The Deepest Meaning of Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread

I'd like to give a sermon today. That's actually going to be my last sermon before the spring holy days this year. Next Sabbath we're going to have a couple of very inspiring split sermons. So we're looking forward to that. But as we approach the Passover this year, I believe that we should talk about what it truly means. What the Passover truly means at its deepest level.

We know, of course, that God is our Creator, and that He's our Sustainer, that He's our Provider, and that He's our Redeemer. God is our Yahweh. And that is a biblical relationship. And you know what? If we want to have that kind of a relationship with God, to know Him as Yahweh, know Him as our Creator and Sustainer and Provider and Redeemer, it is good that we have that kind of a relationship. But, brethren, God offers more. We also know that God is a family. God is a Father. God is a Son. God is bringing more children, adopting more children into that family relationship. And that's a wonderful quality, and it's biblical. And if we want to have the relationship of God as a Father and a Son, that's good. That's wonderful. It comes from Scriptures.

But because of what Jesus Christ did, God offers us much more.

God wants us to be His Friend. He wants to be our Friend. The truth is, is that you are as close to God as you choose to be.

And for the sermon today, I would like to explore the deepest meaning of what the Passover is all about. And that is a deeper relationship than just acknowledging now way as a Creator and Sustainer and Redeemer and Provider, which is certainly true. A much deeper relationship between just a Father and a Son, because, you know, there are families that have distant relationships. Just because you're a family member doesn't mean you're a friend. I have cousins, and I have people that are members of my family that I usually only see at funerals. They're family, but they are distant relations.

So God wants to go beyond that. And He wants to become our Friend. And He wants us to become His Friend.

The concept of being an intimate Friend with God is certainly not anything that's new. Let's see where it began in Genesis, Chapter 5 and verse 21. If you'll turn there with me. Genesis, Chapter 5 and verse 21.

It says that Enoch lived 65 years in Beget Methuselah. After he Beget Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were 365 years. And Enoch walked with God. And he was not, for God took him.

Now the thing that I want to point out in this verse is that the word used for walk is the same as we discovered a few sermons that go regarding Noah.

It's the Hebrew word halak, and it means to travel and be conversant. It means you walk next to someone side by side and you communicate with them. It's like maybe you and your spouse are taking a walk in the yard or around the neighborhood. And you're side by side and you're conversing and you're communicating. You're sharing each other's thoughts and ideas and time. That's what this Hebrew word means. Both Enoch and Noah were friends with God. They walked with him.

Now that's important for us to understand because, again, being a family member is different than being a friend. Family member is good, but God doesn't want you to be a distant relation.

God wants you not only to be part of his family, but he wants you to be his friend.

Let's take a look at a statement made by Job in Job, chapter 29, beginning in verse 1. Being a friend means you share a deep level of love and mutual trust. That is the kind of relationship that God wants to have with us.

As we examine ourselves for the Passover this year, I'd like you to ask yourself, am I a friend with God or am I a distant relation? Oh, yes, I may have been baptized. I may have received the Holy Spirit. I may be a child of God, but am I God's friend or am I a distant relation?

In Job, chapter 29, we of course know the terrible things that happened to Job. Virtually everything he had was taken away from him. He was struggling with some issues. And here's what he said as he looked back on what he called the prime of his life. Chapter 29, verse 1. Job further continued his discourse and said, Oh, that I were as in the months past, as in the days when God watched over me, when his lamp shone upon my head and when his light I walked and when by his light I walked through darkness, just as it was in the days of my prime, when the friendly counsel of God was over my tent, when the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were around me, when my steps were bathed with cream and the rock poured out rivers of oil for me. So Job says, I long again, when I was in my prime, and when was his prime? When he was a friend with God, when they had a friendly counsel together. I've tried, of course, the Hebrew words here, a little bit of hyperbole, but when his steps were bathed with cream, life was good. You know, cream was something that was cherished. It would be the best of the milk that would rise. And you didn't have a lot of cream normally, so to have so much cream that it literally bathed your steps meant that you had a good life. You had it all. You were richly blessed. To have olive oil that would flow like rivers of oil for you was a sign of wealth. It was a sign of contentment. The New International Version says in verse 4, Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God's intimate friendship blessed my house. Job longed for a time when, once again, he could be a friend of God. The good news, of course, is that after his trials were over, as revealed in the book, that relationship was once again restored. So we see that, by example, Enoch walked with God. He was a friend with God. We see that Job longed for the days, and once again he would have friendly counsel with God. Let's take a look at another example in Exodus 33 and verse 8. Because Moses also became a friend of God. Exodus 33, beginning in verse 8. It says, So that is the kind of relationship that was developing here. But Moses wanted more. Let's continue here.

He says, Talk to me, God. I need to know more about what's going on. I need help here. I'm under a lot of stress. I'm under a lot of burden. Who are you going to send to help me with this burden that you've given me? He says, So, Moses desired a deep relationship with God where God would even share with him God's plan. God would tell him what was going to go on. God was going to tell him he was going to communicate with him more than he had ever been able to do before. Moses wanted to be a close friend of God's. He was under tremendous stress and burdens, shepherding God's people. And he said, I need to know more about your plans. I need to have a deeper relationship with you. And that was so important for Moses because he desired and became a friend of God's and they talked face to face. Let's take a look at another example of someone who is God's friend. If you turn to 2 Chronicles 20, verse 5. This is what we might call a sermonette that Joseph is giving in the house of the Lord because he's terrified. It's a time when the armies of Moab and Ammon and other nations had all combined and were heading to destroy Judah. So he's terrified. He's afraid. And this is what he says in 2 Chronicles chapter 20, verse 5. It says in Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court and said, O God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven and do not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? And in your hand there is not power and light so that no one is able to withstand you? Are you not our God who drove out the inhabitants of the land before your people Israel and gave it to the descendants of Abraham, your friend forever? He says, O God, have mercy on us. We're about ready to be beat to a pulp.

Your little struggling nation of Judah is about to be invaded. Please remember the promises you made to your friend Abraham. And why did God make those promises to Abraham? Because Abraham and God had become friends. Continuing, he said, and give it to the descendants of Abraham, your friend, forever, and they dwelt in it. And you have built a sanctuary in your name, saying, if disaster comes upon us, sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this temple and in your presence your name is in this temple. And cry out to you in our affliction and you will hear and say it. And that's exactly what God did. The first time Judah assembled their army together, those other armies had already been ambushed. Dead bodies everywhere. There was so much jewelry on the bodies that it took three days to take all the loot and all the booty away from those dead bodies. So God had heard that prayer. Why? Because they were the descendants of Abraham, God's friend.

If we return, we can't for the sake of time today, but if we were to turn to Isaiah 41 and verse 8, we would see that the prophet refers to Israel as the descendants of Abraham, my friend. The apostle James calls Abraham the friend of God in James 2 and verse 23. So here is yet another example of a friend of God.

Let's take a look at another example. Acts 13, verse 21. We're going to insert ourselves in the very sermon that is given here. Acts 13, verse 21 in the middle of a sermon.

This is Paul's sermon, of course. Acts 13, verse 21.

He says, For from this man's seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior Jesus. After John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. So Paul reminds us, of course, that David was a man after God's own heart. And we know that David was a man of contrast. On one hand, he could be a man of great faith and passion for God. On the other hand, he did some things that were pretty terrible and great sins.

And though the word friend is not directly used, you only need to look at the book of Psalms. And to read some of David's Psalms to know the intimate friendship and kind of relationship that he had with God. The prophet had said to Saul in 1 Samuel 13 when Saul had disqualified himself to be a king.

He said, quote, The Lord has sought for himself a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. And of course, we know through history that that man was David. So David was a man after God's own heart. Again, if you look in the book of Psalms, you'll see a very powerfully written about the relationship they had together. So what we've seen here is that a number of individuals and scriptures had a relationship that was so close to God they could be called his friend.

God would consider them his friend. But how about you and I, brethren? As we approach the Passover season this year, I wish we could fully grasp and comprehend that you and I can have even a deeper relationship with God than these individuals did because of what Jesus Christ did for us as symbolized at the Passover.

We, too, can be friends with God. You can be as close to God as you choose to be. Let's go to John 15, verse 11. It's the evening of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. He's speaking with his disciples. He'll go to the garden. Later on, he'll be arrested. He'll face terrible torture. He'll be crucified to fulfill prophecy. But he has some final words he wants to say to his disciples before all of those events. We could have said a lot of different things to him, but this is what he tells them.

John 15, verse 11. These things I've spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full. So even in spite of persecution, in spite of all the things that were ahead, they were trying to draw upon God's Holy Spirit and be joyful. Verse 12. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, and it'll lay down one's life for his friends. He says, you are my friends. You say, you are more than just my servants. You are more than just obedient worshippers of Yahweh, even though that's good and that's wonderful.

I'm offering you more. You are more than just the children of God. That's good and wonderful, but I'm offering you more. I call you my friends. The deepest possible level that you could possibly have with another being. Jesus said, that's how I consider you if you do whatever I command you.

Verse 15. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing. A servant just does what he's told. It's a relationship based on superiority, command and control, and you tell the servant what to do and they do it. And again, that's okay. But Jesus Christ says, I am willing to offer you so much more.

He says, for all things that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain. So don't bear fruit for a week, don't spiritually grow for a year, don't do a great job for ten years, and then bail out on the church of God and go do your own thing.

The fruit should remain. That whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give you these things I command you that you love one another. The Greek word, of course, here, for friends, is the Greek word phileus, meaning not just a friend, it's the same word used by John the Baptist in John chapter 3 and verse 29.

You may remember when John said, he who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice, speaking of himself. Thus, the joy of mine is fulfilled. You see, in that verse in John 3, 29, the word friend of the bridegroom is phileus. It's the same Greek word. What is John the Baptist saying? He's saying that you can have a relationship with Jesus Christ, you can be just like his best man.

You can be his best friend. You can go beyond a relationship of just worshiping Yahweh, and again, that's fine. You can go far beyond a relationship of being a child of God, and it's possible even then to be a distant relation. Or you can be God's best man. You can have a relationship where you're like the best man at the wedding. How is this possible? What did Jesus Christ do that provided the occasion and this opportunity for you and I to have this friendship with God? Let's go to Matthew 27, verses 45 through 53. Matthew 27, verses 45 through 53.

Final moments of Jesus Christ on the stake or the cross that he was crucified on. It is now from the sixth hour, which was approximately 12 noon, equated to our modern way that we denote time. And to the ninth hour, about 3 p.m., there was a darkness over the land. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama, sabachthani, that is my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Some of those who stood there, when they had heard that, said, This man is calling for Elijah. Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and offered it to him to drink. Of course, the Father turned his head, his glance away from Christ, because Jesus Christ became sin for all of us. At that moment, theologically, he was vile, because he had the sin of all humankind that he had accepted upon himself. That, thankfully, was going to be redeemed because of his shed blood. Verse 49, The rest said, Let him alone, let us see if Elijah will come to save him. And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

And then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the graves after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

Now, we know, of course, that the veil in the temple was that barrier that separated God from everyone. Only symbolically, once a year, was the high priest and the Day of Atonement literally allowed to dress himself up in special garments and to walk through that veil into the presence of God.

And it said at this very moment that Jesus Christ died, that that veil was torn from top to bottom, and it was now open.

Why? Because now you and I could have direct access and have a friendship with God.

We could have an intimacy. We could have a relationship that was not possible for human beings to achieve before because of what Jesus Christ did. His death removed the barrier of our sins and gave us direct access without a priest or minister or needing anyone else to be able to go directly through that curtain and walk right up to God and have a one-on-one.

That changed everything. Again, you could be as close to God as you choose to be. Let's go to Hebrews 10 and verse 18. Hebrews 10 and verse 18. The author of the book of Hebrews, which I believe is my own opinion, is the apostle Paul wrote this. Again, he's talking about the theology of what we have just discussed.

This is now where there is remission of these. There is no longer an offering for sin. Because of the blood of Jesus Christ, we no longer offer bowls and goats. We don't keep the Mosaic law of rituals. Those are obsolete. They've been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Verse 19. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus.

Should we go there timid? Should we approach our friend fearful? Squamish? In an introverted way? Shy? No. The author says having boldness, that is confidence, because of what Jesus Christ did for us. What he made possible, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus to a new and living way, which goes beyond fear of God. The fear of God is a good thing and a healthy thing, and I hope we all fear God. But the relationship we're being offered goes beyond just this great powerful God that we should fear. It goes beyond just our Father. It goes to the deepest level of friendship. By a new and living way, which he consecrated for us through the veil, that is his flesh. So Jesus Christ, his flesh was torn on that cross, and that represented that veil being torn and giving us access directly to our Father. Verse 21, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. That veil is open. Come on in!

Let us draw near to it, and not be afraid, and not remain outside of the curtain in terror or in fear. Again, fear is a wonderful thing, but God is offering us a relationship with him that is based beyond just being fearful of who and what God is.

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. And our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another. And so much the more as you see the day approaching. Of course, that's one reason we observe Sabbath services. We come here, we build each other, and we encourage one another. We exhort one another to carry on. There will be a good soldier for Jesus Christ. So again, because of what Jesus Christ our Passover did, we can go directly to the Father, and we can have the deepest relationship possible. And that is, we can become God's friend, and he will become our friend. It was the torn body of Jesus Christ on the cross that made this all possible. So, how can we become a friend of God? You might say to yourself, well, I've started, I'm on that journey. What are some ways that I can become a deeper friend with God? Well, here are some things that I believe would be helpful for all of us, particularly as we think about the Passover of 2013. Number one, desire friendship with God more than anything else. Desire friendship with God more than anything else. Turn with me to 1 Philippians 3.

When you have a close friend, you can't wait to spend time with them. You receive great joy and satisfaction communicating and sharing things together. Maybe that friend's coming over to watch the game with you. Maybe that friend is coming over to quilt with you.

But you look forward to that period of time. You can't wait! Because that friend means so much to you. And if we want to be friends with God, we have to desire friendship more than anything else.

Philippians 3.8, Paul, looking back in his life, he says, Yet indeed I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. He was a respected rabbi. He gave it up. He was a prominent Jewish individual who could achieve great things.

Perhaps been in the Sanhedrin. He gave it all up. All that he worked for, his education, at the feet of Gamaliel, being respected in his community, he gave it all up. And what did he think of it? He says, And count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ, that I may have a friendship, a relationship with Jesus Christ, and be found in him. How can we be found in him? Well, the deepest level of being found in him is when Jesus Christ says to us, like he said to his disciples on the evening of his death, You are my friends, if you do whatever I command.

And be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith, and that I may know him, not just know of him, and not just hear about him, but that I may know him, that I may be his friend, and have an intimate relationship with friendship, that again goes beyond fear, beyond titles, beyond names, beyond a father-son relationship, to one of intimate friendship.

Paul believed that knowing Christ and gaining Christ was the most important thing in his life. Everything else he ever had, titles, material possessions, anything physical, in his mind was simply garbage compared to his relationship with the Lord. Jesus also said, you know in Matthew 6, that we must seek first the kingdom of God. And you know what? Seeking that kingdom and wanting to be part of that kingdom also means knowing, serving, and fellowshiping with the King of that kingdom. You see, Jesus Christ just doesn't want you to live in a village in the kingdom.

He wants you as part of his privy council. He wants you as there, one of his advisors, that he knows by name, that he has a relationship with, that is always there by his side, to share intimate things with, to share joy with. That's what Jesus Christ desires.

David said in Psalm 42 and verse 1, and one of the hymns we sing, is, "'A dear pants for the water, brooks, so pants my soul for you, O God.'" So again, the first thing was desire friendship with God more than anything else. The second thing I'd like you to think about is to obedience. Obey our Father with a living faith. Obey our Father with a living faith. If you'll turn to Matthew 8 and verse 15.

We don't often see Jesus Christ marvel at something because he was the Son of God. He could read human hearts. But sometimes events occurred that even stunned him, marbled him, the literal Son of God. We know, of course, as Christ stated in John 15.10, if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. But obedience has another important quality, one that we can all work on.

And it's brought out here in Matthew chapter 8 and verse 5. It says, And when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion, a Gentile, a Roman of all things, came to him pleading with him. He's begging Jesus Christ, this Gentile, saying, Lord, my servant is at home lying paralyzed, dreadfully tormented. And Jesus said to him, I will come and heal him. And the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not even worthy that you should come under my roof.

All you need to do is just speak a word, just say the word. And I know he will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, go when he goes, and do another come and he comes.

And did this servant do this and he does it? When Jesus heard it, he marveled. Like I said, you didn't catch Jesus Christ off guard in too many situations. But the words that came out of this Gentile's mouth, the reflection of faith and confidence that he had made Jesus Christ marvel.

And he said to those who followed, assuredly I say unto you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel. And then he gives a prophecy in verse 11 about the day of judgment. And I say unto you that many will come from the east and west, that is Gentiles. And sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God, but the sons of the kingdom, including some of those very Jewish leaders that were hearing this.

The sons of the kingdom. You mean the Jewish people whom God had brought out of Egypt? Yep. You mean the Jewish people who had preserved the Old Testament? Yep. Same people. You mean the Jewish people whom God had given prophets to and gave a nation to? Yep. The same people. He said, But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion, Go your way, and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.

And his servant was healed that same hour. So Jesus was so marveled. He made a prophecy, and that is, someday on Judgment Day, when Gentiles, who ultimately are converted to God, come, they'll be eating and they'll be dining and they'll be feasting with the pantryarchs, and some of the very Jewish people who should have known better, whom so much was given to, will be cast into the lake of fire because they lacked faith. The truth is that this Gentiles demonstration of faith put the Jews to absolute shame.

It was humiliating. Whereas they were always skeptical, and they're asking questions, and they're always looking for a proof. Give us a proof that you are the Son of God. The Gentiles attitude was very simple. He said, Lord, you're superior over me. Lord, I accept your authority. Just say it, and I believe it'll be done.

It's that simple. It's no more complicated than that. I respect you. You are a man sent from God. Just say it, and I believe it. Real easy compared to the other types of attitudes that Jesus found during his ministry. The centurion was not a friend of Jesus, but he demonstrated a quality that friends share. Close friends trust each other. When one makes a promise or a commitment, the other simply believes it'll be done. This is how our friendship with God should be.

Let's take a look at another area in which we can develop to become friends with God, and that is to be open and honest with God.

Matthew 26 and 36. Matthew 26, 36. To be open and honest with God.

Many a times we think that God doesn't know what we've already thought. Oh, I'm not going to be bold with God in this prayer because I might offend him. He knows what's all... You already said it in your head. Come on, he's God. You're not fooling anybody.

When you have a true friend, you can tell them just about anything. You can open up and you can tell them your innermost feelings and emotions and the things that are bothering you and the things that give you great joy. Matthew 26 and 36. Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane later on in that evening and said to the disciples, Sit here while I go and pray over there. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee. And he began to be sorrowful and very or deeply distressed. Why is he sorrowful and distressed? He's no fool. He knows what crucifixion is like. He knows what he's about to go through. He lived in a time when crucifixions occurred all over the place in that area of the world. He knew the suffering. He knew the pain. He knew the torture. He was a human being.

He didn't want to die just like none of us want to die, especially as painfully as he would. So he was sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then he said to them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful even to death. Sit here and watch with me. And he went a little farther and he fell on his face. Now that's broken up. I would say that's pretty sorrowful when you step out of someone's earshot and you literally fall on your face.

You are so sorrowful and distressed. Saying, Oh, Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but your will. He says, Father, if there's any way, any loophole, any possible way that I can avoid going through what I have to go through, let it happen. But when all is said and done, if this is it, then I accept. I accept what my role is.

Again, he says, Not as I will, but your will. Then he came to the disciples and he found them asleep and said to Peter, What? Would you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Our flesh, our carnal flesh, wants to live and wants to survive. It wants to protect itself. Verse 42, again, a second time, he went away and prayed, Oh, Father, if this cup cannot pass from me unless I drink it, your will be done. He came and he found them asleep again. Well, at least they were consistent, for their eyes were heavy. And then in verse 44, So he left them and went away again and prayed the third time, saying the same words. What is three? Remember, three is the biblical number of finality. Jesus said, I prayed three times. It's obvious there's no possible way I accept what I must do. That's why he did it three times. Our Lord was open and honest with his Father about his doubts, about his fears, about the distress that he was going through. He didn't hide it or pretend that everything was okay, because he knew that God could see his heart and see right through him anyway. He let his friend know that he was struggling with fear about the kind of torture and death that awaited him. David said in Psalm 30, verse 7, He said, Lord, by your favor you have made my mountain stand strong. You hid your face, and I was troubled. That's pretty bold. You're basically saying, God, you abandoned me? You hid your face? You weren't there when I needed you?

That's boldness, but that's what friends do. For all that was already in David's heart, why wouldn't he write it? Why wouldn't he say it? We have to be open and honest with God.

One final point for the sake of time. We'll just make it one more point, and then we'll conclude the sermon today. And the point is this, that we can enjoy conversation with God throughout the day. Friends talk to each other. That's what it takes to establish a friendship. And then if you want to maintain that friendship, to maintain our friendship requires an investment of time with each other. And if you're unwilling to do this, your friend merely becomes an acquaintance. So if we want to be friends with God, we need to talk with God.

And not just the scheduled one-time appointment in the morning or the evening. I mean, that's okay, but God wants to be your friend. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 16.

Paul wrote, In 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 16, rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. That's an interesting word, without ceasing. It's the Greek word adiópatos. And it means do something uninterruptedly. It's a Greek word that sometimes is used to describe a hacking cough.

The same word is used by Paul in two other places in this epistle. In chapter 1 and in verse 3, he says, Remembering without ceasing your work of faith. Same Greek word. Paul says in chapter 2, verse 13, For this reason we thank God without ceasing, Because when you receive the word of God, you heard it from us. That's the same Greek word. Paul isn't saying that like a repetitive mantra that he thanks God over again. I thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Is it sunset yet? Thank you, thank you. He's not talking about doing something like that. What he is saying is throughout the day, as you notice your blessings, as you go through situations and challenges throughout the day, have this constant dialogue and conversation with God. Whether it's events or challenges or blessings, whatever you notice, whatever you're going through, communicate with your friend about what is going on. After all, we have self-talk. We're talking to ourselves all day anyway.

Why not start talking to God instead of talking to ourselves all day long and lying to ourselves, which is what most of our self-talk is. Most of our self-talk degenerates into negativity. You can't do this. You're never good enough. You're not good looking enough. You're not smart enough. That's what carnality does to us. Instead of doing that all day long and reinforcing the negative, take the time to have a dialogue, a conversation with your friend.

So, brethren, here we are. We're just a little over a week away from your Passover. I encourage you to do a self-evaluation to prepare for the Passover this year. I encourage you to become as close to God as you choose to become, and to grow beyond just that great Yahweh, that God of fear, and to grow beyond just a father-son relationship, both of which are biblical and that are fine, but to realize that Jesus Christ, who called His disciples His friends and calls you His friends, offers up to us the deepest level that's possible.

And that's what we should strive for as we examine ourselves and think about taking the Passover together this year. Have a wonderful Sabbath day.