BREAD OF LIFE

And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God (Luke 4:4).

It is called the bread of life.  Our every moment is governed by its precepts and our lifetime by the whole of its ideals.  Oh God, that we may subtract

nothing from Thy whole counsel and may we add nothing of our own device that it may be the pure unleavened bread of your Word, which only can satisfy our hunger and save our soul.

Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened (Matt 13:33).

Space does not allow the refutation of the erroneous assumption that leaven in bread is in this one instance good while in all other appearances it is a type of evil.  Plainly speaking, the Church has hidden (“hid” 1470 ekgrupto (eng-kroop'-to); from 1722 and 2928; to conceal in, i.e. incorporate with) leaven in the Heavenly Bread in all three levels of its understanding because of the complaint that the Word in its unleavened state does not appeal to the spiritual palate.  The leaven of tradition, compromise, and doctrines of men and demons makes the bread taste better than just plain WORD, and leaven is easier for us to add to the mix than it is to prepare it with some costly, hard-earned oil for nutritional value and taste’s sake.  The result of our “hiding” is that the children of plenty suffer from malnutrition, and possibly a lethal dose of food poisoning.

True, leavened bread is more satisfying to the carnally minded palate, more pleasing to the eyes of the spiritually blinded, and makes good economic and energy-conserving sense from the standpoint of feeding more people with less expense and effort (although in reality the hot air that leaven produces will supply none of the above).  However, from a spiritual perspective, leavened bread is the equivalent of forbidden fruit (Gen 3:6; 1Jn 2:15-16), and is just as lethal.  Wake up sons of the Last Adam!  Be aware of what the woman is hiding in the Bread! 

Whether it be the leaven of a sinning soul in the congregation (1Cor 5), a perverted doctrine which corrupts the truth of the gospel (Gal 5:9; 2Ti 2:15-18; Matt 16:12), or willful sin in the life of a believer (Heb 10:26-27; Luke 12:1), a little leaven leavens the whole lump.  And, just as Adam’s death was immediate in his spirit though later manifesting in his body, so the lethal effect of a perverted gospel is certain at its start, but takes time for full manifestation.

We are to purge out the old leaven and the leaven of malice and wickedness and keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1Cor 5:7-8).  Sure the kids like the taste of a little Halloween, a few fairy tales at Christmas and Easter, and a little of  “their kind” of music hidden in their bread, but the unleavened Word ministered under an anointing in an atmosphere of sincerity and truth would develop a taste for God in them which itself would purge out the desire for anything less.  Sure, proper programs and tasty traditions make the Word more appealing to the adults, but if those preparing the bread would invest a little effort in searching the unleavened logos for a rhema rather than slothfully presenting a leavened logos, the anointed, unleavened bread of present truth would spoil their taste for anything containing leaven, be it logos or rhema.   

           Too often a minister who is all diligent in purging completely the least amount of leaven from the Logos is content to present just the unleavened Logos, while it is the Rhema that is Spirit and life (Jn 6:63); it is the Rhema that, if abiding in us, enables us to ask what we will and receive it (Jn 15:7); it is the Rhema that produces faith in us (Rom 10:17); it is the Rhema which is the sword of the Spirit (Eph 6:17); and it is the Rhema by which man shall live (Luke 4:4).   The result is a pure but flat, tasteless, powerless lump of the letter that cannot minister life to the hearer, no matter the level he is hearing on.  Eating it does not produce Spirit and life, answered prayers, mountain – moving faith, protection from our enemies by our own sword, or a Divine quality of life that overtakes the present existence. 

          It is not so hard to study the Logos with an open mind and eliminate the leaven of the traditions of men and the doctrines of false religion and demons.  It is a bit harder to stay before God in prayerful consideration of the Logos until out of it issues a Rhema – a present tense Word of God in the power of the First Person (Jn 12:49; Jn 14:10).  Harder still is to tenaciously remain in God’s presence until self is replaced so that the Rhema may be presented by Christ the anointing. 

          The man has chosen the easy way, loving and favoring self more than God or His people.  The woman has added the leaven, attempting to squelch the cries of the genuinely hungry as well as those who throw up at the thought of bread without it.  The children are become as malnourished bastards (Heb 12:1-8), for chastening, as well as feeding, comes by a Rhema birthed of the unleavened Logos.  Oh, that God would raise up Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers who would not compromise the Logos for the sake of their leisure or other men’s pleasure and who would not cease to be self-sacrificial till they become the Logos made flesh and presenters of the Rhema unto life from the dead.

Written by Bobby Norton

9/25/2003