Narrow Is the Way to Eternal Life

It's a quarter after the hour, so that gives you 45 minutes. So let's hope we'll... that'll be enough time.

Good afternoon, everyone, on this Sabbath day. It's very good to see all of you here today. Bev and I are very happy to be here at the Terre Haute Congregation. We have not been able to come as much as we had wanted to, but we're glad when we can come to visit Old Home. And I'm very happy to see everyone here. We stopped to see Rick Witt on the way over here and brought Carolyn with us. We had not seen her since last Pentecost. And for that matter, Rick either.

I think. I'm not sure if Rick was there, but it's been a long, long time. And time goes by so very, very quickly. But I was very, very happy to be able to see Rick. But what kind of was the catalyst for this visit here is that I was asked to do the funeral for a very good friend, actually an elder back in our World War Church of God days in Madisonville, Kentucky, James Wilson.

I don't know if any of you who here knows of Mrs. Carroll does. James Wilson was one of the finest people that I had ever known. He and his wife, Ella Jean, who were members for a long time in the Evansville Church. And then when I was pastor in Paducah, we started a church in the East in Dawson Springs and moved it to Madisonville, which was where James Wilson lived.

And he pretty much was the elder in that congregation. He was ordained then after I was there for about three years. And we worked together for six years. We got to know each other very well. Stated his home very often on Friday nights. And we'd have dinner there. We'd stay and visit. Then on Sabbath morning, we'd drive five miles or so to services. And I'd drive two hours back in the afternoon for the Paducah, Kentucky, church. But he finally died. He had a stroke about 18 years ago and then has been declining health.

His wife was just a lovely lady. The two of them were just phenomenal servants. She died in 1999 of cancer. I was not able to be there for that funeral. But his daughter, who works in Indianapolis and also in Cincinnati, she works with the IRS. I actually performed her marriage ceremony back in, oh, whatever it was, back when I was there. Asked about six months ago that if her dad died, if I would do the funeral. I said, well, I certainly will make every effort to do so. And it's actually a miracle because last week we were in England for the funeral of John Ross Schroeder. And we also met with the ministry in England to discuss the future of their ministry, their editorial needs, and so forth.

And we had a very wonderful meeting and then next Sunday we're leaving for Africa for the Spring Holy Day. So this is about the only possible time we could have done it. And I just felt like God really wanted us to be able to make it here to pay tribute to really a wonderful man, James Wilson.

So we'll be down there tomorrow and visit with him. Also, we had a chance to stay with Michael and Alex. It was Alyssa's ninth birthday yesterday. So that was a big event for us. Well, Nelson Arnold said, I only have 44 minutes. And believe me, the great enforcer, Bev, will be there. We're trying to bring our services down to an hour and a half. Quality over quality. But anyways, good to see all of you and look forward to visiting with you afterwards. Jesus Christ said that the way to eternal life is through a very narrow gate. He said, wide is the way that leads to destruction, but narrow or straight is the way that leads to eternal life.

Straight, meaning not straight from point A to point B, but the word straight, like bearing straight or straights of Melaka, is just a very, very narrow path. Matthew 7 and verse 13. Matthew 7 and verse 13. We read, Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Most of the world, most of who you see, is missing the mark, is not headed in the right direction or through that narrow path.

These are the words of Jesus Christ Himself. Because narrow, verse 14, is the gate, and difficult is the way which leads to life. And there are few who find it. When we take a look at all of history, we take a look at history going back to the time of Jesus Christ, how many people have been brought to conversion? How many people were truly turned on on fire, a church of righteousness that really set a tremendous example of a high standard of living?

Very few. Very few, and very few far in between. Most everyone, even those who claim the name of Jesus Christ, or claim to be Christians, are far from the standards that talk about enter into life. Well, certainly this could be a depressing statement, but also Jesus Christ tells us exactly what that narrow gate is, what that straight gate is. And certainly we would want to find it. We would want to make sure that we got the right direction and we got the right path.

Well, how narrow is that path? And how is it that it's so narrow? In John 6, verse 41, Jesus Christ talks to a crowd of not only outsiders, not only to Pharisees and others who were standing on the sidelines listening to him speak, but also to his disciples. And here's what happened, and here's what he said. John 6, verse 41. The Jews then complained about him because he said, this was a statement that was troubling to them, I am the bread which came down from heaven.

And they said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he says, I have come down from heaven? Who does he think he is? And we know him. He lived up there near Capernaum. And we know his brothers and sisters, his mom and dad. And we know that he worked in the construction business. Jesus therefore said to them, verse 43, do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him. Very hard words, hard sayings as he says himself.

And I will raise him up at the last day, verse 45. It is written in the prophets, and they shall be taught by God. Therefore, everyone who has heard and learned from the father comes to me. You might say pretentious, you might say audacious, but these are the words that we live by. This is the words, these are the words of the Bible. Jesus Christ says, no man can come to me. I am the bread that has come down from heaven. No one can come to me unless it was drawn by the father. Pretty tough direction, pretty tough standard. And I would want to believe that I'm talking to people that really want to understand the standard and be a part of it, and be those who have found the way. Not that, verse 46, anyone has seen the father except he who is from God, he has seen the father. Verse 47, important, most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in me has everlasting life. That belief is to believe his words. I am the bread that has come down from heaven. And it gets a little bit even more definitive about this narrow path. Verse 48, I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and are dead. He said that was bread that was given to them. They've kept them alive, but it was for a short period of time. It was typical of a real true bread that will give eternal life. Verse 50, this is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. You want to find the way to eternal life? Read these words, believe these words, and do what those words tell you to do. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. You hear all these stories about people trying to find the fountain of youth or find their way to eternal life. It's all myth. It's all fake. This is the truth. This is the real thing. This is the way to eternal life, which is promised. He will live forever, and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world. This is that narrow gate. This is that straight way. The Jews, verse 52, therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? What's he talking about? How can he do that? Verse 53, then Jesus said to them, Jesus Christ didn't back off at all. There was not much discussion between him and them. He's pretty much telling them, this is the way it is, and this is what you must believe, and this is the only path. There's not a lot of discussion, not a lot of compromise, not a lot of, you know, question and answers, and Jesus Christ kind of answering things to satisfy their curiosity. He's telling them, this is the narrow path to eternal life, and that there is no other. Most assuredly I say unto you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, he adds one more element. Eat his flesh and drink his blood. You have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. He repeats that three different times, right here, just in this phrase. And to people hearing this, to many of them, this was disgusting. This was cannibalism. What is he talking about? Eat my flesh, drink my blood.

Verse 57, As the living Father has sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers ate the manna and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever. These things he set in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum. Here he is on the regular Sabbath day, and he's telling these things, as different ones were allowed to stand up and give, you know, a sermon at time period, several speakers, and give the lesson for the day. Well, this is his lesson for the day. Believe me, this is a bombshell. I am the bread that's coming down from heaven, and if you want to live forever, you've got to eat me and drink my blood.

Therefore, verse 60, many of his disciples, when they heard this, said, this is a hard saying. This is, not only is it difficult, but it's to understand what he's talking about, but it's somewhat disgusting, and it's just very hard. Who can understand it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples complained about this, not the outsiders, but his disciples, he said to them, does this offend you? What then, verse 62, if you should see the Son of Man ascend where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life. He goes on to yet another step of the Holy Spirit, and he says, the words that I speak, they are the embodiment of the Spirit of God that will give you eternal life. But there are some of you who do not believe, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were, who did not believe, and who would betray him.

Therefore, I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by my Father. Even yet more restrictive, and it's just restriction, restriction, restriction. You've got to be called by the Father. You've got to eat the flesh of Jesus Christ. You've got to drink his blood, and you've got to believe in him.

And these are words of eternal life. Then Simon Peter, verse 68, answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? I mean, where else can you go? You have the words of eternal life. And also, we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Well, after this, a number of disciples turned away and followed him no more. This was too hard for them. Even his disciples turned away from him. This is the beginning of a story of what Jesus Christ brought to this world. A story about what God is doing with mankind. It's a very deep story because it's about the most important event that ever took place, which is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. There are many in the church, many disciples in the church, that really believe this. We have people that stop going to church. We have people that may become offended by the things that Mike spoke about earlier, relationships that haven't gone right. But one thing they won't miss is the Passover, because there's something very, very special about it. Even if they don't understand everything about it, the Passover is the most important evening because it represents this, what Christ was speaking about. It represents that narrow pathway, that narrow portal, that small little portal to eternal life, of which there is no other. It's only through that particular portal. But it had to be through a sacrifice that took place of Jesus Christ, who pre-existed, became flesh, and then gave his life for mankind in a sacrificial way. It's a deep mystery. It is something which still taxes the limits of my mind and faith. It is, why did it have to be that way? I would say that if any question strikes me, why did it have to take place that way? Why did Jesus Christ have to go through that? And why is that the central focal point of Christianity in the Gospel itself? The story of sacrificing and the shedding of blood actually goes back all the way to the days of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. There's very little said about the instructions that were given to Adam and Eve and his descendants about their relationship with God and how they would relate to him. They were required or encouraged to do. But there's a story that's very, very interesting about this matter of shedding blood and sacrifice that begins right with the children of Adam and Eve themselves. And this is a story about Cain and Abel back in Genesis, chapter 4. Very little is said, but it is an example that is referred to in the New Testament as very, very interesting and laudable. Genesis, chapter 4 and verse 3.

In the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. So God, no doubt, had instructed that certain offerings and sacrifices were to be made and that they were brought to God in some formal way after a passage, a process of time. Whether God had already given them indications that there would be holy days, we don't know. This could have been a precursor to the Passover coming up, or to sacrifices that were to be offered, or some type of expiation for the big, big mistake that Adam and Eve made in the Garden of Eden, a type of looking to redemption. So Cain brings an offering of fruit, vegetables, to the Lord. Verse 4, Abel also brought the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. Abel offers an animal that had to be killed. His fat was spread aside. Obviously the animal was dead, it was bled, and it was offered as part of an offering. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering. And it may be that one reason why he respected it is because he followed instructions. He said that if you do your offerings and you worship God with offerings, sacrifices that are brought to him, you must bring an animal whose blood is shed, looking forward to something, or something that was being taught by God, and also you're to bring vegetables and fruit and other things in that. Cain did it on the cheap. He said, I'm not gonna kill an animal. What for? It seems wasteful. And so he brought a cheaper offering, and God had no respect for it. And Abel brought an animal that was a sweet savor before the Lord, and God had respect for it. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, and he did not respect Cain and his offering, and Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. We already see the nature of Cain. Not only was he a person that tried to work around the system, but he couldn't take correction. He couldn't see that what he did was wrong, and became angry, to the point of where he killed his brother. He killed Abel, first murderer. In Hebrews 11, verse 4, this particular sacrifice is noted. Hebrews 11, verse 4, by faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. Faith may be because God told him to do that, perhaps not telling him exactly all that it meant, but Abel believed God. He trusted God, and that was faith. Through which he obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts, and through it, he being dead still speaks. The question in the matter of sacrificing continues with another important sacrifice, or attempted sacrifice, before Exodus, where the Passover first appears as the wording as Passover. And that is in the story of Isaac, in Genesis, chapter 22, of Abraham and Isaac.

It's a story of, first of all, the fact that God would continue the lineage of Abraham through a son that was not a parent at first between Abraham and Sarah. They were not able to have kids, and by the time they reached age 75, it was just a parent that if it doesn't happen now, it's probably not going to happen. And then God promises that there would be the fruit of his womb that would bless the earth, and really a precursor to salvation and redemption that would come from Abraham. A year goes by, two years go by, five years go by, ten years go by, nothing.

And even Abraham, who was a faithful person, who made the trip from up in Mesopotamia down to Palestine, following God's orders and obeying him, even he was put to the test. He says, well, maybe there's just another way around this. Certainly God wants someone from me. Sarah's not getting any younger. I see more wrinkles, you know, on her and me, and we're just not getting any younger, and he wants a son from us. It's not working. It did work through Hagar, though, and he had Ishmael through Hagar. God says, that's not what I wanted. That created a lot of problems. Abraham is the one through whom many of the blessings of this world have come and will come, but Abraham is one who also opened the door to a lot of the conflict that we have in the world by doing it his way, by having Ishmael through Hagar. Nonetheless, in Genesis 22, Isaac is born when Abraham was nearly a hundred years old, and he sees the wonder and greatness and awe of God's fulfilled promises. Genesis 22. Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham. It seems like even the 24 years of no children didn't seem to be enough, but Abraham's faith was very important to be tried. God tested Abraham and said, Abraham! And Abraham said, okay, here I am. And he said, take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, which is the direct ground zero for where Jerusalem is, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. Can you imagine what Abraham was thinking? After decades and decades of working with God, and God promising that it would come through Isaac, or it would come through his firstborn, or it would come through his kinship, direct kinship. Now he's asking me to do this. But we see Abraham being a faithful person. Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son. And he split the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. There was no foot dragging. There was absolute faith in the fact that what God had promised he would fulfill. Whatever form it took, if he had to stab Isaac, God would resurrect him. Whatever he felt, he knew that it would work. He believed God.

On the third day, this is after preparing for two days, Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off where the sacrifice would take place. And Abraham said to his young men, Stay here with the donkey, the lad I will go yonder and worship. He will come back to you. Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. He took the fire in his hand and a knife and two of them went together. Just the two of them with the wood and so forth. But Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, and said, My father. And he said, Here I am, my son. He said, Look the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Good question.

And Abraham said, My son, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering. So the two of them went together. We see a compliant son history, or I should say tradition has it that Isaac was about 14 years of age. He came to the place which God had told him and Abraham built an altar and placed the wood in order. And he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

Certainly, Isaac was very compliant in this. He didn't seem to object. There was no lamb. Obviously, he was being tied up. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham, he said, Here I am. Do not lay your hand on your lad or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, that you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me. I have always also wondered about this particular sacrifice, which was all but fulfilled in Abraham's mind. He was not holding back. He was going to do what God had told him, but he was stopped at the last moment.

I would say that I not wonder, but marvel to what God did through Jesus Christ in having God's own begotten Son, divinity made into human flesh that actually was sacrificed for mankind, having it to be done that way, and why God had to do this with Isaac as well. He wanted Abraham, he wanted all of us, to feel what God felt when his only son was killed, when his only son was sacrificed for mankind.

We may not understand all the motives, all the motivation, and everything else, but certainly we have a story of one who saw the death of his own son and grieved over it, and have us experience some of the feeling that a parent would have for the death of their child. And that is what happened in this experience of Abraham and Isaac, which God stopped because God always had the plan that he would fulfill the promises through Isaac and Jacob, and then the lineage that would go on from there. Interesting thoughts, interesting things to think about as far as what God is doing. The animal that is spoken of here is the lamb, which now becomes the center of what is talked about in the book of Exodus, which is the story of Israel being led out of a nation that was oppressing them in slavery.

Exodus 12. I'll just briefly go through the fact that there were twelve plagues imposed upon Egypt, upon all their gods. The final plague was the death of the firstborn in all the land of Egypt. The only way out through this was by sacrificing a lamb, having the blood of this lamb struck upon the doorposts of a home where the family was required to stay in the home behind the doorposts that were painted with blood, or blood struck on those doorposts.

And then the angel of death would pass over that home. Exodus 12. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both manned and beast. And against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. Now the blood shall be a sign for you in the houses where you are, and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

And then it talks about this as being the Passover and the day that it would be kept. Verse 14. This day shall be to you as a memorial, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by the everlasting ordinance. This was to be the first of a series of seven festivals in the year, and that is a Passover. It's interesting that many groups who are Sabbatarian who understand the literalness of the Bible keep the Sabbath day, and they also keep the Passover. Many Sabbatarian groups do not keep the rest of the feasts of the Lord. They have their reasons for doing it, and that's another subject.

But the Passover oftentimes is kept alongside. When Roman holidays are rejected, such as Easter and Christmas and all types of saints' days that have been imposed through the Roman worship, the feasts that then emerge are the ones that are in the Book of Leviticus and historically in the Old Testament. But anyway, here it speaks about the day of Passover that was to come forward. It's very clearly stated in 1 Corinthians 5 that the embodiment of this Passover lamb, and the term Passover itself was referenced to the lamb itself.

In different languages, when you talk about the Passover, you're talking about the lamb. Are you keeping the lamb? This is important. So when we come to 1 Corinthians 5, in verse 6, we read this.

When Paul was writing to a Gentile church far away from Palestine. Yes, there were Jews there, but this will be an opportunity to transition away from Judaism. But instead, the Apostle Paul explains what the embodiment of the Passover in the Old Testament was. 1 Corinthians 5, verse 6, Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 1 Corinthians 5, 7. Therefore purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover is sacrificed for us. And the only way there was any context to this is if the Passover of the Old Testament was understood.

From what was stated in Exodus 12, Numbers 9, Deuteronomy 16, all these places that speak about the keeping of the Passover as a feast. As a day that spoke of Israel's Exodus from Egypt. Therefore let us keep the feast not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

We see a transition here already, speaking about not just the keeping of the Passover as an important gateway that Christ spoke of in John 6, as unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood. But also as a way of life with the unleavened bread that was to be eaten for the Passover season, or the days of unleavened bread, as representing something opposite of malice and wickedness, but sincerity and truth.

The responsibility that Christians take. So summary of the portal. It's narrow, it's hard to get through, it's a way that is not chosen by the majority, by the many, and there are very few that enter into it. Are you part of the few who will enter it? Are you among those who eat the flesh, drink the blood? Are you the ones who will eat the bread of sincerity and truth? That's the hardened core of Christianity. That's the hardened core. Almost everything else is outside of this circle, of this extremely important little tube that we enter into eternal life. And that's the only way. There's no other way to argue, religions, many pathways to God.

No, there's only this way through Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 2, verse 5, verse 1, I should say, going back to the few chapters back, Paul says, I, brethren, when I came to you, talking to the Greeks, the city of Corinth, did not come with excellence of speech or wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God.

I didn't come with a lot of complicated teaching, doctrine, a lot of complexity. He says, I came with a very simple message, which was, verse 2, I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It is a heart and core of Christianity. Of course, you start here, you eat the unloving bed of sincerity and truth, you see further as to what responsibilities we have. So that's what, it says, in my speech, verse 4, in my preaching, we're not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of the power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

The greatness of Christ's sacrifice is spoken in a number of places. It was a heart and core of the Gospel message that the Apostle Paul went with throughout the land. It's a message of transformation as people saw that this is what they must be doing. Hebrews 9, verse 24. Talking about the priesthood of Jesus Christ, one of the themes of the book of Hebrews is the eternal, heavenly priesthood of Jesus Christ. Verse 24.

That's how you have redemption. That's how you have your ticket. That's how you have your way into this very narrow porthole to eternal life. Now, the way that the Passover is taken is in Luke, chapter 22, verse 14, just one of the places that you'll be asked to turn to, pass overnight. Luke, chapter 22, verse 14. Basically, it's the fulfillment of how they were to eat the flesh and drink the blood.

With the hour had come, Luke 22.14, he sat down with the twelve apostles with him, and he said to them, With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. And a lot of history is being made here because we're going to have the sacrifice of Christ here within 24 hours. We're going to have him die. He's going to eat this Passover with them. He's going to say some very, very important words to them. Verse 17. He took the cup and gave thanks and said, Take this and divide it among yourselves.

Verse 19. He took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. This is how they were to eat the bread, eat the body. Then he took the cup, verse 20, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you. The new covenant which is a new agreement with God, based upon his laws now that have been instilled in us.

The forgiveness of the breaking of them before having been done. This is the new agreement.

This cup is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you. And that is how they were to drink his blood. A very important day, a very important moment. One of the mysteries of God. Something understood by very, very few. Even those who say that Christ died for us, well, how did he die for us? How is it that his death can do anything for us? When you understand the full depth and breadth is beautiful and wonderful.

When Jesus Christ came preaching the kingdom of God on the earth, it came with Christian obligation. Taking the Passover is important. But we see two very important moments historically with the start of Christianity.

In Mark 1, we see the beginning of Jesus Christ's ministry. And in Acts 2, we see the New Testament church having its first day on the Feast of Pentecost. Mark 1, verse 14. Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.

And saying, the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. It was very important for a Christian to have a turnaround, a change of heart, a change of attitude, a sense of obligation to do certain things a certain way in order to be a part of the kingdom of God.

The story is explained even further in Acts 2, verse 36. Because here, the Apostle Peter, in his very courageous message on Pentecost, says the following. Acts 2, verse 36. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ. He's talking to people who just less than two months before that, heard the news or a part of an angry mob shouting, Crucify him, crucify him. And these people, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? They were cut to the heart. Their conscience took a hold of them. They said, well, we did kill Christ. We were there who kept the pressure on the officials to condemn him to death.

And Peter then said to them, Repent. Let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The same message that Jesus Christ came with. Repent and believe the Gospel. Here, when people who were told that they killed Christ, you know, part of our understanding and having faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is this, is that every single one of us killed Christ. Every single one of us had a part in killing him. If we were the only person that God would add to his family, the same sacrifice would have had to take place. And so these people who were told by Peter, You have killed Christ. And people said, Oh, I did. It was part of my shouting. It was my shrieks of crucify him that led to his death. What a terrible thing. As one who had to die, who had to be resurrected, who went to heaven and as they have recounted his ministry for the past three and a half years, what was I thinking? What did I do?

And Peter says, Repent and be baptized. You shall receive the Holy Spirit. And in that day, 3,000 people were baptized. 3,000 people. It was a mass baptism. Not sure exactly how it was done. The apostles certainly had a lot of work to do that day as people were brought to repentance. A great pouring out of God's Holy Spirit, of the gift of repentance that was given. Repentance is a way of life that now is followed by accepting the symbols of Christ's death for us. It begins with our belief and trust in Jesus dying for our sins, eating his flesh and blood by the taking of the Passover every year. That's an extremely important event. Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you. But then you also continue the process of living a righteous and clean life.

We finally lead this life and continue a sacrifice on our part. Accept that our sacrifice, and what we do after accepting Jesus Christ's sacrifice, is a living sacrifice. Romans 12, verse 1. I'll conclude here. Romans 12, verse 1. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, these are people who had come to conversion, people who had now enrolled, this is a long way from Judea, who had become Christians, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, not a sacrifice as an animal of the Passover, or even of Jesus Christ, who had to die for our sins. But we are to become a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable, or as one translation has it, your spiritual service. That's the obligation placed upon us, to live a clean life in obedience to God's laws, as he imparts them in our hearts and makes us desirous of obedience to Him.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That is that living sacrifice, a transformation process that takes place in you from being greedy, lustful, being selfish, not being law-abiding, being hateful, holding grudges, now to changing, to being transformed, to being forgiving, for being serving, and living this kind of life. That is a living sacrifice, not a dead sacrifice, but a living sacrifice that's pleasing to God. That you may be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That you may prove what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. So we see here that when Christ began in talking to people about that narrow and straight path, I believe that if you understand this, and if you accept it, and you do it, you're finding that pathway to eternal life. But that pathway is what Jesus Christ says, you've got to eat His flesh, you've got to drink His blood, you've got to be a living sacrifice yourself with a transformation of your mind, with a renewing of your mind to prove what is the perfect, acceptable will of God. So the Passover this year should be memorable as it is every year, as we look upon the symbols of Christ's sacrifice for us. For being not something we just kind of go through mindlessly every year, but something we go with great thought and great resolve to please God as a living sacrifice. So the Church will be keeping the Passover here shortly around the world, renewing itself to a life of transformation for the coming year.

Thank you.