The Truth Is Sin Tastes Pretty Good

Exodus 12:1-28

When Jesus warned his disciples against becoming like the Pharisees, He said:

“...Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. "

Luke 12:1

And when the Church at Corinth had a man within the church membership who was engaged in some sexual immorality, Paul told the church not to even associate with the guy until he repented.  They weren’t even to eat with him.  Paul said, if they insisted on brushing it under the carpet, the man’s sin would taint the rest of them.

"Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?"

1 Corinthians 5:6

We can see God used yeast to portray sin in our lives.  Now, maybe you're wondering about that.  Maybe you're asking yourself, 

"Why use yeast?".  

Compare these two pictures of bread:

One with and one without yeast.  The bigger "loaf" has the yeast.  The yeast is what makes it rise and puff up.  The "loaf" of Matzah bread, more like a cracker, has no yeast.  That's why it is flat.

Sin acts in our lives in sort of the same way yeast works in a loaf of bread.  

For starters, bread with yeast is:  YUMMY!  That's a technical cooking term.  Matzah bread, on the other head, is not what most of us would call:  YUMMY!  That is why we make bread with yeast in it.  That is why we buy it and why we eat it.

Can I just tell ya something?  The truth is, sin tastes pretty good too…for a while.  If it didn’t taste good, we wouldn’t be so tempted to do it!

It's important to note that it doesn't take much yeast to change the shape and taste of the finished product.  It doesn't take much yeast to warp the shape of the dough even before it's cooked.  When sin creeps into an area of our lives, it really doesn’t take much sin at all to change who we are.  It really doesn’t take much sin to warp our character.

Bread with yeast looks like it has more of something.  It looks like it has more flour than it actually does.  The larger loaf actually may not have much more flour than the “cracker” looking “loaf”.  It’s the yeast that puffs it up.  When you are baking, patience is important.  You can have bigger biscuits for instance, if you’ll just let the dough rise longer before you put it into the oven.  You can have bigger donuts NOT by using more flour, but, by just letting the yeast have it’s way with the dough for a while before you actually cook it.

Can I just tell ya something?  Sin can make us BELIEVE we have more in our lives than we do!  Sins like bitterness and hatred can make us feel like we have more power over others.  Sins like hypocrisy and bigotry can make us feel more important than we actually are.  Sinning by watching crude or even X-rated stuff on television can make us believe we’re more mature and grown up.  Sins like getting drunk or high can fool folks into thinkin they’ve gained more control over their lives.  Sin can make us believe that we’ve gained MORE of something in our lives.  When the reality is:  All we’ve gained is more decay and rot.

And by the way, Yeast ALSO causes bread to mold and decay.  Have you ever had to throw away moldy bread?  Most of us have.  Have you ever had to throw away moldy crackers?  Probably not.  Crackers will last forever.  But leavened bread with yeast will decay and rot.

Hey, can I just tell ya something?  Sin has the power to cause our lives and our homes to decay and to rot.  That, my friends, is why God hates sin!  Sin destroys us!  Yeast made a great analogy for God to use to help us understand the importance of avoiding sin in our lives.

This entry is taken from my notes for the sermon:  "Gatekeepers".  Click the link to listen to the entire sermon.  This is the fourth sermon in a series.  The entire sermon series audio is available here:  

BLINDERS, BLINKERS, & WINKERS SERMON SERIES