Passover Pore Over

Happy Sabbath, everyone! Good to see you all this afternoon. Thank you for the beautiful music.

Certainly appreciate the bassoon and the oboe, the piano. Very powerful. I really appreciate the praise that honors God with and certainly helps us to appreciate the beautiful music and the gifts that God has given to us. So thanks for sharing those things with us. Really appreciate the beautiful music. You may have heard about the man who went for a physical. It's been a long time since he'd been to the doctor. After waiting and waiting, the doctor finally comes in and examines the man very carefully and says, wait right here. I'll be back. The doctor leaves. He comes back in the room about 10 minutes later with three bottles of pills. He says, this is what I want you to do. I want you to take this green pill with a big glass of water every single morning. And then at lunchtime, every day, I want you to take this blue pill with a big glass of water. And then at night, you have to take this red pill every night with a big glass of water. The man was just getting very nervous as the doctor just went on and on. And he was just startled by all this instructions and everything. He finally just had to ask the doctor. He said, well, doc, what is my problem? And the doctor said, you're not drinking enough water. But we may not need a physical exam, but the Bible definitely has a lot to say about examining ourselves. If you turn with me over to 1st Corinthians 11-28, this is probably one of the most familiar passages that revolves around that very subject. The Apostle Paul is instructing the Corinthians. They had quite a few issues within their group. And oftentimes, it seems that they took God's instructions pretty lightly.

And so here, the Apostle Paul is guiding them and helping them to see the critical nature of what God's plan is all about and how it begins and then our responsibility in that. So in 1st Corinthians 11-28, he reminds us as well, let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. And of course, Corinthians was written right at this time of the year, right at the time of Passover and unleavened bread. And so he's reminding them.

He says, verse 29, he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, and that's a very good translation, if we eat and drink in an unworthy manner, he says we eat and drink judgment to ourselves, not discerning the Lord's body. He goes on, he says, for this reason many are weak and sick among you and many sleep. Now, like our doctor's exam, I don't think he's necessarily referring to physical ailments, weaknesses, and sicknesses, but more importantly, the spiritual weaknesses that we may suffer, the spiritual sickness that we may have to deal with. Are we really recognizing those things? He says that's one of the problems. That's one of the problems. And instead of recognizing those things ourselves, oftentimes we may look over them.

And so verse 31, he says, 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.

And so Paul begins this discussion with promoting our examination. In fact, this word for examine himself, that word examine, is the Greek word dokimazo. Dokimazo is the Greek word there. It's translated quite a few different ways. If you were to look up in various other translations than King James or New King James, it might say to examine or prove yourself or to test yourself.

Really, to make a determination can be an aspect of this world. To look into or literally to scrutinize. Take a very thorough exam. For today's purposes, I'd like to have you think of it as a pore over, that we have a passover pore over that we are encouraged to do. And not that it's just a passover thing, but certainly at this time of the year, it's a reminder for all of us to take an account to prove ourselves. And the interesting thing about this Greek word dokimazo is that it's actually a banking term, a financial term. If you were to go back even to the Greeks or even the Roman Empire, there was a sophisticated system of finances and banking. And money changers, because of the extent of the empire, were certainly an important part of the system.

And they had individuals who dealt with the challenges of the financial times, because counterfeiting was a big problem. People would counterfeit money, and oftentimes it would happen with the metal coins. They would take a metal coin and they would file down the edges of that metal coin, and they'd collect the shavings. And if you did that often enough, you could collect enough silver shavings or gold shavings then to produce your own coin.

Now, what does that say about the original? Well, the original wasn't full value anymore.

I mean, sometimes they just counterfeit them as well, but most often the counterfeiting was the coin was no longer worth what it was supposed to be worth. And so by filing those things down, they would cheat the value of what was actually exchanged. So a Dokimazo would check that coin. They would scrutinize the money to make sure it was full value. And so that term, Dokimazo, came to represent someone that refused to give counterfeit money. That you could be sure that what they were giving you was the real deal. That it was true and it was sure and it was genuine. It was the genuine article. That's what a Dokimazo would do. And so here Paul takes that term and he says, we're to be Dokimazos. We're supposed to be sure that we're checking and scrutinizing and examining and proving whether we are full value. Are we a full value Christian? That's the question in a sense that Paul's asking us. Are we checking ourselves out? Are we discerning and testing and proving and determining and pouring over ourselves to be sure that we are God's people? And so when we talk about a Passover, pour over. I'm not talking about going to Starbucks and, you know, get a pour over because, you know, they ran out of your favorite coffee. Now that's a pour over P-O-U-R pouring over the coffee grounds. No, it's not that. It's P-O-R-E. And that's the examination, looking over and scrutinizing and examining and really looking into our own lives. Now you may wonder, okay, we read that here in 1 Corinthians 11. Okay, how do I do that? What does that entail?

What is part of this process that we're encouraged to reflect on? And how do I know? How do I know if I'm doing this right or if this is the way I should be handling this? Because sometimes it seems that we can get out of balance. We can get out of balance because we read this and say, examine yourselves. And at times, we may not think too much of ourselves. I mean, for some of us, we may feel that we're worthless, that not much good in me. If you knew my background, you know where I came from, you knew the abuse that I suffered as a child. I was told time after time after time, I'm worthless, I'm no good. What am I doing here? Boy, that just has taken its toll so that I can have a very low opinion of myself. And so with that sort of a perspective, we may not even like ourselves, let alone pouring over our own life just seems to add fuel to the fire, that I'm really even less valuable. So how could God, like me, when I'm not sure anybody else appreciates me or even cares about me? And so we may look at our mistakes and our sins and we judge ourselves so harshly that we may feel, what's the use? Maybe I'm not supposed to be here. Maybe I shouldn't even take the Passover. Maybe I'm not in the right frame of mind to do that. And so some of us may have that perspective, but that's not the perspective we should have.

Now on the other hand, another approach may be that we give ourselves a quick once-over and we're on our way. Good enough. We may be like that man that James talks about in James chapter 1. We look into the mirror, we see ourselves, yeah, we might see some spots and blemishes, and yet we walk away from that mirror. And what does James say?

Ah, forget it. No big deal. We forget what we look like, spiritually speaking. And we do this once over, we look in the mirror and we immediately forget. And we just take it for granted. We fail then to really go through this pour-over, to really look at ourselves and examine and scrutinize. And so really what we're doing, if we have that approach, we're minimizing sin.

We're saying that doesn't really matter that much. Well, after all, God loves me. God knows, and He loves me, and He knows I can't get it all out anyway. So, you know, He understands that.

And yet, if that is our approach, are we really taking God's instructions seriously? Are we really taking this concept that Paul's talking about here in 1 Corinthians 11 to pour over our lives if we haven't done that proper self-evaluation? And so he says, we need to do that. And so the challenge then is how do we have an honest inspection? How do we have an honest evaluation and recognize, are we the real deal? Are we the genuine article? Am I really striving to please God in what I do? Am I progressing? How am I this year as compared to life? How have I grown?

Because part of a pour over, part of an examination or a test, is to see where you're doing well.

That's certainly part of it. So just to be totally down on ourselves is not what God intends. But then just to take it lightly is the other end of the spectrum that's also not acceptable.

And so God wants to know where our heart is. He wants to understand and recognize that we have looked at our life and we are evaluating ourselves to see if we measure to the standard, to the stature of Jesus Christ. We don't want to fool ourselves. We don't want to fool ourselves by overlooking the fact that I don't regularly read the Bible. I don't look at God's Word the way that I should. I'm not praying. I don't have a relationship with God. And these things have just been a perennial problem that I just don't overcome. And so God wants us to take that time to pour over our life for our own good. He wants us to succeed. He wants the best for us. He doesn't want us to fail. He certainly doesn't want us to disqualify ourselves. He wants us to see where we're at. And He wants to give us the help to continue to grow more Christ-like and change.

And so we begin to recognize this is a time to refocus. It's a time to recommit ourselves. And it's a time to commit and promise and pledge ourselves to God's way and His will and His means of growth in our life. So this concept of a Passover-Pourover is something we definitely want to take to heart and approach it in the right manner and look at the right facets of this pourover and this examination that God wants us to make. So where would we be a good place to start? Where would we start when we do this? Oftentimes we take a look at our own lives and we realize we fall short. We fall short. And it's probably a good place to start recognizing how much we need a sacrifice. How much do we need a sacrifice? We may forget that sin is an affront to God. Sin separates us from God. When we just allow ourselves to continue in sin, we strain this relationship between us and God. And all too often it may be that we kind of put it on the back burner. Maybe we don't forget about it, but it doesn't come to the forefront. And whether we think it's just a little sin, a little problem, a little issue, or whether it's a big one, we recognize that sin costs the life of our Savior. Jesus Christ had to die because of our sin. And so to bridge that gap, the only way it's possible is for us to be forgiven by means of the sacrifice of Christ. And we all need a Savior. We need Christ. We need the sacrifice that He paid in order to be forgiven. And so when we recognize that, we recognize those sins of even being overly anxious and worry and fear and doubt and anger. Those types of things can come to our Passover, pour over, and we recognize those things can separate us from God. And in fact, the Apostle Paul wrote about an aspect of this over in Romans 7, verse 14. Let's pick it up there as we recognize what Paul wrote to God's church in Rome. Here we find that as he writes, he discusses the human condition. Some of the scholars will look at this section of Scripture and think that the Apostle Paul wrote this as he was looking back on his life before he was converted.

That may be the case, but we also recognize as we read these words, this is our condition. Even after conversion, we struggle with overcoming sin. And so Paul paints this amazing picture of the human condition, the challenge that we have with our own thinking and our own human nature. So notice what he says here in verse 14 of chapter 7 of Romans. He says, we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. Yes, I am a physical human being. I am corruptible. I am not 100% spirit. I'm not there. I'm not there yet. I am still a physical being.

So he says, for what I'm doing, I don't understand. For what I will to do, that I don't practice, but that what I hate, that I do. Then if I do what I will not to do, I agree the law is good.

And so he recognizes God's standard. And that's the important thing about God's law. What is God's law? What is it all about? Is it a bunch of just do's and don'ts and thou shalt's and thou shalt not? No, he's recognizing the fact here that God's law shows us what sin is. That's what God's law is about. It shows us the standard. And so when we look at God's law, we can begin to measure ourselves and scrutinize ourselves and pour over our lives to see what is the standard and how do I measure to that standard? And so he obviously doesn't criticize the standard. The standard is good. It is right. It is holy. No doubt. And when I look at God's law, I recognize it is good and it reveals sin. It shows me. So I have to begin in that recognition that it's through God's law I can recognize what sin is. And of course, as He does that, He sees in Himself. Yeah, it's not God's fault. It's not the law's fault. It's none of that. It's me. It's me. I'm at fault.

And so He says, verse 17, it's no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

What does He mean? He says, I know that in me that is in my flesh nothing good dwells. For to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I don't find. Or in other words, I look at my life. I look at my own means. What can I do on my own without God that measures up to His spiritual standard? Nothing. There's nothing. I can't do anything physically speaking that measures up to the standard of God. I can't do spiritual things. I can't find what is good. That's what He says. Because physically speaking, what good is in us? None. So Paul comes to that conclusion. I look at God's law. It reveals sin. Yes, physically speaking, I am inundated with sin.

And so he says, yeah, the good I want to do, verse 19, I don't find. But the evil, I will not to do that. I practice. Yeah, without God's help, without His Spirit to overcome, that is the natural, normal, everyday human condition. We call it human nature. Human nature is just that. Oh, I might want to do good, but what happens? We end up doing the exact opposite. And Paul sees such a distinction between the converted Paul and this human nature that's in him that he even comes to the conclusion.

Now, I do what I don't will to do. It's no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

And so he sees this massive disconnect between the spiritual Paul and this human nature that's in Paul.

And so he writes about that and he says there's a principle involved in this whole process.

And so he writes that in verse 21. I find this principle. I find 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, the spiritual man. But I see this other principle. I see this other concept that keeps on me. I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind. I mean, in my mind, I want to be spiritual. I want to submit my life to God and follow him. Submit my life to God's Holy Spirit.

But there's this battle going on that wants to bring me, it says, into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members because I am physical. And so what a dilemma! It almost leaves you with the point. Might as well give up. There's no hope. There's no hope! And yeah, carnally, physically speaking, yeah, that's absolutely true. And so Paul raises the question then in verse 24, O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?

Fortunately, he answers the question, doesn't he? He answers the question. He says, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. That is the solution. God the Father offered his son as a sacrifice. And we need that sacrifice because if we got what we deserve, we'd all be dead. We'd all be dead. Our earnings, the wages of sin is death. We know Romans reminds us of that as well. So our earnings deserve that income, death.

And Paul has come to the conclusion, spells it out so clearly for us. There's nothing we can do individually to save ourselves. It's not possible. So it's only in Christ. It's only through his sacrifice that pays that death penalty on our behalf. That's it. It's the only means. And so it's only through the sacrifice of Christ that we can be made right with God, that we can be justified, that we can be forgiven of sin, that we can be acquitted, and that we can stand and stand righteous before God. That's the only way. And so we need that sacrifice. Without that sacrifice, we are hopeless. We are hopeless. And so our Passover, pour over, has to include some time to recognize that deep-seated need each and every one of us has for the sacrifice of Christ.

Now, of course, that also reminds us of an important facet of this Passover, pour over, that we need to go through as well that led to that sacrifice. We also examine and reflect upon the suffering and the death of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It's not just the sacrifice itself, but what did He do? What did He go through on our behalf? What were the things that really I deserve?

What did He do on my behalf? And as we think about Christ as a Savior, we don't overlook the fact of what a Savior is. Well, He saves us. He's the one who rescues us from sure death. He's the one that delivers us, not only rescues us from sure death, but is the means to be preserved. That's what a Savior is a preserver, a life preserver in that sense, that spiritually speaking, He delivers us to the Kingdom. And when we live in Him and we follow Him and we remain repentant before God, we are justified and He protects us from defeat. That's what a Savior does. And so we reflect on just the fact that He is our Savior. And we recognize He went through all of those things on our behalf. The Apostle Peter recorded much about this over in 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 20. 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 20 will begin reflecting a little bit on this facet of examining Christ Himself, looking at our Savior and how He suffered and He died on our behalf.

And Peter was there and he witnessed these things. So writing from a firsthand perspective, we really get an in-depth look of what Jesus went through. And He ties us into this whole story in verse 20 by saying, What credit is it if when you're beaten for your faults you take it patiently?

No, if you did something wrong, you deserve it. You deserve the consequences. That's nothing special. You deserve it. But on the other hand, He begins to weave in the story of Christ. He says, When you do good and suffer... Now, is that what Christ did? Absolutely He did. No doubt. He did not only good, He lived a perfect life. And He suffered. When we do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is what's commendable before God. This is graceful before God. This is something that God looks upon with favor. That commendable word there is actually the similar word for grace, that God looks on us favorably because we take it patiently.

When we do good, because that's a Christ-like action. And in fact, He says something startling next. Verse 21, He says, For to this you were called. Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow His steps. Wait, I don't want to suffer. I don't want to have problems. I don't want to deal with issues. I want life to go easy. I want smooth sailing. That's what I want.

I don't want to... But wait a second. It says that's part of our calling. That it's not all peaches and cream. It's not all unicorns and roses and rainbows and wonderful things. No! He's saying here, Christ suffered and you're going to suffer too.

Just because you're a part of the church, just because you're baptized, does not mean you won't have trials and suffering and issues and maybe poor health. There will be suffering. That's what He says. We are called to that. And so it's not just the suffering that God's interested in. It's how we relate to that suffering. What's our reaction to suffering?

To fight against it? To become irritated that we have to go through difficult things? To wonder where is God? I'm suffering here. I'm going under. Where are you? No, He says that's our calling. That's our calling to recognize that suffering of Christ in all of what we may go through. And ultimately, like Christ, we should follow His example. And so He tells us what happened. He says when He was reviled, He didn't revile in return. He didn't fight back. When He suffered, did He say, my Father is going to get you guys?

He didn't. No, that's not what He did. He didn't threaten. It says instead, He recognized God in all of His life's situations. He says He committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. And God's the only one that does. Do I see every situation perfectly in a spiritual, righteous manner? No, I go back to what He said to the Romans. No, I'm physical and I have this tendency to let things get away from me.

But Christ, on the other hand, did it perfectly. And He did it for us perfectly. And so He did that to the ultimate degree. Verse 24, it says, He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree. He did it on our behalf. He says that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness by whom, whose stripes you were healed.

So now Peter begins to tie in the fact that this goes back to our baptism, that we said we died to sin. We took that oath before God and we vowed that Christ is our Savior, and that we recognized His sacrifice, that we have a personal relationship with Him. Didn't we say that at our baptism? Did you answer that question? Have you accepted Christ as your personal Savior, your Lord, your Master, your High Priest?

You said yes! Otherwise, it was a very short baptism ceremony. Yes, before they put you under the water, that was your answer. And going under the water, that symbolized that death to sin, that you died, you having died to sins. That reflects back on our our baptism. So then we stood up out of that water and, in a sense, resurrected to a new life, a different life, that we might live in righteousness and for righteousness.

And we recognize the only means of that happening is by the power of God's Spirit in us. So they laid hands on us. And we receive God's Spirit. And we walk now in righteousness. And we recognize it's only by the power of Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection that we can be healed. And yes, we know James chapter 5 probably ties in with that, that we can be anointed and God can heal us of our physical ailments.

But I think more importantly, this passage points to those spiritual weaknesses that we need to be healed of. We need spiritual healing. And that only happens by means of the suffering and death and then resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so we reflect on that. We reflect on what we deserve. He says in verse 25, you were like sheep going astray, but now return to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. And because we miss the mark, because we stray, because we at times may be even lawless, when we repent, we recognize there needed to be a sacrifice.

And Christ suffered and died on our behalf. And it was a brutal, brutal death. We can rehearse before the Passover, Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22. Those sections of Scripture detail the things that Christ went through prophetically. It was predicted He would go through these things, and He did.

And those Roman soldiers, those hardened Roman warriors, scourged Him and beat Him. And this is just an unimaginable, painful punishment that just tore the skin off of His back.

And yet, that wasn't the end. They mocked Him and they made fun of Him. And they beat Him. They forced a purple robe on Him, jammed a crown of thorns on His head, and He bled.

And to add insult to injury, they spit on Him, and they punched Him, and they hit Him.

And they mocked the fact that He was to be a king. And so it was just an unbelievable, brutal torture that He suffered. And being already near death, they led Him outside the city to crucify Him, where they drove nails as they nailed Him to that tree. And even more than that, they stripped Him naked. They stripped Him naked so He would suffer even more public humiliation. And we consider these things. That's why they were casting lots for His clothes, because they took Him right off of them. And then they crucified Him between two criminals, two thieves, two hardened criminals at His side. He was right there between them. And then also became the object of more ridicule. They criticized Him, and passerbyers made fun of Him. The religious leadership put Him down. Oh, take yourself down if you're Jesus. You're the Messiah. And so they put Him down, and they insulted Him. And even those thieves, even the criminals insulted Him. And Christ went through all of those things. And above it all, He allowed Himself.

He allowed Himself to be killed, to die on our behalf. And we're certainly reminded about our part in that. In Acts 2.36, Peter says, let the house of Israel know this Jesus whom you crucified is Lord and Christ. Yeah, we participate. We weren't there physically speaking, but it was because of our sins Christ had to go through what He did. And so we pour over that sacrifice and that suffering and death, what that sacrifice really meant, and what He had to go through on our behalf. And it is a sobering one. It is something that certainly we reflect on, how Christ paid the full penalty for us. And of course, we also have to recognize that it's not just the sacrifice, and it's not just the suffering and the death that we pour over.

There's a critical aspect because Christ didn't necessarily die for our sins. And that sounds kind of strange, so let me explain that. Just because Christ died, does that mean my sin is forgiven? No. Just because He suffered, does that mean I have forgiveness? No. There's a crucial element that ties in with these two facets of His sacrifice. We have to have faith. We have to have faith in the death of Jesus Christ on our behalf. Just the fact that He died is one thing. But if we don't have faith in that sacrifice, we don't have the confidence and assurance knowing that God will apply that sacrifice to me when I ask Him to in repentance, seeking His forgiveness, it just doesn't automatically happen. I have to have faith in the confidence, and I have to seek that forgiveness as well. And so as we pour over Passover, we have to recognize where is our faith when it comes to the death of Christ on our behalf. Do we have that kind of confidence?

We mentioned Romans 3.23 a little bit earlier. Maybe I will turn there. Romans 3.23, that familiar passage that says, all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God.

That is our state. You know, when we are called, that's where we're at. We are sinners. There is no doubt about that. But through faith, we can come before God. And that changes the whole narrative. It changes everything. In fact, what he writes here, Romans 3.24, now, he says, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is Christ, that is in Christ Jesus. It also says, verse 25, who God set forth as a propitiation by His blood. So we have that big religious sounding word there, propitiation. Really, that's just referring to the fact that Christ is our atoning sacrifice. He's the sacrifice that atones for our sin. God set Him forth as that sacrifice on our behalf. But we can't stop right there because we see this vital aspect of faith. So verse 25, once again, God set forth Him as a propitiation by His blood through faith.

Through faith. So faith is intricately involved in this process of the forgiveness of sin without our confidence and trust in God. To apply that sacrifice to us, where would we be?

And so we recognize here, as Paul wrote to the Romans, he said, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance, God had passed over the sins that were previously committed. To demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier. And notice this phrase as it ends. He may be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

And so we recognize it's not what I do. It's not the works that I do, not my actions that deserve any good things from God. It's only by my faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. His blood is what covers my sin and my acceptance of that, recognizing that I can trust God. That's the whole idea of faith. God gives us the assurance and we can have a confidence in God, recognizing He sacrificed His Son on our behalf. And we know it to be true. And we know that we know it. And we show that trust and confidence in God by serving Him and obeying Him. And so we begin to see that takes it beyond this idea of just believing God. Yeah, we have to believe God, and that's a sense of having faith, believing God. You know, I believe in God. Okay, that's step one.

But as Paul brings out here, we also have to believe God. We believe in God. We know, you know, without knowing that He exists, we can't even come before Him. But without faith, it's impossible to please God. That's what Hebrews reminds us. And so we believe God. We believe that He gave His Son to pay the penalty for my sins. We accept that sacrifice. And we plead before God in repentance, asking Him to apply that sacrifice to our sins and forgive us so that we can be forgiven and declared righteous. He justifies us through that sacrifice and our faith in that sacrifice so that we are acquitted of sin. And we're brought back into that right relationship, that strained relationship because of sin can be renewed so that we can have a right relationship and we can be forgiven and we can walk in righteousness. And we have to know that that is true. And that happens through faith. Faith is the key and part of our pour over as we examine that confidence and trust that we have in believing not only in God, but believing God.

Now, we also recognize these things have a connection to that commitment that we make to God. And that brings us back to the whole concept of our baptism. We've seen these passages of Scripture certainly tie into that whole concept of baptism. And as we pour over and reflect upon our lives and do these examinations, we also have to consider the covenant that God made with us at our baptism. And we consider that and we recognize how that baptism had amazing symbolism.

And we should recognize that symbolism maybe even on a deeper level than we ever have before. And as we consider these things, you know, time and time again, it should help us to see even more clearly what God's intent is for us. In fact, to the Romans, Paul also commented strongly about this whole aspect of our examination in chapter 6 of Romans. So if you'd like to turn there to Romans chapter 6, here we see that symbolism of baptism includes the death of Christ, it includes his burial, and it includes his resurrection. And so we reflect on this covenant that God made with us at baptism when we take the exam. So Romans chapter 6 verse 1 begins to highlight that very aspect.

Notice what it says here. It says, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? No, it's not a once saved, always saved kind of thing. That's not it at all. No, we have to take sin seriously. We have to recognize that. We have to come out of sin. So Paul says, certainly not. No way. Not possible. Can't be. He says, How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Of course, that would probably start the images coming to mind being in that situation of having died to sin. I mean, immediately our baptism should come to mind. We died to sin. How can we live in it? So he says, Don't you know as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. And so we went under that watery grave, representative of that death of that old way of thinking, that old way of life, that old person is dead and buried, and we leave them under the water. And Paul's reminding us of that very fact, that old lifestyle, that old way, that sinful person, that's where they stay. And of course, baptism, what happens? We were buried. That old way of thinking is gone. So verse 4, he says, We were buried with him through baptism into death. But here we are today, so they didn't leave us there. They didn't hold us down till the bubble stopped or anything like that. No, we got up out of that water. Symbolism, the resurrection, the resurrection. Christ didn't stay in the grave. He was resurrected. Our baptism symbolizes that resurrection as well. So Paul goes on, Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life. So this dilemma that's fighting between our human nature and the spiritual intent that we have, by the power of God's Spirit, we can walk in newness of life. We left that old way of thinking under the water and we got up. We stood forth. We were, in a sense, resurrected to a new life in Christ. And so when we submit to God, we can have a new life. And so Paul writes about that very thing. In that process, hands were laid on us. We received God's Spirit. And now we have the power to overcome sin. And God agreed to give us that help.

When we declared our faith in Jesus Christ, when we repented of our sins, God made a promise to us to never leave us or forsake us, to help us as we face the remainder of our life.

And so verse 5 says, We've been united together in the likeness of his death. Certainly we'll also be in the likeness of his resurrection. Because that's what we look forward to. And even today, we haven't gotten to Christ's return yet. But even now, we should strive to be in the likeness of his resurrection. He is perfect. And we strive to put on Christ today. And so he says, yep, that's the way it is. Verse 6, Our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin, for he who has died has been freed from sin. And so ultimately, that should be our perspective. We have that perspective that God made a covenant with us. He's given us his spirit. We have power over sin. And we walk then in newness of life. And we remember our baptism covenant, the agreement we made. In a way, we were like the Israelites. All that the Lord has said, we will do. And we replied, Amen. Absolutely. And so we were immersed. We were immersed, leaving that old man under the water. And we know that word, that Greek word for baptized, baptism, the Greek word baptism, what does it mean? Okay, to be immersed.

But it's also interesting to consider how the Greeks used that term, baptism. They didn't think of a baptism like we think of baptizing an individual. They would use that term in changing the color of a garment. If they were going to dye a piece of cloth, or a toga, or something like that, they would take a big vat that had dye in it, a D-Y-E, that kind of dye, and they would immerse that garment in the watery dye. And what would happen?

It would change its color. It would come out a different color. So that that baptism was really to dip and to dye, to change its color, to change its color. It gave the clothing a different look, say, a different identity. It came out something different than what it went in.

And so we have the Apostle Paul applying that terminology to what happens to us, spiritually speaking. I'm a little bit of an expert on this because one time I was washing what I thought were just some clothes. Just throw them in there, turn it on as hot as it goes, and let's see what happens. Well, I found out white underwear turns pink if you have something red in there. So it definitely changed its identity. And that's the idea, though, overall here, not to change the color of your underwear, but we change who we are.

We dip and die. Christ was dipped into death, right? Christ was dipped into death, and he died on our behalf, not the DYE, but he literally died. We're dipped in baptism, and it changes who we are. It changes who we are. And so his death to sin becomes our death to sin, and we measure ourselves by the standard of Jesus Christ, who is perfect. And so we strive to keep that old way of thinking dead and buried, and we take on that new identity of someone that is striving to walk in righteousness. And so that all comes back to remembering the covenant that we made, and that we are dedicated to God. And all over again, we would rededicate our lives, and we do rededicate our lives to God in that particular covenantal agreement.

And so as we consider these different facets of this pour-over that we do, I think there's also an important aspect that we have to include. I mean, this is a short list. It's many other things you could add to these things. But I think one thing that's also important as we consider to balance perspective in looking at our life is that, you know, if we're on the hard side of things, and you know, we've had a tough life, and we've been through abuse, and we don't think much of ourselves, we have to recognize that's not how God sees us. That we can have a confidence in how God looks upon us. He loves us, and He loves us so much that in this whole process He gave His Son so that we don't have to die. He came up with a perfect plan so that that sacrifice could be applied to how much does He care about you? How much does He love you? Well, He tells us, I can never leave you. I could I couldn't even think about forsaking you. It's not possible to do that. Hebrews is a great reminder of that. Hebrews 13.5 tells us that's absolute fact.

And so we need to look at this whole process not to come out on the wrong end and say, well, I might as well give up. No, it's exactly the opposite that we can have a confidence and really an assurance. We can have an assurance and a sense of peace and a sense of encouragement. That's really what God wants through this whole process, that He wants the best for us. He wants us to grow in grace and knowledge. And He promises to give us the help to do just that.

So He just doesn't leave us on our own. So when we turn to Him in faith and we renew that that baptismal commitment to Him, we can be assured He accepts us and we can have a confidence that He does. It's a beautiful passage in 1 John 2 that is a good reminder of this.

1 John 2, we have the Apostle John probably writing to the people in Ephesus about this idea of what we've been discussing. He says it in an interesting way. 1 John 2, verse 1, look at the perspective that he wants us to have. He says, My little children, these things I write to you, which even just to begin with, it kind of takes your heart. You think about little children. You want the best for them. You want what's good for them. You don't want them to get hurt. You don't want them to have difficult situations. You want the best for them, my little children. So he's speaking from that perspective. He says, I write to you so you may not sin. He says, if anyone sins, kind of an understatement of the year, does anyone sin? Yeah, that's us. That's us. But here's the point. He says, we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. He's there for us. He's there on our behalf. He understands what we go through. He identifies with us. He goes before us as an advocate to the Father. And he speaks on our behalf. We've got an awesome elder brother who wants the very, very best for us. So he once again says, verse 2, he himself is the propitiation for our sins. Because we're sinners, we have a sacrifice. We have someone who is atoned for us. He says, not us only, but also the whole world. And so our response to that is to live by his standard. To live with an assurance and a confidence. To believe in God, but believe him and put it to practice in our life. So he says, by this we know that we know him if we keep his commandments. We recognize what sin is and we want to strive to obey. And so that assurance and that confidence can grow in us. Even through the suffering, even though we've been called to suffering through trials and hardships, our confidence and faith in God is proven. And we put our life into his hands and he refines us and he strengthens us. And we can have that recognition that he's not going anywhere. He's not leaving me. He's not forsaking me. He's there no matter what. And it's just such a powerful reminder of his perspective when you tie this into Philippians 1 verse 6. Notice Philippians 1 verse 6. Can we have an assurance? Can we recognize that when we continually devote our lives to God and we stay in a repentant, forgiven attitude that we will be in the kingdom? We will be there. Has God promised us the kingdom? Absolutely. He's not going to do anything to restrict us from that kingdom. Yeah, we can pull away. We could ignore God. We can look at sin lightly. But when we stay forgiven before him and we stay in a repentant attitude, he says, I'm there. I'm there. So Philippians 1.6, here Paul writes to God's church in Philippi and he tells them, Be confident of this very thing. Oh, I can have confidence. I can have assurance. This is a sure thing. He says, Absolutely. He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. You see, Jesus Christ is going to return and God isn't going to give up on us at any point in between now and then. And when we stay close to God, we are in that Passover mindset that we are repentant before him. And when we see sin, we change.

He says, we can be confident. He started this. I didn't start it. He's the one that opened the door. He opened our minds. He called us to his way. Well, he started that good work. You think he likes to finish a project? No doubt. He says, I'll never leave you or forsake you. And so we can have that kind of confidence. We can have that kind of assurance. And it certainly means that, yeah, we've got to have this Passover pour over in order to recognize our part, what we need to accomplish in our lives by his power. And so we reflect on those things. We take those things into consideration. And in fact, maybe one other passage we should look at. Paul also wrote this to the Corinthians because I think it's so reassuring in this sense. 2 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 5.

2 Corinthians 13 5 almost sounds like we're repeating 1 Corinthians 11 28 because he says exactly the same thing as he starts. 2 Corinthians 13 5. He says, examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith, having that trust, that confidence in God. He says, test yourselves.

All these same ideas we've been talking about. Then he says, don't you know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you unless indeed you are disqualified. He's saying in a way we examine ourselves.

And what do we find? The ultimate discovery is that Christ is in us. Yes, we fall short. Yes, we sin. Yes, I need to be repentant. Yes, I need to change. I need to grow to the measure and stature of Christ. Absolutely. But I better come to the conclusion that Christ is in me. God did give me His Holy Spirit. He gave that to me at baptism. And I need to submit to that spirit and walk in faith, walk in righteousness. And so no wonder he says then, I trust you know, we are not disqualified. We are not disqualified. And yes, he wants to have us look at our lives honestly and make those needed changes. Absolutely. And we go to God in prayer and fasting and ask Him to help us to see ourselves. We don't go to the doctor's office for some exam, but we go before God as we prove ourselves. And we put it in His hands. And we recognize by the power of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice and His resurrection, we are qualified. The Father qualifies us through Jesus Christ. And so we come to a time of awesome significance. The meaning of Passover and ultimately God's Holy Day plan. He has some amazing things in store for us. So let's do our Passover pour over, recognize our need, recognize the suffering and death of Christ. We realize we have to have that confidence and trust and faith in God's purpose and plan. We recognize we made a deal. We made a covenant with God at baptism. And we are going to follow through because God has told us He's not going anywhere. He's never leaving us. And He's going to finish this work that He started in us. And we can have that confidence. So Passover is such an awesome experience because we are refreshed and we are reinvigorated and we are recommitting our lives to God. And so let's begin that process with this Passover pour over.