Preparation for the New Covenant Passover

Thank you again. Happy Sabbath, brethren! Welcome once again to this beautiful Sabbath day.

Well, the Spring Holy Days are upon us. It's been an unusual year for me because some of us got started very early talking about the Spring Holy Days when they seemed like they were months and months away. And here they are. Suddenly, this seems like they've arrived beginning next week.

A week from tomorrow evening, we will be observing the Passover this year, and it will be closely followed by the night to be much observed and then the seven days of unleavened bread. And like anything valuable and important in life, we're only going to get the most out of this time if we prepare for them. The only way we can glean the rich and wonderful meaning of the Holy Day season every year is to prepare for it and not just go through the motions. Think about anything important in life. If you were going to go out and buy a car, hopefully you would do research and you would prepare for going out and buying that car. If you were going to do anything that's a major decision in your life, you would, if you were wise, prepare for it to get the most out of it, like marriage or buying a home or whatever it may be. And the same is true of God's Holy Days. Rather than just going through the mechanical motions, as is our human tendency, the way to get the most out of the feast is to prepare for them. Today I'd like to review the feast days, just a kind of an overview of these days and suggest a few ways that we can prepare for God's Spring Festivals. Let's begin by going to Exodus chapter 12. If you will turn there with me, Exodus 12, and we will begin in verse 1. We will look at the instructions that were given for the original Passover.

Again, Exodus chapter 12 in verse 1, it says, Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be the beginning of months, it shall be the first month of the year to you. And as has been mentioned before, Moses wasn't because he had been in Midian, so he understood a Hebrew calendar that already existed at that time, that God was teaching them how to observe his Holy Days from a calendar that already existed, the ones that the Hebrews kept. And it already had the beginning of the year in the spring, but the Egyptian calendar did not begin the new year in the springtime. Verse 3, Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household, and if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of persons each man's need you shall make your count from the lamb. And as Mr. Skapura mentioned, that this was a family activity, and if your household was too small to consume a whole lamb, you would join with another household. You would do it together. You would share this experience together with another household, so there were enough people who could consume the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it into the fourteenth of the same month. Then the whole assembly, the congregation of Israel, will kill it at twilight, the Hebrew between the two evenings. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two-door post, on the lentil of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted in fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They shall eat it. So this was the instruction for the original Old Covenant Passover. The lamb pictured what Jesus Christ would do for those in covenant with God. Now in the Old Covenant, what we say talking about ancient Israel, they were protected from physical death because of the shed blood of the lamb. We're in a different covenant. We are in a better covenant, also called the New Covenant, and we are protected from eternal death. Not only that, we are given the opportunity to have the gift of eternal life because of the shed blood of the lamb. Of course, in our case, the literal blood of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ changed the symbols of the Passover since he completely fulfilled the rule of the lamb. He, by the way, may also have changed the date of the observance, and I'll talk about that as we go along. But let's go now to John chapter 13 because I want to point out some things that Jesus did that were different than the original Old Covenant Passover that was instructed in Exodus chapter 12. As I said, we do not live under the Old Covenant, and that's an ongoing struggle we have in the church because there are some folks who continue to believe that the New Testament never actually happened. Their thoughts, their ideas, their attitudes continue to be from the Old Covenant. It's as if Jesus never said anything. It's like Paul never wrote anything. Their whole mindset and perspective of Christianity is from an Old Covenant perspective.

But Jesus changed a lot about the Passover. Let's take a look at this. John chapter 13, verses 1 through 17. Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come, that he should depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. That's an important statement because they would betray him. They would deny him. He would end up hanging on that cross or that stake, looking out there, wondering where his friends were, and they were nowhere to be found. But in spite of all that, he loved them unconditionally to the end, even though they weren't there for him when he needed them, when he needed strength, when he needed encouragement. So Jesus has, at this point, is just finishing up the traditional Passover meal. It says, and supper being ended, and it's a relaxed atmosphere. It's not sober. It's not ultra-serious. They're talking to each other. They're fellowshiping. We have to realize that their fellowship was far better than ours is today. They actually reclined. They were like in couches talking to one another, leaning back, relaxing on couches. So they knew how to chill out, unlike our generation. So they're talking and they're fellowshiping. The traditional Passover meal is finishing up here. And let's take a look at an example of Christ and something he does, that he expected his faithful disciples for many generations to come to do. That was not part of the Passover service in Exodus 12. Verse 3, now, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper, laid aside his garments, took a towel and girded himself, and after that he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. And he came to Simon Peter. So again, as I've said before, I think we understand who those of us who have been around a while or have read about Jewish culture, that it was an expectation that when you entered someone's home, that the lowliest servant in that home would come up and would wash the feast of the guest who had entered that home. So they go there, their guests, not a single disciple was humble enough to say, let me wash, you know, your feet are dirty, you just walk through these dusty streets after bathing and you were made, you bathed yourselves to prepare for the Passover, and now you walk through the dusty streets and your feet are dirty, I'll volunteer, just line up and I'll wash all your feet. Peter didn't say that. No, Matthew didn't. John didn't say, no one says that. And Jesus, of course, wants to bring a point across to them because remember, he is the humble, suffering servant, as we mentioned in the book of Isaiah, as Jesus is outlined in prophecy, and I think it was last Sabbath that we may have talked about that. Verse 6, then he came to Simon Peter and Peter said to him, Lord, are you washing my feet? And Jesus answered and said to him, what I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will after this. Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. Good old, impetuous Peter. Peter had the ability to say things that were just incredibly embarrassing and dumb, you know, and so he says dogmatically to the Son of God himself, oh no, well, you'll never wash my feet. And Jesus said, if I do not wash you, you have no part in me.

There's a lot of rich symbolism there. If I don't forgive you, if I don't pay the price for your sins, if my blood doesn't wash you clean from sin, then you can't have a relationship with me. Mr. Scaparro talked about the importance of that relationship. My blood will clean you and give you the ability to have a relationship with the Father, and if I don't do that, you're not clean. You cannot be in covenant with me. This is what Jesus is telling him. You will have no part with me. Verse 9, Simon Peter said to him, Lord, so suddenly he switches gears. I just love how Peter is able to adapt. Quickly, due situation. First, no way you're going to wash my feet, and now, well, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. And Jesus said to him, he whose bathe, and they had all bathed before they participated in the Passover meal together, because that was part of Hebrew tradition, he who is bathed only needs to wash his feet, because after they had bathed, they walked in the dusty streets to observe the Passover. Together, their feet got dirty. He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean, and you are clean, but not all of you. So he's saying, you have a relationship with me, you were clean, but there's one amidst you, there's one among you who is not clean. As a matter of fact, he has very vile, evil, deceptive thoughts. We know who that was. Of course, that was Judas Iscariot. I'm going to read verse 10 from the translation God's word for today. Jesus told Peter, people who have washed are completely clean, they need to have only their feet washed, all of you except for one, are clean. So what is Jesus saying symbolically here? Well, when Christ lives in us, His complete sacrifice has taken away our sins, and when we accept His shed blood for the remission of our sins, we are clean from sin. But you know what? We continue to live in this world, and we continue to walk God's way of life each and every day, and as we walk God's way of life, our feet get soiled symbolically, right? Through the experience of life, we say things we wish and shouldn't say, we have thoughts that we shouldn't think, and symbolically speaking, though we are clean because of what Jesus Christ did for us, our feet get dirty, our feet get soiled. Each Passover, we recognize and repent of our sin, and we receive the total cleansing, all of those additional accumulated offenses and sins that we have acquired, we receive that total cleaning from the Lord once again. I'd like to read what the Believer's Study Bible says about this verse.

It says, quote, instead of the Greek word nipatin for washing in general, a new word is introduced, bathed from the Greek lewitan, the word for bathing the whole body. An additional symbolism is also introduced. Those who have experienced the bath of regeneration, that's theological, gobbledygoop, they just couldn't say baptism because then all everyone could understand it.

So they say those who've experienced the bath of regeneration need only to be washed of the daily stains contacted in life, meaning as we walk through life, as we continue our journey with Jesus Christ, we get stained. We think things we shouldn't think, we say things we shouldn't say, we act in ways we shouldn't act, and thankfully we can go back to Jesus Christ, who is our complete Passover. Let's pick it up now in verse 11. For he knew who would betray him, therefore he said, you are not all clean.

So when he had washed their feet, taking his garments and sat down again, he said to them, do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you say, well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.

For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who sent him greater than you sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

So knowing them isn't enough. That's a good lesson about our spiritual life. Knowing about the fruits of the Spirit is not the same as doing the fruit of the Spirit. You say, we're not blessed by what we know, we are blessed by what we do. So on the Passover, we will follow this example of Jesus Christ, and he added this to the Passover observance, and we will follow his example because we look to Jesus Christ as our ultimate example. I had a conversation this week with an individual that always stuns me, because unfortunately it comes from a typical Protestant mindset.

We were talking about whether it's important to be baptized by immersion, and I said, well, Jesus Christ was immersed when he was baptized. Oh, well, that's the way he chose to do it. And that philosophy just kills me. Then why did he live? Isn't he supposed to be an example? He didn't need to be baptized. He had no sins to be forgiven.

He was baptized to be an example. So, well, that's the way he chose to do it. This is the way I choose to do it. Everything works out. Everything's equal. That's not what the scriptures are about. Jesus Christ lived to be an example for us, and we should never, ever lose sight of the importance of that. Let's take a look now and pick it up in verse 21. And as we do, I want you to think of the fact that John, of course, is the only one who mentioned the foot-washing example. We have him to thank for that.

The other gospels don't. And I want you to think about how difficult it would have been for Jesus Christ to wash Judas's feet. He knew exactly what he was the Son of God. The kneel down. The look into the eyes of his betrayer. And when they locked eyes, ever hear the expression of walls could talk? Wouldn't it be something to be there just to see the two of them lock eyes together as Jesus Christ, the humble servant, kneels down and washes the feet of the very individual who will soon betray him and cause him to be put to death.

Three and a half years of Jesus' emotional investment loving this individual caring for him, being a mentor for him, locking eyes as he was washing his feet. How difficult that must have been. Alright, let's pick it up here now in verse 21. Then Jesus, when Jesus had said these things, he was troubled in spirit. And you and I would be troubled in spirit, too. First of all, he knew there was a deceiver and he knew who the deceiver was. He thought about his death.

He thought about his death. He thought about how he would die. He thought about all the things that would soon occur throughout the rest of that night, his arrest in the garden, and all the accusations and all the things that were associated with crucifixion himself. He thought of all those things and he was troubled in spirit. And he testified and said, most assuredly I say to you, one of you will betray me. Then the disciples looked at each other, perplexed about whom he spoke, and now there was leading on Jesus bosom one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. Every time I read of this, I think of the character that the Apostle John had because John is talking about himself. That the intimate words that are exchanged here, John could only have heard if he was the one saying them and hearing them. Yet, unlike most people I've known in my lifetime, he doesn't say, and I said to Jesus, Jesus and I, we were like this, and he said to me, and I said to him, no John, because of his humility, he puts it in the third person. Now there was one, there was leaning on Jesus bosom, one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. And remember, they're all in couches, they're all reclining in a way it worked, is when you laid back on your lazy boy, you were literally at the breast level of someone else and you could talk to them. And the one who was next to Jesus, obviously, was John. And Simon Peter therefore mentioned to him, that is the one leaning on the breast of Jesus, to ask him who it was whom he spoke. Then leaning back on Jesus breast, so this is close, intimate, between the two of them, leaning back on Jesus breast, he said to him, Lord, who is it? And Jesus answered, it is to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it. And having dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas of Scary, at the son of Simon. Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. I want you to think about the audacity of Satan. Don't ever estimate the audacity and boldness of Satan to try to destroy the church of God, to try to destroy your life. At the very Passover, Satan wants to send a message to Jesus Christ. During the very Passover, Satan enters Judas sitting in the room looking at Jesus Christ.

The audacity, the boldness of Satan entering Judas during the very Passover itself is a warning message. It's something we should realize that we need God's protection. That Satan has always tried to infiltrate the church. He has always tried to infiltrate the leadership of the church of God. He will never stop trying to pull you away from the faith. He will never stop attempting to get you off of the right path or to get you to turn around and go back to the life that you had before. That is his mission statement. That is what Satan himself wants to do. So again in verse 27, now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him, then Jesus said to him, what you do, do quickly, probably more talking to Satan than the shell of a physical being called Judas at this point, what you do, do quickly. But no one at the table knew for what reason he said this to him. Now, let's go to Luke's account. If you'll turn to Luke's account, chapter 22, we'll look at the example of the bread and the wine. Luke chapter 22. Okay, Luke chapter 22. We'll pick it up in verse 14. Now, when the hour had come, he sat down with the twelve apostles with him. Then he said to them, with fervent desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you. It was so meaningful to him, and he knew that he would institute some new things with very rich and beautiful spiritual meaning. I've desired you to pass over with you before I suffer, for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. Then he took the cup, and he gave thanks, and he said, take this and divide it among yourselves, for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. Now, this was a communal cup, and I will say boldly and out front that because of our love for you, we will not have one cup that we all drink out of this Passover. We have decided for cleanliness and other reasons a long, long time ago that we will have separate cups. But this, at this instance, this was one cup. And I guess that's okay if you're the first one that gets to sip to it, right? But if you're number 12, there's probably a lot of backwash sitting in there.

So today we have individual cups. They all come from the same tray. They all receive the same prayer, but there's just something that we have decided to do, again, for health reasons. Verse 19, and he took the bread and he gave thanks and broke it and gave it to them, saying, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And their bread was most likely not a hard matzo like we will use. It was unleavened bread, a big roll, and you grabbed it and you tore a chunk off of it and you passed it on to someone else. They fingered it, tore a chunk off of it. We will not be doing that this year. We haven't done that for many, many years. Again, in the same tray, the same prayer, the same original sheets of bread, we will break it up and pass out the Passover that way because of love and sensitivity for God's people. So it says, continuing verse 20, likewise, he also took the cup after supper, saying, this is a cup of the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you. But behold, the hand of my betrayer is with me on the table, and truly the Son of Man goes and has been determined. But woe to him, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed. And they began questioning among themselves which of them it was who would do this thing. And of course, this is Luke's account, which a little different emphasis than John's account. So here we see that Jesus institutes new symbols for the new covenant Passover. He adds bread, which is highly symbolic, of course, and we'll discuss more about that on the Passover itself. And he passes around the wine for them to share that represents, of course, his shed blood. I'd like to take a few minutes because I get emails every year to talk about when Jesus chose to observe the Passover almost every year. I receive emails from individuals saying, you don't keep the Passover on the right day. Happens almost all the time. And sure enough, if you look into society, the overwhelming majority of Jews keep the Passover on the end of the 14th, as it is concluding, beginning the 15th, not on the eve or the beginning of the 14th like we do.

And there has been debates for centuries over what was the original way that the Passover was observed in Exodus 12. Was it the beginning of the 14th like we do at the eve, or was it at the other end of the 14th, the end of the day? And basically, I'm going to show you that to me, it doesn't really matter what matters to me. Remember my emphasis on example a few minutes ago? The example of, gee, what matters to me is the example of Jesus Christ, not what day, what part of the day it may have been kept in Exodus 12. Let's go to John chapter 18 and verse 20. I just want to mention a couple of things here, and I granted this is what they call in legal terms, a sidebar. It's not necessarily part of the sermon itself, but I think occasionally it's important to mention this. And this also goes back to the roots of my comment earlier about some folks just cannot seem to get ratcheted out of trying to keep a Christian old covenant Passover, or holy days, or new moons, or whatever else their personal lives are attached to. John chapter 18 and verse 28, it says, then they led Jesus from Caiaphas. He's already, his Passover has already been completed. He already went to the garden that evening. He's been arrested. It's the next day he's soon going to be crucified. They led him from Jesus to Caiaphas to the Platorium, and it was early morning, and they themselves did not go into the Platorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. What's going on here? The Jews in the New Testament, the majority of them nonetheless, had not yet kept to the Passover. They were keeping the Passover at the end of the 14th, not on the beginning of the 15th like Jesus Christ did. He had already kept the Passover. He had already been to the garden that evening. He had already been examined that night. It's now morning. He's being questioned. They will not go into a Gentile pagan residence because they don't want to be defiled. They want to be able to keep the Passover. I want to again mention again that most individuals do not observe the Passover the same time we do. Almost all Jews today observe it on the end of the 14th of Abib. We observe it on the beginning of the 14th. So why do we do this? Well, let's take a look at John chapter 19 and verse 12 before I answer that question. If you turn to John, if you turn just to chapter 19 and verse 12. Again, a historical statement about the Jews of this time. And again, I want to mention that this is after Jesus had kept the Passover to begin the 14th at Eden. This is after he had already been to the garden. He's been arrested. This is referring to his judgment. It says here in verse 12, from then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out saying, if you let this man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, they brought Jesus out and sat him in the judgment seat of the palace that is called the pavement. But in Hebrew, gabbatha. So what are they doing? They painted Pilate in a corner. Pilate really does not want to execute Jesus. Jesus Christ is like no one that he's ever examined. He's not a zealot. Pilate's used to talking to criminals who spit in his face, kill me, I want to I care! Right? He's used to speaking with people who are angry. And Jesus is just soft-spoken, and he's relaxed. And Pilate says, this does not pass the smell test. I don't want to crucify this man. The Jews are up to it again. Something's wrong here.

But then they paint him in a corner. Well, why? If this man isn't crucified, he's committing treason against Caesar. Why? You will be a party. You'll be associated with a man who is committing treason against Caesar. He claims to be a king. So poor Pilate is being painted into a corner. Now, I want you to notice in verse 14, now it was the preparation day of the Passover. So again, the Passover that the Jews are keeping, which in this case is the end of the 14th, has not yet occurred. They're still preparing for it. And about the sixth hour, and he said to the Jews, behold your king, but they cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your king? A little bit of sarcasm there. The chief priest answered, we have no king but Caesar. Then they delivered him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led him away. So again, the Passover observed by these Jews has not yet occurred. We've seen that in two places so far. So why did Jesus observe the Passover? Obviously, the evening before everyone else is observing the Passover. It's because he wanted his precious blood to be shed at the same time the lambs were being slaughtered in the temple. The same time he wanted that timing to be perfect. My point is this, it may very well be true that the Passover in Exodus was on the end of the 14th of Abib. And there are arguments both ways. There are scriptures you can turn to and analyze it both ways. It was on the beginning of the 14th and it was on the end of the 14th. Next it is. My comment is, is to me it doesn't matter because I choose to follow the personal example of Jesus Christ. He observed the Passover at the beginning of the 14th.

It's his example that I'm interested in. The same God who gave the original instruction is the same God who fulfilled the meaning of the Lamb, who is the same God who instituted the new symbols of Passover, is the same God who has the authority to change the time of observance if he so chooses. And he doesn't need my permission. So the reason that we keep the Passover in the beginning of the 14th, in contrast to many, many, many, many folks who keep the Passover at the end of the 14th, is because we choose to follow the example of Jesus Christ. That's why the New Testament is important. That's why Mr. Thomas continues, and you're probably tired of hearing it, to refer to these as the New Covenant Passover, New Covenant Holy Days. Have you ever heard me use that term before? There are distinct reasons why I use those terms, brethren. So we need to conform to the example that Jesus Christ showed us, and that is what we attempt to do. And sometimes by doing that, we go against the grain. Sometimes to attempt to do what the Bible says, we are out in left field. When everyone else is doing something else, we appear to be out here all by ourselves, and I'm sorry. We have to follow the example of Scripture. We have to follow the example of Jesus Christ. Well, now let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 11. If you'll turn with me, and we'll see Paul's comments about the Passover, because it was continuing to be observed.

This is about 20 years after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the truth is, I just talked about us being in left field. Most of mainstream Christianity does not observe the Passover.

They think it's been done away. It's been fulfilled. There's no reason to do it anymore.

They have replaced it with bunnies and eggs, and you can find out more about that on the program tomorrow on television, but they have replaced the Passover with other things. All right?

And we choose not to do that. Paul, 20 years later, here, is talking about the Passover, so let's read about it, chapter 11, verse 18. He says, first of all, when you come together as a church, I guess I should stop Mr. Thomas. Stop! Stop right now! Okay, background. This was a church struggling. The church had divisions. The church was so tolerant they were allowing people with incest problems continue to serve in the church. This was a church that had doctrinal fractions. This was a congregation that's struggling in a lot of ways. So with that background, now let's go back. For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part, I believe it. For there must also be fractions among you that those who are approved may be recognized among you. In other words, those who are peacemakers, they'll come to the, they'll rise to the top. They'll be approved by God. There are example, the fact that they want to create peace rather than create division, the fact that they are peacemakers will be recognized. He says that this must happen. He says, therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's supper. He says this is not intended to be a smorgasbord. This is not chow down time, the Passover service. He said you have not come here to eat a supper. And he continues to explain what he means. For, for in eating, each of you takes his own supper ahead of others. You're not even waiting for each other. You're so hungry, you're so greedy to eat, you're not even waiting for everybody to arrive to have a meal together. Each one takes his own supper ahead of others, and one is hungry and another is drunk. So some people that are wealthy in the congregation, they're chowing down. They weigh 800 pounds. You know, they're eating 15 pounds of food, and one of the brothers sitting next to them hungry. They have nothing to eat. People are showing up at this so-called supper intoxicated. Paul says, I can't believe what's going on here.

What? He says in verse 22, do you not have houses to eat and drink in? This is the scripture I quote a lot here, by the way, in this congregation when it's about 4 30 and I'm tired, and I want to go home, and they're a brother, and there's still big smiles on their faces, and their fellowshipping, and talking, and Mr.

Thomas wants to go home. I think of this scripture often. Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? He says, do you despise the church of God, meaning with this kind of conduct, and shame those who have nothing? You come like a glutton and eat all this food in front of somebody who's hungry, because maybe they've fallen on a hard time, maybe they're unemployed, maybe they're just personally struggling, and you're doing that in front of someone? Paul's just stunned! What shall I say to you?

Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you, for I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you.

Do this in remembrance of me. I want you first of all to notice here that Paul says he received it from the Lord. Now, we don't know exactly when, but we do know that Paul spent some time in Arabia. He took kind of like a sabbatical for a period early in his ministry, and it could very well be that he had revelations, and he implies other areas that he was taught personally by Jesus Christ, that he was not taught by the other disciples. But he boldly says he received it from the Lord, and we need to take that at face value.

Verse 25, in the same manner, he also took a cup of after supper, saying, this is the cup of the new covenant in my blood, this do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

So he's getting back, he said, this is the basic of what the Passover is supposed to be about. It's not chow-down time. It's not time to show off how wealthy I am. It's not time to come in intoxicated. Again, Paul is just, he's stunned. Then he hears these things going on.

Verse 26, for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. And Paul is not ashamed to proclaim the Lord's death. I mean, I've had conversation with people, oh, we focus only on the resurrection of Jesus. We don't focus on his death. Well, I'm sorry, the Apostle Paul did. Well, you know, please excuse us. But the Apostle Paul said that as often as you take the Passover, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes.

Paul wasn't ashamed of it, and neither will I be. Verse 27, therefore, whoever eats his bread and drinks the cup of this Lord, this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. For let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. So he talks about something that we should do before we take the Passover, and that is examine ourselves.

Verse 29, for he eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For 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.

So if we humble enough to examine ourselves, through God's Spirit, we will be chastened. We will see things in ourselves that we need to change, that aren't up to God's standard. We will be judged. We'll judge ourselves. He says, and it's much better because we don't want to be judged by God. It's a lot easier on us if we judge ourselves.

So he's saying here that there should be no divisions among any of us. And I want to mention that, again, if you have a problem with a brother or sister because of a recent offense in the congregation, I encourage you to talk to them. And if you think you've offended them, even if you have an inkling that you may have offended them, take the right step and ask for their forgiveness. Those who are approved are the ones who step up to the plate and who apologize. Those who are approved are the ones who are peacemakers. Paul mentioned early in these verses. The word examine here that we find in this scripture is from a Greek word, a dakamadzo, which means to approve, to discern, to try. That's what this Greek word means. And I want you to notice that this is something we do to ourselves we don't do to other people. About three years ago, very sadly, we had an individual who kept the Passover with us, and I could tell by his countenance that he was not a very happy person. But it was the Passover. So I said nothing. I just cut him some slack because I could see that he was struggling. But he attended the Passover. He took the bread and the wine just like everyone else. And he attended the first day of Unleavened Bread. And then I got an email pointing out all the flaws in the Passover service, the things that I said that were not biblically correct, the things another pastor said on the first day of Unleavened Bread. You see, aside from going through the motions and pretending to keep the Passover, he forgot that the Passover is to examine ourselves. The purpose of the Passover is not for me to examine you, for you to examine your spouse, for you to examine the person sitting next to you.

It is for us to examine ourselves. And if we don't do that, then we bring shame on ourselves. Another word here is worthy. And I want to talk about that for a minute because over the years, that's been kind of confused. He says, for this reason, oh, let me go back to verse 29, for he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself.

I have known people who read this and thought worthy means meticulously cleaning their homes of leaven, tearing up the carpeting, using toothpicks to pick leaven out from between linoleum, taking off the covers of their registers, and sucking the vacuum cleaner in there. And if they didn't all do all that, they somehow were unworthy. And, brethren, none of us is worthy. Only Jesus Christ and what he did for us can possibly make us worthy. All the soul-searching, all the repentance in the world, all the discovering and hidden leaven in our homes cannot make us worthy.

Only the blood of Jesus Christ can make us worthy. What Paul is talking about in context here is that the Passover is not a joke. It is a serious and meaningful assembly to ponder what the blood of Jesus Christ means for us. No one should ever attend a Passover service intoxicated. No one should attend a Passover service in any way that despises the Church of God by their behavior and their conduct. That is the point that Paul is bringing out here.

Now, what is the best way for me to examine myself to compare and prepare for the Passover in Days of Unleavened Bread? What's the best way for you to do it? Well, the best way to examine yourself is to look at the fruit of the Spirit in the book of Galatians, because the fruit of the Spirit come from the Spirit. They are the very nature and character of the Father and the Son.

Remember, they make their home in us when we were baptized and received God's Spirit. So, the fruit of the Spirit reflect and represent the mind of Christ, the values of the Father.

So, the best way to examine ourselves is to look at the fruit of the Spirit and what do we see? How are we measuring up to that fruit? Now, I can tell you in advance that you're not going to see perfection, because perfection is humanly impossible. But do you see growth? Do you see progressive change over the year? Spiritual maturity? Are you more patient? Are you more kind?

Do you reflect the fruit of that Spirit in a greater way? How about the past year? Are there areas in your life in which you have made a 180, in which you have grown, in which you have become better, in which you are more conforming to the mind of Christ and developing those abundant fruits? Are you ready to move on to a higher level? Are you ready to bite the bullet and ask your loved ones how you can serve them more? Oh, Mr. Thomas, you just went from preaching the meddling. Now you've done it! Are you ready to ask how you can personally be a better living example to your family members? Let's go to Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, and we'll see he also emphasizes the importance of examination, self-examination. And remember that some parts of the congregation didn't treat him with much respect in Corinth, so he's going to make a statement here about himself and his own weakness, and I wanted to mention that as part of the context so we understand where Paul is coming from. Second Corinthians chapter 13 is where we will go to.

Paul wrote in the second letter, he says, for though he was crucified in weakness, speaking of Jesus Christ, he was the suffering servant, a physical being, that was his weakness, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you. He was speaking of himself and his ministerial party, he said, yes, we're weak too, and he felt a little bit of sting from the fact that some in Corinth didn't think he was a real apostle, some didn't respect him. He said, yes, I'm weak, but by the power of God, I'm just going to continue to love you, and I'm going to continue to serve you, nonetheless. Verse 5, examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.

Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you? Have you forgotten that you have the most incredible power of the universe that dwells inside you?

Again, as I've mentioned before, that same power, we're at the spoken word of Christ, said, create the world, and the same power that created the world, all matter, the sun, the heavens, everything we see, that same power, literally resides in us. How awesome! Paul's saying, have you forgotten about that fact? Have you overlooked that fact? Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless, indeed, you are disqualified, but I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified. He's not trying to threaten them. He's, you know, not trying to make them feel bad. He's trying to say that the fruits, my brethren, the fruits should be there. Again, I want to look at two words in here. The word examine, this is a different Greek word, translated in English, examine here. It's actually a stronger word. It's perizzo, and it means to scrutinize. So scrutinize yourself. The word also means discipline. Discipline yourself. Prove yourself is another meaning of this Greek word. So he's saying, this is what we need to do.

How are we doing? Are we on the right path? Are we using that incredible power of God's Spirit to change things in our lives? Or is that Spirit grieved? Is it just waiting for us to humbly start using that presence that God gives us, that power, that Spirit, to change our lives and take ourselves to a whole new level that we never experienced? And I can tell you this, I can guarantee you it will be nothing like you think. If you want to make God laugh, just tell him what your plans are in life, because he has other plans. The word test here, it says test yourselves. This is actually the same Greek word that we read earlier in 1 Corinthians 11, which was dakamazu.

So Paul is providing double emphasis. He's using two different words to describe the importance of self-evaluation in our lives. And this is what we need to do to prepare for the Passover in the days of Unleavened Bread. Now use this as a word disqualified, and we do not believe once saved, always saved, but we do believe that it is possible that if we reject God's gift, which is his Holy Spirit, and we go back to the world that over a period of time it is very possible that God may blot our name out of the Book of Life. He has the right to do that. He has done that, and sadly there are some who have done that. I want to give you an analogy, an analogy of my stepfather. I am in my father's stepfather's testament. It's called his last will and testament, and I'm there in that testament with my two siblings. And because it's in writing, it's a done deal. I'm there. But you know what? I'm there because I have a relationship with him.

He has every right. If I were to begin to offend him, if I were to begin to mistreat him, if I were to begin to turn away and walk away from the relationship I have with him, he would have every right to take my name out of that testament, that last will and testament.

And God himself, if we turn our back on him, if we go back to Egypt, if we go back to the world, if in an extended period of time we allow God's Spirit to go dormant in us, grieve and then go dormant in us and die within us, we offend God because we abused his gift. And we may have our names blotted out of the Book of Life. None of us wants that to happen. It's not something that we talk about often, and I don't mention it to be some big stick to frighten people and scare people, but, brethren, it's the reality of what can happen, and we need to be aware of that. I'd like to read verses 4 through 6 from the translation of God's Word for today. He says, He was weak, again, referring to Christ, when He was crucified, but by God's power He lives. We are weak with Him, but by God's power we will live for you with His help. Verse 5, again, this is God's Word translation, examine yourselves to see whether you are still in the Christian faith. Test yourselves.

Don't you recognize that you are people in whom Jesus Christ lives? Could it be that you are failing the test? I hope that you will realize that we haven't failed the test. So, again, that was from the translation of God's Word. And it isn't Paul's intent to shame the congregation, make them feel guilty, but what he wanted to do is what I'm trying to do, and that is just say, stop a minute. Take some time out before the holy days. Where are we headed? What path am I on?

What path are you on? Is it the right path? Is there progress? Or is there that sin that easily besets us that we've been putting off with dealing with for years? Are there attitudes that we have just compromised with? Remember, Abraham was told not to take any of his relatives with him when he went to the new land, and he took Lot. He took his nephew, Lot, with him. Yeah, he obeyed God, but not totally. He compromised a little bit, and Lot brought him all kinds of heartache and trouble. And is it that way in our lives? Is there a little Lot somewhere in our lives where we've kind of compromised? Where we've kind of given in, and we're not dealing with that attitude or that physical sin, that behavior that is pulling us down and stopping us from getting to the next level? This is all that we want to do. We want to take some time and meditate and think about where we're going, where we're heading, and the kind of example that we're setting.

How are you doing? And I have a question for you. How did you do during your last spiritual stress test? You know, if you get to be my age, they give you a physical stress test. They put you in a treadmill. They put a big thing in your... they put things in... What are they doing? They're trying to stress you to see if you can handle a lot of activity if your heart's going to poop out on you, right? It's just called a stress test, and it's to see how my heart will respond, how my cardiovascular system will handle the stress. We even now have stress tests for banks. The federal government simulates something in a bank to see if a bank would fail under certain conditions, if it would have enough assets, and if the bank fails the stress test, the government gets it in warning and says, you either straighten out your act, or we will just absorb you and give you to a big bank, and you'll be done with, right? Well, God gives us spiritual stress tests. Some of us call them free Passover trials. You can call it whatever name or term you desire, but all of us to one degree or another will face a spiritual stress test. How do we react to that? Do we lose our cool? Do we begin to lose faith in God? Do we begin to question God's existence? Do we begin to get angry and bitter with people or God or the minister or the United Church of God or whatever? How do we deal with that spiritual stress test? Because God says, that's the only way I can know. The only way I could know what was in Abraham's heart is to say, take your son, your only son of promise, and I'm going to, I want you to go up to Mount Moriah. I'm going to put you through a spiritual stress test to see how you react. Now, none of us will ever be called upon to have a stress test to that degree, will we?

But we're still going to face challenges and trials and problems and issues in our lives that are going to be spiritual stress tests. Verse 11, Paul says here, we'll just drop down and complete the chapter. Finally, brethren, farewell, be complete. That means be balanced, be rounded and well balanced. Work on those areas in which we are weak, that's taking us, making us unbalanced. You know what happens to an auto tire when it's unbalanced and you ride it heavy? After a while, that tire gets heat and if you keep riding it hard and it's unbalanced, eventually that tire fails. The heat is called stress. That tire has been under a stress test and because it was unbalanced, it blew out. It fails. Paul says become complete. Develop those talents that God has given you. Use them, share them, be sacrificial, and on the other hand, those weaknesses in our lives, clean them up. Begin to take care of those issues that we've been putting off for years. Be complete, be of good comfort and of one mind. Live in peace and the God of peace, God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

Well, next Sabbath we have today talked about the Passover and preparing for the Passover. The next Sabbath we will focus more on the days of unleavened bread. From a New Covenant perspective, we will talk about the night to be much observed and we will talk about how we can get the most out of the seven days of unleavened bread this year. So thank you. Have a wonderful Sabbath day and look forward to fellowshiping with each and every one of you.