Preparation for Passover

Brethren, God has got a plan to deliver this world from this invisible pharaoh. Think about it. Compare what happened to Israel leaving Egypt. And Moses went to Pharaoh and says, Let my people go! And the Pharaoh would not let God's people go. You know, brethren, it's exactly the same thing today. How many people are called? How many people start maybe even coming to church? But then the world keeps pulling them back because of the attractions of Satan.

And it is as if the message is going out again, Let my people go! And Satan is not letting the people go. So think about it. It's a very similar parallel. What happened is, as you know, God with a mighty hand intervened and caused his people to go to leave Egypt. Exactly the same thing is going to happen in this world soon. Jesus Christ is going to come and with a mighty hand, he's going to intervene so that his people can be freed from the slavery of this world, which is imposed upon mankind by Satan, the invisible Pharaoh.

Very interesting parallel, brethren. Very interesting. And therefore, you and I can see that the children of Israel foreshadowed God's church. Because that's what's happening. God's church is not letting the people go. But in turn, the church in the same analogy foreshadows the world. Because the whole world, ultimately, they all are God's people. But they all prisoners in this worldly society. And therefore, this invisible Pharaoh, who is Satan, will be forced to let the people go. And so, to help us prepare for the Passover, I thought it would be appropriate to go back a little bit through the history and look at what happened to the Israelites and see how they started keeping the Passover and then show how Christ changed those symbols to the New Covenant.

So, to start, therefore, turn with me to Exodus chapter 1. Because in Exodus chapter 1, we have right there the beginning. After all, Exodus means leaving, letting the people go. So, that's the Exodus. And if we start in verse 6, because it's the first few verses just saying that these are the people that left, and then Joseph died.

And then in verse 6 says, and Joseph died, all his brothers and all that generation. So, all the people, and there was Joseph and his brothers and sisters and the people of that generation that came to Egypt, they passed away. But the children of Israel, that family, became fruitful and increased abundantly and multiplied and grew exceedingly mightily and the land was full with them. They bred, they multiplied. So, they became very blessed by God and they multiplied. And then arose another king over Egypt over a period of time. We do not know Joseph. And the people, and he said to the people, these people, so this king of Egypt said, look, these Israelites are more and more and getting stronger and stronger.

And just now we can have a riot. That's basically what he was saying. And then he says, come, let us be smart about this. Let us just be shrewd. Let's be clever about this. Lest they multiply. And then, in case there's going to be a war, they also join our enemies and then we have a revolt and then we trouble. And therefore, verse 11, they said, taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burden.

So, they started being tough on them and making life difficult for them. And the Israelites built for Pharaoh cities, give some examples of the cities. But the more they put pressure on them in verse 12, the more they multiplied and they grew and became stronger. Because God was blessing them. God was blessing them. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. You know, it was the Egyptians were afraid. So, the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve of rigor. So, it even became harder. And they made their lives better with a hard bondage.

And they had to work hard labor, physical labor. And then verse 15, then the king of Egypt spoke to the midwives and said, yeah, if there's a boy, zap them, kill them. But if it's a girl, let them continue living. You know? But the midwives fear God. Verse 17, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded, but saved the male children. So, the kingdom of Egypt called the midwives and says, hey, why are you done with this?

And the midwives said, you know, the Hebrew women are strong. You see, by the time we get there, the child's already born, so, you know. So, therefore, verse 20, God dealt with the midwives and the people multiplied and grew very markedly.

And then, and then he says, well, now every son who is born says Pharaoh in verse 22, will be costing to the river and every daughter you shall save alive. So, he basically started a death sentence. Then we can see the story of Moses. Then you know the story of Moses. He was born. He was in the river. You know that story. And then we get down a little bit further down in chapter 2, verse 23. He says, now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. You see, so what happened is, you know the story of Moses, and then he became somebody important in the Egyptian military. But then there was a problem. Then he ended up fleeing. And in the course of time, that king died. And the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage. And they cried out, and they cried, came to God because of the bondage. So God heard it groaning. And God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and of Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them. And so in chapter 3, we continue. And he says, and now Moses was standing the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. He said, so he had been there, now he fled, and now there's a lot. He was there for 40 years, and fled from Egypt. Now he is. And during that period, he became very humble, because previously he thought he was going to be the one. And now, during those 40 years, he just said, no, he became very humble, very neat. So, and he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. That's Mount Sinai. And the angel of the Eternal appeared to Moses in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. Now, it's referred to Yah as the angel of the Eternal. He was the messenger of the Eternal, of the highest, of the Father, the one that was doing the work for the Father. And you can see a little lighter, and we will read that in a moment, that it's referring to him as God. So we know that we use who we today call Jesus Christ, that messenger of God, the one that was representing the heavenly Father, was Christ himself. And we'll see it, just we're going to read it in a moment. And so, he appeared in a bush, and there was a fire in a bush. So there's this bush, and it's burning, but the bush is not burning. Now, this is interesting, I mean, very interesting.

Now, you think about it. The bush, think about some possible analogies here. Possible. I'm not saying it's for sure, but it's impossible. The bush was not a tree. It's not a whole nation. It was just representing the Israelites, and a growing nation. They're going through a fire, a consuming fire, which is a trial, but they were not being destroyed. So in analogy, that's what was happening to the bush. It was like the Israelites, they were not yet a nation, not yet a mighty tree, but they were a bush, but they were not being burned. But God was amongst them. God was amongst them.

And likewise, the analogy, you can say it, to the church. You know, we are under trials, but we're not being consumed, because the church will remain till Christ's come. We'll always be there. So, we can see a little bit of an analogy there, which is interesting. But then continue, we're reading in chapter 3 verse 4. So when the eternal, we were reading verse 2, sorry. So we looked and we all, and the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn. Now, this really caught his attention. He said, no, why not come? I mean, this is a fire, but it's not burning. So when the eternal, the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush. So you see, this was the angel of the Lord in verse 2, but Yah is referring to the angel of the Lord. God called him. From the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. He didn't just say Moses, said Moses, Moses, which implies a sense of urgency. And he said, here I am. And then in verse 5, do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet for the place where you stand is holy ground. In other words, show proper respect because God is nearby. And likewise, we come to church. And as we come to church, we need to show God proper respect. And so that is the example there again, the analogy. God is present, he's watching us, and we show proper respect as we come to church. Verse 6. Moreover, he said, I am the God of your Father. Now, this is the angel of the Lord talking. And he says, I am the God of your Father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now, Yah is so clear in the Old Testament. There are two beings. You see, he's the angel of the Lord, of the highest of the Father. But Yah is this one, which was the spokesman, the one that was the word that spoke to the people through whom all things were created. He is the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and he's now talking to Moses. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. So, we can see Yah, we have a very powerful God, Yah, appearing to Moses. Now, it says, Moses hid his face. Think about it. Was Moses turning around and says, Ho! I am such so important because God is not talking to me. No! Just the opposite. I mean, it's like if you or some people, say for instance, again, talk to the president of the nation, he says, well, the president of the nation came and invited me. Oh, I'm so important because the president came and invited me to. Now, God is, in a sense, inviting Moses, and Moses says, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Who am I? Who am I? Look at it.

For he said, I am the Lord, and Moses hid his face. That's the end of verse 6. And then the Lord said, I have surely seen the oppression of my people or in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their trespasses, for I know their sorrows. So God is saying, I know what's happening. And verse 8, so I've come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from the land to a good and large land, to a land flowing in smoke and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, and that's a tongue twister, a verse 9. And now, therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me, and I have seen the oppression which the Egyptians oppressed them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you, Moses, to Pharaoh, that you, Moses, may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. Ho, ho! I'm so glad you chose me! Is that what Moses said? No. Right? But Moses said to God, Who am I? Who am I? That I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt. His pride as a young man was gone. Gone. And you read elsewhere, if you want to know where it is, it's in Numbers 12, verse 3, it says he was the humblest man on earth, the meekest man on earth. He was very meek, very teachable, and that's those 40 years, made him that humble.

Not saying he was perfect, but at least from a point of pride that had been fixed, there was another problem which we'll come to just now. So he said, I will certainly be with you.

Now imagine, God calls you to do your job, and he says, Why me, God? And then God says, Relax, I'll be with you. What message could be more encouraging than that? What message could be encouraged than that? And do you know what? That's what God tells us. I will never leave you or forsake you, doesn't it? That's Hebrews 13 verse 5, if I remember correctly. I will never leave you or forsake you. Basically, he says, I'll be with you. That's what it means. So as in God's church, God is saying, I will be with you. That is very encouraging. Let's continue then in verse 13. Then Moses says to God, Indeed, and when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, The God of our fathers has sent me to you, and they say to me, What is his name? What shall I say to them? And in verse 14 he says, And God said to Moses, I am who I am.

I am who I am. At all times, I am present, and I will always be I am because I am in absolute control.

And you know from the book of John how many times Jesus Christ said, I am. Can you remember some of the things that he said, I am? I am the bread of life. I am the bread of life. I am the light. I am the door. I am the good shepherd. I am the resurrection and life. I am the way and the truth. I am the true vine. Christ said, I am. And when he said, I am, they wanted to kill him and stone him because they knew what he was saying. He was saying, he was that. I am.

And then he said, This you will say to the children of Israel, I am as sent me to you. Moreover, God said to Moses, thus shall say to the children of Israel, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Jacob, and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, as sent me to you. This is my name forever. How many times do you see God being referred as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? Many times. Even in prophecy, it talks about in the world tomorrow, the God of Jacob is rudely amongst the people. You can read that in sections like Isaiah 2, verse 3, and Micah 4, verse 2. He says, The God of Jacob, that's his name.

And then a little bit, verse 17, continuing, And I have said, I will bring you out of the affliction of Egypt. God will bring them out, out of that trial. And you know what? That's what God says to us, as the church and to the world, by extension. Because we foreshadow the world. God will bring us out of this slavery, which is this world. This world, we are slaves in this world, and God will bring us out of this world.

God will see to it, God will see to it, that that will happen. And so you can see the rest of the story. You can see the events that happened through this various place. You know, from Exodus chapter 7 through Exodus chapter 10, you see those nine plays. Think about it. Have you ever considered they are in a series of three? The first one was announced to Pharaoh at the Na'ab.

The second one was proclaimed in the palace. And the third one was sent without warning. That is the first series. The second series was also first announced to Pharaoh at the Na'ab. Then proclaimed at the palace, and then sent without warning. And the first one, as you know, was the waters turned blood, and then the frogs, and then the lice. That was the first series. The second series at the Na'ab was the flies, proclaimed at the palace was the pestilence of the livestock, and sent without warning was the boils. And the third series was the hail, the locusts, and darkness.

The interesting thing is that these plagues were specifically aimed, or representing, the Egyptian gods they were destroyed. For instance, the river was a god to them and became blood. Lice was a god to them, I tell you. I'm not too keen in having a god that is lice, but anyway, it was a god to them. Frogs were gods, cattle, like you know, the worship of Baal was an ox, but cattle was. They worshiped the sun. In fact, don't people worship the sun today? They just call it sun day. They call it worship. Nothing's different! We are in Egypt! We're slaves of Egypt. And so, the gods of Egypt were destroyed, one by one.

What is the analogy for today? The gods of the swold are being destroyed, one by one. What are the gods of the swold? Democracy is a god. Freedom, my rights, is a god that is going to be destroyed.

Wow! Imagine when democracy in this country will be destroyed, what it will be like in this country. It's a god. Money! Oh, yeah! It says here, some way I'm finding.

In God, we trust! That's the god! Money! This is going to be destroyed. When the American dollar will be destroyed, the world, not just America, the whole world, will be in a terrible disaster. The whole world. Because they say, America coughs and the whole world gets sick. And that's so true. The whole society is not going to be just a punishment on the United States of America, or the Israelite nation. It's going to be in the whole world, because God is going to free the whole world when Christ comes back from the slavery. Or maybe it's your 401k stocks and your bonds.

You know, and I know, that it does say they'll throw their gold in the streets.

Regrettably, your hope, your 401k for retirement, the day will come. It will be gone. Because what is this? Trust. And when the trust is gone, it's gone. It's just a number in a computer, and you just have to press reset. It goes down to zero. And that's it. It's gone. So the gods of this nation and of this world are going to be destroyed, like the gods of Egypt were destroyed. What is another god of this world? Our military! We made it with our hand!

And I honour and respect those that have served. By no means am I trying to disrespect you, because you've done a service. But the military has become a god, because people are trusting in that instead of in God.

In fact, every government of this world will be destroyed by the Beast's power, and then by Christ coming back. Every government, not just in the States, if you watch the news, you look in Brazil, there's corruption everywhere. There's thousands and thousands of people striking and demonstrating because of extreme corruption. And it's not just there, it's every nation, because the governments of this world have shown absolute sheer incompetence and corruption. And so brethren, if you are getting involved in politics, be careful, because it could be a god, and maybe you're not putting your trust in it through God. You know, brethren, the ambassador of Germany does not get involved in American politics, because if he did, a couple of things. If Germany gets involved in American politics, then basically it's a case of war. Or, if the ambassador of Germany would vote in the States, he would lose his status as ambassador, and he possibly lose his proper German nationality.

Whose ambassadors are you? You're ambassadors of Christ. Like the German ambassador is the ambassador of Angela Merkel, which means of the government, of her government. So, you and I are ambassadors of Christ, which is the kingdom of God. And if you are, or if we are involved in worldly politics of this world, we could be throwing away our citizenship of the kingdom of God. So, we've got to be very careful, and the gods will be destroyed, because Christ is going to come and bring the only government. He's their only ruler. He's the only ruler that is going to bring peace to this nation and to the whole world. All other rulers are false messiahs. That's what the messiah is. It's a rumor. It's anointed one. It's the one who's been selected, that voted in by God, he is the anointed one, the messiah.

And all other rulers are false messiahs, are false Christ, in other words. Think about it that way. So, after all this has been devastated, God now gets the nation ready for the 10th plague.

Now, let's look at the end of the 9th plague, and that is at the end of chapter 10 of Exodus. Exodus chapter 10.

Verse 27.

But Moses said, you must also give a sacrifice, and very often said, we must sacrifice to the Lord our God. Our livestock shall also go with us. So, Moses is talking to Pharaoh. Our livestock shall also go with us. Not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must take some of them to serve the eternal our God. And even we do not know with what we must serve the Lord until we arrive there.

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. Why? Because Pharaoh is representing in analogy a Satan that is not letting the people go.

So, Pharaoh is representing Satan, and so Pharaoh said to him in verse 28, Get out! Get out of the eye, Moses! Get out! Take heed to yourself and see my face no more. I don't want to see you anymore. Just get out! For in the day you see my face, you, Moses, will die. So, Moses said, You've spoken well. You've spoken well. I'll never see your face again.

But before he left, he continued and said to him what God had told Moses. And that, so let's pick up, before he left, what he said to Moses in chapter 11, starting in verse 4.

And he says, Their Moses said. So before he left, he said, Okay, you won't see my face, but let me tell you my peace. Let me tell you something else. He said, That is God. In the middle of the night, and it wasn't that night, because we know there's going to be other things that they had to put the lamb and put it out on the 10th and all these things. But at midnight, at the night that it will happen somewhere, one of these nights at midnight, God says, I'll go out into the midst of Egypt. My God says, at midnight, one of these nights at midnight, I will go to your land.

And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die. So you're telling me you're going to kill me? I tell you what God's telling you. All your children that are first born are going to die. Which basically says Pharaoh was not the first born. That was he would have died.

And that's some interesting point about history there. Anyway, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sits on Israel, even in the firstborn of the female servant, who is behind the animal, and all the firstborn of the animals, even of your animals, firstborn will die. There there shall be a great cry, a great cry, throughout all the land of Egypt. Such as was not like it before, nor shall it be like again.

But against none of the children of Israel shall the dog move its tongue. Now think about it. Think about it. In the land of Egypt, children are dying. Can you imagine the rokers, the noise, the crying, the wailing, oh, and the dogs barking and all the scene going on. But in the area where the Israelites are, it will be absolutely peaceful that not even a dog will bark.

Shall a dog move its tongue against man or beast? You know what I say? One bark against one another. That you may know that eternal does make a difference between Egyptians and Israel. And all these your servants shall come down to me. All your servants Pharaoh will come down to me and bow down to me saying, Get out! And all the people will follow you. After that, I will go out. And then he went out from Pharaoh in great anger. Moses was furious. And in great anger, he left Pharaoh.

Now, you know, this was Moses' problem. Anger. Because of anger, he broke, you remember, the two tablets with the Ten Commandments. In anger. In anger, this anger went to a theme for 40 years while they went through the wilderness. And right at the end of those 40 years, he went back to the same mountain where they had been at the beginning, where there was a rock. And God had told him, Heat the rock and water came out. At the end of 40 years, in the same spot, in the same rock, they said, We don't have water. And God told Moses, Speak to the rock. And what did Moses do? In anger, he hit the rock. And yes, the water did come out. But God called Moses aside and said, Listen, young man, he was only 20 years old, but young man, there's one thing you haven't learned yet. You haven't learned how to control your anger. And because of that, you will not go into the promised land.

And so from there, I believe Moses learned how to control his anger. But he had to pay for price. But there's another analogy in there, brethren. You know, in the New Testament, it says that rock was Christ.

So the first time he hit the rock, yes, Christ was killed once, but not twice. The second time, you can't be baptized, come into the church, and then walk away. You know, Paul in Hebrew says that very clearly. You can't come back a second time. You can't hit the rock a second time. You can't hit Christ a second time. Why? Because then you will not go to the promised land. What is our promised land? The kingdom of God.

It's a serious warning when we look at these parallels and we start drawing them to us. Very strange. So, Moses was angry. He had to control that problem. He got it, taught him how to be humble, but he was still angry. But at the end of the four years, he learned how to control his anger. And that is a lesson to us. So, when we look at this, we can see that Pharaoh was stubborn. Was stubborn! You know what it means? Stubborn! How not good! I mean, some of us sometimes are stubborn! You know what? God knows how to work that stubbornness out. He knows how to deal with you and me. So, let's be careful! Let's not be stubborn! Let's be careful!

Because that points to Satan. He is stubborn and he will be punished, ultimately. That stubbornness, when you stand up for the right, that's one thing. But when your stubbornness is wrong, you just say, because I said this and I said that and I'm proud, I don't want to humble myself and I'm going to say the same thing, then there is a problem. Now, that we've looked at the Old Testament, let's look at the New Testament. Because we're going to look at the New Testament, but we want to look at the Passover in the Old Testament and then look at that. What do we have on the Passover? It's in Exodus 12. We've got the Passover. It says that the 14th, it says it's the twilight. They keep the Lamb until the beginning of the 14th. Then it is in chapter 12 verse 6. Now you shall keep it until the 14th day of the same month when the whole congregation or assembly of Israel shall kill it, a twilight.

So you're keeping it all the way on the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th. Now the 14th occurs! Now you don't have to keep it anymore, right? Because now you've got to the 14th. That's a twilight at the 14th. When is twilight? It's when the sun sets and there's still a bit of light. There's still twilight before it's completely dark. Then you kill. Then you have to put the blood on the doorposts.

Now some people say, oh well, it doesn't matter when I keep the Passover. I can keep it another day. I can keep it every week. I can keep it every three months. Well, what if they decided to keep it on the 15th instead of the 14th? Like some people today, keep the Passover on the 15th, not on the 14th. What if they decided to keep it on the 15th?

Well, for one, they would be dead. Because the day before, they would have been killed. So it didn't matter which day. So that is important there.

And so you can see that. And in verse 10, you can see as well, verse 10, and thus you shall eat this lamb, which is roasted in the fire. You can see that in verse 8, which is roasted in the fire. So it's roasted. It's like a barbecue. It's not boiled. It's roasted. It's a barbecue. But in verse 10, it says, But you shall let none of it remain till the morning. And what remains of it until the morning, you shall burn with fire. So on the next morning, so that's still on the 14th, because you know in God's calendar, the day starts at sunset, the 14th. So you have to do this. You put the blood on the door. At midnight is the Lord's Passover. So where did he pass over? At midnight, who passed over? The Lord. Whose Passover is it? The Lord, not the angel of death, as so many people misspeak. And it's easy for us to say that, but it says, is the Lord passed over? He passed over. He killed the firstborn.

At midnight on the 14th, then in the morning, if there was any meat left, it would be burnt. They had to get rid of it. Early in the morning, it's the little 14th, because now he had the dead part of the 14th. Look at it, verse 11. And thus you shall eat it with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, your stuff in your hand. You shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. So you will eat it with a sense of urgency, and you'll do it. And then he says again, as we heard in the sermon, that blood is now a sign. The blood on the doorpost is a sign. You can see that in verse 13. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses which you are in. And so God sees that sign and passes over that house, so those children, the firstborn in there, are not killed.

All right. So let's look at those symbols in the New Testament. So we're going to start in John chapter 1, verse 29. John chapter 1, verse 29.

The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him, this is John the Baptist, and said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So Jesus Christ is that Lamb of the Passover. He is the Lamb of God.

And it does not just take the sin of the Israelites. It does not just take the sin of the church, but it takes away the sin of all mankind, of the whole world. And then in verse 30, Now think about it. John the Baptist was born before Christ, right? About six months. But John the Baptist says, He was before me. He existed before I was born.

Which shows how the Word became Christ, and that Word existed long before he was born as a human being. Alright, let's continue reading in verse 31.

God's Spirit, the standing and remaining on him, and he saw that like a dove, this is him. This is the Christ who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. It's Christ that does the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

It's Christ that immerses us into the body of Christ, which is God's spiritual body, which is the church.

So let's continue now in Matthew 26. I'm going to look at a few scriptures that sometimes are a little confusing, and I'm going to explain them clearly. Matthew 26, so there we know that Christ was the Lamb of God. But now we're going to look at the time of the Passover, and we're going to read in Matthew 26 verse 17.

Now the first of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus. Now, note how I read it. I skipped over the words that are in italics. Maybe your Bible does not have them in italics, but the New King James Version and the King James Version has them in italics. The word day and the word feast is in italics. In other words, they're not in Greek. So now the first of unleavened bread. Now the beginning of unleavened bread. Now you and I, as we prepare to be leavened for unleavened bread, we know that we start quite a bit before. And a day or two before, you get rid of that leaven. And imagine it was a city, and that was the day then where they took all the leaven and they burnt it so that by the time unleavened bread came, there was no leavening there. So it was the beginning of unleavened bread to them because they were burning it up. They were destroying it in the city. It's not the first day of the feast because that's not in Greek. It was just the beginning of unleavened bread. Why? Because they were getting rid of the unleavened bread. The disciples came to Jesus saying to him, where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover? Now, why leave it to the lost moment? Why leave it to the lost moment? That's important to understand. Now, you and I know if Christ was killed before the Passover, and you know they wanted to kill him, if Christ was killed before the Passover, who would be happy with that? Satan. Why? Because then he would no more be your Savior than my Savior. So they knew the Jews were trying to nail him and to get him and to kill him. So he had to keep secret and confidential from his own disciples because amongst them one of them would betray him. Right? So he had to keep it away from them until the lost moment. And then he says, right, the lost moment, there it is. There's it where it's going to be. And he had already organized it, so the other person knew, but these other disciples didn't know. So when he told them at the last moment, it spoiled Satan's desire to destroy him before the Passover.

And then let's continue reading in verse 15, Matthew 26, verse 15. No, not verse 15. Verse 18. And now he said, going to the city to a certain man and say to him, the teacher says, The time is at hand, I'll keep the Passover in your house with these mighty disciples. And disciples did his Jesus' adoration. They prepared the Passover. They prepared the Passover. The Passover. Now, some people say, oh, well, this was not the Passover. It was just a meal because Christ could not keep the Passover on the 15th, as they think he should, as the Jews today keep. They keep it on the 15th, not on the 14th. While Leviticus 23, I think it's about verse 5 or 6, says very clearly that it's on the 14th. But the Jews today keep it on the 15th. And some people say, well, we must keep it on the 15th, but because Christ could not keep it because he was already dead, he had to keep it a day before. How harsh! Because it says he kept the Passover, not a day before, some, like, fake meal a day before. That was the Passover. But you see how Satan is so clever to bring these and distort the truth so cleverly that some of the people in the church get confused. You see, they kept the Passover. And so the disciples died, and when the evening had come, he sat down off to 12. So you can see it was right there at the last moment, and therefore, Judas did not have time to actually do anything because it was all kind of squashed in there.

You know, well, Satan did not have time to do anything else. And obviously, it was on the evening on the 14th, before he died, right? Because the next day, the 15th, was a holy day. We all know it's a holy day. It was a holy day. And so it wasn't on the 15th, it was the evening before. So it's just so clear, brethren, that he kept the Passover on the 14th. And it amazes me that you still have people that came into God's church, and now they caused a vision amongst a few people in the church by saying, No, we've got to keep it one day later. And I know such people by name, personally, individually. I'm not talking about a figment. I'm talking about reality. It's a fact. But it's so evident that Christ kept the Passover. And so they sat, and let's now look in Luke 22.

Look 22.

Verse 13. So they went and found the just as he had said to them, and they prepared thee Passover. And when the hour had come, now brethren, it was not even the day that had come. It was the hour. It wasn't just the right day. It was the right hour. At the right time. The hour it came, and he sat down with the twelve, and he said to them, Would fervent desire after desire to eat this Passover? It doesn't say fervent desire after desire to eat this meal, but I know it's not the Passover because it's tomorrow, but I'm just keeping it today because tomorrow I'm going to be dead. No! I mean, even say that! And then they knew it was the Passover, and nobody questioned him, and then he said, It's this Passover! This was the Passover meal. But think about Christ. He knew he was going to be killed. They did not know. He knew he was going to be killed. And he says, With desire after desire to keep this Passover. Wow! If you knew you were going to be killed, would you have been desiring for that meal? You probably would have your stomach up in arms going like with your asses and your indigestion, you wouldn't be able to eat! I mean, you'd be a baaargh! Or inside you, you could! And he was showing them love and care and concern. And then, what happened? The very first thing he did, after the meal, after he kept the Old Testament Passover, after he ate the lamb, what was the first thing he did?

Look in John chapter 13. John chapter 13.

We start reading in verse 1. And now before the Feast of the Passover, and when the Jews knew that his hour... When Jesus knew that his hour had come, so they were keeping a feast, the next day they were having a big ceremony, etc. The Jews were having. And so, but before they were doing that, but it was on the 14th Ephesus, and knew that his hour had come, and that you should depart from the sword to the Father, having loved his own, who were in the world. He loved them to the end, and supper being ended. So he sat down for the Passover. They finished the Passover ceremony of the Old Testament. You know, it was the cedar, as the Jews call it, was finished. The Passover of the Old Testament was finished. After that, he got up from the table, and he put a towel or something like that, and started washing his disciples' feet. As you can see, in supper being ended, the devil had already put it into the heart of Jesus as carrying out the psalm and sun to be trained. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hand, and he had come from God and was going to God. So he had come from God, and he was going to God, so he had come from being a God-being, and he was going to go back to being a God-being. So he took a towel, and he gooded himself, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe. Now, that's important. There's two actions. Quite often, only think about washing the feet. Why, as well, meditate on that. As in Old Testament says, selah. It means meditate on that. Think about it. Why the feet? There's a very deep spiritual meaning in that. Anyone? That's another subject. Maybe I'll cover it in another sermon. Anyway. And with the towel, which he was good, and then Peter says, No, not me, etc., etc. And you know, Judas was there, and he washed Judas' feet. And then it says, after that, they sat back, they start going back at the table and sitting. That's why some places it says, well, they were eating. Well, think about it. If you have a nice meal with your family at night, and you finish the meal, but you kind of still stay sitting at the table, quote-unquote, chewing the cart. In other words, just chatting and talking and maybe having a little glass of wine and maybe nibbling or something, but the actual meal is finished. But you're just talking and nibbling. That's what happened. So in a sense, you could say, they were still sitting and eating at the table, but the actual supper was ended already. That explains why sometimes people get confused with that. So they were sitting and eating there, and then Judas, he identifies, well, it's Judas, and then he says, and then he went immediately out from them. So Judas went out from them. And what happens afterwards? What happens afterwards, you know, he then institutes the ceremony of the bread and the wine of his bread, his body, and the wine, his blood, which represents the new covenant, introduces that subject. And this is the new symbols of the new covenant. The old covenant was killing the lamb, represented Christ. Now in the new covenant, the lamb of God has now been killed. We now take the bread and the wine at the Passover as a symbol of Christ's body and as a symbol of Christ's blood. It's not Christ's body, as the Catholics put it. It's not Christ's blood, but it's a symbol of it. Symbolic. It's just a reminder, just a token, just a sign, as we heard in the sermon. So that's what the new covenant is. I will be covering in other sermons a little bit more about the bread and the wine and how it applies and bringing that. But I just want to remind you of some very powerful scriptures. The first one I want you to look at is in Romans 8.

In Romans 8, it's basically talking about Christ in us. The bread of life that we take at the Passover, which is symbolic of Christ being in us, which is symbolic of God's Holy Spirit, God's mind in us, Christ living in us, through the power of His Spirit. Because that's how we baptize. He baptizes with the Spirit, puts us into the Church, and becomes part of His body. So we're part of Him. But look at in Romans 8, verse 7. He says, because the carnal mind is enmity against God, it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. In other words, the normal human being is just not interested in the law of God. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. And brethren, we all are fleshly, but our minds and our thoughts must not be on the things of the flesh. Because if they are, we're not pleasing God. And if, whenever one of those wrong thoughts comes into your mind, you've got to put it away and put the thoughts of the Spirit. Because if you allow to have those thoughts of the flesh, you cannot please God. Verse 9.

In other words, the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ, the same Spirit, the same Spirit. He's not a Christian. Verse 10.

But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. That's why Christ is the door and is the resurrection, is the way. So brethren, what we have here is a true God's only Spirit now, which is far more important than some of the things of the Old Testament, because now we have this deeper meaning and appreciation of these new symbols of the New Covenant. And through that, we can be sons of God and daughters of God. And that's why, brethren, as we are preparing for Passover and 11 bread, we have to prepare spiritually. Now, I have prepared two handouts. Some of you, there are a few at the back. I'm not sure if I have enough, but we can make photocopies, if needs be. Two handouts. One is what to look for, which is leavening agents. And another one is Passover Season Study Guide, which shows you a number of scriptures and things that you could use as, let's call it, a guide of things that you could study between now and the Passover. So, yes, you and I have to physically take the leaven out. But even more important, we have to spiritually take that leaven out. And that's why I've given you these two. One is to help you to do physically, to actually remind you of the significance of what you do. But also, more important, you need to do it spiritually. And therefore, I'm giving you some scriptures for you to use as a study aid to help you preparing for the Passover. I am very concerned, brethren. I'm really concerned. There are a lot of people in the Church today that are falling asleep. I'm really concerned. People don't come to Church regularly. They come when they feel like they just becoming lukewarm. And I don't mean it's this organization or that organization because all organizations are suffering the same problem. All fellowships are getting the same problem. Brethren, we have to wake up. You just have to look at the news. Things are going to blow up. Things are going to blow up. There's going to be trouble. And I'm not asking for trouble. I'm just looking at the facts and looking at prophecy and saying there's going to be trouble in the nation. Big trouble. Some people come to me and say, Oh, I don't know. This is so bad. Brethren, you have not seen what bad is. If you watch the news and you look at what's happening in Syria and you imagine that to be Lexington, that's bad. And it's going to happen. So we've got to be a bit close to God. We better be close to God. And the unconcerned brethren, there are a lot of brethren in the church, are asleep. So consider taking it very seriously, preparing for the Passover. Take it very seriously. It's not for you and I to judge others, but we've got to judge ourselves. We've got to judge ourselves. Now, I don't want to sound negative because in the end the Passover is also a victory ceremony. Why? Because it's a victory of a sin. It's a victory of a Satan. And that gives us peace of mind because Christ is going to bring the victory. Like the Israelites, for them, leaving Egypt was a victory.

And so, what I've covered today, yes, there's a lot of technical knowledge and dates and things like that. Yes, those are important, but you know, brethren, what's important is the mouth of our heart. And are we really committed to follow God with the right heart and the right way? And so, Paul mentioned in Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians chapter 5, he says, Keep the feast, not with the old leaven. In other words, they were keeping the feast. They were delavening. But he says, not with that old leaven of malice and evil, but really have the leaven, keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. And that is what we have to do, brethren. So, let's prepare for the feast and the days of unleavened bread for the Passover and celebrate it with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Brethren, God has a plan to rescue mankind from the slavery that we are in. Satan will be forced out. And God is telling to Satan, and it will happen. Let my people go.