When the Jews observed the Passover, or the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it was required that there be no leaven found anywhere in the house. They disposed of any yeast and all bread with leavening in it. Then symbolically they took a little broom and swept out all the corners of the house.
We will read some Scriptures to see what is meant by leaven. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord: throughout your generations ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel (they were put out and no longer an Israelite).
And in the first day there shall be to you a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you. And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance for ever. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a sojourner, or one that is born in the land. Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread. Exodus 12:14–20.
And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading-troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle. And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victuals. Exodus 12:34, 38, 39.
Notice that the Feast of Unleavened Bread was appointed before the Israelites ever left Egypt, before the Passover deliverance took place. They had to leave so fast that they did not have time to prepare the dough with a starter containing yeast. They had to make haste. They were leaving the land of Egypt forever.
Do not get the idea that they were sneaking out at night. They left in the morning, while the Egyptians were out with shovels digging graves to bury their dead. The Israelites went out in fine raiment, bedecked with jewels of gold and jewels of silver because they had found favor with the Egyptians, who were encouraging them, “Hurry, hurry! We’re all dead men unless you leave.” God did not take them out of Egypt by a tight squeeze. The Word says they were taken out with a high hand. God says, …I bore you on eagles’ wings…. Exodus 19:4.
When it came time to eat, they took some of the dough that had no leaven in it and baked little cakes, similar to the kind of bread we use for Communion. They were to break it and eat it. Do not think of it as being like matzos or crackers. They used the whole grain for flour. They did not take out the wheat germ and reduce it down to impure white flour. The whole grain was ground and made into a cake. It was the staff of life to them.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a beautiful picture of the holiness and the consecration that God is giving to us. It shows what God does in our lives, how He removes all the leaven so that we come out of Egypt with the potential of purity and holiness before God. Then we continue on in that faith.
This is expounded in our text, I Corinthians 5:1–8. It is actually reported that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not even among the Gentiles, that one of you hath his father’s wife. And ye are puffed up, and did not rather mourn, that he that had done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, being absent in body but present in spirit, have already as though I were present judged him that hath so wrought this thing, in the name of our Lord Jesus, ye being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good.
Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump (it doesn’t take much)? Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, even as ye are unleavened. For our passover also hath been sacrificed, even Christ: wherefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Away with the old leaven. Away with the old order of things. Maybe at one time it made good bread, but not now. Away with the leaven of malice and wickedness. We will keep the feast of the Lord with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. So many times the Lord speaks about leaven—once in the book of Matthew, also in Galatians, and in Ephesians. It is expressed very plainly, especially in Matthew.
When Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 16:6, …beware of the leaven of the Pharisees…, their first reaction was, “Oh, we forgot to bring some bread.” How wrong people can be in the way they interpret the words of the Lord. Something similar happens when a person who is not very open to the Lord receives personal ministry. He hears the word spoken over him; he reads the transcription after it has been typed; but when you ask, “What did you get out of that?” many times he will come up with something far removed from what God actually said. The disciples did the same. The only thing they could relate to Jesus’ statement, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees,” was the fact that they had forgotten to bring bread. He told them, “That is not what I mean. Do you not remember how many loaves we had left over when we fed the multitude?”
What did Jesus mean when He said, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees”? The Pharisees represented the old order of things. They had built up a veneer of being religious. They were filled with self-righteousness. When leaven is discussed in the Scriptures, the one thing that is emphasized more than anything else is to beware of the Pharisees and their leaven of legalism. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Galatians 5:9. Let’s get rid of this leaven.
In reading Galatians 5:1–10 we notice how closely this parallels the idea of pharisaism. For freedom did Christ set us free. That is what He had in mind. You were not brought into this walk with God to accept a straitjacket. You were brought into this walk for freedom. For freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage. Some people make a chain out of anything God does. They pervert the things of the Lord. God can make a way of deliverance, and before long they are in some kind of bondage to it. In the wilderness, Moses made a serpent of brass and lifted it up, and the people who had been bitten by the serpent were healed. They saved that serpent of brass, and later on during the times of the kings they had to destroy it, for the people had made an idol of it. Do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. It is too easy to make something a real bondage to you.
Behold, I Paul say unto you, that, if ye receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing. Yea, I testify again to every man that receiveth circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Ye are severed from Christ, ye who would be justified by the law; ye are fallen away from grace. For we through the Spirit by faith wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through love. Forget about religious observance. It is neither circumcision nor uncircumcision that avails anything.
In the early days of the Latter Rain movement, we often heard the expression “greasy grace.” Some came forth who professed to have had a real revelation from the Lord. One woman minister in particular, who had been very austere in her appearance, wearing severely plain clothes and her hair all done up in a tight knot, had her hair cut and styled, and her face made up with cosmetics. The reaction of many was: “Oh, how terrible.” She was trying to establish the fact that the old austerity of legalism does not apply and will not avail a thing. As she preached this to the people, the women, who before had been very strictly following the holiness teaching, all blossomed out with makeup. This happened in a number of places.
They forgot that this is not what the Scripture says. It says circumcision does not avail anything, but it also says that uncircumcision does not avail anything either. It is a big mistake to make either an issue. Grace is not abounding just because you dress to look like a harlot, nor does grace abound because you look like a rag bag. Grace does not abound for either reason. In Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth anything. That is not the issue! It is faith which worketh by love. Why dwell on the negative aspect? It is the positive thing: faith which worketh by love.
Paul told the Galatians, Ye were running well; who hindered you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion came not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Oh that laxity that says, “Let the bars down. It doesn’t make any difference now, for God’s grace abounds.” Remember—uncircumcision does not avail you anything. “Oh, we’ve got to be more religious, more diligent and careful before the Lord.” No, circumcision does not avail anything either. The righteousness that we want is not something produced by the flesh, one way or the other—for we through the Spirit by faith wait for the hope of righteousness—it is faith which worketh by love.
Let us keep the Passover with the unleavened bread of sincerity and in truth, not sidetracked on side issues, not going into something of legalism. This walk could follow that course very easily, if at any time the flesh comes up to produce something that seems to be religious in it own way. Paul continues, I have confidence to youward in the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded.… We go along with that with all our heart. A right spirit is more difficult to attain than anything else. Putting away the leaven of malice and wickedness involves having a right spirit. When the externals of holiness are preached to people, it does not seem to make any difference in their actions, one way or the other. Sometimes they can be the meanest people on God’s earth, so filled with malice in their heart. They have missed the whole point of what a walk with God is all about.
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. II Corinthians 7:1. Because the age of spirit is approaching, our observance of the Passover is of no significance whatsoever if we keep it only as a ritual, as a religious observance. Even if it has been kept for thousands of years, it has no meaning at all unless we observe it with the leaven of malice taken out of our heart—every bit of it—and with a right spirit. That right spirit is not easy to attain. Often we may think we have arrived at the place where we are persuaded everything is right in our spirits. Then someone does something to us, and a slow boil starts way down inside. As it begins to erupt, our ears turn red, walls come up in our spirits against the Lord, and we sit there and seethe. Why? Because our spirits are not right.
There must be sincerity and truth. There cannot be the legalism. We cannot have the deception, where we adorn ourselves and put up a veneer, where we refuse to face the secrets and the intents of our heart.
O God, renew a right spirit within us.
How long has it been since you chafed under an injustice? When you were smitten on one cheek, it stung, and you did not even think about turning the other cheek. You drew your foot back, ready to kick the offender in the shins. Something was wrong in your spirit, and it began to respond in the wrong way. Away with that leaven of malice.
And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:30–32.
You may say, “I don’t dare get close to people, for something always happens when I do.” But you must let your walls down just the same. It is not possible to have a wrong spirit if you take your walls down toward your brother and sister. It is not possible to have a wrong spirit very long and stay in the church. When you take those walls down and become tenderhearted, loving, and forgiving toward one another, and someone begins to rub you the wrong way, that is when the thing that is in your spirit will come out. Do you want to hide it forever? or would you like to get it out and have God deal with it? Then come into this walk of body ministry with all your heart. Do not withdraw from your brother.
The day may come when you have worked long hours and someone comes up and says something that you do not like. You will want to throw down the work, walk out, and say, “I’m not going to work for the church anymore.” Yes, you will! You must face the reaction in your spirit that withdraws, that is irritated, that becomes aggravated. It has to go. You must love the Lord with all your heart. This leaven of malice has to go. If it has not gone today, it will go the day that you become involved and the people of God rub you the wrong way. And when it does come up, instead of losing your temper and becoming bitter, instead of criticizing, murmuring, and complaining, you should thank God that the depth of your being was revealed to you. Then lay it right out before the Lord and say, “Lord, sweep out the old leaven.”
We will keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth because we are going to know the truth—not only truth about the Lord, but the truth about ourselves, too. If you want to fail, just keep on hiding. Keep buried in the seed plot of your heart those seeds of your future defeat. Run away. Do not become involved. Hide from it. No one will know that you are carrying around that rottenness in your spirit. And you will go on for a year, maybe ten, and then something will happen that you cannot avoid, and that seed will spring up and defeat you. Do not let your heart carry those things. It is better that you become involved now. If something is wrong, let us get at it now, and not wait.
In too many moves of God the people avoided the dealings of the Lord; they avoided meeting an unleavened bread Passover experience where God would deal with it. They went on, sometimes spending years in the ministry before it was finally triggered just right, and that seed was watered; then the flesh took over and destroyed them. There are ministers all over the country who have never been tested, and so they leave the ministry, disillusioned and bitter. Why should they be disillusioned and bitter? Discipleship is discipleship. They bargained to lay their life down for the Lord, didn’t they? No, they did not bargain for that. So they become disillusioned and bitter. They should never have gone into the ministry in the first place. This walk with God is the answer. Get into it now, and you will find out where you are and who you are. And you will find out what is in you.
Get rid of that malice. Get rid of that wrong spirit that withdraws and puts up walls. This is the day of Body ministry, and we are going to dwell together as brethren, with no condescension in our minds, no looking down on someone else. Regardless of the levels of education, financial status, or anything else, we are brethren, and we are going to walk together. We will not be critical. We are going to walk together without any of that leaven, and every time it comes up because we were rubbed wrong, we will thank God.
Sometimes the sandpaper ministry is the best thing that could ever happen to young pastors. Perhaps we should look around and find people who are compatible and let them work together. Forget it! Forget that! When a pastor gets out in the ministry and has been accustomed to nothing but congenial surroundings, the next thing he knows God will raise up a deacon or an elder who is a thorn in his side. Soon he will be at his wit’s end, wondering what to do. If there is anything wrong in his spirit, that is when it comes out.
If you want to make it in a walk with God, do not duck and dodge anything that is good for you. If you hear someone who always wants to criticize, remember—that is the problem of the Body, and therefore it is your problem. You help correct that problem—with love. Do not walk away from it. Do not say, “I am not an elder, so I’ll let somebody else do it.” If there is no elder around, then you go up to them and say, “This is not becoming to the Lord to talk this way. Let’s pray and have a better spirit about it.” What if they become angry at you, and you feel as if they are hurling daggers at you every time you come to church? Just go up and love them some more!
Does this teaching have your name and address on it? Was it marked “Special delivery, registered mail”? Do you need the Lord to deal with things in your spirit? that unforgiveness? that malice? that hair-trigger reaction? Even if you do not say anything, you may still feel it come up. Confess it to the Lord. You have to get rid of it.
Actually, the only real hindrance people have in this walk is their own spirit. I know people who are walking through circumstances that would have driven them insane before they came into this walk. It would have destroyed them completely. No matter how difficult the circumstances, you can make it if your spirit is right. It is when things get to your spirit that you have a problem that will defeat you. Let us have no malice or bitterness. No unforgiving spirit. No withdrawal. No indifference. I know there are people who rub you wrong, but you can have a right spirit about it.
Let God speak to you. He is telling you that you will have to make some things right. You will have to be considerate and kind one to another. You must forgive one another and be thoughtful of one another. The gentleness of Christ will have to be in you. Get rid of that old leaven. It takes just a little bit of that leaven of malice to contaminate your spirit. Sometimes it is only a sympathetic spirit that picks up the contagion of a bad spirit. If you are around someone who has a bad spirit and you begin to react to it, then you know there is something wrong in your spirit, too. There does not seem to be any way that the world can trip people up as long as they have a right spirit. I have never seen one person with a right spirit falling back to the ways of the world. You can go through anything, any time, any place, if you have a right spirit.