What is Perfecting Holiness

As we approach the end of this year's Days of Unleavened Bread Festival, we realize that it's a special time of year set aside annually by God to re-examine our spiritual condition. On this last day of Unleavened Bread, we should be asking ourselves, will we really become more like Jesus Christ this coming year? Just prior to this Holy Day season, I talked about having humility. Humility is assigning a lower rank to your own opinion as compared to God's opinion. Then on the first Holy Day, I spoke about the lesson from Exodus. For those of you who were here, do we grumble and complain, which Paul explained was a lack of faith? Or do we have faith, confidence in God and Jesus Christ, that they will pull us through life's trials and bring us to the destination that they want us to have? Are we walking through life's wilderness with sincerity and truth? Do we trust? Do we trust that we will make it? But make it where? I want to pick that up today. What is our destination? Most would quickly answer, well, to be like Christ, and they would be correct. But what does putting on Christ look like? What is our destination? I want to answer that today, and I want to answer what it is not. So that when we see ourselves falling into, which human beings do, we fall into the not putting on Christ category automatically by nature. And I want to do a comparison today. What is our destination? What does it mean to put on Christ? What do we compare to specifically? Let's start to answer that question with something that Paul said in Galatians. Let's go to Galatians chapter 3 and read verses 27 through 29. Galatians chapter 3 verses 27 through 29. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. What does that mean, brethren? Verse 28. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Paul gives us a clue here about unity as being a measuring stick and not dividing ourselves up into categories. Congregationally or among the churches of God, which that shouldn't even be said in the house of God, but here we are split into different groups. We are all one in Christ Jesus. Neither Jew nor Greek, slave or free, male nor female. We are one. Verse 29. And if, if is the biggest two-letter word in the English language, if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. So whatever promises were made in the Old Testament to the seeds of Abraham, apply to you if you were baptized. If God promised it to Abraham, that promise is to those who are faithful to him, because Abraham is the father of the faithful. And that's not to say that God has abandoned Israel. He has not abandoned the Jews. He will call them back. They will be the first to come back to him. So he is by no means, Paul is by no means leaving the Jews out here. He's simply saying, you go first. He gives us a huge clue to the answer of the question that we asked. What does it look like? What is our destination to be like Christ? Will we really become more like Christ this year? Or are we puffed up like the Corinthians were? We can be. We're human. Let's pull off all pretense as we walk through the sermon and not pretend that we're perfect Christians. But let's actually look at it and see how we compare personally, individually, one on one, just between us and Jesus Christ, not between your neighbor, just us. How do we compare? Are we really going to become more like Jesus Christ this year than we were last year?

The clue that Paul gives us is that we are one in Christ, at least in our part. And that is the key that I'm going to talk about today. This is personal. This isn't churchwide. The sermon this morning on the last day of Unleavened Bread is an individual topic. It's just between you and God today, at least this morning. Are we puffed up like the Corinthians? The days of Unleavened Bread picture a time of renewal, a time of cleaning. The ancient Israelites would clean their houses of all leavening and leavened products during this time of year. And we do the same thing. It's an object lesson, and we do that every year. But the baptized Christians are heirs of God, and we are to take a spiritual lesson from these days. Let's look at what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 7 and verse 1. 2 Corinthians 7 and verse 1. Talking about the promises that were given to Israel that you are now recipients of, but actually better promises than those. 1 Corinthians 7 and verse 1. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. So, if you want a title today for the sermon, it is, What is Perfecting Holiness? What is Paul talking about? Perfecting holiness. There are different words in the New Testament that are translated into the English word holiness, and they all mean something different. So, it becomes vague when you read the word holiness in the New Testament. Which word was he using, and what did he mean? Paul had a very specific word in this particular passage, and it simply means to be morally pure. In other words, perfectly becoming morally clean. That's what he's talking about. Cleaning house, not the exterior, the inside. Perfecting moral cleanness. Days of Unleavened Bread, they're not just a memorial to look back and remember past events. They're an annual reminder that we are to restart and renew the cleansing process, and recommit ourselves to the task that is ongoing of spiritual renewal. Once the sun goes down tonight, we're all going to go get leavening, and that's not a sin. The Days of Unleavened Bread will be over. I personally am looking forward to a piece of pizza. Maybe a double cheeseburger? I'm not quite sure. I haven't decided yet. It's not a sin. It won't be the Days of Unleavened Bread. But we have to remember, that's not the end of our spiritual growth. These days are just a reminder that growth is to continue throughout the year. They're like a springboard giving us a boost into the year. And these Holy Days, the Days of Unleavened Bread, starting with Passover, start off that boost. They start off the reminder of our spiritual growth. This is a festival to remind us that we are to be perfecting holiness. So where do we begin? By clearly looking at what we celebrated on Passover night. Let's go back and review what we looked at. A price was paid for us. Jesus Christ died, and we commemorated that. He suffered, and we commemorated that. Mercy was given to us. Our sins were covered. We were pardoned from the death penalty that we deserved. But He took it instead. And now we have a chance to live. And thanks to God and Jesus Christ for that. But the Passover did something else, too. Let's not forget. It gave us a high priest. What does that do for us? What does the high priest part of Passover and the days of Unleavened Bread do? And how does it relate to perfecting holiness? How does having a high priest perfect us becoming morally clean? Hebrews chapter 8. Let's go there. We'll spend some time in Hebrews today. We did last sermon, too, at the beginning. Hebrews chapter 8 this time, verse 1.

Now, this is the main point, Paul says, of the things we are saying. We have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the throne of majesty in heaven, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord erected, not man. Skipping to verse 6.

But now we have obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as he also is the mediator of a better covenant. We have a better covenant than ancient Israel had when they came through the Red Sea and they stood at Mount Horeb, and the mountain was on fire and God's voice shook, and he gave them many, many promises. And they made a covenant. They agreed. And the covenant that we have is better than that covenant. What's better about it? What does the high priest do for us? One thing he does is he mediates a better covenant. A mediator is one who goes in between two parties and brings those two parties together. So our sin separated us from God, in this case, our Father, but also the judge. And a mediator comes in between us and that judge and brings us together and gives us something from the judge, passed through the mediator to us that we would not otherwise have had that makes us clean. Verse 7, still in Hebrews, chapter 8. For if the first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.

So Paul said there was a problem with the first covenant. You mean to tell me that God made a covenant that had a flaw? No, he didn't. That's not what Paul was saying. What is the fault of the first covenant? What was the fault with those who passed through the Red Sea? What was wrong with their covenant? Was it a set of rigid laws that were impossible to keep? Or maybe it was something entirely different. Verse 8 tells us what the flaw was.

Because finding fault with them, he says, and he quotes the Old Testament, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt. Why was the new covenant flawed? Because they did not continue in my covenant. And I disregarded them, says the Lord. You know what the problem with the Old Covenant was? Human beings were involved in it.

Well, we have a problem then, don't we? Because human beings are involved in the new covenant as well.

Paul clearly says that God found fault with them. There are two parties in each covenant. And in this particular case, we don't make the rules at all. We simply had to choose whether or not we accepted the rules or we didn't accept the rules. And so ancient Israel chose to accept the rules and never followed them. How are we doing? Because when we were baptized, and if you were baptized, you chose to follow God's ways to walk in the wilderness of this life. You chose it. And there is no turning back on that choice.

Let's continue on in verse 10. For this covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord, I will put my law in their mind and write it on their hearts.

And that's what was missing with Israel. And that's what we have the opportunity to have. We can turn it down, and we often do. And when we do that, I've seen people, myself included, go year after year after year, stagnating with no spiritual growth, because we do not allow our high priest to write the law of God on our heart, to perfect holiness. You know what? If Paul says in 2 Corinthians 7, we're supposed to perfect holiness. And perfecting holiness, holiness meaning moral purity, that means we're not perfect in holiness. We're not there yet. Brethren, I really, really hope for all our sakes that we as an individual baptized member in the body of Christ get that.

And we'll get to the Corinthians in just a minute. Who didn't get that? It's very possible for baptized people to come to church and get in such a habit of not eating pork and keeping the Sabbath and not telling a lie, that they stagnate spiritually, and they don't grow. And that's what we can't do.

God said in verse 10 of Hebrews 8, I will put my law in their minds and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people without God purifying us, cleaning us, getting the old leaven out, and making a new lump inside us. He's not our God, and we're not His people. That's what that means. But if we do allow Him to write His law on our heart and our mind, He is our God, and we are His people, and nothing can separate us from Him.

We're cleaned by the blood of the Passover who is Jesus Christ. And now He's our high priest, so that His law, God's law, can be written on our hearts. And that's for our benefit, not our punishment. But when you know when we go through life, you hear that in church, and then you get laid on your bills, or you get a call from your body saying, I'm sick now, and I am about to put you in the hospital. And we forget that all of these things are for our benefit, but they are.

This walk that we walk through, this wilderness of life, is bumpy. And every single bump, every single dip, every single branch in the road that we're supposed to step over and not trip, is for our growth, perfecting our holiness. We have to deal with other people who don't see things our way. We have to deal with financial difficulties and concerns. We have to deal with health issues, real health issues. I was just talking to Mr. McNair yesterday, and he was telling me about when he was a young minister. And one of the most difficult things he had to do was he got called for an anointing with a baby that was sick, but by the time he got there, the baby had died.

And they handed him a dead baby, and it just crushed him. Real health problems, real trials we walk through. And it can be so distracting to us. And it takes our mind off of what the Days of Unleavened Bread bring us back to every year. That's why it's so important to keep these days. We have a high priest who's there on the job, 24-7, to help us. And every bump in the road is for our benefit. Hebrews 9. Let's skip ahead just a little bit. You're in Hebrews. Turn the page, if you need to, to chapter 9 and verse 11.

Chapter 9 and verse 11. We're continuing on the same thought here that Paul was talking about. And he said in verse 11 of chapter 9, But Christ came as high priest of good things to come. Good things are coming. That's why he's our high priest. That's why he's our mediator. That's why he's on the job. For good things to come. It's like Mr. Armstrong. Some of you don't have any idea who Mr. Armstrong is, but I remember.

He was a leader from a long time ago. Mr. Armstrong used to say, we've read the end of the book and we know how it ends.

My wife always reads a book. She's a big reader. But she never reads a book unless she reads the last page first. I'm like, what? That blows the whole thing. She says, I am not wasting my time on a tearjerker. If this thing doesn't end good, I'm not spending a day or two days reading this thing. No! She reads the end of the book first. And we've done that. We've read the end of the book. We know it ends good.

The hero rides away in the sunset and he gets the girl. Yes!

With greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, our physical trials are going to be over one day. This life is temporary. These trials were going through just for a little time.

And then something really good is going to happen. Not with the blood of goats or calves, verse 12, but with his own blood, he entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. That's the Passover. That's what we just celebrated. For if the blood of bull of goats and ashes of heifer and sprinkling of unclean sanctifies for the puring of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience? These days are about cleaning house inside. From dead works, why? To serve the living God. How much more does the blood of Christ do that? Let's go back in Hebrews to actually continue this thought. We're going to go back to where Paul began, Hebrews 2. Let's go back and continue this thought to Hebrews 2. Get the context of what Paul was saying.

Verse 14. Hebrews 2, verse 14. What does the high priest do for us?

He died and he covered our sins, but he's alive right now. And that's what we're talking about today. What does he do for us? Hebrews 2, verse 14. Inasmuch then, as children have been partakers of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same. What does that mean? Everything that you went through, he went through. Oh, not the same exact trial, but the same exact kind of trial, the same exact kind of temptation. Were you abused? Have you ever been abused by somebody else? You want to talk about abuse? Try having all of your clothes taken off. A master at torture. Take a cat of nine tails and rip your flesh off. Slam a crown of thorns on your head. Spit on you. Beat you with rods. Make fun of you. Put a purple robe on you. And kneel down to you, mocking you as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And if that's not bad enough, then they'll nail you to a tree and let you sit there for about six hours until they've had enough and they put a spear in your side and have you bleed to death. That's abuse. He's gone through it, and that's the point of what Paul is making here. He's so on your side because he has felt it. He hasn't just talked about it from a distance. He actually became a human being and went through every single kind of trial you've gone through.

He was tempted with alcohol. He was tempted with women. He was tempted with abuse. He could have screamed out to God and had lightning just burn them all up. Instead, he said, forgive them. They don't know what they do. He has tasted the same. That's what it says in Hebrews 2. Inasmuch as the children are partakers in flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same. That through death, he might destroy him who had the power of death. That is the devil. Yeah, he went through it, but he did it perfectly on our behalf. Uya, verse 15, and released those who through fear of death, that you and me were all their lifetime subject to bondage. The children of Israel were slaves to Egyptians. What are we slaves to? We're slaves to sin. We're slaves to our own carnality. That's what has to be cleaned up. That's what these days picture, perfecting holiness, moral cleanliness in this particular case. Christ did not just release us from the penalty of sin, but he's now sitting at the right hand of God releasing us from the bondage of sin. Sin holds us captive, as Paul describes in Romans, chapter 7, where he talks about the law of sin reigning in his flesh. In Romans, chapter 8, verse 2, he says, For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. It's a war. It's a battle. And Jesus Christ is going to win that battle. We have to do our part. And as long as we do our part, he's got this. That's what our high priest does. Let's continue on now in Hebrews, chapter 2, verse 16. For indeed, he does not give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham. That's you. Remember? We just read that. Therefore, in all things, he had to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest, in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he was tested. You might think, well, yeah, but he was God. No, he was tested. Of course he was God. But he allowed himself to go through it. He is able to aid those who are being tempted. He is able to aid. That is what the high priest does. Not only did he take our place in the execution cell and let us get out of jail, but he also was resurrected and is now helping us through. And I like the analogy. One of my favorite photographs from my past is I'm walking in a park. I'm about three years old, and I'm walking on the grass towards a church picnic or something. And my dad has my hand, and it's from the back. You can't see our faces. You can just see confidence in a three-year-old little boy. Why? Because daddy has his hand. He's walking with him. He's not going to trip in the grass. He's not going to skin his knees. He's going to be fine because he has help. And that's what we have. That's what our high priest does. Yes, we're walking through the wilderness. Ancient Israel had a pillar of fire at night and a cloud by day. We have Jesus Christ, our rock, sitting at the right hand of God, holding our hand. Now, he's not carrying us unless we fall down his skin or knee, and I'm sure he would. But he's actually training us to become just like him, just like I wanted to become just like daddy. We want to become just like our high priest. So he doesn't carry us. We have to walk this walk, and we have to suffer those things we suffer. But he's holding our hand, and he's helping us through. That's what verse 18 says to me. For he himself has suffered, being tempted, and he is able to aid those who are tempted. He gets you. He totally understands you.

He knows your innermost thoughts, and he's still on our side. Can you believe that? That's love.

He helps us walk away from our sinful nature. He helps us to continually be clean, to perfect holiness. Oh, but brethren, we fight that. Our human nature, our selfish nature, doesn't want us to admit fault. And we pull our hand out of his hand. That's what we do. I'm not blaming you or coming down on you. I'm in the same boat you are, walking through this life just like you are. And I understand that our human nature is selfish, and we don't want to admit fault. And we'll do almost anything by nature, if we don't control it, to deflect fault off of ourselves. And, oh, do we create problems when we do that? And that's what I want to talk about, the problems that we create. Instead of looking at ourselves, brethren, we blame other people. And if we're not blaming other people, we compete with other people. And I want to talk about that, too. And how absolutely self-centered and self-righteous competition is. And how opposite of repenting and following God and taking Jesus Christ's hand and walking with Him, is the exact opposite of being competitive with other people, our brethren. Who's going to have that position? Who's going to be in charge? Who's going to be the hostess with the mostess? All of those things we do to lift ourselves up, block our spiritual growth, stop our spiritual growth, and lead us right back into sin.

Competing is an artificial substitute for repenting. Well, I should have that. I should do that. Instead of letting Jesus Christ make us perfect in holiness, we compete with others, making ourselves appear to be better than them. When none of that even matters to God.

It doesn't even matter. It's a false standard. Comparing ourselves to other people. Being jealous of their talents, instead of being thankful for the ones that God gave us, is actually a false substitute for repenting and personal growth. What we're doing is we're taking our eyes off of our spiritual growth, off of Jesus Christ, our standard, and we're trying to justify ourselves and pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps and say, hey, I'm okay, better than that guy, better than that lady. Why does she have, why does she do this or that? Why does he have this? Can't do that. Can't do that because it blocks our spiritual growth. Jesus Christ is our one and only standard. And we're going to read something about what Paul talks about in just a minute to the Corinthians. Jesus Christ is our only standard. There is no other human being that is our standard. Oh, there are examples of human beings. There are leaders. I'm not saying there aren't leaders in the congregation. Elder men and elder women we go to for advice. Yes. They are not our standard.

They are people who help us or should help us look to our standard. They should be the ones pointing you to Jesus Christ. And if they're not doing that, they're bad leader.

Paul addressed this with the Corinthians in his first letter to them. And in chapter 4, he was very blunt with the Corinthians. I'm going to read this from the New Living Translation, and we're just going to go through chapter 4 of 1 Corinthians. And the reason I'm very cautious about using other translations other than New King James and sometimes NIV, which has its flaws but has some accuracies even over the King James in some parts. Very few, but some. But I rarely stray out of that, except sometimes, especially when you're reading Paul, he's so wordy. Paul starts a point in one chapter and doesn't make that point complete for another two chapters. And it's so easy to get lost in between. And then you add to that wordiness that he has, which, I mean, he's so accurate and so smart. God gave him that huge talent of words. But if you're not someone that, you know, is like Paul, and I'm certainly not, then you can be reading along and then add to that Old King James verbiage that's been changed a little bit into New King James verbiage. And you have no idea what Paul's talking about. You can even read it out loud, and it just sounds like you're humming to yourself. Because you have no idea what he's talking about. And so, in certain cases, I like to go to something like the New Living Translation, which re-words everything into modern English. And by doing that, if they do a good job, which usually they don't, but if they do a good job, you'll actually get what Paul was trying to say. If you can pay attention to the wordiness. It doesn't take away the wordiness, but at least it makes the words plain to understand. The problem with these other translations is they like to throw their own doctrines in. That's why I'm cautious about using them. They either throw in the once-saved, always-saved doctrine, they always try to weave that in, or they try to do away with the law, they always try to weave that into, and all kinds of other things that they do. You have to be careful. But they did a good job in 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 1. New Living Translation. So, look at Apollos, Paul says, and me, as mere servants of Christ, who have been put in charge of explaining God's mysteries. So, Paul is addressing a controversy of these Corinthians who are judging each other and competing with each other. And they're even judging which minister they like best. All of that, every bit of that, is an artificial substitution for repentance and spiritual growth. It's a distraction. Satan trying to pull your attention over here so he can kill you over here. So, Paul says, so look at Apollos and me as mere servants of Christ, who have been put in charge of explaining God's mysteries. Paul levels the playing field. Stop judging one over another, he's saying. Now, a person who's put in charge as a manager must be faithful. As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you. Can you imagine Paul writing that letter and then reading that? What?

As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any other human authority. I don't even trust my own judgment on this point. My conscience is clear. He's saying, look, I'm not saying I did a lot of things wrong here, but don't judge.

But that doesn't prove I'm right. It's the Lord Himself who will examine me and decide. So don't make judgments about anyone ahead of time before the Lord returns. For He will bring out the darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will teach each one whatever praise is due or give each one whatever praise is due. In other words, you have no idea what's in my heart. That's what Paul was saying. He said, I don't even judge myself. I wait for the judgment of Jesus Christ when He returns. Now, he said his conscience was clear. He's not saying he's going around embezzling money, and we know Paul didn't. He hardly even took money. He made tents instead. His conscience was clear. All right? But he was being very pointed to his flock. Hey, you stop judging other people. It's a distraction. It's a false substitution for the repentance you're supposed to be having. Don't compare yourself to me, Paul said. There's another standard. Judging others takes our eyes off of ourselves. The carnal mind, our natural human nature, pushes us to do that. There's a drive inside us to ignore our own faults and look to somebody else's faults. Somehow, we take comfort in that. Look at the mistake they made.

We can all get together and band together and have unity like in a football game and feel like we're religious because we're against somebody else. It's not true religion at all. It's a substitute. It's a false substitute. For what? Repentance, spiritual growth, perfecting holiness. That's our job. That's where our focus is supposed to be. What's up with judging other people and competing with other people? It's got nothing to do with your Christian walk. It's a distraction. I don't know if I said that. Verse 5. No, I did verse 5. Verse 6. Dear brothers and sisters, I want to pause there. Paul wasn't just chewing them out. He loved them. He was on their side. He wasn't standing up on a soapbox pointing his index finger down at them, saying, you bad, bad people for judging me. He understood. He got it. He got his own carnality. He said he was one of the lowest of the apostles because of his past. Paul was a very humble person, so he knew. Okay, this is natural to you. You're my dear brethren. But even though they were dear to him, he didn't take it easy.

I have used Apollos and myself to illustrate what I've been saying. In other words, that's just an example. Please get the bigger picture Paul's asking us to. If you pay attention to what I've quoted from the Scriptures, you won't be proud of one of your leaders at the expense of another.

It's not a ministerial contest. And you know what, brethren? I'm not talking about between... Because Mr. Petty's leaving and I'm going to become your pastor. I'm not talking about that. I'm actually talking about something that's been going on in this particular local congregation for four years or more. And that is, there's this rigidity that we have against our own home office because of the split that happened almost five years ago. There is an actual hostility that we feel in the congregation towards our own brothers. Most of them, for the most part, are not even the same people who were involved in the split. They have been replaced, and a new group of guides have come in. And we still mirror the Corinthians in this way.

My dear brothers and sisters, verse 6, I've used Apollos and myself to illustrate what I've been saying. This isn't about me or Mr. Petty. This is about us and the entire church of God. We are part of something bigger than us, which means, brethren, we are responsible to love more than just us.

If you pay attention to what I've quoted from the Scriptures, you won't be proud of one of your leaders at the expense of another. And if we are, we're distracted.

So I love you very much. I'm not saying this to point my index finger at you at all. I'm in the same exact boat. I can't judge you at all. But I can read the Scriptures just as well as you can. And there's no getting around this. If we are at fault, we need to grow.

Like Mr. Petty said, if you don't know, don't go. But when you know, go. We owe love and prayers and fasting at some times for all of God's people around the world, including His ministers. Even the grumpy ones that we don't like. We do love. We do love.

Remember, Moses was a grump. He was. He was also the most humble man on the face of the earth. But he had a temper.

Ministers are not perfect either. And the whole problem with us having rigidity against our own home office is that it's a distraction from us repenting. And remember, I started this sermon by saying, this is a personal sermon. It's not about the whole group. It's about you and God. Are you letting something take your mind off of, perfecting holiness, becoming morally clean inside? The more you talk about other people and the more you get comfortable with that, the more callous you become to your own faults. You become a law unto yourself. You forget to take the hand of Jesus Christ and walk with his help as your high priest who's alive now and right there to walk you to the destination, which is a good one, which is where we all want to go. So, let's not be distracted. Verse 7. Here's Paul's summation of that attitude. You think you already have everything you need. People who think they have everything they need don't repent. Why would you repent? Why would you perfect holiness? Why would you clean yourself up if you have everything you already need? So, comparing one minister over another, Paul is saying, if you do that, you think you have everything you need. In other words, you're distracted. Get your mind back where it needs to be. You think you are already rich. You have begun to reign in God's kingdom without us. I wish you really were reigning already, for then we would be reigning with you. We'd be there, and this letter wouldn't be necessary. Verse 9. Instead, I sometimes think that God has put us apostles on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor's parade, condemned to die, for we have become a spectacle to the entire world, to people and angels alike. Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools. I have heard Home Office people call fools in the past few years. But you claim to be wise in Christ. Oh, yeah, we're religious people. If we are this way, brethren, read the next words Paul says. We are weak, but you are so powerful. You are honored, but we are ridiculed. Hear the sarcasm. How can you be the man who is taught at the feet of Gamelia, knows the law of God better than most on the planet, struck down blind by Jesus Christ Himself, given the Holy Spirit, taken into the desert, taught for three and a half years, by Jesus Christ personally, and then people think that they are strong and you are weak because maybe Paul had a speech impediment or maybe he was just a grump. I don't know. People had a problem with him. And so Paul gives this sarcastic tone to try to wake his dearly beloved brethren up.

Verse 11, he talks about his condition. Even now we go hungry and thirsty. We don't have enough clothes to keep warm. We are often beaten and have no home. We work wearily with our hands to earn a living. We bless those who curse us. We are patient with those who abuse us. We appeal gently even when things are said about us. Excuse me.

Yet we are treated like the world's garbage, like everybody's trash, right up to the present moment. I'm not writing you these things to shame you. He again reiterates, I'm not pointing my finger at you, but to warn you, my beloved children. I love you, he says. I'm just trying to warn you. Look out!

For even if you had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father, for I became your father in Christ when I preached the good news to you. So I urge you to imitate me in all the things he just said he was doing. We are to imitate him, to be gentle, to not revile back. Where did Paul get all of that? Jesus Christ.

Verse 17, that's why I've sent Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you of how I follow Christ Jesus. Just as I teach in all the churches wherever I go, and Paul's teachings are being taught to this very day in the house of God. Verse 18, some of you have become arrogant, puffed up like leavened bread, thinking that I will not visit you again. In other words, no one's going to come and discipline us. We answered in no one.

No one has authority over me concerning matters of the church. That was Corinth in the first century. That was exactly their attitude. That's exactly what Paul's dealing with. And Paul's waving his hands, warning, danger. You're being distracted. Verse 19, that I will come. Oh, I'm coming, he said. And soon. And if the Lord lets me, then I will find out whether these arrogant people just give pretentious speeches or whether they really have God's power.

More sarcasm. For the kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk, but it is living by God's power, not by our own power. We have a high priest. He sits on the throne. He's on our side. He's got his hand stretched out, ready to walk along with us.

And we pull our hand back and say, I don't need you. Oh, we don't literally say that, right? But when we start competing with each other, when we start comparing one minister to another, that's what we're doing. We're taking our hand out of Jesus Christ's hand, and we're walking all by ourselves. Guess what? When you do that, you're off the path. You're not headed the right direction. It's time to cut back through the woods and get back on the path where Jesus Christ is. Verse 20. For the kingdom of God...

Oh, no, I did that. 21. Which do you choose? Should I come with a rod to punish you, or should I come with love and a gentle spirit? The Days of Unleavened Bread, brethren, remind us to stop fighting Jesus Christ. To look at ourselves. Stop using other people as a standard to make ourselves feel like, hey, I'm okay. I'm doing all right. I'm safe right where I am. Because when we do that, we're just puffing ourselves up. We're not letting Jesus Christ build us up. Start letting Christ's mind be put in us if we get distracted.

Wake up and let Jesus Christ back in us. Paul mentioned Timothy in 1 Corinthians 4. Let's go to a letter that Paul wrote to Timothy. 2 Timothy 3, verses 1-5. 2 Timothy 3, a letter of encouragement to Timothy. And it encourages us to. And it warns us as well. You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times, for people will love only themselves and their money.

They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving, and they will slander others and have no self-control. All of these things distract us from examining ourselves. They will be cruel and hate what is good. Brethren, let's not let that be us.

They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that. This is what the Days of Unleavened Bread is about. Becoming clean, renewing your commitment to spiritual growth. Human nature wants to complain. It wants to blame others for our problems that we face, so we can ignore our own faults.

One place that we should start to look at our own faults is to look at ourselves first. Brethren, remember the words of Jesus Christ. Luke 6, verses 41 and 42. Jesus said, and why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye? It's not that he doesn't have a speck there.

It's not that the person that you're mad at in this congregation didn't do to you what you think they did. Maybe they did. That's not the point. Maybe the person that was at the home office did what you think they did. It's a distraction. That's not the point. Verse 42, or how can you say to your brother, brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye. Hypocrite first remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

That doesn't mean that you can't see the plank in your brother's eye. It doesn't mean that your problems are worse than anybody else's problems. It means you can't see the deep inside plank that's in their eye. You can only see the speck that's in their eye, and it might be helpful for you to help them remove that. But you can't do that unless you address what's inside you first. That's what the Days of Unleavened Bread are about, and that's what we can take from these days and realize there's something really good coming. I have got to dedicate myself. I've got to renew my dedication to spiritual growth. I've got to examine myself. I do, brethren. You do. Do you want to help others? Do you want to be of use in the church? I think most of us do. Start with humility. Stop complaining. We all do it. And look at your own faults. Those are the past three sermons that I've given here. Start with humility. Stop complaining, like the Israelites did in the Exodus. And look at your own faults.

Perfecting holiness means to be morally clean. You know, sin, it just weighs us down. It slows us, and sometimes it even stops our spiritual growth, our cleaning process. So let's wrap this up, because it's about time to go to lunch. I'm getting hungry.

Let's go to Hebrews 12 and verse 1. Hebrews 12 and verse 1. Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses... Now, remember, Hebrews 12 follows the faith chapter, Hebrews 11, where he talks about all of those people who had faith. Those who were delivered, those who were not delivered. Right? So, this is the cloud of witnesses that he's talking about that we have as examples. So therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and sin that so easily ensnares us. Boy, howdy! Does it ever!

And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. What a Day to 11 bread topic. The wilderness journey that we have is a race of endurance.

The ancient Israelites were freed from slavery during the Days of 11 bread. We, too, have a journey to make. We, too, were set free. But slavery is always in pursuit.

How can we know we're on the right course? What map do you use to know if you're with God? How do you know whether or not we're puffed up like the Corinthians? Because they were self-righteous. God wants us to have His righteousness. What do you compare yourself to? Galatians 6. If we're doing this, it's a good indicator. And if we're not doing this, it's a bad indicator. Galatians 6.2. Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Oh, instead of competing with everybody, we're supposed to be helping everybody.

If we're examining ourselves, we're looking out for other people. We're not competing with them. Did you see who she talked to today? She's trying to suck up and be a brown-noser. Are we doing that? Oh, yeah. Look at him stack chairs. Chair stacker.

Are we doing that or are we pitching in to help? Hey, she's talking to her. That's a good idea. I'm going to go talk to her, too, and see if she needs any help. Oh, he's stacking chairs. What am I doing drinking coffee? I'm going to go stack chairs, too. Let them call me a brown-noser. If anyone, verse 3, thanks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, not in another.

Other people do not determine your Christianity. Verse 5, for each one shall bear his own load. I don't carry Tani. She doesn't carry me. Oh, I help her. She really helps me. But in the end, it's me and God. If I obey him, if I repent, and I follow him, and I let Jesus Christ, my high priest, clean me out. And you, too, brethren, are on your own. How does it look when we compare ourselves to Jesus Christ? What does it look like when a congregation is that way? Philippians 2, last verse. Philippians 2, verse 1. We'll go through verse 5.

What does it look like to be perfecting holiness? What does it look like to have Jesus Christ, our high priest, in us? Well, it looks like this. Therefore, if there's any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, any fellowship of the Spirit, in other words, if we don't do this, we don't have the Spirit. Or we have squelched it, that it's unrecognizable. And this happens. It happened to the Corinthians. If any affection and mercy fulfill my joy by being like-minded, get along with each other, having the same love being of one accord.

You know, we've made a lot of mistakes in that category as the churches of God at home. Nothing we can do about that. Outside our sphere of control, the one thing that you and I can do something about is how I love others, how you love others. That we can do something about. That is our job. That's what the Days of Unleavened Bread reminds us of. Fulfill my joy being like-minded, having the same love being of one accord and one mind. We can do that with each other.

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, which is the temptation of the carnal mind. But in lowliness of mind, like Moses, like Jesus Christ, let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look not only out for your own interest. It's okay to look out for your own interests, but not only.

But also for the interests of others. And here's the whole point. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. How does it look? What does it look like when we, as a group of people, are individually accepting the purification, becoming perfect in holiness, that our High Priest is doing for us? What does that look like? Well, it looks like we take care of other people. We're humble. We don't grumble. We don't compete. We just love each other. And when we do that, a city that's set on a hill cannot be hid. You will shine so brightly to other people. And in that way, you will be of bigger help to everybody who's around you than you could ever possibly be by competing with other people. Let holiness be perfected in you. These days remind us it's time to clean house.