Purging Out the Leaven

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1 Corinthians 5:6-13

Your glorying is not good. Know you not that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?…

"What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder." Evermore in Scripture the doctrines of grace are married to the precepts of holiness. Salvation in sin is not possible, it always must be salvation from sin. The apostle, while he was showing the Corinthians how wrong they were to 'tolerate an incestuous person, compared the spirit of uncleanness to an evil leaven; then the leaven suggested the passover, and turning aside for a moment he applied that, so as to make his argument yet more cogent. Hard by any Scripture wherein you find the safety of the believer guaranteed, you are sure to see needful holiness set side by side with it. The purity of the house from leaven went side by side with its safety by the blood.

I. THE HAPPY CONDITION OF ALL TRUE BELIEVERS IN CHRIST. "Christ our passover," &c. The habitual state of a Christian is that of one keeping a feast in perfect security. Observe how the apostle puts it: Christ is our passover — that by which God's wrath passes over from us who deserve its full vengeance: Christ is sacrificed, for He gave Himself for us. No new victim is expected or required. Let others offer what they will, ours is the Lamb once slain, and there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin. This completeness of sacrifice indeed is the main part of the festival which the Christian should perpetually keep. If there were anything yet to be done, how could we celebrate the feast? "Therefore," says the apostle — and it is a natural inference from it — "let us keep the feast."

1. The paschal lamb was not slain to be looked at, to be laid by, or merely made the subject of conversation; but it was slain to be fed upon. So it is your daily business to feed upon Christ, whose flesh is meat indeed, and whose blood is drink indeed. At the paschal supper the whole of the lamb was intended to be eaten; and thou art to feed upon the whole of Christ. No part is denied thee, neither His humiliation nor His glory, His kingship nor His priesthood, His Godhead nor His manhood.

2. A feast is not only for nourishment, but for exhilaration. Let us in this sense also keep a lifelong feast. The Christian is not only to take the doctrines which concern Christ, to build up his soul with, but he may draw from them the new wine of delight. At the passover the Jews were accustomed to sing. Let us keep the feast in the same way. Let your praises never cease.

3. At the passover the devout Jew was accustomed to teach his family the meaning of the feast. Let it be a part of our continual festival to tell to others what our Redeeming Lord has done. This precept does not refer merely to the Lord's Supper; it is of continuous force. Let us keep the feast always, for the Lamb is always slain.

II. A HOLY DUTY COMMENDED TO US. "Purge out, therefore, the old leaven." "Let us keep the feast; not with old leaven," &c.

1. Leaven is used in Scripture in every case but one as the emblem of sin. This arises from —

(1) Its sourness. Sin, which for awhile may seem pleasant, will soon he nauseous even to the sinner; but the very least degree of sin is obnoxious to God. We cannot tell how much God hates sin.

(2) Its corruption and corrupting influence. Sin is a corruption, it dissolves the very fabric of society and the constitution of man.

(3) Its spreading character. No matter how great the measure of flour, the leaven will work its way. Even thus it is with sin. One woman sinned, and the whole human race was leavened by her fault. If the leaven of evil is permitted in a Church, it will work its way through the whole of it.

(a) A little false doctrine is sure to pave the way for greater departures from truth. The doctrines of the gospel have such a close relation to one another, that if you snap a link you have broken the whole chain. "He that offendeth in one point is guilty of all."(b) The leaven of evil living, too, tolerated in one it will soon be excused in another, and a lower tone of thought with regard to sin will rule the Church. Sin is like the bale of goods which came from the East to this city in the olden time, which brought the pest in it. In those days one piece of rag carried the infection into a whole town.

2. This leaven must be purged out. In consequence of the command the head of the household among the Jews, especially when they grew more strict in their ritual, would go through the whole of the house on a certain day to search for every particle of leavened bread. With as scrupulous a care as the Israelite purged out the leaven from his house we are to purge out all sin from ourselves and in our conduct.

(1) The Jewish householder would very soon put away all the large loaves of leavened bread, just as we gave up at once all those gross outward sins in which we indulged before.

(2) Then perhaps the stray crusts which the children had left were put away. So there may be certain minor sins in the judgment of the world which the Christian man, when converted, may not put away the first week; but when they are seen he says, "I must have done with these."(3) But the most trouble would be caused by the little crumbs. We must not retain even a crumb of the evil leaven; we must earnestly desire to sweep it all out.

(4) The whole house was searched. A Christian man may feel that he has got rid of all the leaven from his shop, yet it may be there is leaven in his private house.

(5) A candle was used to throw a light into every corner of the house, that no leaven might escape notice. Take you the candle of God's Word, the candle of His Holy Spirit.

(6) To purge out the old leaven many sweepings of the house will be wanted. For, mark you, you are sure to leave some leaven, and if you leave a little it will work and spread. It is hinted in the text that there are forms of evil which we must peculiarly watch against, and one is malice. I have known believers who have had a very keen sense of right, who have too much indulged the spirit deprecated here, i.e., they have been severe and censorious. Take good heed also that every form of hypocrisy be purged out, for the apostle tells us to eat the passover with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Let us leave off talking beyond our experience, let us never pray beyond what we mean.

III. THE HAPPINESS OF THE BELIEVER ACTS UPON HIS HOLINESS, AND HIS HOLINESS UPON HIS HAPPINESS.

1. The happiness acts upon the holiness.

(1) If I feed upon Christ, who has been sacrificed for me, the happiness I feel leads me to say, "My sins slew my Saviour, and therefore will I slay my sins."(2) Sitting as you do within the house, and knowing that you are all safe because the blood is on the lintel outside, you will say, "The firstborn sons of Egypt are slain, and I am preserved. Why I must be God's firstborn, and must belong to Him." "Ye are not your own," &c.

(3) Moreover, the Christian is encouraged to put away his leaven of sin because he has the foresight of a profitable exchange. The Israelite gave up leavened bread, but he soon had angels' food in the place of it.

(4) The Christian, too, who knows that his sin is forgiven, feels that the God who could put away his load of sin will surely help to conquer his corruptions.

2. Holiness produces happiness. How quiet doth the soul become when the man feels, "I have done that which was right, I have given up that which was evil." What is it that makes God's people look so sad? It is the old leaven. "Let us keep the feast"; but it is useless to hope to do so while we keep the leaven. Conclusion: There are some here who are not saved. Notice how salvation comes — not through purging cut the leaven; that operation is to be seen to afterwards, but because the Paschal Lamb is slain. Do not begin at the wrong end, begin with the Cross.

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