Preparing for the Feast and Passover

It's a busy time of year for us as Christians. We know that these feasts coming up, the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Red, that we don't just show up at the feasts. It takes plans. It takes preparations. It takes effort to prepare, to be well prepared for the feast when they do arrive.

For the Days of Unleavened Red, we do a thorough house cleaning, or car cleaning, or office cleaning, wherever we tend to eat, where we tend to exist. We clean, and we clean very well. And we're supposed to do that, to eliminate the leaven from our premises and from our belongings. I will also say at this time, sometimes people get really carried away, and they look at it as their spring house cleaning.

Deleavening is not necessarily spring house cleaning. For example, you don't have to clean blinds for deleavening. There's probably no leaven on the blinds. And there are other places. You know, you're an addict. When was the last time you were even up in your attic? It's not like you have to clean the whole place, but you do have to deleaven. And we have to do a good and a thorough job in doing so. I don't want to minimize that at all.

Also, we need to prepare for the Passover, and we do this by examining ourselves. To see how we're doing as a Christian. Now, some of the time passed has seen this examination as being a negative effort or a negative thing to do, but it's not intended to be that way. It's not intended to be discouraging. It's not intended to be depressing. Yes, we do see our shortcomings, and nobody likes to see their shortcomings. It's just we're not built that way. However, if we see them and understand them and then work on them and overcome them, it's overall a positive thing. So by looking at our faults and working through them, that's a positive endeavor. Also, at this time of year, as I'll mention more a little bit later, we need to be looking to the Father and to Jesus Christ, who is our Passover. And to look at them in a positive manner. So today I'm going to talk about going through our examination processes here, specifically for the Passover. And I want to encourage us as we go through this examination to concentrate on holiness. Holiness. To think about being a holy person. Do you ever think about yourself that way? You know, I'm a holy person. You know, you're a holy person. Do you ever think about ourselves as being holy people? What does it mean to be a holy person? Just exactly what does that mean? Well, I want to especially encourage all of us to think about holiness as we prepare for the Passover this year. Being holy without spot, blemish, or wrinkle. So today I'm not going to specifically talk about certain problems or sins or spiritual shortcomings. Not necessarily going to do that, although we'll mention a little. But I'm going to talk about holiness. And I want to encourage all of us to think about holiness, about being holy, as we prepare for the Passover this year. Let's start by turning to 1 Corinthians 11, 1 Corinthians 11, and we'll take a look at the instruction about the fact that we are to examine ourselves.

This is probably not new to very many in this room, if any. Maybe it's already been mentioned this year, and I'm sure it's not going to be the last time that it's mentioned this year. 1 Corinthians 11, and I'll start reading in verse 23, where the Apostle Paul says, and he's writing to the Corinthian church, For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread. And this is the evening part of the Passover. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take, eat. This is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same manner he also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes.

Therefore whoever eats this bread and drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself. And again, there's the instructions that we need to do this. Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep, or many have died. Verse 31, For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. Now as we read through here, there's some people in times past and perhaps still currently, they have a problem with the word worthy in verse 27 and verse 29. They say, well, I'm not worthy to take the Passover. And that's true. None of us are worthy to take the Passover. We are only made worthy by Jesus Christ. And besides, when it talks about worthy here, it's not talking about the individual. It's an adverb. It's talking about the manner that we take the Passover. It's talking about the way we do it, not who is taking the Passover. So it talks about it in a worthy manner. So we don't have to worry about that, although we do need to make sure we examine ourselves so that we do take it in a worthy manner. So again, brethren, this examination that we go through, it says, let a man examine himself, it's not intended to be negative or discouraging. We like to think of ourselves as pretty good, as I mentioned, and no one really likes to think, you know, well, I've got all these shortcomings that I need to work on. Yes, none of us are perfect. We all have shortcomings we need to work on. And as I mentioned, it's good to have a problem, to know about the problem, and then to successfully deal with it. Let's take a look at the example of Old Testament Israel coming out of Egypt. Old Testament Israel coming out of Egypt. This is going to be a survey. It's going to be an overview, and it's going to be a pretty broad or pretty quick overview. But I do want you to just look at a few things as Old Testament Israel is written down, their history is written down for our learning and our instructions. They were coming out of Egypt. They were only two months down the road, and they arrived at Sinai. And there were problems, you know, there was a lot of problems. There was bitter water. There was no water. There was no food. There was no meat.

There was grumbling and complaining. There was the Malachites. They had all sorts of problems. And of course, God did not call them because, you know, they were that good, great or mighty, and He does not call us for the same reason either. Turn back to Deuteronomy the seventh chapter. Deuteronomy the seventh chapter. I'll start reading in verse one.

Deuteronomy 7 and verse one. God didn't call Israel because they were a great and mighty and powerful and rich nation. He doesn't call us because of our talents or abilities or brains. Rather, He calls us because He loves us and He wants us to be in His family. Deuteronomy 7, starting in verse one, it says, When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, and then it talks about seven nations, verse two, When the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them.

So God is giving them instructions of what to do when they go into the Promised Land. And in Deuteronomy, they are getting set to go into the Promised Land. Verse three, Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son.

For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods. So the anger of the Lord will be roused against you and destroy you suddenly. But thus you shall deal with them. You shall destroy their altars and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.

Verse six, it says, For you are a holy people. That's why God called Israel. He wanted them to be holy, and likewise He wants us to be holy. You are a holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples in the face of the earth. And verse seven, The Lord did not set His love on you or choose you, because you were more in number than any other people. For you were the least of all peoples, but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the house of Pharaoh, King of Egypt.

So again, God gave instructions to Israel, and He tells them, He calls them. Again, not because of their power, might, wealth, or strength, but He calls them because He chose them to be His special people. Back in Exodus 19, the 19th chapter, and here it says He's called them to be a holy people. Exodus 19 also says that God wants them to be a holy people, a holy nation. In Exodus 20 to 24, chapters 20 to 24, tells about the giving of the Ten Commandments, tells about giving of additional laws and of ratifying the covenant, which we call the Old Covenant today.

Exodus the 25th chapter, God says that He wants to dwell with Israel, He wants to live among them, and He gives instructions for the tabernacle. He wanted to be their God. He wanted them to be His special and holy people. Exodus 25 to 29, the chapter is 5 to 29, He gives instructions for the tabernacle, for the priests, and for the garments.

In Exodus 29, again verse 45, 46, He again repeats the fact that He wants to dwell among the children of Israel. In Exodus 30 and 31, He gives more instructions about the tabernacle, of how it's to be built, and also more instructions about the Sabbath. In Exodus 32, there's the incident of the golden calf. Aaron had built this idol, a golden calf, and then he proclaimed the feast. And this obviously was a great sin. He says, you know, This is your God, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt. Now, that's amazing. God had given Him the Ten Commandments, given Israel the Ten Commandments.

They were there at Mount Sinai. They heard the voice of God. They saw a movie recently where they talked about God giving the Ten Commandments in Mount Sinai. And this was obviously artist rendition or a virtual picture, if you will. They had the mountain. The top was just filled with black smoke. And there were thunders. There were lightnings. There was a trumpet. There was the voice of God. There was an earthquake.

And it was quite a spectacular sight. It's not something that you're going to, you know, forget very quickly. But in any case, they did. They forgot. They saw, you know, all these signs. They saw the fire. They heard the voice of God. They ratified the covenant and said, all that the Lord said, you know, we will do. And here we have Aaron, you know, making a calf and proclaiming a feast. Making an idol and proclaiming a feast. And again, Aaron, without making too much fun of him, because we all have our shortcomings, and I won't say it could happen to any of us, but certainly we all have our shortcomings.

Aaron said, you know, Moses, well, Moses confronted Aaron and says, what have you done? You know, why have you done this? You know, he comes down from the mountain. He breaks the tablets containing the Ten Commandments. And he says, you know, what have you done? Aaron says, well, you know, I just kind of put the gold in the fire and I'll pop the calf. You know, and I, you know, he said, come on, you know, that's not going to fly very much.

But however, you know, he was in a tough spot. What's he going to say? Well, then he blamed the people, you know, it's their fault, you know. I did this because of them. Aaron had his problems. We can have our problems as well. We need to be careful that, you know, we, how can you say, you know, when you point at one finger one way, there's three pointing back at you.

Skipping ahead to chapter 34, Exodus 34 chapter, I do want to pick up a couple verses there. Exodus 34, I'll start in verse 5. Between Exodus 32 and 34, God calls Moses up to the mountain again and gives him the Ten Commandments.

And I thought it was kind of interesting that the first time God cut the tablets of stone out of the mountain, wrote on them and gave them to Moses. Well, here God now tells Moses, you cut out the tablets. You know, you broke them, you're going to cut out the next tablets. Maybe you'll take better care of these next time. So anyway, Moses had to cut them out. God again wrote on the tablets. Moses comes back down from the mountain.

And then in verse chapter 34, starting in verse 5, it says, and this is God talking to Moses, It says, Then the Lord descended in a cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him, and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, abounding in goodness and truth.

And this is the God that we like to identify with, a God of love, God of goodness, of mercy, of truth. It says, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. Again, a loving God, a God that I say easily to identify with. This is the one that I want to have as my God. But then, we don't stop reading there. We continue on. It says, but by no means clearing the guilty. God doesn't just, you know, whitewash sin, if you will.

He's no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children to the third and the fourth generations. God is loving and kind and merciful, but He's also serious about sin. He's also serious about, you know, the violation of His law. He acts lawfully and justly, and He expects justice. Turn over a few more pages to Exodus the 40th chapter. Exodus 40, I'll start, well, I'll skip through here.

I'm going to start in verse 1. Exodus 40, where it says, then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. So this is the second year of the first day of the first month, second year out of Egypt. Dropping down to verse 17, Moses did that. It says, It came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was raised up.

So now the tabernacle was raised up, it was built, and it was furnished. And then dropping down to verse 33, it says, in most... I've got the wrong scripture.

Start in verse 33, it says, And he raised up, this is Moses, who raised up the court all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung up the screen of the court, and at the court gate. So Moses finished the work. And again, this is the first day of the first month of the second year out of Egypt. Verse 34 says, And the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it. And the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. So Moses was kept out of the tabernacle, and he built it, and then God, in a sense, moved in. There's the cloud, there's God's presence. And Moses was not able to enter.

He was kept out. Why was he kept out? Why was Moses kept out? Well, we know from Isaiah 59, which I'm not going to turn to, Isaiah 59, verses 1 and 2, sin separates us from God. And likewise, in this case, Moses was on the outside, God was on the inside.

And at that particular time, God was not going to let him in. However, one month later, and I'm not going to turn there, but Numbers 1, verse 1. Numbers 1, 1, this is one month later, the first day of the second month. Now we see Moses is in the tabernacle, and God is talking to Moses within the tabernacle. How did he get in? What happened between what we're reading now, the first day of the first month, and the first day of the second month? Well, actually, what happened is the book of Leviticus, which is between Exodus and Numbers.

The book of Leviticus, talking about sacrifices, talking about how the priests are supposed to come and sacrifice for themselves and for the people. Sacrifices were instituted because of the sacrifice. Moses was now able to get into the tabernacle. Turn ahead to Hebrews 9, chapter. Hebrews 9, chapter, and I'll start reading in verse 11. Hebrews 9, chapter, verse 11, where it talks about Christ being our high priest. Verse 11 of Hebrews 9, But Christ came as the high priest of the good things to come, with a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, and not like a tent like Moses had made, not like the tabernacle that Moses had made.

But he went into the tabernacle of heaven, so to speak. It says, Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood. He entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purged your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

In other words, Moses was able to go into the tabernacle before God because there was a sacrifice. Likewise with us, we are able to go before God in the throne, in heaven, because of a sacrifice. Again, our Passover, Jesus Christ. Turn over in chapter 10, Hebrews 10, and I'll start reading in verse 19. Hebrews 10, verse 19, it says, Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

We are forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ. We have assurance. We have confidence that we can go before God because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, because of what He did for each and every one of us. We're able to go before God the Father in heaven. As we think about these things in preparing for the Passover, again, Christ is our Passover.

By Him, we're able to have access to God the Father. To come before Him, to come before Him in the Holy of Holies, Christ cleans us up, as it were, and enables us to go before the Father. We have access. Again, He is our Passover. But once we have access, we have to change. I mean, God calls us, God chooses us, but then we have a responsibility as well.

Turn back to Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5. I'll start reading in verse 25. Ephesians 5. We're again, we see that we are cleansed by Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5, starting in verse 25, where it says, Husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify it, sanctified, being set apart, being made holy, and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the Word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having a spot, or a wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy without blemish.

This is without blemish. I don't really know how to describe it, the way it affects my mind, but you think of almost anything we do has blemishes. Let's say we have a nice new car right from the factory. It's not perfect. There are little things here and there that's just not quite right. But here, holy, without blemish, without spot, without wrinkle of being perfect, Christ removes our blemishes. He washes us. He cleanses us. And He wants us to be holy. He wants us to be holy. I ask the question again, are you holy? Are we holy? This is one of the things that we can think about as we examine ourselves in preparing for the Passover. Turn ahead to Colossians 1, and I'll start reading in verse 21.

Colossians 1, in verse 21, it says, And you who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, for those of us that are first-generation Christians, you know, we're out there in the world, you know, doing our thing, once you were alienated, and for that matter, those who are second-generation Christians, there comes a point where there's a realization that God is not the God of my parents. God is also my God. You once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable in his sight.

So God makes us holy, but then continuing on in verse 23, it says, If, that little word if again, if indeed you continue in the faith, we have a responsibility, we keep the Passover, and then we go ahead into the Days of Unleavened Bread, as there's an effort that we need to do. There are things that we need to do, and I'm not saying that we earn anything, but we do earn a reward, but I'm talking about eternal life now.

We do not earn eternal life. But we do need to continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the Gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. So God makes us holy, but we have to endeavor and strive to be holy. God has an extremely high standard. As I mentioned, he's the God of love and mercy and kindness. He's also a God of justice and of law.

God does expect certain things from this. We should be holy, as it says here, as well as back in the book of Ephesians. I'm going to take a look at the definition of the word holy just to help us more understand how we think about this. What does it mean to be holy? According to Unger's Bible Dictionary, it says, Holiness is a general term to indicate sanctity.

Sanctity is being set apart. Again, I'll read their definition. Holiness is a general term to indicate sanctity or separation from all that is sinful or impure or morally imperfect. Being holy is moral wholeness. The term is used in reference to persons, places, or things. And I think we all can think of holy places or holy people or holy things. The word most often in the Greek Testament, excuse me, in the New Testament, is the Greek word hagios, transliterated H-A-G-I-O-S, the Strong's number 40. It means most holy thing in Saint. The word quite often translated holy or holiness in the Old Testament is kadash, kadash, Q-A-D-O-S-H, kadash.

It's Strong 6918 and that's for holy. According to Hastings' dictionary, for those of you who may be Hebrew scholars, not many apparently. Anyway, the word is kadesh. The first was kadash, the next was kadesh, and that has to do with holiness. So you had holy and then you have holiness. And it again means the same thing as hagios in the New Testament. Basically sacred, holy, a holy one, a saint, one who was set apart.

This is by a Hebrew lexicon of brown, driver, Briggs, and Genesias. To help us understand, I read the definition and you may think, well, yeah, I see some of that. But just to make it plain and clear, we'll go through a couple of examples. I heard a sermon actually several years ago where ministers said that there were three aspects of holiness, or three elements. Number one, some place or someone is set apart, sanctified, from others, similar things of persons, places, or things. And I'll become clear in a minute. Number two, it's set apart for a special use or purpose.

And number three, God must be actively involved in the setting apart. Well, I will add to what I heard at that time years ago. God is more than actively involved. He is imparting some of himself into a person, place, or thing, some of his holiness. He doesn't just declare something as holy. He imbues it with part of his very essence. He is actively involved. Now also along that line, mankind cannot make anything holy. God makes holy.

Man does not. We talk about, you know, ground zero, you know, in New York City, as being hallowed or holy ground. That's really not. It's really not. I say man cannot make something holy. We hear about the Gettysburg Cemetery also as being hallowed ground. Only God makes something holy. Only he is able to impart holiness into a person, place, or thing. Again, mankind can declare, but that doesn't necessarily make it so. Again, just to illustrate now that I've given these three points, we'll take an example of the Sabbath day. The Sabbath day. Talk about the weekly Sabbath. It is a day. A day that is set apart from all other days.

You know, there are six days like this, so one day is the Sabbath day. So it is set apart from all other days of the week. It is set apart for a special purpose. That's point number two. It has set apart for a special purpose. And number three, God is actively involved in the setting apart. So yes, the Sabbath day is holy. And just to look at the reverse side of us, there are many of us in this room who have heard the argument, well, aren't all days holy? I don't know. I won't ask for a show of hands, but I know some of us, and I think many of us have heard that.

All days are holy. Or that I keep every day holy. I don't have to keep the Sabbath, because, you know, I keep every day holy. Well, again, does that make sense? And I'll look at that three-part definition. If all days are the same, there are no days that are set apart. No days that are different. They're all the same. None of them are special. Number two, there is no special use or purpose for all the days.

No, one day is just like another. And then three, God is not involved in making all the days holy. So really, that argument doesn't make sense. I'll take a look at one other quick example that, out in front of the building, I believe there's a couple of handicapped parking places. Are those parking places holy? Maybe you're going to think this is silly. Well, no, they're not holy. But we'll go through the definition, just to illustrate the point. Okay, there are parking places that are set apart from the other parking places. So it makes that. It's set apart for a special use, you know, for handicapped people. But was God involved in the setting apart? No. No, not at all. So, no, they're not holy. I hope that helps us understand a little bit more about the concept of holiness. Turn to 1 Peter 1 chapter. 1 Peter the first chapter, and I'll read verses 15 and 16.

1 Peter the first chapter, verses 15 and 16. It says, But as he who calls you is holy, in other words, God called us and he is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Because it is written, Be holy for I am holy. And actually, at this point, Peter is quoting from the Old Testament. We need to be holy because God is holy. God, through Peter, exhorts us to be holy, and he wants us to be holy people. Again, Peter is quoting from Leviticus, the 11th chapter. So again, what does it mean to be a holy person? Well, a person that is set apart from other people. He set apart, or she, set apart for a special purpose. And likewise, God is actively involved in setting apart. He gives us his Holy Spirit. God wants us to be different, to be holy, to be special. He wants us individually and then also collectively, in my Bible, across the page, 1 Peter 2, verses 9 and 10.

1 Peter 2, verses 9 and 10. He says, But you are a chosen generation, a royal priest, to a holy nation. So now, as a group, as a church, we are holy. His own special people. And again, there's a purpose for it, is that. You may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. And I could apply these same definitions with the same three elements of holiness here.

We're set apart from other people, other churches, other organizations. We're set apart for a special purpose, it says right here, that you may proclaim. And also, God is involved in the setting apart. Number three, God wants us to be holy individually. He wants us together, collectively, as a church, to be holy in all our conduct, in all our thoughts, and in all our language.

Turn back to Leviticus 24. I will mention it specifically at this point. Leviticus 24. And I'll start reading in verse 10. I'll read verses 10-16. Leviticus 24.

This talks about an occasion where, as I mentioned, we need to be holy in conduct, in thought, and in language. This is a place where someone was not holy, as far as their language is concerned. Leviticus 24. And in verse 10, it says, Then they put him in custody, that the mind of the Lord might be known to them. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Take outside the camp him who cursed, and that all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregations stone him. Then you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall surely bear his sin, and whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. And all the congregations shall certainly stone him, and the stranger as well as him who was born in the land, when he blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall be put to death. So again, God wants us to be holy in conduct, in action, and in word. I want to talk about... I don't think there's many of us here, hopefully no one here, that blasphemes. And I doubt that there is. However, there's something that can creep into a group, and that is euphemisms.

Euphemisms. A definition of a euphemism is something that sounds nice, but really, you know, it's a representing of something that is different, usually not as nice. According to a dictionary on the Internet, it says, A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something pleasant or embarrassing.

Well, society can rub off on us in many ways. And this is one of the ways we hear euphemisms at work. We hear them on TV, you know, we hear them on the radio, we hear them all over the place.

Now, not all euphemisms are wrong. Actually, I had a euphemism a while ago where I talked about someone asleep being dead. That's really a nice way of saying, you know, a person's dead, well, they're asleep. So not all euphemisms are sin, however, some are. In times past, let's say, when I was younger, growing up in the church, there were the euphemisms of, you know, golly, gee, gee, whiz, and this type of thing, which I don't even think you hear that much in society anymore today.

However, what we do hear in society is this phrase, O.M.G. You know, in this society where we text, and we have all these little acronyms or whatever they are, O.M.G. Oh my God. Now, how is that being used? Again, in the Old Testament, blasting in the name of God, you know, broke the Third Commandment and was punishable by death. In the New Testament, the wages of sin is still death. So I'd like to encourage us, hopefully that hasn't infected us, but the world does have a way of rubbing off on us from time to time.

And I would encourage us, you know, not to do that. Turn back to Matthew 19. Matthew 19. I'll start reading in verse 16. Again, a passage that's familiar to many of us. One of the times when Christ was being tempted. Excuse me a minute. Matthew 19. And I'll start reading in verse 16. I'm in Matthew 18. Matthew 19. Verse 16 says, Now behold, one came and said to him, Good teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?

So I said to them, Why do you call me good? No one is good but one, and that is God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments. Then he said to him, Which once? Jesus said, You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

So now this young man said to him, All these things I have kept from my youth, what do I still lack? In other words, he felt that he was a pretty good righteous person. And I'll say by worldly standards, I'm sure that he was. But continuing on, Jesus said to him, If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Come and follow me. But the young man heard that saying, and he went away very sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, Assuredly I say to you, that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. This man, by outward appearances, was very righteous. He had kept all these things from his youth. But was he holy? Was he holy? What was his heart like?

Christ could see his heart, could see that he lacked something. And he could say, well, you still have a problem. Obedience is not necessarily holiness. Knowing things, you know, knowledge. This man probably knew a lot of things, you know, growing up in Judea. He knew a lot about the law, and knew a lot of, you know, grew up in the temple. Knowledge is not necessarily holiness.

And again, obedience is not necessarily holiness. Righteousness outwardly is not necessarily holiness. God doesn't give us a written test and say, okay, fill it out, and then, you know, depending on how you do, you know, to get your reward. It doesn't work that way. God is more interested in what we are.

You know, what we do with what we know is what God is interested in, not necessarily how much we know. It's what we do with what we know. God knows our hearts. God can see us inside. He knows us. It's not about what's outside that counts. It's what we are that counts. God knew this man's heart, and again, God knows our heart as well. I might say along this line, I'm not going to turn there, but there's the qualifications for deacons and elders in 1 Timothy 3 and in Titus 1.

You look at those qualifications. There are some qualifications where it talks about what you do. But it's not really what you do. It's your character. It's what you are. If you read through those lists, you might want to do that later today or sometime in a Bible study. It's what you are, not so much what you do that counts. I mentioned a while ago that the church is holy.

We are holy as individuals. The church collectively is holy. Again, in 1 Peter, we're a holy nation for a purpose. God also cleans up the church and He makes us holy. Now, I do want to say that as far as judgment is concerned, we are judged individually.

There's no collective salvation, if you will, if you're in the right group that you've got to go forward. No, not necessarily. We are judged individually. But God has also called us to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. He's called us to be a part of the church, to be a part of God's holy special nation.

Turn to Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4.

We'll see a passage that you probably will recognize. From time to time, this is mentioned in Ephesians 4. Start reading in verse 15. Talking about the church, talking about the group, talking about us collectively. It's not just individually, us and God. It's collectively being reconciled to the Father, and actually being reconciled to each other. Ephesians 4, starting in verse 15, it says, But speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things unto him who is the head, Christ. Verse 16, From whom the whole body, and what is the body? It's the church. And from which the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effect of working by which every part does its share, causes the growth of the body, for the edifying of itself in love. Look at some of the words that are there. It says, Every part, every joint, each of us, all of us, no exceptions, all have a part, all conserve, you know, whether seniors, whether youth, you know, whether we're in between. All of us have a part to help the body, to help the church. And we are individuals, but we're all part of a body. I'm not going to turn there, but Romans 12, I think we're familiar with the analogy of the church, the body. The body has many parts, all have different functions, but all work together. That's the way the church is supposed to be, working together for success.

1 Corinthians 12 is the same analogy of about a body and many members, but there it says that God said each member in the body, as he pleases, according to his purpose. So as I mentioned, we need to be reconciled to God, but we also need to be reconciled to each other, you know, as we read in Colossians 1 chapter. Turn to Hebrews 13 chapter. Hebrews 13 chapter, and I'll start reading in verse 20.

Hebrews 13, and I read verses 20 and 21.

These are important things to think about as part of our preparation for the Passover service. It says now, in verse 20, it says, Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you what is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ. To him be glory forever and ever.

Amen. And again, this is possible through Jesus Christ. We have a part, we have our part, we must put forth effort, but we are saved by Jesus Christ. We're saved by his life. Hebrews 12, 14, just across the page in my Bible, eventually. I'm going to have to turn to page. Hebrews 12, 14, it says, Pursue peace with all men and holiness. Again, to be reconciled with one another in the church. It says, without which no one will see the Lord.

We need to pursue peace. We need to pursue holiness. We ourselves are not naturally holy. In fact, we're just the opposite. We need to pursue it. It takes effort. Again, God has a part to do, and he's got a great part to do, but he also gives us a part to do. So I want to encourage all of us to think about our part, to think about holiness as we prepare for the Passover, as we examine ourselves. And again, I want to make a reminder that this examination is not intended to be negative.

It's to have a positive outcome and a positive experience. I know we look to ourselves, we look to our shortcomings, and what that does is gives us the motivation that we need a Savior. We need someone to help us, to save us, to pay for our sins. We need to look to ourselves, and we need to look to the Father and to Jesus Christ. We need to look to God's plan and to our part in His plan.

Turn back to John 3, John 3, verse 16. Again, it passes a scripture that will be familiar to many of us. At one time, this was the most popular scripture in the Bible. I don't know if it still is or not, but it was translated into more languages than any other scripture. John 3, verses 16 and 17. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God gave His Son that we might live with Him forever.

His plan cost the life of Jesus Christ. Again, Jesus Christ laid down His life for us, and this was a tremendous sacrifice for the Father as well. As you can imagine, say, in a human example of a father having to sacrifice His Son, it was a tremendous sacrifice for God the Father to watch Christ die. But He did that. In verse 17, it says, For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him would be saved. And Christ came not to condemn, but He came to save.

The Passover points to Jesus Christ as our Passover, as our Savior. In the Days of Unleavened Bread following, that pictures our part in God's plan. So as we continue to prepare for the Passover this year in Days of Unleavened Bread, I want to encourage us to examine ourselves with holiness in mind, to examine ourselves looking to Jesus Christ, who is our Passover, and to not get depressed or discouraged.

After all, Jesus Christ came to relieve us of our guilt, relieve us of our sins, not to pile on, not to make us guilty. He wants us to be joyful. And this experience hopefully will be joyful. Christ did not come to add to our guilt or to make us discouraged. He was just the opposite. He came that we would have joy, and that our joy would be fulfilled. Our focus should be on the Passover. Let's remember the point of the festival time here is that God delivers us from the slavery of sin, something we cannot do for ourselves any more than Israel could free themselves from Egypt.

It just wasn't going to happen. God freed us from sin, from the slavery to sin, through Jesus Christ. Christ died for us, and He lives for us now to make intercession for us. And you can read more about that in Romans the 8th chapter. He died for us, and He makes intercession for us now.

God has a wonderful plan. Again, not a time to be negative or to be down, but rather to be encouraged. God has a wonderful plan. He wants us to be holy, and He wants us to live with Him forever.