Introduction:

 

Special greetings to the new and old friends and welcome to any guests!  Also, greetings to the folks on the live feed video.  Recently we just concluded the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread and now Pentecost is tomorrow.
May this message be helpful for the younger and older of the congregation!  We have the opportunity to have our names written in the Book of Life. (Rev 3:5; Rev 21:27)

Earlier this week - news commentator talk about people who are luminaries- those who speak brilliantly about many lofty good things.  However, not all who speak brilliantly always speak the truth or provide the best of information.  Through history we can read of well known orators and leaders, but not all spoke good things.

I wondered how the world can listen a great speaker and still nations plunge into depravity and wars.  A Scripture came to mind:  2Co 11:14  And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself (or as some versions say transforms) into an angel of light.

The nations of the world continue, unabated, to strive against the truth of God with an assortment of days and seasons and rituals, etc, of its own making. ( rabbits & eggs, colorful marshmallow peeps, Valentine hearts, May Day parades and Maypoles?)

So just what is our moral compass in this bizarre age?  Is it the religious sound bites, the cutesy glamorized pictures we see on FB, or the smooth and slick ads on how to better your life in 3 easy lessons?  Despite all these things we see and hear, the world has lost its moral compass that is causing us to descend into a moral wilderness as nations plummet into chaos at an intensified rate, and possibly the “end of the age of man’s rule.
Are we not admonished in Eph 6:10 to be “…strong in the Lord…”  But how do we do that?  A major suggestion is to read the BOOK and consider the BRP handout available at the info desk.
Never forget: Through all we do that Christ is our King and Savior and we were provided valuable insight into the immeasurable importance of the Bible.
Synopsis:  Christ is truly in the Passover, and Spring Holy Days through Pentecost. (Side note more on the latter Holy Days in another message.)  Let us always look to His WORD, the Bible from which we have come to understand these truths. 
The title of my split sermon is “Christ in the Holy Days, from the Passover to Pentecost”

Body:                              
First a thought:  Do we too sometimes miss the point, even as most people do?   As time goes on, in a fast decaying world, can we lose understanding as have tens of thousands who came to the knowledge of the truth over the past 50+ years?  Often times our zeal to learn God’s truth reaches back deep into the past to the present.  Along the way, we too can get tangled up in much doing, even to the point of forgetting our covenant at baptism, with our acceptance of our Christ our Savior.

1. Pertaining to the Passover
Now pertaining to the Passover, first consider this  from Lev 23:5-6  In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month (often called Abib or Nisan) at twilight, is the LORD's Passover 6  And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.

Remember the Passover IS NOT the same as the Feast of Unleavened Bread, though some may inadvertently declare ULB to be the Passover. 
On Passover evening so long ago, Christ gathered with His disciples on the evening before His Crucifixion (That gathering was commemorated this year on the evening of April 2nd.  (The actual Crucifixion corresponded to the daylight portion of the Passover at noon – about 1984 years ago.)
Reference:  Christ declared this in Mat 26:2 (ESV)  "You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified."

Now, let us turn to and read carefully what it says in  Luk 22:8-11 So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it." 9 They said to him, "Where will you have us prepare it?" 10  He said to them, "Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters 11 and tell the master of the house, 'The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?'

Important:  Skipping down Christ declared in Luk 22:15, And he said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.  But recognize that this was to be a continuing ceremony year to year and this also was said by Christ:  This ALL Continues into the future:  Luk_22:16  For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."
Then let’s jump ahead to Luk 24:30  When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.

Important:  So we see that the evening before the daylight portion of the Passover Christ sat with his disciples washed feet and declared the symbols of the bread and wine as his broken body and his shed blood.

Christ was slain for the sins of the entire world. Mat_28:6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay  …and he was resurrected as he said-3 days and 3 nights-NOT parts of … which in reality only works out to about 1 ½ days.
For reference we see what it says here about the Sign of Jonah:  Mat 12:40  For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  Comment people, and sometimes many who consider to be great luminaries often claim to believe the Bible but all too often go to great lengths to skirt this Scripture, and deny the validity of the Crucifixion and Resurrection.
 
2. Pertaining to the Days of Unleavened Bread:
Now what about the beginning of the Days of Unleavened Bread and the “Night to be remembered”, which this year corresponded to the evening of April 4th and the daylight portion of April 5th?

Exo 23:15-18  You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before me empty-handed.

Now this is important leaven is a type of sin; Quote: “Leaven is a substance, like yeast, that when put into bread dough, spreads throughout the dough and makes it rise.”

“Now notice Jesus Christ's teaching about leaven, which expands the meaning of this feast. During Christ's ministry He performed two miracles in which He fed thousands of people. After one of these incidents, when His disciples had gone around the Sea of Galilee, they forgot to bring bread with them. So Jesus told them, "Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees" (Reread Matthew:16:5-6 [5] And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. [6] Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. , NASB).  This is repeated in Mat 16:11-12 

Christ gave the Bread of Life!!

 

3. Pertaining to Pentecost
Now the 3rd point and a side note Pentecost is counted 50 days later from the “Wave Sheaf” which is the day following the Sabbath within the two holy days.  But this year the First Holy Day fell on a weekly Sabbath thus the count began from the Sunday after the Sabbath and Pentecost is 50 days later on Sunday May 24th.
Exo 23:16  You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, (elsewhere this is called the Feast of Weeks) of the “first fruits” of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor.  (Can also be read in Exo 34:22)

Pertaining to Pentecost let’s take note of the time frame: Act_2:1 (~30-31 AD ) When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.   Act_20:16  (~57 AD) For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.   1Co 16:8  (~55 AD) But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost,

Note this, 25 years after the being called the on the Road to Emmaus we see that the Apostle Paul was STILL referring to Pentecost and long after the Crucifixion and Resurrection.  There was NO abolition of Holy Days!

However, there is still more to come yet in future; take note of what it says pertaining to a future time when God’s Spirit will be poured out, going beyond the Church in the 1st Century.  We will learn more on this valuable topic tomorrow – Pentecost!

Conclusion:
In conclusion, therefore let us keep the Feasts.  Further explanation is left for the future concerning the Feasts that come AFTER Pentecost.
In doing what we do let us set a right example in all we do 1Pe 2:15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
Remember the lessons of the Feasts and especially the WORD of God which we hold in our own hands or on our laps:  Choose life! Choose right character!  And to all of us be committed to your calling!  Let us learn and remember our lessons well!  Don’t allow selves to get snared with the cares of this world.
Here is a quote:  “The Holy Days of God give us an overview of God’s great plan of salvation. The fulfillment of these days is dependent upon the One who became a man, who died for our sins and who now sits at the right hand of the Father. His name is Jesus Christ.”
Finally, let me leave you with this from Deut 12:30  take care that you be not ensnared to follow them after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.'