The Leaven of Malice & Wickedness

Very beautiful. Appreciate again the talents of those who are in the church who are willing to provide the special music for us on such a day as today, the last day of Unleavened Bread.

Here we are at the last service of the last day of Unleavened Bread, which God gave to us for our good.

All of us, I'm sure, wish that putting sin out of our life was as simple as putting physical leavening out.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could just put it out just like that, put it in a little bag and carry it out? It was out of your life, and it was done, and it was finished.

But these days, brethren, are intended as a springboard, as an exercise to overcoming all year round. It's a process which is progressive for each of us.

You know, brethren, most problems with people are with one another, and relationships are a big part of what it is to actually be a Christian.

And this is why there are specific sins we are to purge from our lives that we are to get rid of in our life. And this sermon today, we're going to examine specific leavening, as it were, that we're commanded to make a real effort to put out during the days of unleavened bread.

And I'm sure that we haven't done it completely by now, but it is something we have to think about all year round. And of course, we emphasize the fact that we need to put Christ in, that the unleavened bread is to bring Christ in, and Christ's way in to our lives. Let's begin over in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. 1 Corinthians chapter 5 over here.

1 Corinthians chapter 5.

1 Corinthians chapter 5.

Paul, of course, wrote this to the Corinthians.

And we're really appreciative of the Corinthians, even though they made a lot of mistakes.

But we wouldn't know about what it is to be a real Christian if it hadn't been for the Corinthians, because the mistakes they made help us to see what God wants us to do. But here in verse 6, after Paul had pointed out a major egregious sin that they had committed, and tolerating somebody who was committing adultery with their own stepmother. Notice here in verse 6, he says, "'Because your glorying is not good, do not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump.'" So Paul is really saying, look, your arrogant pride, you know, this isn't good.

Don't you understand that it's just a little bit of leavening is going to permeate the whole lump of dough.

And he was talking, of course, about the church.

Now, we all know that leavening works in a certain way. And during the times of the Apostle Paul, they didn't have the baking sodas and powders that we have today. It wasn't as easy. In other words, you could go down to the local Safeway or Fry's and pick it up and bring it home. You know, it was a little bit more involved than that. They would use natural leaven.

You know, you could make a whole lot of leavening with just a little bit of leavening. You just take a pinch of it and you make a whole lot of leavening.

And what you, of course, do is just mash some potatoes and put a little bit of your leavening in it and just let it set. And pretty soon you got a lot of leavening. And this is, of course, how they did it. It begins to mold and then you have this yeast that grows on it.

And you make it, of course, that way and then you can actually put it in your bread and it will rise. And of course, that's what makes all the little holes in bread, you know, that puffs it up. That Paul was chastening the Corinthian brethren about them being puffed up. And that's why, because of the leavening that puffs up the bread. Or you can dry it out and you have what is called dry yeast.

But leavening has certain qualities and propensities that are very conducive to explain about what God is trying to do with us in our lives, in overcoming. Leavening has a propensity to spread and it spreads very rapidly. And so Paul used this analogy with sin.

Leavening is a powerful thing. Like sin is a powerful, powerful thing. Let's go to verse 7 here. And it says, So Paul says, is saying here, look, a little leaven spreads everywhere. So you need to get rid of it. He was talking to the Corinthian brethren, clean out that old sin, in other words, so that you can remain unleavened because Christ is our Passover. You know, God wants us to realize we've got to, again, purge these things out.

And what does he mean by this old leaven here he's talking about? Well, the old leaven he's talking about is the old man and his way of thinking, the way we think. You know, before we're called into the church, that old man does thinking a different way than the new man is supposed to think. And that's what the Apostle Paul is talking about. He said, let's celebrate the feast without this old leaven of malice and evil. Now, you can look up in Webster's dictionary the word malice. And, you know, just like leavening can be activated, the word malice means active ill will.

Active ill will. Or desire to harm another person.

Or to do mischief or spite. When it talks about wickedness, of course, we're not talking about a specific one-time sin here. We're talking about a practice of sin. You know, the continual practice of sin. And we live in a world where people in the world practice malice all the time. It's a way of life for people. It's the way they think. It's the way they reason. You see, the old man, and we used to think that way, didn't we, as God's people? We were like everybody else. Every Tom, Dick, or Harry that was walking the streets, we were like those people. So it has to do, rather than with ill will and hatred towards someone else.

The Apostle Paul suffered no small amount of criticism, no small amount of ill will from these worldly Corinthians. And here they spoke just evil things against this dedicated servant of God who suffered so much for the gospel's sake. And Paul had been a wonderful minister to them, going above and beyond the call of duty in his service to them. Let's notice over in Matthew chapter 15. Matthew chapter 15 over here. The Pharisees, you know the story and the account of how they criticized the disciples because they didn't wash their hands according to the way the elders did. And of course, it wasn't the fact that the disciples were these dirty boys who didn't wash their hands. They just didn't wash them the way the elders washed their hands. And up to the elbows was the tradition of the elders. And Jesus Christ took it as an opportunity to instruct His disciples.

But over here in chapter 15 and verse 18, notice here, it says, But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. No, they were arguing about a person, if they didn't wash their hands properly, they'd get a little dirt in their mouth. You know, when I was a kid growing up, I remember that we used to suck on rocks. Is there anybody here that did that?

I think every kid does that, don't they, when they're growing up? And you know, I remember our children, and I'm sure you were no different. It was hard to keep them from licking on things sometimes that they really shouldn't be doing. You know, you could catch them actually putting their mouth on things that were just simply ghastly. You know, sometimes, you know, they'd be somewhere, and they'd be licking on a banister somewhere, where about 4,000 people had, you know, touched, or something else.

That's just the nature of kids. It's what they do. But the fact of the matter is, you know, you could suck on rocks all day long. All day long, and it won't defile you. You know, it might mean you're crazy, but it won't defile you.

But going on here, he's saying the things that come out of the mouth from the heart, they defile you. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnesses, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but eat with unwashed hands does not. He's saying defile a man. A little dirt's not going to kill you. It's not going to hurt you that way. But what comes out of your mouth, well, that's another story altogether. It defiles us if it is...it involves ill will toward another person.

If it involves sin, or iniquity, or evil thoughts, you know, we want to try to overcome that. We want to try to put that out of our lives. And again, not that we as God's people don't want to be clean people. We don't want to be sucking on rocks, right? But we do want to monitor what comes out of our mouth, the things we say. This is what the old man does when he doesn't monitor what he says. And we want to walk in newness of life, brethren. And we shouldn't have problems of malice or ill will or intending to harm another person. We should not be a part of us in any way, shape, or form.

Let's go to Colossians chapter 3 over here. Colossians chapter 3. You know, Paul really begins to really talk about what a Christian should be, what things they need to overcome, what they need to change in their life. And we do have a lot of changing. And all of us here have many things that we must overcome, and probably have been fighting in our lives for a good long time. That you thought some things were overcome maybe 10, 20 years ago, but you're still wrestling with them.

You thought they were gone, but the old man begins to rear his ugly head again in our lives. And in Colossians chapter 3 down in verse 5, it says, Therefore put to death, it says your members which are on the earth, and he names the things fornication, uncleanness, passion. You know, where you have passion for the wrong things. Man is not wrong for a man or a woman to have passion for one another, but to have so toward someone in an illegal way, at least for a marriage, or as a Christian.

No, we cannot do that. You can certainly have passion to accomplish things and to do certain things. Nothing wrong with that. He's not talking about that. Evil desire and covetousness, which is idolatry. Essentially, it's worshiping the self. It's putting the self as God. Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, Paul says. Paul is saying, look, because of all of these things, this is why God is going to vent his wrath on mankind. So how are we going to escape if these are the things we practice, the way we live?

In which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. You see, we were that way before, but it should be no longer. Not that we don't wrestle with those things, but we don't practice them. But now you yourselves are to put off all these things, anger and wrath and malice and blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds. Now put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him.

Where there is neither Jew nor Greek, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian or Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and in all. And so here Paul is saying we've got to put off again the characteristics of the old man.

Verse 12, therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long suffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, Paul said, so you also must do. But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And so Paul said, look, if you don't overcome these things, you have to realize again that God in the future is going to intervene in world affairs.

He's going to bring his wrath on mankind because of these things that people in the world do. And if we're not striving to overcome these things, we'll be a part of it. We could be like, in fact, was brought out by Mr. Knudsen. Christ will say, depart for me. I never knew you. I don't know who you are. You're not living the way of life that I instructed.

Brother, one part of the leaven of the Pharisees that also he talked about was that of hypocrisy. He warned his disciples, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. And then it says very clearly, which is hypocrisy, being a hypocrite, saying one thing and then doing another thing.

And when hypocrisy begins to establish itself in a local church, it spreads quite rapidly. And we, as God's people, have to again put on sincerity and truth. Paul said to keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Purge out, get rid of the hypocrisy, and bring in the sincerity and truth. Hypocrisy causes someone to act righteous. It's like they want to act righteous, but they don't want to be righteous. And the actual practice of what they do. And this, of course, was a problem. In the time of Christ, it is a problem in our day. People wanting to appear righteous, but they are actually filled with malice and sin and evil. God wants this brethren out of all of us. He wants His people to be a tender-hearted, sincere people. And willing to forgive other people. To be outgoing and thinking of other people. That's what God desires us to do. Let's go to 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3 over here. We're leading to something I wanted to point out here that ties in to, again, that we are to keep the days of unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Something quite different than we see in the world. But in 1 John chapter 3, notice what John says over here. He says, in this, the children of God, which I hope we are, and all of us hope that we are, and the children of the devil are manifest.

Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God. Nothing could be clearer than this. If you want to be a child of God, you cannot practice unrighteousness. He says, nor is he who does not love his brother. We can't be children of God unless we love our brothers, our brethren. And then he says, for this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. So John divides people into these two categories, the children of God and the children of the devil. Very simple division. Now, it's not really clear what beginning John is talking about. Was he talking about when Jesus began his ministry and was talking about how we need to love one another? Or was he talking about the time of Adam going all the way back? Was he talking about that? But it is quite interesting here. Notice the very next verse in verse 12.

He says, he begins talking about the Garden of Eden and all that was happening there. He says, not as Cain, so he goes right back to the Garden of Eden, who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brothers were righteous.

And so Cain's works were told here were evil. They were unrighteous.

The meaning of the Greek word, by the way, here in terms of evil, that mentions it was hurtful. He had a problem of being hurtful to other people. It means mischief. It means malice here. He practiced malice, which was ill-will toward his brothers. And let's not miss, brethren, this point. Cain acted because of evil thoughts of jealousy, envy, and malice toward his brother Abel.

And like leavening spreads, it ill-begets ill-will. Ill-will begets ill-will, and that's the way it goes. Somebody treats somebody badly, obviously, if they are the same mentality, it just continues and it spreads and it mushrooms.

So that ill-will, again, begets ill-will. And Cain's malice, his evil, engulfs the entire world as we see it today, so that violence has filled the earth as a result of the sin of Cain.

Interestingly, let's go back to Genesis 4. Cain and Abel were unlike twins, because it says, in fact, Cain was born, that Eve begot again. In other words, begot another son, and that son was Abel. So we believe that Cain and Abel were unlike twins.

And Cain was the firstborn, and apparently he was treated as a prima donna by Adam and Eve. And he developed some pretty bad habits.

And Cain was a farmer, and Abel was a shepherd. So they had different professions. Let's go to chapter 4 here, and we'll pick it up down in verse 4.

And eventually, both of them, in the course of time, brought an offering before God.

But here in chapter 4, in verse 4, notice it says, and Abel, it says, brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat, and the Lord respected Abel in his offering.

But he did not respect Cain in his offering, and Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

He was wrought, as it says, I think, in the King James.

And the Hebrew actually means to glow or to be hot with anger. It wasn't just a matter of being discouraged here. He was angry, just plain angry.

And notice going on, verse 6, and so the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?

If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not, well, sin lies at the door, and its desire is for you.

But you should rule over it.

Now Cain talked with Abel, his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him.

So it appears in this case here, after Cain was, his offering was rejected, that God gave a little time to Cain to adjust his way of thinking.

In other words, these things did not happen right away.

But, you know, God wanted Cain to get a hold of himself because of his anger.

But he didn't do it. He became jealous of his little brother, and instead ill will began to build. Malice began to build up in him. Verse 9, notice, of course, we know what happened. He rose and he killed his brother as a result. It says, then the eternal said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother?

And he said, I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper? And by the way, this is a smart, elic kind of reply that Cain gave, and it goes about like this. Am I the shepherd's shepherd? Because the fact that Abel was a shepherd, you know, he was saying this in condescension of Abel, his brother. Am I the shepherd's shepherd? Verse 10, and he said, What have you done, Cain?

The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. His blood is crying out to me from the ground. Now, of course, this is figurative. It implies, though, that your brother, his blood is crying out to me for revenge for what you've done.

And Cain had maliciously bludgeoned his brother and probably hid the body so no one would know who had done it. And he was afraid that maybe this was going to sort of out him. Because it was certainly a practice in ancient Israel that if somebody killed another person, that the relative have the right to actually seek vengeance upon that person. And they would be, in this case, if they killed somebody, they would be put to death. But Cain had probably buried the body, hoping his guilt would not be discovered.

In Clark's commentary, it's interesting, it says that some actually think, perhaps, that Abel had a wife and she was a widow, or he had children even, possibly, and that they were crying out for their husband and their father. And that's what Clark says. Again, it is typical also, as I mentioned, in the case where murder takes place, that it is avenged by the relative. And maybe Cain was afraid now that he was identified that someone would slay him.

And so, Abel's blood cried out to God for vengeance. And this is what he said here. And like I said, in the time of ancient Israel, a murderer's blood cleansed the land. If a murderer was not actually held accountable, it defiled the land. You know, not like the world today, and the world that you and I live in is because we let murderers off all the time. And the land is defiled by violence. And it's like ill will, as I mentioned, begets ill will.

And look where we are in our modern day here. But if you want to look at Numbers 35 later and study it and go over it, it talks about what was practiced in ancient Israel time and what God allowed somebody who had been murdered to do in terms of their relatives avenging the murderer. But I want you to think about the fact that there have been many who have been a part of God's church through the ages who have died horrible deaths by the hands of those, in fact, that were leaders in the nations.

And apparently there's going to be a giant martyrdom that's going to take place in the future. And the blood of those victims, the blood of the innocents, are crying out for vengeance. But, you know, the Bible says that God says vengeance is mine. I will repay. So it's not our job to repay, you know, for someone's innocent life being taken away.

It is God's responsibility to do that. Chapter 4 now in Genesis 11. And so this is what God says to Cain. So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. And it says, when you tildegrant it shall no longer yield his strength to you.

A fugitive of vagamon you shall be on the earth. And Cain said to the eternal, My punishment is greater than I can bear. You know, really for Cain, it's like it's coming home to roost on him what he's done here. He begins to understand what's happening to him. And it's a terrible thing. They thought that what God had done was worse than if he'd been maybe put to death. Now, it's quite interesting here how it unfolds.

It says in verse 14, Surely you have driven me out this day from the face, it says, of the ground and I shall be hidden from your face and I shall be a fugitive and a vagamon on earth. And it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.

Cain was concerned somebody was going to kill him. And then the eternal said to him, Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the eternal said a mark on Cain lest anyone finding him should kill him. And so, interestingly here, brethren, God doesn't want anybody to kill Cain. It's not a matter, again, of the relatives taking vengeance for the death of Abel. He doesn't want anybody to kill Cain here.

God doesn't want anyone to kill Cain through though Abel's blood cries out for vengeance. Cain has, of course, another chance here to repent. He could have changed. It's like God gives them these opportunities to change. But we know his malice begins to increase. And malice did not disappear from the face of the earth with him.

He perpetuated malice and ill will through his example to his offspring. And his offspring, in fact, practiced malice too. You can read on over here. Remember, one of the sons of Canaan was Lamech. And he killed a young man, the Bible says. And we always felt that maybe that young man was possibly Enoch who died at 300 years of age.

But Lamech actually wants to claim the same disposition that God gave to Cain. You can read it for yourself there at the end of chapter 4. But, brethren, this is the kind of ill will that was perpetuated in the world. It was filled the earth today. And actually, prior to the time of the Flood, God actually had to take human beings away because it says violence had filled the earth.

Again, ill will begetting ill will, and the violence erupted, and it took over the earth. And we are about there again. Prior to the Flood, they were making instruments of war, instruments of death, of violence, of torture, and murder upon people. The world has been filled with feuds between people ever since. At the time of the Flood, we know that you have feuds going on all the time. You've got the Muslims who break up into a number of different sects, and they're battling with each other. The Sunnis and the Shiites battle against each other.

Of course, we all know the Arabs and the Jews always battling against each other, always on the opposite sides, fighting one versus another. And in our modern day, we have, of course, the old Hetfils of Macaulay's, who fight one another as families. But it's what fills the earth today, brethren. Retaliation upon retaliation. The world has had plenty of violence and plenty of malice. You know, the unfortunate thing, brethren, is sometimes we even have it in the Church. That it can be in the Church. It's a kind of interesting that when Cain hated Abel, he did so because Cain's offering was not accepted, and Abel's offering was accepted. Abel's offering was better. That's kind of a godly thing, isn't it?

Here, that he's dealing with here, at least in terms of dealing with the relationship between two people. And so it's not surprising that in the Church we have, you know, ill will sometimes that is there. So this is why Paul, brethren, says, let's keep the feast, not with the old leaven of malice and wickedness, but the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Now, there's been so much malice in the world that God actually eventually turned the world over to it. He just stepped back and said, okay, you're going to fight? Go ahead, just fight. And we know that, brethren, if Jesus Christ did not return, mankind would destroy all life off the face of this planet. But we know Christ is going to return, and it's a part of what his plan is. Let's go to Romans chapter 1 over here.

Romans chapter 1, where Paul is talking about the nature, frankly, of the world. It's, I think, a very good picture over in Romans chapter 1 and down in verse 28. We'll begin. It says, even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind. That's the world we know today. To do things which are not fitting. Being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness, they are whispers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, and venders of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, and unmerciful.

So, brethren, this is the world we live in here. It's a picture of what we see out here. And, brethren, through the centuries, men have been fighting in war with a lot of blood spilled on the ground.

And all that blood, brethren, cries to God for vengeance and revenge.

Every bit of it, brethren, with the exception of one, one man, the earth opened its mouth on one day and took the blood dripping from a snake.

And this blood did not cry out for vengeance like the blood of Abel. It cried for something else.

Let's go to Hebrews 12 over here. Hebrews 12. Yes, this blood cried for something else.

It was the first blood that was shed, in fact, that cried for something else.

He came and willily gave of himself, again as a servant.

But here in Hebrews 12 and verse 22, we'll begin there.

Here Paul is talking about how we've come to Mount Zion, which, of course, is the spiritual church.

Zion is a symbol for church.

Ancient Israel of old, remember, they came to a physical mountain where they were given the commandments.

They were given the commandments, and the mountain shook.

And people were afraid. They didn't want God to talk to them. They want Moses to talk to them. Moses talked to them. He said, we die when God talks to us.

And he talks about how when people committed infraction, they were summarily taken care of back in that time and in that day.

But then he says this, he said, but you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels.

Now think about the fact that when you are sitting here today, when we're here observing this last day, we are sitting before God Almighty, and Jesus Christ, who is sitting on the throne to the right hand of the Father, and angels, innumerable angels, the four living creatures, and Michael and Gabriel, all of them.

This is what we're coming before. We don't see these things as they saw the physical mountain, but every bit is important, in fact, if not more important.

And Paul is about ready again to talk about how important it is.

And it says, to the general assembly and the church of the firstborn, that's us, those called in this age, pictured by Pentecost, as we know, who are registered in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men, made perfect, to Jesus, the meteor of the new covenant, to the blood of sprinkling, and speaking better things than that of Abel.

You get what he's saying here? Speaking better things here. This is much, much better.

He speaks much better things than that of Abel. It's an interesting statement here.

The blood of Jesus Christ had much better things to say, in other words.

You know, Abel's blood cried for vengeance. I have to have revenge.

Jesus Christ's blood cried for much better things. His blood, brethren, cried for peace.

Not more malice, not more revenge, no more crying over somebody's death because of violence, and somebody's blood that has been shed, that cries for revenge.

This man came to forgive, and willingly gave his blood to forgive all sins.

Do you ever wonder, brethren, why it is that some people don't want to forgive another person?

Why is it people don't want to forgive another person? You know why?

It's because they think it costs them something. It's costing them something.

They have to give up their vengeance.

And, you know, forgiving to them is hurt. It hurts to do that, to be willing to forgive another person.

You know, the blood of Abel, metaphorically, did not want to suffer loss, in other words.

That's why it cried out for revenge.

Christ's blood, brethren, spoke more lofty and more excellent things.

I won't turn to it, but in Colossians 1 and verse 20, through 22, you know, the Father sent Jesus Christ, and Christ willingly came.

And I'll break into what it says here in Colossians 1, verse 20, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, that is, the Father, by Him, that is, by Jesus Christ, in other words.

Whether things on earth are things in heaven, having made peace through the blood, it says of the cross.

Verse 21, So these things, through these things, we're being delivered.

God's given us opportunity to be delivered.

We don't suffer the things that others do in the future because they resist.

So this blood is different. This blood pleads for peace, the blood of Jesus Christ.

No vengeance here.

You know, God turned mankind over to malice, but He allows them a way out.

You know, they can be brought back by the blood of Jesus Christ.

He gives them a chance.

And this leaven of malice and wickedness can be taken away.

And you know, the antidote is Christ's blood, what Christ does for us.

So malice, brethren, should never be in the church.

People saying evil things about other people just shouldn't be.

You know why? It destroys fellowship.

It destroys a relationship we can have with each other.

When people do that, we should, as God's people, brethren, pursue peace, as Christians, always, with one another.

You know, Jesus Christ, when He shed His blood, brethren, He signaled a way to a new way of dealing with things.

A new and living way, the Bible talks about, in fact, because His blood does not cry for vengeance, brethren.

And we have available, if we avail ourselves of it, forgiveness through the sacrifice of Christ, through His shed blood, if we're willing to put everything in God's hands.

Just like, you know, was mentioned, we don't need to look to the right or the left or behind us.

All we've got to do is look forward to the gold, and God will make it possible for us to be there.

If we're doing our part, it's God's people.

So Christ's blood, brethren, signaled a new and living way that God's people would do things.

And God has called us to lead the way, to be examples.

Christ was the first forerunner, and we are to follow His lead.

You know, Jesus taught in the model prayer, He taught His disciples, look, that you must forgive to be forgiven. You've got to be willing to forgive other people.

And you know, every one of us here, none of us are perfect, and we come short of the glory of God.

And surely all of us know we need God's forgiveness.

Absolutely. Or we won't, none of us will have a chance in the kingdom of God.

You know, when we were part of the world, brethren, we were people of malice and sin.

We were people of malice and wickedness of the world. We didn't know it.

We weren't aware it. We were, again, like everybody else in the world.

But after we've been called, after we've been converted, brethren, we should be people of love and kindness.

And that's what should begin to come out more as a result of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The curse of malice, brethren, is growing closer to God and learning to love as God does.

God loves us so much.

Do you remember, brethren, when we talked about this in Pass overnight, how when Jesus was there with the disciples and they were all seated around the table, and he poured wine in a cup, and he passed it around to everyone.

And he took the cup, he said, I want you to know that this is my blood, my blood of the new covenant.

And this blood is given for the forgiveness of sins, and I want all of you to drink it.

And he said, I want you to love one another so that everyone will know that you are of me.

You are part of me.

So, brethren, as we end this evening, the days of Unleavened Bread, let's be reminded, let's remind ourselves daily as we go through the next year, the blood of Christ speaks better things.

Let's learn, brethren, to put away malice, let's put away vengeance, and always show that the better way of love and forgiveness is something we want to try up in our lives, because Christ brought, brethren, to us this new and better way.

Let's make the new man that we're building that way, the way that Jesus Christ is a forerunner, the example he set for us.

Let's make the new man that we're building that way, the example he set for us.