Are We Keeping the Right Day for Passover?

Happy Sabbath, everybody! We had a wonderful Sabbath last week up in Sholoh. We haven't been up there to visit the brethren up there. We stayed overnight with the Morgans, and I guess it's in order to say hello to them as they're tuned in up there to us. But we had a wonderful trip up there. If you haven't been up there to see that area, this time of year it's just really very beautiful. The desert is just spectacular on the way up, and you know, just an enjoyable group up there as well.

Well, it won't be long before all of us are going to be observing the most important festival we observe in the entire year. And of course, that is the Passover, which we've been given details about. But ever since 31 AD, there have been those who have questioned the timing of the Passover.

And of course, deception has spread by evil men, and the Bible talks about how, in fact, in our age, in our time, that it's waxed worse and worse. And it really has gotten worse in our time. And the unfortunate thing is when some people begin to talk about the timing of the Passover—of course, they have usually ideas of the opposite about what the Bible says—what it does is it causes people to doubt—to doubt, in fact, what we're doing. And, you know, the Bible talks about that whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

In other words, when we doubt and we do something that we doubt, then we sin. So it's important for us to be convicted about what we do and how we're doing things. Unfortunately, some people fall prey to crafty men who are peddling their false ideas. And you know the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11, verse 19, when he was talking about the Passover, as a matter of fact, he said that there must be heresies or controversies in the church so that those who are approved—in other words, those that really have it together and know what the truth is can be known.

And so it's very needed in the church for us to, in fact, be sometimes embroiled in controversy. We don't like it, do we? But we find out some things about it when, in fact, controversy does arise. Like I said, the controversy of the Passover centers around the timing of the Passover. And I'll try to put it in a nutshell. Some think that Israel kept the Passover at the start of the 14th of Nicin, and some think that they kept it at the beginning of the 15th.

It's just as simple as that. And that is what the Jews did. You may be aware of the fact that the Jews were observing the Passover on the 15th. Now that is when they ate the Passover lambs. And the nutshell of the argument regards the killing, in fact, of the lambs, the Passover lambs, that was to be done in the evening. Or at twilight, as the Bible talks about, which is between sunset and dark.

Well, I think all of us know what twilight is. It seems that people have gotten confused about that. Another definition of twilight is at the going down of the sun. Now, I think we all understand that, don't we? We know what it's like when the sun goes down and you still got a little bit of light, don't you? You got work that you got to do, and you're just trying to race against time to do it before you have no more daylight. You're not able to do what you need to do.

So the controversy of the Passover centered around, and it's centered around, timing. And, you know, we're not going to get into the heavy technicalities, but we're going to analyze, in the course of the sermon here today, the major points regarding the Passover of the Old Testament and the New Testament. And I think when you really see it, it makes it very, very plain.

And it needs to be plain to us. Again, whatsoever is not a faith, is sin. Let's go to Leviticus 23. That's the old standby chapter for the Holy Days. And let's just start right there, because we are told, and we of course see this every single year, we talk about the fact that we are observing God's feasts. In verse 1, it says, and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, speak to the children of Israel and say to them, the feast of the eternal, which you shall proclaim, and that's what we're doing, to be holy convocations, these are my feasts. And then the very first festival he mentions down here is the Passover.

Now let's go on down here to verse 5. And I want you to notice one very important word here. But in verse 5, it says, on the fourteenth day of the first month, at twilight is the Lord's Passover. Now I want you to read that. What does it say? It says, on the fourteenth, doesn't it? And when is it? At twilight. At twilight. We're going to get a little more definition to the word twilight, but you know, as we go on here. But twilight is just after sunset, as we've mentioned, and that's how it's defined.

And you measure a day, do you not, brethren? If I were to say to you, when do you observe your Sabbath? What would you say? Sunset the sunset. Okay. Now when that sun goes down, then what do you have? You have twilight, right? But when does that happen? It happens in the evening, right?

So last night, when the sun went down, you have that period of time of sunlight that is just over the edge, you know, of the curvature of the earth that gives you still a little bit of light. So what are we saying, brethren? We're saying that twilight, then, is the part of the day that is measured from sunset, the evening before, to sunset. Tonight, when the sun goes down, the Sabbath day will be over. Are we in agreement with that? Even when you have twilight, the Sabbath is over. Because when the sun goes down, the day ends. When the sun goes down, get that in our minds, when the sun goes down, the day ends. And so we begin to define these things. We begin to understand a little bit more about, again, how it was to be done. And all the scriptures, brethren, show that the 14th at twilight is the beginning of the Passover.

And activities were to be taken place during the time of twilight. Let's go to Numbers, just quickly here. I don't want to go through a lot of scriptures on this, but just to, again, show you that it is constant all the way through the scriptures about this. So there's no reason to doubt one iota about it. But on down through here, Numbers 9 and verse 3. Again, let's notice here Numbers 9 and verse 3. And again, we make it very, very simple, very easy. All of us, of course, need it that way, don't we? To have it simple for us, God's way is never complicated. But it says here in verse 3 of chapter 9 of Numbers, on the 14th day of this month at twilight, you shall keep it. It says as it appointed time, according to all the the rites and the ceremonies, you shall keep it. Now, I'm not going to go through this, but you can. You can look at verse 5 and verse 11 of the same chapter. Look at Joshua 5 verse 10 if you want to write these references down. In 2 Corinthians 30 verse 15, in Ezra 6 verse 19, and Ezekiel 45 verse 21, and all of them, brethren, show that the Passover is observed the 14th day at even or twilight. Every one of these scriptures say that, that make it so, so very clear.

Now, let's shift gears a little bit here and talk about some of the events that occurred during the Passover, which is where a lot of people get bogged down in the minutia. We know that when Israel was going to escape from from Egypt, Moses was told in advance that there would have to be a lot of miracles before they were ever going to be able to escape Egypt. In a lot of ways, spiritually, that's what happens with us. It takes miracles for us to be brought out of the world, to have our minds changed, to make it—you might say all of the cogs sort of line up correctly so that we can come out of the world.

And sometimes we think it's more what we do, but I think it's more what God does for us and the miracles that are performed for us. But let's go to Exodus chapter 3 over here to get into the discussion of Israel coming out of Egypt.

But here in Exodus chapter 3 verse 19, here God is talking to Moses.

But he says to him, I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. And it says, so I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders, which I will do in his midst, and after that he will let you go.

And it says, I will give the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go out empty-handed. Now this in itself was a miracle, amazing miracle, that a slave people would come out and they would be really, essentially wealthy when they came down because of the gold and other things that were given to them. And every woman shall ask of her neighbors, namely of her who it says, who dwells, it says, near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold and clothing, and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters, and you shall proclaim or you shall plunder the Egyptians. So the question is, when did that happen? When did that occur? And we're going to talk about that as we go through the course of some of the events here. But they wouldn't exit as slaves with nothing, but that they would have, of course, wealth in coming out of Egypt. Now let's notice what Moses' final audience with a pharaoh was. Over in chapter 10 here, chapter 10 and verse 24, chapter 10 and verse 24 here, and it says, and Pharaoh called to Moses and said, Go serve the Lord, or the Eternal, only let your flocks and your herds be kept back. He didn't want to let go of the wealth of that of the livestock. Let your little ones also go with you. But Moses said, you must also give us sacrifices and burnt offerings that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. And our livestock also shall go out with us, not a hoof, it says, shall be left behind. It says, for we must take some of them to serve the Lord our God, and even we do not know what, in fact, we must have, basically, to serve God until we arrive there. But the Lord, it says, hardened Pharaoh's heart, and it says he would not let them go. And then Pharaoh said to him, Get away from me, take heed to yourself, and see my face no more, for in the day that you see my face you shall die. And so this is, again, the final audience that Moses is having with Pharaoh. And Moses said, You have spoken well.

I will never see your face again. I'm not going to see your face again, he said. So here we have the final audience with Moses. And let's go to chapter 11 now. Chapter 11, and it says, The Lord said to Moses, I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt, and afterwards he will let you go from here. And when he lets you go, he will surely drive you out. It says of here altogether. So they wanted to say, Look, just get out of here. That was what it was going to be like. And it says, Speak unto the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor. This could have happened, by the way, over a few days. Not necessarily happen at a specific time, but it could have happened over a few days. And it says, The Lord, it says, gave the people favor and the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great. It says, in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants and in the sight of the people. And then Moses said, Thus says the Lord, about midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die. So this was at midnight that the death angel passed over, as we often refer to it. And from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sits on his throne, even the firstborn of the female servant, who is behind the hand-bell, and all the firstborn of the animals. Imagine again how this would have devastated Egypt. It says, Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was not like before, nor shall be like again. But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue against man or beast. You may know that the Lord does not make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. Again, we may find this will be the case in a symbolic manner with God's people in the future, as to what happens in the end of the age. But God began at a particular point to make a difference between Israel and Egypt and what he did.

Now, so let's go on over here. These verses speak of Moses's greatness, that we read about, and the favor that Israel had. Now, let's notice here in chapter 12. So we come to chapter 12. We have the final audience with Pharaoh. We come to chapter 12, which is going to talk about what?

The Passover. Of course, the death of the firstborn was mentioned again that was going to take place. It would be very devastating to Egypt. But let's notice here in Exodus chapter 12, and we've already read verse 6. It talks about the land that they were to have was to be kept, as it says, up until the 14th day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the carangays, so it shall kill it at twilight. Now again, remember when twilight is? At the beginning of the 14th.

And going on now down in verse 7. And it says, they shall take some of the blood, of course, from the land and put it on the two-door posts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. And then they shall eat the flesh on that night. And roasted in fire, it says, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs, they shall eat it. And it says, do not eat it raw nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire, its head with its legs and its entrails. And you shall let none of it remain until morning. And it says, what remains of it until morning, you shall burn with fire. So they were given specific instructions here as to what to do. And it says, and thus you shall eat it with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And when you come to observe the Passover, we will give you a staff and some other stuff that you can have. No, we don't do this part of it, but there is an urgency, and it should be an urgency, in our keeping of the Passover, or how important it is. For I will pass through the land of Egypt. On that night, it will strike all the firstborn of the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

So the lamb was killed at twilight, the beginning of the 14th. It was to be eaten, in fact, as a meal, as a part of a meal, and it was to be consumed, signifying it was the inner end of the people, symbolic of the fact that when we observe the Passover, Christ becomes a part of us, that Christ is in us, that Christ lives in us. But again, remember, twilight belongs to the new day.

And that, in fact, is a very critical point, the fact that again, the twilight begins their new day. And they were to kill the lamb again at twilight and eat, and consume that and all that remained until the next morning was to be burned, if they did not, again, consume it.

Now, I want you to notice what we read here. Did you read anything about wine?

Did we read anything about wine at all? Here, we didn't, did we? There's no mention of wine whatsoever in what they were commanded to do. There just was not a part of it. No wine was a part of the Old Testament. What, in fact, saved them from physical death was the blood of the Passover lamb that caused the death angel to pass over them so that they would have the opportunity to live and not face physical death. But let's notice over here in chapter 12 and verse 14, just over in verse 14 down the next verse. So this day shall be to you a memorial, and you shall keep it as a feast of the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. Now, what is a memorial? We're going to probably hear more about this as we get on into the Passover season. A memorial is a day that's designed to preserve a memory.

It could be a memory of an event or a memory of a person. You know, when somebody dies, we often do a memorial to remember the person. So the Passover is like a memorial.

It's a memorial remembering what happened again at Egypt. We talk about rehearsing every single year in the church. Now, let's go over to chapter 12 and verse 29. Chapter 12 and verse 29 here. And let's go on down to verse 28.

So we find in verse 29, it says, it came to pass at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon and all the firstborn of the livestock. So Pharaoh rose in the night.

He in all the service and all the Egyptians in there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead. It must have been an incredible night to hear, you know, wailing of people, you know, as to what would happen. It was devastating to Egypt. You know, we think about people that die, go off and die in war, the thousands that do, and how that impacts a nation. Think about how this impacted Egypt to lose the firstborn of every family. And it says, then he called for Moses and by night. So this is by night. And says, Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel, and go and serve the Lord as you have said. And also take your flocks and your herds as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also. And the Egyptians urged the people that they might send them out of the land in a haste, for they said, We shall all be dead. So the people took their dough before it was 11. So when did this happen? This had to happen on the day part, you know, of the Passover. It had to occur at that time. It could, of course, they could have been doing it, I guess, in their homes that night, you know, as the death angel was passing over. But they were unable to again, live in this bread. And it says, Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians, articles of silver, articles of gold and clothing, and the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. Then the children of Israel journeyed from Ramesses to Succoth, about 600,000 men on foot, mixed multitude, went up with them also in a great deal of livestock. So anyway, all of this is going on as they are departing, you know, from Egypt. And it says in verse 40, And the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was 430 years.

It's very interesting, by the way, to sort of go over these times of when was this period of time, of 430 years? What does it go back to? What events does it go back to? That's another topic. But it came to pass in the end of the 430 years, on that very same day, it came to pass that all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night of solemn observance to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is the night of the Lord, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations. So we observe the night to be much observed in the church because it is a time for us of coming out of the world. They were coming out of Egypt and they were very elated by it. And so it's very, very important we get again the timeline here of what exactly was occurring here. But they plundered Egypt. Probably this may have taken place before the Passover, but probably most of it was during the day part of the 14th.

They collected the gold and apparel, the silver from the people, the day part of the 14th. It happened just as God had told Moses. Now, interestingly, we read on down through here, and I'm going to take the time to go through this, that only those who were circumcised were able to actually participate in the Passover.

And today we understand that in the Passover, only those that are circumcised about the heart who were baptized, members of the church, can take the Passover emblems in the church today.

Now, let's switch gears to the New Testament. In the New Testament, interestingly, when we look at the term Passover, the word Passover is used 29 times in the Gospels and by the Apostle Paul.

And though it is used in the Bible and the New Testament to refer to the practice of the Jews, it's very clear in the Bible that it was used also in reference to what the New Testament church was doing. You know, the Apostles, in fact, used the Passover to describe the ceremony that was instructed by Jesus Christ. So we refer to the Passover as the New Testament Passover, and of course you have the Old Testament Passover. I mentioned that, brethren, because the Protestants, the Protestants, and even the early church fathers, and I'll put that in quotes. Sometimes we refer to the church fathers and some wonder who those people are. Well, those are not necessarily godly people, by the way. These are people that were the church fathers of what later became the universal or Catholic church. But some of them, of course, were seemingly righteous from what we can tell. But the Protestants teach not the Passover, but the Lord's Supper.

You know, if you ever go into a Protestant church, they talk about the Lord's Supper.

But that's not true. In the church today, we do not observe the Lord's Supper. That's heresy.

In fact, this is the very thing that the Apostle Paul wrote the Corinthians about.

About incorrectly observing the Passover. Some were doing what they thought was the Lord's Supper.

And of course, that was not to be done. That was not what Jesus Christ had instructed to be done. Paul points that out very clearly in his letter to the Corinthians. Now, let's go to Luke 22. In Luke 22 and verse 8, Luke 22 and verse 8, Luke, the physician, writes this.

Speaking of what Jesus did in terms of the Passover, it says, And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare the Passover for us that we may eat.

So here he instructed Peter and John to go do that, to take care of that duty. So they said to them, Where do you want us to prepare? Of course, Christ gave them instructions about what was to be done in verse 10 through on down here to verse 12. And so they went and they found it just as he had said, and they prepared the Passover.

So they prepared the Passover. And when the hour had come, when would that hour have been?

Twilight. The time of Twilight. The twelve apostles sat down and he sat down with them. The Bible shows us. Now, when we go through this, we will find that Jesus does not mention one time the killing of the physical lamb. Not one time. Does he mention the killing of the physical lamb?

Now, they're eating the supper. Here the 12 are eating the supper. And, you know, this is what, of course, occurred. Many people refer to as the Last Supper.

Now, let's go to John 13. We'll come back to Luke 22, but let's go to John 13 over here. John 13. So Jesus Christ instructed them to, again, prepare the Passover. In John 13, of course, a very special ceremony takes place in John 13 over here, the foot washing ceremony. But let's notice in verse 1.

It says, now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come, that he should depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own, who were in the world. He loved them to the end.

Now, notice it says, before the feast of the Passover here. Here he's talking about the Jewish observance of the Passover here. The Jews, their observance of Passover sort of evolved over a period of time. They believed that the killing of the lamb should be on the 14th.

So they had it at various times in history, and they pushed it forward toward the 15th. More and more, and by the time of Christ, they were killing the lambs about three o'clock in the afternoon on the 14th. And they were eating the lambs on the 15th. And so this is what they were doing. They were improperly observing the Passover. But notice here in verse 2, And the supper being ended. So they ate a supper here.

And the devil, it says, having already put it in the heart of Judas Iscariot's Simon's son to betray him. And so here we see in verse 1 that this is occurring before the feast of the Passover, the Jews. And in verse 2 it says, the supper being ended here. And actually, you know, the Moffat says the supper taking place or during the supper.

So what happens here in chapter 13? Christ, Jesus Christ introduces the foot washing. We'll be talking about that in sermons, I'm sure, prior to the Passover and how important that is.

And during the foot washing, it's quite apparent that Judas was there. You wouldn't expect that somebody who was going to be a traitor would be, you know, among the disciples, but Judas was still there. And the reason that you surmise that is verse 10 here. What it says in verse 10. And Jesus said to him, he was bathed, he's talking about Peter here, it says needs only to wash his feet, but it is completely clean. He's talking about, of course, of sin. And he goes on to say, man, you are clean, but not all of you. He was speaking, of course, of Judas, who is not clean, who was a betrayer. And, you know, he would in fact not be present for part of what happened that evening. And then Christ, of course, washed the disciples' feet. And down here in verse 7 or verse 16, it says, and most assuredly I said, you a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. So Christ set this great example of washing the disciples' feet. And he said, blessed are you if you do this. So here this evening of the Passover, Christ introduces foot washing. So Christ set the example, and we are to follow that example.

You know, the Lord is greater than the servant. So we should do what the master does. If we are his servants, we should follow in his footsteps. Follow Christ. Follow Christ. You know, the Apostle Paul had to tell the Corinthians, imitate me as I imitate Christ.

That's what he meant. Christ set the example for us as our Lord. And Jesus Christ obeyed the laws of God. And since he's our Lord and greater, we must obey ourselves. And we're blessed if we know this and we do that. Verse 18, let's notice this. Verse 18 here. I do not speak of all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but the Scripture is as must may be fulfilled. He who eats bread with me is lifted up his heel against me. And of course, he was talking about Judas here. And this particular verse that is noted here, you know, comes from Psalm 41 verse 9 as a fulfillment of what was to happen, that there would be one who would betray Christ. On over here, verse 19, and it says, Now I tell you before it comes that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am he. Most assuredly I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. It's a matter of attitude, isn't it? In receiving, those are of God. Those are ordained to give the responsibility to take care of God's business.

Going on here down in verse 22, then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom he spoke like we probably always would do as well. Now there was leaning on Jesus, bosom, one of his disciples, of course that was John, and Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask who it was to whom he spoke. Verse 25, then leaning back on Jesus's breast, he said to him, Lord, who is it? In verse 26, Jesus answered, It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it. And having dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.

And now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him, and then Jesus said to him, What you do, do quickly. And no one knew what he was talking about, but of course Judas went out. He left here. Now remember, this is during the supper, or at the very end of the supper. He receives the sop, he leaves. He's there for the foot washing. But then other parts of the ceremony are to be done. So when the Passover emblems were given, Judas wasn't even there. He wasn't present for that. And after this, after the foot washing, Jesus administers the emblems of the bread and wine.

Let's go back now to Luke 22. Luke 22. Luke 22 and verse 15.

It says, And then he said to them, With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. And he was talking about, you know, not necessarily just a meal. He was talking about this Passover that he was going to institute, the emblems that he was going to institute that evening.

You know, there's no indication in the emblems at all that the supper that had preceded these emblems were at all connected with the New Testament Passover that Jesus Christ was instructing his disciples about.

You know, his desire after the supper was over, he says, was to eat the Passover with them.

On down here, verse 19. Let's go to verse 19.

And he took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

And this is likewise, he took the cup. I want you to notice this. After supper, after supper, Judas was gone, remember, here. After supper, saying, the cup, this cup, is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you. And so, Jesus Christ gave the emblems.

He took the bread, he gave thanks, he broke it, and he gave it to them. And this happened again after the supper, after Judas was gone. And this was the evening again of the 14th.

But Jesus pointed to the emblems and not the supper, not eating the physical lamb.

You know, in Mark and Matthew, by the way, it accentuates immediately the cup.

That, that, there are counts rather, that, that immediately it talks about the cup that was taken and the bread. And then after that, of course, the hymn is sung prior to going to the Mount of Olives. John doesn't mention the symbols, but in context with Matthew and Mark, accounts, it shows that Judas ate the supper but left before the New Testament Passover was instituted. The accounts of Jesus Christ's last meal prove that the Passover is not the supper. Now, I mentioned this and go through this, brethren, because a number of years ago, believe it or not, here in Phoenix we had, you know, certain ones that were trying to begin a supper, an actual supper. So the supper has nothing to do with the New Testament Passover now, other than the symbolism, of course, of some of it. But it was never instructed by Jesus Christ.

So we need to really, again, get that very clear in our minds.

Now, why do some people refer to the New Testament Passover as the Lord's Supper? Let me tell you why they do, is because they don't know the Scriptures. That's why.

They peruse the Scripture. You know, Paul, by the way, used the term Lord's Supper since this is what the Corinthian people were doing. You see, he didn't refer to the Lord's Supper saying that they should observe the Lord's Supper. He was telling about the Lord's Supper so that they would not keep the Supper. The Supper was causing all kinds of a problem in the church.

So we are to take the emblems and not eat the Supper. It should be very, very clear to us.

The emblems came after the Supper, and the foot washing occurred during the Supper. So when you come on Passover night, that's why we do the foot washing first. And then we, of course, have the Passover emblems that are given.

You know, so let's get it very clear in our minds. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 11 now. 1 Corinthians 11. In 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 1, as I mentioned earlier, brethren, that's why Paul says, imitate me just as I also imitate Christ.

You follow me as I follow the example of Jesus Christ. The Supper had ended, then he gave the emblems. You know, Christ did not emphasize the meal. He did not emphasize the Supper. He emphasized the importance of the emblems, and they were very, very important.

And he longed to eat the Passover with the disciples the emblems and not the Supper that took place before that. And that was a major part of what what Paul was was having to teach. The Corinthian brethren. 1 Corinthians 11 on down to verse 18.

He says, for first of all, when you come together as a church, you know, incidentally, I'll digress here a little bit. When you say, first of all, to somebody, usually about telling them what they should not do. Right?

You know, if somebody is asking your opinion, you might say, well, first of all, let me tell you this. This is what you're doing wrong. He says, for first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And in part, he says, I believe it.

For there must also be factions, controversies, heresies, it says in the King James, among you that those who are approved may be recognized among you.

Therefore, when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper.

Now, is that clear to everybody?

No, I've heard people talk about the Passover as the Lord's Supper.

We need to underline the word not. There in our Bibles, if we don't see that word, but for in eating, and this is why it's not to keep the Lord's Supper or eat the Lord's Supper, for in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of the others, and one is hungry and another is drunk. He said, what? Do you not have houses to eat in and drink in? Or do you despise the Church of God and shame those who have nothing? You had some that were very wealthy. They got to the Passover early. You know, the meal itself. You know, if you have a lot of time on your hands before everybody gets there, before the actual emblems are given, you have a little more time to drink and to eat. What's going to happen? You're going to over and vibe. You're going to over drink.

And so this is what Paul is saying. This is what's happening. You've got someone who's a slave. They're working, you know, as a slave. They may not be able to get there to the last minute. So they're getting there and they've got nothing to eat. They're not able to eat anything.

And so you have people that are that may be able to call their own times, are able to be there early.

He says, what shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? He says, I do not praise you. Then he says here, for I receive from the Lord that which I also deliver to you. This is what Jesus Christ taught. And this is why it means, imitate me as I imitate Christ. And Paul may have received this, remember, when he was in Arabia for three and a half years, when he was instructed of Christ at that time, as Galatians tends to show us that there. So here we have a problem that was there in the church. And so Paul is having to correct it. And he's saying, look, I don't praise you. You know, some of you are getting together here and you're really, what you're doing, the supper is dividing the church. And that was never the intent of the Passover. Never the intent of the Passover. The Passover should bring us together.

It should unite us into one bread, into one people. And so the Passover that Christ instructed Paul about, he told and conveyed to the Corinthian church, as we have understood the emblems of the bread and the wine that we read about in the Gospels as well. So it's important also to mention this. Here you notice there's no mention of foot washing. The reason there's no mention of foot washing, because this was not the question. You know, there was no question about foot washing. The question was about the ceremony and about the supper. The focus was about the supper itself, really. And the question is, should we be eating this supper? And Paul answers that. So foot washing was something that was instructed by Jesus Christ, just as the emblems were.

I mentioned earlier that wine was not used, at least there was nothing written about it in Exodus 12 concerning the Passover. But in the New Testament Passover, it's a major emblem that Christ gives, you know, of symbolizing his shed blood.

So, brethren, again, remember these things. The timing of the New Testament Passover is very clear. There is no debate, brethren, that Christ observed the Passover at the beginning of the 14th of Nicin. That would have been, again, just after twilight or at twilight, at the beginning of the 14th. It was not, of course, at the same night that the Jews during the time of Christ were were doing these things. They observed it the very next night.

Now, when we understand that in the New Testament, that there is no debate about when the New Testament Passover was instituted by Jesus Christ and that we should imitate Paul as he imitates Christ, with this point, brethren, all the debate about what Israel did. And I've heard all kinds of arguments from people about why they think that there's a different set of things described in the timeline of the Old Testament Passover. But if we understand this, brethren, we observe the New Testament Passover that began at the beginning of the 14th of Nicin. The debate about what Israel did for the Old Testament Passover is moot. Nothing more than an academic argument.

To do anything else other than what Jesus Christ instructed us to do defies the example of our master, Jesus Christ. And you know, Jesus instructed Paul, this do you as off as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat it and drink it, you do show the Lord's death till he come. And if we follow the direction that Paul gives us, brethren, of using all Scripture for doctrine, we understand the Passover is to be kept once a year at the beginning of the 14th.

Now the Bible tells us, let a man examine himself. The Passover is a sober time, brethren, to reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that's required for the forgiveness of our sins.

The focus is not the sacrifice of physical lambs.

Those were only types of Jesus Christ who is going to be sacrificed for the sins of the world.

The focus, you know, of the Passover for us is on what Jesus Christ did, that we focus on his great sacrifice and on his death. And that centers, brethren, on the emblems of the bread and the wine, his broken body that was broken, you know, for us, that by his stripes we can be healed and through his blood symbolized by the wine that we can be forgiven of our sins. You know, as God stated in Leviticus 23 verse 5, we read at the very beginning of this message, on the 14th day of the first month and even where at twilight is the Lord's Passover.

The crucial event of the Old Testament Passover on the 14th was the killing of the Passover lamb. The crucial event for the 14th and the New Testament is to focus on the sacrifice of our Passover lamb, Jesus Christ. Clearly, on the 14th day is time we are to keep, is the time where to keep the New Testament Passover. And as Paul instructs it at the beginning of the 14th, the night that Jesus Christ was betrayed, that is what we should do in the church today. There should be no debate about it whatsoever. Brethren, be careful. Be very careful because there's much deception that is in the world and Satan is constantly, constantly striving to divide us, to hurt the unity of the church. When we come together, let's eat the one bread and let's be unified. The Passover is so important in preserving our oneness and our unity as we eat the bread and the wine. Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, Jesus Christ said, you have no life in you. The United Church of God does the right day and the right time for the Passover. So, brother, let's prepare ourselves for the Passover with full faith, full conviction, and full confidence in what we're doing. And have faith in it and that God will through it allow us to reconfirm our covenant with God the Father in Jesus Christ.