Passover

Well, brethren, as we in God's Church well understand, sin has been a big problem since the creation of Adam and Eve. In fact, sin was a big problem since Lucifer sinned and became Satan the Devil. Sin and its consequences are addressed throughout the Bible. Sin, of course, we all agree, is a huge, huge problem. Sin is not to be taken lightly. The wages of sin is what? It's death. Who wants death? Most people don't look forward to death unless they're miserable already. If you have a joy about life, you really don't want to die.

The wages of sin is death. And, of course, all of mankind has done what? That's right, we've all sinned. So it's a big problem. I would say that it's the biggest problem of all in some ways. So how do we avoid the consequences of sin? How do we avoid the second death? Many, many sermons and many, many Bible studies have addressed the subject of sin. You've done your own personal Bible studies in regard to sin.

I'm sure this is something you mauled over for hours and hours and hours. Much has been said about the works of the flesh as well and about many sins that could lead to the second death. In fact, let's go to Galatians 5 where it talks about the works of the flesh. Let's ask ourselves, honestly, have we ever engaged in any works of the flesh?

Have we sinned in these ways? Let's begin in verse 16 of chapter 5. Paul says, I say then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary. They're contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish. So the Spirit of God in us, whether it dwells in us or is working in us, it's motivating us to go God's way. But then we have this law that Paul talks about this in us, the law of sin that works against us.

And he says, you do not do the things that you wish. And Paul wrote about that, obviously, in the book of Romans. And we're familiar with those words by the apostle Paul in regard to sin. He says in verse 18, but if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Of course, we understand that he's talking about not being under the penalty of the law. And what's the penalty of the law? The penalty of the law is death, isn't it? That's the wages of sin is death.

What he's saying is, if you learn to walk in the Spirit, then you are not under the law of death. You don't have to die. You can actually live forever. He's not saying the law is done away, clearly. He's not saying that. It's foolishness to believe that or to preach that. If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law in the sense of the law will kill you when you break it.

When you break God's law, there is a penalty that comes along. We've all done it. We're all guilty. Now, the works of the flesh are evident. Now, these works are evident. Think about it in your own life. Have you ever done these things? Have you ever seen others do these things?

These are the works of the flesh. Adultery or fornication. Sexual immorality of any type. Fornication, uncleanness, and lewdness. That is a huge problem for the human race. These things, these sexual type sins, the lust of the flesh. Adultery is another one. How many people committed idolatry and put things before the true God? Rather than walking completely with Him, but making other things more important in their life. Choosing to do those things instead of doing what God would have us do. That's idolatry. We're all guilty of idolatry. Sorcery. Look at the world today around us. There are psychic readers in Lott in Oklahoma, I'm sure. There is sorcery around the globe.

There is witchcraft in Africa in ways you wouldn't even comprehend or believe. There is sorcery, this type of thing. There is hatred. How much hatred have you seen? Have you ever seen it in your own heart? I know I have. Hatred. There is contentions, strife, contention, jealousies, outbursts of wrath. Have any of you ever been angry before? Have you ever spoken loudly in anger towards someone? Those are outbursts of wrath. Those are works of the flesh. Dissensions. People not getting along.

Dissenting with one another. Arguing. Complaining. Heresies. Envy. Do we ever envy? You know, I find it natural to have some envy. I'm sorry. I don't like it. But I look across the road and I see a house there that, man, I wish I'd have gotten that house. And I've got a gorgeous house! And I've got a beautiful yard! But there are certain things. Certain things that are across the street. That are more, oh, they just, I just have to watch it. Because I can be envious. And I know you are the same way I am. I know it!

You're no different. You may not admit it. Okay. Envy. Murders. If you harbor hatred in your heart, you murdered someone, is what our Savior says in the book of Matthew on the Sermon on the Mount. Murders. Drunkenness. Anyone ever gotten drunk? You don't have to raise your hand. But there's probably more than one person in this room that has gotten drunk. There are probably several of us who have gotten drunk in the past. Revelries. That's just, you know, you can kind of party spirit, that sort of thing.

Revelries. And the like. Now, I like, I like and the like. Because, you know, it covers everything. It covers it all. It doesn't all have to be listed here. Anything that's anywhere remotely like all this bad stuff that we just read, that stuff you have to be on guard for.

It's works of the flesh. He didn't have enough room to write every possible thing that people do. And the way they, you know, there's lots of ways to sin. I guess, was it 613 according to the rabbis? Or, you know, something like that. I don't know. There's probably more ways than that if you really study it out. So there's lots of ways to sin. He says, and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things, you know, if you practice these things, if you practice drunkenness, you're not going to be in God's kingdom.

That's something that you have to repent of. You have to come out of that. If you practice envy, I mean, I don't think I practice it. I have to watch it every now and then. I am truly grateful for the blessings. I never thought I'd ever have a new home. I mean, I never dreamed ever that I'd have a home as nice as the one I'm in now. God is blessed as far above anything I could even imagine.

But even then, you know, there's envy, and there's jealousies, and there's covetousness. And these are things that we all have to struggle with. We all have to battle with these things. And if we practice these things, we will not inherit God's kingdom. So we have to fight against it, don't we? It isn't something to take lightly. I don't take it lightly. I may joke a little bit about it simply because I know it's the human condition and that we all struggle with it. Just because I joke about it doesn't mean I take it lightly. I don't like that in me.

I don't like to think that way. I ask God to forgive me when I find myself thinking that way, and I change the subject. I don't sit around and dwell on it. So we all have to take responsibility for our sins. You know, that's really what I'm talking about here. We have to take responsibility for our sins. You see, as Christians, we realize that once we are baptized, once we have repented of our sins, once we've had hands laid upon us by a true minister of Jesus Christ, and once we receive the Holy Spirit of God, we are indeed forgiven our sins.

We are forgiven. We ask two questions when we baptize a person. Have you repented of your sins?

Sin, which is the transgression of God's holy and righteous and perfect law, have you repented?

Are you sorry with a godly sorrow? And are you doing your very level best, as best as you can muster, to fight against those sins and to overcome them and to put them out of your life?

And a second question, have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? And Mr. Ledbetter talked quite a bit about Jesus Christ as our Savior, having faith and belief in Him and who He is.

A lot of people don't believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior.

So once at a given point in time, we were all cleansed of our sins. Those of us who truly repented and were baptized and followed what the Scripture tells us to do, it's very plain. Repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the remission of all of your sins. So those sins are washed away at baptism. But the problem, again, comes to the forefront when we sin after we've been baptized, right? Okay, when we sin after we've been baptized, after we receive the Holy Spirit, we're not automatically forgiven, are we? We don't have a pass. We're not once saved, always saved. We still have to be concerned about sin.

And we have to repent of our sins.

Daily. Perhaps by the moment. Now, that's how we have to live our lives.

So this is a huge problem. Sin is a huge problem.

True repentance is turning from our sins and putting it away. No longer going there and being truly sorry for one's sinful behavior. Without repentance, there is no forgiveness of sin.

And, of course, not being willing to forgive others is a sin as well.

And we will be forgiven in the same manner that we forgive others. That's a huge sin for a lot of people. Because they're just not willing to forgive. They want people to forgive them, but they're not willing to forgive.

They hold grudges. They harbor hatred and resentment toward one another.

So, brethren, today we're going to talk about sin. And yes, I am coming out against it.

The title of this sermon is Passover. God's Solution for the Problem.

The solution for the problem of sin. The Passover is the solution for the problem of sin. And we are just about ready to observe another Passover.

The answer to sin, of course, is repentance and forgiveness.

We must repent. We must be forgiven. That's the answer to our sins. Our sins have to be forgiven.

And all of that lies in the meaning of the Passover.

It lies in the meaning of the death of the Lamb of God. The one who never sinned, was never guilty of sin. The only human being who never sinned gave his life for us.

And also, the answer to sin, repentance and forgiveness, is found in the resurrection. It's not just in the death of our Savior Jesus Christ, but surely it's also in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I mean, they're both, I guess you would say, equally important.

The death and the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Now, the Passover specifically commemorates the death of our Savior Jesus Christ.

We know and understand that. But we also realize that Christ came out of the grave.

In fact, there's only one sign given whereby he is truly the Messiah. And that is, he was three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. And frankly, most of the religious world gets that wrong, don't they? They don't understand that. You can't get three days and three nights from Good Friday to Sunday morning. It's impossible. So that's heresy. And that's something that should be rejected and not at all cuddled up to. So today we're going to talk about how the Passover is the solution for the problem of sin. It is God's solution for the problem of sin.

When Moses instructed the Pharaoh that the God of Israel was telling him to let my people go, remember that? Let my people go. That was the message that Moses was to bring to Pharaoh. God said, let my people go. So what was God really saying when he said, let my people go?

So what is the nation of Egypt? What is it symbolic of? Right, it's symbolic of sin.

Coming out of Egypt means coming out of sin. And what about the Pharaoh? What about the Egyptian Pharaoh? What is he symbolic of? Satan the devil. Satan the devil. Satan the devil. So the children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt. They were slaves in Egypt. They were in bondage physically, but they were also in bondage spiritually. They were in bondage to sin.

God was calling them out not only of physical Egypt, but he was also calling them out of a spiritual Egypt. He was calling them out of sin. They were to be a model nation. They agreed to do everything that he said they should do, right? Well, we know they fell far short. We know the story. I don't have time to go through all of it, but they were certainly supposed to come out of Egypt, leave Egypt behind, come out of sin, leave sin behind, and worship the only true God. Be you holy even as I am holy, said God to the children of Israel. So God miraculously delivered Israel from Egypt. What he was saying to the children of it till Tefaro was, let my people go from sin. Let them go from Egypt. Let them go from bondage. Let them come out of sin. The wages of sin is death. God doesn't want all of his family to die. He doesn't want any of his family to die. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. That's God's will. Now, God isn't going to make it happen because he gives us free moral agency. We have to decide whether or not we really want to live by every word of God, or if we want to just live by some of God's words, and then do the rest the way we want to do it.

I mean, that's huge. It's called self-will. Not the will of the Father, not the will of the Son, but self-will, what we want to do. We want to have it our way. We don't want to do it God's way.

So today we're talking about doing it God's way. So God miraculously delivered Israel from Egypt.

Now, the destruction of the Egyptian nation rocked the world at that time. I mean, this was the most powerful nation on earth. Pharaoh was the most powerful man on earth. He had chariots. He had instruments of war. He had the power behind him. He had slaves, and he had lots going on around the world, even. He had a lot of power.

So it was inconceivable that the puny nation of Israel, it was inconceivable that they could escape from Egypt. How could such a puny bunch of people who had no weapons, who had no chariots, who had no horses, they didn't have the firepower of the nation of Egypt. They were slaves in bondage.

So it was inconceivable that they could escape from Egypt. They were slaves. They were in bondage.

How could they possibly escape from the most powerful man on earth, the Pharaoh? Well, we know the answer, don't we? It was divine intervention. That's what it was. God did it.

They didn't do it. God did it. God did all of it. It was God who decimated those Egyptians one by one. Plague after plague after plague poured down on Egypt. That country was decimated.

It was God who sent finally the 10th plague when Pharaoh continued to refuse to let God's people go. So that 10th plague, the death angel, then went through the land of Egypt and it killed all of the firstborn of Egypt. Every firstborn child. How many firstborns do we have in this room?

Quite a few. Quite a few firstborns here. Of course, every family has a firstborn.

So it would be maybe if it's not you, it's your brother, your sister, your mother, your father, the firstborns, all died in Egypt. It was devastating! Just imagine, what would Lawton be like if every single firstborn in Lawton died tonight? The devastation, the emotional violence, the pain, the suffering, the suffering. That's what took place in Egypt. God brought that about. It was God who also drowned the Egyptians in the Red Sea when they stubbornly refused to truly let God's people go. They let them go for a while, but Pharaoh went after them, just like Satan continues to go after God's people today. He doesn't give up. He continues to go after us, just as Pharaoh went after the children of Israel. So it was God who drowned the Egyptians in the Red Sea while he saved all the Israelites. So what did the Israelites do to escape the Egyptians? Let's go to Exodus 14. I find this rather fascinating, what Moses says and what God says in this exchange in Exodus 14. Of course, we read about the first Passover in Exodus 12. We read about the days of 11 bread in chapter 12 and 13. So these are very important words to be studying as you go into the Passover. Take some time to go back this week and read this account in Exodus 12, 13, 14, 15.

Read these words and consider what God did for the children of Israel, anciently, and what he's doing for the children of Israel today.

So Exodus 14, verse 13, And Moses said to the people, now they were at a crossroads now, they saw the Pharaoh.

They were already starting to complain, some of them wanting to go back to Egypt.

They hadn't been gone long, and here comes Pharaoh. Here comes the most powerful army on earth with all his horses and all his chariots and all the weapons that he had.

And they were wanting to go back and they were complaining. They were asking, you know, did you bring us out here to die? And Moses said to the people, do not be afraid.

Fear can overcome people. It can immobilize people.

That's what was happening to the children of Israel. They were becoming immobilized.

Moses said to the people, don't be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Eternal. Now, Moses had faith. He believed that God was going to deliver the children of Israel.

Again, read the account so you can see how God built Moses' faith.

Because Moses saw miracle after miracle after miracle performed.

He says, don't be afraid. Stand still. See the salvation of the Eternal, which he will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians, the Egyptians, whom you see today, you see them afar off. They're coming. Yes.

You'll see them again no more. Forever.

The Eternal will fight for you and you shall hold your peace. So that was the advice that Moses gave them. What did God say? The Lord said to Moses, why do you cry to me?

Tell the children of Israel to go forward. Don't stand around.

There's something you have to do. You have to move forward. You can't stand around expecting God to do it all. God has a responsibility for each and every one of us, and that is to move forward toward the Kingdom. Always. Always move forward toward God's Kingdom.

Tell the children of Israel to go forward. And then miracles happened. The seas were opened.

The children of Israel came through on dry ground. God protected.

He looked after the children of Israel. He drowned Pharaoh's army in the sea.

And there's a song, all of chapter 15, about it. And we have it in our hymnal. And it's cool.

To consider what God did in delivering the children of Israel. God is truly a God who will deliver. You can trust Him. You can have faith. He will deliver you if you believe that He will.

So, brethren, it was God who sustained the children of Israel in the wilderness for 40 years, even after they sinned and the golden calf incident, after the slaves that went into the Promised Land. And they all grumbled and complained, wanted to go back to Egypt again.

God was merciful. God protected them in the wilderness for 40 years, fed them with manna day by day in the wilderness. No man on the Sabbath because the Sabbath was holy. It was sanctified. And yet, a lot of people don't keep the Sabbath today, do they? They don't think it's that important. It's not what the Scripture teaches us. The Scripture teaches us that the Sabbath is very important. It is a sign between God and His people. There is a Sabbath covenant that God expects us to keep. Six days shall you labor and do all your work. Those who take this lightly, they're not going to be in God's Kingdom. They're not going to live forever. And I say that on the authority of the Bible. I'm not, I'm surely not wanting to take any credit for any of this. This is what God has revealed in His Word. It's here in the Bible.

So, it was indeed God who sustained the children of Israel in the wilderness. It was God who gave the Israelites the Promised Land. But of course, they did have to move forward.

They had to go in and possess the land. And even then, they didn't do what God told them to do.

They didn't follow His instructions and they paid a price for it. There were consequences for it.

Eventually, they all go into captivity because of their sins. It was horrible what happened in Israel and in Judah, the house of Judah, the house of Israel. It got so bad that some people were eating their own children. Can you imagine? That's just unfathomable.

It's unconscionable. But it was because of sin. It was because of their unfaithfulness in believing God and trusting Him and then doing what He said. So, there are many, many consequences of sin. And you can read the Bible and you can see the devastation that's caused by sin. You can see it every day here on this earth. You can read about it. You can hear about it. Every news forecast, the death and the mayhem, the murder, the violence that's going on. It's all because of sin.

So, again, it was God who gave the Israelites victory over Pharaoh.

It was God, the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.

It was the God who revealed Himself as the Great I AM.

And in the New Testament, we understand it was none other than the One who became the Messiah, the Savior, Jesus the Christ. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God. In the beginning, there were two beings. The Word, there was the One who became known as the Father. The Word became flesh and dwelled among us. As Mr. Ledbetter mentioned in the sermonette, he gave up his divinity. He was born of a woman. He was fleshly. He lived and he died for us. That was the One who led the children out of Egypt. The same being who led the children out of Egypt is our Messiah. When you understand the truth of the Bible, it is amazing, isn't it?

It's astounding that so many people are so blind to the truth of God. They're fine people in many, many respects. They're decent, wonderful people. Perhaps in many ways much better than we are in terms of their own human strength.

For God is called the weak of the world. God is called the foolish of the world. That we might confound the mighty. So we should always be grateful for our calling and what God is doing in our life and the fact that He is chosen fit to work with us, to open our minds to truth, to understanding, to call us at this time, to be firstfruits, to be the firstfruits of His Kingdom.

It's amazing. So let's fast forward now to the time of Jesus Christ. Christ is born of the Virgin Mary. He's conceived of the Holy Spirit. He lived without sin. Never sinned. I mean, He was perfect. I know that's hard to fathom. I can't fathom that. He was dialed in. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit. He was close to His Father. He was different. He was one and only.

The only perfect sacrifice. The only one that could be our sacrifice. The perfect sacrifice.

So Christ lived in a perfect manner. He never sinned. He never had these problems I have.

He didn't covet other people's things. If the thought popped in, it was quickly dismissed. More quickly than it has been with me, at times.

Or with you. So Jesus was without sin. He was tempted at every point, though, it says, as we are. Yet without sin. So it was Satan the devil, the God of this world, who was also after Jesus Christ, was it not? Was it not Satan who stirred up the people? Who stirred up the religious leaders? Who stirred up the mob? Who finally cried out, Crucify Him! Crucify Him! You know, there was a time they wanted Him to be their king.

And then they all turned against Him. Even some of the disciples turned against Him for a while.

They were weak human beings. They were frail. But Jesus Christ was powerful. He was strong. He was faithful. He was true. He said, nevertheless, not my will. But, Father, Your will be done.

Your will be done. Not my will. Humally, He was not looking forward to crucifixion.

So, humiliating death. The most humiliating death of all. It was torture. It was horrifying.

Not Your will, Father, but... or not my will, Father, but Your will be done.

And Christ submitted to that will. He surrendered completely. He was completely at one with His Father. He obeyed His Father perfectly. He set the perfect example for you and me. He became our Passover Lamb. The innocent Lamb of God was slain and we all killed Him.

Our sins caused the death of Jesus Christ. Your sins, my sins, all of mankind's sins, from the time of Adam and Eve. We caused the death of Jesus Christ. His blood was shed for you.

His blood was shed for me. And the death angel would have no power on those who accepted Christ as their Savior. The death angel has no power over you.

For you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, as the Messiah. Christ became sin for us.

He was perfect without sin, but He became sin for us. The wages of sin is death.

Someone had to die. For your sins and my sins and the only one that could do it was Jesus Christ. The one who led the children of Israel out of Egypt.

The one who is leading us out of sin today.

Christ paid the penalty for our sins. He died for us. So will we dishonor Him now by saying the law was done away? Christ said, think not that I've come to destroy the law or the prophets, what they taught, what they preached. Don't think I've come to destroy these things.

I came to fulfill them, to magnify them, to show you what sin is and also how to overcome sin through my sacrifice. I don't give you license to sin. I don't give you license to break the Sabbath.

I don't give you license. That's on your shoulders. If you choose to do it, you bring upon yourself the death penalty. It's your choice.

So, Christ died for us. The second death now has no power over you.

It has no power. Three days and three nights after His burial in the tomb, Jesus Christ was resurrected to life. He's now at the right hand of God. He lives. And frankly, He lives in us. He makes His home in us. So we can be forever grateful for the Savior, Jesus the Christ. Let's just go to a few verses here. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. We're going to read about some of what I've already talked about. We're going to see it in the Bible. We're going to talk about it briefly. It is important. Let's begin in verse 1 of chapter 15. This is the resurrection chapter. Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel, the good news which I preach to you, which also you receive and in which you stand. And we all stand in the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, His death, His resurrection, and His coming again. That's the good news of Christ, by which also you are saved. We are saved by grace. We are saved through the wonderful plan of salvation and the Passover pictures that. The death of our Savior Jesus Christ to begin with and then to put sin out of our lives. Christ is resurrected. He lives in us.

Now we have the power to put sin out of our lives. Now we can overcome. Now we can really change.

Now we can truly grow and become like Christ. By which also you are saved. If you hold fast, see, you have to hold fast. That word which I preach to you, see, it's not once saved, always saved. Right there, that verse in itself proves it. If you hold fast, some don't hold fast and they're not, you know, they're not saved. Some have rejected God.

Which I have preached to you unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you, first of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. He was buried. He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. Three days and three nights was at the end of the third day.

That he he arose. That he was seen by Cephas, by Peter, and by the 12th. He was seen by over 500 brethren at one time. This was not done in a corner. It was not some Passover plot that was somehow foisted on the people. No, this was not done in a corner. It was there. It was out there for everyone to see. 500 people at one time, of whom the greater part, remained to the president. At the time Paul was writing this, they were still alive. They could still attest to the fact that they saw the resurrected Christ. He says, but some have fallen asleep. Some have died, but most still remain alive. After that, he was seen by James, then by all the apostles. And last of all, he was seen by me also as by one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles who am not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. This was the works of the flesh working big time in Paul before he was converted to actually kill God's people. In fact, the scripture tells us that there will be another time coming in the future when people will kill God's people, believing they are doing God a service. It's happened in the past. It's going to happen again. It's already happening to some degree on the earth. Verse 10, But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all. So again, I think in a way this is Paul seeing the magnitude of his sins and then doubling his efforts to be pleasing to Christ and to the Father the rest of his life. Being so grateful that God was bringing him out of his sins into the glorious light of our Savior Jesus Christ.

So it goes on to talk about verse 12. Now, if Christ has preached that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? That was another heresy of the Sadducees, that they didn't believe in a resurrection. So he discusses that for a few verses. Verse 15, Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ whom he did not raise up if in fact the dead do not rise. Again, he's talking about this false teaching. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile. You're still in your sins. You still come under the death penalty. Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead. See, that makes all the difference in the world. Christ is at the right hand of the Father. He has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as an Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. Yes, we will all be made alive again. Those who die before Christ returns will be resurrected. As Christ was resurrected, each one in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ at his coming. So Christ is the first of the firstfruits. He was the first to be resurrected to eternal life. And then, at Christ's coming, those who have died will come out of the graves first at his return and those who are alive and remain at that time, when Christ returns, they will be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. That's all explained here in chapter 15. So Christ is resurrected, or we're all still in our sins. So certainly we believe not only in the death of Jesus Christ, but the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So when we go to observe the Passover, we will commemorate his death.

It's very sober. It's a somber time. And yet it's a joyous time as well. But it's a time when we reflect on the death of our Savior Jesus Christ. So we take it very seriously. It is a sober evening, but the very next night is the night to be much observed.

It's when God led the children of Israel out of Egypt.

It's when Christ led us out of sin. And again, it's because Christ was resurrected. He was resurrected during the days of unleavened bread. That's when he was resurrected. We observed the days of unleavened bread. It's not wrong to talk about Christ's resurrection during the days of unleavened bread. In fact, it would be very natural to talk about Christ being resurrected.

See, Christ is the unleavened bread that comes down from heaven, that lives in us.

He's the one that gives us victory over sin.

We are reconciled by his death. It says in Romans 5, let's go there briefly, Romans chapter 5, verse 9, Much more than having now been justified by his blood, by his shed blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him, through Christ. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Christ has died for everyone.

See, that's already taken place. Christ has died for everyone. A lot of people haven't accepted Christ, but he's already died for them. He's also already risen for them, but they have to accept him as their Savior. They have to accept him as one who is alive from the dead, one who is real, one who lives in us. So again, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son. Much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. We have been reconciled to the Father through the Son. We are reconciled to the Father through the Son. It's a wonderful plan of salvation. Now, I wanted to read something that's interesting.

I don't know that I ever read this to you, to any of you here. If you've heard it, it's probably been a few years. This took place back in March 21, 2008, an article written by Jeff Strickler of the Minneapolis St. Paul Star Tribune. March 21, 2008, it was an article entitled, He's Pagan, He's Lusty, But Everyone Loves the Bunny. He's Pagan, He's Lusty, But Everyone Loves the Bunny. Listen to this. Even the name Easter was borrowed from the ancient Saxons who marked spring with a festival honoring the goddess, a false god, a pagan god called Easter or Astarte, however you pronounce it. I don't know if it was pronounced exactly Easter or not, but that is what Jeff Strickler, just some ordinary person, certainly not a member of the Church of God, this is what he says. One of her earthly symbols was, you guessed it, a rabbit. There is a Christian group called the United Church of God. I'm reading from this article. There is a Christian group called the United Church of God that is opposed to Easter in its entirety. On its website, gnmagazine.org, the Ohio-based denomination argues that since Jesus never specifically endorsed Easter as a holiday, it remains a pagan rite and all the symbols associated with it, including the Easter Bunny and Easter Eggs, are irreverent. Yes, we still believe that. Eight years later, he goes on to say, but beyond people like these, you and me, beyond people like the United Church of God, and perhaps Elmer Fudd. So we're linked in with Elmer Fudd. People like these and perhaps Elmer Fudd, it's hard to find someone who speaks poorly of the Easter Bunny. If you feed anti-Easter Bunny into an internet search engine, you'll get several hundred hits, but most of them turn out to be satires. For comparison's sake, feed anti-Santa into the same search engine and you'll get more than 70,000 hits. So Easter's kind of under the radar to some degree with a lot of people.

A lot of people see Christmas and Santa as pagan, but somehow Easter, see, we don't believe in Easter, but we believe in the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

All right, Romans chapter 7. Let's go there for a moment. These are the words that I mentioned earlier that Paul spoke in regard to sin. Romans 7 verse 21. Paul says, I find then a law that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. This was what he wanted to do. He wanted to be good. He wanted to do good. I think I've told most of you my son at age four or five said something very profound. He said, dad, it's hard to be good. It's hard to be good. I said, you're right, son. It is. It's hard to be good, but we got to try. We got to keep working at it.

So I delight. I'll say verse 21. I find then a law that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. I can identify with that. I want to be righteous, faithful, true, obedient, perfect. That's my desire. The Spirit of God in me motivates me to want to be that way. But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. Oh, wretched man that I am, who is going to deliver me from this body of death, this human flesh?

Who's going to deliver me? He says, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's how he's going to be delivered, and that's how you and I are going to be delivered from this body of death. This is how we can overcome the wages of sin through our Savior Jesus Christ. So then, with the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. We're not going to be perfect in this life. None of us are. I'm not perfect. We don't claim to be perfect, but we don't make excuses for sin. There's a huge difference. I don't claim to be perfect.

I'm a sinner, but I'm not going to blatantly sin against God if I can help it, if I can understand it, if I can see it. You know, I'm going to do what the Scripture reveals, because I want to live forever. I want to be in God's family. I want to honor Him. That's what we're doing here on this Sabbath. We honor Him on this day. And yet, the vast majority of people do their own thing on the Sabbath. We honor Him on this day. When you choose not to honor Him, you're bringing the death penalty on your own head. It's your choice. So, we could go on and talk a lot. Let's just go to one last Scripture in Romans 8, verse 31.

Choose to separate ourselves by sinning, by turning against God, then that's up to us. You see, there's no magic number or limit to a person's sins. If one has the desire and the will to overcome sin and is diligently seeking Christ to be formed in him, then he's going to be granted repentance and his sins will be forgiven. There's no magic number, but we can't take sin lightly. If we take sin lightly, then we crucify Jesus Christ once again. And it's a shameful thing if we take sin lightly. 1 Corinthians 15 goes on to talk about how death is swallowed up in victory. I'm not going to take the time. I've already taken probably more time than I should have. Death is going to be swallowed up in victory in the final analysis. That's the final enemy, isn't it? Death. That's what the Passover is all about. It's the solution to the wages of sin. The wages of sin is death. Death is swallowed up in victory. Go back and read 1 Corinthians 15, 54-58. Also read Hebrews 10, where it talks about the unpardonable sin and how a person can turn from God once he's been enlightened by the Holy Spirit.

Once he has those hands laid upon him and he receives God's Spirit, if he isn't faithful and diligent and vigilant, it's possible God will take that Spirit away from a person. That's why David was so concerned. Psalm 51, he pleaded with God not to take the Spirit away from him because he had been enlightened by the Spirit. He knew he was in jeopardy because he had sinned with Bathsheba, with Uriah the Hittite. And he was hiding from his sin. And only when God sent a messenger to him, remember, you are the man. That's the message. You are the man.

You're the one that needs to repent. So think about that when you come to Passover. You should be there, but remember, you're to take it worthily. You're to take it in a worthy manner. That means you have to understand it and you need to be living it. Living to learn by every word of God. Once you made that commitment and you've dedicated yourself to God and to his way, you need to be there Passover evening. You need to have your sins washed away once again in the blood of Christ. It's a yearly reminder, a yearly memorial, that our sins are washed away through the blood of Christ. Now we repent on a daily basis. Once a year is a powerful reminder that it is Christ who died for us. We're now to live for him. And that's the whole thing. We have to give ourselves completely in service to God, and that's a lifelong pursuit.

You know, Revelation 5 talks about how the Lamb of God, the Lamb of God, has redeemed us and made us kings and priests. That's our future, to be kings and priests, to rule with Christ for a thousand years here on this earth before the New Jerusalem, before the Great White Throne Judgment period.

It's all revealed in the Bible, but the Lamb of God, he is the one who has redeemed us and made us kings and priests. So thanks be to God, it is through Jesus Christ that we will have victory over death. So, brethren, sin is a huge problem.

But God, our Father, and Jesus Christ, our Savior, they're a lot bigger than sin.

The Passover is God's solution to your problem with sin.