What Does the Passover Season Mean to You? Part 2

You may recall that a few weeks ago I began a two-part sermon on what does the Passover mean to you. Of course, it is a very, very meaningful time of year for all of us, and we covered two principles last time. The first one was, observing the Passover means that you acknowledge God's deliverance out of slavery and sin. Certainly, God has delivered us with a high hand as He delivered the children of Israel through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. Our sins are forgiven as we repent of our sins. So God did lead His children, the children of Israel, out of Egypt, and He is in the process of leading all of us out of sin. So we have much to be grateful for in that regard. Another principle that we talked about was, observing the Passover means that you acknowledge and you accept Christ as the Lamb of God. And we went through a number of verses in the scriptures that talk about Christ as the Lamb of God, the one who laid His life down, had His blood shed for us, was sacrificed on our behalf when we acknowledge Him and accept Him as the Lamb of God and as our personal Savior. So we talked about that in some length last time. And I'd like to go on to now a third principle regarding what the Passover should mean to us. Observing the Passover year by year means that you realize that you are indeed one of God's first fruits, that God does have a plan of salvation, that He is making salvation available to all people, but each one in His own order. And God is the one who does the calling, and God has chosen to call you at this time. And so you have an opportunity to be one of God's first fruits. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, it talks about being a first fruit of God. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. We recognize this as the resurrection chapter because it does talk more about the resurrection than any other single chapter in the Bible. And in verse 23 it says, but each one in His own order, speaking of some being resurrected at different times, each one being resurrected in His own order, Christ, the first fruits, Christ was the first to be resurrected. He is now at the right hand of God, and He was the first of the first fruits. Afterward, those who are Christ at His coming. So that would include all of us who have repented of our sins and have accepted Christ as our Savior, have been baptized, have had hands laid upon us and received the Holy Spirit. Those who are Christ at His coming, we are among the first fruits. Christ being the very first of the first fruits, and afterward those who are Christ at His coming. So it is important that we recognize who we are. It's important that you recognize who you are, especially at this time of year. We keep the Passover year by year because we realize that we are among the first fruits. In Revelation 14, it also speaks of the 144,000 as the first fruits. Revelation 14, let's read verses 1-5. Revelation 14, verses 1-5.

Then I looked, and behold a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 having His Father's name written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder, and I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures and the elders, and no one could learn that song except the 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth. These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. Now this is talking spiritually that they have not been defiled by false religions. They did not get involved in idolatry, but they saw at first the kingdom of God, and they put God first above all else. They are spiritual virgins, is basically what it's talking about. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. Jesus Christ is the great Shepherd. We are His sheep. We are to follow where He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.

And we'll tie in Revelation 19 along with this, Revelation chapter 19.

Let's read Revelation 19, verse 7.

So, brethren, it's very important that we realize who we are at this Passover season. We are among the firstfruits. Of course, we know that the Feast of Pentecost pictures the firstfruits. It pictures, obviously, the giving of the Holy Spirit. God has given each of His firstfruits His Spirit. And, of course, the Passover is for baptized members. It's for those of us who have made that commitment, who have accepted Christ as our Savior and have repented of our sins and have accepted the Lamb of God. So, that's point number three. It's a very, very important point. It's one that we need to reflect on during this Passover season. There comes responsibility with being firstfruits. God does the calling, as we've mentioned many times before. Many are called, but few are chosen. Those who respond to God's call are the ones who are chosen. Those who respond by obedience, by faithfulness, by putting on the mind and the heart of Jesus Christ by putting on the love of God. They are the ones that God is calling and choosing at this time. Many are called, few are chosen, and only those who are called, chosen and faithful will be in the first resurrection. So, not only do we have to be called and chosen, but we also have to remain faithful. And we remain faithful, in part, by keeping the Passover every year, by showing our dedication and our commitment to recommitting ourselves each and every year on the Passover, because it clearly symbolizes our commitment and our acceptance of Christ as our Savior and our willingness to repent of our sins and to put sin out of our lives. So, observing the Passover means that you realize that you are one of God's first fruits. A fourth principle regarding the Passover is, observing the Passover means that you have examined yourself and you see your need for the Passover in what it pictures. You see the need for repentance. You see the need for forgiveness. We all realize that we need to be forgiven our sins. It would be nice to have gone an entire year without any sin. I rather doubt that any of you have accomplished that. Not even a single year, perhaps maybe not even a single day without sin. Maybe at times we accomplished that, probably not in the spirit of the law fully. Certainly we can put sin out of our lives and it is our calling to do so. But we all know that in the last year we've all sinned, we've all fallen short of God's glory. We haven't been perfect. We need this renewal every year at Passover. Not that we don't repent as we go throughout the year, because surely we do. We must repent of our sins as we sin. The guilt that comes from sinning should convict us of our sin. We should feel badly that we've sinned. We should have a godly sorrow that we've sinned against God. And we've done that which was evil in his sight. And we should seek repentance. We should go to God in prayer, in fasting, meditating, and asking God for forgiveness. And then have faith that God will forgive us. But this is what the Passover is all about. It's an annual reminder that none of us are perfect, that we're all sinners, and that we all need to repent of our sins.

Let's go to some scriptures and consider these verses, and let's be sure that we are taking to heart these scriptures at this time of year. Let's begin in Psalm 26. Psalm 26. Written from a man after God's own heart. Psalm 26. Let's read verse 1.

King David says in verse 1 of Psalm 26, Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity. I have also trusted in the Eternal. I shall not slip. Examine me, O Lord, and prove me. Try my mind and my heart. For your loving-kindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in your truth. David basically told God to examine him and to prove him, to show him if there's any wicked way in him, that he might repent of that sin, that he might be forgiven of those sins. David did want to walk in righteousness. We know that David wasn't perfect in his walk with God, but he was a man who was obedient, and he was a faithful man. He was not a perfect man. And we should be like David. We're not going to be perfect, but we should be faithful, and when we sin, we must not make excuses for our sins. We must accept that we have sinned and repent of those sins and ask God to forgive us and grant us repentance. But we ought to ask God to examine us and to show us our sins, that we might fully repent of them. We have to be able to see ourselves, and only God at times can really show us our sins the way we need to see them. And, of course, David also was walking with God for the most part, and we need to be walking with God as well. David was persecuted in many respects from a number of people, and he chose to obey God. Let's read a little bit further to show his attitude. He says, Lord, I have loved the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells.

Do not gather my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men, in whose hands is a sinister scheme, and whose right hand is full of bribes. Now, David was not that kind of man. But as for me, I will walk in my integrity, redeem me, and be merciful to me. He knew he wasn't perfect, but he did strive to walk with God and to be upright and righteous. I will walk in my integrity, redeem me, and be merciful to me. My foot stands in an even place. In the congregations, I will bless the Eternal. So we should take the same approach as David, striving to obey God and walking in integrity and in righteousness. But when we do sin, we should look to God for His mercy.

In 1 Corinthians 11, it also tells us that we need to examine ourselves before Passover. In fact, this is the context of 1 Corinthians 11. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 23-26. But it does talk about the Passover. It talks about the symbols of the Passover. It talks about the cup which represents the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And of course, it speaks also of the bread that we must eat, the unleavened bread that comes down from heaven, which is basically talking about putting Christ in each and every one of us, becoming unleavened ourselves as we put sin out of our lives.

Notice verse 27. Therefore, whoever eats this bread or 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 that's so that you will not go unworthily before God on Passover evening.

But let a man examine himself. We must all examine ourselves at this time. Let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. Sometimes we get discouraged when we examine ourselves. And when we look back and we see that we have sinned and that we are sinners, it's easy to get discouraged.

And some people have even concluded that they shouldn't even take the Passover. But that's not what the Scripture is saying. The Scripture is saying, examine yourself, but take the Passover. It's saying, look at yourself and repent where you need to repent. And seek repentance in all areas of your life. And face your sins. Now is the time to face your sins. I gave a sermon several months ago. It was entitled, You Are The Man. Remember, it had to do about David. Nathan went to David and he said, You are the man. David didn't fully see his sins. God sent Nathan to show him his sin.

Nathan gave a parable and David was incensed. And then he said, You are the man. He was incensed because he thought someone else had sinned against another when it was really him who had done the sinning. And God wanted him to see his sins. And that's when he repented and Psalm 51 was written, the Psalm of repentance that David gave. So the formula is to examine yourself, but let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread. So you need to be there at Passover. If you've committed yourself to God, you've accepted Christ as your Savior, you've repented of your sins, which means you acknowledge your sin, you're sorry in a godly way for your sin, and you desire to put that sin out of your life.

Maybe you haven't done that perfectly yet. None of us have perfectly put every single sin away and we're not perfect. We still fight the good fight. So he's saying examine ourselves and then acknowledge your sins, go to God and believe that God will forgive you those sins, and then eat of the bread and drink of the cup and your sins will be forgiven. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. So this is not something to take lightly. We discern the Lord's body by realizing what Christ has done for us. Christ's body was beaten for us.

Christ shed his blood for us. He didn't deserve to die. He was the only one who didn't deserve to die because of the wages of sin as death and Jesus Christ never sinned. He was the only one who didn't deserve to die.

So he died that our sins would be forgiven, that we might have an opportunity to have our sins forgiven, that we might have a sacrifice that would cover our sins. And only a perfect sacrifice, one who had never sinned, could possibly cover the sins of the entire world throughout history. The Son of God gave his life for us. So we need to discern the Lord's body. We need to see that Christ shed his blood for us. He died for us. And I think it also refers to the body of Christ, the Church of God.

Jesus Christ is the head of the Church. And so we need to discern the Lord's body. We need to make sure that we have relationships with one another that are right and proper. And if we need to make amends with anyone, we need to do that before Passover. We need to discern the Lord's body. So it is important that we take these scriptures seriously at this time. The Church is to become without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. I think we have a ways to go.

We are to repent of our sins. We are to learn to love each other as God loves us. He lays Himself down for us. Frankly, I think we've done poorly. I'll just speak bluntly. We've done poorly in the Church of God. We've gone through another split, which, you know, if real love was really there, would that have happened to the fullest extent? I mean, if we really had the love for each other that we need to have, how could this have happened?

I think we need to examine ourselves in that area of our lives. And, you know, what are you willing to do for your brethren?

These are hard questions, I think, but they're questions that we need to ask ourselves. I certainly don't know everything of why all this happened here lately. I know it happened.

And I think that it would do us well to meditate on this. If we had more love for each other, I just don't see these things continuing to happen like this. They shouldn't happen. And, of course, it takes everyone having that love. I think we all lack the kind of love that we should have at times. I mean, I know I do. I'm not perfect in that. I wish we were all together. I wish that we didn't go through a split. I believe that we are committed to preaching the truth of God, the commandments of God here in the United Church of God. I know that's how I, that's what I plan on doing. And from what I saw at the conference, that's what the other ministers also plan on doing. Now, we may not perfectly do everything the way we ought to, but I believe that we do want to serve God and we do want to obey Him. We believe in the Ten Commandments. We believe in all of the Ten Commandments. We believe not just in the letter, but we believe in the spirit of those laws and we're seeking to understand how we can obey God more faithfully and more perfectly. That's our desire as God's people. I mean, there was a lot of slander, a lot of accusations thrown around probably on both sides in the last few months. And I think it's shameful. I think it's a shameful disgrace what has happened. And I think we all need to repent of our sins in any way. If we got involved in any of that gossip and slander and accusation, we need to repent of all that. We need to seek God's mind. I mean, I certainly believe that it would be nice to reconcile with our brothers and sisters in Christ. I wish somehow a miracle would take place and we would all be back together by Passover. But I don't think God's going to force that to happen. I think it would have to be a repentant heart on all of our hearts to make that happen.

So Passover is a very important time. It's a time to examine ourselves. It's a time to ask the hard questions. Why do these things happen in the Church of God? And what role did I play? And what could I have done differently? What could I have done better? I know that the brethren especially, I don't know, there's a whole lot that you could have done. I mean, even as a minister, I don't know how much more I could have done. But I know that God's going to hold some people accountable for these things that have happened. Let's go on to another verse, 2 Corinthians 13. 2 Corinthians 13, verse 5. And of course, this is the love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13. Let's read verse 4 and 5. Love suffers long and is kind. Well, let's read all of it. Let's think about what happened in the Church of God, in the United Church of God over the last few months, the last year. And let's ask ourselves, is this really what was going on?

It suffers long and is patient. Could we have been more patient with one another these last few months?

Could we have been kinder? Love does not envy. Was there any envy that might have been involved in the recent problems that we've had in the Church? Love does not parade itself. Love is not puffed up. It's not prideful. Was there any pride involved? I mean, some of the letters that I saw, some of the things that were written, and probably on both sides, you know, there was some obvious pride in some of those things. Love does not behave rudely. It does not seek its own. It is not provoked. Thinks no evil. Boy, did we fall short?

Thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. I mean, we've had so many splits in the Church of God, so many divisions and schisms, that there are literally a hundred different groups that call themselves by the name Church of God.

To me, that's a sad testimony to the fact that we have not learned what love is, and we have not practiced love the way that we should. We know that God is love. You know, God is love. I mean, that's the definition. God is love.

There are many facets to God, as we all know. The Scripture reveals God to us, and there are many facets. God is certainly a God of order. He's a God of law. And love is the fulfilling of the law. I mean, I believe completely and fully in the commandments of God. I believe in the Ten Commandments of God. I believe in all of them, not some of them, but all of them. I believe that we need to keep them all in the letter and also in the spirit of the law. And that we need to continue to seek understanding on how we can keep God's law more faithfully. Love is the fulfilling of the law. So that, I mean, that should go without saying, but it needs to be said as well. If I believe the United Church of God was getting away from the law of God, then what would I want to do about that? Well, I would certainly want to pray about it. I would want to fast. I would want to make my thoughts known. And, you know, I wouldn't want to be any part of that. So, you know, we do need to stand up for what's right and true. And we need to stand up for the truth of God always and not compromise with God's truth.

But remember, love is the fulfilling of the law. Love is also mercy, and love covers a multitude of sins, the Scripture tells us. It is patient. It is not envious. There are many aspects about love, and at Passover time, we need to think about love. When we read the verses that we read in the book of John, many of them talk about love on Passover night. And yet we have these huge splits, and brethren will be keeping the Passover in different areas this year. I mean, to me, that is a sad, sad commentary.

Ask yourself, are you behaving like one of God's firstfruits? Are you personally behaving that way? Are you going to your brother when you have a problem with your brother, like Matthew 18 tells you to do? Or are you talking about your brother behind his back? Are you behaving like one of God's firstfruits? And if not, why not?

Are you keeping all of God's commandments, all ten of them? Not just in the letter, but in the Spirit? If not, why aren't you? What do you need to change? Are you producing the fruit of God's Spirit in your life? Remember the fruit of God's Spirit, Galatians 5. We don't need to go there, but love is the first one listed. Are you practicing love?

Joy. Peace. I mean, there wasn't a lot of peace in the church in the last several months. We fell short, did we not?

Love, joy, peace, patience. All of these things. It seems like nowadays we want to go public with everything. Instead of working out these issues between brothers, we want to go public. Let's write public letters that go out to the whole world. Instead of going to your brother and sitting down and working it out and praying about it and fasting about it, and going back again and taking someone with you and doing it the way the Scripture says, instead we do things behind false names.

And this kind of behavior, I don't see that it's godly. I mean, we can make excuses for it. And again, I'm not saying it was a problem just for those who left us. I believe it was a problem for many who stayed. I think we all need to repent.

But I'm not going to make it... I just don't see that that's god's way. It doesn't make sense to me. I can't act like it does when it doesn't.

I mean, God is surely going to hold us accountable if we don't keep His laws. That's fundamental.

But instead of allowing God to work with people, we like to take matters into our own hands oftentimes.

So in 2 Corinthians 15.5, we need to... it talks about love, it talks about faith. Examine yourselves whether you are in the faith. Let's go to 2 Corinthians now. 2 Corinthians 13.

2 Corinthians 13 verse 5.

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you are disqualified. Remember, you are one of the first fruits. That means Jesus Christ lives in you. Jesus Christ lives in you by the power of His Spirit.

So examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Are you in the faith? Are you going to compromise with God's law? I'll tell you what, our leadership would never be able to pull us away if none of us would ever compromise. If you would never compromise, if I would never compromise, if we would be faithful as the people of God, the leaders could never pull us away.

If we follow God and not man, then no man can pull us away. So our members do need to stand up for the truth. They do need to stand up for God's commandments and observe them and keep them and live by them.

So examine yourself whether you are in the faith. And how much faith do you have in your faith? Do you have in your faith? Do you really have faith that you are here for the right reasons? And that nothing is going to shake you from your faith? Do you have faith in your faith?

Do you believe that God led you here? That God placed you in the body of Christ?

In what areas are you falling short? And why are you falling short in these areas? These are questions we should ask ourselves. No, not to discourage ourselves, but to be honest with ourselves.

We do need to ask, have I fallen short in some areas these past months? Have I compromised? Have I let down?

Do you have a plan for improvement? Do you have a plan for overcoming? I mean, a simple plan may just be to get your nose in the Bible more. Study the Bible more. Read it more. Pray more. And fast more often. That's a pretty simple plan. It's not a difficult plan. If you want to grow spiritually, then you have to get closer to God, which means you have to spend more time with God. Which means you have to take your prayer life and your study of the Word more seriously, and put it above other things. And don't let the world crowd all this out. There are so many ways the world tries to take the best of our time.

The world wants the best of our time. They want us to devote our time to the world and its ways. And of course, Satan is the God of this world. Satan is the one that's behind it. Some of us are very, very busy. In fact, everyone, I guess, is very, very busy. Even those who are retired are pretty busy, from what I hear. And if not, they'll probably get busy, because they'll get sick of not having enough to do. And they'll find something to do.

So, I hope we all have a plan for improvement, and a plan for overcoming, and that we are striving to overcome, and put sin out of our lives. In Romans 7, it talks about our state of affairs. Let's go to Romans 7. This really hits home with all of us. Romans 6, 7, and 8 are chapters that I go through in detail, verse by verse when I counsel someone for baptism. Romans 6, 7, and 8 are integral chapters and teaching on baptism. In fact, Romans 6 is referred to as the baptism chapter. But chapter 7 also goes right along with it, and also chapter 8. Romans 7, verse 21. And by the way, it does talk about God's law being holy, just, and good. And we believe in God's law. We believe that it is holy, just, and good. We believe that we are to keep the laws of God. In verse 21, Paul says he's talking about himself. In fact, let's read... Well, let's read verse 14. Start there. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. This is Paul some 20 years after Christ had already died.

Paul obviously had been converted years before, but he says, I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice, but what I hate, that I do. If then I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me that is in my flesh nothing good dwells, for to will is present with me. But how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do, but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. He had a desire to do good. He wanted to do well. He wanted to do good. He says, verse 22, for I delight in the law of God, according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, and it is warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members, O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death. I think all of us get discouraged at times, because we see that we have a body of death. As much as we want to obey God and serve Him, there are times when we slip up. There are times when we compromise.

And no doubt Paul found himself in this compromising situation at times. So he asks, O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Who is going to deliver you from your body of death?

Is your husband going to be able to deliver you from your body of death? How about your wife? Will she be able to deliver you? How about your minister? Don't count on me. No one can deliver you from this body of death except the Lamb of God. It's only the Lamb of God that can deliver you from your body of death. And that's what Paul says exactly in verse 25. He says, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh. Sometimes the flesh overwhelms us, doesn't it? Sometimes the pull of the flesh is strong, and sometimes we find ourselves giving in to the flesh. It happens to all of us it's common to man and to woman. Christ is the solution to the problem. Who will deliver you from your body of death? Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, will deliver you. Nobody else will deliver you.

Only the Lamb of God.

In Romans chapter 8, verse 31, Romans 8 verse 31, What then shall we say to these things, If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Who shall bring a charge against God's elect, against the firstfruits? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Christ is our high priest. He knows our frailties. He knows our weaknesses. He knows how strong the pull of the flesh can be because he fought the pull of the flesh. He was tempted in every point as we are, yet he never gave into the flesh. He never sinned. None of us can say that. We've all sinned. We've all fallen short of his glory. Now he makes intercession for us. He intercedes on our behalf. When we see that we have sinned and we acknowledge our sin, we confess our sin, then Christ pleads our case before the Father. Satan is the accuser of the brethren, and Jesus Christ is our mediator. He's our intercessor. He intercedes on our behalf. And as a result, the Father forgives our sins, and the Father grants us repentance. And we are then restored. Our relationship is restored. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for your sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Brethren, we are to be over the course of our lives. Brethren, we are to be overcomers. We are to be conquerors. We are to conquer our sins. We are to put sin out of our lives. We should be growing in grace and in knowledge and in wisdom, and in obedience and faithfulness and all these things. We should be growing. We should be more than conquerors through him, through Christ. And we're conquerors because, first of all, Christ died for us. He paid the penalty for our sins, and as through him our sins are forgiven. So that's the first way that we're conquerors. I mean, none of us are going to earn salvation through our works. It's only through grace. It's only by grace that we shall be saved. But a second way that Christ helps us be conquerors is by living in us, through the power of his Spirit. By putting on the mind of Jesus Christ, we can become conquerors. We can put sin out of our lives by yielding ourselves to God and to Jesus Christ. We can put that sin out. So after Passover, we're going to keep seven days of unleavened bread. We're not going to eat leavened bread, which pictures sin. We're not going to eat it, but we are going to eat unleavened bread, which pictures putting in Christ. And personally, I think we should eat it every single day during the days of unleavened bread. We should take Christ in daily. Eat the unleavened bread. Prepare. Make sure you have unleavened bread, and don't forget to eat it. And don't forget to put on the mind of Christ.

Christ is the unleavened bread that came down from heaven. Christ should live in us.

We are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us. Verse 38, For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. There is not a thing, nothing, height nor depth, nor any other created thing, that can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So we can all come before God through Jesus Christ. We can come before the Father through the Son. Nothing will separate us from the love of Christ. Christ is at our right hand. Again, He is the Lamb of God that laid His life down for us. There is no magic number or limit to one's sins. I mean, I don't know what the number is.

I know that there is a time, though, when God will not put up with compromise any longer. David said, don't take your Holy Spirit from me. David was concerned that God might possibly take the Spirit away from him because of his sin with Bathsheba and with Uriah. And he repented bitterly before God. We are not to take our sins lightly. We are not to make excuse for our sin. We shouldn't water down the laws of God, but we should strive to keep them ever more faithfully as time goes on. There is no magic number or limit to one's sins, but never take sin lightly. If one has the desire and the will to overcome sin, and is diligently seeking Christ to be formed in him, then he will be granted repentance, and his sins will be forgiven. So we can have faith in that. If you've sinned, and you all have, you can rest assured that if you truly want to continue to obey God, and why would you be here if you didn't have that attitude and approach, we'll go to God and ask him for forgiveness and know that he's forgiven you, and then strive to put the sin out and not let it back in.

Too often we let the sin back in, don't we? We allow ourselves to compromise.

We allow ourselves to compromise. Maybe we don't want to face our sins. The pleasure of sin is strong, and sometimes we're just seeking pleasure. God says we are to be overcomers, we are to put sin out of our lives, we are not to make excuses for sin. There is no excuse for sin. All sin needs to be repented of. Every single sin needs to be repented of. There's no excuse for sin. It's never all right to sin. It's never okay to break God's laws. God doesn't take his Holy Spirit away from a person when they sin, and then give it back to them when they repent, and then take it away again, and then give it back. It doesn't work that way. What happens is, when we're not stirring up the Holy Spirit, then in a sense we are quenching the Spirit of God. We are quenching the Spirit. We need to be consistently stirring up the Spirit of God, and striving to live by every word of God and all of God's commandments. So what happens when we sin and we take sin lightly, and we take a side trip back to Egypt? We go back into sin. Thankfully, God doesn't take the Spirit away, right away, anyway. He doesn't immediately take the Spirit away from us. But the sin does separate us from God. There is a rift. There is a barrier there. And the only way to have that sin or have that barrier taken away is to repent of that sin. Otherwise, we get further and further away from God.

If we don't admit that we've sinned, if we don't go to God and ask Him to forgive us for what we've done, if we allow our hearts to be hardened, and we try to hide from our sins, then the rift becomes larger and larger. And we get further and further away from God, and it becomes more and more difficult to repent. It becomes more and more difficult for us to admit our sins until we hit rock bottom. And then sometimes we pay a big price, and then we go to God with tears and with genuine sorrow, and God forgives us again. And we begin to stir up the Spirit, and maybe we make some progress. But every time we compromise with the law of God, there's a rift and a separation that begins. Every choice that we make to disobey God causes a certain rift. So sin is not to be taken lightly at all. God hates sin, and He hates to see you sin. He hates to see me sin. God is not a respecter of persons. He hates all sin from all people. Sin does cause a rift between a sinner and a holy God. God is perfect. God does not sin. Thankfully, Jesus Christ came and divested Himself of His divine nature and became a human being, suffered for us, died for us. He understands our frailties. He understands our weaknesses. He looks on our heart and our genuine desire to be forgiven our sins and to forsake our sins. And He pleads our case before the Father, as I've said before, and thankfully, God grants repentance, and that rift is healed. But when we sin again, that rift begins again. It's not something to take lightly. It's not a game that we're playing.

Brother, we need to be serious about putting these sins out of our lives and becoming like Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, who is sinless, who never sinned. So finding the godly balance in all of this is the key. Finding a godly balance. God hates sin, so we strive with all of our heart, soul, and mind not to sin, to put sin out of our lives, not to compromise. When we slip up, if we get discouraged and we don't face our sin, and we just get further and further away from God, and get more and more discouraged and depressed because of our sin, then that's very, very spiritually harmful to us. So don't let your sins discourage you. Go to God and have faith that He will forgive you your sin and that He will live in you through the Holy Spirit and allow you to grow and overcome. That's the balance that we all need. It's not compromise with sin. Instead, it's loving God with our heart, soul, mind, being wholeheartedly, striving to put sin out of our lives with every ounce of our being, and then going to God when we mess up. Immediately going to God and admitting that we've sinned and praying for forgiveness. I know it's possible to come to church every Sabbath and do a lot of sinning in between our services here. That is possible. Some people do that. They don't really face their sins during the week. And I don't know if they think they're okay just because they come to church. It's not the case. Coming to church isn't the answer for your sins. Repentance is the answer. So, rather than... instead of a two-part sermon, this will be a three-part sermon. I have another point, and it's a very important one as well. And it's a sermon in itself. So, rather than keep you late today, I hope that you will consider again the principles that we've talked about so far. Number one is observing the Passover means you acknowledge God's deliverance out of slavery and sin. It means that you acknowledge and you accept Christ as the Lamb of God and your personal Savior. It means that you are... you acknowledge that you are truly one of the first fruits and that with that comes responsibility. And observing the Passover means that you have examined yourself. And that's what we've talked about today. This one sermon isn't enough. We've talked about examining yourself. Now you need to go and do it. You need to go to God in the next month. We have just a little over a month, about five weeks before Passover. So now is the time to be more diligent, more faithful, to truly examine yourself and see yourself more fully. See your need for repentance and forgiveness. A lot of repenting can be done between now and Passover. You can change your life between now and Passover. You can make changes. You can change things that have plagued you for many years if you have faith and believe that that will happen and that you apply yourself. And if you do apply yourself. And if you do apply yourself. So I hope that we will consider these points, that we will strive to examine ourselves and prepare ourselves to once again keep the passage.