March to the Door of the Kingdom

You ever had a strong connection with a group, with an organization, with a city?

Some event that takes place? That's my event. That's what I'm related to. That's what I'm close to. That's what I'm about. I'll give you a personal example of something that's existed in my life. It's called the Pasadena Rose Parade. I was born and reared out in Pasadena on the Rose Parade route. And that Rose Parade is just something that you just feel a part of, if you're right there. In front of our house, we had the horses line up. All the horses. We had Roy Rogers in Day 11's. We had Gene Autry and George Goble, and they'd get off their horses and some attendant would spray their hoof silver, get them all nice and shiny for the parade, and then the horses would march off and leave all these little silver rings on our street.

From a young kid, the parade, we knew it was coming. And as Ambassador College was being built, my brothers and I would scavenge the leftover wood and start bundling it weeks in advance of the Rose Parade. Because you could make a lot of money selling firewood to all those people who camped out at night all the way down Colorado Boulevard.

And we made a ton of money. And if it wasn't selling firewood, we sold newspapers for the LA Times. We sold magazines. We sold programs with the full parade lineup. We just love the Rose Parade. You know, the Rose Parade gave you opportunity to get involved, to sell parking, as my wife and I did when we were dating. Sell parking and help people from all over the U.S. and Canada find spaces to get up there in the stands, filled with a million, two million people, for miles down South Orange Grove and then down Colorado Boulevard, way over the horizon.

And then the bands would begin to play. It would start to march. Rose Parade time. Oh, it was great. My father was a director in the Rose Parade. He wore the white uniform with the red tie and the special red badge and the red rose. And he would represent Ambassador College. And that portion of the Rose Parade is managed things and floats and bands and security and various other things. This was our parade. It's what you grew up doing. When the when the floats came by, it was like nothing on earth. It's an international event because there's no other thing that's taken place in the last 120 years like the Rose Parade.

See, they have a rule that every float, every spec of every float has to be covered in something vegetable. Nothing plastic, nothing painted. It has to be covered in vegetable. A leaf, a flower, a seed, something has to cover that float. And countries from around the world, cities from around the world, companies, major corporations, Vai and our waiting list to get a float into that parade. And bands and leaders and civic leaders and famous people, Vai for seats on those floats to be seen.

And the networks and the TVs and the satellite people come and they're like, it's a great event. There's nothing like being at the Rose Parade. And every year you just get goosebumps thinking about the Rose Parade. If you're not nauseated yet about this, you can call me Rose Parade boy. I'm all about the Rose Parade. One of our vehicles has two stickers from the Rose Parade. Police official stickers that says, this vehicle is certified to be Al-Qaeda and bomb-proof and can park up next to the parade route. I like those stickers about the Rose Parade. I like the Rose Parade. When it came on this year, I turned on the TV, oh, I like the Rose Parade.

And when one of those CBS pans to the left and zooms down, if you look at just to the left-hand side of the screen, there's a sign says, Ambassador Auditorium, left turn. Ah, that's where I used to live. Right down there, that's my link. See, that's the old neighborhood. It's the old neighborhood. Really, really like the Rose Parade. When the horses come marching by and the people are in the stands and the bands start playing and all the famous people on the floats and you just see the floats are moving and they're going up and down with hydraulics and things.

So, so, so exciting. Towards the end of the parade, you know, you begin to realize two hours is about finishing and finally it goes on way far away over the horizon, way over the horizon for miles and ends at Victory Park, where all the floats pull into Victory Park and they sort of set up there and people come and take their last looks and photos. Very, very exciting event. Each January 1st in passing the California. There's another parade that took place.

Some 4,000 years ago. It's quite an event. It's even bigger than the Rose Parade. It was much more exciting than that. That had special effects, 10 big special effects that led up to the parade. Really got the local people involved. And a lot of those people came out and they watched as the parade began. And a line that was wide and along with millions of participants of people and animals and they began to march in this parade and go by. It was very, very exciting. Exodus 12 talks about the assembly in Ramses and Israel going out in its order by its tribes according to its divisions and armies. Israel walked out of Ramses in the dark.

God made sure it was black. It was dark. It was important that that journey began in the dark where the people couldn't see. It wasn't about a full moon. We had a full moon this year, but it was cloudy where I was. It didn't really matter if the moon was full. They went in the dark just like we live in a dark age, a dark world.

And they began to put one foot in front of the other in this giant parade at night where they couldn't see. And they didn't know the way. They didn't have a map. They didn't have a clue. They didn't know where they were going or how they would get there. But there was another dramatic event, and that was a pillar of fire, a bright light, a pillar of blazing light that not only gave light, but it directed them.

It took off, and they took off following the light. In Exodus 12, 42, that night to be much observed that we kept is important for us to realize why and what the things about the beginning of that parade, as the bell rang, as it were. And let's go! And people then at the front began to march, and the bystanders and the onlookers began to see this glorious event of the bright light and the people moving by.

In Exodus 12 and 42, God says it's a night of solemn observance. Or, as the margin says, perhaps a little more correctly, a night of vigil, a night of watching. You and I are used to sitting around on the night to be much observed, or the night to be much watched, or the night of vigil, but that's not what they did then. It was a night of watching where you're going to step. It was a night of using your eyes, of seeing the light, of being very vigilant, of walking and following God. It's very different to what they've done in the past, which is kind of do their own thing as slaves.

Now they had to pay close attention. They were on a journey. They were in a parade, as it were. They were in a group that was moving along. We need to follow the light. We need to follow the leader. We need to carefully note the path that God's Word illuminates.

Now, while this big event was taking place, quite a few people observed it. Quite a few people, this was their hometown. It's where they lived. Ramesses and the trek along the way was home to them. This big parade came to town, and it was spectacular. They probably brought some lunches or dinners or snacks or something out there just to observe the whole thing. It took literally hours and hours for all of this great mass of people and animals to go by. What an event it was! With a pillar of fire at night, a pillar of cloud in the daytime. It was probably just a spectacle that drew the spectators. They believed in God, these spectators. Oh yeah, they believed in God. They'd had 10 examples of God. Here's number 11, the pillar of fire and cloud. This is pretty good stuff. They believed in God. They supported the Israelites. Go, you guys! Good for you! Good job! They probably identified with the Israelites. They probably felt something, I don't know, some connection. They agreed that they were being led by... They probably supported the commandments by then. The laws. They were probably excited about the destiny. These people are going to a Promised Land! How exciting! Go! They probably ate unleavened bread, the bystanders. They probably... Hey, what you eating? Could I have a bite? Hey, you want a piece of unleavened bread? Well, this is different. Okay, we're with you. We're rooting, Jan. We're eating unleavened bread with you. We're cheering your God. This is the event. Yeah, I'm Exodus boy and girl. These people felt part of the Exodus. They were impacted by the event. They were present. They saw it firsthand. They were there. They kind of related to it. It's kind of like the Rose Parade. Kind of like the Rose Parade. I'm all about the Rose Parade. I've never participated in a Rose Parade. I've never walked one step as a member of the parade. I've felt so attached to it, but when you stop and think about it, I've never been involved with it. Just observed it. In 60 years, I've never been to Victory Park. I have never, even though it was in my town, I have never seen Victory Park. Not quite sure where it is. Not quite sure even where the Rose Parade went after it went over the hill beyond Rosemead somewhere. That was beyond where I've been in the parade. Similarly, it's kind of like church members. Think about it.

In the church, I'm part of the church. I'm part of Unleavened Bread. I'm part of the Exodus, out of sin. I'm part of the Feast, and I'm part of the Kingdom of God. Well, if we're not careful, we might feel a real affinity, a real closeness to it. Just, oh, that's my church! These are my days. I love that Sabbath. Yep, I'm all about this. And yet, we might be observers instead of participants. Jesus warned a lot about that. The apostles warned a lot about it. In fact, the Bible talks about that quite a bit. That we can feel so close to something, such a bond, such a connection, and yet not realize we're just bystanders. We're just watching the parade go by. We're watching the bride on its journey to the door of the kingdom. We're watching the church progress. We're watching people grow. We're watching the Sabbath being hallowed by some people, not by God, but being kept holy by some people. But we're not. See? We just feel a special connection to it, like I'm part of that. Like the individual standing along the side and watching the Exodus go by. Yeah, yeah, we were there. But they didn't go over the hill. They didn't go all the way to the Red Sea. They just felt some sort of a supporting link for it. They weren't following the pillar. They weren't following God away from their roots, away from who they had been and what they had been. They weren't abandoning all. They weren't giving it away and leaving it behind and moving off to an unknown place, following an unseen God. Sometimes we get a false notion that keeping the law is the same as marching towards the kingdom of God. Keeping the law to us can mean not breaking the law. You can look at the Ten Commandments and we say, well, I'm not killing, I'm not stealing, I'm not lying, I'm not committing adultery, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not. And therefore, I'm part of the exodus, I'm part of the bride moving, I'm part of the journey, I'm part of following God. And we can deceive ourselves. If I didn't go to work on Saturday, I kept the Sabbath, right? If I didn't eat leaven all week, then I kept the Days of Unleavened Bread. But if I did eat leaven, oops, I didn't keep the Days of Unleavened Bread. You know, we are not told in the Bible to keep the Sabbath. It might shock you. It probably does. When you say you keep the Sabbath, it's not what God asked you to do. God told you to keep the Sabbath holy. Not to just not go to work. God said to actually do something. To get up and march, to move from where you are, and actually observe and keep the Sabbath holy the way He laid out. In Isaiah 58, sometimes we think, oh, well, if I'm just not going to work and lazing all day, I'm keeping the Sabbath. That's special. As long as I sit here on the parade route and watch all the other Christians go by on their way to the Kingdom, I'm with them.

In James 1, verse 21-25, we're given our marching orders. In James 1, verse 21, we're told here something that we really need to pay attention to. As this journey towards the door of the Kingdom is not about just supporting, observing, feeling close to, appreciating, getting excited about, having a link with God and His Kingdom. It's about participation. In James 1, verse 21, He says, therefore, lay aside. You're going to get up and march. Get rid of who you are, where you're from. You're going to leave your father and your mother. You're going to leave your family. You're going to leave what you were. You're going to leave your old self. You're going to bury that thing. Lay those things aside, all filthiness, all your old mentality and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls. Now, that's as far as most people go with faith. Yeah, I'll do that. Yeah, just get me up and baptize and I'm ready and I've got the faith and now I'll sit down and I'll wait. That's not what James says. Yes, we are to repent. Yes, we are to get leaven out of our homes. We do that actually before the Feast of Unleavened Bread even starts. We're supposed to get rid of the sin, the major things we do wrong before baptism, before you even get the Holy Spirit. Sure, lay those things aside and pick up the implanted word, get God's Holy Spirit, but then we put it in the napkin, the handkerchief, and hold it, treasure it, sit down with it, and wait. Wait for the kingdom to get here. He goes on. Verse 22 starts with the word, but. That's interesting. You know, after you repent and after you're baptized and after you delaven your homes and everything else, which some of us, oh, now I'm keeping the Sabbath, I'm keeping the Holy Days, I'm a good Christian. Now he starts with the word, but. Do all that, but. Be doers of this word. Doers. Get up and walk, and not hear us only deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he's like a man observing his natural face in a mirror, he observes himself, goes away and forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, he starts walking, and he continues to walk, and is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, the work, the fight, the march.

The fight, the war, Paul called it. This one will be blessed in what he does. Not what he thinks, not what he treasures, not what he feels, not what he believes, but in what he does. So today I'd like to ask the question. Are you living the lesson of these days of unleavened bread and marching towards the door of the kingdom of God? Or are you merely witnessing those who are doing so? Just witnessing those who are doing so. The title of the sermon today is, March to the Door of the Kingdom.

March to the Door of the Kingdom, because we can't march into the kingdom any more than the Israelites could march into the Promised Land. There's the Red Sea there. We can't march into the spirit world because, well, it's a different dimension.

But we can march to the door. Jesus Christ is that door. He is willing to open that door and to bring us in if we make the journey from who we are to what He is. Let's talk about that today. What does the Lord require of you?

That question is answered in the Bible. What does the Lord require of you? In order to enter the kingdom of God, what is it that God wants? Just love the law, love the Sabbath, love the Holy Days and tithe. It's kind of a typical assumption. If you're in the right church and you've got the right doctrines, you're in. Make sure you're in the right group and you're in. The answer of what the Lord requires of us, I'll give in two passages. 1. Deuteronomy 10, 11-13 2. Then the Lord said to me, 3. Arise, begin your journey. 4. Get up, walk, follow me, walk in my steps, imitate me, do as I do. 5. Arise, begin your journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. God is offering you and me a land. It's called the Kingdom of God. It's the Promised Land for us. Greater promises than they had in the Old Covenant. But we have to arise and we have to journey to get there.

6. And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you but to fear the Lord your God to walk? That's what God requires. To walk in all His ways. Not to like His ways, appreciate them, reverence them, but to walk in His ways and to love Him. To serve the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good. That's what God wants you to do. That's what He requires of us to do, to participate, not just to observe. And the second is Micah 6, verse 8. Micah 6, verse 8. He has shown you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you? There's the question. What does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? This is never a time when you and I get to observe where we get to be the bystander, where we get to be the cheerleaders of those who are participating. He wants us to get up and walk and to do.

Putting leaven out of your home is not a central theme to the days of Unleavened Bread. We tend to think of it as being the central theme. But you'll find in Scripture that that's to happen before the days of Unleavened begin. You're not supposed to have any leaven anywhere within your home at the start of the days of Unleavened Bread. Days of Unleavened Bread aren't about putting sin out. They're about eating righteousness. They're about eating the bread of life. It's about becoming more like that Passover bread that we ate the night before. It's about now having that as a vision and ingesting that for seven days. Every time we pick up a piece and look at that and say, Ah, yeah, that's the goal here. This is what I'm supposed to be in every thought, in every deed, in every action. To follow that pillar of fire that we appreciated at the Passover service. And to become more like him and to journey with him and to follow in his steps. That represents our life for six days. We're supposed to be walking. We're supposed to be marching towards the door of the kingdom.

Let's take a look at some biblical facts about the Days of Unleavened Bread. Found in Exodus 12. We'll begin in verse 15.

And work our way to verse 20. Exodus 12, beginning in verse 15.

Again, the question, when is leaven to be put out of our homes? Delevaning is not part of the Days of Unleavened Bread, as we'll see here. Exodus 12, verse 15, says, Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. We need that bread. We need to see it, feel it, touch it. We often in the Western culture have some cracker that we call unleavened bread. It's unfortunate in a way because Jesus Christ's body and bones weren't broken, they were shredded. And if you make your own unleavened bread, just by using the wheat and the flour and the salt and whatever ingredients you put into it, and you bake that up, it tends to tear a lot like his flesh tore. It was prophesied that not a bone of his would be broken, and none were. But he was torn, and his visage was marred more than any man. He was shredded, and he bled, and he died for us. And yet that bread is so unleavened and pure, and as we would tear that bread, as we do over in Africa, each time you tear that piece of bread off and it comes away sort of torn and broken, it is a much more visual reminder than some tasty little cracker or rice thing or whatever that we tend to have here. Not that that's wrong, but the other sure gives you a better visual representation of what Christ did and what we're supposed to do by His example. And so as we go here in Exodus 12 and verse 15, it means seven days you will eat unleavened bread. This is an experience that we need to do, to be reminded of. It says, on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses.

Well, that's a bit of a mistranslation.

When it says, on the first day, it's the Hebrew phrase, ach rishon yome. And the word, ach, would mean even, not on. The old King James has it correct, the modern King James has it correct, but when you get to the new King James, for some reason, they change the word even to on. So even the first day of unleavened bread, the whole feast, in other words, you'll have your houses free of leaven. Going on down, we'll see this proven. On the first day you, or even the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses, for whoever eats unleavened bread from the first day, from the first day, Hebrew is min rishon yome, very similar phrase, but mean this time. Anywhere during the feast, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. You won't have leaven in your houses for all seven days. So it's not about putting leaven out of your house. It shouldn't be there. And if it is, well, there's a problem here. You disobeyed God. Verse 16, on the first day there will be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day, that's today, there will be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them, except that which everyone must eat. That only may be prepared by you. So you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread, for on this same day, while I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt, taken you, you have marched out. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. In the first month, the fourteenth day of the month that evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month that evening. For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leaven, the same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel. Verse 20, you shall eat nothing leavened in all your dwellings, you shall eat unleavened bread. So this is our goal, this unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. It's the real deal. It's good for you. It's there to nourish you. It's not inflated, it's not misrepresented, it's just really good. It's humble. And God has used that to represent Himself and to represent that individual that you and I need to grow into.

The goal of all this isn't just to live a human life marching. The goal is to march to a destination. The goal is a promised land. The goal is another gift from God, something that we can't earn, but if we march over to a certain location, we can be transported into our promised land from there. In Joshua 24, verses 13 and 14, Joshua 24, verse 13, we're going to see here how sincerity and truth are all about this journey that we're on. Joshua 24, verse 13.

I have given you a land for which you did not labor. God has an eternal inheritance for us for which we didn't buy, we didn't work for it. And cities which you did not build, and you will dwell in them. You eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant. Verse 14.

Don't believe. Don't just not work on the Sabbath. Don't just not have leavened bread in your home. Get up and serve God. Get up and become like Christ in sincerity and truth, just like that unleavened bread that Paul speaks about, with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. And put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the river and in Egypt. Serve the Lord, he says. We've got to put away things. Get rid of our sinful nature, our past. We've got to disassociate from it, and we have to march. March to the door of the kingdom of God. The days of unleavened bread encourage us to come away from what we were and to become like a new Father in Heaven, His Son, the family of God. Become children of that new family. You know, it's breathtaking, I'm sure, to witness the Exodus as an Egyptian. It's breathtaking, I'm sure, to sit in church and witness the baptism and repentance and spiritual growth of members. To see them change, to see kids grow up in the church and get baptized and then blossom into young adults and begin to serve and have their own families. You say, wow, that is a miracle. That is caused by God. It's wonderful to see that. It's breathtaking.

To experience, to witness, to be associated with that. It's kind of like the parable Jesus gave of the mena, the talents, to watch people take those money devices and multiply it ten times. Wow, look what He did with his five times. What did you do with yours? Well, I kept sitting here. Jesus said, take that from Him and you get burned. I was here, I was there, I was witnessing, I was part of it, I was cheering them on. I was so associated. It's like the ten virgins. One half is growing and overcoming and respecting yourself and the other half is saying, yeah, girl, you go.

A little surprise there for the second half when Christ comes back. But Jesus talked in terms of moving, of following, of growing, of walking down a path. He said in Matthew 6, verse 24, If anyone desires to come after me, I am the pillar I am going, I am heading that way, I am the light I am going. If anyone desires to come after me. See the terms in which he talks? It's not about believing in Jesus, not about having the right doctrine. It's about getting up and marching, marching to the door of the kingdom. If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his great staros, which means a pole or a stake. Jesus did not die on a cross. It's a pagan symbol. It comes from Egypt, in which people fight in war. It's a false idol and a false god. But he said, you pick up that pole, that tree, that stake. It's difficult. You have to deny yourself. You have to go through certain persecution. You have to kill off the old man. You have to fight the good fight. We're going on a journey here. If you want to follow after me, you have to do some heavy warfare. I'll help you. That's what he's saying. But for many people, I dare say for most, he said, many are called, but few are chosen. For most, it's kind of salvation through association. I'm here to warn you today, and I've devoted my life to try to encourage, to motivate as many people as possible, to blow off the dust, to get the blinders off, to see the reality, to get up and march to the door of the kingdom, because we only have a limited opportunity. Jesus and the apostles warned us so many, many, many times. It's going to be a surprise if we're not really walking the walk.

Salvation through association plagues the Church of God. It always has. Now, consider the attraction of salvation through association. That's a mental concept. I'm going to get saved by my association with whatever it is, by being a member of the true Church. I'm associated by being associated with the Exodus in Israel, by being associated with those on the journey, by being associated with truth. Proclaim, Herbert W. Armstrong, if I can somehow get close to Herbert W. Armstrong or his teachings or his books or his writings, or somebody who says he saw Herbert Armstrong once, or is the replacement of Herbert Armstrong, or has Herbert Armstrong living in him somehow, I don't know. Then I will get saved through association with Herbert Armstrong.

Or, in time prophecy. I'll be saved because of my association with the prophecies of the Bible. I'm closely knowledgeable or somehow related. Because I understand what's going to happen. The United States and Britain and Commonwealth in prophecy. Because I'm associated with the true structure, the true governance, God's governance in the Church. And I'm associated in that.

I have 18 restored truths. I have 20!

I'm associated with the rebuilding of Ambassador College Campus. Oh! And I'll be saved if we get the new auditorium looking like the other one.

The right leader, the Apostle, the right name, the two witnesses, the true two witnesses. And what's the result? If you feel some sort of a closeness, it's the salvation through association with someone, something, some knowledge, some doctrine. It's an observer link. It's a replacement to walking the walk. It's an easier way, you see, and it peels to our carnal human nature. I don't have to find my sins. I don't have to get out of this chair and march over the hill. I don't have to leave my world behind. I can just get saved by this association somehow. It's a nice little replacement. Let's compare that with the Bible. The Apostle Paul was one who warned about salvation through association, having the right Apostle, I'm a Paulist, I'm a Paul, or whatever. Like that was something important. 2 Timothy 4, verse 2.

Here's what Paul teaches Timothy. He's charging him in verse 1 before God, who's going to judge the living and the dead to preach the word, verse 2, convince, exhort, repuke. People come up with their own doctrines and ideas, verse 3. They'll turn their ears away from the truth to fables. They'll start leaning on something that's not going to get them to the door of the kingdom. So he comes on and he begins to really teach us here. In verse 5, you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, do the work, fulfill your ministry. Verse 7, I have fought the good fight. Uh-oh. Paul's a doer, isn't he? Paul's a participant. Paul's right in there in the middle of it. Paul has marched far from where he began as Saul. He has made an incredible journey through hard, difficult circumstances, through the valley of the shadow of death. And he's now arriving at the gate, at the door of the kingdom. And he said, I've fought the good fight. I've finished sitting in the chair watching the prey go by. Is that what he said? No, he says, I've finished the race. Well, that's very difficult. That's very different than walking, even. That's a race. I have finished, I have kept the faith. And finally, there's laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day. And not only to me, but also who have loved his appearing. A race does not equal sitting, watching, waiting, crawling, patience, which is not a virtue. The Bible doesn't talk about patience as a virtue. Go look up the Greek word. It talks about perseverance as a virtue. We're supposed to persevere, not sort of patiently sit in our chair on the sidelines and wonder when the end of the parade is going to finish. No, we're supposed to persevere in all things.

A race is a fast march to the kingdom. It's not just marching, not just kind of, well, here we go. Yeah, kind of doing the kingdom shuffle. I don't really want to go that far, but, you know, God at least looks like I'm moving. Paul's in a race. He was just gobbling it up, trying to get rid of sin, being more like Jesus Christ.

Jesus says that we are to move. Paul was a good teacher. If the old covenant was a march, the new covenant was a run. Because in the new covenant you have God's Holy Spirit. You've got the helper. You've got the power of God available.

In 1 Corinthians 9, verse 24, let's look at the terms the Apostle Paul spoke of. First Corinthians 9, verse 24, Some people haven't even started walking. Paul's now talking about running. We really need to make some progress. Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is very temperate in all things, bringing the body into some subjection. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown. Back then they did it to obtain a wreath of leaves. That's all you got for winning the Olympic race, is what he's referring to here. You got a little wreath of leaves. Imagine how long those lasted. It's probably started wilting in a few days. A very perishable crown. But we do it for an imperishable crown. And therefore I run this, not with uncertainty. Thus I fight not as one who beats the air, but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection.

So much for salvation through association. Dignitaries, apostles, college campuses, special rules, or whatever. It's about running. It's about following the cloud. It's about following the light. It's about changing and becoming Christ-like. And Christ said in Psalm 119 verse 105, he inspired David to say, Your word is the lamp to my feet. You see, we live in a dark age. We too have started out in the dark. We can't see. We don't know where we're going. But God's Word and the Logos living inside us is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Now, why would we need light to a path? Can you think of any reason? We're supposed to go down the path. Difficult is the path, Jesus said. And narrow is the gate when you get there. You can't get through the Red Sea on your own. You can't get into the Kingdom of God on your own. But you've got to go down that path. He said in John 10 verse 27, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Just try to find a scripture somewhere in the Bible referring to our Christian life and calling that isn't about moving. Isn't about marching.

In John 13-14, right after the Passover service, washing the feet, He says, If I then your Lord and Master have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. Don't be an observer. Don't do just this once a year on Passover. Do it every day. Serve as I serve. Give as I give. Love as I love. Verse 15, For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. God did everything for us, created the universe, gave us life, leads us, guides us, died for us, continues to lead us. That's what we're supposed to be doing. Getting up and doing that, which He did for us, for others. Okay, so what's the takeaway? What's the takeaway? Yeah, okay, we're supposed to get up, but what are we supposed to do? Let's get off our chairs and march. Where? How? Why? Towards what? How do we march towards the door of the kingdom? Well, the answer to that actually lies in the events of the Passover in the days of Unleavened Bread. That's where we get our marching orders from. Let's look in 1 John 3, verse 16-19. 1 John 3, beginning in verse 16.

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Ha! That's not just a quick death. He didn't just sort of die, and then, okay, you're supposed to die. It's one lifetime event. No, He laid down His life for the last X number of billions of years of planning out this universe, of creating the universe, creating life, then creating us, and then the 6,000 years of life, and then His life here on earth, and then His life up in heaven with the Father, and planning their lives around the Kingdom, the Millennial phase, the Second Resurrection phase, then the Eternal phase. They have set their lives aside for us. They have laid down their lives and continue to for us. And so He says we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

How do we do that? Whoever has this world's goods sees his brother in need. We're supposed to see those things. Look for them. If we shut up our heart from Him, how does the love of God abide? Little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. Get up! Start looking! Start finding! And as the Bible says, as you have opportunity, do good, especially to those of the household of faith. Find opportunities. Pray for opportunities. Start looking for opportunities. Going on to chapter 4 in verse 9. In this, the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sinned His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atonement for our sins. Verse 11, Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

This is what we are to do. This is the takeaway. Look at the example, look at the light, look at the pillar, and follow it. Ask for opportunities. Desire opportunities. Fill those opportunities. In chapter 5, verse 2, 1 John, chapter 5, verse 2, By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep His commandments. Not appreciate His commandments, not don't break His commandments, not feel a bond with the law and the Bible and the kingdom, but get up and do them. Just love God with all our hearts, soul and mind actively in finding ways and love our neighbor as ourself. Do His commandments. For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments. The commandments that Jesus talked about. The commandments of feeding, clothing, visiting, helping, encouraging. Commandments all through the Bible of loving God first and loving fellow man equal to ourselves. Verse 3, For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. When you have that desire that God puts in our mind, that becomes our goal, our quest. And the destination isn't over some far horizon. The destination is part of the parade that we're in. Part of the group that we're going along encouraging, helping, arm in arm. The destination is just ahead. It's just around the corner, just around the bend. And that destination is a door. It's a door. Today, the second holy day of Unleavened Bread celebrates a victory. It celebrates the arrival and a miracle at the Red Sea and at the door. Recounts the miracle of Israel doing something they couldn't do. But they had done something. They had moved from Ramses all the way following eventually the one who had become Jesus Christ to the door of the Promised Land. And we read in Revelation 19 that the bride will have made herself ready. She will have made it to the door. Matthew 25. Jesus says, welcome. Come on in. Enter. That's moving, you see. Enter the kingdom that was prepared for you from the foundation of the world. You know, to get from Ramses to the shore of the Red Sea, to the shore of the Red Sea, took six days of hard marching, some of it at night. I'm sure if you asked anyone there, it was tough. It wasn't a cakewalk. It was tough. Just following 9 million animals. That would be tough alone. Plus, where would you sleep and what would you eat and what would you drink and what was it like and how were your sores and pains and joints and I don't know. All the things that went with it. It was tough. But they were there. They got there. Many of them got there. Some wanted to go back, but many of them got there. That marching event separated everybody in Egypt into two groups. One group were the participants. They were the ones in the parade. They were the ones doing the marching. And the other group were the observers. They were doing the clapping. They were doing the supporting. They felt connected to the event. They would talk about it for years later, how those people came by and disappeared over the hill.

But the observers felt an attachment with the Exodus, but the participants arrived at the shore of the Red Sea. An interesting thing happened, which I hope will happen today. If you happen to be an observer, I hope an event in history will affect you. It's found in Exodus 12, verses 37-39. Some of the observers got up out of their chairs and became participants. Some of the people who were inspired and moved and watched actually got up and started marching. It says in Exodus 12, verses 37, Then the children of Israel journeyed from Ramesses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot besides children. Verse 38, And a mixed multitude went up with them also. Wow.

That's what I hope you and I will be. Those who have seen the Bride of Christ passing by on the way to the door of the kingdom. And we were motivated by God to get up and join her. To get up and join the fight, the war, the battle, the march, through all of its challenges, and be ready when Christ returns to enter through the door into the kingdom. The Days of Unleavened Bread invites everyone to be participants who will to march to the kingdom, to arrive at the Red Sea, to enter through the narrow gate, and to actually enter into the divine kingdom of God, that paradise, that only Jesus Christ Himself can help us enter. He says in Luke chapter 13, verse 24, let's conclude with that. Luke chapter 13, verse 24-28, begins with an interesting verb, strive.

Struggle. Push yourself to the limit. Strive to enter through the narrow gate. That's where our destination is, and that's where we want to go. For many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Won't that be a sad time when observers who felt so linked and bonded to the participants wanted to come through, too? Verse 25, when the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open for us! He will answer and say to you, I do not know you. Where are you from? Then you will begin to say, Lord, Lord, open for us! I will answer and say to you, I do not know you. Where are you from? We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets, and we were bonded with you, and we were bonded with the parade, and you're part of our culture, and we just really have an affinity and association, and you're our God, and your church is our church.

Salvation through association. But he'll say, I tell you, I do not know you. Where are you from? Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and yourselves thrust out. We don't want to be there, brethren. I don't want you to be there. You don't want me to be there. We need to get up. We need to start marching. We need to start becoming Christ-like. And my goal is to motivate everybody to really, truly, sincerely march towards the door of the kingdom. The lesson of the Passover, Jesus said, is, I have left you an example that you follow me in. The lesson of the days of Unleavened Bread is to follow Jesus Christ. Follow that pillar. Strive to become like the bread of life that we eat a piece of every day during this feast. So are you watching the bride pass by, or are you marching towards the door of the kingdom of God?