LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Those That Miss Out on the Feast (1)
"Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch? Clean out, then, the old yeast, so that you may be a new batch, without yeast, as in fact you are; because our passover lamb who is Christ, has already been sacrificed for us. So celebrate the feast, not with the old yeast, nor with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Cor. 5:6-8).
In this passage from 1 Corinthians the Lord is speaking to us of a feast: the celebration of the breaking of the bread in commemoration of Christ's death. However, celebrating the feast with unleavened bread not only refers to the meeting of the breaking of the bread, but in all meetings we should be clean of yeast, that is to say, of sin. Let us take note of what the Lord said; that when breaking the bread we should do it to announce His death and to proclaim His coming.
In all of the church meetings there is thanksgiving and in all the meetings we must be clean of that yeast. In every feast the banquet is to be enjoyed - that is the sense of the word 'feast'. And we come together to enjoy Christ who is our banquet. Christ is the reason why we have the feast, and in each meeting it is necessary to enjoy Him.
In Exodus 12:15 it says: "For seven days you won't eat bread with yeast, nor will you have yeast in your stores". These seven days for us represent every day: we are called to always live in justice and holiness, to be lights in this wicked and perverse generation (Phil. 2:15).
And what is it that can obscure the stars or lights, but the yeast of sin? So, lets cleanse ourselves of all contamination, not only to participate in the meetings, but rather so that we may live out in cleanliness the whole of our stay here on earth.
A believer can contaminate and bring yeast into the church, just as the man in the case of immorality in 1 Corinthians 5, or of Acan, in Joshua 7. The yeast is not only the grotesque and visible sins, but also those sinful acts that are invisible to the eyes of man, but very visible to the eyes of God.
We can give little importance to small things, for example: covered up anger, roots of bitterness, undervaluing certain people, being unjust in practical things such as debts, keeping something that isn't ours. However, in Song of Solomon 2:15 it says that the small foxes are the ones that ruin the vineyards.
When there is yeast in some of us, that contaminates the rest, and all the people suffer loss in the advancement of the purpose of God. When there is no glory in the midst of the church, don't let us think that all the brothers and sisters are sinning: it is enough if just one has yeast in their household so that the whole people is weakened and cannot confront its enemies (see Joshua 7:1-5). Let us lay hold of Christ's blood, for the forgiveness of sins, and let us renounce whatever lies behind them. So that we don't miss out on the feast.