The Essentials for Eating and Drinking the Lord's Passover

Our title today is, The Essentials for Eating and Drinking the Lord's Passover. The Essentials for Eating and Drinking the Lord's Passover. And up front, I would like to give all of you an assignment before Passover. I want you to read the Gospel of John, 1 John, and also 1 Corinthians. Those are three books to read that as well. So what are the essentials for eating and drinking the Passover? Not that these are the absolute ultimate, in every case, essentials, but I consider these to be among the most important. I have five things listed here. One is to examine or judge ourselves through God's great spiritual mirror, the Word of God. Secondly, to be reconciled to God and Christ.

Then thirdly, to be reconciled to our neighbors. Then fourthly, discerning the physical body of Jesus Christ that was given for the sins of the world, and also discerning the spiritual body, the members of the Church of God, then observing the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. We're commanded to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. So let's look at those at least two scriptures here regarding that, the commandment to examine ourselves. We look at 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 5. 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 5, the Apostle Paul writing, of course, to the Corinthians, who had not treated him so kindly through the years, but he really takes them to task in 2 Corinthians. And here in chapter 13 and verse 5, an admonition for us, especially at this season of the year, examine yourselves whether you be in the faith. And one of the things that you'll find in 1 John is, I think it's four places, maybe five places, where it says, "'Hereby we know, whereby we know whether or not we are in the faith,' and John then goes on to explain, "'Hereby we know.' So examine yourselves whether you be in the faith, prove your own selves, know you not your own selves, know how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates." So that command there to examine ourselves. And then back in 1 Corinthians 11, and we'll be spending some time in 1 Corinthians 11, but this one scripture right now, because we're talking about God and Christ through the Word of God, have commanded us to examine ourselves, to judge ourselves, and especially before taking the Passover. So in 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 28, "'But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup.'" So the Word of God is the instrument whereby we judge ourselves, looking into God's perfect spiritual mirror. Look at Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12. We see that. People go to psychologists and psychoanalysts today trying to get an insight into themselves. The Word of God, as it says here, will lay bare the thoughts of the intense, the heart of man, as nothing else will. So in Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12, "'For the Word of God is quick.'" It's living. It's a living Word. It's just as living as the day it was inspired and written down. "'For the Word of God is quick, living, powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of sunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and as a discerner it knows the discerns of thoughts and intent of the heart.' The heart is deceitful above all things desperately wicked. Who can know it? Well, the Word of God knows it. God knows it, and He can lay it bare before each one of us. Now to James. Follow just a few pages there in James 1 and verse 22 with regard to this Word, that we are to look into God's perfect spiritual mirror and not only be hearers of the Word, but doers, as it says here in James 1 and 22, but be you doers of the Word and not hearers only deceiving your own selves. We know the scripture that says that knowledge puffs up, but charity edifies. We could memorize the Bible and yet miss the mark by a mile, as they say. For if any be a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is likely unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass or a mirror. For he beholds himself, goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was.

But whoso looks into the perfect law of liberty, a perfect spiritual mirror. In Psalm 19, verse 7 or 8 there, it says that the law of God is perfect, converting the soul. Whoso looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the Word, this man shall be blessed in his deeds. So all of the five essentials for taking the Passover are directly or indirectly implied in the instructions that Christ gave Paul with regard to how to observe the Passover in 1 Corinthians 11. So we want to go back to 1 Corinthians 11 and note those instructions. So we have seen here, first of all, that we are commanded to examine ourselves, and there will be more about that in these instructions to examine ourselves, to judge ourselves whether we be in the faith. Do we actually know and know that we know that we are in the faith? In 1 Corinthians 11, the instructions that Jesus Christ gave Paul, as you recall, Paul was instructed by Christ apparently in the Arabian desert for a period of time, maybe three years or so. In 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 23, for I have received of the Lord that which I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread.

And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you, this due in remembrance of me. So we partake of that unleavened bread. Jesus Christ was without sin the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He was without sin and he became sin for us and took upon himself the sins of the whole world. And after the same manner also, he took the cup when he had said, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This due you as often you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he comes. So let's focus on this word here. It says, Do this in remembrance of me. So we have to remember that Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins through his sacrifice. And the Greek word here, an amnestis, that's translated remembrance, means to bring to mind, to bring to mind what it has taken for us to be free from sin and death and to receive the Spirit of God. It is, in a sense, a memorial.

For you do show, and once again this word, you do show the Lord's death, this word for show, cotaga yellow, means to announce, to declare, to make known the Lord's death. You are bought with a price. You're not your own. What it required, required the greatest gift that anyone could give. Greater love and no man than this, and he lay down his life for his friends. In other words, it is a very solemn and sober occasion. It is time to really reflect on what Jesus Christ has done and what the Father has done in giving his only begotten Son, that we might have our sins forgiven and be eligible to be partakers of the Spirit of God. So it is not a time for festive frolicking, so we have to recognize that Jesus Christ died for our sins. Why did he have to die for our sins? Well, Romans 6, 23 should immediately come to mind. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

The wages of sin is death. Now, let's turn back there to Romans 3, 23. As you recall, the book of Romans, in chapter 1, the apostle Paul takes the Gentiles to task. In chapter 2, he takes the Jews to task. In chapter 3, he begins to summarize and bring together the fact that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, as we shall read here in Romans 3, in verse 23. In Romans 3, 23, for all have sinned, Jew, Gentile, every person, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So what is the remedy? How can the death penalty be removed? Being justified freely. To be justified means that the penalty has been paid. The fine has been paid, whatever the fine might be in the case of dealing with life and sin, the fine is death, unless the penalty is paid. Being justified freely by his grace, his divine favor, through the redemption. Redemption means the buying back power. Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propituation. Propituation means that he went in our stead. Instead of us having to die for our sins, he died in our stead, took upon himself the sins of the whole world. Is he the God of the Jews only? No, he is the God of the Gentiles also. He is the God of all peoples, regardless of ethnic origin or national identity. He is the God of all peoples, whom God has set forth to be a propituation. He went in his our stead through faith in his blood. Blood oftentimes used generically for life essence.

Life is in the blood through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness. God, who has promised, cannot lie. So many messianic prophecies in the Old Testament prophesying of the time in which Jesus Christ would come on the scene as a suffering Messiah, even though the Jews missed the mark and did not realize that he would be a suffering Messiah. Of course, Isaiah 53, Psalm 22 gives graphic descriptions of what Jesus Christ went through in paying for the sins of the world to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. See, the only way that sin can be forgiven is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and for that sacrifice to be counted as applicable to us, we must repent. We must repent of our sins, and repentance, of course, and faith are inextricably linked to obedience. We cannot say that we were repented unless we are willing to surrender, submit to the law of God. If that were not the case, then Christ would be the minister of sin, as it talks about in Galatians 2, verses 15, 16, 17, to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of him which believes in Jesus. See, to have our sins forgiven, we have to repent and exercise faith in the sacrifice of Christ. Once we are convicted of sin and realize that the death penalty is on our head, even if we were at that point to begin to perfectly obey the law of God, it would not remove the death penalty for sins that are passed, only the sacrifice of Christ who died for us, our propituation who went in our stead. He paid the price. You do show the Lord's death till he come by remembering what has been done. You are bought with a price. You are not your own. And so we are very indebted. Where is boasting then? It is excluded by which law is it that of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Of course, some people go awry there without the deeds of the law and say, by faith only. A few years ago, a concord was signed between Catholics and Lutherans by faith only. Well, if you really understand what faith really is, because faith is inextricably linked to obedience, show me your faith without your works, and I'll show you by faith by my works, as James writes in chapter 2 of James.

So that justification requires the faith and the sacrifice of Christ and repentance. Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also. Seeing it as one God, which shall justify the circumcision, the Jews by faith and the uncircumcision, the Gentiles through faith. Then this wonderful verse 31, which we should all be able to explain what it means. Do we then void, make void the law through faith? God forbid, yea, we establish the law. How do we establish the law through faith? You see, if the law were not in effect, there would be no need for the sacrifice of Christ. But because the law is in effect and the wages of sin is death, it was necessary that Christ die for us, and through that exercise of repentance and faith, we establish the law, that it is in effect. So the essentials here has to do with realizing that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and we are remembering that when we take the Passover. He must discern the sacrifice of Christ. That sacrifice has made us free, or freed us from the wages of sin, which is death. Now verse 27, we've read 23 through 26, so we're back now to 1 Corinthians 11. We'll turn back there again. So this remembrance, this memorial service, as it were, we do show the Lord's death till he come. This do in remembrance of me. Now in 1 Corinthians 11, verse 27, Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink the cup of the Lord unworthily.

This is an important definition here. The Greek word for unworthily is anaxios, A-N-A-X-I-O-U-S. It means irreverently. It does not mean unworthily in the sense that we think of unworthily today. Whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord irreverently shall be guilty of the body and the blood of Jesus Christ.

So when you eat the Passover, do it in remembrance of the death of our Savior. To eat and drink without showing regard and understanding of the solemn significance of this event is to be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Now over the years, some brethren labor under the assumption that they had to be worthy, quote, worthy enough to take the Passover. No person is worthy enough. As we have read from Romans 3, 23, all have sinned come short of the glory of God. And in that sense, we are at His mercy. And none of us are worthy enough. But each person can take the Passover in the manner that Christ reveals to Paul, as we're reading right here.

In verse 28, we see that a person must examine himself.

And then eat and drink and take the Passover. Now the Corinthians were not examining themselves, so now we're going to go back and begin in verse 17 of this chapter and show the basic reason why Paul said, use this word in Axios, irreverently. Because the Corinthians were observing the Passover in an irreverent manner. And Paul warns them not to take the Passover irreverently, because they had been doing just that. So we start in verse 17, 1 Corinthians 11, 17. Now in this I declare unto you, I praise you not that you come together not for the better, but for the worse.

Now the topic here that he's going to address is Passover. So they're coming to the Passover not for the better, but for the worse. Why? For first of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you, and I partly believe it, for there must be also heresies among you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

Sooner or later, heresies, divisions are made manifest.

When you come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper. It is not to eat the Lord's supper. In fact, you're admonished to eat at home, as it says in this. For in eating, everyone takes before other his own supper. One is hungry and another is drunk. Even getting drunk at Passover. So what they were having was bring your own. It wasn't a potluck, apparently, where everybody shares, as we do today, but they were bringing their own and flaunting it before others who had not what, as he says here, what? Question mark. Have you not homes to eat and to drink in or despise you, the church of God? Who is the church of God? The church of God is constituted by the membership.

We are the body of Christ. You are the temple of God. Do you despise the church of God? Do you despise the brethren and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this or praise you not? For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And we have read now down to verse 28. So the Corinthians were having a festive frolicking affair. Some were fairing sumptuously with what they brought. Some were even getting drunk, if you can even imagine that, and taking the Passover. So Paul admonishes them not to take the Passover irreverently. Of course, that is not the only way that you can take the Passover irreverently. So we're back at verse 28 again. But let a man examine himself. Now that word for examine is docimazo. It means to test, to prove, to scrutinize. It's the same word as used to determine whether or not a medal is gold or a gem is precious.

To prove, to test, to scrutinize, to really examine. And that's what the Gospel of John, 1 John, and 1 Corinthians will also help you in examining. Of course, those are not the only places, but three of the main books I suggest you read before the Passover.

So we will see that this is related to verse 31, a little bit later, that is, to examine yourself. In verse 31 it says, a person must judge himself. In other words, you test and try yourself. And once again, you do this by looking into God's perfect spiritual mirror. And we read those verses about looking into God's spiritual mirror.

Now what we're talking about here today is, of course, a in one sense, just a broad outline. This is not the examination itself. The examination itself is up to each one of us individually. And the ministry is instructed to preach, meet, and do season, and to rehearse the meaning of each season. But the actual application is up to each person. So let's read this 28 again. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup.

For he that eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks damnation or judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. And we want to focus on this word, discerning. The Greek word that is translated discerning here is diacrino. Diadia, remember diameter. Diameter is all the way through measurement. So diacrino means thorough judgment.

So you, with regard to the body of Christ, we have the physical body that was given for the sins of the world, as we have noted. You have also the spiritual body of Christ, each member of the body of Christ. So we have to thoroughly judge the body of Christ both in the physical body that he gave for the sins of the world, and also the spiritual body. Now let's, that is, the members of the body of Christ.

So let's look at this briefly with regard to thoroughly discerning first of all the body. Let's look at Hebrews 9 in this case. We've already covered this from one perspective in Romans chapter 3.

We're talking about thoroughly discerning the body of Christ, both that physical body that is given for the sins of the world and the spiritual body, the church of God. Remember Paul's rhetorical question in Hebrews, I mean in 1 Corinthians 11, do you despise the church of God? In other words, do you despise a brother? You're here having a sumptuous meal and some getting drunk and not discerning what it does to the rest of the body of Christ. But here the physical aspect of it, of giving of the sacrifice, in Hebrews 9 verse 8, the Holy Spirit is signifying that the way into the Holy Saval was not yet made manifest while as the first tabernacle was yet standing.

Of course, it says also in Hebrews that God does not dwell in buildings made by hands. Today, He dwells in the church, which was a figure for the time present in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make Him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience. See, one of the things that the Word of God and the Spirit of God does, it gives you a new knowing within that you can discern the difference between right and wrong, not just in the physical sense, but also in the spiritual sense, which stood only in meats and drinks and different washings and carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of Reformation.

But Christ being made a high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building. As I said earlier, He dwells in us, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood. He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling, the unclean sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit, eternal spirit, the eternal spirit exists in eternity.

We are partakers of that eternal spirit when we receive that spirit from God. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit, offered Himself without spot to God purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? So we discern, we recognize once again, that what Christ did for us and paying for the sins. Now with regard to the body of believers, in Corinth they were not discerning the body of believers.

They ignored the brethren around them and did their own thing. So let's note back in 1 Corinthians, again, now we want chapter 12, verse 12. I would call these two verses perhaps the greatest unity verses in the Bible. Of course, that is debatable. In 1 Corinthians 12, 12, For as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ.

For by one spirit we're all baptized into one body, whether we be Jew or Gentile, whether we be bond or free, and have been made all to drink into one spirit. The same spirit that is in God is in Christ, as in each one of us, we've been all made to drink into that one spirit. Paul writes in Romans 12, 5, that we are members one of another. We are all connected through this essence. So you look down at verse 25, that there should be no schism in the body, but the members should have the same care of one for another.

Obviously, in Corinth, they did not have the same care of one for another. They were ignoring others as they fared sumptuously. And whether one member suffers, all the members suffer with it, or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, you are the body of Christ, and members in particular. So discerning that physical body, discerning that spiritual body.

And of course, by them not discerning one another in the right sense and taking the Passover reverently, it was inherent within it that they would not be discerning the body of Christ, His sacrifice for their sins. And so they were taking a Passover reverently, eating and drinking judgment to themselves. Now there are many other ways that we can, as we go through the rest of this, hopefully see this clearly, that there are other ways that we can fail to be prepared to take the Passover.

So let's pick it up again back in verse...

we'll read 29 again and continue the rest of the chapter. 1 Corinthians 11, 29. For he that eats and drinks unworthily, irreverently, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. So we have seen you have to discern that physical body, and you have to discern the spiritual body. You are the body of Christ. For this cause, that is not discerning the Lord's body, many are weak and sickly among you, and some are dead. That's how serious it is. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be judged or condemned with the world. If we refuse to judge ourselves, then God steps in and through various means it says, for this cause, that is failure to judge ourselves, some are weak and sickly, and some are even dead. And I've phrased it this way through the years, that God would rather see us dead than to see us miss out on His kingdom. And oftentimes, we are chastened of the Lord, so we will take a step back and judge ourselves. Wherefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If any man hunger, let him eat at home, that you come not together unto judgment. And the rest will I set in order when I come. The two great commandments that Jesus gave, remember the confrontation, if you want to turn to Matthew 22, verse 37, where the lawyer came and asked, master, what is the great commandment in the law? And then Jesus responded in Matthew 22, in verse 37, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment, and the second is likened to it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And a lot of people leave off there, but verse 40, notice that on these two, hang all the law and the prophets.

Loving God with all your heart, mind, and soul, loving your neighbor as yourself, on these two, hang all the law and the prophets. It's all summarized, in a sense, by that. Loving your neighbor as yourself means that we have his, her, best interest at heart, and that you're willing to lay down your life for him or her and be your brother's keeper, which is one of the chief ways you can become a living sacrifice. Remember, it says in Romans 12, I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, which is your reasonable service. You cannot be reconciled to God apart from being reconciled to your neighbor. A lot of people apparently don't understand this.

It's like me and God, or me and Jesus, or me and God and Jesus have our own thing going and forget about you, brother. But let's examine this a little more closely and see if what I just said is correct according to the Scripture in 1 John chapter 4 and verse 16.

Twice in 1 John, it says, God is love. First place is 1 John 4. Now we're at 16. Verse 16. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwells in him dwells in God and God in him.

Herein is our love made perfect that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. If you want to be bold in the day of judgment, then you have to love as Christ gave commandment. There is no fear in love, but perfect love cast out fear. You're not afraid of judgment because perfect love casts out fear because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love. And so what do you have to do? We love him because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar.

It is a reciprocal thing. You can't love God without loving your brother, and you can't love your brother without loving God. If a man say, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he that loves not his brother, whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? How can he love his brother whom he hath seen? How can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him that he who loved God loves his brother also? You can't have one without the other.

And one of the main things of being prepared for the Passover is to be reconciled to God and Christ, and each member of the body of Christ rightly discerning the body of Christ, both from the physical and spiritual perspectives. Whosoever believes that Jesus is Christ, is begotten of God, and everyone that believes him that beget loves him also, that is begotten of him.

By this we know. As I said in reading 1 John, you will see that expression several times. By this we know, or hereby we know. By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous. Being your brother's keeper requires courage. It requires spiritual courage.

If you see him go astray, or if you have a disagreement with him, or if you are offended by him, then you must take the necessary steps to correct the situation, or God will step in and judge you. We'll read scriptures along this line. I'm summarizing up front before turning to scriptures. Do you believe that the blood of Christ covers the sins of the brother who is inflicting hurt or harm on you and or other members of the body of Christ? Simply ask, am I or you, laying down your life in a foot washing attitude, thoroughly discerning the body of Christ so that your brother might be in the kingdom of God? God says he is not willing that any should perish. We should be saying the same thing, not willing that any should perish. You know, Paul even writes in Romans 9, I could wish myself a curse from Christ that my kinsmen, my brethren, according to the flesh, might be saved.

Not willing that any should perish. Are you willing to face such examples as a personal dispute or perceive problem with another person or knowledge of those who are doing wrong?

See, from Genesis and Revelation, the great rhetorical question of Cain cries out, am I my brother's keeper? Now look at James 5 and verse 19. Sort of tacked on, as you would say, there at the close of this epistle in James 5 and verse 19. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him. Now, convert is not the best translation. That Greek word there is epistrepho. E-P-I-S-T-R-E-P-H-O. Epistrepho. And it means to turn one about, to help him see the error of his way so that he goes in a different direction. Verse 20, let him know that he which turns one about, turns the center around from the error of his way, shall save a soul, his life essence, from death, so he doesn't have to experience the second death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. Some people are quick to quote from 1 Peter where it talks about that love covers a multitude of sins. But in order to love one so that the multitude of sins can be covered, one has to follow the process that is outlined in Scripture. So here's the scriptural support. Of course, any time in the sermon you can never say everything that can be said about any subject you want to name. So let's go to Leviticus 19. Leviticus 19 verse 15. Some people say, well, you can't judge this or that or the other. Like Paul writes in Romans, if the law were done away with, how is God going to judge the world?

And if we don't understand what is right and what is wrong, how are we going to help our brother? In Leviticus 19 verse 15, you shall do no unrighteousness and judgment. You shall not respect the person of the poor nor honor the person of the mighty, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. You have to discern. You have to make a judgment in a sense.

You shall not go up and down as a tail-bearer among your people. Neither shall you stand against the blood of your neighbor. I am the Eternal. You shall not hate your brother in your heart. Now, as we'll read from 1 John chapter 3, to hate your brother in 1 John chapter 3, hate is equated with murder.

You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall in any wise rebuke your neighbor and not bear sin for him. I mean, this is a weighty saying.

It's a weighty saying.

In Leviticus 5 and verse 1, we see something somewhat similar. Then we're going to go to the New Testament and pick up on this as well. This reconciliation with the brethren is one of the great essentials.

In Leviticus 5 and verse 1, And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness whereof he is seen or known of it, But if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity.

No, we're not to be a group of tattletales, I guess you call it, tattletailers.

Our group of narcs is one of the great commandments among the youth, and the gangsters are. Not that they are the same using gangsters.

But it is, thou shall not narc.

And if you're going to judge righteous judgment, if you're going to be your brother's keeper, then judgments have to be made, and you have to face the situation. Now we go to Matthew 5, and let's look at the New Testament, following up, enlarging, giving the spiritual application to some of what we've just read here in Leviticus, in Matthew 5 and verse 19. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men, so he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said of them or by them of old time, you shall not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother Reichel shall be in danger of the council, the Sanhedrin. But whosoever shall say, you fool, shall be in danger of Gehenna fire.

How serious is it?

Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, there remember that your brother has ought against you. Leave there your gift before the altar. Go your way. First be reconciled to your brother. Then come and offer your gift. In John 1 John 3 verse 12, more on this with regard to especially following up on Leviticus 19 verse 17, you shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall in any wise rebuke him and not bear sin for him. In other words, you become just as guilty as he is. This is a hard saying. Who can know it? And I think one of the greatest weaknesses through the decades from Cain and Abel to the present day is that we have not really been our brother's keeper as outlined in the scriptures. In 1 John 3 and let's start in verse 12. Verse 12, not as Cain who was of that wicked one and slew his brother, and why did he slay him? Because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous. Marble not my brethren if the world hates you. We know that if we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren, he that loves not his brother abides in death, whosoever hates his brother is a murderer. Is that sobering? Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us. We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. And I believe when that we wash one another's feet, we're in essence saying that I am willing to lay down my life for you. Jesus Christ washed the disciples' feet and he said, as I have done to you, do you also to one another paraphrasing. He did lay down his life for the brethren. Did we deserve it? Were we worthy of it? Of course not. We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good and sees his brother have needs and shuts up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwells the love of God in him. Now the great contrast to some degree the paradox with this last verse is, when it comes to physical things, the house burns, we lost the job, or whatever it is, we're often quick to come to aid. But when it comes to the weightier matters of really being your brother's keeper in the spiritual sense, we shy away from that and we don't exercise the spiritual courage necessary.

God has given unto us the ministry of reconciliation.

We know that from 2 Corinthians 5. I'm not going to turn there and read it, but it's very clear he's given to us the ministry of reconciliation.

So we can say, are we ready to wash one another's feet and eat the Lord's Passover? Once again, failure to examine ourselves leads to God's judgment. And if we are judged by God, it says that we're judged by him, so we won't have to be judged by the world. God's judgment is always for our good. Despise you not the chastening of the Lord. Now let's note carefully that let's go to 1 Corinthians 5 verse 8, that the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is just that, is to be observed with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Now with regard to unleavened bread, we know that the unleavened bread represents the body of Christ. On the night that he was crucified, that we read from 1 Corinthians 11, he took the bread and blessed it and said, take eat. This is my body.

We also know that the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth is the Word of God. Let's read verse 7. Purge out therefore the old leaven, and of course the old leaven in this case, there was an incestuous fornicator among them, and they were not taking any action.

They were in essence saying, what he does, his business, I'm not going to get involved. And so the incestuous fornicator was with his father's wife.

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that is the sin, that you may be a new lump spiritually as you are unleavened. It seems like a paradox. So apparently as you are unleavened, it's easy to put out the physical leavening, maybe not so easy, but we do it.

As you are unleavened, for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

The important thing, not to say that the physical is not important, but more important is the spiritual. Therefore, let us keep the feast not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. The Passover is rooted and grounded and founded on God's love for us. In fact, we were created because of God's love for us. He wanted to share who He is and what He is, God the Father and the Word, the one who became Jesus Christ. Because God wants to share His eternal being with us, He and the Word ordained this great plan of salvation to redeem humans from sin and death and make it possible for them to be partakers of the very life essence of God in Christ. Let's look at Romans 5 and verse 6. It's always good to read the book of Romans. If you master the book of Romans, you've mastered much of Paul's writings. In Romans chapter 5 and verse 6, For when we were without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet for venture for a good man some would even dare to die. Of course, you have those stories from time to time that a person is willing to give a kidney or some other organ to be transplanted into a friend or relative in order to save their lives. Or in the heat of battle, one rushes in, throws himself over the grenade to save his buddies.

For venture, some would even dare to die. But God commended His love to us, and while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. While we were yet enemies of God, Christ died for us. Much more than being justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son. Much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Once we are reconciled to God, we're viewed as sinless. He removes our sins as far as the east is from the west, and God will beget us with His Spirit. And both God and Christ make their abode in us. It says very clearly in John 14 verse 23 that we both will make our abode in Him, and not only so, but we also joy in God through Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the atonement or the justification from our sins. So by one man entered into the world, and we are all sinners because each one of us has sinned. The very Spirit of God, the life essence of God, is shed on us through Christ, and it provides us with new life. Now let's look at Titus chapter 3. Exactly, I've often wondered exactly how this works. I don't know exactly how this works. But look at Titus chapter 3 and verse 5 with regard to shed on us through Christ.

In Titus chapter 3 verse 5, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. We have been reconciled to God by the death of his Son, and that reconciliation removes the death penalty from our heads. It makes us eligible to receive the very Spirit of God, the Spirit of God, the enabler that helps us, that gives us a new knowing within. The Holy Spirit, of course, does not force us to obey. If that were the case, it would obviate. It would make null and void human responsibility and make sin the fault of God. But we know that we do have that responsibility. So, brethren, here we are with a passover just a few weeks away from us. We see that we must examine ourselves. We see that we must be reconciled to God and Christ in each member of the body of Christ. We see that we have to thoroughly discern the body of Christ from a physical point of view, who died for our sins. We see that we must discern the spiritual body, each member of the body of Christ. We see that we need to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Christ said, the words I speak, they are spirit and they are life.

So, in a sense, you cannot separate God and Christ from their words. The words they speak, they are spirit and they are life. The Unleavened Bread of Sincerity and Truth provides communion with God and Christ. Let me say that again. The Unleavened Bread of Sincerity and Truth provides communion with God and Christ. How so? Because we can have that bread of life in us at all times. We have the Spirit of God. We can feast on the Word of God. Let's look at 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 14 about communion. You know, the world's churches talk about taking communion. And they take communion. Some take it quarterly, some I think even take it weekly. 2 Corinthians 13 and 14. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. See, we have the very life essence of God and Christ that communion within us 24-7, 365 days of the year. And man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Now, let us finish with this verse, or verse is, in 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 15. These verses summarize what we are in essence saying when we take the Passover. Once again, these verses in essence summarize what we are affirming to God when we take the Passover. 1 Corinthians 10 and 15. I speak as the wise men, judge you what I say, the cup of blessing which we bless. Is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread, that we should have the same love, care, and concern, one for another, because we are members, one of another. So, brethren, when we come to take the Passover, let us keep these things in mind. Let us review these things. Let us think on these things. Let us meditate on these things. Let's read those books that I mentioned. The Gospel of John, 1 John, and 1 Corinthians. Of course, there are many other places you could go with regard to understanding the essentials for taking the Passover. So, brethren, I hope we will spend much time in meditation and reflection, and also in action as the day draws near.