No 10
(Leaven II)
Leaven or bread yeast is a type of fungi
and it causes bread to rise by releasing carbon dioxide which gets trapped in
the dough; this is actually a fermentation, decaying
process. In the Bible, leaven is often
used to portray false doctrinal teaching but on one occasion, the Lord used it
as a demonstration to show how the kingdom of heaven is like. In Matthew 13:33, we read “The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven,
which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was
leavened.” ; there is a similar text in Luke 13:21. The idea here was that the Gospel will spread
itself though the world by its piercing, penetrating, and spreading
nature. The Gospel reaches the
conscience, pierces the heart, enlightens the understanding, informs of
judgment, raises and sets our affections on Christ, subdues the will, and
brings down all towering thoughts. The
spreading of the Gospel is not some mystical manoeuvre that God lets happen
without any control. Quite the contrary,
God has given the privilege of spreading the Gospel to believers who have
experienced the inner peace and joy that it brings to the soul. God is sovereign in His universe and He knows, before the foundation of the
world, who will be in the kingdom and who will humble themselves in front of
Him upon realizing their lostness; but we don’t
know. For this reason our task, while we
still have breath, is to spread the Gospel to the lost, regardless of who it
is; it could be Aunt Matilda; it could be the postman or it could be the very
person we believe would never humble
him or herself. The Lord has given some
of His saints a gift that Paul encouraged Timothy to practice “But watch thou in all things, endure
afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy
ministry.”(2 Timothy 4:5). And
although some have this gift, aren’t we all called to be evangelists in one way
or another? The Lord’s last words to His
Disciples before ascending to heaven were “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the
world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark