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Lessons from Leaven · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

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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.
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! 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.
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As you'd expect, I'm usually asked a number of questions about my retirement, the most common one being, how is retirement?
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How many times I've answered that question, I'm sure everybody who's retired has found the same after they retire.
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But another question is, what are you doing with yourself in your retirement?
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Well, I'm preaching most weeks, but one thing I've taken up doing since I retired is making bread.
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Making bread. And I enjoy making bread.
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Making bread is a very interesting process.
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Okay, I've got a bread machine.
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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.
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You shove it all into the machine and it does the work for you.
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Even the baking of it.
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You just take out the finished loaf.
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But you need to be sure that you've put all the ingredients in that the loaf requires.
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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.
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If you don't keep to the guidance accurately, your bread's not going to turn out the way it should be at all.
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But it's an interesting process.
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And one of the most interesting things about it, as in making of bread at any time, is the use of yeast.
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Yeast nowadays, you can still get the old type of yeast, but yeast nowadays is mostly dried yeast, just powder.
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And that has to be added to all the other ingredients or else the bread will not rise.
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And yeast has fascinating properties.
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It's a fascinating material.
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It has a fascinating in its substance, in the way it works.
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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.
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The yeast does its own work so that eventually it produces what turns out to be a loaf of bread.
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And the Bible uses yeast, or leaven as it is here.
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This is the word leaven that's used, the same thing, leaven, yeast.
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The Bible uses that illustratively.
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It uses yeast to illustrate, for example, the workings of sin.
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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.
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If it's left unrepented of, undisturbed, it'll grow in its own way.
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Sin is never static.
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It's never a neutral negative thing.
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It always has growth properties unless the growth is stemmed by the addition of grace or the power of God.
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But yeast is also used positively, as it is in this verse here.
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The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leavened.
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The positive element that yeast is, is also used here in the Bible to emphasize a positive result.
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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.
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That's the good use of this illustration, the use of the illustration in a good sense in the Bible.
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So what does that actually tell us today?
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What are we learning from this brief verse or reference to yeast?
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Well, two things.
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Look at the second one mostly.
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But first of all, yeast is actually a living organism.
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You might not think that as you take the wee sachet of powdered yeast or dried yeast and put it into the dough.
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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.
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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,
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and the bit that you left behind still kept on growing, you could use it again and again.
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It has in itself this property.
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It is itself a living organism.
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That's what makes it so fascinating.
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That yeast has within it the properties that it shows once it begins to work.
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And that's true of the kingdom of God.
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Now, the kingdom of God, we could spend ages actually trying to define what the Bible means by the kingdom of God.
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But the kingdom of God is essentially where God's influence or God's grace reigns and spreads throughout humanity,
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spreads throughout any people or even any individual.
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Where the grace of God is at work, the kingdom of God is in that person,
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the kingship of God is being shown in that person,
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allegiance to God as king is evident in that person,
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or in a congregation like yourselves, where you find that congregation growing spiritually.
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That's the advancement of the kingdom of God.
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The God as king is made evident through the way you're showing allegiance to him as a congregation.
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And whenever you find the influence of God through his people advancing,
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the kingdom of God is seen in that.
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The kingdom of God shows itself and grows in that.
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Well, here is what he's saying.
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The kingdom of God is like leaven,
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like this yeast that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour.
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And as it's true of the yeast that it has,
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as a living organism that has this property in itself,
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it makes it a very suitable illustration for the kingdom of God.
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Because the kingdom of God, it doesn't depend on us to grow.
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Yes, it's something in which we contribute our life,
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and in which we contribute as we'll see the things that we can bring to others about the gospel and about Christ.
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But the kingdom of God has within itself the properties of growth.
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Because God is at work in the growth of his kingdom.
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The spirit of God is at work in the growth of his kingdom.
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Where you have the word of God,
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where you have the faithful preaching of the word of God,
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where you have the sacraments,
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where you have prayer,
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where you have God's people worshiping together,
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where you have that witness and commitment to God going on in any congregation or any individual.
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There you have, within that commodity,
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the principles, if you like, of growth, of effectiveness.
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You add the power of God.
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You add the grace of God.
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And all of that comes together for the advance of the kingdom.
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The kingdom has within itself the capacity, the influence,
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that by the grace of God, by the work of God's Spirit,
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it becomes a living force.
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It moves in such a way as to bring people into its provisions.
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The kingdom of God is like leaven.
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It has in itself that capacity.
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It's a living organism.
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It's not neutral.
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It's not static.
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It's not negative.
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It's positive.
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And it has that capacity.
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But secondly, more fully,
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the kingdom of God, like yeast,
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yeast is a change-bringing organism.
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Not just a living organism.
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It's a change-bringing organism.
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When you add yeast to the batch of dough,
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it immediately begins to change things.
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It permeates for a start.
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It permeates the whole batch.
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You see what the verse is saying?
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This woman took this leaven and she hid it.
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She placed it in three measures of flour until it was all leavened.
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She didn't actually do this and then almost immediately try and bake the dough into bread.
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She left it until it was all leavened,
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until the yeast had done its work through that whole batch of dough.
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And Jesus is saying,
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that is what the kingdom of God is like.
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In other words,
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your Christian influence is designed to permeate that society,
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that batch of human dough, if you like,
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into which God has placed you as an individual,
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into which God has placed you as a congregation.
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You are here in this town,
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you are here in this community,
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as God's living organism,
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God's living yeast,
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God's living leaven,
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so that you see yourselves as a congregation,
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as actually placed for a purpose,
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where God has placed you here in Stornoway,
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so that the influence of your life will permeate the whole batch of humanity,
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hopefully, prayerfully,
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that God has placed you amongst.
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That's the growth that you're praying for and looking for.
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It's designed to permeate the whole of society around you.
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You don't leave any aspect of that society out.
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You don't leave any kind of person out of that influence
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of the grace of God working through you.
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The doctrines that you believe in,
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the lifestyle of a Christian,
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all of those things are designed to act as the leaven in the part of the dough.
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And your part and my part is to be that leaven in our society.
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You leave the change to the Holy Spirit.
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You can't bring about the conversion of any individual.
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Nobody can.
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But you have to be,
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as Jesus put it elsewhere,
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in the position of making disciples.
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Bringing the leaven of your Christian life and influence
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to bear upon the people around you.
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You're leaving the work of regeneration,
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the work of bringing to life spiritually,
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to the Holy Spirit.
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You can't do it anyway.
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But the Holy Spirit is not going to do
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what the Bible requires you and me to do.
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That's to be leaven in society.
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It's a bit like what Jesus says elsewhere,
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you are the salt of the earth.
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Just like salt has an influence
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on the whole,
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whatever food you're adding salt to,
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it doesn't just salt a tiny wee bit of it,
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it spreads through the whole lot.
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It affects the savor of the whole thing.
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So the leaven spreads throughout the dough.
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So the congregation that you are in this world,
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that God has given you to be,
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and where God has placed you,
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you're a congregation to act as leaven
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in this society around you.
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And just like the leaven begins to activate the moment,
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you actually add the water to it,
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so actually you are to seek the blessing of God,
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as you've been doing.
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I mean, this congregation itself
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has so many things going on,
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as I've mentioned, in prayer.
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And as I came to know,
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when I was ministered here,
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these eight happy years that I was with you,
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the number of things that are going on alongside with,
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alongside of the preaching of the gospel,
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the worship of God every Lord's Day,
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every midweek,
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alongside of that,
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fits all of these activities
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that you have going on in the congregation.
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That is really part of the way
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the leavening influence of the gospel is at work.
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Because in the work you have with young folks,
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with older young folks,
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with the smaller ones,
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the tiny ones,
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think of all that as leavening influence.
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Think of all that as an activity that's going on
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with a view to bringing about the leavening,
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the spiritual development of the whole batch of people
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that you are.
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And everybody has their own bit to contribute to that.
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You know, that's how it is for our situation in life as well.
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We're placed by the Lord in order to seek to bring
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an influence by his blessing to the community around us.
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You know, our tendency,
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the tendency certainly of the world around you
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is to think that people's problems are entirely external.
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And that if you improve people's conditions externally,
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then you'll find a difference in their way of life,
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in their outlook on life,
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in their behavior in life.
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Well, people's behavior may to some small extent
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be affected by their environment
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and by the situations that they have from day to day outwardly.
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But people's behavior begins from in here.
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It begins from within the soul.
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And unless that is turned around and changed,
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that person's not going to be much different
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to what they always have been.
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But here is where the leavening influence
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of the gospel, of the Christian gospel,
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of the Christian life,
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as it's set in society,
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it's aiming at, by God's blessing,
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affecting people so that they'll begin
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to think deeply about life,
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that they'll turn to the Lord,
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they'll become new creations in Christ.
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And you're a leavening influence
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towards that objective.
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And if I may say so,
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one of the rewarding things
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that I've done more recently
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is to speak at the Road to Recovery
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that David leads here in the town.
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And one of the encouraging
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and really thrilling things about it
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is that that work is based on the gospel.
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That work is based not on changing
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people's outward circumstances,
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though, of course, that's not neglected.
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But the work is that people
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will come to know the Lord,
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that people will come to have their lives
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changed by the grace of God.
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And the leavening influence
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of a Christian influence
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is designed to bring people
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to that point,
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by God's blessing,
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that the leaven of the lives
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of those who are seeking
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to help those with needs
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such as addictions,
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will come to see them converted,
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come to see them
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coming into the kingdom themselves
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and becoming part of it.
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The kingdom is like leaven,
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which a woman took
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and hid in these measures of flow
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until it was all leavened.
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And you know that should be
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our objective as well.
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Even if we're convinced
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that the world is not going to be
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completely changed
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before the Lord comes,
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we should still have it as our objective
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to see as much change
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as possible taking place.
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And that means through your influence
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as a congregation,
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through your influence as individuals,
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that you seek God's blessing
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to bring the change about.
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So that permeates,
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the leaven as it permeates,
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the whole measure
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of the batch of dough,
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so the kingdom is designed
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to infiltrate,
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to permeate,
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to go through society
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and communities.
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But secondly,
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it's a change-bringing organism
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because as you see yeast at work,
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one of the things you see
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is that the yeast transfers
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its own properties,
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if you like,
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to the whole batch of dough
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into which you place it.
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Because the batch of dough
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is there static.
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It doesn't move.
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It doesn't change.
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As soon as you add the yeast to it,
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it begins to change.
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And the change is brought about,
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not just brought about by the yeast,
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but the yeast is seeking
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to transform that batch of dough
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into like itself,
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to grow,
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to increase,
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to change in its substance indeed,
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to some extent.
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And that's the same with the gospel.
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When you introduce the gospel
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into human society,
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into human communities,
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into human individual experiences,
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that gospel enters into that life
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or these lives
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as yeast is entered
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into the batch of dough.
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It immediately begins,
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if God blesses it as we pray,
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to influence the whole batch.
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And it begins to transform
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that whole batch
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into what it's like itself
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because the yeast of God's gospel
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or the life that God gives
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to his people
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is something that has
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divine properties.
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You could be mistaken about that
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and I don't want to mislead you,
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but of course,
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it doesn't mean we are made
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into something other than human beings
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when we come to know the Lord,
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when we have a spirit working within us,
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when we're changed from being dead sinners
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into living disciples, saints.
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But it does mean
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this gospel,
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this grace of God
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that works through the gospel,
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this grace of God
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that is at work
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in the life of God's people,
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it has its own divine properties.
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It's not been manufactured
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by human beings.
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It's not something
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the church has brought about
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in the course of history.
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It's not something
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that any individual,
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however talented,
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is actually able to produce
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or reproduce.
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It is God at work.
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And God's work
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is always like himself.
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It always bears a similarity
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to him.
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And as the yeast
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is entered into
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the batch of dough,
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so it begins to change
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that batch of dough
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to be like itself.
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It transforms that batch
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from within
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and it spreads out
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throughout it,
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as we've said,
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until the whole batch
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is affected.
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You don't find
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any other philosophy
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that has that capacity.
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It doesn't matter
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what religion
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you look at in the world
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with Christianity.
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Whatever influences
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it has,
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it may very well
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have a lot of influence
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as you can see
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in our own society.
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There are many religions
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and ideologies
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that have influences
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that bring people
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to follow them.
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But it doesn't have
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the divine capacity
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to change human life
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from within.
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It doesn't have
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within it
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that capacity,
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that divine power
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which the Spirit
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of God
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uses and shows
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in people
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being born again.
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That's why
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it's so important
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that you and I
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and this congregation
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act as leaven
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in this community.
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Because you're
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carrying with you
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in the gospel,
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in your own Christian life,
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when you're committed
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to the Lord,
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you're carrying with you
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a power
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that cannot be
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reproduced
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or replicated
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by any other power
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on earth.
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And you have to believe
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that that power
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is the power
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that's able to change
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people's lives
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radically.
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What's going to change
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this society
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we belong to today
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with all its dreadful
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excesses,
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with its rampant
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secularist way
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of looking at things,
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with all its atheism,
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with all the hate
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that there is there
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for the gospel,
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for the things of God,
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for the people of God,
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for the church?
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What is it that's
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going to change
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church buildings
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that for centuries
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were associated
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with the gospel
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and being now changed
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into mosques
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or whatever else
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use they're changed into?
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What's going to reverse that?
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What's going to change that?
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And friends,
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we need to see
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these changes.
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Otherwise,
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that's just going to go on
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month by month,
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year by year,
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and we'll be left
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with a spiritual wilderness.
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What's going to change it
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is the gospel,
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the power of God
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unto salvation.
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How do we actually
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set about
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living to that end?
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Well,
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being,
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yeast being,
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leaven in the world.
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having an influence
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with people
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alongside you,
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neighbors,
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work colleagues,
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school friends,
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but you and I
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have to be the yeast
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that looks to change
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society by the blessing
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of God.
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To see the kingdom
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of God advance.
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That's what we were
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praying for with the
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children,
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wasn't it?
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Where,
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in the Lord's Prayer,
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that's one of the elements
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in the Lord's Prayer.
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Thy kingdom come.
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Thy will be done
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on earth
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as it is in heaven.
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Let your kingdom come.
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We can't be praying,
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let your kingdom come,
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and then standing aside
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as if that's going to happen
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without us being concerned
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to live as yeast
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or leaven
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in this world
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for Christ.
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God's not dependent
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on us.
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Yes,
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God can work
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without us.
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God can do many things
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without us.
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But that's not how
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he's revealed
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in the Bible
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as operating.
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He operates
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through the life
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of his church.
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He operates
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through God's people
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living as yeast
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in the society
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where they're placed.
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Transferring
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the properties
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of spiritual life
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by God's blessing
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to those that presently
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don't have it.
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it's a change
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bringing organism.
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It transfers
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its properties
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to the whole batch.
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Thirdly,
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finally,
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it actually grows.
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Are we
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too used
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to seeing
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the church
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decrease?
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Are we in danger
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of saying,
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well,
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that's just how
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God has planned it.
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That's just how
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God is.
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That's what providence
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has brought about.
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Yes.
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Are we satisfied
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with that?
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Are we saying,
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that's how it must be?
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Are we seeing
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ourselves as just
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no longer acting
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as yeast
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in society?
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Have we lost
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our vision
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that the church
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is meant
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to grow
23:46
and not
23:48
to be reduced?
23:49
I know
23:51
everything's
23:51
under the authority
23:52
and the providence
23:54
of God
23:55
under the complete
23:56
and utter authority
23:57
of God
23:58
that he rules
23:59
sovereignly
23:59
over every event,
24:01
over every eventuality,
24:02
over every turn
24:03
in the church's life
24:05
and experience.
24:06
That's how it's
24:06
always been.
24:08
But let's not
24:09
lose
24:10
our vision
24:11
of growth.
24:12
Let's not
24:13
lose our vision
24:14
that the kingdom
24:15
of God,
24:15
the rule
24:16
of God
24:17
through his people
24:18
is meant
24:18
to lead
24:19
to growth.
24:21
A growth
24:21
in his cause.
24:23
A growth
24:23
in people
24:24
confessing him
24:25
as their Lord.
24:28
It's like leaven
24:29
which this woman
24:31
took and hid
24:31
in three measures
24:32
of flour
24:32
till all
24:34
was leavened.
24:36
In other words,
24:36
the kingdom
24:37
of God
24:37
has that
24:39
spiritual
24:40
substance
24:41
to it
24:41
that is itself
24:42
designed
24:43
to grow.
24:45
And you can
24:45
see that
24:46
in the early
24:47
church,
24:48
for example,
24:48
in the days
24:49
of the Acts
24:49
of the Apostles.
24:51
Look at the number
24:52
of people,
24:53
it's not about
24:53
numbers,
24:54
but just look
24:54
at the size
24:55
of that batch
24:56
of disciples
24:57
that left
24:59
the upper room
25:00
and went out
25:01
to follow Christ
25:03
and to bring
25:03
the gospel
25:04
into the world.
25:06
And by the time
25:06
you read
25:07
through the book
25:08
of Acts
25:08
and you see
25:09
what's happened
25:10
in Athens,
25:12
in Thessalonica,
25:13
in Ephesus,
25:15
all the other
25:15
places that are
25:16
mentioned there,
25:17
you'll find
25:18
churches established,
25:19
you'll find
25:19
churches growing,
25:21
you'll find
25:21
the kingdom
25:21
of God
25:22
advancing.
25:23
Why is that?
25:24
Because the people
25:25
of God,
25:25
the disciples
25:26
of Jesus,
25:27
took this
25:28
into the world,
25:29
they acted
25:29
as leaven
25:30
in the society
25:31
of their day.
25:32
And God
25:33
blessed that
25:33
and God
25:34
followed that
25:35
and God
25:36
took that
25:37
and placed it
25:38
into the batch
25:38
of dough
25:39
that that sinful
25:40
pagan world
25:41
was.
25:42
and as you
25:43
read the book
25:44
of Acts
25:44
you can watch
25:45
it grow.
25:46
You can see
25:47
its influence.
25:49
You can see
25:50
how seriously
25:51
people took
25:52
their Christian
25:53
walk,
25:54
their Christian
25:55
confession,
25:56
their Christian
25:57
commitment
25:57
to the Lord
25:59
and to His
25:59
cause.
26:01
You can see
26:01
it,
26:02
secondly,
26:03
you can see
26:03
it on revivals,
26:04
can't you?
26:05
If you read
26:06
these excellent
26:07
books on revival
26:09
that you find
26:10
written recently
26:13
by Tom Lenny,
26:16
he's got three
26:17
or four books
26:17
actually on revival
26:18
in different parts
26:19
of Scotland,
26:20
including Lewis
26:20
itself,
26:21
which he focuses
26:22
on quite a bit.
26:23
But as you'll see
26:24
the accounts he gives
26:25
in all of these
26:26
areas,
26:27
for example,
26:27
just of Lewis
26:28
itself,
26:29
where he has
26:29
checked it out
26:30
with people
26:31
and followed
26:31
through his research,
26:32
and you'll find
26:33
some really
26:33
astounding,
26:35
some wonderful,
26:36
some exhilarating
26:37
accounts of
26:38
individuals
26:39
used by God,
26:41
placed in the
26:42
darkness of
26:42
their own day,
26:44
and all of a
26:45
sudden,
26:46
spiritual life.
26:49
Leaven has
26:50
done its work.
26:52
People come
26:52
to think
26:53
seriously
26:53
about life.
26:55
What is life
26:56
about?
26:57
They come
26:57
to attend
26:58
church services,
27:00
and they come
27:00
to not only
27:01
attend,
27:02
but also come
27:03
with concern,
27:05
with weeping
27:06
to church services,
27:07
seeking the
27:08
Lord,
27:08
concerned
27:09
for the
27:10
name of
27:11
Christ,
27:11
more concerned
27:12
for the
27:12
glory of
27:13
God than
27:13
for themselves.
27:17
That's the
27:17
leaven at work.
27:19
And that's
27:20
God blessing
27:21
his word,
27:23
God placing
27:23
these people
27:24
as the movement
27:26
grew in the
27:27
society of their
27:28
day,
27:29
so that others
27:30
are added to
27:31
the number.
27:32
You see,
27:33
that should be
27:33
our vision as
27:34
well,
27:34
shouldn't it,
27:35
that we don't
27:36
rest until the
27:37
whole batch
27:38
is leavened,
27:38
until throughout
27:40
the course of
27:41
our lives,
27:41
at least in
27:42
this world,
27:43
we've given
27:44
what we can
27:44
and been
27:47
what we
27:47
should be
27:47
as God's
27:49
leaven in
27:50
the world.
27:52
And of
27:53
course,
27:53
that's the
27:54
case with
27:54
individuals as
27:55
well.
27:55
Once the
27:56
work starts
27:56
in an
27:57
individual's
27:58
life,
27:58
the work
27:59
of God's
27:59
Spirit,
28:00
where God,
28:01
as it were,
28:02
places the
28:03
leaven of
28:04
his life,
28:05
the leaven of
28:05
his Spirit,
28:07
into any
28:07
human soul,
28:09
it grows.
28:12
It grows.
28:14
It spreads
28:15
throughout the
28:17
whole of that
28:17
person's life
28:18
and being.
28:20
It's not just
28:20
something that
28:21
affects your
28:22
thoughts without
28:24
affecting your
28:25
conscience,
28:25
without affecting
28:26
your will,
28:27
without affecting
28:28
your love,
28:29
your emotions.
28:30
The whole of
28:30
your human
28:31
character is
28:32
affected by
28:33
the leaven of
28:34
God's life
28:35
entering into
28:36
you.
28:39
And today,
28:40
friends,
28:41
we're privileged
28:41
to have the
28:42
Gospel setting
28:44
out these terms
28:45
for us,
28:45
to remind us
28:47
that the
28:47
kingdom of
28:48
heaven is
28:49
like leaven,
28:50
that we
28:51
belong to
28:51
the movement
28:52
of the
28:52
kingdom of
28:53
heaven,
28:54
that we
28:55
belong to
28:55
that movement
28:56
that itself
28:57
is designed
28:58
to infiltrate
28:59
the world
29:00
for Christ,
29:01
to grow in
29:02
that world,
29:03
to bring
29:04
about the
29:05
knowledge of
29:06
Christ in
29:06
that world.
29:09
You put a
29:10
batch of
29:11
yeast into
29:13
a lump of
29:14
dough,
29:15
you try and
29:16
stop it
29:16
working.
29:18
It's not
29:18
easy.
29:19
Maybe not
29:20
impossible,
29:21
but it's not
29:21
easy.
29:23
Because that
29:23
yeast, as it
29:24
grows, as it
29:25
transfers its
29:26
properties, the
29:27
whole batch
29:28
grows.
29:30
You try and
29:30
stop the
29:31
spirit of
29:31
God.
29:33
Once it
29:33
works, even
29:34
through an
29:34
individual, in
29:36
any part of
29:36
human society,
29:38
you try and
29:38
stop it.
29:39
You can't do
29:39
it.
29:42
Because it's
29:42
God at
29:43
work, for
29:45
which you and
29:47
I should be
29:47
burdened.
29:49
She didn't
29:49
wait until all
29:51
things were
29:51
leavened.
29:52
Then she
29:52
could take the
29:53
batch of
29:54
dough and
29:56
use it for
29:57
bread.
29:58
God's
30:00
purpose is
30:01
for yourself
30:02
and for
30:03
myself today.
30:06
Remember how
30:07
Paul wrote to
30:08
the Philippian
30:09
church, a
30:10
church that
30:11
he loved,
30:12
a church that
30:12
loved him
30:13
greatly.
30:14
It wasn't a
30:15
perfect church,
30:16
no church is.
30:18
But when he
30:18
wrote to them
30:19
in the very
30:20
first chapter of
30:21
that short
30:21
epistle, he
30:23
said how much
30:24
he was thanking
30:24
God for them,
30:25
for every
30:27
remembrance of
30:28
them.
30:29
He was
30:29
writing to
30:30
them from
30:30
prison.
30:32
But as he
30:32
remembered them,
30:33
as he reflected
30:33
upon them,
30:35
he thanked
30:35
God for them,
30:36
for their
30:37
partnership in
30:38
the gospel from
30:39
the first day
30:40
till now.
30:42
What's he
30:42
saying?
30:43
He's saying I'm
30:44
thankful that
30:45
you became part
30:46
of the leaven,
30:47
that as God
30:48
made me leaven
30:49
in your society,
30:51
you joined
30:52
that, you
30:52
became leaven,
30:54
you influenced
30:55
others, you
30:56
were used
30:56
by God.
31:00
As he went
31:00
on to say
31:01
that it was
31:02
right for him
31:03
to think
31:03
this about
31:04
them.
31:06
For he
31:06
says where
31:07
he has
31:08
begun a
31:09
good work,
31:11
he will
31:12
fulfill it,
31:13
complete it,
31:15
bring it to
31:15
completion at
31:17
the day of
31:18
Christ.
31:19
Friends,
31:20
let's not
31:20
rest.
31:22
Let's not
31:22
lose our
31:24
sight of
31:25
God at
31:26
work.
31:27
Let's not
31:28
lose our
31:28
vision for
31:29
the gospel.
31:30
Let's
31:31
retain that
31:33
picture of
31:35
God's
31:35
kingdom as
31:37
leaven.
31:38
Let's play
31:39
individually our
31:41
own part in
31:42
being leaven
31:43
in the
31:45
society we're
31:47
placed into.
31:48
Let's pray.
31:49
Lord, our
31:54
gracious God,
31:56
we acknowledge
31:56
that we are
31:57
so often not
31:58
what we
31:58
should be,
32:00
that we
32:00
are falling
32:01
short in
32:02
every aspect
32:03
of our
32:03
life.
32:05
Yet, Lord,
32:05
as we complain
32:06
about these
32:07
things, we
32:07
pray that you
32:08
enable us to
32:09
have our
32:10
vision restored
32:11
or maintained
32:11
as to your
32:13
kingdom and its
32:13
work and its
32:14
properties.
32:15
peace.
32:16
And help us,
32:17
we pray, to
32:17
have a proper
32:19
estimate of
32:20
our own place
32:21
within that
32:22
kingdom.
32:23
Grant that you
32:24
would continue
32:25
daily to throw
32:26
our hearts to
32:26
yourself.
32:28
Remember any
32:29
here today,
32:29
Lord, who have
32:30
not yet committed
32:30
their life to
32:31
you.
32:32
We pray that you
32:33
would enter into
32:34
their life
32:34
powerfully, that
32:36
the leaven of
32:37
your gospel might
32:38
indeed carry out
32:39
its own work by
32:40
your spirit.
32:41
We pray that for
32:42
every gathering of
32:43
your church
32:44
throughout the
32:44
world today.
32:46
We pray for
32:47
your people as
32:48
they continue to
32:49
witness to you.
32:50
Lord, make them,
32:51
we pray, more
32:52
and more powerful
32:54
and effective in
32:56
the witness that
32:56
they bear.
32:58
And use us, we
32:59
pray, as your
32:59
people in the
33:00
world, even
33:01
beyond what we
33:02
are able to ask
33:02
or think, that
33:04
whatever small
33:05
ideas we may
33:05
have of ourselves,
33:07
we may know
33:08
that in the
33:08
hands of Christ
33:09
great things can
33:11
be achieved.
33:12
Hear us now,
33:13
we pray for
33:13
his sake.
33:14
Amen.
33:17
Now we
33:17
conclude our
33:18
worship this
33:19
morning singing
33:19
in Psalm 65.
33:21
Psalm 65 in
33:23
the Singed
33:23
Psalms version.
33:25
To the
33:25
Tune Huddersfield
33:26
we're singing
33:26
verses 8 to
33:28
13.
33:30
That's on
33:30
page 82.
33:31
Those who
33:41
inhabit distant
33:41
lands with
33:42
awe regard
33:43
your ways.
33:44
Where morning
33:45
dawns and
33:45
evening fades,
33:46
you call forth
33:47
songs of
33:48
praise.
33:49
You tend the
33:49
land and water
33:50
it, you make
33:51
it rich and
33:52
good.
33:53
As you
33:53
ordained, your
33:54
streams are full
33:55
to give the
33:56
people food.
33:56
You drench the
33:57
furrows of the
33:58
land, you level
33:59
off the ground, you
34:01
soften it with
34:01
showers of rain and
34:03
make its crops
34:04
abound.
34:05
And although these
34:06
verses speak
34:06
literally of
34:08
agricultural ways
34:11
and the natural
34:13
growth of things in
34:14
the land, they're
34:15
obviously transferable
34:16
spiritually as well
34:17
to the way in
34:19
which God brings
34:20
about by his
34:20
blessing that rich
34:22
spiritual growth that
34:23
we pray for.
34:24
So verses 8 to
34:26
13, those who
34:27
inhabit distant
34:28
lands with awe
34:29
regard your
34:30
ways.
34:30
Amen.
34:54
종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종
35:24
rich and good, as you ordained, your streams are full to give the people good.
35:46
You drenched the furrows of the land, you level off the ground,
36:04
you soften it with showers of rain and make this cross a band.
36:21
You cried the year with beautifulness, your harvest overflows,
36:39
the grass that flourishes again, the hills with calmness so.
36:57
The pastures gleam with cloths and gold, the meadows covered in,
37:14
above this deck themselves with corn, they shall for joy not sing.
37:32
If you'd kind of let me get to the main door after the benediction, please.
37:37
Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit,
37:42
be with you now and evermore. Amen.
38:12
Amen.