
of disciples
that left
the upper room
and went out
to follow Christ
and to bring
the gospel
into the world.
And by the time
you read
through the book
of Acts
and you see
what's happened
in Athens,
in Thessalonica,
in Ephesus,
all the other
places that are
mentioned there,
you'll find
churches established,
you'll find
churches growing,
you'll find
the kingdom
of God
advancing.
Why is that?
Because the people
of God,
the disciples
of Jesus,
took this
into the world,
they acted
as leaven
in the society
of their day.
And God
blessed that
and God
followed that
and God
took that
and placed it
into the batch
of dough
that that sinful
pagan world
was.
and as you
read the book
of Acts
you can watch
it grow.
You can see
its influence.
You can see
how seriously
people took
their Christian
walk,
their Christian
confession,
their Christian
commitment
to the Lord
and to His
cause.
You can see
it,
secondly,
you can see
it on revivals,
can't you?
If you read
these excellent
books on revival
that you find
written recently
by Tom Lenny,
he's got three
or four books
actually on revival
in different parts
of Scotland,
including Lewis
itself,
which he focuses
on quite a bit.
But as you'll see
the accounts he gives
in all of these
areas,
for example,
just of Lewis
itself,
where he has
checked it out
with people
and followed
through his research,
and you'll find
some really
astounding,
some wonderful,
some exhilarating
accounts of
individuals
used by God,
placed in the
darkness of
their own day,
and all of a
sudden,
spiritual life.
Leaven has
done its work.
People come
to think
seriously
about life.
What is life
about?
They come
to attend
church services,
and they come
to not only
attend,
but also come
with concern,
with weeping
to church services,
seeking the
Lord,
concerned
for the
name of
Christ,
more concerned
for the
glory of
God than
for themselves.
That's the
leaven at work.
And that's
God blessing
his word,
God placing
these people
as the movement
grew in the
society of their
day,
so that others
are added to
the number.
You see,
that should be
our vision as
well,
shouldn't it,
that we don't
rest until the
whole batch
is leavened,
until throughout
the course of
our lives,
at least in
this world,
we've given
what we can
and been
what we
should be
as God's
leaven in
the world.
And of
course,
that's the
case with
individuals as
well.
Once the
work starts
in an
individual's
life,
the work
of God's
Spirit,
where God,
as it were,
places the
leaven of
his life,
the leaven of
his Spirit,
into any
human soul,
it grows.
It grows.
It spreads
throughout the
whole of that
person's life
and being.
It's not just
something that
affects your
thoughts without
affecting your
conscience,
without affecting
your will,
without affecting
your love,
your emotions.
The whole of
your human
character is
affected by
the leaven of
God's life
entering into
you.
And today,
friends,
we're privileged
to have the
Gospel setting
out these terms
for us,
to remind us
that the
kingdom of
heaven is
like leaven,
that we
belong to
the movement
of the
kingdom of
heaven,
that we
belong to
that movement
that itself
is designed
to infiltrate
the world
for Christ,
to grow in
that world,
to bring
about the
knowledge of
Christ in
that world.
You put a
batch of
yeast into
a lump of
dough,
you try and
stop it
working.
It's not
easy.
Maybe not
impossible,
but it's not
easy.
Because that
yeast, as it
grows, as it
transfers its
properties, the
whole batch
grows.
You try and
stop the
spirit of
God.
Once it
works, even
through an
individual, in
any part of
human society,
you try and
stop it.
You can't do
it.
Because it's
God at
work, for
which you and
I should be
burdened.
She didn't
wait until all
things were
leavened.
Then she
could take the
batch of
dough and
use it for
bread.
God's
purpose is
for yourself
and for
myself today.
Remember how
Paul wrote to
the Philippian
church, a
church that
he loved,
a church that
loved him
greatly.
It wasn't a
perfect church,
no church is.
But when he
wrote to them
in the very
first chapter of
that short
epistle, he
said how much
he was thanking
God for them,
for every
remembrance of
them.
He was
writing to
them from
prison.
But as he
remembered them,
as he reflected
upon them,
he thanked
God for them,
for their
partnership in
the gospel from
the first day
till now.
What's he
saying?
He's saying I'm
thankful that
you became part
of the leaven,
that as God
made me leaven
in your society,
you joined
that, you
became leaven,
you influenced
others, you
were used
by God.
As he went
on to say
that it was
right for him
to think
this about
them.
For he
says where
he has
begun a
good work,
he will
fulfill it,
complete it,
bring it to
completion at
the day of
Christ.
Friends,
let's not
rest.
Let's not
lose our
sight of
God at
work.
Let's not
lose our
vision for
the gospel.
Let's
retain that
picture of
God's
kingdom as
leaven.
Let's play
individually our
own part in
being leaven
in the
society we're
placed into.
Let's pray.
Lord, our
gracious God,
we acknowledge
that we are
so often not
what we
should be,
that we
are falling
short in
every aspect
of our
life.
Yet, Lord,
as we complain
about these
things, we
pray that you
enable us to
have our
vision restored
or maintained
as to your
kingdom and its
work and its
properties.
peace.
And help us,
we pray, to
have a proper
estimate of
our own place
within that
kingdom.
Grant that you
would continue
daily to throw
our hearts to
yourself.
Remember any
here today,
Lord, who have
not yet committed
their life to
you.
We pray that you
would enter into
their life
powerfully, that
the leaven of
your gospel might
indeed carry out
its own work by
your spirit.
We pray that for
every gathering of
your church
throughout the
world today.
We pray for
your people as
they continue to
witness to you.
Lord, make them,
we pray, more
and more powerful
and effective in
the witness that
they bear.
And use us, we
pray, as your
people in the
world, even
beyond what we
are able to ask
or think, that
whatever small
ideas we may
have of ourselves,
we may know
that in the
hands of Christ
great things can
be achieved.
Hear us now,
we pray for
his sake.
Amen.
Now we
conclude our
worship this
morning singing
in Psalm 65.
Psalm 65 in
the Singed
Psalms version.
To the
Tune Huddersfield
we're singing
verses 8 to
13.
That's on
page 82.
Those who
inhabit distant
lands with
awe regard
your ways.
Where morning
dawns and
evening fades,
you call forth
songs of
praise.
You tend the
land and water
it, you make
it rich and
good.
As you
ordained, your
streams are full
to give the
people food.
You drench the
furrows of the
land, you level
off the ground, you
soften it with
showers of rain and
make its crops
abound.
And although these
verses speak
literally of
agricultural ways
and the natural
growth of things in
the land, they're
obviously transferable
spiritually as well
to the way in
which God brings
about by his
blessing that rich
spiritual growth that
we pray for.
So verses 8 to
13, those who
inhabit distant
lands with awe
regard your
ways.
Amen.
종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종
rich and good, as you ordained, your streams are full to give the people good.
You drenched the furrows of the land, you level off the ground,
you soften it with showers of rain and make this cross a band.
You cried the year with beautifulness, your harvest overflows,
the grass that flourishes again, the hills with calmness so.
The pastures gleam with cloths and gold, the meadows covered in,
above this deck themselves with corn, they shall for joy not sing.
If you'd kind of let me get to the main door after the benediction, please.
Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit,
be with you now and evermore. Amen.
Amen.