Passover Preparation

In just a few weeks now, a little over four weeks, we will be sitting down once again to wash one another's feet and to observe the Passover. The need for Passover originated, you might say, with the sin of Satan and the demons, because Satan and the demons introduced sin into the universe. And of course, Satan rebelled against God, along with a third of the angels. And of course, he had in mind the destruction of the plan of God, the plan of salvation, which God and the Father and the Word had planned long ago, even before the creation of the angelic realm and also humankind. Then after the creation of Adam and Eve, Satan was there to deceive and seduce Eve, and then Adam went along with Eve, and sin entered into the world. By man's sin, the need for a Redeemer arose as well. It became very apparent that you need a Redeemer because, why? Because the wages of sin is death. So, the need for the Passover, because it is through the Lord's Passover, faith and the sacrifice of Christ, that we can have our sins remitted. Let's notice in Matthew, I don't know where I got that. In Romans 5 and verse 12, here we see a section of Scripture we don't read very often. It is greatly misunderstood in the Protestant world, especially among Catholics. In Romans 5 verse 12, wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin. Of course, we just gave a bit of a chain of Satan and the demons rebelling, wanting to destroy the plan of God after humankind was created. And why were humans created in the first place? Because God wanted to share who He is, what He is, His very being with humankind, and bring them into a family relationship with Him. And as soon as human beings were created and placed in the beautiful Garden of Eden, here came Satan. And he deceived Eve and seduced Eve in the spiritual sense. And then Adam went along with it, and sin entered into the world. And death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. And of course, a lot of the Protestant world and the Catholic Church teaches that you have what they call original sin, and human that we're all sinners by nature of birth. But through the birth process, we're sinners. It says, "...in that all have sinned, death passed on to all men." So each one of us has sinned. Each one of us has been in need of, or still in need of, a Redeemer. Each one of us still needs to partake of the Passover. And Jesus Christ is that Passover, and God and His love, grace, and mercy have extended to us the way whereby our sins can be remitted. Verse 13 is a parenthetical. It's in parentheses in my Bible. "...For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law." And that means in the ultimate sense. In the ultimate sense.

Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. Then Paul uses the analogy of the first Adam that introduced sin into the world, and the second Adam, who made it possible for sin to be paid for, and for humankind to be redeemed. Pick it up again in verse 18. Therefore, as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to judgment, even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men under justification of life. Jesus Christ came and perfectly fulfilled the mission that he was called to fulfill.

For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, and we've already read verse 12, that all have sinned, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, and the law was codified. Of course, through Moses, when God thundered the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai, as Israel marched from Egypt after having observed that first Passover, that not long after that, and according to Jewish tradition, the law was given on the day of Pentecost. And then a Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, enabling that law to be written on our inward parts.

Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. And grace is divine favor. Greek chari, C-H-A-R-I-S. It means divine favor. It includes, of course, forgiveness and mercy, and all of the things that go with divine favor. That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life. But Jesus Christ our Lord, what shall we say then?

Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid no way, no how should that happen? And then Paul uses the analogy of being crucified with Christ and baptism to show that we have been raised to newness of life. So why did God institute the first Passover? Let's go back to Exodus chapter 12.

We've seen a bit of an overview already in what we've stated so far and read. In Exodus chapter 12, we have the record of the institution of the first Passover. Of course, humans had offered sacrifice to God long before this time. You can read in Genesis 12 that one of the first things that Abraham did after he came into the Promised Land was to build an altar. But I guess you would say formal worship had not been formalized. The law had not been codified in a sense, even though the law was in effect, in that you have even the example of Adam and Eve themselves, that after they sinned, they were cast out of the Garden of Eden and cut off from the Tree of Life.

And the only way, of course, to get back to that Tree of Life is through the sacrifice of Christ. In Exodus chapter 12, verse 3, Speak you unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth month of this month, you shall take to you every man a lamb according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house.

Verse 6, You shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening, or between the two evenings. Now, when it says the whole assembly, it doesn't mean everybody went out and killed the same lamb, but the heads of households killed a lamb for their household. In verse 7, They shall take the blood and strike it on the two side posts, on the upper door posts of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.

Now verse 13, And the blood shall be to you a token upon the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Now, I know I've used the phrase before the death angel passed over, but as we shall see it was God who passed over. I will pass over you, and hence the name for Passover, that when I see the blood on the door post, I will pass over that house, and the first born in that house will not suffer death. And the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. Now in verse 26, And it shall come to pass when your children shall say unto you, What mean you by this service?

Then you shall say it is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel and Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses, and the people bowed the head and worshipped. And the children of Israel went away, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. And it came to pass that at midnight the Lord, the Yave, smote. That's what the Bible says.

The Yave, the Lord, smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, and the firstborn of Pharaoh, that sat upon his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and his servants, and all the Egyptians. There was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead of the Egyptians. So that's a brief summary of the institution of the first Passover.

But the greater purpose is to deliver all humans from the enslavement of sin and death. And as we read in Romans 3, 23, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. A little bit more specific in Ephesians 2, if you'll turn there. Ephesians chapter 2, of course, you can't get really more inclusive than Romans 3, 23, of all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. In Ephesians chapter 2, we see a little bit more about how it takes place in the role of Satan.

We've already talked about the role of Satan in the Garden of Eden, and even before the Garden of Eden, where Satan led a third of the angels who became demons into rebellion. Ephesians 2, 1, And you hath he quickened, made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins. Romans 3, 23, wages of sin is death. You need a Passover.

And only the Son of God is counted worthy to pay for the sins of the world.

Where in times pass you walk according the course of this world, according the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conduct in times past. No exceptions in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. So the carnal mind, according to Romans 8, 7, is enmity toward the law of God, not subject to it, neither indeed can be. So that carnal mind has to be supplanted with something else.

The only way we can be bought back from sin and death is through the sacrifice of Christ. Romans 3, 24. Romans 3, 24. We have already quoted Romans 3, 23, all of sin and come short of the glory of God. Now what about the Redeemer?

The Redeemer that was necessary, dating all the way back to the sins of Adam and Eve, up to the present day and into the future. How can sins be remitted? Romans 3, 24. Being justified freely by His grace, carous, divine favor, free, unmerited pardon, through the redemption. Redemption means buying back power because there was a fine, a penalty upon our heads, and someone had to pay the fine, the penalty. And that was Jesus Christ. Whom God has set for it to be a propitiation. Propitiation means a go between one who goes in your stead so that you don't have to go. Christ went through faith in His blood, and life is in the blood. And so by pouring out His blood, He poured out His life to declare His righteousness, His faithfulness in the many, many messianic prophecies and promises that a Redeemer would come on the scene, and God and Christ perfectly fulfilled that. His righteousness for their mission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. When the first Passover was instituted, God instructed the Israelites to kill lambs and sprinkle of blood on the doorposts of their dwellings, and when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. We've already read that. Today, the blood of Christ must be sprinkled on our hearts. Let's go to Hebrews 10. See if we can glean here a very important message or meaning that perhaps maybe we've overlooked in the past to some degree in Hebrews 10 and verse 19.

Having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, I gave a sermon on atonement the year before last here, Houston combined, about how we can now live in the Holy of Holies because through Jesus Christ's sacrifice and Him carrying the blood into the holiest of all in the heavens, we have now direct access to the throne of God in the heavens. There is only one mediator between God and man. That man, Jesus Christ, you can read of that in Timothy, I believe it's chapter 2, so that we now have this access. To enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus in verse 20, by new and living way, which He had consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say His flesh. He gave His flesh, He gave His life, that we may have this access. And having a high priest over the house of God, Jesus Christ has the office of King, high priest, and prophet.

Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. So having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. Now look back at Hebrews 9, and begin in verse 13. See, the goal here is to purge the conscience. C-O-N-S-C-I-E-N-C-E, the conscience. And a layman's definition of conscience would be the knowing within, that small still voice that says, this is right or that's wrong. The knowing within.

The carnal mind is enmity toward the law of God, not subject to it, neither indeed can be.

And of course, even with those who have not sinned after the similitude of some that we could name, there's within them some sense of right and wrong, depending on the culture in which they were reared or raised up in, however you want to word it. There's some sense of right and wrong with all the peoples basically on the face of the earth, at least in the general sense of their culture. Not necessarily in the individual sense, in that some people have had their conscience seared, and they behave as if they don't know the difference between right and wrong. They just assume to slit your throat, as they say, as a look at you. And of course, we now have some religions who think that it is doing God's will to slit your throat if you don't believe as they believe.

Hebrews 9.13, for if the blood of bulls and goats and ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, and when the Old Covenant was ratified and the people stood before Moses, and he read out of the book of the law, they had killed animals, they'd collected the blood, and he sprinkled it on the people. I doubt that every last person there in that particular ceremony was able to receive or did receive a drop of blood, but they had the blood sprinkled on them. How much more shall the blood of Christ through the eternal Spirit, that phrase, eternal Spirit, don't read over that, because that's the way through this eternal Spirit that we receive this eternal Spirit. And by the same Spirit that erased Jesus from the dead, He will quicken our mortal body so that that very Spirit that is lived in eternity becomes a part of our being, and it will be our essence, totally upon resurrection, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purged your conscience from dead works to serve the living God, to purge the conscience so that no longer is that carnal desire so much there. Now, that carnal desire will never die. It will always be there, but it can be ruled over. So God wants us to be cleaned up from the inside out. See, under the Old Covenant, basically to the purifying of the flesh, we saw in verse 13. But in verse 14, we see too the purging of an evil conscience, that is, made clean from the inside out. Remember, the Pharisees were diligent to clean the outside of the cup. But what we're talking about is cleaning, cleansing spiritually from the inside out. Through repentance and faith in the sacrifice of Christ, we can be purged of sin. And by eating the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, we can ingest the very mind of Christ on a daily basis. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 5-7. Probably refer to this, maybe even turn here again today, in 1 Corinthians 5-7. You know the backdrop of 1 Corinthians 5? The Corinthians had an incestuous fornicator among them. And it sounds like the 1 Corinthians was written during the days of unleavened bread. It surely has somewhat of an unleavened bread theme in it because a few times Paul uses the phrase, you are puffed up, and here uses leavening and unleavened.

So they had the incestuous fornicator among them, didn't do anything about it. It seemed like just reading between the lines that basically everybody in the congregation knew about it, but it was like, well, that's his business and I don't want to interfere with what he's doing. I'm right with God, so that's up to him. Paul took a different view. He took quite a different view, in which eventually the man was disfellowshipped and it says, turned over to the devil so that he might be saved in the day of the Lord, that he might repent. And then in 2 Corinthians, it talks about him being back. Verse 6 says, your glorying is not good. They were putting up with the leavening. No, you're not, but a little leavened leavens all up. And surely it will. And slowly, by degree and by degree, as the frog is in the water, the warm water becomes hotter and hotter and the frog burns or boils, it dies. You can use that principle on almost everything, a little bit at a time. And we have seen our culture subverted a little bit at the time. And of course, Satan tries to get at our church culture, that is, what is right? What is wrong? What should we be doing spiritually? And how should we stand? And what should we stand for in these days? And little by little, by little, by little, here a little, there a little, pecking away the very foundation of your faith and your belief.

And don't think that any of us are immune from it.

Verse 7, Purge out therefore the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. It seems like a contradiction. And the way I read that is that they were unleavened physically. As you are unleavened, you've cast out the physical part, but the spiritual part remains. And that gets into the form versus substance that I've spoken to and will continue to. And it's one of the main things that is plagued the peoples of God through the ages. It's more interested in looking good than being good. So this life we say is preparation for the life to come.

70, 80 years, whatever God gives us. Some are living up to 100.

But what is that in comparison to eternity? It is nothing. So purge out the old leaven. That's the spiritual leaven. The incestuous fornicator. Or even Christ, our Passover, sacrificed for us. He paid the price that we might be unleavened spiritually. Therefore, let us keep the fees not with all leaven, not with that spiritual wickedness, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

So here in the first several minutes, we have given a bit of an overview. Now let's focus on some essentials in a more direct sense.

Of course, this list is not exhaustive. But I've listed five things here, and I'm going to focus on a few of these.

First great essential is to be reconciled to God. That is, to take the Passover.

Be reconciled to God. Secondly, to be reconciled to our neighbors. And the one nearest us, if we're married, is our wife or husband.

Our children and everybody in the household. Then it extends from that to the world at large.

So many people talk about reconciliation with the world, with people next door outside of that, or one of the brethren. But it also has to do with your own household, first and foremost.

So, reconcile to God, reconcile to the neighbor, discerning the physical body and life of Christ that was given for our sins. I said two things in physical life and in His body, the physical body and the life of Christ for the sins of the world. It was only through resurrection that Jesus was raised as a glorious, living, life-giving spirit. He was dead in the grave. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, gave His life for us. And before dying, He cried out to the Father and said, "'Into your hands, commend I you my spirit. My life essence is now in your hands.'" Not that it was an immortal soul kind of thing, but the life essence, or the Spirit, goes back to the Father who gave it. And the same thing will happen to us when we die. And it says in Romans 8-11, "'But the same spirit that He raised Jesus from the dead, He will also raise us from the dead, and we will be partakers of that eternal Spirit. And thus, in that sense, we will become immortal beings in the family of God.'" So Jesus Christ poured out His life essence for us and commended His life essence in the hands of the Father. And He atoned for sin, not only for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world. So you have to discern that body and life that was given. We must also discern the spiritual body, which ties in with reconcile to your neighbor, the spiritual body of Christ the Church. And fifthly here, realizing we must keep the feasts with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. In a sense, the Passover and the Feasts are to be kept. And for that matter, in the spiritual sense, all of the Holy Days on a continual basis.

For one to be reconciled to God, they have to be convicted of their sin and repent of sin and exercise faith in the sacrifice of Christ, be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit. Now, after initial repentance, baptism, and receiving of the Holy Spirit, we still sin. We still go the same route of going to God, confessing our sins, repenting of our sins, and asking that the sacrifice of Christ be applied to our sins to cover our sins. Let's go to John 16. I want to notice this for a moment here, how this works.

John 16.

Of course, John 16, beginning in chapter 13, covers foot washing and Passover all the way through the last several chapters, including Jesus Christ's resurrection and spending some time with the disciples after the resurrection in John 16.

And verse 7, John 16. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you that I go away. If I go not away, the Comforter, the Comforter is identified in John 14.26 as the Holy Spirit. If I go not away, the Holy Spirit will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you. The Comforter is masculine, so that's why it's him. It doesn't make it a person. It's the Holy Spirit, it's the same Spirit. And when it has come, it will reprove. And the word, the Greek word for reprove is elancho, means to convict. Delay a weight on your mind, on your heart.

And one of the reasons why the gospel needs to be preached to the world is unless you hear the gospel preached and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit and the word of God comes upon you, how are you going to repent? And as we heard read in the sermon, it is through the forbearance of God that he grants you repentance. It is through his grace that he does this and his kindness. And when it has come, it will reprove the world of sin and righteousness and of judgment. So when you begin to examine yourself, you go to the Bible and you begin to look into God's spiritual mirror.

So we have to exercise judgment, mercy, and faith with God. Come before Him, confess our sins, cry out for forgiveness, and claim the sacrifice of Christ. He is faithful and just to forgive us. Same thing applied to the neighbor. He sinned against you or you've sinned against him. You go through that process.

Now this requires giving up self, being led by God's Spirit, which can be broadly summarized by what I call the three S's. I've talked many times about 3 C's, conviction, commitment, courage. Three S's, surrender, submit, and serve. Now let's go to Romans chapter 6. We left off reading after we read verse 1 earlier. Then I said that Romans 6 deals with the analogy of Christ being crucified and raised to newness of life and baptism in which we are buried in the watery grave of baptism and come up newness of life to serve God. So we surrender. We submit. We serve. We serve.

Romans 6 verse 6, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

And continuing here in Romans chapter 6 verse 12, We should not have dominion over you. You are not under the law, but under grace. Not under the law means that you have been freed from the penalty of sin and death through the sacrifice of Christ, and it was by His grace, His divine favor, that He did. Now one of the great themes of Passover is also freedom. When God called Israel out of Egypt, there was like a two-fold freedom there. They were freed politically and socially from that horrible place that represents sin, that is, Egypt, and the life that they were living, a life of servitude, slavery. And then there is, of course, the spiritual side of things, of spiritual freedom. If your conscience has not been seared, then when you read the Word of God, it will convict you of sin, righteousness, and judgment, as we read from John 16.7, and place that weight on your mind. And so there is what is called guilt. You feel guilty. You feel weighted.

But through the sacrifice of Christ, and through repentance, forgiveness, through His grace, that slate can be wiped clean.

And you are no longer burdened, and you are no longer under the law of guilt, and sin and death. You now have divine favor with God. Verse 15. What then? Because of that. Shall we sin? Because we are not under the law, but under grace. God forbid. Know you not that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey. So what did I say? The three S's surrender. Go under the watery grave of baptism. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I. But the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me, Galatians 2.20. So you surrender everything. You give up self.

And you say, I am going to completely submit to God.

Know you not that whom you yield yourselves servants to obey. His servant you are whom you obey, whether of sin to death, or of obedience under righteousness. Which one will you choose? Now the world thinks the way of freedom is to go do whatever you want to. That you don't have to surrender, submit to the law of God. Freedom is the opposite of that. God says true freedom is to surrender, submit, and serve Him. Because that's the only way that the death penalty can be removed, and it's the only way that guilt can be truly done away with. And it's the only way that our conscience can be truly purged.

You know, Paul, before he was converted, was out killing Christians. Do you imagine what it would be like if any one of us, if a person had ever died directly under our hands?

You know, sometimes driving through a neighborhood, and you see the kids playing out on the street, and you think, well, what if one of those kids were to dart out in front of me, and I should be responsible for taking his life?

What that would do to your conscience, your being, your life?

And so, you try to be extra careful and hope that no one ever dies as a direct result of what you did, whether it be unintentional or not.

And yet, here was Paul, who was saying he was doing God a service, and then God opened his mind, and he came to understand truly the remission of sin through Jesus Christ.

What a weight that would be off your mind to enjoy that kind of freedom.

Very few people have enjoyed that kind of freedom in the course of human history. Now, let's go to 1 Corinthians 11 and take a more specific look here at the instructions that Paul says that Jesus Christ was the one who gave him these instructions. Now, we have the example in the Gospels of what Jesus Christ did on that night of the first Passover, where he first of all was the foot washing, then where he took the bread, and he blessed it. He blessed it and broke it, and then the cup was passed around. We have his example there of what he did that night. Now, we have here what Paul says these are instructions that I received directly from the Lord. We begin in 1 Corinthians 11 and 17. 1 Corinthians 11, and 1 Corinthians 12, and 1 Corinthians 12, and 1 Corinthians 12, and 1 Corinthians 12, Now in this I declare unto you, I praise you not that you come together not for the better, but for the worse. And the topic here is Passover.

They were coming together for the Passover, not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together in the Church, I hear that there be divisions among you, and I partly believe it.

For there must be also heresies among you.

You know, you just start reading the Bible almost any place. You look at human history, and you see what Paul writes in Galatians about, Be not deceived, for God is not mocked, for whatsoever man sows actually also reap. And another place that, you know, everything spoken will be made known unless you repent of it.

So God knows our hearts. And unfortunately, he says here there must also be heresies, maybe a better translation, divisions among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. So through these kind of trying kind of times, God really is able to identify and know and know that he knows those who are truly in the faith.

When you come together, therefore, into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's Supper.

Now, the Lord Supper refers to love feasts, and these were social meals that developed according to Greek custom. They're referred to in 2 Peter 2.13 and Jude verse 12. I'm not going to turn there, but you want to put love feasts out there, and those references 2 Peter 2.13 Jude 12.

Verse 21, For in eating, everyone takes before his own supper, and one is hungry, and another is drunken. So they were having, in essence, a potluck meal, but they weren't sharing it with everybody. They weren't putting it all out on the table. It's like, I brought mine, and you bring yours, I'm going to eat mine, and you eat yours.

Now, I have a lot more than you do as far as material goods, so I've brought some steak and some fine wine. Too bad that you have lentils and coarse bread.

Verse 21, For in eating, everyone takes before his own supper, and one is hungry, and another is drunken. And what have you not houses to eat and to drink in, or despise you, the church of God? See, the church of God is what it is the body of Christ. Why? Because Christ lives in the church. God and Christ live in the church through the eternal Spirit.

And shame them that have not. What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I praise you not. For I have received of the Lord, that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given things, he broke it and said, Take eat, this is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. After the same manner also, he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new covenant, Diathice, in my blood. This do you as often as you drink it, and remembrance of me.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he comes. So the phrase to show means to declare, make known the Lord's death.

And so in doing this, you recognize, of course, that Christ died for your sins. You show his death. It's a somber, solemn occasion. It is not a time for frolicking, but it is not a time to be unfriendly.

But it's not a time for a lot of noise and chit-chat and that kind of thing.

Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily.

I would go over this many times every year for now some 30 years or more. This word, unworthily. What does it mean? The Greek word is spelled A-N-A-X-I-O-U-S.

Anaxios. Anaxios means irreverently.

Now, I know through the years that some labored with this word unworthily, thinking that some way that through some kind of examination before Passover, they became worthy in that sense. None of us are worthy of the grace that God has extended to us. We are debtors.

And a great debt has been placed on our heads, but Christ paid for that debt. And will pay for yours if you have not yet received that debt. That forgiveness.

So who drinks of this cup irreverently? See, the Corinthians were drinking of it irreverently because of this meal that they were having before the Passover. And shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, because they treated it lightly. But let a man examine himself.

Let a man examine himself.

That word examine has to do with to thoroughly judge, to thoroughly test, to prove, to see whether or not a thing is genuine, as in medals or in gyms. Is it real gold or is it fool's gold? It is a real diamond or is it a fake diamond?

Dokimazo. Let a man prove himself. But let a man Dokimazo himself, and so let him eat of that bread. In other words, after doing that, he eats of that bread and drinks of that cup. For he that eats and drinks unworthily, irreverently, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. Now, this particular case, specifically based on the context, not discerning the Lord's body or the other members of the church who had come together to keep the Passover. But of course, first and foremost, this discerning the body of Christ and the life of Christ that we've already talked about, that was given for the sins of the world.

So obviously, the body of Christ must be discerned and recognized. And it's through the sacrifice of Christ that our sins can be remitted. We've said that about four or five times today.

Then you discern the body of believers. Are you contributing to them taking a Passover irreverently? Notice what we're supposed to do, what we're saying when we take the Passover. Let's look at 1 Corinthians in chapter 10. In 1 Corinthians, as you read in the first chapter of 1 Corinthians 1,17, the great rhetorical question in 1 Corinthians is, is Christ divided?

Then Paul shows from your calling in chapter 1 and chapter 2 to the resurrection chapter 15 that Christ is not divided. See, there were even some in Corinth who said that there was no resurrection. The true members, those who have the Spirit of God within them, are not divided on what the truth and the essence of the gospel really is.

So on Passover, notice what Paul says that you are affirming. 1 Corinthians 10,15, I speak as to wise men, judge you what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?

The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? So we take it into our being and say that we are in agreement with it. And we recognize and realize why Christ gave his body and his blood, not as the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, in which they say it literally becomes, literally, the body and blood of Christ, but figuratively, symbolically, it does. And it also, verse 17, the main point I'm getting at now, is what you are affirming for we being many are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread. Now, forward in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 12.

1 Corinthians 12, verse 12.

For as the body is one, hath many members, and all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit, we are all baptized into one body, and we can call it the body of Christ, we can call it the Church of God, whether we be Jew or Gentile, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.

Now, mainly here in Corinth, according to the context, they were not discerning the body of believers, and they were causing division, and they were not doing what is said here in verse 25. 1 Corinthians 12, 25. That there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care, one for another. And when one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. Or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.

Have we learned that simple lesson?

You know, I have had before my little finger jammed so many times, and it hurts something awful. And so it interferes with everything. Having a little finger hurt. You could say the same thing about your toe. Having your toe hurt. It affects a lot of things. So, coming to that point to where I think maybe we may have more difficulty with the latter than the former.

That is, we're more apt to suffer and express sympathy than to rejoice when one member is honored. We all rejoice. We're all honored with him. How great that is. Why would it be otherwise? You see, the disciples fell trapped, prey to that trap on the very night of Passover.

When Christ was instituting the symbols of the New Covenant Passover, they got into an argument that very night of who was the greatest. Who would be the greatest?

So, we think it different today than people who had been taught by Christ for 30 and a half years.

Does that justify it? Does it make it right? No, but it is a powerful warning and witness and testimony. So, brethren, these essentials need to be realized before we come here to wash one another's feet and take the Passover. The Passover is rooted and founded on God's love for us. Because of his love and grace, he's provided us a Savior, a Passover for our sins. And because God wants to share his eternal being with us, he and the Word ordained a plan to redeem humans from sin and death, making it possible for them to be partakers of the divine nature. The Spirit of God, the life essence of God shed on us through Christ, provides a new life. That Holy Spirit is an enabler. It enables us to understand, to ingest and digest the Word of God. As Christ said, the words I speak, they are spirit and they are life. And man is not to live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. See, the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth enables us to have communion with God and Christ 365 and a fourth days a year, not just on Passover, because that very mind, the words I speak are spirit and life, can be ingested all the time. Look at 2 Corinthians 13. 2 Corinthians 13, in which this verse is there to admonish us to examine ourselves whether we be in the faith unless we be reprobate. But notice how Paul closes 2 Corinthians. The last verse of 2 Corinthians, let's read his final greeting here, his closing in 2 Corinthians 13.11. Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss, all the saints salute you. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. The words I speak, their spirit and their life. God gives His Spirit. We have that communion with the life of God and Christ all the time. We can ingest and have the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth within our being all the time. So, brethren, in these next four weeks that lie ahead of us, let's make sure that the blood of Christ is sprinkled on our hearts let's make sure that we are purging our hearts of an evil conscience let's make sure that we are reconciled to God and Christ, each member of the body of Christ, that we thoroughly discern the body of Christ in all aspects, His body and life that was given for us and for the body of Christ, the Church of God. So, we can ask ourselves and be prepared to wash one another's feet and to take the Passover.