In Robert Bosley's sermon on 'The Parable of the Leaven,' he discusses Matthew 13:33 and its meaning in the context of Jesus' parables. The sermon builds on the previous parable of the mustard seed, which symbolizes the outward and visible growth of the kingdom of heaven. Bosley emphasizes that the parable of the leaven should not be interpreted as representing sin or corruption, as leaven is often depicted in scripture. Instead, he argues that the leaven symbolizes the hidden, pervasive, and transformative growth of God's kingdom in the world and within individuals. The kingdom of heaven starts small and seemingly insignificant but expands to influence the entire 'lump'—both the world and personal lives. Bosley encourages Christians to live consistently with their faith, integrating it into all areas of life and society. He warns against compartmentalizing faith, advocating for a holistic approach where every action reflects one's identity as a member of God's kingdom. The sermon underscores that the kingdom's influence is inevitable and comprehensive, ultimately bringing all things under the dominion of Christ.

If you would please take out your copy of the scriptures and open up to Matthew chapter 13 So this afternoon we are continuing our study through the parables that the Lord Jesus told during his earthly ministry. A few weeks ago we looked at the immediately or the the two verses immediately prior to what we're going to look at today verses 31 and 32 and we read and examined the parable of the mustard seed And we saw how this parable speaks about the outward growth of the kingdom of heaven in the world throughout history, beginning from a small seed and expanding into a great tree that the birds of the heavens find their rest in its branches. And we saw how this is a picture of God's rule in this world over redeemed sinners, how it began with this small seed of 11 disciples and spreads throughout all the world to a time when we've yet not yet even seen where peoples and nations will all be gathered into this great and glorious kingdom. Now the next verse, verse 33, contains a parable that overlaps significantly with that previous parable, both in what it's meaning and also I believe in the way that some people misunderstand it.

This is of course the parable of the leaven in verse 33. So we'll go through this and we'll see how it runs in parallel so to speak with the parable of the mustard seed but also I believe it's not a mere repetition of the message of the previous parable. I believe there is more to it than simply reaffirming the parable of the mustard seed. So let's read verse 33 and we'll examine it and seek to understand it with God's help. So Matthew 13, verse 33.

Another parable he spoke to them. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened. Let's pray. Our Father, we come before you this afternoon so thankful that you have given us this day to set aside, to gather together, to fellowship, to worship, to participate in the means of grace that you've given to us. And Lord, we are so thankful.

And Lord, I ask that you would help me to speak as I ought to speak and give us all ears to hear what you are teaching us in this passage. And in all of it may you be glorified as you build your kingdom in this world. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. So Jesus in this verse presents another parable, a single verse parable, and he tells us that the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God is like leaven that is put into and mixed into a lump of meal or flour until the whole lump is thoroughly mixed in with the leaven. And now if you're reading that immediately, the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word leaven is probably going to be, well wait, isn't that bad?

Isn't that like not a good thing in scripture? And you're right. In every other instance where leaven is used in a metaphorical manner, leaven is used to refer to sin or wickedness of one form or other. Galatians 5.9, Paul says, a little leaven leavens the whole lump. And he's referring to the false teachers who have come into the Galatian church and deceived many.

1 Corinthians 5, 6 through 8, Paul writes, Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump since you are truly, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven or with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." And the Lord himself in Mark chapter 8 verse 15, he charged them saying, take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.

And in the Old Testament, leaven is removed from the Passover meal as a sign of God removing all things that defile from his people. And so when we get to this parable, we can hear the comparison of the kingdom with this leaven and we can immediately be caught off guard and assume that leaven here is bad but we have to look at it in context. Some people coming to this passage, many commentators, understandably I think because of how leaven is used elsewhere, conclude that the leaven here is likewise a picture of sin and corruption. And so the picture is one where the kingdom of heaven over time becomes more and more degraded and corrupted. The only problem is that's not what Jesus said.

Jesus didn't say that the kingdom is the flower that's being affected by the leaven. That's not what he said. Now some will argue that Jesus intended us to understand it that way, that Jesus is saying the kingdom of heaven is like this whole picture where this flower is being affected and infiltrated, so to speak, with all of this leaven. But that's not what he said. Rather, the grammar is very clear.

The comparison is made between the kingdom of heaven and the leaven, particularly. He says the kingdom of heaven is like leaven, comma, which is hid in the three measures of flour. The kingdom is like leaven, which is mixed into the flour and leavens the whole lump. So there's No basis in the actual words of Jesus here for assuming that this is a picture of increasing wickedness in the church or a picture of ongoing degradation and corruption in the kingdom of God as time goes on. That's not what Jesus is teaching.

Rather, we have another picture here like the previous parable, the parable of the mustard seed, where the kingdom of God begins as something small, something almost unnoticeable, and yet it grows and it spreads and it fills the whole lump of the dough in the parable. Small beginnings but unexpectedly broad and far-reaching effects. The kingdom comes into the world in such a small and apparently insignificant way. A man and some followers in a backwater part of the Roman Empire. That was the beginning of the kingdom of God on earth.

Small and insignificant. But we can see even today, it's spread throughout the whole lump of this world. It has spread and it is continuing to spread. The kingdom comes in the world in a way that we don't expect, in a way that seems so miniscule, but it will not stop until the whole lump is leavened. Now if you read some of the ancient writers and even some of the Reformation and Puritan preachers and theologians you'll see that there is much allegorizing about what is significant about the three measures of meal.

Augustine and Melanchthon in good Lutheran fashion agreeing with him, connected the three measures of meal to the heart, soul, and mind of a Christian. Others take it as a reference to the body, spirit, and soul. Others take it as a reference to a three-part division of mankind, the Jews, the Greeks, and the barbarians, or perhaps those who descended from the three sons of Noah. And honestly, Those last two I'm not entirely opposed to, although I do think it's beginning to stray into overinterpreting the parable. Remember that one of the core principles of interpretation of the parables is that not every part has to correspond to a scriptural truth.

Not every part of it has to be explained in the interpretation. Some information in the parables is given simply to make the story make sense. And so while I'm tempted to agree with those that there is a significance with the three parts of three measures of flour, I think it's more likely that Jesus as a master teacher is simply using the normal experience that people would have been used to. If we look throughout scripture in several passages such as Genesis 18-6 and Judges 6-19, three measures of flour was a pretty common amount of dough to be made at one time. So I don't think that there's necessarily any special meaning to those three measures of meal, the three measures of flower.

But I do think we have to ask ourselves, what is the flower a picture of? What does it mean? So the kingdom is like leaven. Well, what is the leaven? Leavening.

What is it affecting? I believe primarily, at least initially, we have to start off with, in the context, believing that the Lump of dough is a picture of the world is a picture of the world Following on the heels of the immediate parable before the mustard seed Starting as a small tree and growing to fill the earth and the nations pictured as birds coming to rest in The the branches of the kingdom of heaven, I think we would be really foolish if we didn't see a connection here between these two parables. It makes sense that this parable reinforces the basic message of the previous one. However, there are some differences I think we need to note. In the parable of the mustard seed, the growth of the kingdom, it's a tree growing in the field and birds come into it.

Everything's obvious and visible. It's all external and you see it. It may be slow, but you see the effects on and on. Well, in this parable, the growth of the kingdom seems to be hidden. It seems to be inward.

It seems to be unnoticed and unseen. Again, I don't want to stray into overinterpretation, but I think that's worth taking note of. Perhaps the Lord intends us to understand that the effects of the kingdom are something we don't fully see, we don't fully comprehend. Just as Jesus said to Nicodemus, the wind blows where it wills. You don't see it coming, you don't see how it works, but the wind blows where it will go in the same way the Spirit works in ways you cannot see.

That's what the gist of what Jesus said to Nicodemus in John chapter 3. Maybe he's communicating something similar here. Yes, the kingdom grows outwardly and we see it and we see the nations, we see people brought into this kingdom, but the mechanism, how it works and how it spreads, that's hidden. That's something we don't fully understand. That's something we don't really see.

Other commentators suggest that perhaps the flower is a picture of the Christian individual. And so the leaven of the kingdom comes to a sinner and makes him or her a new creature. And without fully understanding what the Spirit of God does, they are renewed and remade. Initially from a small amount, the smallest amount of knowledge, just the fact that you know Jesus is Lord and he died to save. That's enough to save someone, but they don't stay in that simple initial beginnings.

They grow and the knowledge of the kingdom of heaven fills them and it changes what they do and what they think and what they believe. People are renewed and conformed to Christ. Now out of these two interpretations, the world or the individual, I want to suggest that it's not either or. I think it's both and and also even more. I want to suggest that Jesus didn't give an inspired explanation here and no real handles for us to grasp onto because he intended it to be somewhat open-ended.

Consider the scriptural commands throughout all of the Bible to God's people to take dominion to personally, spiritually, socially, in every sphere of human endeavor we are told to do all things for the glory of God. Everything that people do is to be done in a way that honors and exalts Christ. As creatures made in the image of God, particularly redeemed image bearers, we are to bring everything in this world and everything that we do, every thought we have, every action we take, we are to take all of that and bring it into submission to Jesus Christ and his rule. And so I want to suggest with the Jameson, Fousen, Brown commentary that yes, the parable teaches the same general truth as the preceding parable, the growth of the kingdom and the world, but also, and I'm quoting the JFB commentary, quote, it yields more real satisfaction to see in this brief parable just the all penetrating and assimilating quality of the gospel, by virtue of which it will yet mold all institutions and tribes of men and exhibit over the whole earth one kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ." End quote. So in other words what I believe this parable is teaching us is that whatever the kingdom of heaven comes into contact with, whether it's the world itself and the nations in it or the soul of the individual sinner or even earthly institutions and organizations the kingdom will have its leavening effect until all is brought to obey the Lord Jesus Christ.

One of my absolute favorite quotes from all of church history is by a man named Abraham Kuyper. Several of us have probably heard of him, and I think this quote from Mr. Kuyper sums up the message of this parable very well. He said, there is not one square inch in the whole domain of our human existence where Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry out, mine. Everything belongs to King Jesus.

That's the message of this parable. Everything belongs to Jesus and everything will be brought to obey Jesus because the kingdom of heaven has invaded this world and it is filling the whole world and everything in it. And so yes, the kingdom of God is reaching out to the nations and inexorably our great King will conquer. He will rule from sea to sea, from the river to the ends of the earth. His dominion is an everlasting dominion and all peoples and nations shall serve him.

The song we sang at the end of our morning service, his kingdom spread from shore to shore till moons should wax and wane no more. He shall reign." The Gospel message began as a small bit of leaven, but is working through the whole lump of this world until all of it is leavened. But the leaven of the kingdom is not just dealing with out there. The kingdom doesn't just affect the nations. The kingdom is also at work in us, you, me, all of us, individually and as a church.

The kingdom of heaven is at work in all of us if we are truly a part of this kingdom. Every thought, every action, every word is to be brought into submission to this kingdom. And this is why we must reject any theory or claim that one can be a Christian but live in such a way that our beliefs don't affect everything we do. We have to reject these ideas that you can claim faith in Christ and not live differently from your pagan neighbors. We are constantly being told, it's fine if you believe what you believe.

It's okay, just keep it in your church or in your own mind. But we cannot do that. If the kingdom of God is in us and we are truly in that kingdom, then we will do things, we will do all things in ways that reflect we are part of this kingdom. We cannot do otherwise. The whole lump must be leavened.

From secularists and even from some Christians, we've heard the claim that we must keep our faith compartmentalized and private. We're told that Christians can't act like what they believe should affect what they do. But what this is suggesting and what this is telling us to do is to be hypocrites, to say we believe one thing but live it in a different way. The world tells us on the one hand that they hate the hypocrisy of the Christian church, but at the same time they're telling us to live like hypocrites. It's an unwinnable game, and the only way to win an unwinnable game?

Don't play. Don't listen to what the world is telling you how you ought to behave as a Christian. What does God say you must do as a Christian? As a member of this kingdom, what does your king tell you to do? But let's be honest, we don't live up to that very much, do we?

We all fall short in so many ways. So often we don't let our faith affect everything that we do. It's so often it seems so much easier to just go along to get along. I know in my own life I've been in so many situations where I have not said what I needed to say or done what I probably ought to have done because I didn't want to rock the boat or I just wanted to get through and get along. But that's not how we ought to live.

We're not to hide the light that God has given us. We are to be ambassadors for Christ. Unfortunately, as a culture and as a nation, we've had a generation or two or more of Christians generally who have chosen to live like that consistently. They've rather kept quiet and gone along to get along. And this reluctance for whatever reason to live consistently as Christians, whether it's certain theological persuasions that have caused them to compartmentalize their faith or simply because of the fear of man.

Christians have not lived consistently as Christians for a very long time in our country and in the West. And that's one reason I believe that this nation and our society is in the state it's in today. Because Christians have not done what Christians ought to do. Christians have withdrawn in so many spheres. We've completely abandoned some realms of human activity altogether and I'm thinking specifically here of things like the arts and entertainment.

Christians today in fine art or in the realms of media and entertainment, they're about as rare as hens' teeth as some people would say. It's virtually impossible to find a faithful Christian in so many parts of the art and entertainment industry. Why is that? When two or three hundred years ago Christians owned the arts. The dominant force in art and entertainment a few hundred years ago was the Christian Church.

What happened? Or if Christians haven't left completely, they've allowed their light to be so covered and compromised because they've bought into the lie that the kingdom of God has nothing to do with the kingdom of man. And here politics comes to mind immediately. How many times have we heard from those that we put in office, well as a Christian I believe X, whatever X is, but I can't impose that on anyone else. They've bought the lie that a Christian should not govern like a Christian.

But Christ has not called us to simply go along to get along. Rather we are to be instruments in His hand as he is working in us and at work in the world. Because how is God going to change the nations? Jesus sent out 11 men to go and disciple the nations. The same principle applies today.

He's reaching the nations. He's changing the world through individual Christians. He is leavening us, bringing us into the kingdom, and changing how we live and making us more like Jesus. And by that, he is making all the world come to obey him. And so everything we do should be affected by our faith.

The leaven of the kingdom should spread throughout all of our life, to every aspect of it. As we've been hearing in the book of Revelation, we are to bring a little bit of heaven down to earth. And how can we do that if we don't live consistently as Christians, if we do not live as those who are part of this great kingdom Herman Bavinck in his book the wonderful works of God put it this way He says quote religion is not something independent and standing by itself But it is intimate and intimately interrelated with all of life with state and society with art and science Nowhere do we find a religion which consists merely of attitudes and states of feeling. Religion, which is the relationship of man to God, governs all other relations also and therefore implies a definite view of man and the world of their origin, essence, and the purpose of all things. What you believe about God affects, it should affect, how you think and do everything else in your life And so we ought to run our businesses as members of the kingdom of heaven who will give an account on how we ran our business to the king.

We must deal honestly and fairly seeking to do good work to honor the Lord and to provide for our families. And we do this as Christians. We cannot be worldly in our business. But you don't make your business a Christian business by putting little crosses on everything. You make your business into a Christian business by the way you love your customers and the way you work hard as for the Lord and doing good work to serve your neighbor and please your king.

We ought to run our homes and raise our children as Christians. We ought to educate our children as Christians. We teach them English or Latin and science and math and art and whatever subject of study there is as Christians. We teach them that two plus two equals four because Jesus is Lord and he made the world that way. He made the world so that it works in a logical and consistent way, which reminds us that God is faithful and unchanging.

We teach our children that blue and yellow paint mixed together makes green because Jesus is Lord, and He made a world filled with beautiful color to remind us of how beautiful God is. We participate in society and in politics as Christians. We vote as Christians. We cannot bend the knee and vote for those who want to enshrine every sort of wickedness into law. We tell the civil magistrates that they will give an account to King Jesus for how they governed.

And if a Christian is a part of the government, we tell them that God expects them to govern as a Christian. None of this private faith nonsense. You can call me a Christian nationalist if you want. I don't really care, but I want to live in a country where Christians govern and then they govern as Christians because the Kingdom of Heaven is having its leavening effect in them and in our culture. And this is not just a vision I want for our country but for all countries because the Kingdom of Heaven is spreading and leavening the whole lump of all the world.

We ought to work to reform and create earthly institutions that have been leavened by the kingdom of heaven. Arts, entertainment, even things like sports, medicine, science, any sphere of human activity. If any Christian has the privilege to be engaged in any of these things, they ought to be at work in them as Christians Because it is ultimately Christians that explain why these things matter and how they can best be used for human flourishing but also to honor the Lord Jesus Christ. How about this? We ought to gather on the Lord's Day as Christians.

We should come eagerly expecting to hear God's Word and to worship Him through prayer and through singing. We come as Christians knowing that we need these means of grace to further that leavening work of the kingdom of heaven in our souls. We should consider this day to be the high point of our week. This is, as we heard earlier, the market day of the soul. And we should not gather half-heartedly or begrudgingly, But we should come as Christians eager to see other Christians and to worship our God.

Because his kingdom has come and it's spreading and it's changing everything. We ought to read our Bibles as Christians. We read the scriptures that we have in our hands. We read it as the very Word of God given to instruct us on how our King would have us to live. We must give diligence to study and apply it because it is God speaking to us.

And so that's the message that this parable has for us. Yes, absolutely the Kingdom of Heaven is spreading and will leaven the whole world. That is the message of this parable. We can have confidence that yes, the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. But is it also at work in you?

Is the Kingdom of Heaven and the leaven of the Kingdom working in your own soul? Is it changing how you think and how you act. Because the means by which the kingdom will fill the whole earth is through Christians who have been filled with the kingdom. Are you a part of this kingdom and are you living consistently with that claim? Are you living consistently as a Christian in the kingdom of God as part of this kingdom that is conquering the world, an unshakable kingdom that will spread over all the earth.

Everything that we engage in as Christians must be done as those who are part of this kingdom. The kingdom will have its leavening effect. We cannot leave our faith to the sides. We cannot check it at the door. Everything must be done in light of the kingdom of God.

As Paul said, therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. Thank you for speaking to us in the scriptures and giving us the clear commands that you have put in these pages. God, we thank you that you have not left us alone, but you have given us your word and you've brought us into your kingdom and you've given us our instructions and Lord we pray that you would give us the grace and the strength necessary to go forth and to live as Christians as a part of your kingdom or may we not live as those who are still in the kingdom of darkness, but may we truly be those who have been transferred to the kingdom of your beloved Son.

In his name we pray, amen.