Time To Start Deleavening Spiritually

Passover and the Days of 11 Bread are going to be Yah before you and I know it.

Really, it's about two months to go, and two months go like this. Because two months ago, we were still in last year, and already two months are into this year, and that was just yesterday. Now, in Leviticus 23, verse 5 and 6, Leviticus 23, verse 5 and 6 instructs us to keep God's holy days, and there we read that on the 14th day of the first month, a twilight, that is, as the day begins, and you know God's days begin at sunset, so at the sunset of the 13th, after the sunset of the 13th, the twilight, that is, that period in which it's not completely dark, but there is that twilight.

In other words, a twilight, in the beginning of the 14th, is the Lord's Passover, and on the 15th of the same month, is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, or you must eat unleavened bread. It's important that we do eat unleavened bread during the days of unleavened bread. Some people have the idea that, oh well, I'll just eat one day or another. It says you shall eat four seven days unleavened bread.

That's what the law says. But anyway, these days are around the corner. And when we tie in the history behind it, we read in Exodus 12 that history. And in Exodus 12, verse 18 through 20, Exodus 12, verse 18 through 20, it says, on the first month or the 14th day of the month at evening. So that now it says on the 14th day at the end of the 14th day towards the end at the evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the 21st day of the month at evening, at the end of the 21st as well.

So you eat unleavened bread for seven days from the beginning of the 15th, which is the end of the 14th, until the end of the 21st day. So you keep, you eat unleavened bread for seven days. And so you and I have been in the church, a number of us have been in the church for many years. And you and I know that we are not to have any leaven in our houses during that period. Well, because leaven is symbolic of sin. And it's just a symbolism that reminds us that we have to, for seven days, and seven means complete, we have to completely take sin out of our lives.

And that is in our arms, which means is in the areas where you and I have control. I know that in some families, maybe just one member is in the church, and therefore they have to limit that to the area where they have control. I remember, I remember how much time my wife and I used to spend delevening well before Passover. And you probably can remember, from washing the curtains, from washing every window, emptying every pocket in my suits, in case I put some bread in suits.

Can't you hear me? Okay. All right. Okay. Every single crumb, breadcrumb, had to be taken out of the toaster. And you would really clean that toaster and would put it outside to dry for a few days. And in some cases, you would end up throwing away the toaster, or buy a new toaster every year, or decide not to have a toaster.

Well, and having little children, you never knew where they would hide their sandwiches, because you'd give them their sandwiches, but they would hide their sandwiches, maybe behind the car seat where it will slide at him. And then the deleven would mean having to take those seats out of the car and find all these interesting things that you have wondered what had happened to them.

So, as I did, and my wife did these things, we would be praying internally to ourselves, God help us to find hidden faults in our lives. Plus, I know my wife would bake tons, tons of and live and bake and live and bread cookies. And we would, in those days, we were young. We could do all these things, right? We're a little younger now, but not as young.

And, you know, we would give a lot of them to widows and different varieties of and leavened cookies. And it was a service that we enjoy doing. And we still do it to a limit, but not to the same degree. We just don't have the energy. But the point is we came to Passover. We were deadbeat. We were physically exhausted.

And the question that would cross our minds was, did we neglect the most important part of the leavening, which is the spiritual meaning of why we'd leaven?

Were we coming to the Passover inadequately prepared spiritually? I'm not saying we were, but we would ask. I mean, we have put so much physical effort onto this. Proportionately, have we done the same effort spiritually? And I must admit, some years we'd say, well, we haven't. And we have to repent and change. Now, surely the physical shows a spiritual lesson.

And the important point that I want to mention, yeah, is that we must not neglect the spiritual delavening. In other words, the examining of ourselves to look where we need to remove from our lives the hidden sense. And so today I want to talk to you about bringing out some spiritual self-examination principles to consider before Passover, because that is the really important part, the spiritual self-examination. So let me first start by looking at 1 Corinthians 11, verse 27. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 27. And here we read Paul describing in verse 27, therefore, and he's talking about taking the Passover, and he says, therefore, 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. So are we eating or are we partaking of the symbols of Passover during the Passover ceremony in an unworthy manner? He's not saying that you and I are worthy, but none of us is worthy, but he's talking about the manner, the approach that we are taking it, because it's a serious matter. And then he goes on here in verse 28, but let a man examine himself. And this is what I mean. We need to examine ourselves. In other words, spiritually, deliver ourselves. So I'm using this analogy of spiritually delivering, carrying it through to the point of what we need to do is examining ourselves. And he says, let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink the cup. Now, regrettably, I have seen some people that have examined themselves and therefore they came to the conclusion, therefore I'm not going to take of the Passover. Beep! Wrong conclusion, because the right conclusion is, so let him eat. It's not so let him not eat. In other words, examine yourself so you can go ahead and partake of the Passover in a worthy manner. He's not saying that you're a worthy person, but in a right manner. So continuing there in verse 29, for he eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

Now, what do you mean? What does Paul mean by the Lord's body? Now, obviously, and again, the Scripture is full of duality in its meaning, and obviously not discerning the Lord's body. He's physically looking at the body of Christ and what he did and the sacrifice, and that is one way of looking at it. But isn't Christ the head of the body, and isn't the church the body of Christ, and therefore not discerning the Lord's body has, as I mentioned, a duality in meaning, that we need to discern the brethren in the church. Not discerning the Lord's body is not taking into consideration each other in the church, and those people were not understanding it.

In the same chapter, look at verse 17 through 19 of 1 Corinthians 11. Now, in giving these instructions, I do not praise you. Paul is saying to the Corinthians, I am not really that happy with you, since you come together not for the better, but for the worse. You come together, you have Christian fellowship, not to edify the church, but to break down the church, and I don't praise you for that. And then he continues verse 18. First of all, when you come together as a church, so we come together, yeah, in a Christian fellowship as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part, I believe it.

You know, brethren, what Paul is saying, they were having little fights or arguments about things that maybe didn't matter. Some mattered more, some mattered less. And you know, the whole letter of 1 Corinthians addresses a number of those issues as well, you well know. And then it says, verse 19, for there must, interesting, there must, there has to be factions amongst you. Wow! That those who are approved may be recognized among you. Those that are Argentinian. You see, brethren, they were not united. They were not together as one. And you know, in God's church, all the days from the days of the apostle Paul, they had the Jewish people causing division, and they've had others, Gnosticism coming in, and other things coming into the church causing problems. And it's nothing new. Why? Because Satan hates God's church, and he is going to try and create discord. And division in the church of God has happened, and you and I know, and it was not pretty. It's not pleasant. It's sad and painful. And continue, then, in verse 20 and 21, therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's supper. What does modern-day Christianity say? Oh, well, we're going to have the Lord's supper, and Christ changed the symbols. We are not coming together to keep the Lord's supper. We are coming together for the New Testament, or better saying it, the New Covenant Passover, and the symbols of the New Covenant Passover. And then he says, but they were coming and having a big potluck during the Passover night. Each one takes his own supper ahead of others, and one is hungry, and another is drunk. So they come into a big potluck, but it wasn't really potluck. They were bringing their own food, and some people didn't have money. There amongst them, they were starving.

And Paul was saying, that is not right. That is not right. They were not caring for one another.

And so, brethren, we know that we need to examine ourselves before Passover. This is why Paul is saying we need to examine before Passover. But the question I have is a really practical question. It is, how? What is it that you and I need to do? And so, I am going to extract four points from Exodus 12, and then using those four points from Exodus 12, I'm going to give to you, I'm going to extrapolate to you, spiritual meanings from those four points. So let's go to Exodus 12. Exodus 12, starting in verse 5. Exodus 12, and you know, Exodus 12 was when was that first Passover, and it was instituted. And in verse 5, it says, your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year, you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. And so, Yahweh have a lamb, and he says, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day. So at the beginning of the fourteenth day, you have that lamb of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. So at the beginning of the day, when you get to the fourteenth, as it's starting to get dark, sun has set, but it's not pitch black yet, that twilight period, you shall kill it. And so, the first point is the Passover lamb is to be killed. Just remember the first point, because we're going to come back to these points. The second point then is in verse 7, and it says, and they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat. So in the houses they were living, they would put that blood on the doorposts of their houses and on the lintel, so it will be in their houses. If we were there, you would do it on your front door house, front door, so so it's in your house. So here is the second point. That blood should be on the doorposts. So one is killed, two is the blood on the doorposts. Let's look at the third point, which is in verse 8, and they shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted in fire, so it's like a barbecue, it's not fried or anything else, it's roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. And so the third point we're going to talk about is that it's going to be roasted, right, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. So we're going to look at that, the spiritual meaning of that. And the fourth point is in verse 11, and thus you shall eat it with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your stuff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. So you'll eat this in haste. This is supported also, it says on verse 13, now the blood shall be assigned for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood I'll pass over, and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land. So they ought to eat this unleavened bread, with unleavened bread, this meat with unleavened bread, all right, in haste. Now the word haste is an interesting one, because the Hebrew is chripazon, with Hebrew h2649, which is in a rush, but of trepidation.

And so that is the four point, the fourth point that I want to mention. So now we have four points. You'll kill it, the lamb, completely, it'll completely kill, right? Two is at your home, with your own blood on your doorposts. Three is roasted, with bitter herbs, and four you eat it, with unleavened bread, in haste. So let's now start with the first one. Now you and I know, based on 1 Corinthians 5 verse 7, 1 Corinthians 5 verse 7, that the Passover lamb symbolized Christ. And if we look at 1 Corinthians 5 verse 7, therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be in your lamp, since you truly are unleavened. So Yai is talking about, he was giving them this instruction, this letter, during the days of unleavened bread. And he was telling them, purge out the old leaven. You know, it was the old man. Purge out, take out of your lives that old man, that you may be a new man, a new lamp, since you truly are unleavened, physically speaking. You know, it was that we're keeping the days of unleavened bread, so they were keeping the days of unleavened bread, they were unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, our Passover is Christ. He is the Passover lamb, and he sacrificed for us. And so Christ being sacrificed for us, it's a wonderful gift for us. It's a gift. You and I have done nothing to deserve that.

In other words, none of us is worthy. None of us is worthy. Look at Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 10. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 10. For by that will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all. The sacrifice of Christ, as set as a side, in other words, as sanctified us by one offering, once for all. Christ does not have to do it a second time. Once for all, we have been sanctified. And then let's keep your finger there in Hebrews chapter 10, because we're going to come back to it in a moment. But look now at 1 Corinthians chapter 12. 1 Corinthians chapter 12. And verse 27. And it says, now you are the body of Christ and members individually. You and I individually, each one of us, are part of Christ's body. And so, Christ's body was sacrificed, physically speaking. But spiritually speaking, you and I are part of Christ's body. And so, a symbolism there is that like Christ had to lay down his life, for us, we as part of Christ's body, we also have to lay down our lives. How? By stopping sinning.

We lay down our desires and our physical passions, and we commit to live a new life. We lay down our lives for the church, for God, for Christ, for one another, completely.

And what does that mean? That we gotta look at whatever sins we have, and we gotta take them out. A wonderful scripture to go with that is Psalm 90 verse 8. Psalm 90 verse 8.

And it's talking, Yah says, you have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your countenance. Brethren, we have secret sins.

Sins that only us know, only you yourself know, and God. And some of those sins are what I call a blind spot. Now, you all know what it is, a blind spot when you drive. And you look, for instance, and you look out to the left and you want to change the lane or something like that, and you have to be very careful that you look very carefully because there might be a car on your blind spot. And you've got to double check there is nobody there, otherwise you're going to move and you're going to cause an accident. You know what I mean? What I mean, brethren, spiritually speaking, is that we all have blind spots in our lives. Sins in our lives, they are secret, and some of them are secret to ourselves.

That you can't see it, that I can't see it, but my spouse can.

The point is, we don't see it.

And so, this is where you tie in Jeremiah 10, verse 23 and 24. Jeremiah 10, verse 23 and 24. Jeremiah 10, verse 23 and 24. O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps. Why? Because we can't see it.

I can't see, you can't see, your own errors that are blind spots in your life and in my life. Some might be secret sins, but might actually be secret sins to yourself, to myself. And I need to come and ask God and say, verse 24, O Lord, correct me. God, please show me what I need to change.

And that's why this whole act of the 11th is very symbolic, because I don't know. I had a whole sandwich hidden behind the car seat, and only when I removed it, I said, wow, look at what's here. He then sins symbolically. We gotta look for it, and we gotta ask God and pray and fast and ask God to show us. But, he says, yeah, but with justice. In other words, please God, be merciful. Don't show me everything at the same time. Otherwise, I'll be too discouraged. Please God, just be merciful with me. Show me a little bit at a time with justice. Because imagine if God showed me everything I gotta change, and one day, man, you and I will be so discouraged. He says, I'll never make it. But God in his mercy shows us a little bit at a time. He's just. He's merciful. Not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing. And so, let's go back now to Hebrews chapter 10, where we were a moment ago, and look at verse 12. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 12. And then we read, by this man, that's Christ, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever. Yes, he's done it forever. He does not have to do it again. He's done it. He sat at the right hand of God. Right? So, that's what Christ has done. One sacrifice takes sins away forever.

And that brings us to the second point, that the blood on the doorposts is basically in our houses, but the symbolic analogy is in our lives, in our bodies.

So, Christ is our Passover Lamb. He's completely dead for us. He died for us. We've got to give our lives, and we've got to analyze and take our sins out completely. But we've got to remember that that one sacrifice, the blood, is around our doors. It's around us to take our sins away.

Look at verse 14 of the same chapter. For by one offering he has perfected forever. Christ, by that one offering of his life, he has done everything that needs to be done forever.

He doesn't have to do it again. He's done it forever. He has perfected forever. Who? Those who are being sanctified. That's you and I. We are being. We are in the process of sanctification. We're not sanctified fully yet. Yes, we've been separated for this process, but the sanctification process is not completed because that's what God's Holy Spirit is working with us after baptism to help us change and become better and better and more like God. And so we are being sanctified. We are in the process of sanctification. That's our part. He uses God's Holy Spirit, and God's Holy Spirit, one of the attributes of God's Holy Spirit. When you read Galatians 5 22 about the fruit of God's Holy Spirit, one which says love, joy, peace, etc., one of them, the last one, the ninth, is self-control. God's Holy Spirit helps you and I by giving you and I extra self-control.

And you and I need to use God's Holy Spirit to exercise self-control with God's help to overcome, in other words, being sanctified. So brethren, we need to examine ourselves. How are we doing that?

Turn with me to Philippians chapter 2 verse 5. Philippians chapter 2 verse 5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. So Christ had this mind, this way of thinking, this approach. Now what is this approach? Well, look at verse 2 and 3. It says, for full my joy by being like-minded, that's like Christ, having the same love, being of one accord of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in loneliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves.

Brethren, this is where we need to examine ourselves, because the blood is around our our house, our bodies. God is sanctifying us as we live.

And so, do we have the same love, humility, and service to one another, esteeming our brethren higher than ourselves? Do we?

In Ephesians chapter 5, Paul explains this in a very interesting way. And let's read verse 23, starting in verse 23.

And it says, Wives, submit your own husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife, also Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body.

Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be today on husbands in everything. And husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for earth. Christ died. Christ died for the church.

Do we die for our spouses?

But look in verse 26. That he might sanctify and cleanse her. Christ died for the church, so that Christ may sanctify and cleanse the church.

Our love towards another, in this case, towards our wife, is to sanctify. Remember the word? We are being sanctified. Is to sanctify. Is to help others, like God's Holy Spirit helps us to be more like God and Christ. And then he says, with the washing of the water by the water, that he might present her, that Christ might present the church to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she, the church, should be holy and without blemish. Now we all part of the church, right? We individual members in the church, and so he's talking about husbands, but look at verse 32. And verse 32, he says, this is a great mystery, even though he's using the example of husband and wife, the mystery is, I am speaking concerning Christ and the church. This first principle is applicable to you and I as members of the church.

How do you and I honor and respect other brethren in the church?

How do you and I treat other brethren in the church? Or more specifically, how is our interpersonal relationship with brethren in the church?

1 Corinthians chapter 10, 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 16 and 17. It says, the cup of blessing which we bless is not a communion of the blood of Christ, and the bread which we break is not a communion of the body of Christ. You see, we are one body. We in the church. And this is our fellowship, is the communion. Not like the world says, oh well, we have a communion. That's not what it's talking about. We are having a fellowship. And as we partake of these symbols, we need to look beyond the actual symbols to what it means, which is our Christian fellowship with one another through Christ, and we're all part of the same body.

In practical terms, it means you and I cannot look down on anybody else in the church. When we called and we've been given God's Holy Spirit, we're all forgiven when we accept Christ and we commit to live his way, and God gives us his Holy Spirit to help. He cleans us all, regardless of the filthy, dirty background you and I may have had. He puts us into his spiritual body, which is the church. He has called you and I, God the Father, through Christ they've called us in their mercy. He has forgiven us. Do you forgive?

Do you forgive? Do I forgive our brother?

Is there someone that at the Passover service, you kind of maneuver yourself so that you don't wash their feet? You know, you kind of, well, I don't want to wash the foot of that person, so I'm going to kind of wait a little bit and you know more or less what they're going to do and how they're going to bear or whatever, so you kind of maneuver yourself so you don't wash somebody else's feet.

Shouldn't be so.

Look at verse 24. Look at verse 24, 1 Corinthians 10. 1 Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well-being.

Brethren, why is Paul, yeah, in Corinthians, giving these instructions? Why? Well, let's look towards the beginning of the letter in chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3.

Verse 1, And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people. I could not speak to you, brethren, in God's church, as spiritual people.

But as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food. For until now you were not able to receive it. And even now, even now, after being in the church for so many years, you are not able to receive it. Verse 3, For you are still carnal.

We need to examine ourselves. Do we fall in that group? Do I fall in that group? For where there are envy, strife, divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? In other words, without God's Holy Spirit. Without God's Holy Spirit. You see, if our motivation is carnal, if our motivation is selfish, that is clear and inappropriate conduct for a true Christian. And we need to examine ourselves, brethren. Does that happen amongst us? I'm not saying it does, but we are asked to examine ourselves. That is the spiritual deliverening we are going through as part of the symbolism of the blood around our doorposts and around us. Christ is forgiving us. Are we forgiving others? Look at how he continues a little bit further in verse 5 through 7. Who then is Paul and who is Apollos? But ministers through whom he believed as the Lord gave to each one. I planted Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Imagine if something like that would happen. Yeah, well, I am for Jeff, or I am for George, or whatever. I'm not saying it happens, but we got to be careful. We got to examine ourselves.

In verse 9, for we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field. You are God's building. You see, we are to serve you, and all we want. And each one of us has got different strengths, different abilities and capabilities, and that's what God has decided to help us all.

And so you can see how discerning the body of Christ is so important. So let's go back to 1 Corinthians 11 verse 29. 1 Corinthians 11 verse 29.

For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, that is the manner that is unworthy. When there is carnality in there, he eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. Can you see this duality in meaning of applying to us as part of the Lord's body as well, besides the physical body of Christ at that time?

Look at verse 30.

For this reason, many are weak and seek among you, and many sleep.

I know people that had heart attacks because of some divisions that happened in the church. I know them. And I know many got sick because of divisions, because I mentioned it was not pretty.

So we need to look at ourselves, examine ourselves, and that's why it says then in verse 31, that if you would judge yourselves, if you discern yourselves, if you examine yourselves, we would not be judged. But when we're judged, we are chastened by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world. It's for our own good. If we are not examining ourselves, then God will have to intervene because he wants us to change and repent. And so the question I have is, what is the main area to examine ourselves?

I would say, is in interpersonal relationships in the church. That is clearly one of the main areas to examine ourselves, and therefore, come and partake of the Passover. Bear with one another, forgive one another, and be together at the Passover in peace.

But let's now move on to the third point, which is roasted with unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs. You see, roasted means, if you are roasted, it means you go through some trials.

Right? With unleavened bread means you do it, but in a way that you don't have sin. And with bitter herbs means that it actually, that's not a pleasant situation. When you go through heavy trials, it's not sweet herbs. That is bitter. That is not really nice. And therefore, we need to examine ourselves. Are we being a living sacrifice for other people, even though sometimes it's not sweet? Are we? In James chapter one, James chapter one, verse two through four, James chapter one, verse two through four, my brethren counter all joy when you fall into various trials.

Yeah, these roasting and these bitter herbs are not easy, but look beyond. Look at the final outcome, because the final outcome is that you and I become better people. We become like God, because knowing that the testing that going through these challenges produces patience. In other words, injurious or perseverance, who are permounding, which is faithful, adhering and sticking to it. And he says, but let your faithful perseverance have its perfect work. It was so that your final outcome is that you may be perfect. It was mature and complete, lacking nothing. So, brethren, we need to examine ourselves and understand that we have to be a living sacrifice. You know that from Romans 12 verse 1, we are a living sacrifice, which is our reasonable service. And then we get to the fourth point, which says we eat unleavened bread in haste, in a certain trepidation. Number one is unleavened bread. It was like Christ without sin, because Christ is in us. But we need to examine ourselves. Are we really imitating Christ and was living without sin unleavened?

Obviously, with the help of God's Holy Spirit that he gives us. And with trepidation, which is that haste trepidation, which is in a sense of urgency, but at the same time with the proper fear of God. To put us into context, let's read John chapter 6. John chapter 6 verse 48. John chapter 6 verse 48. I am the bread of life.

Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. It was of eternal life. And so we got to have Christ's life in us. We got to eat dead and live in bread every day. Symbolically, we got to have Christ in us every day. I mean, I know there was some people in the past that have said, well, we just eat and live in bread, if I remember one or another day. No, every day we're going to have Christ in us every day. And then continuing in verse 51. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, we got to eat this 11 bread, which is Christ living in us. We got to have Christ in us and he will live forever. We'll have eternal life. And the bread that I shall give is my flesh. It's my body. It's my sacrifice. It's my life which I shall give for the life of the world. And look at verse 58. Also in verse 58, this is the bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers ate a manna and are dead, but he who eats this bread will live forever.

But remember time is short, brethren. When you and I look at the world around us, don't fall into a sense of false security. Brethren, this is going to blow up soon. It's going to blow up soon. You don't even know, and I don't even know, half of what's happening. Some brethren in Portugal sent me just last night and this morning a number of pictures of, in the province of northern Mozambique, that's a huge province, a huge province, people decapitated, the sliced heads. You had another one where you had these black flags that, you remember, they're wearing Iran and whatever. Yeah, of Isis, they had those black flags. That group is alive today. Thousands of people were killed recently in northern Mozambique. It's a huge area bordering Zambia and the other area where it used to be called Niasaland. No, but that little piece of them, Malawi, Malawi, Malawi, it's bordering Malawi right there. It's not even in our news.

Brethren, this is going to blow up. I'm not saying it's going to be because of that, but I'm saying you look at the Middle East, you look at things happening in Ukraine, you look at things happening in this country, you look at all these indicators. Brethren, we're going to have a civil war in this country soon.

And it's not going to be pretty. It will be seven times worse than COVID.

But the nation still does not repent. Brethren, we need to eat this unleavened bread in haste, in the fear of God with trepidation, because time is short. Are we examining ourselves? Do you and I have a sense of urgency and trepidation?

Brethren, today I've basically highlighted four points from Exodus 12.

That from that we can draw for spiritual lessons, for spiritual self-examination.

Just like the Passover Lamb, we have to completely lay down our lives, completely put away our physical old man with its passions. Like the blood around the doorposts in our lives, it reminds us of us having to be careful with our interpersonal relationships in the Church.

The Passover Lamb, being roasted with uneven bread, and with bitter herbs, reminds us of the intensity of unpleasant suffering that you and I have to go through, but the final outcome is well worth it.

And eating the spread of life with unleavened bread that is without sin, in haste with a sense of urgency and trepidation, the outcome will be eternal life. Because it reminds us that we need to imitate Christ, being without sin with God's help of His Spirit, whilst we have a respectful sense of urgency to be in the Kingdom, because we desire God's Kingdom to come. Nothing in this world, no filthy politics, will save us. Nothing.

So please, let us focus now, in the next two months, to examine ourselves through prayer and fasting well before Passover as part of our spiritual delavening before this coming festival season.