Physical Rituals or Spiritual Applications?

And now, to bring us the sermon today, we have an elder, Mr. Greg Thomas.

Well, thank you, Mr. Patrick. Good afternoon, brethren, and happy Sabbath to each and every one of you.

Well, it's no secret we are now approaching the fall Holy Day season this year.

And we're always reminded of the fact that many people, most people, have a misconception that God's Holy Days no longer have any value, that they're obsolete or archaic or common phrases, that they're done away. They place the festivals in the same category as a few other things that they believe are archaic. The Ten Commandments, circumcision, animal sacrifices, and they say the Holy Days fall into all of these categories as mere rituals that ended with Christ or have been abolished. So I'd like to ask you a question today, and the question is this. Is it really true that these ancient activities are ended or abolished? Or were they perhaps transformed from something physical, a physical action, to a deeper spiritual application? Well, I think we should take a look at the scriptures today as we prepare for the Holy Days and see what they reveal about these activities that I've already mentioned to determine if they were really abolished or if in the New Covenant they have a spiritual, a deeper, actually harder requirement as a spiritual application. So let's examine these things today. We'll begin with the Ten Commandments, something that many Protestants believe were done away, nailed to the cross, are obsolete. Let's go to Deuteronomy chapter 5 beginning in verse 1, and we'll see a time when Moses was restating some events that had occurred and where they were reminded, the people were reminded of the time when God gave his commandments to Israel. Again, that's Deuteronomy chapter 5 beginning in verse 1.

It says, And Moses called all Israel and said to them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them.

The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of who are alive. Verse 4, Then the Lord talked with you face to face on the mountain in the midst of the fire. I stood between the Lord and you at that time to declare to you the word of the Lord, for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up to the mountain. He said, and we'll stop right there because it restates the Ten Commandments. And the point that I'd like to bring out in this Scripture is that the giving of the Ten Commandments here are being recalled by Moses to the people. They were so important, they were so unique, that they were given, as Moses says in verse 4, face to face. Now, not directly face to face because the people were terrified at the present of God, but from God's face to Moses and Moses' face to the people, God literally in his presence came and provided those commandments to the people.

Many folks in the Protestant world believe the Ten Commandments were done away, and that they're no longer valid. Others resurrect nine of the Ten Commandments from the writings of Paul, and they give them a new name, like the Law of Christ. So they observe nine out of ten. Can you imagine which of the ten that they don't feel is important? Well, it's the same one that we heard in our opening prayer today, the Sabbath day, remembering the Sabbath day. Now, let's go back a few chapters, Deuteronomy chapter 10, beginning in verse 5, and read about what happened to the tablets that this law was written on. You will recall the story, of course, that God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses. Moses came down from the mountain. He saw some things he did not like. He saw evil and perversity, and he smashed to the original set. But God, being very good at Xeroxing, allowed Moses to come back, and he gave him another set of tablets.

Deuteronomy chapter 10, verse 1, At that time the Lord said to me, You for yourself two tablets of stone, like the first, and come up to me on the mountain, and make yourself an ark of wood. Now, if you look into the context, you would see that this is nothing less than the ark of the covenant that it's being spoken about here. And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets. So the second tablets will have the same words on the first tablets, which you broke, and you shall put them in the ark. So I made an ark of acacia wood, hewed two tablets of stone like the first, and went up to the mountain, having the two tablets in my hand. And he wrote on the tablets, according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments, which the Lord has spoken to you in the mountain from the land, the midst of the fire in that day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me. Then I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tablets in the ark which I had made, and they are there just as the Lord commanded me. So God commanded Moses to literally take the Ten Commandments written on these two tablets, and not to put them next to the ark, not to put them on the side of the ark, but to put them inside of the ark. And as it says in 1 Kings 8 and verse 9, you may want to write that down, but in the time of the kings of Judah, by the time you get to 1 Kings 8 and verse 9, when they looked inside of the ark, the only thing in the ark were the two original tablets of stone that Moses had put there. So why do you think God commanded Moses to put the tablets that were known as the Ten Commandments had written on them inside of the ark? Not on the outside, not next to the ark. Why inside the ark? Well, it's because the ark represented God's presence on earth, and the commandments are his value system. The Ten Commandments reside in the very core of his being, and any relationship God is going to have with any person or any people has to reflect and accept his value system, or that covenant will not exist. By the time we get to Jesus, Matthew chapter 5 and verse 14, let's see what Jesus does to these commandments. Let's see if he begins to provide a spiritual application to these commandments. Let's now go to Matthew chapter 5 and verse 14.

Jesus said, You are the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, that it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Do not think that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. Now, what did Jesus mean by that? Some say that he came to destroy, to abolish, the commandments of God, but Jesus said he came to fulfill them. I'd like to give you an analogy. Perhaps it'll make this a little clearer. This is a glass, and this glass was created for the capacity, I'm going to guess, of about eight ounces. I am now going to fulfill the intention for which this glass was made. Oh, this could be messy. I have now fulfilled the intention for what this glass was originally created for.

Is that still a glass of water? Does it still have value to someone who's thirsty and needs water? Does it have greater capacity than it did before now that it's fulfilled?

Well, absolutely. That glass is still existing. That glass is more valuable than it was before because it's fulfilled. It holds a greater capacity to provide satisfaction for someone who needs it.

And, brethren, the same thing is true for the law of God. That's why Jesus said he didn't come to destroy but to fulfill. Let's pick it up now in verse 18. For assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law, till all is fulfilled. That's how important the law is to God. Verse 19, whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, something very important, I think, for preachers to focus on, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. Now, it doesn't say that they'll be in the kingdom of heaven. It says by those who will be there that they will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. And let's continue here. It says, but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. So Jesus said that our righteousness, the righteousness of his disciples and his followers, has to exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees. He's going to give some examples here. And what is he going to use as examples? That he's taken this glass that he's taken the law and that he has decided to fulfill it.

Verse 21, you have heard that it was said of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, Raka, that's a harsh way of saying a fool, a condemning one, shall be in danger of the counsel, but whoever says you fool shall be in danger of the hellfire. So Jesus is saying here that this physical law that was given in part of the old covenant now isn't being done away.

It's not archaic that actually I'm magnifying it. Jesus says I'm transforming it to a spiritual application. I'm making it harder upon you, not easier on you. Remember, he said that your righteousness has to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. I'm making it more difficult. I'm transforming it to a greater degree in a spiritual application than it was before.

Verse 27, you have heard that it was said of old, you shall not commit adultery, but I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery in his heart. So again, he uses another example from nothing less than the Ten Commandments. Jesus shows that he's come to give a spiritual application to the law. Rather than being less important, they now examine our attitudes. They now examine our hearts, unlike the scribes and the Pharisees who meticulously observed the physical law. For us, our righteousness has to exceed theirs. For a scribe or a Pharisee, it was a sin to literally kill someone. For us, it's a sin if we look at someone in our hearts, saying, I wish I could strangle him. I'd just like to give him a haymaker. You know, I'd just like to just give me one punch at this individual. So Jesus said that the physical application of the law is now a spiritual application. It's more difficult to live by. It's a greater degree because it's been transformed to be applied spiritually, not only physically. Let's now go to Jeremiah chapter 31 and verse 31, and we'll see that this was the intention of the Ten Commandments from the very beginning, the spiritual application. It says that under the Old Covenant, it was impossible for people to observe the spiritual application of the law. It's difficult for us who have God's Holy Spirit to keep the spiritual application of the law. It's a struggle for us. It was impossible for them. Jeremiah chapter 31 and verse 31. Jeremiah said, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke. Though I was a husband to them, says the Lord, but this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Judah after those days, says the Lord. Now, this is a prophecy for the house of Judah, but you and I are under the new covenant today. When we received God's Holy Spirit, we became partakers of the new covenant. Says the Lord, quote, I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. So, when you're under the new covenant, it's about attitude. It's about intent. It's about what goes on up here, not just a physical commandment or a physical application of the law. When we received God's Spirit, we became part of the new covenant. It is a spiritual application. It's spiritual in intent. It's not based on physical obedience and physical promises, but it's based on submission. It's based on having a right attitude, and it's based on eternal promises, not just getting a piece of land somewhere in the Middle East. It's a whole different world that opens up for individuals when God helps them to understand the spiritual applications of the things that he does.

Now, as a sidebar, why are the Ten Commandments so important? In spite of the fact that many people believe the Ten Commandments were done away because they don't want to keep the Sabbath usually, the reason the Ten Commandments are so important is because they reveal the very character and value system of God. They're part of any covenant God has ever made or would ever make with a man or with a nation, whether it be Abraham, Noah, ancient Israel, the New Testament Church.

At their heart is what God demands in order to have a relationship with a person. Two important things are part of the Ten Commandments. First is respect and obedience to God. Those are the first four commandments. God says, my value system, which is part of any covenant that I would make with anybody or anything, is, first of all, respect and obedience to me, holding me in supreme supremacy. Holding me is number one in your life. That's number one. That happens to be the first four commandments. The second thing is respect and appreciation for the rest of his creation. God said, I created all these other human beings and there is conduct that is acceptable, conduct of love and caring for others, and that's the way it's got to be. And if you want to have a covenant with me, whether you're Noah, Abraham, Moses, Israel, the New Testament Church, if you want to be in a relationship with me, you must embrace my value system. That's why the tablets were inside of the Ark of the Covenant, the very core of what and who God is, is revealed in those commandments.

They're the basic policy statements for life and to have a possible relationship with God.

Let's now take a look at circumcision. Has circumcision been done away?

Leviticus 12 and verse 1, if you'll turn there with me, please.

And I will make sure this glass is no longer fulfilled.

That's good.

Leviticus 12.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, speak to the children of Israel, saying, if a woman has conceived and born a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days, as in the days of her customary impurity, she shall be unclean. Verse 3, and on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Now, I won't go into a lot of detail here. You're welcome to ask Mrs. Thomas after services to give you more details about circumcision, if you like. I will just say that this act was the repetition of a covenant promise that God made to Abraham, and it was a sign of God's promise of two things, of land and lots of physical descendants. And it was that sign to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and that's why they were circumcised and had their males circumcised, because it was a sign of that relationship, God's promise to give them land and national descendants. In time, the Jews, it became a sign to them that they were God's chosen people who had a covenant relationship with him, and for that reason it became very important, so important that in the early church in the book of Acts, that theological concept of removing that little piece of flesh became very controversial and almost tore the New Testament church apart. We'll just touch upon that in Acts chapter 15 and verse 1, so that we'll understand. Actually, I covered this scripture in my last sermon in a different context, but we'll read it here quickly just so we understand that it was controversial. Acts chapter 15 and verse 1, it says, "...and certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, unless you were circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." Now, that was pretty serious. He said, if you're not physically circumcised, then you can't have salvation. Now, that has a couple of problems. Problem number one is, what about the other half of the population that aren't capable of being circumcised? Are you implying they don't have salvation? Theologically, this attitude presents a lot of problems. Verse 2, "...therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question." It was a controversial subject. It almost ripped the early church apart. The church wisely held a ministerial conference, and it came to the right conclusion. And here it is in verse 24. Let's drop down there. It says, "...since you have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your soul, saying, you must be circumcised and keep the law, to whom we gave no such commandment." Verse 25, "...it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things." And the letter mentions a few things, by the way, all of which are part of the law of Moses. But that's another topic we'll get into at another time. The point of the conference is that physical circumcision is not required. So, is circumcision obsolete? Is it archaic? Has it been done away? Has it been removed? Or is there a spiritual application of circumcision? Let's go to Romans 2 and verse 28. Romans 2 and verse 28. I'm going to read this in two translations. First, I'll read verses 28 and 29 in the New King James Version, which is kind of choppy. And then I'll read it in another translation. Paul writes here to the congregation in Rome, Now, let me read that from the translation God's word for today.

So, you see that the physical act of circumcision is no longer valuable. It is no longer valid. But there's a spiritual application of circumcision that continues to this day. Before Christ, circumcision was simply a ritual. It was only performed on half of the population. It was an event that occurred on the eighth day. How really important was it? Does anyone here remember what happened on the eighth day of their life? I doubt if anyone here knows what happened on the eighth day of their life. So, it wasn't a process. It was an event. It was an event that people wouldn't even remember. That's how unimportant it was to them personally.

But in the New Covenant, circumcision applies to all believers. It's a spiritual sign that God has chosen us to be His children and that God favors us. The inheritance in the New Covenant regarding circumcision isn't about land and physical descendants. It's about completing the universe that God created and expanding God's family. So, the application is different. The potential is different. The rewards are different.

When you understand that circumcision, which was a physical ritual, has been transformed into a spiritual application. Let's take a look as we build on this Deuteronomy 10 and verse 12.

Did Moses understand the statement I just made about the real meaning of circumcision not being a physical act? Deuteronomy 10 and verse 12.

And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you but to fear the Lord your God and to walk in all His ways and to love Him and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul? That's pretty strong, and I will contend that that is virtually impossible for someone who does not have God's Holy Spirit to achieve that. Verse 13. And to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes, which I command you to stay for your good, indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it. The Lord delighted only in your fathers to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples as it is this day. In verse 16, therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart and be stiff-necked no longer.

So Moses understood that the original application of circumcision wasn't about cutting off a little piece of foreskin. It was a spiritual intent. It was a spiritual application. Moses acknowledged that circumcision has a spiritual connection, and today circumcision of the heart is a sign that we're under the new covenant. It means that we're cutting out the hardness of our attitudes.

This allows us to love God because we want to, not because we have to, not because we're commanded to. That's why Paul says in another scripture that God loves a cheerful giver. It's all about attitude. It's all about intent. It's not about doing something because you've been commanded to do it. If you have to do something because you've been commanded to do it, then you have a heart disease. You have a heart problem, and I mean spiritually, not physically.

Again, this allows us to love God, and it allows us to be obedient because we want to, not because we're forced to. We are in the process of removing the things that are not healthy in our lives. Cutting off sin is more important and valuable than cutting off a small piece of flesh.

When you've been circumcised in your heart, you are in the process of cutting off sin out of your life. Now, is it harder to cut off sin out of your life than to have something done to you when you were eight days old and didn't even remember it? You bet it is, because the spiritual application of anything is usually more difficult than the original physical command. Let's take a look at circumcision, for example. If you look at circumcision, how did you know in the Old Covenant if someone was circumcised of the foreskin?

Well, they had to be naked. That was the only way that you could tell if someone was truly circumcised. In the New Covenant, as soon as we open our mouths, we reveal whether we have been circumcised, whether we have circumcised the hardness, the foreskin of our hearts. Usually, after we speak for a while, people know very clearly what our attitude is, what our intent is, what our motive is. So, it's much more difficult today than when circumcision was just simply a physical practice. Now, let's take a look at sacrifices. Let's go to Leviticus chapter 4, beginning in verse 1. Leviticus chapter 4 and verse 1.

This is now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, speak to the children of Israel, saying, If a person sins unintentionally against any of the commandments of the Lord, and anything which ought to be done, and does any of them, or if the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, then let him offer to the Lord for his sin, which he has sinned a young bull without blemish, as a sin offering, he shall bring the bull to the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord, lay his hands in the bull's head, and kill the bull before the Lord. Then the anointed priest shall take some of the bull's blood, and bring it to the tabernacle of meeting.

So, when one sinned, an animal sacrifice was required in an attempt to atone for that sin.

An animal sacrifice was important because, first of all, it was part of an individual's wealth. Your wealth was usually judged in how much of a flock you had, how many goats and sheep and other flocks that you had. That was a sign of your great wealth. So, it was a loss to take an animal and kill it and shed its blood. That was one of the reasons that animals were used. The animal gave up its life, and it shed its blood, again, in an attempt to atone for the sin. This went on for thousands and thousands of years. Thankfully, there were no PETA members in ancient Israel. Because over the course of a year, thousands of animals were sacrificed in order to give either glory and honor to God or in an attempt to atone for sin. Every year, thousands and thousands and thousands of animals were sacrificed. Well, let's go now to Hebrews 9 and verse 24. We'll see that Jesus Christ, being the one complete sacrifice, as our Passover, I might add, ended the physical sacrifices. Hebrews 9 and verse 24.

Paul wrote, For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. So Jesus just didn't go to a physical temple and appear in God's presence as the atoning sacrifice for all mankind. Oh, no, he went to heaven itself. He went to the original, not the cheap man-made duplication that was on the earth. Verse 25. Not that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters the most holy place every year with the blood of another. He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world. But now, once at the end of the ages, he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. So Jesus Christ, indeed, was our Passover, and he paid the total and complete price of all sin that has been committed or ever will be committed by his one atoning sacrifice. So, are sacrifices now obsolete, or have they been transformed under the new covenant? Is there a spiritual application of these animals that were sacrificed by the thousands? And thousands? Well, absolutely, there was. Romans 12, beginning in verse 1. If you'll turn to Romans 12 with me. Paul wrote, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. In other words, you can do no other than to be a living sacrifice. You've accepted the calling. You've received the Spirit. You've made this your vocation for the rest of your physical life. It's only reasonable and right that you accept the fact that you are a living sacrifice.

Verse 2, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed. Notice Paul stole the word that I've been using today. I meant that tongue in cheek. Paul, he says, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Wow, that's powerful. So what does that mean? Well, he's not done yet. Now we're going to examine what it means to be a living sacrifice. And as we read these, I want you to ask yourself a question.

A, would it be easier in a physical sense to take an animal a few times a year into a building and have someone slay that animal? Is that easier or is what I'm being told that I should be easier? So let's read beginning in verse 3, because he's going to give us a definition of being a living sacrifice. For I say, through the grace given to me, that everyone who is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly. Is that easy? As God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all members do not have the same function, so we being many are one body. Tying in with the sermonette Mr. Hooper gave, we are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. We're part of one body, but we're also related to each other individually as brothers and sisters in Christ. Verse 6, having gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. So what are your gifts? Are you using those gifts or is it the best kept secret in the universe? He says, let us use the gifts that have been given to us. Are we using those gifts to help others, or are we keeping them under a bushel? If prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith.

If you understand prophecy and you enjoy prophecy and you like to go around and discuss prophecy with the brethren and taking today's world events and applying what the Word of God says about things that will occur, that's wonderful. Do it! That's a gift, he says. Or ministry, and I don't mean ministry in verse 7 as an office, but ministry of caring for people. Maybe you try to write cards to everyone that's sick. Maybe your ministry is to call people on the phone who are struggling with difficult issues. Whatever it is, he says, let us use it in our ministering. He who teaches, do you have the gift of teaching? Can you serve in our YEP classes or some other activities because you've been given the gift to teach and explain things to others in a way that they can understand it? He says, then do it. He who exhorts in exhortation, he who gives with liberality, if you're financially capable or if you have other things you shouldn't give in a liberal or kind and generous way, then do it. He who leads with diligence, if you have leadership capabilities, then provide that leadership. He who shows mercy, if you have the ability to encourage others, do it with cheerfulness. Let love be without hypocrisy, abhor what is evil, cling to what is good, be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love in honor, giving preference to one another. And you thought this is easy? I say, taking that goat to the temple three times a year and having someone else kill it was a lot easier than doing any of this. Verse 11, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, given the hospitality, bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse, rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Verse 17, repay no one for evil, have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Had enough? He's not done yet. What else can I do to be a living sacrifice? Verse 19, beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath, for as written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink, for in so doing you will heat coals of fire out his head. Verse 21, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. So, brethren, to a Christian, it means being a living sacrifice daily, not a few times a year taking an animal to the temple. It's not something that you just do occasionally. It means struggling against our own human nature and our own instincts day by day. It means taking a loss if necessary to honor others or to live in peace. It means giving of ourselves in love to others. It's a spiritual sacrifice, not in blood, but in our time and in our resources and in our commitment to Christ.

And the spiritual intention, the spiritual application of sacrifices is much harder, much more difficult than the mere physical application which indeed has ended and is no longer necessary and no longer important. Now, did the prophets understand this, maybe?

This is some new concept? Or was that maybe the intention all along from the beginning? Let's go to Hosea 6, beginning in verse 4. Hosea 6, verse 4. The prophet Hosea has some very strong words about Ephraim, and we're going to jump into the context here, since this is not specifically a sermon about prophecy, but we'll see some comments he makes about Hosea and what God's intention was from the very beginning. Hosea 6, beginning in verse 6. He says, O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew it goes away. He says, your faithfulness is pathetic. Like the morning cloud, there it is, it's gone. Like the morning dew in the grass, the sun comes up, burns the dew off, it's gone. He says, you're not faithful. Verse 5, therefore, I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and your judgments are like light that goes forth. So they have to be punished, they have to understand that they've sinned. Verse 6, for I desire mercy and not sacrifice. What is mercy? Mercy comes from the heart.

Mercy is a spiritual application. It comes from the mind. It's tied in with compassion. It's the way that we feel, the way that we care. It's our intention, our attitude. He says, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. So even the prophet, many, many years before Christ would come to earth, understood that the real meaning and intention of the sacrifice all along, sacrifices, were not just physically killing a bunch of animals. Indeed, they did point to the fact that Jesus Christ would be the ultimate Passover. But there was a deep meaning that would apply for eternity within the sacrifices, and that is to sacrifice yourself daily to the altar of God and say, Father, use me in the way that you want to use me. My life is a blank check. I'm yours. I submit to you. I give up my will to you, and I just ask you to make this day a positive and powerful day and help me to be a tool in your hands to be the right kind of example that I need to be to everyone whom I meet. In Isaiah 6, I'm going to read this in a new century version. It says, I want faithful love more than I want animal sacrifices. I want people to know me more than I want burnt offerings. Well, now let's go to the Holy Days, the final subject that we will discuss today in this sermon. Holy Days, of course, had rituals and sacrifices attached to them. As an example, we'll zero in on the days of Unleavened Bread. Let's go to Leviticus 23, beginning in verse 4. Leviticus 23, verse 4.

Moses wrote, These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim on their point of times. The fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord's Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of Unleavened Bread of the Lord. Seven days you must eat Unleavened Bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation, and you shall do no customary work on it. So the holy days were filled with rituals, they were filled with sacrifices, they were surrounded by the various sacrifices and rituals. In this case, animal sacrifices were made during all seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. So my question is, when Christ died in Jedith's blood, does it mean that these holy days became obsolete? After all, there were rituals attached to them.

There were also rituals attached to circumcision. There were rituals attached to animal sacrifices. Right? But nonetheless, I'll ask the question, does this mean that the holy days became obsolete?

Well, this is speaking about the days of Unleavened Bread. Now let's skyrocket about 20 to 30 years after Jesus Christ died. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 5 and verse 3, and we'll see what Paul tells a primarily gentile congregation about the very day that we read about in Leviticus 23, the days of Unleavened Bread. We'll see what Paul says about this very festival, and see if Paul got it. If he understood that it isn't about the physical, it's about the spiritual application of the things that God teaches us. 1 Corinthians 5 and verse 3. As we know, those of us who have studied 1 Corinthians 5, this is Paul is very hard on an individual that needed to be hard on. It was an individual committing incest who was part of the congregation. The congregation had not put that individual out. They knew about it. They had not removed that individual, and he's telling them, you've got to put that individual out of the congregation. And he's drawing an analogy between the sin that that individual committed and the days that they were about to celebrate. Let's pick it up now in verse 3. Chapter 5 and verse 3. For I indeed, as absent in body, so Paul wasn't even there, he's writing this letter to the Corinthian church, but present in spirit, have already judged, as though I were present, him who has so done this deed, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you were gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. This is one of the valid reasons that someone would be put out of the church. It said, stop fellowshipping with this individual. This individual has to understand that there are serious sins being involved here, and they have to deal with this sin. So let's continue here. Verse 6. Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed, Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.

Verse 8. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Now, let's remind ourselves of some facts regarding this verse and this point in time. Fact number one is that this congregation is primarily Gentile. It's in Corinth. It's in the Greek city of Corinth. How did they know what any feast meant? They didn't grow up keeping the Holy Days. They knew what he's talking about because they were taught about the Holy Days. They were taught about when they were. They were taught about what leaven represents. They were taught about what was commanded. Here's another thing to think about.

Paul isn't even in Corinth, yet he's not there and there's no indication that there's a resident pastor there or an elder of any type. He encourages the congregation, even in his absence, to keep the feast. And he implies here that they are keeping the feast. They've obviously kept it in the past. They know what leaven represents. They know when the Holy Days are.

Here's something else to think about. It's impossible for them to observe the Old Covenant feast. They can't do it. First of all, to observe the feast in the Old Covenant, they're not in Jerusalem. You had to go to Jerusalem under the Old Covenant to keep the feast. They're not in Jerusalem. They're in Corinth. The temple where animals were sacrificed was only in Jerusalem. There's no temple in Corinth, so they can't go and sacrifice an animal on each day during these days, as Leviticus 23 said. Also, there's no altar. There are no Levitical priests in Corinth to offer sacrifices. So what is this congregation doing, brethren? What is Paul encouraging them to do?

They're observing the days of unleavened bread in a New Covenant way, in a spiritual application.

It's not about sacrificing animals. There's a spiritual meaning that people need to be reminded of each and every year. They honor the same days to worship God, as had always been done. But now they look at unleavened bread in a whole new way. Unleavened bread not only pictures the removal of sins, but now it also pictures putting into our hearts and minds sincerity and truth.

Those are attitudes. Those are intentions. Paul is reminding them that these holy days transformed beyond physical rituals and animals and priests and temples and all that stuff into a New Covenant spiritual application. They continue to keep the feast with a New Covenant approach to the holy days. And, brethren, the same is true of all the holy days. I often find it amusing when I hear individuals say or when I read articles by people who believe that the holy days are obsolete, that they're somehow archaic, somehow done away. What I'd like to do is just take a few steps, a few comments here, through the festivals and holy days and ask some questions, if that even makes sense.

First of all, the Passover. Since the majority of mankind who has lived in history, never even heard of Jesus Christ, never even understood what forgiveness of sin means or why it's important, why would an annual reminder of what Christ did at the Passover for all mankind even be done away?

Why would a yearly reminder that everyone needs the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to forgive their sins be outdated? That doesn't even make sense. That's not even logical. The days of unleavened bread. Since the majority of mankind in history never had a concept of what sin was, because sin is a violation of God's law. Who's God? What's His law? The majority of people who lived on earth never even understood, never even taught those things. They were never taught that they need to repent.

What is repentance? Why would an annual reminder of repentance and becoming a new creation when you receive forgiveness, why would that somehow become obsolete? Why would a yearly reminder that everyone needs to come to repentance at some time in their lives somehow now be archaic? Pentecost. Since God's Spirit has only been given to a very few people throughout human history, and most don't even know what God's Spirit is. Is it a person? Is it a power? Is it this?

Is it that? Why would an annual reminder of everyone's need for God's Spirit somehow be abolished? Why would a yearly reminder that everyone needs God's Holy Spirit to become a child of God suddenly become outdated when the power behind the meaning hasn't affected the majority of human beings who ever lived? Trumpets. Since Christ hasn't returned to earth yet, why would an annual event that looks forward to the second coming of Christ somehow be done away? Why would a yearly reminder that looks forward to the first resurrection at the return of Christ somehow now be archaic?

The Day of Atonement. Since Satan is still the God of this world and the author of all of our evils, why would an annual reminder that looks forward to a time when he's going to be removed from influencing all human beings? Why would an annual reminder that looks forward to that now be obsolete? It just doesn't make sense. The Feast of Tabernacles. Since the kingdom of God is yet in the future and pictures the time of God's government on earth, why would an annual event that looks forward to a thousand years of peace and healing now be abolished?

And the last great day. Since most of mankind who has lived and died without any knowledge of God or even the purpose of their own lives, why would an annual event that looks forward to their resurrection now be done away or archaic? You see, brethren, there's a spiritual application to all of God's holy days. There's something that they look forward to. There's something at a part of them that is yet to be fulfilled, filled to the full. And we've been called to have that spiritual new covenant application of the holy days because it was impossible for the Jews. How could they understand that these days were all about Christ?

They didn't even know who Christ was. They thought He was a physical Messiah who would save them from the Romans. They couldn't even understand that every one of these holy days were all about something Jesus Christ would do for mankind. Yes, the rituals and the animal sacrifices in a physical temple and the lit. vidical priesthood are gone and good riddance. But the spiritual application of the holy days, what God always intended from the beginning, remains to be appreciated and remains to be celebrated.

If we don't have these things in our calendar every year, when will we remember that repentance is important and that someone somewhere on earth, throughout all history, eventually everyone has to come to the point of repentance? If we don't have something on a calendar that reminds us every year that Jesus Christ is returning to earth, then when are we going to think about and focus on that fact?

That's why these holy days are important. And every one of them point to Jesus. They're all about Christ, and they all have a spiritual application that goes far beyond the written words in Leviticus 23. And we have been blessed to have that spiritual understanding. My final scripture, 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 12, and see how Paul put what we're talking about today. 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 12, and then I'll wrap it up.

Paul said, Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. How do we know that these holy days all point to Christ? How do we know that they have valuable spiritual lessons and that we need to be reminded of God's plan for mankind year after year after year, or else we'll forget about it, or else we'll forget about those significant things? It's because God has given that knowledge to us freely as a gift. Verse 13, these things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

You see, it's not about physical things. It's not about animal sacrifices. It's not about cutting a piece of foreskin off of something. It's not about God's very value system being somehow done away and replaced with something else. It's always been about spiritual things. It's been about understanding the nature and character of God, and that's spiritual. That's not physical. You can't read about God's nature and character in black and white print on a book. You have to have a relationship with Him. You have to, through prayer and Bible study, get to know God, become a child of God, yearn to become more like God. That's what it takes, brethren. Verse 14, but the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God for their foolishness to Him, nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. If you said to someone today, yes, I believe in the Ten Commandments, they're liable to say to you, you nutcase! Man establishes his own values. Ten Commandments. Come on! Why? Live by your own rules! I mean, they would think you're nuts because it's spiritually discerned. If you were to say to someone, well, I believe that each day I need to get up, and I need to begin my day of prayer and Bible study and be a living sacrifice and give myself totally to Jesus Christ, the average person would say, what, are you some kind of nut job? Are you a Jesus freak or something? Why? Because these are spiritually discerned. That's why.

If you say to your neighbor this coming week, yeah, the Feast of Trumpets is coming up soon, and the Day of Atonement, I won't be eating or drinking anything on the Day of Atonement, they're liable to say to you, you are one weird dude. Why? Because these are spiritually discerned. They seem foolishness. The people whom God hasn't called and hasn't given His Spirit and the understanding that it's all about Christ and that there is a spiritual application to these things like circumcision and physical sacrifices and God's very commandments and the Holy Days. Verse 15, but he who judges, His spiritual judges all things, yet He Himself is rightly judged by no one. Verse 16, for who has known the mind of the Lord that He may instruct Him, but we have the mind of Christ. And brethren, it's when we receive the mind of Christ that we say, yes, it all makes sense. Yes, those Holy Days all point to what Jesus Christ has done, is doing, and will do for all mankind. Yes, it's the mind of Christ that helps me to understand that animal sacrifices were only a lead into something far more valuable and harder. That is to be a living sacrifice. It takes the mind of God, the mind of Christ, to say, yes, I understand that I need to circumcise the hardness that's inside me, that I need to cut out those areas of my life in which I'm nasty and vile and selfish and not a very good example to others. And it takes the mind of God to understand that God's very law is part of His being. It's His core. It's His value system. And if the Ten Commandments are something that God expects when He wants a relationship with any human being or any group of people. So as we approach these Holy Days this year, I hope you will understand and appreciate that they are festivals and they are celebrations and that you should do so with joy and you should do so with dignity and you should do so without any sense of embarrassment or any sense of being ashamed or feeling odd because you keep God's Holy Days. You should let all of that go because to understand why they're so important takes spiritual discernment and many people that we meet, it's just all going to seem foolishness to them. But we know what's right. And let us continue, as Paul said, to have the mind of Christ. Have a wonderful Sabbath day.