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Following is an excerpt of "Yeast In The Bread (4 Of 7)" by Jerry Vines.
This content is part of a series.
YEAST IN THE BREAD.
Matthew 13;33
Jerry Vines
8/25/96

In Matthew 13 the Lord tells a series of seven stories which explain to us many of the perplexing
problems of our age. Many of the things which cause us to wonder about what is going on in the day are
answered by these series of stories which the Lord Jesus told. This story is a very brief story. It is
contained in only verse of our Scripture. It is the story about a woman who had three measures of meal.
She takes that meal and puts some yeast in it and all of the bread is leavened and all the meal is penetrated.
On the service that looks good, doesn't it? Every time I read that parable of the Lord Jesus and I think
about the yeast rising and I think about bread. I think about the big biscuits my mama used to make when
I was a boy. You can't eat the way you used to do. Calories have changed. Fat has changed. It's different
today. Used to be able to eat all of that stuff and it wouldn't bother you. Now you eat it and it causes
problems.
My mama would make those big cathead biscuits. My, how they would rise! and how I could eat
them! I'd line my plate with those biscuits and I would put syrup in the middle of the plate and some good
butter. The first bite would be a half-moon and the second bite would be a total eclipse. When you read
this parable, on the surface, it sounds like something really good. In fact, the common interpretation of this
story of Jesus is that Jesus is talking about something very good. There are some who say that the yeast
represents the Gospel. The woman represents the church. The meal represents the world. Through the
preaching of the Gospel, the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ spreads and people are converted and
the world is changed for the better.
I do not believe this is the right interpretation, though many wonderful Bible teachers take this view.
If we believe the Bible teaches that through the preaching of the Gospel, the world is going to get better,
then we have reason to be discouraged. The world is rapidly becoming more and more pagan. The world
is not becoming Christian. So, if this parable teaches that the world is going to get better by our efforts to
preach the Gospel we would have something to disappoint and discourage us.
Also, I do not believe that this is consistent with what the Bible teaches about the end times. In II
Timothy 3:1 the Bible says, "This know that in the last days perilous times shall come." In verse 13 of the
chapter he says this, "Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived."
The Bible does not teach that the end days will end in a great mass turning of people to the Lord but rather
it teaches that the world will close in a period known as apostasy.
I think the reason we go astray in looking at this story is ...

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