The Many Facets of the Passover Season

Well, brethren, two weeks ago we talked about four of the many facets of the Passover season. Today we're going to talk about three more facets, but in actuality those three have become and are really fourteen more facets of the Passover season. So it's grown, but I won't keep it within the time limit. You need not worry. But there are many, many facets to the Passover season. And to me it was really quite eye-opening to consider how many different facets there really are.

In part one of this... well, before I say that, let's just ask the question, why is the Passover season so meaningful? Now, Mr. Wright talked about that quite a bit last time. Why is it so powerful? Why is it so essential for the spiritual well-being of all of God's children? What can we learn from focusing on the many facets of the Passover season? So this is the second part of a two-part series on the importance of the Passover season and the many, many facets of the Passover season.

In part one, we saw that, first of all, Passover is a season of humility. It is a humbling period of the year when we reflect upon the selfless sacrifice of Jesus Christ and of the love of the Father and Son. For each of us personally, this should be something that we take very personally, but also collectively as the body of Jesus Christ, as the Church of God.

It is humbling to realize that God so loved the world, He so loved us, that He gave His only begotten Son for us. How many of you would be willing to give your Son, your daughter, for everyone, for all of us? It shows a lot of love, certainly. So we should be humbled at this time of year. Secondly, we saw that Passover is a season of godly respect, honor, and proper fear of God. We should show respect. That's another one of those words that start with an R. There's a lot of them that start with R. We'll see that as we go on. We should show proper respect, honor, and godly fear, and observe the Passover in a worthy manner.

Now, last year I gave three sermons on what it means to take the Passover in a worthy manner. So if you'd like to go back and rehearse, those are on the website. You can find those. If you have any questions on whether or not you are worthy to take the Passover, then you might want to go back and see what that means.

Also, we should show reverence. That's another R. It's still under the point I'm giving here on the second point. Last time, we should respect and we should reverence God. That's what proper fear is all about, showing true reverence for God and also for His Son. Last time, we also talked about how Passover is a wonderful season of deliverance. How we are delivered from bondage. We are delivered from sin. We're delivered from Satan the Devil. We are delivered from our carnal nature. And we're delivered from the influences of this world. So we have great deliverance in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

And fourthly, we saw that the Passover is a season of faith, beginning with the faith and the faithfulness of Moses, of Joshua, and Caleb, who were God's leaders when the first Passover was implemented. And of course, that faith continues on today with the first fruits. With all of us who are called and chosen at this time, we are to be men and women of faith.

It takes faith to come here and to believe in God and to believe in God's plan and to believe that we need to be here as a part of God's church, as the body of Christ. So we continue in faith as we understand God's awesome plan of salvation for each and every one of us.

It takes faith to dedicate oneself to God and His way of life. And all that it entails, it takes faith. You're here because of faith. Faith is a gift that comes from God. God grants us faith. It's not something that we work up. It's a gift that God gives us. So Passover is certainly a season of faith. Now let's get into some more aspects, some more facets of the Passover season.

Remember last time I told you I was going to tell you about the six R's of the Passover season? Well that's expanded to twelve that I'm going to give you now. And I had a few people respond to the email that I sent out. People sending me some of their R's of the Passover season. So I've come up with twelve and actually there's more than that.

There's a few that I've already mentioned and there's some beyond that. But let's talk about twelve of them. I'll read them. I don't expect you to be able to write all these down. I'm going to go through each one. Repentance, remembrance, removal, and remission, restoration. Removal and remission I'm putting together. Some I'm combining so I wanted to come up with the perfect number twelve. You know, that's what ministers do. I'm not sure why, but we do. So we've got removal and remission, restoration, reconciliation, rededication, righteousness, revelation, reliance, which all leads to spiritual renewal, which leads to redemption and to resurrection.

A resurrection to eternal life. So let's launch into this. First one, repentance. I think most people would come up with this one when it comes to the Passover. The Passover is all about repentance, isn't it? This is a season of repentance. In Acts 2.38 we know it tells us to repent and be baptized. This was when Peter was giving that powerful sermon on that first day of Pentecost. You know, Christ had been crucified. He was resurrected.

This was the first Pentecost that the New Testament church was observing. And Peter said, they said, what shall we do? It says they were pricked in their heart because they realized that they had killed, they had had a part in killing Jesus Christ. Some of them, no doubt, were saying, crucify Him. Crucify Him. So they had to ask, well, what can we do? And Peter said, repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the remission of your sins.

You shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is the Passover Lamb who died so that our sins may be forgiven. He laid His life down for us. He shed His blood for us. At baptism, we ask ourselves two questions. Have you repented of your sins? Sins which are the transgression of God's holy and righteous and perfect law. Have you truly repented of your sins? And have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, your high priest, your Lord, your Master, your soon coming King? Have you accepted Him for who He truly is?

So, the first question we ask is about repentance. The keeping of Passover is by baptized men and women who have repented of their sins. It's for baptized members because we have to fully understand what this is all about. If we're to accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, then we obviously need to understand what that means. If we are going to be baptized, we have to repent of our sins because that's what Peter said. Repent and be baptized. Of course, hands were laid upon them and then they received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Repentance is being genuinely sorry. It is having a godly sorrow for committing sin, for committing any type of sin. Every sin leads to death. Sin is a transgression of God's law. So, when we disobey God, we have sinned and we bring upon ourselves the death penalty. Repentance is admitting that you have sinned, that you are a sinner and that you need the gift of repentance. Repentance is also a gift that God the Father grants to us so our sins may be forgiven. Repentance is growing. Repentance is overcoming. It's changing. It's turning around. It's going a different direction. Repentance is becoming a better, more godly person. Repentance is displaying fruits of repentance, showing that a person has repented. And, of course, the fruit of God's Spirit is love, joy, joy, and peace, patience, kindness, goodness, meekness. It's self-control and it's faithfulness. And those are the fruits of the Spirit that you should be producing on a continual basis. It doesn't mean you have to be perfect, but you should be producing the fruit of God's Holy Spirit. Or you should question, just how seriously are you taking all of this? Do you want to change? Do you want to stop that sinful behavior? It's up to you. You have to decide. I mean, God works in you. God does the work in you, but you have to yield. You have to submit, and you have to surrender in order to produce that kind of fruit. That is what repentance is all about.

So, it is a gift from God that ensures that your sins are forgiven and that you are cleansed of your sins. So, that is the first R, repentance. Secondly, the removal and the remission of sin. The removal and the remission of sin. Passover season is a time of removal, a time to remove any lingering sins that plague us. We all have sins that plague us. Let's admit it. Let's be honest. There's not a single perfect person in here. We all have weaknesses.

We need to admit where we fall short and where we are weak. We need to go to God and repent and do our best to change, to stop being that carnal, stop being that way. Make some significant changes in your life. It's time to remove physical leaven from our home, which is symbolic, more importantly, of the spiritual leaven that we need to get out of our lives. We're told to remove physical leaven from our quarters, which would include our home, our cars, our offices. We should get the leaven out. We don't have to be bug-eyed about it, but we should try to get the leaven out. It doesn't hurt you to vacuum your car once a year, either. Come on, people! Seriously, we do need to put the leaven out. I mean, I found pretzels in my car. I found leaven. We should get the leaven out. We should get it out of our offices.

If you go to work and you have an office that's dedicated to you, then put the leaven out. Don't leave any muffins in there. Get them out, because this extends into every aspect of your life. You're to be a Christian everywhere you go, 24 hours a day. So we must take action to remove the spiritual leaven, the sin, from our lives. We are to be doers, not hearers only. One thing we are to do is to remove the sin. We're to put it away from us, to put it away. This is a time to rid. That's another arm. We're not going to make that a big point, but we need to rid ourselves of the sin that so easily besets us. It is a time to fight back against Satan and against sin in every form. In Luke 24, verses 46 and 47, let's go there, Luke chapter 24, and we're going to do this. We're going to do this in Luke 24, verses 46 and 47. Then he said to them, Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. And that repentance and remission of sins, repentance and remission of sins, remitting our sins and being forgiven, it says, should be preached in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem.

This was something that was to be preached. Repentance and remission of sins, getting rid of our sins, having our sins forgiven. Certainly that's one way is to have our sins forgiven. Another way is to put the sin out with God's help. Then our sins are forgiven as well. I mean, it's a two-way street here. We need to be growing and overcoming and putting sin out of our lives if we are to show ourselves pleasing to God so that he will grant repentance and remission of sins to us.

So that is the second, removal and remission of sin. A third R is remembrance. Remember, we're talking about the Passover season. The Passover season is a season of remembrance. We're told to remember what happened back at the time when God appeared to Moses in a burning bush and he led the children of Israel out of Egypt. We're told to remember that first Passover. We're told to remember that night to be much remembered. That time when they were led out of Egypt with a high hand, God was with them. God was blessing them and bringing them out of Egypt. We know that that's symbolic of coming out of sin. It relates directly to you and me today. We are to be coming out of sin. It should be a primary focus. We need God's help. We need Christ living in us in order to make this happen, but we have to also take it very seriously. This is a time of remembrance. We observed the night to be much remembered when Israel came out of Egypt. It was the fifteenth of Nisan and the Passover lamb had been slain on the fourteenth at evening.

The curse upon the firstborn of Egypt was carried out that night and the Israelites, who were faithful and put the blood of the sacrificial lamb upon their lintels and doorposts, were passed over and their firstborn were spared and they were saved alive. The children of Israel were told to stay in their homes until morning and they were to go out by night on the fifteenth, which is the beginning of the first day of Unleavened Bread. So this is a time of remembrance. We should look back at that first Passover when the children of Israel were set free by the blood of the lamb. Finally, Pharaoh yielded and reluctantly let God's people go. The children of Israel were freed from their bondage in Egypt. We are to leave our sins behind just as the Israelites left Egypt behind. They were called out of Egypt. We are being called out of our sins. We are to remember God's deliverance. God is the one that gives us victory over sin. There is so much for us to remember during the season of the Passover. There's so much to remember. So I would encourage you to go back and read various accounts in the Old and the New Testament in regard to the Passover, things that relate to the Passover. Go back and remember these things. Another R is that of restoration and renovation. Restoration and renovation. They're very similar, so I put those two together. Restoration, renovation. The Passover season is all about being restored.

It's all about being restored. It's all about being renovated. I just thought of another one. Regeneration. Regeneration. It's another R. At Passover, when our sins are forgiven, we are restored to a right relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ and with God the Father.

Sin is what separates us from God. Sin separates us from God, and forgiveness of sin restores our relationship. Being forgiven. That's what Passover is all about, the remission of sins. Being forgiven our sins, we are restored, we are renovated, we are rejuvenated. This all comes because Passover season has many, many facets. Another one is reconciliation.

I think this is the fifth one. Reconciliation. The Passover season is all about reconciliation.

At Passover, we are reconciled to God. Now, I could go through many scriptures. I just don't have time to cover this many points and go to all the scriptures. So I would ask, why don't you do that? It's a good study. Take what I'm giving you today, look up these words, find where they're used in the Bible, and find how they relate to the Passover season. The Passover season is all about reconciliation. At Passover, we are reconciled to God. Our relationship with God is restored, as I've already mentioned. Our sins are forgiven as we accept Jesus Christ, as we accept the blood of the Lamb, sacrificed for us. But at Passover season, we're not only reconciled to God our Father and to His Christ, to the anointed one, to the Messiah, to our Savior, but we are also to be reconciled to one another.

You are to be reconciled to your husband, to your wife. You are to be reconciled to your brothers physically or spiritually, your brothers and sisters in Christ. This is a time of reconciliation. It's a time to be reconciled. So don't be hard-hearted when it comes to reconciliation, when it comes to restoration. The Passover season can work miracles in your life if you allow it to. This is a powerful season that God has given us, and it can work miracles in your life. So you should be reconciled to each other.

Don't carry grudges around. None of us are perfect. We all sin. It's not just making mistakes. It's sin. We all sin. We should repent of our sins. Yes, that's critical.

We have to repent. But then we should also forgive, shouldn't we? Again, none of us are perfect. So we should allow some give and take here. We're not perfect. We all sin. We all fall short of God's glory. So are you going to reconcile with your brother? Are you going to reconcile with your mate? Are you going to reconcile with anyone that you are estranged to? That's what this season is all about. Do what you can do to heal the breach. And stop making excuses for your part. Stop making excuses for your part. You can't control other people, but you can be self-controlled when it comes to your own life. So reconcile with God's people and stop being so stubborn. It's not a badge that we should be proud of to be stubborn, to be unyielded, to be unrepentant. Reconcile with one another. And stop being unrepentant. Some more R's. Rededication and recommitment. To rededicate ourselves, to recommit ourselves. That is the Passover season, isn't it? To rededicate and to recommit.

The Passover season is all about rededicating yourself. It's all about recommitting yourself to your calling. God has called and chosen you specifically out of this world. Out of billions of people on this earth, He has chosen you. He has called you. Do you take that lightly?

I certainly hope not. I mean, that's a wonderful calling to be called out and be given the precious truth that we share every Sabbath. Every Sabbath we come to be taught. And of course we should study every day. I mean, we're God's children every day of the week, every moment of the day, every second of the day. But the Sabbath is a special time. It is a sign between God and His people. A very, very precious sign. It shows people who are humbled and obedient to God, and God has opened their mind. People who don't have their mind open, you can't blame them if they don't have their minds open to the importance of the Sabbath and the need for the Sabbath, unless of course they've rejected it. I mean, most people aren't being called. Many people aren't being called anyway. God is the judge of all of that. But we should rededicate ourselves every Passover season. We should recommit ourselves every Passover season. Are we truly bringing glory to God in the decisions that we make each day in our lives? Are you bringing glory to God, or are you bringing shame upon God, who should be working mightily in you? Do you have a chance to have been called out and chosen by Him? He should be working mightily in you. If you allow Him to, He's not going to make you. He's not going to force you. You have to yield and surrender and allow Him to work in you to produce the fruit of God's Holy Spirit.

So are you bringing glory to God in the decisions that you make every day? Again, are you producing His fruit, the fruit of His Spirit, in your lives? Do we need to rededicate ourselves to becoming more like God, to becoming holy even as He is holy? Are we obedient children striving to live by every word of God, by all of His laws and all of His ways? Or are we resistant? That's another R. It's not a season to be resistant. Not at all. It's a season to be receptive. Another R! It's a season to be receptive to God. We should be receptive to God. So now, let's talk about righteousness, another R. The Passover season is a season of righteousness. We are to become righteous. Again, we're called out of the world, choosing to do what is right and good and learning to reject evil. Reject evil.

The Passover season includes, of course, the days of Unleavened Bread. Unleavened bread is symbolic of sin, as we mentioned. Unleavened bread is symbolic of righteousness. It's symbolic of the perfect Christ who never sinned, who is totally righteous. We are to eat unleavened bread during the days of Unleavened Bread. I believe we should strive to eat it every day. It only makes sense to eat it every day. Christ is to live in us every day, all the time. Obviously, we should strive to eat it every day. It's important that we put Christ in, that we put that Unleavened Bread within us. It's a wonderful object lesson to eat Unleavened Bread. We have to allow Christ in, allow Him to live in us so that He might motivate us outwardly so that we will look like Him. We need to look more like Christ.

So, righteousness, a time of righteousness. Observing the Passover each year is our commitment to living righteous lives. When you come here on Passover night, you are committing to a righteous lifestyle. You have committed to that. Now, live it! A righteous, godly lifestyle.

Another important hour is Revelation. Revelation. This is a time of revelation. God reveals things to His children. He reveals things during the Passover time, the Passover season. He gives us wisdom and understanding. He works with us. We are told to examine ourselves.

As we examine ourselves, He will reveal to us what we need to change. This is a time of revelation. Expect to have things revealed to you at this time. God will show us what we need to work upon and what we need to do to be more pleasing to Him. Passover season is a time God will reveal truth to us. That's what the Holy Spirit is all about. The Holy Spirit reveals truth. The truth will make us free. Expect to have things revealed to you during the Passover season. We can learn about our own carnal nature. We can learn the truth about just how carnal we can be, how fleshly we are. It's time to face up to your weaknesses, admit them, and go to God for help to put them out of your life. God can reveal truth to us about Satan's influence, about how Satan does influence every one of us, how the world influences every one of us. What is God revealing to you this Passover season? What is He revealing to you personally? Seek revelation. Seek to know and understand God better, to understand His ways better, to understand yourself better. This is a time of revelation. It's also a time of reliance. Another R, a time of reliance. The Passover season is a season of reliance upon God and upon Christ. We need to learn to rely fully upon God. This is a time of reliance upon God. He supplies our every need both physically and spiritually. Both physically and spiritually, God is the author of what we need in this life. He supplies our every need, so we should rely upon Him. We should realize that this is a season of reliance. Of course, that doesn't mean we don't have our part to play. In fact, we have a very important part to play because, as I've already mentioned, we are the ones that have to be the doers. We have to be doers of the law. We have to learn to live by every word of God. But we do need to rely upon His strength and His Spirit to lead us and to guide us down the right path by the power of His Spirit. We are to walk in the Spirit. We are to get rid of the works of the flesh. Galatians 5 talks about the works of the flesh. We're no longer to walk in the works of the flesh. We are to walk in the Spirit. God's Holy Spirit revealing truth to us and allowing us to rely on God and to have God live and work in us. Another R, and I've actually combined a number in this one, that's renewal, refreshing and renovation, which means spiritual renewal. So renewal, refreshing and renovation. Renewal, refreshing, renovation. It all leads to spiritual renewal.

The Passover season is all about being renewed. It's about spiritual renewal. It's about refreshing and being refreshed spiritually. You know, that is one of the greatest gifts that I personally have experienced. I feel renewed day by day through the power of God's Holy Spirit. God's Spirit in me renews me. It gives me energy. It gives me strength. It gives me hope. It gives me faith. God can work mightily in all of us. He can renew us. Day by day, He can renew us. Life is hard. I know that. I understand that. Life is difficult. Life sucks the life out of us. It's difficult. It's hard. As a minister, I am exposed to many people's problems, many people's trials. If it were not for God renewing me daily, I wouldn't be up here in front of you after 30 plus years in the ministry. God does work miracles. God works wonderful miracles in our lives. God will renew you. God will strengthen you. God will help you.

You have to have faith and trust in Him and believe in Him. You can move mountains with God's help. So, spiritual renewal. Again, when we have hands laid upon us by the ministry, after repenting, after accepting Christ as our Savior, after being baptized, we become a new creation. That's what the Bible says. We are a new creation. And day by day, we are renewed as Christ lives in us. Let's go to 2 Kings 22. I wanted to bring out a couple of examples in the Old Testament of a few righteous kings. There weren't many righteous kings, were there? In fact, there were very few righteous kings. But Josiah was a righteous king. And his example speaks to this spiritual renewal that we all need to have, that we all need to seek for. 2 Kings 22, verse 11. And we have a new kingdom. We have a new kingdom.

2 Kings 22, verse 11. So let's read this together and let's consider it in verse 11.

Ok, chapter 22, verse 11. Now it happened when the king heard the words of the book of the law. Remember, the book of the law was found in a temple that had been greatly neglected. The book of the law was found by the priest, Hilkiah, it was given to Shaphan. It was read to Josiah. Josiah was 18 years old at this time. A very young man, 18. So in verse 11, now it happened when the king heard the words of the book of the law that he tore his clothes. That's a symbol of anguish, a symbol of repentance, of being greatly moved.

He tore his clothes then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahichom the son of Shaphan, Akbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and so forth, the servant of the king, saying, Go and inquire of the eternal for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the eternal. Great is God's wrath that has aroused against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book. If we do not obey the words of God's law, His book, His Bible, same things will happen to us.

There are curses for disobedience that are still in existence. There are blessings for obedience because we have not obeyed the words of this book to do according to all that is written concerning us. So verse 14, So Hilkiah the priest, Ahichom, Akbor, Shaphan, and Asiah went to Halta the prophetess. Here was a prophetess, a woman, that God was using in a powerful way, the wife of Shalom, and so forth. We don't need to read all that.

Verse 15, Then she said to them, This says the eternal God of Israel, Tell the man who sent you to me. Here's what she says. This is what God is saying. Thus says the eternal, Behold, I will bring calamity to this place, and on its inhabitants all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read, because they have forsaken me, and they burn incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore my wrath shall be aroused against this place, and shall not be quenched. God is angry, and his anger will not be quenched until there is repentance.

But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the eternal, in this manner you shall speak to him. Thus says the Lord God of Israel, concerning the words which you have heard, Because your heart was tender, do you have a tender heart today? Do you have a tender heart like Josiah? Because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the eternal, when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and you went before me. I also have heard you, says the eternal.

Surely therefore I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace. In other words, it was not going to happen during his time. All of that wrath of God was not going to happen during Josiah's time, because Josiah humbled himself. Josiah, at age 18, was zealous in that he burned the articles in the temple that had been made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the hosts of heaven.

He removed the idolatrous priests who worshipped at the high places. This was the history of the children of Israel. They had gone into idolatry. They were breaking the Sabbath. They were doing all kinds of evil, and yet they were the chosen people of God. They were the chosen people of God. They were the chosen people of God. They were the chosen people, and yet they were evil in the way they were behaving, in the way they were conducting themselves. So we have to ask ourselves, is there a spiritual application today? We should examine ourselves, and any unclean thing we should ask God to remove from us.

So Josiah went about removing the unclean things. He tore down the ritual baths, or the booths, that had been used for sodomy and prostitution. That's how far they had gone in Israel. There were religious rituals that were taking place in the temple. He destroyed several high places where the other gods were worshipped. He executed all the priests of the high places. Josiah was a man of action. Josiah was a God-fearing man who went about doing God's will. And that's the way you need to be. You need to be a God-fearing person, man or woman.

You need to stand up for what's right, and you need to be counted. You need to stand in the gap and be counted. Days are going to get harder in the days ahead. Now is the time to repent and draw near to God. He will draw near to you. He'll draw near to me. So Josiah commanded the people to keep the Passover. Let's see that in 2 Kings 23.

2 Kings 23. 2 Kings 23. I forgot my glasses, but I'm too stubborn to ask for them, so I'm okay.

Let's go to 2 Kings 23. This new light helps. 2 Kings 23 verse 21. 2 Kings 23 verse 21.

Then the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the Passover to the Eternal your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant. Such a Passover surely had never been held since the days of the Judges, who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. They had gotten away from keeping the Passover. Imagine that!

See, I tend to believe that God is certainly more pleased. We've been keeping the Passover for 70-plus years in God's Church. And, you know, other people before that, no doubt, throughout history, the gates of hell have not prevailed against the Church of God. We do exist. We are real. So, this was a time, though, where the Passover had been greatly neglected during the time of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. Verse 23. Verse 23. But in the 18th year of King Josiah, this Passover was held before the Eternal in Jerusalem. It had been years and years before they had kept, since they had kept a Passover.

Moreover, Josiah put away those who consulted mediums and spiritus, the household gods and idols, all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might perform the words of the law, which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.

We are the temple of God's Holy Spirit. You are the temple of God's Spirit. You need to purge out anything that's unclean. Take it seriously. Be responsible. Do your part. Examine yourselves. Go to God and repent before the Passover.

Ask Him to help you see any unclean thing that's in you, that you might put it out, that God might forgive you your sin.

I'm not going to take the time to read about King Hezekiah, but I'll just tell you 2 Chronicles 31. Well, it's only a couple verses, so let's go there. 2 Chronicles 31. Hezekiah is another example of a good king.

2 Chronicles 31. 2 Chronicles 31. Verses 20 and 21. Hezekiah brought spiritual renewal, just like Josiah had brought spiritual renewal. They both brought spiritual renewal to Israel. That's what we're talking about. We're talking about renewal, refreshing, renovation, becoming a new person in Christ. So 2 Chronicles 31. Verses 20 and 21.

Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and true before the eternal His God. And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, the temple of God, in the law and in the commandments to seek His God, he did it with all his heart. He did it with all of his heart. He was wholehearted in his approach.

And we need to be wholehearted. We need to be men and women who have whole hearts like David. David was a man after God's own heart. He was wholehearted. So was Josiah. So was Hezekiah. And they made a huge difference in Israel.

Brother, we are told to examine ourselves, is there any sin in you? Is there any sin in you? Are you taking Christ's sacrifice for granted? Have you been spiritually neglectful in any way? Have you forgiven others? Do you still harbor hatred and resentment against another human being?

That all needs to be repented on. You need to look deep within yourself and ask God to root out any unclean thing. Go to Psalm 51. Read the Psalm of Repentance by King David. Make it your song. Make it your prayer. Go to God and repent.

2 Corinthians 7. We want to read about what true repentance is again. We mentioned it already. But in this context, let's go to 2 Corinthians 7, verse 10. 2 Corinthians 7, verse 10. For godly sorrow produces repentance. It has to be godly sorrow. It can't be a human sorrow that you got caught, that your reputation was hurt, that someone thinks ill of you. That's not true repentance. That's not a godly sorrow. That is a selfish sorry. Sorry that you were caught. Sorry that you were exposed. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about a true godly sorrow. It produces repentance leading to salvation. Not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world produces death. Worldly sorrow produces death. That selfish sorrow produces death.

For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner. This was after the people in Corinth. They were allowing sin to go on within their congregation. They had to repent of that.

They did repent of it and that those people were put out, or that person was put out of the church for a time because he needed to repent.

Then they're being commended because of their godly sorrow and their repentance.

He says, you sorrowed in a godly manner, and what diligence it produced in you? What clearing of yourselves? What indignation? Righteous indignation.

What fear? What vehement desire? What zeal? What vindication? In all things, you proved yourselves to be clear in this manner.

So it is important that we are sorrowful in a godly way. We should be moved to be sorry for our sins. When we sin, we should feel shame. We should feel guilt because we're guilty.

And we should go to God and ask Him to forgive us. That doesn't mean we're supposed to stay woe as me. No, we're supposed to get up off our knees after having repented.

And we're to get down there and go boldly before the throne of grace and ask God to forgive us. We all need forgiveness. I need forgiveness. I have to go boldly to God at times because I'm ashamed of what I've done and I have to repent of that.

We all have to do that. We go boldly before His throne. At the same time, we should be humbled by our sins. And we should have true godly sorrow. And that should make a difference in how we live from that day on.

We should be better. We should be moving in the right direction. We should be changing. We should be growing. We should be overcoming.

So, godly sorrow leads to repentance and that to a clearing of ourselves. So, we should let a man examine himself so that he may eat the Passover in a worthy manner.

1 Corinthians 11. We need to eat the Passover in a worthy manner. So, we do have to go to God and repent of our sins. And we have to admit our sins. That's the starting point. Admit that you're a sinner. Admit that you've sinned. Admit that you need forgiveness.

Examine yourself as to whether you are in the faith. That's 2 Corinthians 13. Examine yourself. You can't hide something to other people, but you can't hide anything from God.

2 Corinthians 13, verse 4. For though he was crucified in weakness, speaking of Christ, he was crucified in the flesh. He was weak because he was flesh.

He was crucified in weakness. Yet he lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you, toward each and every one of us.

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Are you in the faith? Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you? Christ lives in you. If indeed you are his.

Galatians 2, verse 20. Unless indeed you are disqualified. God knows whether you are disqualified. Perhaps you know whether or not you're disqualified.

But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified. You're not disqualified or you wouldn't be here, right? You want to do the right thing. You're here for the right reasons.

Go in faith. Believe. God is with you. God will forgive you. God will grant you repentance. You shall be cleansed. You shall keep the Passover in a worthy manner.

Now, this leads us to redemption. We are redeemed during the Passover season. We are redeemed. We are bought back. We are purchased with the blood of Christ. This season is all about redemption.

Jesus Christ is our kinsman redeemer. Go look that up. Study what that means. He is our kinsman redeemer. He has redeemed us. He is a close kinsman. He is our brother. He has redeemed us. We have been bought back and purchased by His blood.

It is through His sacrifice that we are redeemed and that once again we are a child of God on the way to the Kingdom of God. You are on the way to God's Kingdom.

So redemption, being redeemed, that's what Passover season is all about, which leads us to resurrection. The final one. I think that's 12 with a few others thrown in there.

Resurrection. Passover is a season to reflect upon our Savior's resurrection to eternal life. Christ was the first to be resurrected to eternal life. It also points to our coming resurrection. This Passover season points to our coming resurrection to eternal life. If we apply ourselves each year at Passover and we're truly committed to pleasing God, then we need not worry about being resurrected to eternal life at Christ's return. If you learn the lessons of the spring Holy Days, then the fall Holy Days shall be revealed in you. The fall Holy Days picture God's plan when it comes to Christ returning, a piece of trumpets.

It pictures the day of atonement when Satan will be bound and when we will become one with God. It pictures the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. It pictures that eighth day, which leads into the New Jerusalem, into God's kingdom being expanded throughout eternity.

If you learn the lessons of the spring Holy Days, then you shall fulfill the lessons of the fall Holy Days. You're going to be in His kingdom. It's a wonderful plan that's revealed in His Holy Days. These are important days to observe, the annual Holy Days.

The weekly Sabbath is very, very important. It's critically important. It is a sign between God and His people. We should observe it every Sabbath. The annual Holy Days are also critically important as they picture God's wonderful plan of salvation.

So, it is God's Spirit in us that ensures that we will be sealed for the day of our resurrection. So, only those who are baptized keep the Passover. Only those who have the Spirit of God dwelling in them are to keep the Passover.

It is God's Spirit that seals us for the day of our resurrection, right? That's what seals us. If we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us when Christ returns, or when we die, we shall be resurrected as a first fruit in God's kingdom.

So, we talked about a lot of R's. Let's go on to point number six. All that was point number five.

Point number six. Passover season is a season of godly love. It's a season of godly love.

John chapter three verse 16 and 17. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but should have everlasting life.

For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.

God is in the process of saving his people. All of his people, not just the first fruits, all of his people, all of his children.

God loves every one of us. We're among the first fruits, but God will call many, many more.

And God works with people as he chooses.

Throughout history, God is the judge of what he's doing in people's lives. You're not the judge. You can't be the judge of that. God is the judge.

Passover season is a season of godly love, and God loves the whole world. And you need to learn to love the whole world, and I need to learn to love the whole world.

And set a godly example as we live our lives. In our neighborhoods, wherever we are, wherever we go, at work, wherever we are, we need to set a godly example.

And God will be glorified through that example. If we do it in a way that's pleasing to God, God shall be glorified.

And then eventually, you shall be glorified as you are changed to spirit at the return of Christ.

That's point number six. Passover season is a season of godly love.

And then the last point, number seven. Passover season is a season of joy and gratitude. Of joy and gratitude, you might say it is a season of rejoicing. Another R.

A season of rejoicing. It's a season of joy. It's a season of being thankful, of being grateful.

I tell you, thankfulness is so important, brethren. If you're not a thankful person, then pray that God will help you to become one.

Because thankfulness is so important. Being grateful, it changes your whole outlook. It changes everything about how you look at other people, how you look at God.

If you're not a thankful person overall, then you suffer. You suffer. You need to be thankful for whatever it is.

You know, God does allow trials, and they hurt, and they're painful. But there are so many wonderful things to think about and to thank God for.

Amidst the trials, there are many, many blessings. Many, many blessings. I don't care how severe the trial is. There are still more wonderful blessings.

And the greatest of all is the sacrifice of Christ and to be in His kingdom and to live forever. It doesn't get any better than that.

You know, I am convinced that God allows His people to suffer because He does not want us to become complacent in this life.

And He doesn't want us to think so highly of ourselves that we can also suffer. God allows us to suffer. This is not His kingdom. This is not God's kingdom.

We should long for His kingdom. We should pray, thy will be done. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

Because we will continue to have suffering. It's going to happen because we're flesh, and God allows it. God loves us. It doesn't mean He doesn't love us. He loves us deeply.

But He allows us to suffer. And when one suffers, we all suffer. And we should all long for His kingdom and pray for His kingdom with greater fervency than ever before.

So, brethren, Passover season is a season of joy. It's a season of gratitude.

There are a number of scriptures, for example, Ezra 6, where Ezra and the returning captives to Israel, they observed the Passover after many, many years of being captive in Babylon.

And they keep the Passover with great joy. You can go read about it. It's in Ezra 6. They keep the Passover with great joy.

They're so thankful to be able to come back to the land of Israel, to return after having been taken captive, having been punished by God because of their sins, because of their neglect.

But God brought them back. And God is that way. He'll bring us all back. He'll restore us. He'll bless us.

But we need faith. We need to trust in Him and know that God is on His throne and that we need not fear anything.

We need not fear anything. If God is with us, who can be against us?

That's the kind of faith and power that we all need to have during this season. This is a season of tremendous power.

God's Spirit is active and it's working in His people. And we need to stir up His Spirit. And we need to draw near to God at this time.

We need to repent of our sins. We need to be cleansed. And we need to do all these things that we talked about today.

We talked about a bunch of them. The Passover season is a very meaningful time of year.

It is a time of humility, a time of godly fear, a time of deliverance, a time of faith, a time of repentance, a time of removal of sin and remission, forgiveness of sins.

It's a time of remembrance, a time of restoration, a time of reconciliation. It's a time of rededication. It's a time of righteousness.

It is a time of revelation, of reliance upon God. It's a time of spiritual renewal. It's a time of redemption. It is a time of resurrection to eternal life.

It entails all of that. The many facets of Passover, it entails His love, His godly love. It entails a time of joy and gratitude for what God is doing in your life.

So, brethren, let us remember the sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and let us keep this feast, starting with the Passover, observing the Passover.

Then, the night to be much remembered and observed.

And then, the days of unleavened bread, when we put Christ into our lives and allow Him to live in us, to help change us, to become like Him, to become unleavened.

So, let us keep this feast, this feast of unleavened bread, and let's keep it with the bread of sincerity and truth.

Sincerity and truth.

Well, I wish you all a very wonderful Passover and first day of unleavened bread.

I'm going to be in Durant for Passover. I'm going to be in down in ... I don't remember the name of that place.

Coleman, yes. I have been to Coleman. I am going to Coleman for the first day of unleavened bread.

I think I see you on the last ... well, I see you on the Sabbath between the days of unleavened bread. I guess the dance is the next time. I'll be seeing all of you. So, I wish you the best. I pray for you. I love you.

This is a time for all of us to draw near to God, to draw near to each other. Keep the night to be much observed. If you don't have plans yet, make plans. Make plans. Let me know. If you need somewhere to go, I'll find a place for you. By hook or by crook. I will find a place for you. So, let me know. Sign the list. Let Jonathan Faye know. Let us know, because we want everyone to observe these days and to get the very most out of the Passover season.