Christian Spring Holy Days

Holy Day Convocation. Holy Day is prescribed in the Torah. I say it that way because you've probably had interaction with friends or relatives who say when you're doing this, like, well, you're being Jewish, or you're legalistic. In some ways, it's not so hard to understand maybe where they might start to get that idea, a mistaken idea. But if you think the first record of where we find these days in Scripture is God revealing them through Moses to the children of Israel, requiring them to keep these days. And so often when we teach about them, we love to recount those great stories that we find in the Old Testament. God raining plagues down on Egypt with Moses going and saying, let my people go. And of course, we went through that, and then the children of Israel came out, crossed through the Red Sea. It's commonly believed that the day they crossed through the Red Sea might have been on the last day of Unleavened Bread.

Later, we talk about God thundering the Ten Commandments to Mount Sinai. The children of Israel later crossing over through the Jordan as God stopped the waters from flowing. And then, immediately in the days of Unleavened Bread, they marched around Jericho. And again, marking the Holy Day, God called the walls to fall down flat. Looking at my notes, how many other Holy Day great events of the Old Testament have I missed? Yet, having said that, and I love to talk about those stories, when we look at these Holy Days, the ones listed meticulously in Leviticus chapter 23. And it's funny, I love Leviticus more so than I ever thought I would since I've been teaching the Pentateuch class at ABC. But many of people who call themselves Christian probably view that as the least Christian book in the Bible. We've got all these sacrifices and rituals and such, and that's where we see this. But my point that I want to get to is, even though people might draw a mistaken conclusion because of some of these things, these are very much Christian Holy Days. They're days for Christians that God gave us to celebrate as Christians. Jesus Christ instituted these days. In His capacity, I say before He was known as Jesus Christ, as the member of the God family who interacted with human beings on earth. When He did come to earth, Jesus Christ as a man kept these Holy Days. He and His disciples together. And then, when Christ was taken back up into the heavens to be with the Father, the disciples continued to keep these days, taught them to the church after them, and they continued down through the ages to us today. And I want to focus on how the symbolic meaning of these days is central to Christianity. It's vital to us. And that includes the days of Unleavened Bread as much as or more no I shouldn't say more that'd be ridiculous but just as much as the other days. If you're like me as I said it's easy maybe because of the timing of the days around Passover and Unleavened Bread I tend to get Old Testament-centric in my thinking and my speaking. And we will look at some of that. Actually, let's turn to Exodus 12. We'll begin in verse 15. I'll mention as I did to my mother and father and we'll all be earlier. I don't think I'm going to be revealing any new truths. Actually, this will be a review of some things we've studied many times, but I think it's good every now and then to review and bring them all together.

So let's look at when God revealed these and explained He explained how to keep the days of Unleavened Bread, although not all of why. So in verse 15 of chapter 12, it says, Seven days you shall eat Unleavened Bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off.

Now, we often interpret this to mean by the first day you shall have removed the leaven from your house, and I think that's appropriate and proper. Although I sometimes wonder, in the context this was given, the houses were, you know, in ancient Egypt probably huts. The children of Israel lived in tents and they used sourdough. So probably getting the leaven out consisted of getting their starter, taking it outside, and pitching it. They probably could have done that right at the start of the days of Unleavened Bread. It's a little more complicated for us today. But any rate, we do this in verse 16. It says, on the first day there shall be a holy convocation. That's today. Today we are convocated. I try to think of the meaning. It means a gathering, a gathering together. We're commanded to do that and it's a holy occasion. So on the first day and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them, but that which everyone must eat that only may be prepared for you. So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For on this day, I believe the old King James said, this self-same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. Now what follows will show that the Passover Festival and the days of Unleavened Bread are inextricably linked. Their meanings are tied up together. As it says in verse 18, in the first month on the 14th day of the month at evening, you shall eat, but you shall eat Unleavened Bread until the 21st day of the month at evening. Okay, so that's caused some confusion for some people. Yeah, a matter of fact, I wanted to continue. I noticed as I was reviewing my notes, I forgot to put some of those verses where I was continuing, but you'll eat Unleavened Bread until the 21st day. Verse 19 says, for seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he's a stranger or a native of the land. Now my purpose today wasn't necessarily to discuss when Passover is, but there's been a bit of confusion. In some groups, some people think we're keeping it at the wrong time, and so I thought, this comes up. It's worth us making note of exactly the right time. Some people have read this very scripture in verse 18, where it says, on the first month on the 14th day, eat Unleavened Bread, and start thinking, okay, that's Passover. And it's also the days of Unleavened Bread, and they sort of conflate the two together. We're going to come back to Exodus 12, so you might want to put a hand or a marker there, but I want to go to Leviticus 23. We just read this a short time ago, but I want to read it for a slightly different purpose. Leviticus 23, beginning in verse 5, makes it very clear, I believe, on the 14th day of the first month at twilight, and at twilight is the Hebrew phrase, Trent, is B'in ha'arba'im, and I'm probably mispronouncing that. I've heard when I was going through this in the online class, Herb Tygen has studied this a great deal, and he rolls off his tongue like he was born Hebrew. B'in ha'arba'im means between the evenings. That I am at the end of Arba'in means it's plural. So between the evenings, that's when the Passover is sacrificed. We interpret that to mean after the sun sets, but before it gets dark. I lost my place. There we go. On the 14th day of the first month at twilight, between the evenings is the Lord's Passover, and on the 15th day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, to the Lord's seven days.

When I teach this at ABC, I'll go to the whiteboard and I'll put 14, and then if you remember that mathematical symbol for not equal, you do the equal with a line through it, and I write 15.

14 is not 15. It's fairly simple to make sure Passover is not the first day of Unleavened Bread.

The days of Unleavened Bread is seven days. If at the start of the 14th day began the days of Unleavened Bread, you'd have eight days. It'd go through the 21st day. So that's not correct. If we go back to what we see in Exodus, let's make sure it's real clear. In Exodus 12, there in verse 18 where it said, on the first month, on the 14th day of the month that evening, eat Unleavened Bread until the 21st at evening. I believe what that's telling us is exactly the time to start the days of Unleavened Bread. We want to remember, whenever there's a sundown, it ends one day and starts another. And so we have the sundown that begins the 14th day is when we celebrate the Passover. And then 24 hours later, there's a sundown that's ending the 14th and simultaneously starting the 15th. That begins the first day of Unleavened Bread.

While we're here in Exodus 12, if we go closer to the front of the chapter or the beginning, Exodus 12 and verse 6, it says, Now you shall keep it, that is the Lamb that set aside on the 10th day, keep that Lamb until the 14th day of the same month. Then the whole congregation, whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. Again, Be'en Betharba'im between the evenings. So you kill it at twilight, dropping down to verse 8, Then they shall eat the flesh on that night, the very same night that you slaughtered the Lamb, you eat its flesh roasted with fire, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

I want to skip to verse 22 to see something that's very important that some people overlook. Of course, after they slaughter the Lamb and gather the blood in a basin, you take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that's in the basin, and strike the two-door post with the blood that's in the basin. And none of you shall go out of his house, out the door of his house, until morning. Very clearly, you're going to do this, you're going to, that night, roast the Lamb.

And I don't have the scripture noted, but this was different than all the other sacrifices. All the other sacrifices were, the throat was slit, it was bled out, and then it was cut up.

Now, some of the insides were removed and burned on the altar, the pieces were organized, but the Passover sacrifice was spit whole without being slaughtered, and slowly turned over the fire. This would have the effect of it taking a long time to cook. As they ate that meal with their sandals on their feet and their belt around their waist, what you do is you cut off the meat on the outer part that's cooked, and you serve that, and then the meat further inside starts to cook. It's a long process. It goes into the night, even to the midnight, when the destroyer came and began killing the firstborn. And they had a strict command, don't go out. God might have said, no matter what you hear outside, don't go out of your house. The reason I'm emphasizing that is Deuteronomy 16 in verse 1. I'm going to turn there. You don't have to, but if you're quick of fingers. When God was inspiring Moses to do a recount of much of what happened to the Israelites, he says here in Deuteronomy 16 verse 1, observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. He brought you out of Egypt by night. That couldn't have been the same night he said, stay in your house until morning. It had to be at soonest the following night.

And that's exactly what happened. We note very carefully the 14th day of that first month, because exactly when it begins is when we celebrate the Passover. And exactly when it ends begins the celebration of the days of Unleavened Bread. And I turn back to Exodus 12 and verse 42.

We have a reminder of what God told the ancient Israelites.

Exodus 12, 42 says, it is a night of solemn observance to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. It is a night of the Lord, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generation. We call it a night to be much observed, celebrated right at the beginning of the days of Unleavened Bread, which is when God brought the Israelites out.

One of the reasons I want to emphasize this, you might say, didn't you start the sermon by saying these are Christian days, and all you're talking about is these Israelites and what they did back then. But it's worth noting, Jesus Christ celebrated the Passover ceremony with His disciples at exactly the correct time, even though many of the Jews in the community around Him for some reason had gotten the day confused, like many Christian peoples today, or many who call themselves. But they kept it right there at the beginning of the 14th day, and then on that day that is the 14th, Christ was crucified. He was put on trial, He was humiliated, He was embarrassed, He was eventually killed, and He was put into the grave in time to be there before the Holy Day began. At the time, we as Christians celebrated the night to be much observed.

So, we appreciate the great miracles that God worked delivering the Israelites out of slavery. I wonder, a memorial to that, to God bringing our forefathers out of Egypt, would have been enough reason to say, well, we're going to keep celebrating this. We do a number of things like that. We celebrate Thanksgiving here in the United States, looking back to the blessings God gave to our forefathers, and appreciating the blessings He gives us today. But as Christians, we don't celebrate these days just looking back, of course. We celebrate the much greater meaning that they have for us in our lives. Now, as I say that, sometimes it might seem a little difficult, or sometimes you might say, well, what exactly does this symbolize? What does it mean? But I would say, the sacrifice of the Passover is one that almost nobody has to worry about getting confused. It's pretty clear. I'm not going to turn there, but in the Gospel of John, John 1 and verse 29, if you're noting it, where John the Baptist was baptizing in the Jordan River, and Christ came, and what's the one thing He said? Or the first thing He said when He saw Him approaching, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And, of course, the Apostle John was very careful to be noting that in his epistle, 1 John 1 and verse 7. I will turn there, although it's very brief.

I need to remember 1 John comes later than 1 and 2 Peter. 1 John chapter 1 and verse 7 says, If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.

We see references here and there throughout the New Testament reminding us that Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God. In Revelation, it refers to Him as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. But if you'll turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 5, God inspired the Apostles.

Paul, to make what I think is easily the clearest statement of the meanings of Passover, and as well, also tells us a bit about unleavened bread.

1 Corinthians chapter 5 beginning in verse 7.

Therefore purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. And that might have been a message he was giving. Of course, he was writing a letter, but if you were standing up as I am on the first day of unleavened bread, it'd be like I could talk to you and say, well, you are unleavened. You've gotten the leaven out. And he says, For indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. That's the meaning of that day. And knowing that, he says, therefore, let's keep the feast. Not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness. So not with physical leavening, but even more so, not with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

This passage tells us the basic essence of the meaning of Passover and unleavened bread. And as I said, Passover is the most clear and most understandable.

It reminds us that back in Egypt, thousands of years ago, when God killed the firstborn throughout the land, but spared the firstborn of those who had slaughtered a lamb and struck its blood on their doorposts and lentil, that lamb and its blood symbolized Jesus Christ and his blood.

And I say that lamb, although if you think about it, there were hundreds, probably thousands, of lambs being slaughtered at that same time. Every one of them symbolized Jesus Christ.

Moreover, through the hundreds, thousands of years since then, every single year, lambs were slaughtered. And they always were symbolic of Jesus Christ. And I say that because sometimes people say, well, see, the Jews were doing this thing, they killed the lamb, and then when Christ was going to be sacrificed, they said, oh, this sort of matches up. We could transfer the meaning as though they thought of it later. But that'd be ridiculous. God planned it from the beginning. When he told Moses, tell the children of Israel to set aside a lamb on the 10th day, it was symbolic of Christ right from the start. Of course, I'm saying this as though you didn't already know that. But keep in mind, this is a review of something we want to realize. Now, if you'll turn with me towards Hebrews, the book of Hebrews chapter 10, with that knowledge of all those lambs symbolizing Jesus Christ so many times through the years, it's good to remind us that even though lambs were sacrificed yearly many times, the actual sacrifice of our Savior only had to happen once. And Hebrews 10 and verse 10 says, By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. He didn't have to be sacrificed many times, not once a year or anything like that. A couple of pages over in chapter 12 of Hebrews, the author of Hebrews, who I believe was Paul, writing in a slightly different style because of who he was addressing, Hebrews 12 beginning in verse 12 says, Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down on the feeble knees.

I'm not sure if I'm reading the right... Oh, no, no.

I have my notes incorrect, I think. No, I wanted to stay in chapter 10. You know what? I'm going to make a correction here in case I ever use these notes again. It's Hebrews 10 and verse 12. Ignore the man behind the curtain saying these bad things.

It says, This man, after he had offered one sacrifice, four sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till his enemies are made his footstool, for by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

Okay, we understand that, but what a wonderful thing to know. And we celebrated that a couple nights ago, or night before last, when we kept the Passover reminding ourselves of that sacrifice.

Now, since we're focusing on that, I think it's worth it. I just want to say in passing that we could look at the entire sacrificial system and show how all of those sacrifices pointed to and symbolized the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ that removes sin. And I've been intrigued, as I said, I've been privileged to get to teach the Pentateuch class at Ambassador College. And as we go through it, I start seeing more and more understanding of different aspects of the sacrifices representing Christ's sacrifice.

But I find it interesting and intriguing and also frustrating because I can't point to other scriptures that outline every one of those parallels, like we can with the Passover sacrifice. So we're left to some degree of speculation of what aspect of the sacrificial system represents what in Christ's sacrifice.

But maybe that's purposeful. Maybe God wants us to dig in and spend some time studying and thinking about it. But since we're focused on just Passover and Unleavened Bread today, I'll just leave that as maybe a hint, a thought that it could be worth studying some through Leviticus and Numbers and looking for meaning in those days.

But the scripture tells us pretty clearly. We read in 1 Corinthians that that broken bread that we take in the Passover ceremony, that represents Christ's body. And the wine we drink represents Christ's blood.

So let's leave that and move on to the symbolism of the Days of Unleavened Bread.

As the symbolism of Passover is pretty clear and easy, the Days of Unleavened Bread is, I always think of it as mostly clear and mostly easy, but there's some mystery. Well, I'd say it's not clouded in mystery, but questions come up sometimes.

And a person might have questions that are worth addressing. And I say that I think, you know, if you were an Israelite in ancient Egypt, imagine you were there and you watched Moses and Aaron marching off to Pharaoh's palace, and you know they had some words, and then afterwards some terrible thing would happen. Frogs come out of the river. Hailstones fall. It keeps going on and on, and eventually you're told to set aside that lamb and sacrifice it, and you're told, you know, and you, I would say for these ancient peoples, sacrifice, you know, blood sacrifice for redemption was something they had some understanding of, even those who were caught up totally in paganism. So they might have said, okay, this killing this lamb is representing covering sin and being reconciled to God.

But then they might look and say, well, I found some of this in my brief. What about this stuff? You know, what in the world? I understand blood for sin, but what's this supposed to mean?

Okay, well, let's talk about some of that. Exodus 12 in verse 39. I'm going to go back to Exodus and spend some time there. Exodus 12 in verse 39 says, they baked unleavened cakes of dough, which they had, which they had brought out of Egypt for. It was not leaven because they were driven out of Egypt and they could not wait, nor they prepared provisions for themselves. Let's skip ahead to chapter 13 and look at some of the instructions. Chapter 13 in verse 7 says, unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days, and no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters, and you shall tell your son in that day, saying, this is done. Why? Because of what the Lord did for me when I came up out of Egypt. As a matter of fact, let's drop down to verse 14 to remind us again. It said, it shall be when your son asks you in time to come saying, what's this? You know, why are we doing this? Why are we throwing out our sourdough and we can't have normal bread? And you'll say to him, by strength of hand, the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. By strength of hand. You can make a side reference, if you like, in Deuteronomy 16, again, when Moses was recounting Deuteronomy 16 verses 3 and 4, there's a link between getting rid of leaven and instead of eating unleavened bread. God links that to leaving Egypt. And there he calls it the bread of affliction. And again, how many of you really love these things? Okay, so you probably don't call it the bread of affliction. How much would you love it if there was no such thing as butter? Okay, well good for you. I like them with a little butter and salt and some other things. Now, well, I'm going to come back to a thought I've got here in my notes. But remember what we read the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 8, where he called leavened malice and wickedness. Malice and wickedness. Which, what is wickedness? Well, you already know we often equate the leavening during these days of unleavened bread. We equate it with sin and symbolic action. Let's turn to Hebrews 11. I want to, sorry, I'm going back and forth between Exodus and Hebrews, but two of my favorite books. Hebrews 11 verse 24 speaks of Moses making a decision. Hebrews 11, 24, by faith, Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Choosing, he made a choice, he had two directions to go, rather to suffer affliction with the people of God. So the bread of affliction, the unleavened bread, he chose that rather than enjoy the passing pleasure of sin. He esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, where he looked to the reward. So there's a pretty clear contrast. Treasures of Egypt, being with Christ, or being with the, or you could say passing pleasures of sin, or being with the people of God. And there's where I think it supports our explanation that we've said during the days of unleavened bread, not the other 51 weeks of the year, leavening is a picture of sin, symbolic of sin. And it makes sense then to say that the Israelites coming out of Egypt served as a symbol for what? For us coming out of a life of sin. It's not just an Old Testament thing. It's central to what God called us to do. I want to turn to Romans, if you're still in Hebrews, we're not too far away this time. Romans chapter 6, and I'll begin reading in verse 16.

Romans 6 and verse 16, and by the way, Romans is considered Paul's great theological treatise, where he really talks about what, you know, God is working and how it applies to us. Says, do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves? Even you could be a slave in Egypt working for taskmasters, or here, whether of sin leading to death, you can be enslaved to sin, or of obedience leading to righteousness. He goes on in verse 17 to say, God be thanked, though you were slaves of sin, yet you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered, and having been set free from sin, you became slaves to righteousness, and that's no slavery at all. He said, I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh, for just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness and of lawlessness, leading to more on lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. When you are slaves to sin, you are free in regard to righteousness. You can't be in sin and in righteousness. But what fruit did you have in the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death, as it says at the end of this chapter, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Backing up to verse 22, though, he says, but now having been set free from sin, having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, the goal, the result, everlasting life. This makes sense, then, as I said. Those Israelites coming out of Egypt was a symbol, and I believe God intended it to be a symbol all along of what he's called Christians to do today. To come out of a life that's the opposite of God's way, a life of lawlessness or breaking His law, as 1 John 3, 4 says. One of the first scriptures my grandma had me memorize when I was a little boy is, sin is the transgression of the law.

We come out of that and come into a new way of life. We come out of a way of sin.

That's perhaps the major symbol. Now, it's worth noting and remembering.

There were a couple of times I've read over it where it says they didn't have time to let their dough rise. They came out of Egypt in haste. I don't think that's just an accident, even though we would say we don't eat unleavened bread just because the Israelites were in a hurry when they left Egypt. We would want to eat unleavened bread because it represents sin. But it also makes sense when you understand what is sin, the way of life that corrupts and brings death, you want to get out of that as quickly as possible. You don't say, well, I'm going to set a plan where over the next five years I'll gradually stop sinning. Stop right now! Give it up! Quit! A thought popped into my mind, and I'm not sure if it's the best reference, but I've used this sometimes with my students. There was a movie that came out back in the... I'm not sure it was the 80s or 90s, it's called When Harry Met Sally, a romantic comedy. I don't remember all the details, but near the end when the man and woman come together and they realize they love each other, she says, why did you run here? He's all out of breath. He said, well, when you realize who you want to spend the rest of your life with, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.

And I think if you realize you want the rest of your life to be a life free of sin, you want the rest of your life to start in haste. So we want to come out. That's this great symbolism that we have, I think. Now, there's other with leaven that is not explicit in Scripture, but I think it's worth at least remembering that the leaven, the way it works, it permeates whatever it's in. Remember the phrase, a little leaven leavens the whole lump. So I don't mean to overlook that, that a little yeast gets into that dough and it changes the dough's very nature.

And that can represent the insidious nature of sin. As sin is left in our life, it'll spread, it'll grow. Parts where we got it out, it'll get back into. And it works that way, you know, not just with live yeast, but baking soda or other chemicals that are mixed in. They chemically alter the substance. And we've had messages on those that we don't want to forget. But that symbolism for our lives is that a characteristic of Christians should be that they don't sin. That that's not the way of life that we choose. We don't practice sin. We don't continue in it willfully. If you still have your Bible open to Romans 6, I want to begin at the start of the chapter. Romans 6 and verse 1, he says, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Paul was countering an argument. Some people were saying, God loves to forgive sin. So if you want to make God happy, sin a bunch. So He can forgive you and He'll be happy. And Paul is saying, that's ridiculous. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not. How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life. That's that new life, a new different way of life, one of not sinning, but instead living God's way by His law.

So during this festival, as a symbol of the new way of life that we have that's not to include sin, we get leaven out of our houses. You know, we get it out of our cars, out of our offices. As I said, it was probably so much easier for the ancient Israelites. Get that out, throw it out, you're done.

Well, I tend to eat lunch at my desk. You know, I pack peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and then there's my computer keyboard with crumbs all through it. I've got to go to work to get that out.

And I think there's something to that. Have you ever wondered why does the Days of Unleavened Bread last seven days? We get these other holy days. Pentecost, one day. Trumpets, one day. Atonement, aren't you glad? It's one day. Imagine if we had a week-long festival where we fast.

You know, now, the Feast of Tabernacles does last seven, but we understand it represents the thousand-year reign of Christ. I want seven days to celebrate that. Why does the Days of Unleavened Bread? And I'll be honest, in searching the Scriptures, I haven't found one that says, this is the reason. So it's not stated explicitly, but I think we can derive some understanding. You know, if you look at the lives of the people in the Bible, you look at the lives of Christians around us, I look at my own life, and one thing I've realized is getting sin out of a person's life takes a little time. It doesn't happen like that. You know, despite the fact that we're trying to do it in haste, you know, it seems that despite the effort it takes us to D-11 our homes, and I think it's good that it takes us some time and effort. You know, that time when you're running the vacuum cleaner, you know, for me, ever since I was 12 years old, my job has been to do the cars. Did my mom's car when I wasn't old enough to have my own. Then when I got my own, had to do my car in, mom's car. And so now I carry it on. I do my car and I do Sue's car. But when I'm in there climbing under the seats with a shop vac is, you have time to think. You know, I don't know how many sermonettes I've written in my mind while I'm vacuuming because you just start thinking, oh, here's another analogy of how these crumbs, you know, and how they get everywhere and how hard it is to get them out. But then, even when it's done, you've all got the stories, right? Partway through the week. Matter of fact, this morning, Sue pulls out a little container out of Connor's church bag, and there's graham crackers in it. You know, you always find something, or partway through the week, you're looking for some ice cream in the back of the freezer. There's that bright colored box that has one frozen waffle in it.

Or, I love the story Sue tells. One day, she's driving, you know, her car during the un-living break. She hits her brakes in a hurry, and out from under her seat rolls this tube of Pillsbury biscuits. Who keeps biscuits under their seat? Well, nobody does, and she doesn't normally. So, it's good to hell in the world. But, you know, you find a sin in your life, and you're thinking, I didn't know that was there. How could that possibly have been there?

But that's the way it is. You know, we discover sin hidden. Things we didn't know, or we just didn't see. And I'll tell one on myself, because I've shared it with my students and other people a number of times, but I can't remember exactly when this was. But when I was a younger man, before I was married to Sue, and I don't know how old of it, I remember at one point thinking, you know, I've got faults, I've got problems, but one thing I've got down pretty good is I'm patient.

It seemed, you know, I actually was patting myself on the back about how patient a person I was, and I'm sure God was listening to that, and he said, now let me open your eyes. It seemed soon after that, I started realizing, oh, maybe not. Maybe I'm not as patient as I thought. And then I got married, and I learned I have to live with another person who doesn't do everything the way I do it, or when I want it done. Then a little later, we had a child. And when in life, I needed patience the most, I discovered I had just a tiny little bit. So what I had was, at one point, vanity and pride. Like that waffle, that frozen waffle in the back of the freezer, I'd overlooked it. I was blind to it. And God helped me see it, and I'm still working on it. I don't claim now that I'm a patient person. I'm embarrassed that I'm not more patient. But as I said, I think that's one reason the Days of Unleavened Bread does last a week. God is showing us it takes time to get sin out of your life. It takes the rest of your life. We're not going to be done until we're spirit beings. And so we've got time to learn this lesson. Fortunately, God, during that process, is patient and merciful. I'm turning to 1 John chapter 2. 1 John 2. I'll read the first couple verses. John writes, My little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin. Again, Christians aren't supposed to sin. And if anyone sins, he could have written, when anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he himself is the propitiation for our sins. Not for ours only, but for the whole world. That word propitiation, when I was younger, that's another... Back when I thought I had patience, I wondered what the world is propitiation mean. But one of its definitions is, it's the thing that makes things right. It's the sacrifice that pays the bill, so to speak. Jesus Christ did that. And this reminds us, even though we're going to spend the rest of our physical lives trying to get sin out, we can be forgiven for that sin. Remember Peter going to Christ and saying, how many times shall my brother forgive me? Or how many times shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Seven times? How 70 times seven? And I wonder if that might have been in one day, because he said if he keeps coming against you in the one day. But we have this promise. Matter of fact, if you back up to the Scripture shortly before what I read in chapter 1 of 1 John, chapter 1 verse 9, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And that should make the days of unleavened bread very encouraging. And make it easier to eat the dry matzos if you're not a big fan of them. Or what was it? When I came to the church, it was matzos and rycrisps, and I don't know if we had anything else. I don't know if people who like matzos still might choke on rycrisps.

But it's encouraging. Okay, we've got the rest of our lives that God is working with us in patient. Now, we're supposed to come out in haste, not, as I said, set up a 10-year program to gradually eliminate sin. We want to do it right away, but we still have an advocate that will forgive us. But I've only covered half of the picture, though. If leavened pictures sin that we get rid of, can we be specific about the symbolism of the unleavened bread that we do eat?

Now, Paul has given us something to go on. Back in 1 Corinthians 5, verse 8, he referred to the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I sometimes got stuck at that scripture with not looking at others and saying, is that it? Sincerity and truth. Now, these are really good traits, but if I were looking at other lists of other positive traits for Christians, I might think Paul wrote in Galatians 5, 20 and 22. Anyways, the fruits of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace. I didn't write that down in my notes. Love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control. Shouldn't those be attached to unleavened bread as well? I mean, they're not mutually exclusive to unleavened bread, to malice and sincerity and truth. I should look at my notes and see what I'm supposed to be saying.

Well, I think we can't look for greater meaning. We know that during the Passover ceremony, we pray, we ask God's blessing on that unleavened bread and we break it, and we're very clearly clear. We understand very clearly that that represents Christ's body. As we went through here in this very room the other night. And we also have some understanding of what Christ said in John 6. I do want to turn there. John 6 and verse 53, where we get the greater understanding of what unleavened bread represents. At least, we know for sure during the Passover ceremony, Jesus said to them, Most assuredly I say to you, Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. But whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. I'll raise him up at the last day.

Now, we understand Christ was speaking symbolically. In the Passover ceremony, the wine and the bread represent his blood and his body. They're not the actual substance. Contrary to the Roman Catholic teaching of transubstantiation, that somehow they're magically changed. The symbolism is enough.

But is that symbolism finished when the Passover is finished? I went out of my way to say 14 does not equal 15. So we're in a new festival.

So what's the symbolism there? Well, it doesn't end. In this chapter, let's go to verse 48.

Christ didn't just say at one time, he expounded.

John 6, 48, Jesus Christ said, I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and are dead. That manna didn't give them eternal life. It sustained their physical lives. But speaking of himself, the bread of life, he says in verse 50, this is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.

May have eternal life. He said again, I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he'll live forever. And the bread that I'll give is my flesh, which I'll give for the life of the world.

Now, it seems to say the same thing we've already covered.

But if we put this with some other scriptures, I think we can see a greater meaning, that richer symbolism than we might overlook of. You know, there's something more than just his body given as a sacrifice.

And I think the more is related to what I said, that ongoing process of Christians, as we're getting sin out of our lives, we're also growing and maturing. If you will, let's go back to Romans.

I have us turning to a lot of scriptures, but that's my job.

Romans 5, beginning in verse 8, if you will.

Because we see that Christ didn't just die and stop there.

And that's something whenever I counseled someone for baptism, I make a point that there's symbolism in going under the water. There's also symbolism in coming back out, which is a really good thing. If we put people under the water and kept them there, the next thing they'd be looking forward to is the resurrection.

Romans 5, 8, it says, God demonstrates His own love toward us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son. So Christ's death pays for our past sins. Much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. We want to be saved by His life. We're reconciled by His death. That pays the penalty.

But as we read by Paul earlier, we don't have God's grace. We don't have His forgiveness, so that we can continue in sin.

But we have to walk in newness of life, become new people.

People who don't sin.

We want to become people who don't even want to sin. And how in the world do we do that with our humanity? With Satan tempting us and leading us? With life of habits? Well, I think we see partly... Well, we see answers many places. I want to read Galatians 2 and verse 20.

Galatians 2, 20 is one that sticks in my memory. One of my favorite instructors when I was a student ambassador said this was his favorite scripture. And that was enough to make me say, I need to pay attention to it. Paul said in Galatians 2 verse 20, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

That's the way each of us becomes that new person. A person who doesn't sin. A person who doesn't want to be in the flesh. A person who doesn't sin. A person who doesn't want to sin. We do it by Christ living in us.

And that happens through Christ dwelling in us by the Holy Spirit. I'm going to go back to Romans again. I should have told you to set a marker in Romans because we're going there. Romans 8 and verse 9.

Of course, I need to remember I don't have to rush to do this. We've got until sundown, right? Well, the Holy Day lasts until sundown. We don't need to speak that long. I'm going to have to be like Paul and have someone fall asleep and fall from the rafters.

Romans 8 and verse 9 says, You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit.

How? If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. If anyone doesn't have the Spirit of Christ, he's not his. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Here we see the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ is used interchangeably because it's the same Spirit. In other places, I believe in Ephesians, it says, The Spirit proceeds from the Father, but the Spirit comes through Christ. It's that same Spirit.

If you want to jot this down, I won't turn there, but in 1 John 3 and verse 24, in 1 John 3 and 24, it says, Hereby we know that he abides in us. That is, that Christ lives in us by the Spirit which he's given us.

And that's a point we need to make that it's the Spirit isn't a separate person, which the Trinity doctrine says it is and it isn't at the same time, but the Spirit is an aspect of God, God the Father and Jesus Christ. So when the Spirit is in us, we have God dwelling in us. We read through much of John chapter 14 and 15 and 16, where that last night when Christ spent with his disciples, he was explaining that this Holy Spirit, this paraclete, a helper, a comforter would come to them. And he said, the Father and I will make our abode in you, will live in you. But he meant that the Holy Spirit would dwell in us. And that's what we have.

But do we just get the Spirit when we're baptized and have hands laid on us and we have it?

It reminds me, I carry one of these. When I was baptized, I remember the hand to be a little black book with the ceremonies and a vial of oil. I said, you're an elder now, you have this. And I just had the vial.

But I don't think it's like that with the Holy Spirit. We don't just have it, and it's an accessory we carry around.

Philippians 1 verse 19.

Well, I will turn there. Not too far away. Philippians 1 verse 19 says, I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit, as mentioned, is being supplied.

And another reference that I won't turn to, 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 19, Paul urges us to not quench the Holy Spirit. So we think of it, I think it's well symbolized sometimes as water. Water flows. And if the spigot is turned off, it stops flowing. So we need a continual supply of that Holy Spirit. It needs to continually be renewed.

And perhaps that's why Jesus Christ referred to himself as the bread that comes down from heaven. If you note it, in John chapter 6 and verse 50, he used present tense.

Even though in the next verse he used past tense. Jesus Christ did come from heaven in the flesh, but he also, through the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, is coming from heaven.

That reminds me of a lesson that I make that comes from in the General Pistols class. If you'll turn with me to 1 John chapter 4.

1 John chapter 4 and verse 2.

And keep in mind, the reason I'm emphasizing this is that the meaning of these days is very Christian. It's very New Testament.

There are nifty stories in the Old Testament that help us understand it, but it always represented these things.

Now, when John wrote his epistles, he was the last surviving of the original apostles. Some strange false teaching, heresy, was creeping into the church.

Some of these became known as what we call Gnosticism later.

These people, one of the false teachings they came up with was saying that, well, physical flesh is all evil. Terrible. It's bad. But Spirit is all good.

Since God is Spirit, he wouldn't have anything to do with evil flesh.

They even, based on this, came up with a doctrine that Christ didn't really come in the flesh.

They began having teachings that he was just an apparition. He looked like he was flesh, but like when he walked across the beach, he didn't leave footprints. He didn't really die and be crucified because God couldn't become flesh. I mean, this very utterly terrible false teaching. And that's why you see John mentioning we touched him. We handled him. He had flesh and bones. And he writes here in 1 John 4, verse 2, 2 By this you know the Spirit of God. Every Spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.

So, he said, not only did Christ become flesh and blood, there's some more meaning to this. Where it says the words, has come, the Greek word that's translated, has come, is erkomei. I love saying that. Erkomei reminds me of the old game as kids, mother mei, but it has nothing to do with that. But erkomei, Greek scholars point out, is a present tense verb that is almost used, always used in the imperfect present tense, which to me, I'm not sure what that means.

Well, I have an idea of what it means. I've heard teachers say that this should have been translated, Jesus Christ having been coming in the flesh.

Having been coming, meaning it's something that happened, but it is continuing to happen.

He came in the flesh as a human being, but through the Spirit dwelling in us, He's continuing to come into our flesh.

And I think, you know, if that's the case, if Christ is coming progressively, and that explains what Paul wrote in Galatians 2.20, where he said, the life I live, I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

And 1 John 3.24, I didn't read that before, but we're right here now, says, He who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in Him.

By this we know that He abides in us by the Spirit which He's given us.

And if that Spirit is Christ dwelling in us, a supply of it, then it's easy to make the parallel with... I can't find it. Unleavened bread. When Christ said, I am the bread of life, He's made the case that, okay, just like you need food on an ongoing basis to preserve a physical life, so we need Christ dwelling in us through the Spirit to preserve physical life. And Mr. Burton pointed out in the sermon, or in the Passover service, that when we eat bread, our body digests it, and it becomes part of us.

Just even so, when Christ is dwelling in us, He becomes a part of us. He's the bread of life.

And so, it comes back to that point. When Christ, as the God who spoke to the ancient Israelites in the Old Testament, told them, for seven days, eat unleavened bread, He knew that was a symbol of, for the rest of your life, you Christians need to take in the Spirit of God. You need to have Jesus Christ living in you to become new creations.

Funny, I'm looking at the clock saying now, do we normally have two-hour services or 90-minute services here? So, you don't mind if I go a little bit longer.

And so, this comes up when I travel with the ABC choir, because we visit different congregations. Some have 120 minutes, some have 90 minutes. Well, I had a sort of a side, not a side point. I think it's one that's important, because with this understanding, a question has come up in the church and people have differing interpretations. If we have to get rid of the leavening, it's easy to not, to understand that that crosses all seven days.

Some people have said, well, does that mean since for seven days we're taking an unleavened bread, do I have to make sure I eat a piece of it every single day? And some people have said, well, yes, you have to eat a piece of that. Others have said, well, no, it just means whatever you eat, bread, or food during unleavened bread, it has to be unleavened. I believe for many years the leadership of the church taught that.

Not that you designate each 24-hour period, but during that one week, whatever bread you eat needs to be unleavened. Why do we have this question? Partly because the ancient Hebrew isn't entirely clear. It leaves room to interpret it both ways. And it's funny, I was talking to a minister at the home office who was on the Council of Elders. He said, we discussed this, and we argued in disgust, and we beat it fine, and we conjugated the Hebrew verbs. And so what we came down to is just going by what the Scripture says.

And that is, for seven days, eat unleavened bread. We can agree on that. For a one-week period, eat unleavened bread. But to be honest, I think one reason maybe we've had some disagreement is perhaps a more narrow view of what bread is, or unleavened bread. You know, we know that Christ gave a model sermon when His disciples came and said, teach us to pray, as John the Baptist taught His disciples. And He said, you know, pray, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.

And at one point, He said, give us this day our daily bread. Now, we understand when He said, give us this day our daily bread, He meant our regular food supply. I even generalize it sometimes, teaching that to say, give us our daily needs, the things that we have need of. He didn't mean, each day, give me a loaf of wonder bread.

Which, how long has it been since any of you have eaten wonder bread? It's funny, it's not that common in the church. I still say, grilled cheese sandwiches are best made out of white bread, with margarine and American processed cheese. It's not healthy at all. What I'm getting at is, it might be, might do well to consider, what do we consider bread and not bread? Now, if He said, give us this day our daily bread, He meant our food supply. But still, I don't want to go so far as to say, it's the days of unleavened food in general.

It's bread. Bread is usually made from flour of some type, made into a dough and then, usually, it's baked. But, you know, does it have to be a particular type of grain? Usually, our bread's made out of wheat, but there's rye bread, there's, what, corn bread.

I've even heard of potato bread. I think, you know, in ancient Israel, for 40 years, they were using manna. Manna's not a grain. I don't think it's, well, it's, what is it? That's why they call it manna.

But they made bread out of it. I guess they were able to make leavened bread and able to make unleavened bread. You know, that might leave room for what we consider to be bread. You know, donuts. Don't eat donuts during unleavened bread. They're made of dough put in a deep fryer. They're not baked. Pancakes made with batter poured on a griddle. They still rise so we don't eat those. Bagels. Bagels are boiled, then baked.

But I thought, you know, if all of these are considered leavened bread that we don't eat during unleavened bread, well, maybe we could look at some of the alternatives. If corn bread is leavened bread, are corn tortillas unleavened bread? You know, we don't eat the donuts in their deep fried.

If I deep fry some corn chips, and I tend to eat some of those pretty often. I love chips. Does that count as unleavened bread, whether salsa or not? If bagels are leavened bread, can we count pasta as unleavened bread? And I'm saying in the form of a question, I don't want to say it is a definitive, I like to pose questions. My point is, we could think beyond just these. If we go beyond that, we might find, oh, we're all eating unleavened bread every day, whether or not we have a conviction that we have to eat a piece, you know, do you have a conviction you have to eat a piece of this every day?

Or can it be some other form of unleavened bread? And please understand, I'm not trying to make this a form of a doctrinal statement. So I said, the council of elders studied very diligently, and they tried to come to an agreement, and they agreed on the statement of the scripture, for seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread.

And that means there's a little room to say, okay, how do I fulfill that? Many are moved by conscious, you know, to say, I've got to eat a piece of matzo or rykrisp each day, you know, and I generally eat something every day anyways, like I said, whether I'm trying to or not. What matters most? Well, I'd say what matters most is looking at that symbolism, to partake of the living bread every day. Jesus Christ should be part of our life. We need to partake of Him through that supply of the Holy Spirit. That I would never want to go a day without. And that's one reason I try to make it a part of my prayer every day, to say, please renew your spirit in me. Help me to not quench it. So, as I said, I don't want to make a doctrinal statement about how often we eat unleavened bread or what exactly it is. But I do want to make the point that, you know, the meaning of these days are that we're living a life without sin. And we're living a life where Jesus Christ becomes part of us and we become His brothers. We become sons of God.

So, I could say, yes, we're meeting on a date that's designated by the Hebrew calendar. Dates thoroughly described in the Pentateuch and kept rigorously by Orthodox Jews.

But we are Christians. We're disciples of Jesus Christ. Sons of God the Father who called us and brought us to Christ. And we're reconciled to the Father by the blood of Jesus Christ.

And as such, we observe these days. They're full of deep, rich meaning for us as Christians.

So, I would echo what the Apostle Paul said to the congregation in Corinth, that knowing all that we do, let us keep the feast.