Don't Feed the Yeast

(40) David Goethals - Don't Feed the Yeast - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N1EzVblmEk

Transcript:
(00:01) in my near seven years or no actually decades I like to think in years Seven decades of being in the church and observing the feast of unleaven bread It's been amazing the experiences the memories teaching me physical experiences that teach us spiritual lessons The very first memory I have and I bet you there's somebody in this room that had the same experience is that the days of unleven bread having an outdoor service going to church every single day of the days of unleven bread sitting on a grassy slope and not having it rain during the
(00:50) entire days of unleven bread in the spring in Washington How many of you here were at Battlegrounds Washington in 1957 not even you Mr Loss Wow that's amazing You know as I think about the experiences that I've had though I've had an amazing opportunity to see the the growth of a young man through all those years And the first three experiences that come to mind the first three right off the top of the bat about the days of unleven bread is number one coming home from the bakery and having to stand on the porch while my mom vacuumed off my clothes
(01:49) before I went in Now I don't exactly remember what happened to the vacuum cleaner after each time but for some reason I think it got put back in the closet The second thing that just automatically comes back to mind is my brother my brothers and I we had three bunk beds high and we never turned the light off What we did is we reached across because the third bunk and we just took the light bulb and turned it off and we turned it on Now I have a brother who loved to toast his bread in next to the light and he would stick it in the light
(02:34) and he would toast it and there and as we rotated beds using the horse goggle theory as all of those of you been to Tangle would know what it is I ended up on the top bunk during the days of unleven bread only to reach over to turn the light off and there's half a sandwich in the light fixture Interesting experience Fishing with my brother during the days of le bread three years ago He opened up his tackle box to find a moldy granola bar that he tried to blame on Levi Come to think about it it's his favorite one But of all the lessons I've learned
(03:19) there's one experience I'd like to share with you today Share a personal experience that opened my eyes to the powerful spiritual parallel between yeast and sin Through this experience the feeding of yeast I came to better understand how they grow rapidly and explosively Ron calls the story the shopping cart story I call it don't feed the yeast I came home from college and he wants to go fishing really bad So I go in to help him and he says all I need you to do today is make a cake a donut cake run a raised run and mix the French
(04:06) bread for me A large run I said okay I can do that So man I ran over grabbed this huge 36 inch diameter bowl that's 42 in deep Rolled it over put it on the mixer there grabbed 100 pounds of flour stuffed it in there grabbed it there put all the ingredients in took the big old mixer dough hook I stuffed it in there turned it on and thought "H I've always obeyed the recipe Always But we can go fishing an hour earlier if I put in a double amount of yeast So I took the pound and I threw it in And then you know what's amazing is I
(04:47) held that other one in my hand going "Man okay that means I have to work faster I got to really get and I unbuckle and it comes in a cube a pound and I took it and I put half in." And then I thought "I can do this." And I threw the other half in Now I went back turned the mixer on put the thing in gear pulled the clutch down went to frying my donuts I'm frying the donuts and unbeknownst to me my brother having the same idea says "hm I can push the dough.
(05:21) " And pushing the dough means that it's going to work really fast So he walks by the refrigerator he grabs grabs a pound of yeast and he throws it into the mixing dough Now any of you that have been in here that dealt with this know that okay that's pretty much out of control and you're going to have to work at 1,000 miles an hour Well I finished the doughnut run early And I thought man that's a pretty goodiz spoon over there that I'm mixing chocolate with I'll take it And there's baking powder on the shelf And I know it affects it doesn't affect
(05:58) fermentation but it'll definitely increase the carbon dioxide and it'll make it explode So I take this spoon that's about 3 in in diameter and I scoop the baking powder out and I hold it as I look in there going "Man this is going to move fast." I threw it in Now those of you that are groaning actually know what happened So I go back to the uh to finish the doughnut and clean the fryer up and I look up and you cannot believe what I saw Not only was the dough oozing out of the the barrel down the side down the side of the mixer
(06:38) It encased the mixer It was down the wall It was crawling underneath the bench It was around the bins It was going but the worst part was it was all around all of the angel food cake pans underneath the sink and it was moving my direction And Ron sees it and he runs as hard as he can I don't know if he took it from the lady but the lady looks shocked but he took the shopping cart and he ran in to there And we both grabbed it and we had the shopping cart there We look at each other knowing exactly what to do We're going to throw
(07:14) that dough in the shopping cart Brilliant We throw it in It goes right through All over the wheels all over everything So we grab a flower sack We put the flower sack in We throw the dough in it It goes out the sides It's on the wheels So we grab flower sacks and we started scooping the dough and it's getting away from us And we're packing it And we pack it inside of the shopping cart And we both push like you do in a soapbox derby We're both pushing it down there and the funniest thing is the ladies in the front said there was
(07:47) literally dough slinging up into the ceiling to the walls Got there finished it and what a mess What a mess All I can say is this After that whole experience I learned a very very important lesson about yeast and sin We fed it and it consumed us By the way of any of you that have seen dough that has had salt thrown on it what happens it turns to concrete The cleaning of it by the way we didn't go fishing That experience taught me not just about yeast It taught me about the importance of sin Because sin like yeast doesn't stay
(08:47) small When you feed it it grows It multiplies It consumes And if you don't deal with it early it will devour you What's interesting about this whole experience to me was uh that my brother and I every year we would go fishing during the days of unleven bread would tell the story together His was always better than mine I don't know how it was but he always told it way better than I could And the interesting part was that we would pick one thing that we learned from the year and we would share it with each other My SPS today is to show you how
(09:41) sin and yeast both have fermentation processes Three processes three distinct steps that simulate exactly the same thing and that is they both produce death So what do we learn about from the feast of unleven bread let's begin first with the fundamental belief in our fundamental belief booklet page 36 It states and this is what we learn from today The feast of unleven bread teaches us that we have been called to reject lawlessness and to repent from sin We are to live by every word of God and according to the teachings of Jesus
(10:27) Christ Turn with me please over to 1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians for me 5 and verse 8 1 Corinthians 5 and verse 8 Very familiar verse to all of us But let's start right here where it's quoted inside of our fundamental beliefs here Paul talking to us here 1 Corinthians 5 and verse 8 Therefore let us keep the feast not with the unleavened not with the leaven nor with the leavenven of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth You know when Satan tested Christ he told Christ looked at him and
(11:20) said "Man shall not live by bread alone but every word every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." God's given us his word to inspire us to direct us to lead us To finish the quote from the fundamental beliefs during the feast of unleaven bread sin and as such is removed from our homes for all seven days And we did that Look back at all the things that we did well this week Look at all the things that moved from substance from form to substance Sin has several things in common with yeast Let's take a look at
(12:04) just a couple But I want want you to remember it by the three Ds The three Ds simply deceive dominate and destroy Deceived sin appears harmless but it grows deadly Like like yeast sin looks small and even and even pleasant light fluffy tasteful and appealing Proverbs 14:12 warns us there is a way in which seems right to a man but the answer is the way of death Sin enters non unnoticed and takes root We'll talk about that in the first phase of fermentation Second second is it dominates Sin feeds onto desire inflates
(12:57) us Yeast feeds on sugar And an interesting thing is that when yeast feeds on sugar it has to be in the absence of oxygen In the absence of oxygen Think about what spiritual meaning that has But what it does is the yeast feeds upon the carbohydrates or the glucose or the sugar produces carbon dioxide The carbon dioxide causes the dough to rise So yeast feeds on sugar Sin feeds on pride and lust Galatians 5:16 calls calls us to walk in the spirit and not be fulfilled with the lust of the flesh A sinful heart becomes puffed up and resists God
(13:47) destroyed Destroyed Sin can be purged by God's spirit and fire Yeast is killed at 115 degrees Any of you that have had to take had an eight uh we call them rows but eight shelves that rotate in front of the furnace And you're we call it the furnace it's the oven But when you have four pounds of M&M's in your pocket that you got paid and it melts down the sides of your leg we called it a furnace We got paid in what we could take out in the bakery And so my sister cut the bottom off of my my pocket and tie it on a tube sock so that I could
(14:29) pour more in there only to have my dad say as he saw chocolate melting into my boot "Son son." I looked at him He goes "Don't be greedy Lesson learned." But if you're in front of the of the stove or the furnace 115 degrees we knew that the yeast is there But what's interesting about yeast soon as you put it in the oven we call it the oven spring The yeast bursts you can see the dough actually rise on the first rotation through Interesting for there in a spiritual analogy that when we try to make changes what does Satan do seems
(15:11) to double down and come at us extra hard Seems to throw something at us that's different Yeast is killed when the oven reaches 115° Trials like heat can destroy sin and the hold it has upon us Through Jesus Christ's sacrifice and God's spirit we are refined to become holy and obedient Malachi 3:3 has an excellent uh u statement there that purging sin is painful but it leads to righteousness Yeast and sin have the same fermenting process The same fermenting process And so let's deal first with with what yeast What do we know about yeast well we know
(15:59) that yeast is a single cell fungus It converts sugar Yeast and sugar converts it to carbon dioxide causing gas that fermentss causing the dough to rise We've already explained that But what's interesting is yeast is best abs or best grows in the absence of oxygen Just as yeast fermentss best around without heirs sin thrives when the Holy Spirit is abandoned ignored or not there When we are not actively involving God in our thoughts and our actions that's when we become at risk The three interesting phases of fermentation for yeast is number one is
(16:55) called the adaptive phase The adaptive phase is also known as the lag phase Okay that's where I put the m the dough and all the ingredients and I put the mixer there and I put the hook on and I started mixing the dough and I threw the yeast in That was the beginning of the lag phase That lag phase lasts until the mixing takes place It is used to incorporate the whole environment The whole environment All 80 lbs of water that you put in a 100 pounds of flour 80 pounds 10 gallons of water you put in there Because yeast it likes a warm
(17:37) moist with lots of sugar The lag phase This is a period between the yeast when we add the ingredients and the mixing of the dough is complete During this phase the yeast adapts the adapts to the environment It is it begins to absorb the nutrients begins to produce the gases the carbon dioxide which causes the fermentation process and the rising The second phase is known as the exponential phase This is the active face This is when the dough is there This is what I saw when it came oozing out of the bowl and all over the place I
(18:20) was watching the active phase of which I assisted The active phase is interesting because it's a rapid cell division where the feed where the the yeast feeds on the glucose of the sugar to produce the carbon dioxide and it is doubled based upon the amount of sugar carbohydrates glucose and yeast available And three pounds makes for an interesting movement of yeast Phase three is known as the atrophy phase That's where there's a reduction in the movement the reduction of activity and what happens is heat kills it
(19:03) Sin just like the three phases and fermentation that are inside of yeast has three very very powerful phases The amazing thing is we have the choice We can stop it at any point but there's a point of which we can stop it before it becomes life-threatening If you'll remember Mr Lous's sermon Bondage of Sin he used James 1:14-15 Used the sermon to completely outline it and in the last 8 and 1/2 minutes explained clearly James 1:14-15 Let's go there and read real quickly James 1 14 and 15 which describes the process of
(19:55) sin This is the adaptive phase This is the phase the lag phase It explains it clearly once again James 1 14 and 15 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed And when desire has conceived it gives birth to sin And sin when it is full grown brings forth death The map of the exact process of the stimulus the desire the temptation the enticement to the action of the sin emphasizes a period of choice We all have the period of choice A matter of fact the adaptation phase or the lag phase could be better
(20:45) named could be better named the period of choice Period of choice works this way Between the stimulus and the response is a period That is your period of choice It's what all of us that have children and grandchildren talk about that decisionmaking point the point of maturity when we take personal responsibility for our behavior on there The lag phase can also be called the period of choice It is here where you can stop sin The problem is we don't recognize it The problem is it's already embedded It's already permeated the
(21:28) entire dough or our minds It's the time between the stimulus the desire the thought the enticement the temptation and the response or the action which is the period of choice Now my father really helped me out here He really did I would not be standing here right here today for not two quotes for two quotes that I have forever remembered The first quote is "What you put in your mind you must deal with at some point in time.
(22:02) " His message to me on that was reminding me to choose what I let go into my mind That was helpful But there was another one that helped me more than anything Matter of fact as I was sitting on my window seal of my bedroom I'm often asked at camp "What's the what did you do and where was the turning point in your life?" I can tell you exactly where it was Was sitting on the window seal in my bedroom Federal Way point guard 10th grade playing in the first round of the state championship against Thomas Jefferson I had already thrown my shoes for this Friday night game to my
(22:47) buddies I sat on that shelf and it was only then did this saying and this quote that I'm about to quote to you come that the reason that I'm here and I didn't step down that other 24 in I would not be here today my life would be different for this is what my dad continually told me and at camp at every opportunity with grandchildren I share this with in the right place at the right time with the right people in the right environment There is no commandment you won't break As I thought about it sitting there it was that statement out of all
(23:42) the things that came to mind that was what came to mind Why because it was planted when I was young And when I'm at camp they said "You could have come back You could have said you were sorry You could there." No it was for me Had I made that decision I would not have gone to college there where I went I would have gone somewhere else because all of a sudden at that point physical activity would have been more important than God's word We all have that turning point in our lives Every single one of us That decision from the time I threw my shoes
(24:23) which is already in my head I made the commitment But I was able to use a stop sign That stop sign I still use to this day and I'll share it later But one of the amazing things was at camp and Lyn you can you were there with me at camp and there were several others there on there But there was a time where we were talking to the whole staff about the influences of people in there and Mr Mike Cook had one of the most profound statements that continually rings in my ear and he said "We become the average of our five closest
(25:12) friends We are influenced by those people around us." My dad had a saying "Choose your friends wisely or you will become like them." The people who we surround ourselves with either strengthen us spiritually or they weaken us Choose wisely because sin doesn't show up as fullgrown Often begins in the lag phase So what's your stop sign i was fishing with my grand uh children here just this last trip And as we were fishing we were talking about a situation that he was struggling with And he was saying "Ah man I just can't make myself do this on
(26:00) that part." And so I was sharing with him the t about the stimulus is there and the response How do you decide on that part how do you take personal responsibility and he said to me "Grandd what's your stop sign?" "What's my stop sign?" Huh i had to make a couple more casts And then I thought you know I guess the one stop sign they there And I shared my dad's statement in the right place at the right time with the right people in the right environment There's no sin you won't commit Comes to mind but a stop sign He said "No granddad I
(26:41) mean a stop sign You know that thing you can't see that's red." Said "Yeah the thing I can't see that's red I know I'm color blind." So we were laughing and talking and I said you know actually for me it is 2C105 and he went what I said 2C105 I said if you in there 2 Corinthians 10:5 bring every thought into captivity bringing every thought into captivity allows us an important thing so when I At home I did something that I'd never done before I made two visuals I have two stop signs One leaving my house one coming to my house I cannot go
(27:29) past since I come home seeing 2C105 where it says stop I can't I stop Now my grandson on the phone the other night did tell me well it's been 3 weeks He said "Oh you know what you ought to do granddad you picture this Have that dough oozing up along the side." And you know I I could barely deal with the sign let alone that oozing of bringing back PTSD on me But we all need a visual So I ask you what's your stop sign having a wife that understands you sees you going the wrong way that simply gives you a hand signal a look a
(28:13) there a body language But a friend can do the same thing A phone call a conversation a behavior that says "Let's go this way." That power of that friendship that we have right here within this congregation and around the world of people that speak the same language and the same thing So on that stop sign I stop I'd look both ways and say "Ah what's the world going to throw at to me today?" And then I found myself rolling through the stop sign What in the world so I stop again I didn't put it in reverse because there
(28:58) was somebody behind me And I thought "How quick how quick do we forget?" So as I ask you what's your stop sign i say we do that in the lag phase That's when sin's trying to implant I really appreciated what Mr Lau had to say when he was describing sin as a nudge a push a pull a little bit of ah compromise just a little just compromise just a little That compromise is devastating Phase two Phase two is known as the active phase of sin The active phase of sin refers to the point when temptation is no longer resisted that people willfully choose to
(29:48) disobey God And that's what we have to understand If we don't discipline I have three posters on my wall at school that I brought home with me One says "Discipline yourself so others don't have to Good starters are good but great finishers are few And right below that is it's not where you start it's where you finish We all know where we want to finish How come it's so hard for us to recognize that small period of choice how is it that we cannot recognize the penalty that goes with it we learn for two reasons in life
(30:32) Rewards and penalties Choose rewards In Romans Paul exhorts the church not to allow sinful desires to rule actions This is the action phase where thoughts become behaviors contrary to God's law The instruction is not to let sin sin reign Let's turn with me please over to Romans verse six Romans 6 and verse 12 and 13 Romans 6 Verse 12 and 13 We'll read verses 12 and 13 here It says "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies body that you should obey in the lust.
(31:25) " Now remember what it says in 1 John 2:16 All the world has to offer is the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life That's all the world has to offer How could three things so bury us because we don't have I you have no idea That ceiling was 15 ft high and there was dough on the feet high and there was dough on the ceiling that we had to clean Don't tell me it doesn't splatter and go everywhere Yeah it does Sin spreads It corrupts It causes spiritual stagna stagnation and apathy letting our our iniquities our sins separate us from God
(32:07) And we know that in Isaiah 59 and verse two But your iniquities have separated you from God and your sins have hidden his face from you Why so that he will not hear My dad used to look at me because he only called my name once and he wouldn't call my name He said "Hey selective hearing." Boy did that hit home Sin chokes off our our I'm sorry Sin chokes out our our connection with God cutting us off from that life sustaining breath that Holy Spirit that he has provided for us that comforter that amazing gift that was
(32:55) given to us Sin like yeast wants the environment absent from oxygen so that fermentation can puff us up What is breathed by God every single one of you could turn there right now His word Let's do that Let's turn over to 2 Timothy 3 and:e 16 2 Timothy 3 and:e 16 2 Timothy 3 and:e 16 All scripture is given by inspiration That means God breathed That's the actual wording there All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may
(33:47) be complete thoroughly equipped for every good work We must breathe in God's word daily Just as physical breath sustains life we must daily take in God's word God's breath his scripture his spiritual word this words that he has given it to us here in this Bible is to nourish our spiritual life guide our conduct and thoroughly equipped every good work that we do Sin wants to feed on the sugars of the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life As I mentioned in 1 John 2 and verse 16 it's
(34:35) all the world has to offer Sin wants to be left alone Sin wants to be left alone to feast on the sugar that the world has to offer We hide it away in the corners of our minds in the closets in the shelves of our heart Sin wants an environment that encourages fermentation of a warm moist environment with plenty of sugar and time to work in the absence of God's spirit Sin struggles to survive in a life of a person who is committed to purity faithfully walks in the path of righteousness and continually yields to
(35:17) the power and the guidance of God's Holy Spirit Just as leavenan is dehydrated by salt destroyed by heat and struggles to grow in oxygen sin is pushed out of our lives filled with the salt of righteousness God's truth the fire of spiritual zeal and the breath of God's spirit Jesus calls that Holy Spirit the helper the comforter We're stirred up God When we stir up God's spirit we activate the power to reveal confront and drive out sin Like leavenan exposed to heat and oxygen sin cannot thrive in God with God Where God's spirit is
(36:03) active that spirit empowers us to resist correct overcome and it ensures our ability to expel The third phase of sin is the stationary phase The stationary phase reduces sin but doesn't do it until it has consequences It's hardened our heart It's caused death As it tells us in Romans 6 and verse 23 the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord Sin's stationary phase begins with apathy Apathy Apathy causes spiritual fatigue Spiritual fatigue is a state of inner exhaustion or a weariness that
(37:00) results in prolonged spiritual neglect discouragement or a constant struggle without renewal through repentance prayer study or connection to God's spirit Spiritual fatigue causes a horrible thing It causes atrophy There's a biological law of use and disuse Disuse is atrophy When we use it it strengthen is called hypertrophy It grows It strengthens Unadressed sin decays It destroys It wastes away And that's atrophy What's devastating to me is over the 10,000 students that I've taught in the college level alone I have basically just a handful
(38:06) that still are faithful And I asked myself why So recently I sent a uniform to a young man who had played on the team as a gift And in the conversation that he returned he said "Coach I did three of the four things you told me Number one I married up I married a doctor." I said "Well good for you." Yeah that was that was awesome Number two I have taught my children every single day I spend an hour with my children every single day Ah that's great Number three I have kept my friends close to me that support me That's
(39:04) great He said but three out of four And I said what that he says well he said I can't even make myself open a Bible let alone kneel down It was interesting in the discussion as we had he was moved by his child's prayers He still doesn't attend He still doesn't do anything But the amazing thing is his son or daughter has learned certain things that are sharing with him But how many of us let one day go to two days and two days go to three days without drawing close to God and asking for his strength feasting upon Christ
(39:54) and the word that he's given to us stirring up the spirit that is within us So how do we close the gap between what we know and what we do how do we close that gap there is one place that I enjoy turning to when somebody asked me in particular at camp "Coach how do I change my ways?" Psalms 119:es 9-16 captures the heart of the days of unleven bread showing that it puts showing us that we put the leavenven of sin out of our lives and we fill our lives with God's word treasuring it living by it and let it cleansing and
(40:47) let it cleanse and guide our every step every day [Music] I'd like to take some time here to walk through Psalms 119-16 And let's take a look at each of them So if you'll turn with me over to Psalms 19 starting in verse 9 Here you have the question right at the front It says in verse 19 how does a young man cleanse his ways as you think about this ask yourself this week what did I do well what did I do well see in teaching we use the five to one rule We look for five things you're doing right before we ever address the one thing that needs to
(41:41) be corrected I don't care how long it takes I've had students that have taken out of our 180 uh days of of classes not be able to find the fifth thing But I found four and those four help build that relationship The five to one rule is really important in that we look at what how far we've come We examined oursel before we took the Passover holy convocation on the first and last day We provided an offering We we observed the holy days from sundown to sundown We put lemon out of our lives We ate unleavened bread every day Look
(42:24) at what we have accomplished Physical things Physical things that teach us spiritual lessons And what is the spiritual lesson we need to learn from that how do we close the gap between what we know and what we do that period of choice that period of choice is the most important thing that you can teach yourself and your children As I look onto my desk and I see that saying discipline yourself so others don't have to Discipline yourself so others don't have to It's so important So let's begin in verse nine How does a young man
(43:06) change his ways by heeding by taking heed according to your word God's word defines righteousness and carefully obedience to guard us from spiritual defilement We learned that already in what we read in 2 Timothy 3:16 Let me rephrase it for you Let me re it for you All scripture is given by inspiration of God and profitable for doctrine reproof correction and instruction in righteousness Our goal this week is to become righteous the righteousness of of unleaven bread of sincerity and truth Verse 10 of Psalms 119 Verse 10
(43:59) With my whole heart I have sought you Oh let me not wander from your commandments wholeheartedly seeking of God wholeheartedly Is there anything that we do wholeheartedly and then ask yourself do we do that spiritually that same effort that same effort that you feel where the legs are burning so bad you can't go another step Your lungs ache your body aches your mind tells you that wholeheartedly seek Deuteronomy 6 and verse 5 is one of the most amazing things that helps us recognize wholehearted In Deuteronomy 6 and verse
(44:52) 5 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart My dad has a wonderful saying when we talk about the heart and he says "You want to know what's important to you son?" Oh yeah Dad I know Money basketball there said "Uh I've missed the point." He said "You want to know you really want to know what's important to you?" I said "Yes.
(45:21) " He says "You make time for what you value most Where do you spend your time that's what you value What do you spend your time doing?" Well at that time I sure wasn't reading the Bible and I sure wasn't on my knees much But you know what was amazing i learned form through our family prayer and Bible study that that form carried over to when I got in a bind I went back and said "Okay this is what I need to do.
(45:51) " Oh that's why I felt better Oh that's why it worked out Ask yourselves do you love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength this foundational verse expresses the wholehearted devotion that God desires for his people Verse 11 your word I have hidden in your heart You know how you know you have the God's word hidden in your heart it comes to mind during that period between the stimulus and the response It recognizes it's incorrect It recognizes it's a wrong action It recognizes that nudge that compromise that push that
(46:39) pull I want you to think back three weeks ago to Mr Lou's sermon He had one phrase that Ron phrase if it's not a stop sign it needs to be close to a stop sign for you Simply says partial obedience is disobedience Partial obedience is disobedience We can't compromise by that part Verse 11 your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you Internalizing God's word empowers us to resist sin and to walk righteously through his Holy Spirit Turn with me please to Romans 8 and verse 13 Romans 8 and verse 13
(47:34) For if you live according to the flesh you will die Okay that period of choice that period of choice right there has a reward or a penalty We have to choose wisely But if the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live For as many as are led by the spirit of God these are the sons of God And we are sons of God He wants us in your family He wants in his family This verse highlights the essential role of the Holy Spirit in overcoming sin emphasizing that through the spirit we are empowered to put to death sinful
(48:24) behaviors And where do we do that in the lag phase before it becomes rooted in our minds in our conscience in our behavior in our muscle memory Verse 12 blessed are you oh Lord teach me your statutes Spiritual understanding comes from God alone and we must continually ask him to open our minds and to and minds to his truth You know I think of what it says there in Psalms 25:4 where David was there with a humble teachable heart He says "Teach me your ways.
(49:07) " We know Christ's ways John 14:6 tells us that his he Christ is the way the truth and the life Teach me your paths Psalms 25:10 tells us what the paths are their mercy and truth And lead me in your truth Lead me in your truth John 17:17 says "Sanctify them by thy truth." And in John 8:32 it says that the truth will set us free We are free We are free if we make the right decisions If we repent of our past and move forward through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ Turn with me please over to first Corinthians 2 and verse 10 through 12 1
(49:59) Corinthians 2 1 Corinthians 2 reading verses 10 through 12 But God has revealed to uh revealed them to us through his holy through his spirit For the spirit searches all things yes the deep things of God For what man knows the things of man except the spirit of man which is in him even so no one knows the things of God except the spirit of God Now we have received not the spirit of the world but the spirit who is from God that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God He has given us that understanding
(51:06) that opening Verse 13 with my lips I declare all the judgments of your mouth Proclaiming God's word is a natural expression of his of conviction and responsibility of all that we know is his truth Matthew 10:32 and I'll quote it for you says "Therefore whoever confesses me before him him I also confess before my father in heaven.
(51:38) " Boy I wish I had known that verse back when I was in um middle school junior high back then Any of you had to take Ry Crisp to lunch yeah Yeah Been there Buddies all around the table You're trying to act cool trying to be there trying to be there And I did not stand up I did not stand up one lick And I pulled it out And mom used to use the big ones So the big huge rice crisp with all the crackled edges because she just broke it I think she used a hammer But anyway they're there And and but it had huge amount of peanut butter and jelly on it
(52:19) And there And I pulled it out of my sack and I had it there And the guys looked at it and said "What's it?" I said "Mana." They didn't get it but that's all right So why do you why do you eat that and I had a chance to stand up and I did not The Gothals's DNA came forward in full vid and I said "It's my mom's new hygiene process for cleaning our teeth.
(52:54) " And a guy goes "What?" I said "You know like a dog bone I had my chance and I blew it How many times do we have a chance how many times do we have a chance to stand up and tell the truth but we're afraid of that peer group we're afraid of being ostracized made fun of You know I can I can't believe this I grew six inches in one year And my nickname became Noah because my pants were that high off the ground And it didn't bother me Through high school I was known as Noah It didn't bother me a lick I take Ry Crips to school and I can't even
(53:41) stand up But they know about Mana They know about Noah Verse 14 I have rejoiced in the ways of your testimonies as much as in all riches You know true riches are found in God's revealed truth not in material wealth While I was in college they hired me to find out how to get gold out of a Hobart 2000 meat scale There was an ounce of gold in it And my job was to figure out how to get it there I figured the process I got it in there Figured out how to do it And as the reward I got to put the gold that we had clipped off and run through
(54:38) aquaresion all the processing I got to put it in the furnace I got to put in 10 10 ingots into the furnace And next to it was a 55gallon barrel of round silver contact points that I got to melt We put those in 100 ounce ingots And the amazing thing that I learned that still is with me to this day as we think about our trials and how we go through things how sin is removed from us that dross that that impurities there I stick that gold in there and at 1763 degrees or whatever it is that that was and there there I put that glass rod
(55:23) in there with the flux on top and I rolled the dross off and there and when I took that out when that thing was liquefied I looked into it and I could see my image as though I was looking in a mirror It was the most powerful thing for me to understand that when I read in the Bible that were refined as gold and silver that he wants his reflection in us his reflection in us Powerful experience And it was really vivid when I did the silver had I not dropped a few things into it but that was another story I did get them out though
(56:02) Okay let's continue in verse in verse 15 In verse 15 Psalms 119:15 and continuing how we change our way How does a young man change his ways it says "I will meditate on your precepts and I will contemplate your ways." Meditating on God's law renews our minds We call it back That recall moves it from short-term memory to long-term memory Absolutely critical in our spiritual growth So the meditation on God's law renews our minds and aligns our thoughts with his thoughts And in doing so let's read over in Romans 12 and verse two Romans 12 and
(56:50) verse two Romans 12 and verse two And do not be conformed to this world Be be transformed by the renewing of our minds Renewing of our minds The thought process changes We all have different learning styles We all have different brains We all have different ways of which we take information in and make decisions Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may may prove what is good and acceptable and the perfect will of God Just thinking real quickly here Let me turn over and
(57:47) see Yeah had a thought Next sermon Not getting distracted Mr LS I'm right on time I'm right on time Verse 16 Verse 16 I will delight myself in your statutes and I will not forget your word How often have we come to a situation and we forgot what God says just one of the ten commandments My dad when you're driving he says "You know why your hand have your hands at 10 and two?" I said "Yeah Dad That's so I have control of the wheel.
(58:29) " He said "Don't ever forget this There's two great commandments." Oh that's No He said "Two two great commandments." All right I got that And 10 Two and 10 That's what you steer your life with Simple as could be but I never forgot it I use uh four and eight now because my shoulders aren't good But for those of you who know about that so we delight myself in your statutes I will not forget your word The joy in God's law strengthen and commits and keeps our I'm sorry strengthening the commitment of keeping his truth alive activates that desire within us
(59:17) Have you ever desired to want something so bad that you're willing to work for it and you work for it and you work for it and you save it and over the years and then when they get it all of that labor all that work all that there you cherish it I can remember clearly dad telling you you'll value that you work for If I give it to you you won't value it You won't value it but if you work for it you will So we never got paid but that's all right He paid us in love It's interesting that Jeremiah likens God's word to nourishing food
(1:00:01) bringing joy and rejoicing Let's read that over in Jeremiah verse 15 Jeremiah Jeremiah 15 and verse 16 Jeremiah 15 and verse 16 Behold I will send for uh Behold I will send for many fishermen says the Lord and they shall fi shall fish them and afterwards I will send for many hunters into there And boy that doesn't look right at all Yes I'm in the wrong one You know I really I have a fishing trip planned this week and obviously I was I was just drawn to this point It's amazing because I knew it was the next chapter over I thought hunting
(1:00:52) and fishing Oh yeah As we say in the classroom my bad Verse 15 Chapter 15 verse 16 Thank you Samuel Pray for me Your words were found and I ate them Yeah that's the correct one right here And your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart For I am called by your name oh Lord God of host Jeremiah likened nourishing food to bringing joy and rejoicing The inward delight that gave Jeremiah the strength of the strength amidst trials We also see in this verse shows us the delight that God's word strengthens spiritually
(1:01:53) intensifies and develops perseverance And for those of you that understand health issues God's teaching us perseverance in a way that can be taught no other way The ability to take one more step to do one more thing to complete one more rehab teaches us that we understand that feeling And it's not the empathy It is the empathy It's not the sympathy the empathy the ability to actually feel what somebody else is going through and to be able to share that So what is the formula for changing our ways one heed the word of
(1:02:40) God Two seek God with your whole heart Three hide the word of God in your heart and four declare rejoice meditate and delight in God's law In conclusion I'm going to start with the title The title of this one then which was on the missing page that Mr Pay took from me That was cold land Don't feed the yeast Bake what's right The runaway dough in the bakery wasn't just a cleanup job It was a spiritual warning The yeast of baking powder the yeast and the baking powder were added to work quickly silently but explosively until they pushed beyond the
(1:03:43) boundaries that we had set Sin operates in the same way In a small it grows rapidly It soon corrupts everything that it touches Paul warns us in 1 Corinthians 5 and verse8 which we read earlier not to partake of the leaven of malice and witnesses witness wickedness Thank you Instead we are to live by the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth That means that we must intentionally starve levan sweep out sin burn sin in the fire of repentance and refuse to need it back into our lives But it's just not about removing
(1:04:39) sin It's about who we become We are called to be baked with the right ingredients of sincerity and truth Let God's word breathe life into you Let his refining trials shape us but not break us Let the salt of righteousness preserve us Let our lives be seasoned with sincerity and truth Jesus Christ the true bread of life calls us to rise with him pure and ready So let us walk forward unleavened unbound unwavering May we be found faithful at the return of Christ prepared to live to rule and to reign with sincerity and truth