Our Personal Passover Preparation

Happy Sabbath to all of you once again. Great to see you today. The Passover is only about a week away, and I wanted to talk today about a topic that's essential for us to gain the most from observing the Passover this year. The Passover is about us obtaining complete and total reconciliation with God and with others. What the Passover is all about is the ability to lay your head on that pillow at night and truly feel at peace and say, You know what? I have no problems, no concerns, no anxieties. Life is good. Sleep is sweet. Ah, that's what God makes possible if we understand what the Passover is all about. Because what the Messiah did for us is He made it possible for us that we are no longer alienated from God. He made it possible that we have the tools to be reconciled with other people, reconciled with our past, and live a life of complete peace. We're no longer God's enemies. That's what I want to focus on in the sermon today. I'd like to begin by seeing what Jesus said in one of the Beatitudes. That's short for the beautiful attitude. Let's take a look at just one of them. Matthew 5 and verse 9. And see what Jesus said, because indeed this ties in with the theme of why He came to earth, why He shed His blood, why He died for our sins. Let's begin Matthew 5 and we'll take a look at verse 9. It says, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Wow, what a title! Sons of God. Well, you know the King James Version, New King James Version, actually this is a poor translation of what Jesus is saying here. The English word peacemaker doesn't do justice to what Jesus really meant. Reversing the word helps to give us a little better understanding, and that is one who makes peace. I'm going to read this from the New Century Version. Those who work to bring peace are happy because God will call them His children. Jesus isn't saying that blessed are those who actively seek to be peaceful. He's not saying blessed are those who pray for peace. Blessed are those who love peace. He's not saying blessed are those who are peaceable. He's saying blessed are those who make an effort, who make peace peacemakers. Blessed are those people. And the reason he said that is making peace. Being a peacemaker is difficult work. It's difficult because it usually brings us to the point where we have to demonstrate humility and self-reflection, sometimes active listening. It may require us to offer an apology to God, to someone that we love, maybe to a neighbor.

Repentance, or even an effort to fix something that we messed up, to make a wrong into a right, as much as humanly possible that we might be able to do that. That's what being a peacemaker really means. Jesus is saying that blessed are those who actively seek to resolve conflict. Our conflict with God, our conflict with our loved ones, our neighbors, and for some of us, our conflict within ourselves.

Peacemaking isn't avoiding a problem. It's not being afraid to talk about a problem. It's not avoiding conflict. It's not appeasement. Peacemaking is about communication, and sometimes confession, and taking the initiative to heal a broken relationship. Bringing reconciliation and peace is so important to God that when we were baptized, each and every one of us in this room were given a special assignment. We were given a special mission by God. And again, it's so important because actively achieving reconciliation is difficult.

It requires effort. It requires the grown-ups that's supposed to be us. It requires the grown-ups to be the ones to take the first step to initiate reconciliation when there's conflict. It requires a major barrier that we all have that usually gets in our ways, and that's our pride and our large egos. That's usually the barrier that stops us from being reconciled to God because we want to do things our way, being reconciled with our loved ones because, after all, we're right and they're wrong, and being reconciled to ourselves.

Let's go to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 14 and see what this special assignment is, this special mission that you and I were given when we were baptized. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 14. It says, 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 14, For the love of Christ compels, it guides and directs us, compels us because we judge, we conclude, we come to this conclusion, and here it is, that if one died for all, then all died.

What he's saying here is that if Jesus Christ died for all of us, then all of us, we are dead in Christ. Isn't that what baptism pictured? Remember the watery grave? You go down in that water, we'll witness that next Sabbath, we'll see two individuals go into a watery grave. They will be dead in Christ. Verse 15, And he died for all, that those who live, those who come out of that watery grave, those who live should no longer for themselves, should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again.

Therefore, from now on, we regard no one to the flesh. In other words, our whole perspective on life changes. We don't view other human beings in a carnal way like we did before. We don't see the problems, we should see their potential. We shouldn't see them as the quivering bag of flesh that they are today. We should see them as the potential children of the living God when the time comes, when He'll open their eyes and drop the blinders, and they will be able to see and know God. Continuing, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, now we know Him thus no longer.

Early on, before God called us, we heard about this being, this Jesus Christ, this biblical character in this book. He said, but we no longer look at Jesus Christ that way. He's now a brother. He's a Savior. See, we no longer know Him just merely from a fleshly perspective. We have a spiritual relationship. Verse 17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. What a beautiful Scripture.

Now all things are of God who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That's that special project that I was talking about a few minutes ago. So we've been reconciled to God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And again, we will represent that during the Passover service.

But He says we've been given a special assignment, and that is we've been given a ministry. This is the Greek word, the ekalnea, same word used for deacon, same word oftentimes used for servant or teacher. We have been told that we are the teachers of reconciliation to the world. We are the servants who are supposed to show the world how reconciliation works.

And obviously we can't teach. We can't show anyone if we haven't experienced and understand and appreciate reconciliation in our own lives, can we? Verse 19, that is that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. What people on earth know about the power of the gospel? What few people on earth understand the annual reminder of the Passover and what that means, that reminder that we all need a Savior?

What people are that? That's you. That's me. Verse 20, now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. It's as though God were pleading through us. We implore you in Christ's behalf to be reconciled to God. Again, we can't be the teachers if we don't have reconciliation. We can't be the servants. It can't be our ministry. If we have problems and we need minister to, it's hard to be a ministry. And this is what Paul is saying. Verse 21, For he made him who knew no sin, speaking of Jesus Christ, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

We don't become the righteousness of God because we're superior, because we're smart, because we of ourselves are righteous. We become the righteousness of God in him. That means because Jesus Christ lives in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. Daniel Passover is all about restoring relationships. As a matter of fact, God has given all of us a personal ministry to restore, beginning with all of our relationships and model to others, what restored relationships are all about.

We're supposed to be the teachers, the servants, the role models. The Passover offers us three areas of reconciliation by promoting peace and spiritual maturity and abundance in our lives. Today I would like to look at these three areas to remind ourselves about the power and the purpose of Jesus Christ as our Passover this year.

That metaphor I used earlier about our head hitting that pillow and truly feeling at peace and thinking sleep is sweet, life is good, God has blessed me abundantly. To do that, we need to understand that all three of these areas in our lives need reconciliation. Most of us are really good at one or two of them, but to truly feel that we are overwhelmingly blessed, that we have no fears, there's nothing that man can do to make us afraid, and that we have lives that are totally in God's hands.

Without anxiety, without worries, without frustrations, we need to understand that Jesus Christ made it possible for all three of these parts of our life to have complete and total restoration, reconciliation. So let's begin with number one. If you turn to Leviticus 5 and verse 17, number one is peace with God. Peace with God. Leviticus 5 and verse 17. The Scripture says, If a person sins and commits any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord, though he does not know it, yet he is guilty and shall bear his iniquity.

And he shall bring to the priest a ram, that's a male sheep, by the way, a ram, without blemish from the flock, with your evaluation, as a trespass offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him regarding his ignorance in which he erred and did not know it, and it shall be forgiven him. It is a trespass offering. He has certainly trespassed against the Lord.

Very powerful Scripture here. All human beings have sinned both willingly and in ignorance, and it doesn't matter. On Judgment Day we can't say, well, God, it's not my fault because I'm stupid. We don't get a pass for that. We are all in need of a Savior. And thankfully, the Passover reminds us that Christ fulfilled the requirements of the law so that you and I could be offered salvation.

As the Lamb of God, he was the ultimate trespass offering spoken of in this verse. It was a sheep. It had to be without blemish. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God. He was the ultimate trespass offering. He is now our great High Priest. So Jesus Christ fulfilled everything, every requirement that we just read here in Leviticus. As our High Priest, he makes atonement for us through his shed blood.

As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. So we need a Savior. We need reconciliation with God. Our eternal life depends on it.

And Jesus Christ has made provision for that. Let's take a look now at Romans, chapter 5 and verse 8. Turn there with me. Romans, chapter 5 and verse 8. Romans, chapter 5 and verse 8. But God demonstrates his own love towards us, that while we were still sinners, who made the first move in reconciliation?

God did. He initiated it. While we were still sinners. Notice how he sets the example for us. Christ died for us much more than having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, how much more having been reconciled shall we be saved by his life? When we go down into that baptismal tank, part of that beautiful metaphor, that ritual, is coming out of the water, which represents a resurrection. I know a lot of people, unfortunately, in the churches of God, diminish the importance of the resurrection, and that is really silly and foolish to do that. If Jesus Christ wasn't resurrected, then all we would be for eternity are very righteous corpses laying in the grave forever and ever.

Amen. So the resurrection is very important and should not be diminished in any way. Verse 11, and not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. I want you to notice what Paul is saying here. He isn't saying that we'll have reconciliation someday. He isn't saying that we'll have reconciliation when we're good enough. He says, no, we have reconciliation right now. And on Passover evening, we'll be reminded that we are justified by His blood when, as a congregation, we participate and share that red wine together as God's congregation here in greater Cleveland.

Back just a couple of chapters. Romans 3 and verse 21. Romans 3 and verse 21. Just a couple of chapters. But now the righteousness of God, apart from the law, is revealed being witnessed by the law and the prophets. The law and the prophets all pointed to the fact that there would be a Savior.

There would be someone whose righteousness would make us just in the eyes of God. Verse 22. That's so essential. So important. Such a key component to the Passover. Let's pick it up here. It says, verse 24, for being justified by His grace through the redemption, that is, in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation. That just simply means an atonement. The Septuagint says, just like the mercy seat where you went into the literal throne of God and you put blood on the mercy seat, Jesus Christ fulfilled all that.

He was the ultimate atonement. That's what Paul's saying, using this word, by His blood through faith to demonstrate His righteousness. Not our righteousness, not our righteousness, not the righteousness of men, but His righteousness, because in His forbearance He passed over the sins that were previously committed. So we'll come to the Passover next Sunday evening, once again asking God to pass over our sins, our weaknesses, as we strive to grow and change and develop the fruit of the Spirit. We will continue to ask Him to pass over our iniquities and our weaknesses. Verse 26, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

So, brethren, even though we are sinners and continually fall short of the perfection of God, we are made righteous because of the redemptive sacrifice of Christ Jesus. Our sins are Passover because we were made justified by God's free gift of grace.

This was granted to us because we repented of our sins and we continue to repent of our sins. As Mr. Kubik mentioned, it's a process. It's part of our calling. And we accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. And again, we will commemorate this together during the Passover service this year. So the first area of reconciliation that is so very important, because it affects our eternal life, is peace with God.

The second is peace with others. You know, those other people God put in His planet.

It might include our spouses, might include our children, might include our co-workers, extended family, our neighbors.

How are we doing in that area? Like I oftentimes tell husbands, before you complain about your wife's weaknesses, realize that it's those same weaknesses that stopped her from finding a better husband.

So it's easy to get critical. It's easy in marriages for there to be conflict, for there to be problems. But God has given us the ministry of reconciliation. How are we doing in our relationships? Let's go to Philippians 2 and verse 1. Philippians 2 and verse 1, Scripture we read quite often, because it reminds us of that ultimate example, the humility offered by Jesus Christ, who, because of His humility, modeled for us what reconciliation is all about. He was willing to take the loss.

He was willing, even though He was right, He was willing to become the sacrifice. Take the hit on our part, even though we're wrong and He's right. He was willing to do that. How about us? Or is that old ego and human pride still standing in the way?

Philippians 2 and verse 1, Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfilled by joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself.

Let each of you look not only on his own interest, but also the interest of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, that being in the form of God, he did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. And as we've explained before, that scripture says he didn't think he was robbed because he voluntarily gave up all of that glory to become a mere human being, but made of himself no reputation, went from the greatest emotion from God to a mere man, taking the form of a bond-servant and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in the appearance of a man, he humbled himself.

When there's conflict, when there's problems in our marriages, problems with our children, problems with our co-workers, someone has to initiate the reconciliation. Someone has to humble themselves and say, I'll do it. I'll be the first one to solve this issue. Are we willing to do that? He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death. Even the death of the cross, therefore God has also highly exalted him, and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven and those on earth, and those under the earth, even those under the earth, will be resurrected to life once again, and they will bow to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in his kingdom after his return. Verse 11, Reconciliation with other people can only occur if we are willing to take the first step as a maker of peace. Jesus Christ was 100% innocent. He took the first step towards reconciliation between us and God. Are we willing to take that first step as a peacemaker? Are we willing to listen with empathy and hear where they're coming from? Are we willing to confess our mistakes? Virtually every conflict that I have ever experienced or observed from others, usually everyone has a little bit of blame. Usually we all, if we're in a conflict with our beloved spouse or with our children, usually there's a portion in which it's our blame. We said something wrong. We did something wrong. We gave them the look. You know what that means, right? Or we did something that sent a very negative, condemning message to them. A message of disapproval. Are we willing to focus on the problem and not the person? Are we willing to cooperate, take the hit, even take the loss like Jesus Christ was willing to do in order to achieve reconciliation? Reconciliation helps to heal a relationship, and when this happens, the problem loses its significance. A lot of people try to solve the problem, and oftentimes that won't work, because if you're different people, if you look at the problem from different ways, you won't solve the problem. Heal the relationship, and then the problem will become insignificant. That is the way for us to have reconciliation. Feelings are not typically reality. The way we feel when there's conflict usually is not reality. It's just how we feel. Our feelings oftentimes are not logical. They don't make sense. Maybe to us they make sense, but to the other eight billion people on earth, if they knew about it, they'd say, boy, that's whacked. That makes no sense at all. That's what emotions, that's what our feelings do to us. Nagging never works. You're never persuasive when you're being verbally abusive or trying to bully someone into your point of view. It's just not going to work. Reconsiliation is important. Are we willing to humbly take the first step to say, I'm sorry, I was wrong? What can we do to have the right kind of healthy, God-like relationship together as parent and child, husband and wife, as a co-worker, as a neighbor? What can we do to encourage that? Abraham Lincoln once said, that I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends. That's pretty wise saying. From a man who, by the way, appointed everyone in his cabinet who didn't like him. His cabinet were people who had been competitors and, frankly, didn't like Abraham Lincoln. But he chose in each and every one of them, he put them in the cabinet because they were very talented. He looked beyond what they thought of him and said, these are smart, talented people. It was one time when one of his cabinet members blurted out to someone else that Abraham Lincoln's a fool. So, of course, this person went to Abraham Lincoln and said, Mr. Seward has said, you're a fool. Now, how would you react to that? Abraham Lincoln said, well, he said he's a very smart and talented man. If he says that, that's something that I should look into.

So, how are we doing in the area of reconciliation? God desires unity in his church. He doesn't desire uniformity. He wants us to be unified. But that doesn't mean that we're all yellow pencils. God is not creating yellow pencils. Yes, some are yellow pencils, but God is creating highlighters, and he's creating crayons, and he's creating thick, felt-tipped black markers, and he's creating people of different understandings. He's not trying to keep us in uniformity. He just wants us to live in unity as his congregation and as his people. Romans 15, verse 1, if you'll turn there with me, Romans 15, verse 1.

Some things to think about is we're having maybe problems with our spouse or our children, or another brother or sister in Christ, or a neighbor.

He says, That means ought to have patience.

Or those who are stumbling with something of the week.

Now, that's not a very good translation near the end of verse 3, so I'll read it in another version in a few seconds.

We are the ones who accept the title of the children of God as Christians. When it comes to a conflict, when it comes to resolution, reconciliation, we should be the adults to take the first step towards reconciliation. That is so important. I'm going to read this from the new century version.

Have you offended someone in your family? If it's something you said, something you did, maybe by giving them that look, tone of your voice, shouting at a decibel level that the crystal cracked in your chandelier?

In Matthew 25, verse 40, it says this, And the king will answer and say to them, Assuredly I say unto you, Inasmuch as you did it to one or the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me. So when we offend a loved one, it's as if we offended Jesus Christ Himself.

Do we want that kind of judgment on ourselves?

It's hard to be reconciled when that old ego and that pride and that stubbornness just gets in the way.

Let's take a look at Ephesians 4, verse 29.

Paul wrote to the congregation in Ephesus, Let no corrupt or harmful, as some translations have it, let no corrupt, harmful word proceed out of your mouth. But what is good for necessary edification? What's good for building up someone?

How are we doing in that regard?

Or are we putting our spouse down?

Or are we putting our children down in their presence? That's even worse. Are we sowing those seeds of insecurity in them by constantly harping on them, lecturing them, nagging them, telling them where and how they're wrong all the time?

It's just like offending Jesus Christ Himself.

Continuing that, it may impart grace to the hearers. When somebody hears something that we say, do they say, Oh man, that inspires me. That just builds me up. I feel a lot better now. Thank you for that.

Or do they walk away just because they may have heard the story of a fellow that was going to jump off a bridge and another person came by and said, Stop! He said, Don't do that. He said, Let's talk about this before this happens.

And after 45 minutes of the fellow telling him all these problems, how discouraged he was and all of his issues, they both held hands and jumped off the bridge.

Do we have that kind of an effect on people? Or do we edify them? Do we build them up? Do we encourage and inspire them?

Continuing here, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. That spirit wants to be used. Got all of these fruits to develop, to expand our lives, expand our minds, to grow us into the mind of Christ. Just yearning and longing for us to use the power of that spirit, waiting for us to take that step to make that effort.

Our communication with others should be positive, constructive, grounded, and loved for them. Our Savior said in Matthew 5, verse 23, Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there, remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, go away, and first, be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

So is there someone at home, someone in the congregation that you need to reconcile with? Well, I suggest you spend this week thinking about that and making that decision, getting things in order, getting your life in order.

The third and final area where we need peace, so essential, is peace with ourselves. For many of us, this is the hardest type of reconciliation of the three. My wife and I were talking about this this morning. For many people, this is the hardest one. We can understand our reconciliation with God through the Scriptures. We can read it, say, yep, he's our Savior. Yes, he shed his blood. I accept that by faith. For many people, that's not a leap. That's not hard for them at all. For other people, our conflict with others may actually be very few. Believe it or not, some people are actually very easy to get along with and don't have a lot of conflict with other people. My beloved wife is like that. She's a very easy person to get along with. So our conflict with others may be few, or we may even be unaware that we've heard others. We may be living in ignorant bliss and not even realize we've offended someone. However, living with shame and guilt and living with the consequences of the past can plague us over and over again. A haunting memory or a bitter experience can reopen old personal wounds. For many of us, it's hard to forgive ourselves and let go of our mistakes or the abuse we received from others. For many people, this is actually the most difficult piece to achieve, and that is peace with themselves, peace with their past. Let's go to Job 18, verse 4. Job 18, verse 4. As I said, living with shame and guilt and the consequences of our past can plague us over and over again. And here was actually a why statement by Job's friends to him. We're just going to read this one verse, Job 18, verse 4. They said to him, You who tear yourself in anger, shall the earth be forsaken for you, or shall the rock be removed from its place? I'm going to read this from the translation of God's Word for today. Why do you rip yourself apart in anger? Why do you do that over and over again? Why do you tear yourself to shreds emotionally, mentally? Should the earth be abandoned for your sake or a boulder be dislodged? What they're saying is, it's history. It isn't going to change anything. You tear yourself apart, not going to fix the problem. To tear yourself emotionally to the shreds, the earth is not going to stop on its axis. Rocks are not going to fall off of mountains. Nothing's going to change by reliving that over and over again. So why are you doing that to yourself? As I've said before, playing that old movie over and over again serves no purpose.

Because have you noticed that the ending's always the same? You're unhappy, you're aggravated, you've opened old wounds, and now you feel discouraged. That movie is always the same. The end is identical to the last hundred times we played it in our head. Becoming aggravated and upset by recalling past mistakes over and over again is only Satan's form of failure reinforcement therapy. Stop allowing Satan to play you. Begin to control your self-talk. Do not relive those mistakes over and over and over again in your head. Psalm 73, verse 21. Peace with ourselves. Psalm 73, verse 21. The great psalmist wrote, Thus my heart was grieved, and I was vexed in my mind. I was so foolish and ignorant, I was like a beast before you, he says to God. Nevertheless, I am continually with you. God isn't going anywhere. He hasn't moved. He is still in control of the universe and the controlling guide in our lives, no matter what we've been going through. You hold me by my right hand, you will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Did you make some mistakes this past year? Since the last Passover? Did you do some stupid things that hurt you or your loved ones? Did you humiliate yourself? Maybe humiliate your family? Maybe humiliate your church by some things you did? Or some things that you said? God says, I haven't moved. I'm still here. And I still have your hand. So repent and follow my counsel. Get back on track. Get back into the program. And follow me is what God is saying here. He's saying, use this Passover to reboot your life with the Spirit that He gave you. It's time for a new beginning. As God told the prophet Jeremiah in chapter 31, verse 34, He said, For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin, I will remember no more. So God cannot only forgive sin, He can choose to forget that that sin even existed. He's God. He can do anything. And unlike ourselves, who like to replay that old movie over and over again because of some form of sick entertainment we enjoy going on in our heads, God says, What problem? What sin? What mistake are you talking about? Do you see how God's perspective is so different than ours?

If they put a minicam on us and we saw what we looked like all day, wouldn't that be a comedy? It showed all of our weird mannerisms, our quirky gestures, our idiosyncrasies, how we scrunch our nose or have this habit of scratching. And it showed us all day we'd realize that life is a comedy. Our mistake is that we live it as if it's a tragedy. That's where we go wrong as human beings. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, He has already forgiven and forgotten those past sins that we continue to dredge up and review all over again. As the Psalmist declared, as far as the east is from the west so far, has He removed our transgressions from us? That's the 103rd chapter of the book of Psalms. God has not only forgiven our sins upon repentance, but He has also chosen to forget them.

So, considering that, how arrogant for us to hold on to a past that God Himself has already forgotten. How arrogant is it for us to throw a past mistake or problem of our spouse back in their face again, like sometime on a weapon every time we're in a discussion with them that they repented of? Something that happened five years ago, ten years ago, twenty years ago, to just throw that at them. Something that God has not only just forgiven, but God Himself has forgotten. How arrogant of us as human beings to do that.

How foolish it is for us to relive and rehearse a forgiven and forgotten past. Another issue that's related to this that some of God's people struggle with is being stuck in the past, being stuck in the 70s, being stuck living in a time that's long gone for good reason. To living in the past. Some people are stuck living in the Old Covenant. They want to be righteous. They want to have a relationship with God, but they're living in the wrong covenant today.

And that's causing a barrier in their lives.

Isaiah 54, verse 2. Isaiah 54, verse 2. This is a prophecy about the future of Israel. It comes right after the previous chapter, chapter 53. That is all about Jesus Christ. And we oftentimes read it around the time of the Passover.

I won't read it today, but it talks about chapter 53, that he is despised and rejected by men, and the Lord laid upon him the iniquity of all. We are healed by his stripes that had pleased the Lord to bruise him. It's the story of that final hours of Jesus Christ before he was crucified. That's chapter 53. And then chapter 54 gets into a beautiful prophecy about the future of Israel.

Let's read it here, beginning in verse 2. It says, So, brethren, do you realize that we are redeemed right now? This is a beautiful prophecy about the future of Israel. I want you to notice what God says about redemption, what the results of redemption are. Enlarge. It says, stretch out, lengthen, strengthen, expand. Very powerful verbs. So, how are we preparing for the Passover this year? You know, we're redeemed right now.

Are we ready to enlarge our lives with new growth? Are we ready to strengthen the stakes of our spiritual foundation? Are we ready to expand our minds with the fruit of the Spirit? Can we determine not to live anymore in fear?

Can we be determined that I will not be ashamed anymore? That I will not pull that movie again? I am canceling my spiritual Netflix subscription. I am not watching those movies anymore. No longer will I live in shame. No longer will I be disgraced. No longer will I be fearful. The blood of Jesus Christ has paid it all and has given me a relationship with my God.

As it's written in Philippians 4, it says, In the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, it's a peace that you cannot explain in human words. You just know it when you experience it. When you no longer have any fear, you don't fear death, you don't fear man. You just love God. The fears in your life have been replaced with love and affection, with purpose, and with a positive mindset. And you are at peace. You are at peace with your God, you are at peace with mankind, and you're at peace with yourself. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.

Christ Jesus, as it says here. Our final scripture today is turn to 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 23. 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 23. Paul here is recalling and teaching the Corinthians about what happened on that night of the Passover in 31 A.D. And it's interesting that in contrast to many others, Paul doesn't mention the satyr. Paul does not mention a lamb. Jesus Christ fulfilled the requirement of the lamb. Paul does not mention bitter herbs. Paul does not mention the many Jewish rituals that surrounded the original Passover because we keep the new covenant Passover. He mentions none of those things that sadly many people seem to think are so important in referring to keeping the Passover of Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 11 and verse 23. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed, he took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take it, this is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. So every Passover annually when you do that, remember Jesus Christ made this possible.

The broken body of Jesus Christ made it possible for me to be healed, for me to have a relationship with God, for me to be healed physically, emotionally, spiritually, in every way for me to have healing, which I so desperately need.

Verse 25. In the same manner, he took the cup after supper, saying, This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. So annually when you get that little cup of wine.

Remember, Jesus Christ humbly emptied himself of his glory, walked on the earth as a mere man, innocently accepted abuse, humiliation, shame, physical beatings, and shed his blood so that we could be reconciled to God. Remember that.

And remember that reconciliation was only possible because while we were yet sinners, he took the first step. He was the peacemaker. He initiated that reconciliation in our lives. Verse 26. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. You are reminded Jesus Christ sacrificed his sins for us because we need a Savior. Verse 27. Therefore, whoever eats this bread and drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, but let a man examine himself. And so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. He who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. How precious it is! Verse 30. For this reason many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world. Well, in context, Paul was correcting the Corinthians for violating the sanctity of the Passover service and how they treated each other and how they were eating. Some were showing up early, eating a huge meal. Other brethren were showing up. They were poor and hungry. No one was offering them any food. It was like a circus. They were conducting the Passover evening like a circus. And Paul didn't like that. He said there is sanctity. There is order. There is a sobriety that comes with taking this because this is about the remembrance of who and what Jesus Christ is and what He's done for us. So important. So if we want to be worthy, and I assume that we do, first of all, we need to realize that we can't make ourselves worthy. The only thing we are worthy of is a dust heap. Only God makes us worthy. But there are some things that we can do to prepare for the Passover. We can take the time to reflect on what Jesus Christ did for us and what He's doing in our lives now.

We can take some time to reflect on how far we've come. And be balanced. Don't be too hard on yourself. Ask yourself, where did I start? So look at how far you've come rather than how much you lack. Realize that you are God's precious work, but you're also a work in progress. You're a construction site.

And like any construction site, there is a lot of debris in your life that still needs to be swept up and put somewhere. God understands that. He's made a provision for that. That provision is His Son, Jesus Christ.

So, brethren, a week from today, next Sunday evening, we once again will participate in part of God's annual plan to remind us of our need for a loving Savior and to ask ourselves how well we're doing as New Covenant disciples and as the children of God. There's still time. There's time to make those peace, reconciliations with God, with someone in our life that there's anxiety or stress or conflict with.

And there's still time to have a good talk with our Father and a good talk with ourselves if we are not at peace in our own lives.

Have a happy Sabbath.