The Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread

Beliefs. We are on number 11. At the pace that we're going, we'll finish the fundamental beliefs sometime in 2040, I believe.

I'm trying to speed it up if I can, although it's been wonderful to go through these. It's been wonderful for me to go through these, and I think we're trying to think of how many fundamental beliefs there are. Maybe 20-something-ish? We're at number 11, and it is a fitting one.

Now, sometimes the interactive Bible study will follow a lot in here. Sometimes they don't. Today is one where they don't, where it doesn't. I wanted to talk about a particular question that came up. It's actually come up several times, so I thought, oh, this will be a good time to go in and really look and make it as plain as possible regarding this particular question. Now, the fundamental belief is that we're building a folder. If for some... and y'all have told me, some of you don't have or are missing some of them, and I can get you it, but I keep saying I'll get it to you, but I forget... We put holes in it so you can be building a folder for them. So at the end, you'll have all of the fundamental beliefs with you, and I know a few all need to get more copies too. But it is really interesting to go through here. You see the fundamental statement there on the first page. We believe in observing the New Testament Passover on the night of the 14th of Abib and the anniversary of our death of our Savior. And what I love about our fundamental beliefs, as I pointed out before, every part of the statement is supported with Scripture, you'll see. So it shows why we believe what we believe. That's an important thing. You need to be with a body, a church body, that really looks to Scripture for all that we do. And that's going to become important today in our study, why do we do what we do? But you can look through this sometime, and it's a really good study, even though we won't really follow this today. It will show you the Passover, like on page 99, is always associated with the 14th day of the first month. You can read that, and then there's a timeline of the Passover of the Exodus.

The Seven Days of Unleavened Bread there on page 101, the Meaning of Hebrew Words. That's a good study. There's a few of us that are really educated on the Hebrew words here, and they would be able to be familiar with a lot of that. But those of you who aren't, that can be a good study. So I'll leave that to you for homework there. We're really going to move on to more of a specific study. Again, certain questions that have come up. The same question has come up. Why do we do what we do? I did want to make it very clear.

It helps my brain to just really boil things down, if you haven't noticed, and just to present it in the most plain way possible. It not only helps us so it can really get into our heart. It can also help us in our explaining and defending ourselves and giving the hope. Why do we do what we do? I feel the air conditioner here, so that's good.

Today, let me ask first, is there any comments regarding anything of the scriptures that we went over? The comments of the main message. How many have come out of Catholicism?

Okay, quite a bit. Does some of that sound familiar?

I have been in this belief in the Church my whole life. Part of what I've challenged myself to do is to be more educated upon comparative religions. If you notice the disciples, whenever they went into a new city, they came to where the people were. Their perceptions, what their beliefs were. They had an education. A lot of them have come out of whatever they were then going back to teach the truth about. So it is important to go where people are and begin there. It is good to know some comparative religion in that way. With the teaching of the symbols, you almost have to start with what the symbols aren't. They aren't this before you can get to what they actually are. That's a teaching technique. Yes, Bill? I'd like to comment about when people come in, they just always have the Bible. If I understand from the history, when Antiochus went into the temple there in Jesus' time, they didn't have the ark anymore. He thought there was going to be a lot of big old gold. He's going to get a big old gold idol. And they came back out. He said, these people worship a book. All they had there was. And the Holy Holy Spirit was a book book. Interesting. Interesting. Yeah, it's in our nature, I think, because we are physical. To really want to grasp something physical. That's why faith is a gift. It's a gift from God to have that belief and understanding in something that we can't see as physical beings. So God knew our tendency would be to put our focus on symbols and end up worshiping it instead of the reality. So yeah, it is a good thing. So any other comments?

Well, if you think of anything, even if it's out of context, that's fine. Just let me know. Yes, Sierra. Oh, we have a mic today. We have a mic today. But it's not working.

No, it's not on. Oh, there it is. Can you briefly explain the difference between communion and the, what was the word that you used before? The Eucharist? The Eucharist, yes. No. Next question. Actually, one of our individuals that came out of Catholicism might be able to answer that better. What is the difference between communion and the actual partaking of the symbols?

So in the Eucharist, it is the actual symbols. So I probably should correct my verbiage and how I'm saying it. Yeah, communion is the actual partaking of the symbols. That exercise in the Eucharist is the actual symbols. Yes, Bill. Correct me if I'm wrong. No, I'd like to ask the ones that come out of Catholicism. What I remember from my friends were that they did not, only the priest took the wine, and they got the little sun disk, a little onion. We actually in the Protestant church that came out of, we did the sun disk, too. It was thin as a piece of paper and melted on your tongue. That was the wafer or whatever you want to call it. So it actually, that symbol, maybe it came from the sun symbol, then. That's interesting. I hadn't heard that. But the wine, as far as I know, unless they changed it, the Catholic Church changed in recent years. Only the priest took the wine. Does anybody remember? That seems right.

They wipe it. I've seen that. Yes. When I was in the Catholic Church years ago, the priest was the only one at that time who drank the wine. But I think they changed the symbols since then. Hmm. Interesting.

Yeah. And where are they getting these, this tradition? What are they mimicking in Scripture that would speak to that? That's the question.

That's very funny. Why do you say that?

That's purposeful, isn't it? Yes, Bill? Another thing is, a lot of people don't know the doctrine of the max of conception. The conception, conceived baby is not Jesus, it's Mary. And if you study, if the max of the Catholics don't know of it, you can go online and see it. And she has to be holy and bear Jesus, so they say that she didn't have the original sin pass through her when her parents had sex, they haven't heard. So that she would immaculate, but that's why they can worship her. They made a female goddess. I'll tell you something, again, because I was in Rome, and I was traveling with some people that were real darndestat. You read out of the Naltar part when I was a kid. But I told them that Jesus had brothers and sisters, and they said, there's no way. So they asked, and we were walking there, just a couple walking in a big house, I don't want to let you know, he's a cardinal, I think, or some real high Roman Gothic person, you know, a monsoon, you know, or something like that. Anyway, they asked him, they said, my friend here is telling me that Jesus had brothers and sisters, is that true? And I was standing there, and he says, are you a Catholic? And he said, I am. He said, well, here's how I'm going to answer that. I said, in the interpretation of the Bible, they didn't have the word for cousins. And what they talked about was actually Jesus's cousins. Interesting. They looked at me and said, well, what do you think about that? Yeah.

Well, that's where having a certain understanding of the Hebrew words and the Greek words comes in to be beneficial with those difficult scriptures. But I wouldn't even have thought that would have been a difficult or a basis of argument there. That's interesting. I can tell you one other thing, too. Being in the olive oil, dealing with the phrase and the things that go on in it, it's a terrible thing. I look back on that, that most of those guys were anything that's strange. So, it was horrible things that went on in their church. Well, yeah. There's a lot of evil out there, and it starts with deception. Once you open your mind to those things, it really can take you in a very bad way, in a very bad direction to where even if some of those had sincerity or heart to begin with, well, Satan has a way of allowing this world to twist us into evil practices.

Satan is very patient with those things. So, that's why we have to be solid in the fundamental beliefs. That's why we're doing this. It all goes back to that. We can get ourselves in trouble when we begin to go out on those peripheral items. Passover is wonderful, and the Days of Unleavened Bread is a wonderful time to come back to the fundamental understanding.

Ultimately, we need to be coming closer to God, and that's what we're here to do. So, we look at this truth, and we're going to look at one truth today, and that's over the Passover instructions. I hope when we get done with this, we'll be able to really be able to defend why we do what we do. We're going to go through it fairly quickly. I don't want to keep you too long. Maybe we'll get done in 30 minutes, but please give me your comments as we go along. So, some believe the Passover observance, and many neglect the Passover observance. There's the whole other side of the coin. They neglect it altogether because they believe it's bound up solely in the Old Testament. It's an Old Covenant thing. That's an old thing. Well, we want to combat that idea that it's not just an Old Covenant observance. It's every bit of relevance today to the Christian today, if not more so.

There are three times in history in which the instructions for observance of the Passover are given. One is in Exodus, one is in Deuteronomy, and then finally in the New Testament, under the New Covenant. The three instructions are each under a different covenant. As we go from one covenant to the next, we'll see that the instructions change. The Passover observance is never an old, but the instructions change.

So, turn with me to Exodus 12, if you will. Exodus 12, we were there in that area a little earlier. Exodus 12 is where the first place that the Hebrew word Pesach is mentioned. It's taken from the root word, but it means to skip over, to leap, to pass over.

Pesach. I hope I'm pronouncing that right. But here, God now reveals the first Passover to Israel here in Exodus 12, verses 1 through 11. Look how they worship. This is the instructions of the first Passover instructions here. Now, we're going to pick out certain things out of this to focus on a little bit or to notice. Exodus 12, verses 1 through 11. Now, the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be your beginning of months.

It shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to the house take it according to the number of persons according to each man's need. You shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male in the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.

Now, you should keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, and then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of its blood and put it on the doorpost and on the lentil of the houses where they eat. And they shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted in fire, with unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw nor bold at all with water, but roasted in fire, its head and its legs and its entrails.

You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn in the fire, unless you shall eat it with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover.

So let's stop there. So the instructions given. So select a lamb without blemish, and the male in the first year, you can take it from the sheep or the goats. On the tenth day, set it aside. Keep it until the fourteenth day, then the whole assembly shall, the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. Take the blood, put it on the doorpost of the lentil of the houses where they eat it. Verse 12 through 13, For I shall pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn of the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt.

I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. Verse 13, Now the blood shall be assigned for you on 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.

So the the Lord passed through and passed over you, it says. Verse 14, So this day shall be to you a memorial, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. There's some key words in there. A memorial once a year. Memorial indicates that keep as a feast throughout your generations, a feast and everlasting ordinance.

Let's go down to verse 23, For the Lord shall pass and strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lentil and on the doorpost, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. So there at midnight, the Lord passed over, where the blood was present on the doorpost, those were protected homes. And then to finish up here, verse 24 through 28, listen to some of these words, you know, as to why this was to be everlasting, an everlasting observance. And you shall observe this thing, verse 24, as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. And it shall come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you. That's the Promised Land, just as He promised you shall keep this service. And it shall be when your children say to you, what do you mean by this service? That you shall say it is a passover sacrifice of the Lord who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households. So the people bowed their heads and worshiped, and the children of Israel went away and did so, just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. So they did.

So we saw there it's a memorial throughout your generations everlasting to your sons forever, it says.

Any comments on that? So do we, in a few weeks when the Passover comes, do we put blood over the doorposts? Do we have a staff in hand and girded waste? Do we do these things? Do we eat and haste? Do we eat a meal? That's a question.

No, we don't. And we're going to get to why our Passover doesn't look like that.

Important because others would point to this and say, well, that's all bound up, and the Old Testament stuff. We don't do that anymore. We're going to see how the instructions change here as we go on. So we could say that that is the Exodus Passover, just to give it a term. Now, what covenant were they under in the Exodus Passover?

They were under the Abrahamic covenant at that time, the Abrahamic covenant. So that was before Sinai, Mount Sinai, where then God instituted a new covenant, which we called the Old Covenant, the Sinai covenant. And so with the Sinai covenant, the Deuteronomy Passover, if you will, that was the Exodus Passover, Abrahamic covenant. Now the Deuteronomy Passover, with the Sinai covenant, the instructions are going to change a little bit. Now, there's a few things that would necessitate change. We're going to have with this new covenant a formalized priesthood and a centralized tabernacle. So a formalized priesthood and a centralized tabernacle would now come into play and now would come to be instituted. So we would necessitate some Passover administration and instruction changes here. So the Sinai covenant is now going to be upon us. It doesn't negate anything before we'll see, but when the Israelites go into the Promised Land, they are not to put blood on the doorpost or eat inside their houses dressed a certain way. We're going to see that that now changes. So turn with me to Deuteronomy 16. New covenant, new change in instruction. Deuteronomy 16.

We'll read just a few verses here.

We'll spend more time on the the final instructions in a moment. Deuteronomy 16, verse 1 and 2. Look at this. Deuteronomy 16, verse 1 and 2. Observe the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. Therefore you shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God from the flock and the herd in the place where the Lord chooses to put his name. So let's go down to verse 5 through 7. Look at what changes here. Verse 5, you may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates. Well, that's different from before. Before it was in your household. That's where it's to have it. Well, now, not now. Verse 5, you may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates with the Lord your God gives you, but at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make his name abide. There you shall sacrifice the Passover at twilight, at the going down of the sun, at the time you came out of Egypt. You shall roast and eat it in the place which the Lord God chooses. And in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. So let's stop there. So we see some changes, don't we? With the Deuteronomy new covenant, the Sinai covenant, the Deuteronomy administration here, the Passover is to be slain in a central place. That place became Jerusalem later on, the site of the temple, different from the Exodus Passover where they had to eat in their own homes. Now they're told they did not eat in their own homes. They're instructed to go to the place where the Lord chooses, then go home after the sacrifice. Initially it was the Abrahamic covenant. God was working with individuals and families. Now God with the Sinai covenant is working with a nation. And there was a priesthood and a temple.

So that's the Sinai covenant. You see some changes there in the institution. Yes, Bill?

And this is one of the places where there's a problem, I mean, I mean the part of the decimity controversy. And a number of us have made comment that Passover was not a sacrifice from the herd, but only from the flock. And so there's no date mentioned anywhere in Deuteronomy 16. There's no day 14 to 15, but this is one that is used in the controversy. And then if you go over to Sias reforms, he's talking about, he mentions the flock and the herd, but he said they sacrificed the lambs and then the flock and the herd were maybe to be eaten on the day of the Passover and going into the 15th. But Deuteronomy 16 is one of the... And there's no date in there. One of the controversial passages. Yeah, there's a lot of controversies you will know. And that's why it's good to go through this. And really, we're going to see in a moment, we try to look at the New Covenant and what Jesus Christ instituted. And that's our example, because there can be a lot of... There's a lot of different Passover observance looks. There's all kinds of different ways.

There are those that... Well, I'll get into that in a moment. I'll get into that in a moment.

Thank you, Bill. So that was the Sinai Covenant, but the Levitical priesthood could not remove guilt of ancient Israelites. It was time to deal with that with the arrival of the perfect lamb. The New Covenant, he would bring a whole set of different instructions we're going to look at with the New Covenant. Before we get to the New Covenant instructions, let me turn you to Hebrews 9 really quickly. So the Hebrews 9, it speaks of the Levitical sacrifices. Those things simply reminded them of their sinfulness, but it was only a type of a future sacrifice that could remove the transgressions of repentance centers. So that's what we see kind of a transition here in the Hebrews tells us regarding the Deuteronomy, the priesthood temple sacrifices. Look at what it says here. Deuteronomy 9, let's read verses 9 through 15. There was something new coming. Excuse me, I said Deuteronomy. Hebrews 9, verses 9 through 15. I heard a whisper. Thank you, Whisper. I hear things more than y'all think I do. Just be careful. Hebrews 9, verses 9 through 15.

It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices were offered, which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience. Considered only with foods and drinks and various washings and fleshly ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation. So it was something coming. But Christ came as high priest of the good things to come with a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is not of this creation. Verse 12, not with the blood of goats or calves, but with his own blood he entered into the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason, he is the mediator of a new covenant. By means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. So we'll stop there. So this is the transition. So because those sacrifices could not remove the guilt of mankind, they can only be a reminder of the seriousness of sin and the damage, its damage, God needed to deal with the removing of the guilt, the cleansing of the conscience. So Jesus Christ would then come and institute a new covenant Passover with new instructions to follow. Yes, Bill?

Can we read 2 Chronicles 35 verse 13? Yes. Put it with Deuteronomy 16 because it helps. Read that, Bill. 2 Chronicles 35 verse 13 says, and this is when they, you know, they had to call people back into keeping the Passover and said all that they would do. 2 Chronicles 35 verse 13, and they roasted the Passover with fire according to the ordinance. The Passover was supposed to be roasted and not boiled, but the other holy offering they saw in pots and cauldrons in the pans and invited them among the people. So the beautiful things there shows the Passover had to be roasted, and then during the day when they're eating things.

Thank you. Yeah, that is a good compliment, Scripture.

So now we move into the new covenant with new observance instructions. We remember that in Egypt they ate the Passover lamb, sacrificed for them so that they would be passed over. They were eaten in their houses, staff in hand, sandals on their feet. The disciples didn't do that anymore, you'll notice. Why? Because the disciples at this moment in history kept the Passover like it was instructed in Deuteronomy. With the priesthood, the temple up to the point where Jesus Christ was going to change the instructions from that time forward. But up until that time, they kept it as instructed through the Deuteronomy instructions. They came to Jerusalem like it said, but we're going to see that He's now going to tell them, okay, you're not going to do it like that anymore. Jesus Christ didn't do away with the Passover. Just like the Deuteronomy instructions didn't do away with the Exodus Passover. They're all just changing. So let's go to Luke 22, if you will. Luke 22, again, we were there earlier in the sermon.

We're going to go through this and consider some of the points in 10 minutes or less. Speed reading.

Because again, you can look at different Passover observances, and you're going to see different things that the Jews do. That weed is different from the way we do it. So let's look at this. Luke 22, verse 7 through 20, this is the section we're going to focus on. Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the Passover must be killed. And Jesus Christ sent Peter and John saying, go and prepare a Passover for us, that we may eat. So they said to him, where do you want us to prepare?

So the day of unleavened bread, the Passover, this is the period of time that we're talking about. Sometimes they would refer to the days of unleavened bread, and they were actually just referring to the whole season. We might say, oh, the days of unleavened bread are coming up, but that doesn't mean that we're saying, but the Passover is not. Sometimes it's interchangeable. They'll use the terms, but this is the period of time we're at here. Verse 8, he sent Peter and John saying, go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat. That's not an odd thing. There were droves and droves and droves of people that were coming in to Jerusalem at this time. I'm sure it was difficult to find a guest room. I'm sure God, of course, did not, I'm sure, made the way and the room that they were to take and establish and have this meal.

It's incredible to think about what that scene would look like. There were so many sacrifices at that time that would have been done, and they wouldn't have been able to make all the sacrifices in the temple. So there were different sacrifices being made. Some of the commentators say outside of the temple, just because there wasn't enough. There were so many people and so many sacrifices, so many animals, so much blood. Let's read verses 9 through 20 here. This is what we want to look at. These are the new instructions here that are going to be given. Verse 9, so they said to him, where do you want us to prepare? And he said, he said to them, Behold, when you've entered into the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house which he enters.

Someone made a comment before that that's an odd scene. Someone said that only women carried pitchers of water back then. So this would have been, you would have identified this man carrying a pitcher of water pretty clearly. Then you shall say to the master of the house, the teacher says to you, Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples? And he will show you a large furnished upper room and there make ready. So they went and found it just as he had said to them and they prepared the Passover. When the hour had come, he sat down with them. This is verse 14. And the 12 apostles with him said to them, With fervent desire, I've desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it's fulfilled in the kingdom of God. Verse 17, He took a cup, gave thanks, and said, Take this divided amongst yourself. For I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. In verse 19, And 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. Likewise, He took the cup after supper, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you. I will stop there. So Jesus now institutes new Passover observance instructions, and of course the administrative elements of the Passover, the meaning, the new covenant is being established here. This is how we keep it today. The taking of the bread and the symbols. This is how it was to be kept from that point forward. And as you see in verse 14 through 16, When the hour had come, He sat down with the twelve apostles with Him, and He said, With fervent desire, this is verse 14 through 16, I've desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it's fulfilled in the kingdom of God. So He eats the meal with them. And that is important because certain things haven't changed yet. He's eating a meal with them. That was the previous instructions. He was still fulfilling that to which the Lamb pointed.

However, He is about to die as the Lamb, isn't He? As the Passover. So it's interesting. Verse 17 or 18, He takes this cup and He gives things.

He takes it, divide this amongst yourself. For I say, I will not drink of this until the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God comes. So during the meal that they ate, they're passing around wine.

Someone might be able to speak to more of this, but from what I've read, this is very close to the traditional modern Seder meal that the Jews have today. They eat a lamb and they drink wine.

The Jewish Seder customs, while they're doing this, they tell the story of Exodus. They drink cups of wine eating unleavened bread. There's certain symbolic Passover Seder plates, certain symbolic foods, of course, all in celebration of their freedom. But we don't have a meal at our observance, do we? Why? Well, there's a few things to point to. One is, note Christ's specific instructions here. His people were to go forward with the New Covenant Passover here. Verse 19, this is something different that he's instituting here. We now have something different and specific. He took bread, gave thanks, and broke it. He gave it to them. This is my body which is given to you. Do this in remembrance of me. And the cup of wine that was passed around in verse 17 with the meal, that was a personal thing we could say. But this is different here in verse 20. Do this in remembrance of me. You do this now. And they had nothing to remember yet. He was still there. But this is what he was telling them, what you're going to remember when I'm gone. Verse 19, he took bread, gave thanks, and broke it. And he gave it to them, saying, this is my body which is given to you. Do this in remembrance of me. I'm doing something new here. This would have been new to the disciples. And then verse 20, likewise, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you. So here the wine representative of my blood, take that into you, internalize it, the bread representative of my body. He's now beginning to take the observance and say, since I am the lamb, this is how it will change. So we don't have to attempt to go back to the Exodus or the Deuteronomy Passover instructions. We don't have to attempt to go back to those and try to mimic them. A greater thing is happening here. New covenant instructions, very specific instructions. Do this. So that's number one, specific instructions. Why we just participate in the symbols. This is why we do what we do. We don't sit down and eat a meal on the Passover night. Why do we do what we do? There are some that would sit down on the meal. There are some who sit down and they have a whole meal and then at the end of that meal they partake of the symbols.

Well, was that Jesus's instructions? Jesus didn't say, eat this lamb in remembrance of me.

He didn't say that. So we see very specifically, eat this bread, drink this wine in remembrance of me. That changes things. The picture is, I am the lamb. Jesus Christ is the lamb.

That's one thing you can point to. And another very specific thing you can point to, of course, is 1 Corinthians 11, 17. Let's turn there. 1 Corinthians 11, 17, as to why another reason we don't eat a meal. 1 Corinthians 11, 17 confirms this as well. 1 Corinthians 11, 17.

Look what Paul confirms here. So this is during the Passover. Paul says now, verse 17, 1 Corinthians 11, 17. Now, in giving these instructions, I do not praise you. He's speaking to the Corinthian church. Since you come together not for the better, but for the worse.

So they're specifically coming together for the Passover. We see that later on. So verse 18 through 20. For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear there are divisions among you. And in part, I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you. Side note, that's why we have factions in the church right there. That's okay. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you. Verse 20. Therefore, when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's supper. So this mimicked the supper that he had with the disciples that night. What they were trying to do here. The church in Corinth was trying to do that. They were trying to come together with the Passover. They had a big meal. They were a spiritually troubled church, we know. They came together and ate this big meal. Look at verse 21. For in eating, they were a troubled church, like I said. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others. One is hungry, another is drunk. So you can imagine this Passover service. Poor people sitting there hungry, others passed out drunk. So if you think we're ever dysfunctional, well, the Corinthian church will make you feel better. Just read that. This was what their Passover service was like. Continuing verse 22 through 26. What? Verse 22. Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you. Now look what Paul does. He goes back to the instructions. This is what he's passing on to them. What does he say? 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 took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, he also took a cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. Whereas often as you drink this bread and eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. So the eating of the lamb is not in the instructions. It wasn't in the instructions from Jesus Christ. It's just in symbols here. It's reiterated there. Do you not have houses you can eat in and drink in? The service and drug instruction is there in verse 24 and verse 25. He took bread, given thanks, he broke it, take, eat, this is my body which is broken to you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, took the cup after supper. This cup is the new covenant of my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

Yes, Bill. That word, supper, there, is the main deal. And if I can speculate on this, I thought about this, why he said something, you know, how would you eat it? Would there not have been Jews that were still, I'm thinking there were Jews probably mixed in. They were keeping the physical ones. And then they were going down the street and meeting with Christians and doing the New Testament thing. So it was a blending. Yeah. The Gentiles were told by Paul, you don't have to do that. But the Jews were going with their families like we may be on Thanksgiving and then Interesting. Yeah. So you see throughout this, there's an attempt to correct thinking. There's an attempt to correct back to the instructions. Paul says, I am delivering this, what was delivered to me. Listen to me. On the night, this is what Jesus Christ did. So he reiterates. He doesn't say, eat this lamb. Paul doesn't reiterate. Jesus Christ said, eat this lamb and remember it to me. No, Paul doesn't say that. He goes, let me reiterate what was delivered to me. And that's what that's, this is why we do what we do. So you can feel very confident in that. Okay, we'll summarize. We'll summarize. So the Exodus Passover, the intel dislaying of the lamb. So the Lord would pass over. The Deuteronomy Passover, the sacrificing of lambs is a memorial of the Exodus Passover. The Deuteronomy Passover said, remember what happened in Exodus. The new covenant Passover entails the reality of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ now. So we're not coming together on the Passover to remember the Exodus Passover. It's not that we're diminishing that, but that the Deuteronomy Passover was to remember the Exodus Passover. We're now coming to remember in reverence the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as the lamb. That's why we're coming. The Exodus Passover and Deuteronomy Passover entails eating a meal.

The new covenant Passover entails eating the bread and wine as symbols, with the reality of Jesus Christ fulfilling the Passover sacrifice.

It was no longer essential to sacrifice the lamb as a type of a future event. The lamb was here. There is blood in all three Passover instructions.

We know about the blood in the Exodus. They put it over the doorposts. The Deuteronomy Passovers, the animals were sacrificed into the Levitical priesthood there. We know and you can write this down. The blood in the new covenant Revelation 1 verse 5 through 6. You can write that down. We won't take the time to turn there. Revelation 1, 5 through 6. Let me read it to you. And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, to Him who loved us, washed us from our sins in His own blood. So there's this is the blood of the new covenant.

It's a washing of our sins in His own blood.

So we are spiritually washed by His blood. You know, when they were doing the sacrifices of the animals, it was very...

You can read about this. They knew how to kill the animal with no pain. Very, very clean. No pain. Not the case with the Lamb. The Lamb was tortured for hours and hours. We are washed in that blood. So that's a powerful symbol.

We won't go into it, but for homework, and there will be a test.

No test. But of course, Exodus and Deuteronomy, pastors don't have foot washing.

But John 13, for your homework, if you want to write that down, Jesus, during the Passover, said, I now command you to do this. And that instituted the foot washing. Happy you will be if you do this. This was a brand new thing. New administration of the Passover. We washed feet on that night.

There was a memorial of deliverance in all three. Of course, we know the Exodus. The Deuteronomy remembered back to the Exodus. We know there's symbolism in all this. We talked about this. I was talking about this with an individual after services.

Boy, there's all kinds of messages and studies in this. Egypt represents sin.

Pharaoh represents a Satan figure. The Red Sea represents this baptism.

Of course, now, you might say, well, we're not under slavery like they were in Egypt now.

Well, are you not?

Do you not know that to whom you present yourself, slaves do obey? You are that one, slaves whom you obey, whether sin leading to death or obedience leading to righteousness? That's this is ours. This is our slavery. You know, the Passover and all Jesus Christ did for us. We respond with the days of Unleavened Bread. How do we respond to that sacrifice? We put the sin out of our lives.

So it's just always on my mind. How do I honor that sacrifice? Put the sin out of your life. Make progress. Make significant progress.

Whatever sin has had a hold on you, no, there's always a way of escape. God always makes a way of escape. That's His promise to you. You have to just want it. So go to Him this Passover.

Go to His throne of grace.

We'll conclude with this. Be bold. Be bold not in demanding forgiveness. Be bold in going to that throne of grace to bold in looking for an answer to overcoming your sin. Bold in looking for the help in overcoming your sin. I boldly come to you, Father, humbly.

Help me to overcome this. Help me to honor your sacrifice. I want to do that. Help me be who I want to be. Help me to be who you want me to be.

That's how we honor His sacrifice, how we live.

All right. Finally, and we'll conclude with this and say a prayer, and then we'll dismiss. There's a hymn sung in the New Covenant Passover. You can see that. You can write this down. We'll look at it later. Look at it up later. Matthew 26 verse 30. Why do we sing a hymn? Matthew 26 verse 30. They sing a hymn.

That's something new with the foot washing.

That just makes you feel so good. You are with a body that tries to look at Scripture. Do we know the fullness of everything? No. But man, we really try to look and adhere our lives to all the instructions, even down to the final hymn. Yes, Bill.

I can go home happy now.

Bill's very, very knowledgeable. That makes me feel good. Thank you, Bill. Let's say a prayer where you can stay seated and then we'll be done today. Well, our dear Heavenly Father.