At last they understood that He wasn’t speaking
about the yeast in bread, but about the deceptive teaching of the Pharisees and
Sadducees. Matthew 16:12
There has come into this
universe something that disturbs the universe. All these terrible wars, about
which you know something, are the result of this disturbing influence which has
come into the universe. There is something in this universe that stirs up human
nature. Like alcohol, it makes men fight against one another. It keeps the
world in unrest. It produces all this excitement of the human evil nature.
Then, again, this something that has come into this universe results in an
enlargement that is quite unnatural – a false development.... Anything that
results in unnatural development and enlargement is evil. The Apostle Paul
said, "Through the grace given
unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly
than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to
every man the measure of faith." Anything that makes us unnaturally
big is evil, whether it be the individual life, or whether it be what is called
the work of God, trying to make it bigger than its real spiritual measure,
inflating it beyond its genuine spiritual degree; that is something evil, that
is leaven....
Then what about this leaven that
makes things appeal to our natural taste? Paul said to Timothy, "The time
will come when they will not endure sound teaching; and they will heap to
themselves teachers, having itching ears." And he goes on to say that they
will believe the lie instead of the truth. Why is that? Because these teachers
appeal to the natural life. These teachers cover over evil. Indeed, they will
sometimes call evil good. People do not like the teachers who tell them what is
wrong, that this thing and that thing are contrary to God. They like leavened
bread, it pleases the flesh.... He says there will be leaven, there will be corruption
and defilement everywhere, but the teaching of the New Testament is: Keep
yourselves pure. See that your garments are not spotted. Walk in this sinful
world as those who do not belong to its nature. Although there is leaven
everywhere, you be the unleavened bread. But, the world may not like you, the
world will not like unleavened bread. It does not please the flesh, but the
bread which is pure is pleasing to God.
No comments:
Post a Comment