You Are Here

Well, good afternoon, everyone. I have promised that I will vary the rate and loudness of my voice to keep you pleasantly awake. However, I have also attempted to guarantee that I shall not wake up the babies. So, I'm not 100% sure exactly how that's going to work, but hey, we'll find out together. So, I have a question for you today, and I'd like you to raise your hand if you have ever been lost. And I don't mean, like, sort of lost.

I don't mean, like, I kind of don't know where I am. I mean, like, 100% everywhere I look around me, I have no idea where I am lost. How many of you have happened in your own house? I'm just kidding. You don't have to admit it. You don't have to admit it. I told the teen group this story up at the Northwest weekend this last year. I know some of you were there, so please permit me to tell the story again as a lead-in for the message today.

It introduces the topic that I'm covering fairly well. So, when I was 13 years old, this was during the early 1990s. I'll give you kind of a time frame here. Us as kids, we like to hang. Hang, in quotes. We like to hang. Hang pretty much was kids speak for not doing anything at all. Quite literally loitering. Wherever we happen to find ourselves, we would go down and hang at the mall. We could hang at the corner store. We could hang in front of the school. Literally, sitting around doing nothing. Absolutely nothing whatsoever. Where we personally, we all grew up in the Spokane Valley, so where we hung out and where we went to go hang was University City Mall, which all the cool kids called U City.

It was a rundown mall in the Spokane Valley. It didn't have much in the way of stores. I remember it having a Hickory Farms and JCPenney. So, here we are a bunch of 13 of them. I mean, at least Hickory Farms had free samples, which was cool. But it really didn't have much else in the way of very well-known retailers. And really, nothing in the way of what we would call cool stores. Nothing in the way of cool stores.

But of course, that didn't really matter, because none of us had any money anyway. So, I mean, we're wandering around just shopping, window shopping, at the merchandise as we see things. But we knew that place like the back of our hand. I mean, to be fair, there was like one runway down the center of it. We would walk from one end of the mall down to the other end of the mall to see who we would know and attempt to look as cool as we possibly could in the process.

As you might guess, we weren't terribly good at that. But that's okay. There was another mall in Spokane, though. There was another mall in Spokane that had kind of the status of myth and legend for those of us out in the valley. For some of you that have been to Spokane, you'll recognize you'll get kind of maybe a kick out of this.

But it was on the north end of Spokane. And since none of us had vehicles, none of us had any ability to get anywhere in and of ourselves, it was 45 minutes away from the valley. So there was no way we were talking our parents into driving 45 minutes for us to go wander around and not do anything. It just wasn't going to happen. We heard these stories told to us from kids that were maybe a little more adventurous than us, or who had parents who, you know, just kind of said, yes, get out of the house.

I'll take you to the mall. It's fine. But even the name sounded legendary and mythical. Northtown Mall. Northtown Mall. It was full of amazing stores. Three stories tall. Three stories tall. Three stories. U City. One. One story at U City. It had all these amazing stores. It had a skateboard shop. It had, like, teen clothing stores. It had music shops. It had gag gift stores.

It had an exotic locale referred only to as Cinnabon? Cinnabon? Something like that. It was even rumored the entire basement of this mall was in was a giant arcade with an 18-hole indoor golf course.

Now that rumor turned out to be true. That rumor did turn out to be true. But, of course, to us, these were only legends. We had no experience. None of my group of friends had ever really been there. We began to really wonder whether it had even been existed. We finally got the opportunity to go. We finally got the chance to go in and check this place out. So we strutted through the front doors, as cool as we could possibly be, just, you know, trying to do everything that we could. But we realized very quickly we were outgunned. We realized very quickly we were outgunned.

We got inside and we just didn't really know what else to do, so we started wandering around. But we didn't know where we were going at all. We had no idea where we were going. And because we weren't paying any attention to our surroundings, we were just yacking. We didn't really see which door we came in. Nor did we really pay much attention to too many of the stores on the way in. And after, like, the third or fourth time that we passed Zumi's, once this way, another time this way, we had no idea where we were. No idea where we were. Now we weren't, you know, lost to the degree that I described, per se, in the beginning where we feared for our life by any means. But we really had no idea where we were. So we kind of had to suck up our pride a little bit and consult one of those little mall kiosks. You know the ones that are there and has a nice little sticker on it that says, you are here, right? So we took a look at this mall kiosk and it just for future reference, what is decidedly uncool, consulting a mall kiosk that says you are here. It was almost like giving up. It was literally almost like admitting we just simply did not know what we were doing and we didn't belong. But we swallowed our pride. We did it anyway. And in the interest of transparency, I mean, how else were we going to find our car, you know, and where my mom was going to be picking us up? So that well-placed kiosk helped us to find two very important things. It helped us to determine, one, our current location. It helped us to know where our current location was in both space and time, as well as where we were trying to go relative to our current location. And as an adult, I'll freely admit, I love these kiosks as an adult. They are absolute lifesavers. I don't want to spend all day in the mall dodging aimless teenagers. And listen, the irony of that statement is not lost on me. The irony of that statement is not lost on me. But I want to get in, and I want to get my things, and I want to get out. And I love the global positioning that these kiosks provide. That little you are here sticker is a lifesaver. Again, tells us where we are and where we're going. So, brethren, we're going to take a look today at a spiritual kiosk. We're going to take a look at a spiritual kiosk. Where are we? And where are we going? The title of this second split sermon today is, You Are Here. And, you know, we've heard quite a bit today in the way of symbolism of these days, the symbolism of leaven, the importance of putting it out at this time of year, and taking in on leavened bread.

And if we were to take a look at kind of a hypothetical map upon which we find ourselves, we're here today to commemorate the last day of unleavened bread. In the past week-ish, leading up to this day, we've kept the Passover. We've reflected on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as our Passover, the remission of sins that come through His shed blood, the healing promised by His broken body, and the suffering and the death that He endured for you and for me. We put the leaven out of our homes. We searched the cupboards. We washed the toaster. We did whatever it needed to do to get the leaven out of our lives. We've been very careful as the week has gone on, taking a look at the offerings that come through work, you know, the break room offerings, right? The cake pops that randomly show up on your desk, the donuts that are out on the table. We've replaced the holes in our life from the leaven that we've left with the unleavened attitudes and the teachings of Messiah.

We learn a great many lessons through this process, but these days parallel a really important historical moment as well in ancient Israel's history, Israel's deliverance from Egypt.

On the evening of the Passover, we know, in just a quick brief rehash here, God enacted His final plague upon the Egyptians. All the firstborn, rich to poor, livestock were killed. Save, of course, those who had painted the blood of the sacrificial lamb on their doorposts. That blood identified the people behind those doors as God's people, the people who were washed in that blood as God's people. Those were His chosen. The following night, God led His people out of Egypt, and they began what is described in Jewish, rather historical sources, as a week-long march to the Red Sea.

Traditionally, according to the, again, Jewish historical records, the miracle of the Red Sea Crossing occurred on the last day of Unleavened Bread. Symbolically, that makes sense. It's the ultimate deliverance from Egypt. It's the moment that Israel obtained freedom from their bondage. It was unequivocally, at that point, they were out of Egypt at that moment. If you can imagine yourself in the place of those Israelites who would experience this incredible miracle of the parting of the Red Sea, I don't know if you've ever considered it before. The reason I say that is I hadn't until recently. I hadn't until this year. The number of the multitudes who left Egypt in Exodus 12 are listed as 600,000 men. This is besides children. That doesn't mention women. Okay? So we know we had 600,000 men. We also know we had women, children, livestock, possessions, etc. I've seen estimates that place the entirety of the Israelite host, including those from Egypt, the mixed multitude who kind of decided, hey, you know, your God's got something going on here that ours doesn't. We're coming with you. Those guys. I've heard estimates that between 1.5 and 2.5 million people total. 600,000 men plus women and children, livestock, etc. Just for perspective sake, that is roughly the population of the Portland metro area at 2.3 million. That's Portland metro. That includes West Lynn. That includes Hillsborough. That includes the Portland metro area. I've seen other estimates go as high as 3 to 3.5 million based on generational doubleings as for the 430 years that they were present. The sheer logistics of a crossing of the Red Sea is truly mind-boggling. It's truly mind-boggling. I did some math, and there's a very good chance I'm going to have Luke check my math because he's an engineer and I'm a science teacher, not a math teacher. So, he can check my math as he goes here. I got to thinking to myself, how long would this... you know, we know that it was done in a certain period of time. We know that. We know that if there were two and a half, you know, to even three to three and a half million people, that's a lot of people. That's a lot of people. So, I did some math to try to figure that out. So, let's say you have a double-file line. That means you're walking one here, one here, and then everybody else stacked up behind them. Just two. Just two. And let's say that we put at least three feet in between the ranks of people, just for the sake that they're not tripping over each other, right? If we operate off of the assumption of two million people, if we operate off of two million people, there's one million in one line, one million in the other, straight back, double-file, three feet in between.

That puts us at three million feet total for the host. Three million feet total for the host. That's all the ranks. Everybody there. Divide that by 5,280 feet in a mile. You have a double-file line of Israelites that is 568 miles long. Here's the perspective. That is Salem to just a little past Sacramento, California. Just a smidge. I ran it on the maps. I ran it on Google Maps. Just a smidge pass. So we know they weren't walking double-file. We just...

Well, I shouldn't say that. We don't know that for sure. God could have done something else, did He? We don't know. But if you double that, if you take it and you make it four across, the line is 284 miles long. Eight across is 142 miles long. That's about the distance from here to Sutherland, Oregon. To get to a manageable number that could cross in a shorter period of time, like that mentioned in the account, you're looking at a line of people 128 across, 128 abreast. And if that's the case, and there is ranks of 128, 128, 128 ad infinitum out to the full amount, the line is still almost nine miles long. Quartermaster General of the United States Army says you can force march a group that size in about a half a day. About a half a day, about 12 hours. Now, obviously, God could have done other things, but that doesn't include livestock. That doesn't include possessions. That doesn't include any of those things. Nine miles long, 128 people across. We put three feet in between each of those 128 people. That's just shy of the full length of a football field. Why? Okay. I mean, you can fit 128 people across a football field pretty easy-peasy.

Now, I think it's safe to assume we didn't have a single file line. I think it's safe to assume we didn't have a double file line. We're talking a section of the red seed that was peeled back by God at least as wide as a football field is long. Honestly, probably even closer to two football fields in width. That much water being pulled back so that the host of Israel could cross it. Now, put yourself in the shoes of the Israelites. The last person in your group finally steps onto dry ground on the other side of the Red Sea. Pharaoh is in hot pursuit, and God takes those two giant walls of water and just slams them together in the middle. You might get hit in the splash zone. Maybe you got a little wet. The inserting kind of a sploosh that comes up. You know, you throw a rocket upon, you get that big sploosh. Maybe you got hit by that a little bit. But as those two massive walls come crashing back together, as that Red Sea starts to settle behind them, the Israelites found themselves standing on the precipice to a whole new world, standing in a place that was an unknown. They were free. 430 years later, they were free.

God delivered on His promise. They were delivered from their bondage. And with this just incredibly powerful miracle, He followed through. He delivered them from Egypt, and Pharaoh and his armies were destroyed. Rather than the culmination of the days of Unleavened Bread, putting sin out of our lives, being delivered from the sin that enslaves us, is what this day represents. You are here. This is the place where we find ourselves. So the question that we're going to look at today as the message goes on is, now what? Now what? Here we are. Where are we going?

Where do we go from here? How do we navigate to where we're going? Where exactly are we going?

Well, just like the Israelites, there's actually kind of a simple answer to that question. From this moment, we're going forward. Can't go backwards. Red seas close. We have to go forward.

And that's the direction that we go. As the Israelites embarked into the wilderness on the beginning of this journey, there were some expectations that were placed upon them by God from that point when the sea's lamb shut. And we're going to take a look at these as our primary points today, because the expectations that God placed upon them are essential to us as well as we go forward today. I did everything in my power to make these points all start with the letter F. One was not very happy and did not work. So the first point is we have to be transformed.

Transform.

It's transformed. I looked for every synonym. There isn't one.

Transformed. So we have to be transformed. Secondly, we have to follow. We have to follow.

And thirdly, forward. So we're going to start with transforming.

You know, as the Israelites gathered themselves, kind of composing themselves after the...they've witnessed this incredible miracle that they had just seen, there had to have been questions of what comes next. There had to have been a moment of, okay, here we are. Now what? Now what? You know, for all intents and purposes at that point, they're homeless. I mean, they're homeless at that point, for all intents and purposes. They were in new territory. They were completely out of the quote-unquote comfort that they had found themselves in for the past 430 years, and they were into the unknown. They'd spent the last seven days following God as He led them through the wilderness, in the pillar of fire, camping when He stopped, packing up and following Him when He went. And just because the deliverance from Egypt had occurred doesn't mean that was going to stop at that moment in time.

Likewise, we've just spent the last seven days in a physically 11-free environment.

Spiritually, we recognize this is symbolic of the removal of sin from our lives and our deliverance to the Passover sacrifice of Jesus Christ, that He is our Passover, that He took on that death penalty in our place for the remission of our sins. Our sins were expected to transform our lives, to move from slavery, bondage to sin, to freedom, to leave our sins behind, and to go forward. Let's turn over to the book of 1 Corinthians.

I'm actually somewhat surprised that we didn't make it here. Usually, I'm always picking at slim pickings by the time we come into the other one, but I'm very thankful that it was left for me. Thank you guys very much. It's almost like we coordinated it. Prayed about it. Good enough coordination, right? The book of 1 Corinthians. We're going to start here to establish our focus this afternoon. We'll be in 1 Corinthians 5. 1 Corinthians 5, you may have guessed that's where we were headed. And we're going to pick it up.

We're going to go into the context of this, because we want to be able to understand exactly what prompted Paul to write what he wrote in the place where we're going to ultimately be going, which is verse 7. So we're going to actually start in verse 1. We're going to pick it up in verse 1 to gain some context. And for those of you that are familiar with this account, this is one of those places in Scripture that we see Paul not pulling any punches.

The punches are not pulled in this particular section of Scripture. This is a very sound rebuke of a congregation that had allowed their pride to get the better of them. The letter brings to mind the lessons that they had learned by keeping the Days of Unleavened Bread, and it's likely that this was either written during the Days of Unleavened Bread, or it was received by the Corinthians during the Days of Unleavened Bread, or shortly after.

Or, if the Roman postal system was more effective than I think it may be, and they could get a letter from Turkey to Greece in a week, maybe both. Maybe both. Who knows. But it was definitely around this time of year that they received that particular letter, or that it was written. 1 Corinthians 5 and verse 1 says, it's actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality that it's not even named among the Gentiles. You know, Paul has a moment where he goes, look, the people around you don't even have a name for this.

It is that abased. They don't even have a name for it. Paul is just shocked, absolutely shocked. Verse 2, and you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I indeed, we'll say verse 3. We'll come back to it in just a second. Basically, Paul's telling, look, your response to this particular sin is inadequate.

You guys needed to do something more. Rather than mourn, rather than put that individual openly living in that sin among you out, instead you were puffed up. Verse 6, let's jump down real quick, and then we'll come back, says specifically, your glorying is not good.

Your glorying is not good. Don't you know that a little leaven, leavens the whole lung, mentions they were glorying. They were kind of openly flaunting their superiority of wealth and riches, the wisdom of their teachers, while rotting away morally from within. While rotting away morally from within. Kind of this idea that everything looks good on the outside, but inside was in need of some serious work, some serious overhaul.

He actually admonished them later in this same letter to prove themselves to not be counterfeit, to examine themselves. Greek words, dokimasu, proving themselves genuine, as they would prove coins to ensure that they weren't a counterfeit. They fall in prey to the leaven of the scribes and the Pharisees, that leaven of hypocrisy.

If we go back just a couple of chapters, just back to chapter four, 1 Corinthians 4 adds a little bit more to the explanation. It gives us a little more background as to what's going on in the church in Corinth. Just a little more. We'll look at 1 Corinthians 4 verses 6 through 8 to begin with, and then we'll jump down to 17 through 19. 1 Corinthians 4 6 through 8 says, Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your safes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other.

For who makes you differ from another, or I'm sorry, for who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now, if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you've not already received it? You're already full! You're already rich! You've reigned as kings without us! And indeed, I could wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you. The Corinthians were divided into factions.

We see this in the Passover admonishment that he gave them as well in 1 Corinthians 10 and 11. Some of them were eating, others didn't have enough to eat. Because of the riches, because of the wisdom of their teachers, they esteemed one over the other, they become prideful, they become puffed up. Verses 17 through 19 elaborates on a little further, For this reason I've sent Timothy to you, so he sent Timothy over, who is my beloved and faithful Son and the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ.

So I've sent an emissary, I've sent Timothy over to come and talk to you as I teach everywhere in every church. Now, some are puffed up as though I were not coming to you. It's like, oh, it's no big deal! He just sent Timothy. He must not be that serious. He's not coming in and of himself. It's just Timothy. But I will come to you shortly if the Lord wills, and I will know not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. He'll Paul sent Timothy to Corinth.

Some were puffed up, prideful as though Paul himself wasn't going to make it. He lets him know, no, no, no, no, no, I'm coming quickly, if it's God's will. You guys think I won't bother to commit and correct this? I'm getting on the first boat to Corinth. In fact, if I can beat this letter, I'll beat this letter. Okay, that's God's will.

There's a section in the Spouser's Bible commentary. I'd like to read briefly through it here real quick. Again, building context. Building context gives us the background. It said, Paul thought it advisable to send Timothy, who perfectly understood his mind and could represent his views more fully than a letter. But it now occurred to him that this might be construed by some of the vain popular leaders in the church into a timorous reluctance on his part to appear in Corinth and a sign that they were no longer to be held in check by the strong hand of the apostle. Some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you, is the quoted section. He assures them, therefore, that he himself will come to Corinth, and also the leaders of the church have little reason to be puffed up, seeing that they've allowed in the church an immorality so gross that even the lower standard of pagan ethics regards it as an unnameable abomination. And if once it is named, it is only to say that not all the waters of the ocean can wash away such guilt. Instead of being puffed up, Paul tells them they should rather be ashamed, and at once take steps to put away from them so great a scandal. If not, he must come, not in meekness and in love, but with a rod. The Corinthian church had fallen into a common snare. Churches have always been tempted to pique themselves on their rich foundations and institutions, on producing champions of the faith, able writers, eloquent preachers, on their cultured ministry, on their rich and aesthetic services, and not on that very thing for which the church exists. The cleansing of the morals of the people and their elevation to a truly spiritual and godly life. As we mentioned, a transformation. A transformation.

And it is the individuals who give character to any church. A little leaven leavens the whole lump, each member of a church in each day's conduct in business, and at home stakes not only his reputation, but the credit of the church to which he belongs. We'll take that even one step further. The name of the God whom we serve is impacted by the actions that we have in the community.

As one way to use God's name in vain is to bring actions that are not godly in his name.

Involuntary and unconsciously, men lower their opinion of the church and cease to expect to find in her a fountain of spiritual life because they find her members selfish and greedy in business, ready to avail themselves of doubtful methods, harsh, self-indulgent, and despotic at home, tainted with vices condemned by the least educated conscience. Let us remember that our little leaven leavens what is in contact with us, that our worldliness, our unchristian conduct, tend to lower the tone of our circle and to encourage others to live down to our level and help to demoralize the community. This background gives us the necessary context to look at the transformation that was expected of the Corinthians. Back to 1 Corinthians 5, verse 7.

Therefore, purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened, for indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened of sincerity and truth, leaving behind the old leaven, putting, like Mr. Emery talked about just a little bit ago, putting those attitudes out of our life, getting rid of malice, getting rid of wickedness, that leaven that puffs us up, getting rid of pride, putting all of those things out. This is the spiritual fulfillment of the days of unleavened bread, and through the past seven days taking in the unleavened of sincerity and truth. The implication here is it's bread, that's an added thing, it's in italics, makes it easier in an English translation, but it's the unleavened of sincerity and truth. Unleavened sincerity and truth, transforming ourselves from slaves to malice and wickedness and pride to free individuals who are sincere and truthful. Genuine. You might say genuine. Sincere and truthful, genuine. Working from pure motivations with correct knowledge, doing what we do for the right reasons based on the truth of God. Sincerity and truth go hand in hand. They go hand in hand. A person can be sincere and completely wrong. A person can be sincere and completely wrong. I'll give you a couple of examples. Think about some of the individuals that you might know in the world around us, and I'm not picking on the worlds I'm going to pick on us at some point too. Maybe they keep Christmas, maybe they keep Easter, and they are absolutely 100% convicted that Jesus is the reason for the season.

Right? 100% sincere, 100% wrong. 100% sincere, 100% wrong. Saul killed the gimme nights out of his veal for God. He sincerely was doing what he thought should be done, did it out of zeal for Israel.

Completely wrong due to the treaty that was made with the gimme nights during Joshua's time. God upheld that treaty. He upheld that treaty. The Saul's family paid for it. 100% sincere, 100% wrong. Peter drew a sword when Christ was arrested, lashed out at the servant of the high priest, chopped off Malchus Azir. He did everything that he did out of devotion to his Lord and to his Messiah. Was he sincere in his actions? Absolutely. Was he dead wrong? Yes, sir. 100% sincere, 100% wrong. How about us? What are our motivations? What are the reasons for what we do? Are we operating from both sincerity and truth? Are we operating from both sincerity and truth?

It's really important that both of these things go hand in hand. It's absolutely crucial that both of these things go hand in hand, because the actions of our life have to be based in sincerity and in truth. The attitudes and the thoughts that ultimately become our actions are grounded in these two things. We are expected to transform from slaves to malice and wickedness to individuals that are grounded in sincerity and in truth. Symbolically, during these days, we take in unleavened bread, which is representative of Jesus Christ as the bread of life, and we put on these unleavened attitudes, being faithful in the application of the symbolism of these days. But this doesn't stop after sundown tonight. We don't pull the whole, whoo-hoo! Boy, am I glad that's over. I couldn't have done that for another minute. The symbolism changes. Physical leaven is no longer representative of sin after sundown tonight, but the focus on living an unleavened life goes forward from here. How do we get there? How do we get there? You know, as I was doing my preparations for Passover this year, I was struck by the number of times in Christ's final night on earth that He referenced and bought attention to the importance of abiding with Him and the Father. You take a look. John records in John 14, 15, 16, and then ultimately in Gethsemane in 17. Multiple locations. Let's check them out. John 14, verse 15. We'll start there. There's a small ant on the podium.

You didn't need to know that, but there is. Sorry. John 14, verse 15 through 21. John 14, 15 through 21. You know, there are a number of places in Scripture where the last words of people are recorded. You know, Joshua's last words, you know, to the elders of Israel, Moses' last words, you know, David's last words. In some way, these are Christ's last words. These are the last things, the most important things that He's putting into His disciples as He's going to His death.

These are the kinds of things that He's telling them. These are the things that are important for them to remember. John 14, verse 15 through 21. If you love Me, keep My commandments.

And I will pray to Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you. A little while longer, and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me, because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is He who loves Me, and He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love Him and manifest Myself to Him. The Spirit that is given to us, that Spirit links Christ, it links the Father, and it links us. We are all to abide with one another and in one another. John 15, just one passage forward, John 15 verses 1 through 4. I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, He prunes. Ouch! Sometimes the pruning hurts, but He prunes that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I've spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine. Neither can you, unless you abide in Me. As was mentioned multiple times today, we can't do this on our own. We can't do this on our own. We have a part in it, but we must be abiding. John 17. John 17. Fraring Gethsemane. As you're turning over there, you know, for a branch to be able to live and bear good fruit, you, you, we do this at home. We'll cut the branches off of something real, it's amazing how fast they dry up. It is truly amazing when you cut the branch off of something, how quickly the leaves curl up and die, you know, and how quickly, as soon as it's been separated from that main stem, it's amazing. Verse 10, actually, I should have mentioned this, I didn't. Let me go back in case you're taking notes. 15 verse 10 defines abiding. 15 verse 10 defines abiding. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. So again, tied to keeping his commandments. John 17, verse 20 through 23. I do not pray for those alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word. Once again, that's us who have heard these things as time has gone on through what's been preserved for us, that they all may be one, as you, Father, are in Me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent Me.

And the glory which you gave Me, I've given them, that they may be one, just as we are one. I in them, you in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that you have sent Me, and have loved them, as you have loved Me. This is Christ's prayer before his arrest in Gethsemane, that they may be one, just as he and the Father are one, that we may be one as they are one, us in them, and they in us, that they can be brought to complete unity. One enables us to become one with one another, to become one with God and with Jesus Christ. We talked about keeping God's commandments, taking of the same body and the same blood, or I think that's an error.

I looked over at a kid, Tom's holding a pacifier, free association, at Passover, I'm sorry, but taking of that same body, taking of that blood, at Passover, it unifies us. It unifies us. In fact, it's referred to scripturally as a communion, a sharing, a fellowship, a participation. Taking in the unleavened bread together during these days, it brings us together. The Holy Spirit that we've been given unifies us as one body of believers, and that Spirit, that transformative power in our life, the essence of God, the Father, Jesus Christ living in us, them in us and us in them, brings us together and allows us to walk forward in an unleavened manner, faithful to God and Christ. If, this is a big if, if we allow that Spirit to lead us, if we allow that Spirit to lead us, and that's our second point, we have to follow. We have to follow. The second thing the Israelites were expected to do when they left this miracle of the Red Sea was to follow the leader. The leader wasn't Moses. He was sort of kind of a leader, but the leader was God. In the pillar of fire, in the cloud, he directed their steps. He told them when it was time to pack it up, start moving. He told them when it was time to park it. They dutifully followed that cloud, followed that pillar of fire, which I can't help but think had to be absolutely incredible to witness. That must have been just something to see. Really true. That must have been just amazing. When it stopped, they stopped. When it started moving, they broke camp and they followed. We didn't have a situation where Joe Wineskin, which is the Israelite version of Joe's six-pack, didn't just decide, oh God, God stopped? Oh, he stopped? Ah! I'm still feeling great. You know, I got these new Nike sandals. They're amazing. I'm just going to put in another 10 miles today before I set up camp. You go off on your own. What happens if God deviates? What happens if he turns? What happens if he decides he's going to take a slightly different path? Here you go. You're going the wrong direction. God requires us to follow. What if he went backwards? What if he deviated course? What if, what if he, whatever. God stopped. They stopped. Their job was to follow. You know, the desert is a pretty inhospitable place. It's a pretty inhospitable place when you're off by yourself. I've always read these kinds of accounts, especially these, these in the early, early years of things, with a certain twinge of jealousy, to be perfectly honest. A certain twinge of jealousy. We see Moses talking directly to God. You know, we see him referred to as, as a friend of God. We see God speaking to David. Samuel, I love Samuel's calling, you know, young man sleeping at night. Hey, Samuel. What? What do you, Eli? What, what? I didn't say anything. What are you talking about, you know? The, just the intimacy of God in Abraham's life, in Isaac, in Jacob. The relationship that Gideon had where he spoke to him directly, and then, did you make that wet and the ground dry, please? Thanks. But the Israelites had God's presence among them in the pillar of cloud and fire, very visibly directing their paths. But as I thought about that this year in particular, brethren, God is living in us. In us. Not among us. In us.

We saw this in John 14. We'll see it again shortly. And as a result, because of that, we're to be one with the Father and with Jesus Christ. Us in them, them in us. That is an incredibly intimate connection, more so than simply speaking. That is an intimate connection. Now, many of the men that we mentioned there, they had the Holy Spirit. Many of them did.

But just as Israel was led by God, that is our expectation as well. God expects we will surrender our own will, submitting to him, allowing ourselves to be led. Not to Joel, not forced, pigeonhole railroaded into somehow living this way of life. But that we will kneel before him in humility and say, what will you have me do? And more importantly, when he honors that prayer, that we will follow him where he leads us. Let's go over Romans 8. Let's go over to Romans 8.

Might end up with a miracle of our own today if I can get finished on time.

I think I can pull it out. I'll just start talking faster. Everybody back. No, please don't.

I already talked fast enough. Romans 8. Romans 8, we'll pick it up in verse 1. We're going to look at Paul's kind of discourse here as to the effects of the Spirit in our life. Effects of the Spirit in our life. What that Spirit in our life ultimately accomplishes. Romans 8 and verse 1. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and of death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. On account of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. Christ's sacrifice for the remission of our sins was absolutely necessary. It was set up from the beginning. Sometimes I'll mention it was not a plan B, that was plan A. The sins that we've committed, the transgression of God's law, earned us the death penalty. We are dead men walking from that standpoint. It earned us the death penalty. Even if no one else in this world was here, our sins would have earned us the death penalty and required Christ's sacrifice. The blood that was poured out as a drink offering memorialized a little over a week ago in the Passover service was the ransom paid for our redemption. We see that as a result of that, there's a condition. There's a condition. We have to walk in the Spirit. We have to follow its lead. Let's look at Romans 8, verse 4. That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. The flesh can't please God.

It's an enemy. Acting on our fleshly desires creates a gulf between us and God that requires reconciliation to bring those parties together. That reconciliation was made possible by Christ's sacrifice, bridging that gap, uniting those two parties and bringing them together. Now, upon acceptance of that sacrifice on our behalf in the covenant of baptism, God gives us Holy Spirit.

Romans 8 and verse 9, But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you, now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. The Spirit of God dwells in us if we are actively and purposefully following its lead. It says right here, we're not in the flesh. We don't have the Spirit, we're not his. That's verse 10. Verse 10.

And if Christ is in you, the body is dead. Or, and if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him, in this case the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead, dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. Verse 12. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. And that transformation that we discussed, we have to work to nurture that Spirit in our lives. Stir it up, as Paul commanded Timothy, and really strive to follow its lead. Verse 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are our children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together. Being led by the Spirit of God is one of the hallmark signs of Christian. We're all sons of God by creation. The angels are referred to as sons of God, scripturally as well. By creation, as created beings, they are the sons of God just as we are. But they don't have the same option that we've been given. That we might become sons of God through a process of spiritual begettle. Through a process of spiritual begettle. John 3, we won't turn there, but you can write it down. John 3, verse 3. Nicodemus comes to Jesus Christ at night to meet with him. And Christ told him that no one could see the kingdom unless he was born again. And some groups have taken that run with it and made this whole big thing about being born again. He's not referring to a physical birth, which, you know, as Nicodemus is going, wait, what?

Or a single one-time event, as the world considers born again to be. The Greek word that's used for born in John 3, verse 33 is ganal. And it's translated not just as conception, just a one-time thing. It's the entire process of conception to birth. We're still in the womb, so to speak. The entire creation is waiting eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God, those who he has beget in the spirit to glory in his divine family. The process of that begettle has begun, but it's an ongoing process, only completed once Christ returns and we're raised incorruptible.

Those who are led by the Holy Spirit are actively undergoing that process of being born. So how do we determine if we're letting ourselves be led by God's Holy Spirit? What's the litmus test? How do we find out? How do we know? I had an absolutely insane week this week. This week was just insane. Work was crazy, and honestly it had me screeching into sundown last night with about 10 minutes to spare. We had a track meet that we hosted. I had to be at the track meet. There was no getting out of it. I had an article due yesterday, and on top of all of that, I had grades due today that I had to get done prior to doing all of that, and all that had to be done before sundown, and then of course I had the afternoon split. So I tell you this so you can understand the state of mind that I was in as I was racing sundown to get home last night and get it all done. As I got ready to turn on the arterial that leads to my house, I happened to look over to my right. We have a bar on the corner of that particular arterial. Kelly's, Kelly's pub? Kelly's bar? Something doesn't really matter. Anyway, there's a bar on the corner of that arterial, and laying on the sidewalk in front of it was a man. All of his earthly possessions in a black garbage bag, laying on several towels, blankets piled up, covered with another towel from head to toe that was a little bit too short, didn't quite completely cover him up. Ten minutes to sundown. I had a voice in the back of my head that said, hey, you should stop and check on that guy. You should stop and check on this guy. So you know what I did? I didn't stop. I didn't stop. I had no question in my mind this morning, as I reflected with the evil clarity of hindsight that the voice in my head at that moment was God's Holy Spirit. I didn't stop. I didn't stop. I tried to rationalize it all I want. Maybe he didn't need my help. It might not have been safe to stop. Maybe he was just drunk and sleeping it off. He'd been at Kelly's a little too long and just decided he'd pack things up. I can rationalize it all I want. Maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe. But the reality of it is I didn't stop. As I went to God in prayer this morning and repented for that, I realized God's Spirit leads us if we let it.

If we let it, God's Spirit will lead us. It does that in a variety of ways. I'm going to give you just a couple of these as reference. I have a way to cut some time here, and this is the spot.

I'm going to give you these as references. One of the ways that God's Holy Spirit operates in our life is it provides contact with the mind of God as we abide in Him. So as we abide in Him, it provides contact with the mind of God. How do we abide in God? It's 1 John 3, verse 24. 1 John 3 and verse 24. It mentions this. We've been there. We've kind of looked at it already. But 1 John 3 and verse 24 says, Now he who keeps his commandments, he who keeps his commandments, abides in him, and he in him. So there's, again, a requirement. There's a catch, so to speak. And by this we know that he abides in us by the Spirit whom he has given us. So we see that keeping his commandments is essential. Absolutely essential, much to the opposition to what some of mainstream Christianity would tell you today. It is essential. 1 John 3, verse 24 tells you right there.

So the question we have to ask ourselves is, are we striving to keep his commandments?

Have we put, you know, all of that sin that we looked at at the beginning of this week and kind of getting out of our way, okay? We're at the end of it now. Will it stay out? Will that leaven stay out? Will that sin stay out? Will we keep those commandments? Can we strive to keep those commandments? If we do, that's one sign that God's Holy Spirit is working in our life. Because the carnal mind is opposite. Secondly, the Spirit provides us with a much deeper understanding of the things of God. 1 Corinthians 2, 9 through 11, and we'll just reference it, tells us that God reveals those things to us through his Spirit. Man knows what he knows through the Spirit of man, but God reveals his mysteries to the Spirit of God. As we go through life, does our understanding deepen? Do we understand things more? Do we grow spiritually? Or did we hit a peak at some point in time and we go no further? Third point, God's Holy Spirit makes overcoming sin possible.

Romans 8 verse 26 tells us that the Spirit of God helps us in our weakness. Are we overcoming?

Are we overcoming? Those things that come year after year after year, are we overcoming those?

That is a sign of the Holy Spirit working in our life if we are overcoming sin.

As we mentioned earlier, not going to overcome it all. Not in this life. But we should be making headway. We should be making progress. Number four, signs that God's Spirit is working in your life.

God's Holy Spirit convicts us of sin. Convicts us of sin. It's in John 16 verse 8, just as I was convicted of my sin of omission yesterday evening, that I knew I should have done something and I didn't. The Holy Spirit convicts us of transgression. Do we see our sins?

When we examined ourselves prior to going into this sign frame, did we find things that needed work? Or did we have that moment of, ah, I'm doing fine. I'm doing okay. Did the Holy Spirit convict us of our sin? Another sign that's working in our life. Do we recognize that sin? Do we work to overcome them? Hebrews 9 verse 14, the Spirit heals our mind as well as our body. It cleanses our conscience of dead works, transforming us again into a new creation. The fifth thing that is a sign that the Holy Spirit is working in our life is if we're allowing that Spirit to work, we will see the fruits of that Spirit at work in our life. We will see love. We will see joy. We'll see patience, kindness. It comforts us in times of difficulty, and it brings to remembrance all things. You know, if we let God lead us, He will progress us forward on this continuum, which was the only direction that ancient Israel could go. It's the only direction they could go. Forward, with the Red Sea and Egypt at their back into the unknown. Let's go over to Deuteronomy real quick. Let's start wrapping things up here today. Deuteronomy 17 and verse 16. Deuteronomy 17 verse 16.

Which, incidentally, is after the book of Numbers. Just in case you were wondering, or sleeping.

Oh, sorry. I haven't buried my voice level in a while. There we go. I got everybody back. Okay, good. Deuteronomy 17 and verse 16. I kind of tucked into a short series of passages on the regulations of a king. Deuteronomy 17, 16 contains an admonition that we can really easily gloss over if we're not careful. Deuteronomy 17, 16 says, but he shall not multiply, speaking of the king here, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses. For the Lord has said to you, you shall not return that way again. You shall not return that way again. God was explicit. You're not going back. You're not going back. I've brought you out. You're not to return. The Hebrew word there in that passage, return, is translated turn back.

Israel is never to return to the way of life that they had known before in Egypt. They've been delivered. They've been crossed through that Red Sea, a type of baptism. Those walls of water had come crashing down. There was no going back that way. God's miracle was a one-way street. When we take a look at the connection to our spiritual life that is found in that symbolism, as with much of God's word, we see incredible parallels, incredible parallels. When we enter into the waters of baptism and we enter into a lifelong covenant with God, we put to death the person that we were before. That was mentioned earlier today. It's been discussed.

We come up out of that water a clean slate, ready to become a new creation with the assistance of God's Holy Spirit. Those baptismal waters, in a way, represent a point of no return, a one-way street, so to speak. There's a number of locations scripturally that kind of illustrate this concept somewhat. One was mentioned earlier today. When Lot and his family were led out of Sodom, they were given very specific instructions. Don't turn back. Don't even look back. Don't even long for what is going on in there. And, you know, you can look at Lot's wife's motivations. You know, she had children still back there. We can look at all that all day long. The fact was God was explicit. Do not turn around. Do not look back. And she did. And it cost her her life. When Elisha was chosen by Elijah, he slaughtered the team of oxen that he was using there to plow the fields through a huge feast, symbolically, again, representing there wasn't a return to this former life. This former life was not an option anymore. I'm going forward in a different way. Nothing in Elisha's life would ever be the same. Luke 9 contains a very powerful example of the commitment that we have signed up for. Luke 9. We'll pick it up in verse 57. We're not going to go straight to the to the meat of it just yet. There's some interesting stuff in the context I want to look at. Luke 9 verse 57. Luke 9 57 says, now it happened as they journeyed on the road that someone said to him, Lord, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. His response was, I'm kind of homeless. You sure? You sure? You're welcome to come, but are you sure?

Verse 58, Jesus said, or sorry, we had that one already. 59, then he said to another, follow me, but he said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. Jesus said to him, let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God. Another also said, Lord, I will follow you, but let me first go and bid them farewell who were at my house. Then verse 62, which is the meat of it. But Jesus said to him, no one having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. Jesus Christ didn't accept any excuses in this particular situation. The cost of this way of life is our life given over to God. That's the cost. That's the cost we're supposed to count. Both hands on the plow. Both hands on the plow. A few pages forward in Luke 14, we see a similar admonition. Luke 14 verse 25. Luke 14 verse 25.

Luke 14 and verse 25 says, now great multitudes went with him, and he turned and said to them, if anyone comes to me and does not hate, know that to be loveless, his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

And whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. We saw the mention earlier of I died daily. Paul wrote, I died daily. For which of you, intending to build a tower, doesn't sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it, lest after he's laid the foundation and is not able to finish all who see it begin to mock him and saying, saying, this man began to build and was not able to finish. Before we committed to God's way of life, we counted the cost. We examined whether we were willing to fully commit to this life, because we recognize that we can't start the work and then turn away from it.

We can't start the process and then walk away. That ends poorly. Luke 9 talks about, again, putting our hand to the plow and turning back, starting to do the work, starting to to plow that particular furrow, and then maybe looking back longingly to the life that we led before, looking back some way to whatever it is that we walked away from or whatever it is that we left behind. You, Mr. Sephora, kind of mentioned this section in passing this morning. Let's go to 2 Peter, verse 2. 2 Peter, verse 2. This will be our final scripture for the day-to-day. 2 Peter 2, and we'll pick it up in verse 21.

Let's see what God thinks about this particular topic.

Peter was inspired to write here in 2 Peter 2 and verse 21. Actually, let's go back just a little bit to... well, let's start at 18.

We cannot afford to get a laissez-faire viewpoint of sin. We absolutely have to see sin for what it is. That every sin earns us a death penalty that had to be paid by somebody.

Brother, there's no going back. That path is closed. Forward is the only option.

That's the commitment that we made at baptism. That is what we signed up for. That's what we signed up for. We've spent the last several weeks preparing for these days. We've looked at our lives. We've analyzed the places where we fall short. We've looked at the places where we missed the mark. We've recognized them. We've repented of them. We've renewed our baptismal covenant at the Passover. We've worked to put the sin out of our lives and taken the unleavened of sincerity and truth for the past seven days. So, here we are. You're here. Red seas at our backs. Where do we go from here? Brother, as we leave these days of Unleavened Bread, we must renew our focus to abide in our Heavenly Father and in Jesus Christ, us in them and them in us. We have to allow the Holy Spirit, that essence of God residing within us, to lead us. We have to be listening for that voice and following its lead in the only direction that we can go, which is forward.