Preparation for the Spring Holy Days

Old Man Winter just doesn't seem to want to let go, but truly spring is near. Spring officially begins on March 20th, a little bit less than three weeks away. The first day of the sacred calendar is March 12th, just over a week from now. And so that means the spring holy days are near, and it's time to prepare for the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We'll be keeping these holy days, these festivals, at the end of the month. And just think, a month from now, we will already have observed all of the spring holy days.

But will we have learned anything by keeping them? Will we have grown spiritually?

Will we be more committed and more zealous than ever before? Will that flame for God's kingdom be burning brighter than ever before?

You know, that's what God would desire, the effect God would desire the spring holy days to have upon us.

So today, let's begin our preparation in earnest. We've already had, of course, some sermons leading up to or about the Passover.

I'd like to, first of all, ask the question and answer it. Are the holy days for today? Should we be keeping the holy days? Or have they been done away, as many people believe? Many believe they're just a part of the Old Covenant. They've been done away.

Well, we will not go back right now to chapters in the Old Testament. We might go back to one or two later on. But the first mention of the holy days is in Exodus 23. And then you find all seven of the annual holy days in Leviticus 23. Those are easy to remember, aren't they? Exodus 23 and Leviticus 23. And then you find many of the holy days mentioned in Deuteronomy 16.

So these holy days were given by way of commandment to the ancient Israelites.

But are they for Christians to observe today? Were they just for ancient Israel and the Jews?

What does the Bible say?

Well, we come forward to the New Testament. And without turning again to the Scriptures right now, we find that Jesus observed the holy days.

In Luke 2, beginning in verse 41, you can look that up later, at the age of 12, His parents took Him to Jerusalem for the Passover, as was their custom. So actually, Jesus had been going to Jerusalem every year when He was 11, 10, 9, right on down. But when He was 12 years of age, that's the incident where they lost Him when they were on their way home, and they had to come back and they found Him talking with the doctors of the law.

And so Jesus then had parents who took Him to Jerusalem to keep the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Also in John 7, you will read that Jesus observed the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day of the Feast. And that's John 7. That whole chapter is devoted to things which happened at the Feast of Tabernacles and at the Last Great Day. So yes, Jesus observed the Holy Days. But people will then say, well, yes, Jesus was born under the law. And after the cross, the Holy Days, then the law was nailed to the cross, and the Holy Days were done away. But were they?

What does the New Testament teach? What is the example of the New Testament Church?

Let's go to some verses now. Turn, let's quickly go through some of these. I think it's important that we do this. I do not apologize for the repetition. When we consider that some years ago left God's Church and went back to keeping the holidays of the world and got back to Sunday worship, then we should not be afraid to go back and to have sermons on proving the Sabbath that we should observe it today. Proving the Holy Days that the Holy Days are days that Christians should keep. Let's go to then Acts chapter 2 and then quickly some other verses about what the New Testament Church did. Acts chapter 2 verse 1, when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. We know this is the day when the New Testament Church began. The church that we are a part of now, our church began on the day of Pentecost. It's the church Jesus said He would build in Matthew 16 and verse 18. It began on the day of Pentecost, the Feast of First Fruits. Okay, let's skip on over forward to Acts chapter 12.

And this is where Herod killed James, the brother of John, verse 2. And verse 3, Acts 12 and verse 3, because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also.

Now, when was it? It was during the days of Unleavened Bread, that feast we will be observing ourselves in a few weeks. And notice that Passover is mentioned in verse 4 as a word that actually includes Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Sometimes we refer to the Passover season. We use that expression ourselves, but he intended after the Passover to bring him out from prison where he was put. Okay, let's go to now chapter 20 and verse 6.

Acts chapter 20 and verse 6. We sailed away from Philippi. Where was Philippi? Well, it was in Macedonia. It was in northern Greece. And we sailed from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread.

Well, you know, it shows they had kept the days of unleavened bread. And this is Paul in Gentile territory. And reference to the days of unleavened bread, obviously, having observed and kept these days. In verse 16, Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hurrying to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.

He wanted to keep Pentecost in Jerusalem. Let's go to Acts chapter 27 and verse 9. Paul, on his journey now to Rome, would suffer shipwreck. And it is described in this chapter in Acts 27 and verse 9. Now when much time had been spent and sailing was now dangerous, because the fast, my New King James version of the Bible, has fast capitalized. And a marginal reference back to the day of atonement. Well, it says the day of atonement in the margin, late September or early October. The fast was already over. And so it's referring to the day of atonement. Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verses 7 and 8. 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 7 and 8. Skipping in, well, we'll read the whole thing. Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ our Passover. That's what they Passover pictures. Christ being sacrificed for us. Verse 8. Therefore, let us keep the feast. Obviously the Feast of Unleavened Bread. He's telling this to a Gentile church in Greece, in Corinth. This is Paul writing to the Gentiles. Therefore let us keep the Feast, the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. One of the best verses in the Bible showing the spiritual meaning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Verse 8. That just about sums up what the Feast, those seven days, the Feast of Unleavened Bread are all about. Putting out the old leaven, spiritual leaven of malice and wickedness, and taking in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 11. I'm not going to read these verses right now, but come back to them later. I just want to, since we're turning to verses that prove the New Testament church keeping the Holy Days, just mention this. 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 23. I received from the Lord that which I delivered to you. And it goes on to describe the Passover, the New Testament Passover, the taking of bread representing the body of Christ and the drinking from the cup representing His blood. We'll read from this chapter later. Let's go to chapter 16, 1 Corinthians 16 and verse 8. Rather, there are a lot of references to the Holy Days in the New Testament church time.

And so we're certainly illustrating beyond the doubt that they did keep the Holy Days.

And there are even articles you can read in encyclopedias and in Bible aids that state that the early church continued to keep. They may even put it this way. They continued to keep the Jewish festivals, whether God's festivals, they're not Jewish, but they that does establish, and many people recognize it, that the early church continued to keep the Holy Days. 1 Corinthians 16 and verse 8, "...but I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost," Paul said. And let's go to a couple of other verses. Colossians 2 and verse 16. And I read this verse, and I'm not afraid to read it.

It's a verse that is often twisted to try to say the Holy Days are done away and nobody should bother with keeping the Holy Days, but that is not what it says at all. Any honest reading of this shows that it's totally different than trying to do away with the Holy Days. Colossians 2 and verse 16, "...therefore let no one judge you." Oh, somebody was judging, looking at the Colossian church, and judging them. "...let no one judge you in food or in drink," or as the Greek means, in eating and drinking, regarding a festival, a holy day, or a new moon, or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come. And so these verses actually show that the Colossian church was eating and drinking on God's holy days as festivals. And they were being judged by people there in Colossae because some of the people didn't think you were supposed to enjoy eating and drinking. They were very much into asceticism and denial of the body. You can even read that as you go on later in this same chapter, kind of a will worship. Let's go to... Colossians 2, 16 then is proof of the Holy Days, being observed by the Gentiles. Colossae was a church near Laodicea in Asia Minor, South Western Turkey, or Asia Minor. And so in that area then, there was a church of God, and they were keeping, they were eating and drinking on God's festivals and holy days. Let's go to Jude, verse 12, the little book of Jude in verse 12, and this would certainly very likely be another verse that would be proof for the festivals of God in the early church. In the book of Jude, as we know, it's a very strong indictment against false teachers that were infiltrating the church of God.

And Jude just lets them have it, you might say. It's a stinging indictment toward them.

And in verse 12, he says, these are spots in your love feasts. Well, with that, that could be something else, perhaps, but could it not even more likely be the Holy Days? Let me put a question mark there if you'd like, but in my mind, I feel strongly that it's very likely, talking about God's Holy Days. They are love feasts, while they feast with you without fear. So, you know, these are verses that certainly illustrate that the early church did keep the Holy Days, and this is certainly after the cross. There's no argument about that. You know, additional proof of the Holy Days would be that they will be observed when Christ returns. They will be observed by all nations. Certainly the Feast of Tabernacles will be in Zechariah 14. Let's go ahead and turn to that, and it's a strong proof then that certainly the Feast of Tabernacles, and we believe by extension the other Holy Days, are going to be observed. Jesus said He would indicate that He would eat of the fruit of the vine at His return. He would not do it until then.

So, there's proof for the Holy Days being observed in the millennium by all nations. Zechariah 14 is the time after Christ has returned. Verse 9, reigns as King over all the earth.

And in verse 16, it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And if they don't, they have no reign. As you go on down the next couple of verses, that will be their punishment if they do not keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

All nations will also keep the Sabbath as well. We're not getting into that right now, but Isaiah 66-23 says that all flesh from one Sabbath to another, all flesh, will come to worship before God. So, the Sabbath and the Holy Days certainly will be observed in the millennium, and they were observed by the early church, and they should be observed by Christians today. Christians today should come out of the world, come out of Christmas, come out of Easter worship, come out of Sunday worship, and keep God's Sabbath, and keep the biblical Holy Days. You know, the Sabbath and the Holy Days together combine to be a powerful sign of where God's church is. It's not the only thing. There's more to it than just the Sabbath and the Holy Days, but it certainly narrows down the field a lot when you're looking for a church that does keep the weekly Sabbath and the biblical Holy Days. Let's turn to Exodus 31, and the Sabbath then. Maybe we can include in that the Holy Days. The weekly Sabbath and the annual Holy Days are certainly a sign between God and His people. In Exodus 31 and verse 13, speak also to the children of Israel saying, "'Surely, my Sabbaths'—notice it is plural—'my Sabbaths you shall keep. For it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore it is holy." Maybe it's primarily referring to the weekly Sabbath. It is holy. Work may be done for six days, but by extension the Holy Days are annual Sabbaths, and they would serve maybe as a sign as well. And so in verse 17, it is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever. So the true Church of God will be certainly keeping the weekly Sabbath, and will certainly be keeping the annual Holy Days following the example of Jesus Christ and the early Church. We certainly see that these days are days that Christians should be observing, and we do want to observe them in a manner that is worthy in God's sight, that is acceptable to God, an attitude that is worthy. Not that we are worthy, but an attitude that is acceptable to God, an attitude and spirit that is right. And as we come on to work through the sermon, we want to be preparing to keep the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread with that kind of spirit and attitude. Before we get to some of that, I'd like to ask this question because I think it is one that we need to also make sure that we have a good firm grip on understanding. Do we have the right calendar for observing the festivals? Some people wonder or may even believe that time has been lost. Some even believe the weekly cycle has been lost. And how can you know when the Sabbath is? I've had this question come up a number of times. How can you know the Sabbath is on Saturday? Well, there's a lot of proof of that. Go to a dictionary and they don't have any question or any qualms about it. They'll put down Saturday, the seventh day of the week, Sunday, the first day of the week. Go to any Protestant minister. He knows they're meeting on the first day of the week.

Go to any Jewish rabbi and they know that they're keeping the same day that has been passed on down generation by generation by the Jews. We had a Jew that lived in our hometown where I was growing up in eastern North Carolina. He had a clothing store there in town and my dad was talking with him about the Sabbath. He had himself heard about it and was kind of wondering about it. He asked this Jew, well, is Saturday the real seventh day of the Bible? And in the Old Testament, and this Jew just was very enthusiastic. Oh yes, and our people have kept it generation by generation. We've never lost the knowledge of when the seventh day is. So there's no question about that. Anybody that studies into the weekly cycle knows there's been no loss of time as far as the weekly cycle is concerned. So we know when the seventh day is. We don't doubt that. But let's ask about the holy days. How do we know when to observe the Passover? I mean, we're going to be observing it Sunday night, March 24th. Why? We believe that's the beginning of the 14th day of the first month of the sacred calendar year. But how can we know? How can we be sure? Do you have any doubts about that?

You know, there are those that have come up with different ideas about the calendar.

In fact, there have been some groups that have kept the Passover one month earlier, or I believe it's always been earlier, but a month different than when we observe the Passover.

So how can we know for sure that we are observing the holy days at the right time?

Well, this gets into a calendar issue, right? And the calendar is a very complex issue. Very complex indeed. The Bible does reveal that there is a calendar.

In the very first chapter of the Bible, the three components of a calendar are adequately described. A day, and a month, and a year. So the three components of a calendar are right there in the very first chapter in the Bible. But there's not anything in the first chapter that tells us exactly when it begins and exactly how it operates and how it's structured.

There's nothing about how it is constructed. There's nothing there. In the book of Genesis, very little mention of anything about a calendar. There's a little bit of mention during the Flood. For example, the waters of the Flood really begin to gush out on the second month, on the 17th day, it says. And you have other references to a day, a day, a month, and the day of the month during the Flood when things happened. So there's precious little, though, in the book of Genesis about a calendar and certainly no mention of how it should be constructed and structured and when it should begin. But it's obvious that Noah was aware of a calendar and he kept records, no doubt, by calendar dates. I think that seems to be certainly implied there. We come to the time of Israel, and that is about 1500 BC in Egypt, in captivity. And let's turn to Exodus 12 and verses 1 and 2. I think it's important that we spend a few minutes commenting about the calendar so that we can have complete trust and faith that when we keep the Passover, that is when we should be keeping it and not have any doubt whatsoever. In Exodus 12 and verses 1 and 2, the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be your beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you.

So God revealed a calendar here to Moses and Aaron. But where are the details of that calendar and how it is calculated? We don't find it here, and neither do we find it actually anywhere else in the Bible. And yet this calendar that is referred to here is going to be the one that will determine when the Passover will be kept, when the Feast of Unleavened Bread will be observed, and the other Holy Days during the year. This calendar will determine when we keep God's Holy Days. But calendar is, again, a very complex issue or topic, and a month is not 30 days long.

A month is just over 29 and one-half days. To be exact, a lunar month is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 2.8 seconds. You talk about an irregular figure.

29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 2.8 seconds. So you can't... How do you work that out? To have a lunar calendar. See, the calendar from which we reckon the Holy Days is considered a lunar calendar is based on the moon. And the Roman calendar is not a lunar calendar. New moon can and does come at various times of the month. So it's an artificial month then, isn't it? That's not a real true month, but God's calendar is based upon a real true month. That is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 2.8 seconds. Furthermore, a solar year creates a further complexity. A solar year is not exactly a certain number of days. It's approximately 365 and one-quarter days.

To be exact, 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds is a solar year.

So how are we going to be able to construct a calendar that takes these irregular numbers into consideration and works out right? Well, guess what? The Hebrew calendar, which is the calendar that we use in determining when to keep the Holy Days, works out, as I'll read later, so precise, so precise over a span of 19 years.

Let me mention that 12 months, 12 new moons, comes out when you multiply how long each month is times 12. You come up with 12 months equaling 354 days, 8 hours, and 48 minutes.

Well, as you can see, that's about 11, almost 11 days shy of a solar year. So what the Hebrew calendar does is to insert an extra month seven times during a 19-year period. Now, this particular year that we're in now is about to end. This is a year that has just 12 months, and last year had 12 months. But the Holy Days this year are coming earlier than they did last year, even so. But in order to get things back into alignment again, the year that begins this coming year will have an extra month. It will have 13 months. And so the Holy Days in 2014 will come later. So the way the Hebrew calendar works is to insert an extra month every two or three years, seven out of 19. I guess that'd be about just under every third year on the average. So the simple truth is that in the Bible, God has, though not revealed, the calendar calculations. Where did we turn in the Bible to be able to come up with this knowledge of how to construct and maintain a calendar, a lunar calendar with these irregular figures? We don't find it in the Bible.

If we were to fast forward from the time of Moses, about 1,500 years, we will come to the time of Christ. And we observe that Christ kept the Holy Days at the same time as the Jews.

It did not question that they had maintained the calendar as it had been given to Moses 1,500 years earlier. There was no question about the calendar in the mind of Jesus or the early church. The Holy Days came at the same time as the calendar maintained by the Jews.

This brings us to who then is the custodian that God has entrusted with the maintaining of his calendar. Let's go to the New Testament verses. God does not leave us without scriptural support that we should have trust in the Hebrew calendar upon which we use in the calculation, or let's say in determining when to observe the Holy Days. In Acts 7, verse 37, this is where Stephen would be martyred. He gave his last message here. He would be martyred shortly. He said in Acts 7, in verse 37, this is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.

This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us.

There's something important in this verse that at Mount Sinai then were given to Moses living oracles. The word in the Greek is logia zanta. It means living words or utterances.

And we noticed that the Israelites received or Moses received these utterances from God to give to us. Us would be who? The church. So the calendar that we use we may not have thought of. It goes back to what God gave Moses. He gave it to Moses so that we would know when to observe these holy days that he was commanding us to keep. Living oracles to give to us.

These living oracles would certainly include the scriptures, things we read in the scriptures, but could they include things not written in the scriptures like the calendar?

Because we don't have in the scriptures anything that tells us how to calculate or how to construct a calendar. We just don't have that. God has not put it there.

In Romans 3, we have a very important verse to add to Acts 7 verse 38. Romans chapter 3 and verses 1 and 2.

Romans chapter 3 verses 1 and 2. What advantage then has the Jew?

What is the prophet of circumcision? Any advantage? Yes, much in every way. Paul says here, much in every way. Chiefly, at the top of the list, because to them were committed.

The oracles of God. Again, the word oracles is used. The oracles of God.

So let me read what the Expositor's Bible commentary has to say about this verse. Greek logia is used especially for divine utterances, often for those preserved and handed down by earlier generations. Jewish writers used it for revelations from God, the God of Israel. To be entrusted with the divine oracles obviously means more than to be recipient of them. It means more than even to be the custodian and transmitter of them.

What is called for in the light of the meaning of logia is faith and obedience.

You know, the Jews have been very faithful in preserving not only the Old Testament scriptures, but also the calendar. Let me read what the New International Version has for verse 2. They have been entrusted with the very words of God. And so the Jews have faithfully then preserved the Old Testament scriptures. They have also preserved the knowledge of the Sabbath, and the Holy Days, and the knowledge of the calendar when the Holy Days should be observed.

How do we know that the Jews, though, have been faithful in doing that? They have been. They have accurately written down the scriptures, the manuscripts, the ancient manuscripts, then certainly show very closely a close translation and accuracy and integrity for each one. Jesus himself said that in Matthew 5, that not one jot or one tittle of God's Word will fail to be preserved. Not a single one.

So it is obvious then that God has used the Jews to preserve the Old Testament scriptures, and the knowledge of the calendar would have to be included in this as well.

And that's been not just in the scriptures, but more the knowledge that has been passed on generation by generation.

So, 1500 years after it was given to Moses, Jesus had no question about it. Should we have a question today? If God is watching over its preservation, we should not.

The...there are those who have, because the calendar is a complex issue, have tried to come up with their own thoughts and ideas about the calendar. But guess what? They've not been entrusted with it. On what authority are they acting?

Who's authorized them? God has authorized the Jews to do it.

Mr. Armstrong did some study on this many years ago, because the calendar, people that question the calendar, it's not just a new thing.

And after looking at it thoroughly, he concluded that if the Hebrew calendar, if it is not accurate, then we are just lost in time. We don't know.

And the United Church of God has looked at it. Then we come up with the same conclusion. But we do trust God has seen to it that not only have the old and New Testament Scriptures been preserved, but also the knowledge of the calendar and how it should be constructed and calculated has been preserved. You know, that takes faith, but it's not faith in the Jews, it's faith in God, who it says here in verse 2, committed the oracles of God to them.

So that faith is to word God, that God has seen to it that his scriptures and the knowledge of the calendar have been accurately preserved. So we need not have doubt. No doubt whatsoever.

As far as the scriptures themselves, we know that God used the Greeks to preserve the New Testament scriptures. Most of the manuscripts, I think 90 some percent, are in Greek manuscripts. And guess what? They all are very much alike. They're just little minor discrepancies here or there. I want to quote to you from our Bible and the ancient manuscripts by Sir Frederick Kenyon. It cannot be too strongly asserted that in substance the text of the Bible is certain, especially in this is this the case with the New Testament. The number of manuscripts of the New Testament, early translations from it, and quotations from it in the oldest writers of the church, is so large that it is practically certain that the true reading of every doubtful passage is preserved in some one or other of these ancient authorities. This can be said of no other ancient book in the world. And from the book by F.F. Bruce, the books and the parchments, page 178, there is no body of ancient literature in the world which enjoys such a wealth of good textual attestation as the New Testament. No other book has the same number of manuscripts, and they all say the same thing. So God has seen to it that not only has He preserved His Word, but we can have faith and assurance that He has done it. Absolute faith.

So that's true not only of the Bible, but also the calendar as well. We believe that today's Hebrew calendar, then, is the same one used in the Bible, and it is what we use for determining when to keep God's holy days. You will notice that similarity on your calendars as we go through the year. The only difference, one difference, is that you will see the Jewish Passover is on the 15th day of the first month, whereas the Bible makes it clear that the Passover is on the 14th day of the first month. But the Jews know that they are observing Passover on the 15th. There's no question what day they're observing it on. We just say that it's not the right day for doing it. It should be the day earlier, on the 14th. Now, we have some good study papers. The United Church of God has published one. One is the summary of the Hebrew calendar. You can find it on the members website. Just go to Resources and click on that, and you'll find Papers. And click on that, and you can find the summary of the Hebrew calendar. And also, did God create a calendar? Those would be very helpful study papers for you. I think it is interesting, as we conclude about the calendar, just a couple of things. God did not use the church to preserve the calendar, just as He did not use the church to preserve the Old Testament scriptures or the New Testament scriptures. The church is not the ones that preserve the ancient Hebrew and Greek manuscripts.

God used the Greeks and the Jews to do that. But God does use the church to preach the message of the Bible. That's our job. God has preserved it by others. Our job is to take its message and proclaim it to the world. And we certainly have the faith that we are proclaiming the truth as God inspired it, and as far as the calendar, that we are also proclaiming the right and appropriate times for keeping the Holy Days. Let me conclude with this quote about the Hebrew calendar. It is taken from the essence of the Holy Days' insight from the Jewish Sages by Abraham Finkel, 1993, page 141. And here's a quote from that book. The calculation of the calendar was transmitted to the Sages in an unbroken chain going back to Moses. You know, we have faith in that. The calculation of the calendar was transmitted to the Sages in an unbroken chain going back to Moses. The Church of God has absolute faith in that. The God has seen to it.

Continuing in the quote here, according to the ancient calculations, the exact time between one new moon and the next is 29 days, 12 hours, and 793 chelachem, or parts of an hour. The hour is divided into 1080 parts. In other words, one lunar month has 29.53059 days. It is interesting to note that according to NASA, the time between one new moon and the next is 29.530588 days.

We wouldn't be surprised if NASA is not the one that's off there, but it's not much, is it?

Not much at all. Of course, NASA has at its disposal most advanced and sophisticated telescopes and computers. Nevertheless, the difference between NASA's figures and that used by Hillel II, which originated more than 3,000 years ago, is .00002, or two millionths of a day, calculated for the period of one month. Two millionths of a day.

How could Moses be so smart? Truth, the answer, he wasn't. God revealed this calendar, and it reveals the mind of God that the calendar he gave the Israelites around 3,500 years ago, then as NASA in our time has proved to be absolutely accurate. Not surprising at all.

We can be sure, brethren, that we are observing God's holy days at the right time. We don't have any doubt about that whatsoever, but I think it's good for you to be able to understand a little bit about the calendar and from a scriptural viewpoint and how the times are determined for when we observe the holy days. We know this, that God's holy days are very important, that they reveal God's plan, our booklet, God's holy day plan, promise of hope for all mankind, has a chapter devoted to each holy day. Mr. Armstrong came to see this holy day plan in the late 1920s and 1930s. He many times went over, but he didn't know this at first, but little by little they began to understand. I guess maybe the Passover was first. The first holy day he kept it, Passover, well this has to represent the sacrifice of Christ. It cannot represent anything else. Then the second holy day, Feast of Unleavened Bread, and putting out leaven from your home and the lesson of putting out sin, that leaven is a type of sin, that began to fall in place. I think he said it took about 14 years before the full meaning of all seven holy days, the holy day plan was fully understood. So isn't that a wonderful thing that we're able to understand God's holy day plan? And now we are ready to keep the first two steps of that plan, Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

You know, dozens and dozens of hours have already been spent for the holy days, soon after the Feast of Tabernacles we begin to ask when do we want to have combined services? And so it was determined that for the Greensboro Church here we would meet a couple of times with Roanoke and a couple of times with the Raleigh congregation and the other holy day services being here except for the Feast of Tabernacles at regional sites. And so all that was worked out. Once we had that in place, then as a matter of finding halls, there has to be telephone calls made. And sometimes money is paid in advance. Guess what? We have paid for medicine. Mr. Parks instructed them to send a check. We've already paid in full for the year for the meetings we have there, the last day of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of Trumpets in the fall. It's already paid for. They want their money up front. So some halls want their money up front. Some want a down payment or partial payment. And others will let us pay on the day of in Burlington. They just say, bring a check and pay the day you're here. So you know it just works different. And all those things have to be worked out. But a lot of work and a lot of planning has gone into the holy days. Why? Let's go to Leviticus 23 and we'll see why. A lot of effort and time has been spent already preparing for the holy days. In Leviticus chapter 23 and in verse 2, speak to the children of Israel and say to them, the feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations. These are my feasts. Of course, it mentions the Sabbath as the first one in verse 3. But then in verse 4, these are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.

And then it gets into the seven annual festivals. And so these are God's holy days. They are important, very important as we know. They're high days. They are special days that we observe, we are to observe during the year. We have holy meetings, holy convocations. These are sacred assemblies. And we come to appear before God as other verses bring out. And to learn to fear the Lord our God always, we come to worship and to give thanks and to rejoice. And as we keep the holy days, we vividly portray step by step how God is going to accomplish his great purpose on this earth with mankind. Brethren, it's very important then that we plan to attend all seven of the holy days. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 10. There's a warning here not to let down in Sabbath and holy day attendance. So strive to be at every one. We need these days in order to grow and in order to draw closer to God, closer to one another. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 23, let us hold fast. It's something the Hebrews were not doing. These people were letting down. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful.

And let us consider one another in order to stir up loving good works. Let's do that. Let's encourage and help each other every way that we can. In verse 25, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. This would be the Sabbath, wouldn't it? And it would also be the annual holy days.

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some. Some weren't coming anymore like they used to. But exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. So we need to we need these holy days. I need them. You need them. God's holy days are like revivals in the world. They have revivals. I remember going to some with my parents when I was a child growing up and those meetings would be held every night and they'd go for two or three hours. As a little child, I'd fall asleep. My parents would take me out with them when they got rid of the leaf. So, you know, churches of the world have their revivals. But guess what? We, the annual holy days, are revivals. They do revive us and they refresh us and they help us to stay focused on God's plan and God's purpose. And they help us to hold fast to our confession.

There are passages in the Bible pertaining to Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread that I would recommend that we read. Let's take time just to read two or three of them. Exodus 12-13. These would be two whole chapters I would recommend that you read because it gives the Old Testament background for Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Exodus 12-13. Of course, we read verse 1 and 2 already about this is the beginning of months. But then they are instructed, the Israelites, to save up a lamb for the Passover and to kill that lamb. And that lamb was a type of Jesus Christ. When Christ did come, then John the Baptist saw Christ one day and he said, Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

So as you read about this lamb, read some other verses in the Bible about the lamb. Read Revelation 13, the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

And then the verses in John 1 by John the Baptist, Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. So here's this lamb. We don't kill a lamb today. We do take bread and wine instead since Jesus instituted these as the symbols of the New Testament Passover, bread and wine. We'll read those verses in just a moment. But then also read on down about the feast of unleavened bread. Verse 15, Exodus 12 verse 15, seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day shall be a holy convocation. And we'll do that. A holy meeting. On the seventh day a holy convocation. And no manner of work may be done. So you can read all of these verses. We are to keep them the seven days of the feast of unleavened bread. We are to put out leaven by that Monday night, March the 25th. We should have the leaven and the leavened products out of our home. Unless we have a mate that is not in the church. We don't try to force it on a mate then who wants to have leaven. But we ourselves would refrain from the leaven during those seven days.

So it would be good then to read the Old Testament background for Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Let's go to Isaiah 53. I want to read just a little bit from this. This is perhaps the finest description in the Bible of the suffering of Christ. In Isaiah chapter 53. Let's just pick it up in verse 3. He is despised and rejected by men. He's talking about Christ at His first coming. Despised and rejected by men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We hid, as it were, our faces from Him. He was despised and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

But He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him. And by His stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We've turned everyone to His own way. And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted. Yet He opened not His mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep before His shearers is silent. So He opened not His mouth. In verse 10, Yet it pleased the Lord, and this would be the Father, to bruise Him. He has put Him to grief when He, when you make His soul an offering for sin. He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He will see the travail of His soul. The Father would see the travail of Christ. And be satisfied. By His knowledge, my righteous servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. And the latter, about halfway verse 12, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. It would be good to read this slower and do some meditating and thinking about it. This is how our sins are forgiven. And actually, by His stripes, we are healed in both physical and spiritual ways. Just a wonderful chapter here about the first coming of Christ. Also, you could read John 6, the verses. Let's just take a moment to read a few of these verses. John 6, about the eating of the flesh and the drinking of the blood.

That means to imbibe the sacrifice of Christ, to have this living bread actually dwelling within us through God's Spirit. In verse 53, Jesus said, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. And I'll raise him up at the last day. My flesh is food indeed, and my drink is drink indeed. This is talking spiritually, then, about the sacrifice of Christ and about Him as the bread of life dwelling in us.

He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in Him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so He who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Last part of the verse, He who eats this bread will live forever. So, partaking of the Passover, and then the Feast of Unleavened Bread, having the bread from heaven within us, is certainly what leads us to eternal life in God's kingdom. We won't turn to it now, but what about Hebrews 9 and 10? Those would be two good chapters also about the sacrifice of Christ.

Hebrews 9 and 10. You could also read Romans chapter 3. It shows our need for the Passover. All have sinned and come short. God has set forth Jesus Christ to be the means by which we can be forgiven. Chapter 5. The Father has demonstrated His love for us by the sacrifice of His Son. Romans chapter 5. 1 John chapters 1 and 2. There are many, many good chapters in the New Testament we can be reading at this time. You know, we can also read from the Church's publications.

Our fundamental beliefs booklet. We have 20 fundamental beliefs of the United Church of God. You didn't know that seven of those 20 relate to the Passover. Some of them directly. Others, well, maybe not quite as directly, but all of them in some way pertain to the Passover. One is called the Passover. Fundamental Belief number 11. The Passover. Another one is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That's the Passover. So two of them, two of our 20 fundamental beliefs, 10 percent, deal directly with the Passover. That's not overstating it at all, is it? Because that's the only means by which we may be saved and our sins forgiven. So the Passover, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Then the festivals of God also have the Passover. Three days and three nights, that's the death until the resurrection of Christ. Sin and God's law, that is what Passover takes care of our sins, breaking of God's law. And then number six is repentance, and number seven is baptism. So seven of our fundamental beliefs relate directly to the Passover.

And so it'd be good to read those fundamental beliefs. Also, our booklet, God's Holy Day Plan, there's a chapter on the Passover and there's also a chapter on the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And we have other literature also on the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. So this, you know, this gives you some things, both the church's literature and verses in the Bible, that would be good to be reading and thinking about. Be good for me and for you to be reading and thinking about in the days ahead.

Well, in conclusion, then let us be examining ourselves, brethren. I think we had a good sermon a couple of weeks ago about that. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 11. Our messages then are zeroing in on the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. But especially, I think, the Passover in 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 23. I told you we'd come back to these verses. For I received from the Lord 1 Corinthians 11, 23. 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. This do in remembrance of me. So we will eat of the broken bread and representing the broken body of Christ. In the same manner, he also took the cup, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. And we will take then of the cup, the wine representing his blood. As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

And that's once a year that we do that. We are in the presence of death. That's why we come more solemn than any other service of the year. The Passover is the most solemn and no doubt the most important service of the whole year. We could not even get started toward eternal life without the Passover. So we proclaim the death of Christ. We all do sin and we do yet sin in word, in deed, or in attitude. And so what do we do?

Sometimes maybe a weakness, a shortcoming shows up again, drop down upon our knees and beg God's forgiveness and he quickly does that. And then we carry on and we ask him to strengthen us, to grow and to overcome. But you know we need to then approach the Passover, certainly in a very sober manner with a humble attitude and one that is full of thanksgiving and appreciation for what we're doing. In verse 27 it warns us not to take it lightly. Therefore, whoever eats this bread and drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner. And one example of that would be earlier in this chapter. Some of the people there in Corinth, they were having a meal and some were getting drunk at the Passover. And Paul has to really correct them and he says, whoever eats this bread and drinks this cup in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

But let a man examine himself. And that's what we encourage all of us to do these next three weeks. Examine ourselves and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he that eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning, not really appreciating or understanding the Lord's body. And for that reason some were sick, many were sick or weak and sick, and even some slept back in Corinth. So brethren, let us then begin our examination. I think we've already been encouraged to get started. So if we have, let us continue.

You know, make sure your heart's in the right place. We all do fall short, but at the bottom level we want to please God and do his will and walk humbly with him. I think it'd be appropriate to end up on those two verses. Mr. Weber turned to these verses and used them at the beginning of the Council of Elders meetings. Let's go to Isaiah 66 verses 1 and 2. Then we'll go to Micah 6 and verse 8. Let's read these verses and maybe that's a good way to conclude that if we have this kind of heart and this kind of attitude as we approach the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread and we are looking even for secret sins, I think it was brought out a couple of weeks ago, then that is good. And God will be pleased with us if we have that kind of heart and mind. He's looking at the heart. Most of all, Isaiah 66 and verse 1, heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. Where's the house that you will build me? And where's the place of my rest? All those things my hand is made and all those things exist because God created them, says the Lord. But on this one will I look, on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit and who trembles at my word. I'll tell you if we have that kind of attitude in heart as we come to the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, then God will certainly accept us and be pleased with us. Poor, we're not proud, we're not lifted up in heart and mind, we have a contrite spirit, we're broken, we're childlike, we're teachable. We want God's will, not our will. We tremble at his word.

God will certainly love that type of heart and attitude. Okay, let's go to Micah then and read the final scripture. Micah 6 and verse 8. Micah 6, well we could begin in verses 6 through 8. Micah 6, 6 through 8. With what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before the Most High God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or 10,000 rivers of oil, which of course really wouldn't be possible? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Are these extreme measures what God is looking for? No, he's looking at the heart.

Verse 8, He has shown you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? I think if we combined Isaiah 66 and Micah 6 here together and strive to have this approach and this attitude as we come to the Passover, I think God will be well pleased. So let's think about this in the days ahead. Examine our hearts and our attitude. Examine our commitment. Examine our zeal and enthusiasm.

Let's be making our plans for the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.