What Do We Do from Here?

Well, thank you, Mr. Scapura. Good afternoon, brethren. Welcome to the final service of the Feast of Unleavened Bread this year. Mr. Miller and I always like it when Mr. Hall is going to speak last. Usually, we try to get on the phone and make sure that both of us combine, cover the top 50 scriptures usually used for the Spring Holy Days, just to see how adventurous and creative that he is.

All kidding aside, it's great to be with you today, and I want to start out by asking a simple question. And here's the question. What does God want to remind us about these last seven days of unleavened bread? Going forward from this feast tonight at sunset, what does God primarily want us to know? And what does he want us to keep in our minds?

What was the purpose of this Feast of Disruption? Think about what God's plan is. During the last seven days, our lives were disrupted. Most of us usually eat bread. We eat things with leaven in it. We removed that from our homes. Our lives, our habits, our eating habits were shaken, disrupted by the feast the last seven days. For most of us, we worship together every two or three days, beginning with Passover and all the events that have occurred in the weekly Sabbath.

We've seen each other a lot during the last seven days. So that's also unusual, aside from the Feast of Tabernacles, something that we don't often do. So what does God want us to keep in the forefront of our minds as this feast ends this year? Let's begin by going to 2 Corinthians, chapter five and verse seventeen. 2 Corinthians, chapter five and verse seventeen. I will read this first from the New King James Version, and then I will read an alternate version that hopefully will bring out a little bit more light of what the Scripture is saying.

Paul was inspired to write to the congregation in Corinth, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. And that's one of the messages of the Spring Holy Day that we've been experiencing the last seven days. Look outside and see how nature is becoming new. After a season of being dormant and sleepy and staying underground, look at how green the grass is getting, how the trees are beginning to bud out, how the daffodils are blooming, and nature is coming to life.

It's a new season of growth for everything in nature. Well, how about us, brethren? It's also intended to be a new season of growth for each and every one of us. I'm going to read some verses in chapter five from the translation God's Word, God's Word for today. Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence.

God has done all this. He has restored our relationship with Him through Christ. He has given us this ministry of restoring relationships. In other words, God was using Christ to restore His relationship with humanity. We call that the gospel message. It's the good news that God is reconciling humanity to Himself, and He's going to usher in a new kingdom, a new world with God's laws, and an opportunity for people to reach their fullest potential that they never had in this world or in their original lifetimes.

Continuing here in verse 20, therefore, we are Christ's representatives, and through us, God is calling you. We beg you on behalf of Christ to become reunited with God. God had Christ, who was sinless, take our sins so that we might receive God's approval through Him. So, brethren, just a reminder that at conversion, we became a new creation. So, what was new about us? Well, when we receive God's Spirit, we acquire a new added dimension to our existence and to our life. We now become a unique spiritual being with a fresh attitude, a new approach to life, a new purpose, a new direction to guide us each and every day.

The old way of living, selfish and destructive, is intended to disappear, and that takes time because we are human. We still struggle with our carnality, but that is expected to slowly fade away and disappear.

We've made a commitment to change our lifestyles and follow Jesus Christ. Paul stated in Romans chapter 6 and verse 4, Mr. Miller alluded to it this morning, that after baptism, we should walk in the newness of life. So, have we allowed this feast to make us new? Do we have a new attitude, a fresh approach to our relationship with God? Are we ready to do dynamic things in our lives, physically, spiritually, emotionally? What isn't new, and we're all fully aware of this, is that the carnal human nature we have will be that counterbalance. It's the tool that God will use to help us to test us and help us develop character and to strengthen who and what we are by that constant battle between our own human carnality and the spirit that God has given us.

We are told by God to work at growing and changing ourselves for the rest of our physical lives, and we all have our own cross to bear. Some of us it may be physical health. Some of us it may be an emotional challenge. It may be financial challenges. It may be relationship challenges. For those of us, it may be a number of different things, but we all have our own cross to bear, and Jesus Christ wants us to bear it as we overcome the obstacles that we have in our life. I'm reminded of the story of the old Indian chief who was talking to his grandson, and the chief says to his grandson, in each man are two wolves. One wolf is his friend. He's kind. He's gentle, and he walks by his side, and he's always competing with the other wolf that's in him, who's selfish and evil and snarly. And the young boy says, well, grandpa, which wolf wins?

And his grandfather says, the one that you feed, my son. So, brethren, God wants us to use his spirit to feed off of the bread of life so that our spiritual growth is continuing to dynamically change us into the kind of being that God wants us to be. Let's go to Galatians chapter 6 and verse 15. As a pastor, I am oftentimes stunned by the things, the physical, sometimes carnal arguments and things that people get into in the church of God. Little debates about physical things or dates or ideas or concepts. And this is what Paul had to say about those kinds of things. The issue of his day was whether circumcision was to be required for salvation. Galatians chapter 6 and verse 15, for in Christ Jesus, once you have a relationship with Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor circumcision avails anything but a new creation. We have been reminded during these seven days that God wants us to continue to be a new creation. Not simply rest on our laurels, not simply think, well, it's good enough, but to continue to grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord.

The main thing about being a disciple is not endless debates on non-essential issues and subjects. The main point that Paul's bringing out here is that we have now become a new creation. And that knowledge should change everything about us, how we view the purpose in life.

In context, circumcision is a physical thing. Like, frankly, too many religious people debate and argue about all day long. Paul is saying that it's the spiritual attributes of being a new creation that are really important. Not all that other stuff that people allow to become stumbling blocks, that allow them to think they're smarter than everyone else, that causes dissension, that causes disunity in the church of God. So what is our relationship with God?

When we become a new creation. I think this is something that oftentimes we forget.

Turn with me, if you could, to John chapter 15 and verse 14. We won't turn to Leviticus 23, but I'm sure most of you are aware of the fact that during the days of Unleavened Bread, there is a Sunday during that day in which there was a very beautiful ritual in the tabernacle. And that was the sheaf of the firstfruits. They would go out and they would gather some brand new barley grain. They would harvest it. They would take it into the tabernacle, and the priest would offer it up as an offering on that what we would call Sunday morning today, would offer it up as waving that sheath before God. And of course, we know that Jesus ascended to heaven and became the first of the firstfruits. And that after his resurrection, many have planned, are planned in God's overall grand scheme of things to be resurrected, to be part of the family of God. So we just don't have some God up there, some isolated being up there, as our great high priest.

We just don't have a Lord and Master up there, simply a Lord and Master. We have a relationship that's far better. And I think we often lose sight of this. John chapter 15 and verse 14, you are my friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his Master is doing. A servant just simply does what they're told. Jesus says, I don't want that limited of a relationship with you. I want to be your friend. Continuing here. But I have called you friends, for all things I have heard from my Father I've made known to you, you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give you these things. I command you that you love one another. That's one of the ways that we bear fruit, that we love one another. I want you to notice our relationship with God is intended to be, from the perspective of Jesus Christ, better than simply being an obedient servant.

We are chosen to be his friend, and we are appointed to bear lasting fruit because the Father and the Son and all of us share the same spirit. And just like their lives are abundant, they desire that our lives, because we have that power and that gift within us, is also abundant. We're appointed to bear lasting fruit because of that spirit that we share.

Let's go to Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8. So now that we understand that the relationship, that that great high priest that Jesus Christ has, is better than just being a servant, better than being just someone who's obedient and does what they're told to do, God actually wants to have a relationship, a friendship with each and every one of us. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God and not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship. You're part of God's great work. God's not only doing a work in the world, He's doing a work in your life. You are part of God's great work. You are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. We weren't created just to look back all the time, to stand still, to rest in our laurels, but we were created for good works, fruit that last.

In my 50 years in the faith, I've seen a lot of people come into the church like supernovas, and for a short period of time they seem to be hitting all cylinders, and they're friendly, and the next thing you know, they're speaking, and they're gregarious, and they seem to have it all together, and then they just disappear, and they fade away, and they're long gone, because they didn't have fruit that lasts. Lasting fruit. So, brethren, salvation is a gift, and we've become friends with God, and He's begun a work in your life, and we should treasure that friendship.

We should treasure what God has given to us, and help Him in His work that's going on inside of our lives. I'm going to read Ephesians 2 from the translation, the New Century Version. God has made us what we are, He's the Master Potter, and Christ Jesus. God made us to do good works, which God planned and advanced for us to do for our lives. So, brethren, God, who sees the beginning from the end of time, has planned in advance for us to be called in this lifetime, and He called us for a great reason. He's expanding His family. He wants children, and He called us, and we've been called to be His friends, and to produce good works that reflect His glory. He's working with us every moment of every day, behind the scenes, usually, to mold us into something new, and improved, and useful, and better. So, are we working with God and His major restoration project in our lives, or are we resisting the work that God is doing going on in our lives? Let's take a look now at Psalm 37 and verse 23. Psalm 37 and verse 23. The great psalmist wrote, The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds him with his hand. Brethren, do you realize that we are not a bother or a burden to God? We are a delight to God, in spite of our flaws and our weaknesses. I'm a grandfather, and I was also a father, and I know the joy of being with grandchildren or children while they're trying to walk. And I would hold their hands, and they would be, their legs would be wobbling, and they'd be taking a tentative first step, and sometimes they missed, and I was holding onto their hands. And even though they missed and their body began to tumble down, they didn't hit the ground, because a loving dad or grandpa was upholding them with his hand. That's exactly what this scripture is talking about here. I want you to notice that sometimes even a good man stumbles. When our hearts are right and we live God's way of life, we give God delight, even when we sin and we stumble. And when we do, God is always there to cushion the impact of our error, because he loves us. We worship a God of second chances, who is quick to forgive us when we repent and when we fall short of his law. So how can we become a new creature and achieve God's best for us? I'd like to mention three spiritual principles that can reveal to us what God wants to do following the feast this year. This is what we can do beginning tomorrow or tonight after sunset. Three principles. Principle number one, realize that your father is your biggest supporter and has great favor for you. You're not a mistake, you're not an embarrassment to God. He believes in us even more than we believe in ourselves.

He chose us and he called us because he believes in our potential and he loves us in spite of our weaknesses. Ephesians chapter one and verse three. Ephesians chapter one and verse three. If you'll go there, please. Paul wrote again to the congregation here at Ephesus, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, this is Ephesians chapter one, verse three, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Having predestined us, in other words, having decided in advance to call us, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will. So why did God call you? Why did he call me? Because he's a glutton for punishment?

Because he was having a bad day? No! It was his good pleasure. It brought him joy to look down upon us and say, that's my child. I'm going to call that person in their lifetime. I'm going to work with that person to develop the character and the skills and the traits that are spiritual, that I can use in my kingdom forever. Verse six, to the praise of his glory and grace of his grace, which he has made us accepted to the beloved. We are accepted and loved by Jesus Christ. Verse seven, in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace, which he made us to abound towards us in all wisdom and prudence. Verse nine, having made note to us the mystery of his will, his will is that he's creating a family and he's creating that family in stages and we are part of the first fruits of his family according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in himself. Brethren, do we understand how much God loves us? Do we understand how much he's pulling for us? Do we understand that God wants to be our friend and have an intimate relationship with us? Now, this doesn't make us superior or better than other people, but it does make us favor because he called us at this time and we responded to his calling. That has made us special and beloved in God's eyes. Do you realize that you give God a lot of pleasure? Our lives, and particularly when we change and grow and when we resist that evil wolf within us, when we struggle with our own humanity but the spirit comes out on top and we resist that temptation, or we make the phone call we don't want to make, or we have the difficult conversation we'd rather not have, and we do those kinds of things that that brings pleasure to God.

You bring pleasure to God like nothing else he has ever created, and it gives him great joy to see his children growing and changing in appearance to look more and more like our spiritual father. Here's principle number two. Don't live in guilt or shame from anything that happened in your past. Don't live in guilt or shame from anything that happened in your past. Guilt-driven people are manipulated by their painful memories. They allow their past to control and define their future. They often unconsciously punish themselves by sabotaging their own success, by denying or ignoring opportunities as they arise, because they say to themselves, I'm not worthy of it. I don't deserve it. So they actually sabotage the opportunities in their own lives. Instead of releasing their pain through forgiveness, they rehearse it in their minds over and over again, and sadly they often release the pain that they feel on the people that they love the most, including their very own family. Being a new creature means really, really letting go of the past. You may not understand everything that has happened to you in the past or why. You may not even understand everything that's going on in your life right now, but have faith and hold your head up high, knowing that God is in control of your life. And He has a grand plan and a purpose for your life. I'm going to mention something. Mr. Miller went to the Scripture, and I'm not going to ask you to turn there today, but I'd like to expand a little bit on those three options that the Israelites had on this shore of the Red Sea, because you and I also have these three options as this feast ends tonight. I'm just going to read the Scripture. There's no need for you to turn to Exodus chapter 14, but I'll read a few verses beginning in verse 12. Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt? Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? That's one option, looking backward in life, reliving those negative and painful life experiences over and over again.

For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than we should die in the wilderness. And Moses said to the people, don't be afraid, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians, whom you see today, you will see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace. That's the second option. Stand still. So we can either go back, relive the past, we can stand still, or we can do something else. Verse 15, and the Lord said to Moses, why do you cry to me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. So, brethren, the lesson here is not to look into the past towards our carnal lives, towards the mistakes that we made. And we've all made our own mistakes. Not to relive those torturous memories over and over again, because the ending's always the same and you just feel terrible when it's all over. Not to relive the past, not to stand still and expect God to do everything, but to go forward one foot in front of another. One small step at a time to go forward with zeal and enthusiasm, knowing that you were forgiven and you were favored by God and your calling is to do those good works that glorify God. I just want to make a quick comment about standing still. For a short period of time, standing still can be okay. But after a period of time, the world's moving on. And if we stand still long enough, pretty soon we've become stagnant because the world has moved on and we're still standing there. We're still standing still.

So the best idea, the best concept that God gives us is to make sure that we indeed are moving forward. Principle number three, and that is that God works slowly but surely in His new creation.

This means we have to be patient with ourselves and with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Sometimes we have to be patient with organizations, church organizations, because they are composed of human beings. They're not perfect either. Sometimes we have to be patient with God because He may be doing things in our life that we don't understand or frankly we don't like.

But always remember, God is molding and changing us into His image. Perhaps you've heard the story of the Chinese bamboo. It's a plant that a lot of people try to grow. I've grown lots of plants in my day. I've never tried to grow a Chinese bamboo. I am told that to reach its potential, that it requires the gardener to water and lightly fertilize it every day for four long years.

And for those four long years, it's growing. What you can see is growing very slowly, very little.

Then on the fifth year, if it has received the attention it needed, it can grow up to 90 feet in one season. Now how can anything grow that fast and not fall over? Well, what it was doing are during those four years, it was driving deep into the ground roots that we can't see.

All as a superstructure, as a foundation, so that it could handle the growth that was designed to occur in the fifth year. Brethren, some of us get frustrated because we want five-year results in our life without doing four years of patient and committed work on ourselves.

We want things to happen fast, instantly, overnight, and change takes time. Let's remind ourselves of what Jesus taught us in a parable Luke chapter 8 and verse 15. You may recall the parable of the sower, and in context Jesus mentions four different types of seed that were sown and the results of sowing that seed. Some fell by the wayside, and some fell among rocks and thorns, and some fell on good ground. But here's what he has to say about that that fell on good ground. It's a good lesson for us. Luke chapter 8 verse 15. But the ones that fell on good ground are those, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.

Patience with ourselves. Patience with our spouses. Patience with our church brethren. Sometimes patience with organizations. Even patience with God if we don't understand what he's doing in our life and it's beginning to upset us. We need to be patient because it's through that patience, that diligence, that commitment, that we have the opportunity to grow.

The New Century version says here about verse 15, And the seed that fell on good ground is like those who hear God's teaching with good honest hearts and obey it and patiently produce good fruit. Brethren, growing and changing is a lifelong commitment. There are no shortcuts. There's no instant growth pill that we can take.

It's hard. It takes a lot of work. God's patient with us. Are we patient with ourselves? Are we patient with each other? I've seen a lot of fine people depart from the phase because they lacked patience over certain things. They perceived problems and the problems didn't go away fast enough. And so they quit. They gave up. Conversion and Christian growth is not a sprint. It's a marathon, a long grueling marathon that requires our dedication, our commitment, and patience. Luke chapter 21 verse 16. Jesus prophesying about what some in the church would go through.

Luke chapter 21 and verse 16. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends.

And they will put some of you to death. And you will be hated by all for my name's sake.

But not a hair of your head shall be lost. And even if you should be a martyr physically in this lifetime, your rewards for eternity as a spirit being will be far greater than that momentary suffering you may have experienced through martyrdom. And then he says in verse 19, By your patience possess your souls.

Are we mature enough? Are we spiritually enduring enough to be patient with ourselves, patient with our brethren? Sometimes if we don't understand what God is doing, even patient with God, because when the time is right, He'll let us know what He was doing all along.

Rather than questioning God or asking Him where He is when times are hard, we need to learn to be patient and remember that in a moment in God's time things will change.

And that's a very important thing for us to remember and appreciate. So, brethren, today I want to encourage you to realize what it means to be a new creature in Christ and what takeaways we should have from the feast this year. Understand what a great value you are to God and how the Father now views you as His own begotten child. He supports you. He believes in you.

Don't live in shame and guilt from your past. The price has already been paid for all of our sins and our transgressions. Keep stretching yourself to grow to the next level of faith in your life. Be patient with yourself, with your brethren. Be patient with God in the Church, because by our patience we possess our souls. We determine our future. We determine our destiny by how much we use that fruit of the Spirit. So, brethren, in larger vision of who and what you are, look at yourself as God looks at you as we go forward. How does God see us? He sees us as sometimes a messy, sometimes a confused, but a wonderful work in progress. You are God's work. Have a wonderful final seventh day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.