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How to solve the problem of sin
(Day 1—UB—LIVE)
Fred R. Coulter—March 28, 2021
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A lot of people wonder:
- Why do we keep these days? God says so!
- How important are they?
- What are they equal to?
Many times, people count the Feast days as not important or not necessary. The Seventh Day Adventists—95% of them—keep the Sabbath, but then they miss the Passover and take the Lord's Supper the first Sabbath of every quarter—a little add on. What does God think of that?
Exodus 23:13: "And be watchful in all that I have said to you. And make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of your mouth."
That's in a 'religious' sense, because God in the Prophets names the different gods so we know what they are.
Verse 14[transcriber's correction]: "You shall keep a Feast unto Me three times in the year. You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. You shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. And no one shall appear before Me empty. Also, the Feast of the Harvest of the Firstfruits of your labors… [Pentecost] …which you have sown in the field. And the Feast of Ingathering, in the end of the year, when you have gathered in your labors out of the field. Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD" (vs 14-17). God expects that!
Look at it and it's right in the middle, right after the Ten Commandments and other commandments that were give. That's why it's important for us to keep them.
All the Feasts and Holy Days are mentioned in Lev. 23. This is also the only place that tells us when to keep every one of the Feasts according to the Calculated Hebrew Calendar. So, let's see what we're dealing with, with these.
Leviticus 23:1: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, "Concerning the appointed Feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be Holy convocations, even these are My appointed Feasts…. [that means He owns them] …Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, a Holy convocation. You shall not do any work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings. These are the appointed Feasts of the LORD, Holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed seasons"'" (vs 1-4). What does this tell us?
- God owns them
- God created them
- God made them
- He made an appointment
Now, all of have made appointments as different times. What happens when you made a very important appointment and then the person who is supposed to come didn't come?orthe other way around. The person came, but you weren't there!
These belong to God, and He wants us to keep them! There's meaning for it, and we will see something very important in the New Testament in just a minute.
Verse 5:[transcriber's correction] "In the fourteenth day of the first month, between the two evenings…"
We've already gone through all of that; that's after sunset and before dark.
"…is the LORD'S Passover… [we already took that] …and on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD. You must eat unleavened bread seven days. On the first day you shall have a Holy convocation. You shall not do any servile work therein, but you shall offer a fire offering to the LORD seven days… [all of the temple offerings; but we're supposed to bring offerings] …In the seventh day is a Holy convocation. You shall do no servile work therein"' (vs 5-8).
The reason God requires tithes and offerings is because He has given everything to make it possible for us to be able to live, eat, breathe, and do all the things…
Deuteronomy 16:16: "Three times in a year shall all your males appear before the LORD your God in the place which He shall choose: in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and in the Feast of Weeks, and in the Feast of Tabernacles. And they shall not appear before the LORD empty, every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God, which He has given you" (vs 16-17).
The Corinthians were Greeks. Outside of the few that went to the synagogues, they knew nothing about the way of God. This shows us quite a few important things in 1-Cor. 5. When you read the whole book you will see they had a lot of sins. Paul was correcting them for their sins. Here Paul was correcting them for some very severe sins.
1-Corinthians 5:6: "Your glorying is not good. Don't you know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?" Greatest principle in the Bible!
What does leaven picture during the Feast of Unleavened Bread?
Verse 7: "Therefore, purge out the old leaven, so that you… [not your house or your cupboard] …may become a new lump… [that's a simile for conversion] …even as you are unleavened…."—which means they cleaned the leaven out of their houses, but Paul was talking about leaven in their lives, an entirely different proposition.
This is how we know that during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, leaven pictures:
- sin
- vanity
- pride
- selfishness
- transgression of every commandment
Verse 8: "For this reason, let us keep the Feast…"
If you hear an argument from someone saying that 'that was just for the Jews' remember the Corinthians. They were Greeks, not Jews!
"…not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of Sincerity and Truth" (v 8).
That's what God wants! That's what God wants to change inside, because that's where sin begins!
Everyone wants to know who sin entered the world. It did enter in because of Adam and Eve, and because of Satan the devil. You have to understand that God didn't make us as robots. He doesn't want robots, because after a while you know everything that robot is going to do. Why? Because you put it in there if you're the maker. If not, you bought and you run it to its maximum, so you know everything it's going to do.
Sidebar: They showed recently a robot that did dancing and jumping to music. Everybody was saying, 'That's quite a thing! Look how wonderful that is.' I looked at it and said that with that song, that's all it's programmed to do. When it's over, it's over!
God has given us free moral agency. He's given us the capacity:
- to think
- to choose
- to make
- to devise
Just look at the world and all that man has done! What did God say? Here's the world—to Adam and Eve—go conquer it! So they did!
But when you have free moral agency, you've got to test whether it is really free moral agency. That's why there is Satan the devil. You know the story of Satan when he rebelled, way before man was ever created.
After God instructed them, and we don't know how long that God instructed them in the Garden of Eden before He let the serpent in there. I'm sure that He told them about it. It must have been a good length of time that they were there, because they knew what the situation was.
Here comes the serpent, and Eve answered correctly when Satan said, 'God said that you're not to eat of every tree of the garden. She said, 'No! We can eat of every tree but that one in the middle of the garden we're not to eat, because God says that if you eat of it you shall surely die.'
- Did she know what death was?
- Had she ever seen death? No!
So the serpent said, 'You won't surely die. God knows that when eat of this tree your eyes will be open and you will be like God and you can decide good and evil for yourself. God appeared to them as a man. He didn't come in His glory, because no one in the flesh can be in the presence of God in His glory. You would be ashes!
So, Satan said, 'Why don't you try it.' So, Eve picked it, looked at and smelled it. It was really good. Here's Adam over there watching. She ate of it and she was still standing. She walks over to Adam and said, 'Try it, you'll like it!' So, Adam ate it!
That's how sin entered into the world! Disobeyed the voice of God! First persons, perfect language, everything right there.
God had to judge the serpent, told him what was going to happen to him, then to Eve and Adam and they both had sorrow in their lives.
But in Romans we find something interesting, because that sin was so grievous that it passed something onto all human beings. Everything that we have with our genes and chromosomes can go back all the way to what God put in Adam and Eve. God had made us—every one of us—through the power of pro-creation.
Romans 5:12: "Therefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and by means of sin came death…"
It says in Romans 6:23[transcriber's correction]: "For the wages of sin is death…"
Romans 5:12 "…and in this way death passed into… [Greek: 'eis'] …all mankind…"
Just as the nature of the environment changed with thorns and thistles, the nature of everything else changed and this became what was passed onto every human being, which is called in Rom. 7 the law of sin and death!You can see it working even with infants.
"…and it is for this reason that all have sinned" (v 12).
No one can get away from it, because that's just the way it is.
- the only one Who can rescue us from sin is God
- the only one Who can change our heart and mind is God
Let's see how that happened. This is the way that every civilization has ever been. Let's go back, like the Bible does, to Babylon.
- Did God raise up Babylon to punish Judah and Jerusalem? Yes, He did! They were in captivity for 70 years!
- What happened to Babylon? It got corrupt and God took it down!
Then there was Medo-Persian Empire: Cyrus and Darius. That went down with the Greek Empire. After that the Roman Empire. Then its risings and fallings down through time to our day. We're still part of the same system. A little bit different than before; halfway modified because of God's promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for the end-time children of Israel.
Here' what happens to all empires and people; Romans 1:18: "Indeed, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven upon all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the Truth in unrighteousness."
- Do we see that today?
- Does the fake news suppress the truth? Yes, they do!
If you don't report it, it didn't happen! But it did happen and you're not reporting it makes it even worse.
Verse 19: "Because that which may be known of God is manifest among them, for God has manifested it to them."
The things of God are more important than what we find on the news! Isn't that what they have done in suppressing it?
Verse 22: "While professing themselves to be the wise ones, they became fools… [very intelligent, but fools] …and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed creatures, and creeping things" (vs 22-23).
Notice that God is always active. This thing that God went way off and left everything alone is not true! He's always active and knows everything that's going on.
- What did God say about the sparrow? If one falls, He knows it!
- How is that for being insignificant? Jesus said that you're greater than sparrows!
Verse 24: "For this cause…" God does not do things without cause!
They forgot that in God, everyone lives, moves and has their being. God has provided everything for them to live and exist. They might want to deny it and say that it evolved. But no one has been able to bring proof that there was ever any evolution.
Verse 24: "For this cause, God also abandoned them… [first step, punishment] …to uncleanness through the lusts of their hearts, to disgrace their own bodies between themselves… [sexual perversion] …who exchanged the Truth of God for the lie…" (vs 24-25).
Then what happened? Verse 26: "For this cause, God abandoned them to disgraceful passions…"
Verse 28: "And in exact proportion as they did not consent to have God in their knowledge…"
Sound like today? All of these are the steps to the collapse of an empire!
"…God abandoned them to a reprobate mind…" (v 28).
- Sound like some of the news reporters that you watch?
- Sound like some of the things that you watch on television?
Do yourself a favor and flip through your smart phone and look at all the stupidity that is there, that's all sin!
I took time the other night and went through every single channel that I have to pay for to get what I want, and it's right here:
"…God abandoned them to a reprobate mind to practice those things that are immoral" (28).
(break)
How is God going to solve the problem of all the wickedness going on? He has to solve it, and He has a great plan! But He wants us to choose! He wants it based upon His love and Truth! Let's see how God is going to correct this problem here.
First of all, God is calling the firstfruits. That's us! We are to repent and be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit. What God does for us with that is to:
- work with us
- help us
- strengthen us
That's quite a thing that He is doing, because it is a work that the world doesn't recognize! They don't know!
If some great important political person walked in and asked, 'What's this meeting here?' We would say, 'Sit down and we'll tell you! These are the future rulers of the world!' YOU? These people?
Yes! Because God is not calling the important or the highborn! God is calling those who will repent of their sins and be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit of God!
The Protestants stop where they begin. God begins, and His stopping point is the first resurrection! So, He calls us to be faithful, and He teaches us! Here's what's going to happen when Christ returns.
- there's got to come an end to evil, and it will come
- there's got to be a putting away of Satan the devil, and it will come
- there' got to be the ones necessary to rule the world, already trained and prepared
That happens through Unleavened Bread and Pentecost! Through Unleavened Bread and all that we do, here is what we keep in mind; here's what we are to be doing and the constant motivation of our lives:
Luke 12:31: "But seek the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you."
We're going to have things given to us beyond what we could ever expect!
Verse 32: "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father delights in giving you the Kingdom." Think about that!
We will rule and reign with Christ a thousand years to start! How do we get there? We are—with the Spirit of God—to grow in grace and knowledge and understanding, which is a lifelong project. That is why we have the whole Bible! There are more things in the Bible… We can study, study, study all we want to—which is good and if you do, that's fine—but you'll still never understand everything in the Bible.
God is more interested in… Not knowledge necessarily; we do need the right knowledge of God, but not super-super knowledge, because He will give it to us at the resurrection. But here's what He wants: He wants character! That's why we're here! We are learning something that can never be taught in any school in this world unless it is taught by those who belong to the Church of God.
That is how to solve the problem of sin, beginning with our own personal sins. That's why there is the baptismal pledge when we are baptized. Paul talks about it right here:
Colossians 3:1: Therefore, if you have been raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above… [the things of God] …where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your affection on the things that are above… [everything that God is going to do and bring for us] …and not on the things that are on the earth" (vs 1-2).
If you do that, the things on earth, God will provide and take care of for you. He's not going to do it all at once like drive a dump truck up and dump a big load of everything. He's going to gradually add it to you, add it to you, add it to you.
Verse 3: "For you have died…" No, you're still alive!
Why did Paul say that you have died? Because when you were baptized, that was your death to the world, and your symbolic death to sin and the receiving of the sacrifice of Christ for the forgiveness of your sins! So meaningful is that baptism, that Paul writes in Rom. 6 that we are conjoined to the death of Christ.
He died on the cross and is Creator of all human beings, and His death could pay for the sins of all human beings. But He does it individually one at a time. You're conjoined to it. I like to think of it as you are laid right on the body of Christ when you are buried in that watery grave.
When you come out of it, you are to walk in newness of life after you receive the laying on of hands to receive the Holy Spirit. This is what gives us:
- the faith
- the love
- the hop
Because in our mind and heart we are all different than the people in the world!God has given us His Spirit by begettal to be a son or daughter of God and to live forever. That's why the baptismal death is a death!
When you're in covenant, both parties have to show a symbolic or real sacrifice. Christ was real and He died. When we enter into it, ours is a symbolic death, because we have a lot of work to do. That's what we're talking about here in Col. 3
"…and your life has been hid together with Christ in God" (v 2).
Verse 3: "…When Christ, Who is our life, is manifested… [because He's going to manifest] …then you also shall be manifested with Him in glory" (vs 3-4).
- What is this to do?
- What does Christ look like? Rev. 1!
- What is it going to be like?
Remember, after Jesus was resurrected, He walked through the wall or door to appear to the 12 apostles. You talk about a surprise for them! All of a sudden He's standing there and He says, 'Peace!' Oh, He's alive!
Here's what we do now, because this goes right to the heart of where sin dwells:
Verse 5: "Therefore, put to death your members, which are on earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil desires, and covetousness, which is idolatry…. [all of those things that we have done] …Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, among whom you also once walked, when you were living in these things. But now you should also put off…"(vs 5-8).
For the days of Unleavened Bread we have two things we do:
- put out leaven, which is a type of putting out sin
- put in righteousness, which is a type of unleavened bread
As I pointed out yesterday, we are to live by Christ—His bread and His blood—and that's how it's done.
"…put off all these things… [they get lesser in degree as we go down the list] …wrath, indignation, malice, blasphemy, and foul language from your mouth" (v 8).
I had one man who was baptized and he had a terrible time overcoming swearing and cursing in his mind and periodically, verbally. That takes prayer and study, and I prayed for him, and in some cases even lay hands on for an extra amount of God's Holy Spirit, because that's what they need to overcome. He was able to overcome it!
Verse 9: "Do not lie to one another…" That's a good one! Don't lie! There are some people who lie so much they can't even tell the truth. Got to be a Democrat!
"…seeing that you have put off the old man together with his deeds" (v 9).
Because you live in the world, you're living in way of life that is in the world. Think about all that you do in the world! I know that when God was calling me, my life was upside down and backward. The only thing I ever remember about God was that in growing up my Aunt Grace—who was a Sunday school teacher—and every time when she came to our house she would bring her felt board. She would put up all the little things on the felt board. That didn't impress me to anything!
God's calling when your life is upside down! The only think I remember was, 'God, help me!' That was my first prayer. That was 61 years ago! Time flies! Shortly after that I heard the World Tomorrow program and when I heard it, I said to myself: that's it! I knew that was God's answer!
So likewise, all of us have our own experience that way. We need to put off all of these things of the old man, and that's like putting out leaven. A little leaven leavens the whole lump!
Sidebar on leaven: Every once in a while you're going to find leaven you never knew that you had it, even though you've cleaned everything that you could clean.
Well, one day the back seat of the car got loose, and in order to put it back I had to get it out and guess what I found? A McDonald's hamburger! I don't know how long it was in there.
But I thought about that, and that's a perfect example of you do everything that you can, but there are things that come along that you have no idea where they are. God will reveal it to you!
Verse 10: "And have put on the new man…"
- that'sa new way of thinking
- that'sa new way of living
- that'swith the Spirit of God
- that'swith the Word of God
- that'swith commandment-keeping
"…who is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him Who created him" (v 10).
With God's Spirit and what's going on in your mind, and you love God and are keeping His commandments and all of this, God is building into your spirit that which will be resurrected and put into a spirit body. That why all of this is important, and that why we keep the Feast!
Verse 11: "Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian nor Scythian, slave nor free; but Christ is all things, and in all. Put on then, as the elect of God…" (vs 11-12).
What does that mean? We are the called, the chosen and the faithful (Rev. 17)!
- called—you answer the call of God
- chosen—the Greek means selected by God
So, when you repent of your sins and are baptized, you are selected by God! It's the Father Himself! That's an amazing thing to understand.
"…Holy and beloved… [by God] …deep inner affections, kindness, humility, meekness and long-suffering" (v 12). All of the things that go with the Spirit of God, but are contrary to human nature!
Verse 13: "Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another…"
What does it mean to forbear? You don't go around judging people: look at this, that and the other thing! You forbear and let God work with the person to overcome. A serious thing may need to be discussed.
"…if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so also you should forgive" (v 13).
Forgiveness is important. Let me tell you how important that it is. You can't have anything in your mind against anyone. All of us have had experiences that are really bad. Some suffered:
- by their parents
- by our friends
- by closest friends
- by business deal
Whatever means, terrible thing happened!
As you're growing up, maybe your parents were really good parents. Some weren't, they were evil! I know one boy who ran away from his father because he was coming after him with a hammer! He never forgot it! So, in discussing the situation, it was determined that, even though his father had died, he should forgive, because it's still in his mind unless you forgive. So, he did and it helped change his life.
Look at whatever you need to forgive! Why? Because just like you, everybody is out there doing the things that they know they shouldn't be doing, but are doing and it's always going to affect someone else! Forgive them!
If someone comes to you and says, 'Blah Blah this and that; I did this and that, will you forgive me?' YES! Instantly! Why? Because if we don't, we won't be forgiven!
Verse 14: "And above all these things put on love… [that's the whole goal right there, the love of God] …which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts…" (vs 13-15). That's called self-control with God's Spirit!
"…to which you were called into one body, and be thankful. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom…" (vs 15-16).
- constantly learning
- constantly studying
- constantly growing
I'm learning things even today! I know there are things in the Bible that God will reveal to me as I study and go along. When He does, I need to teach all the brethren. Isn't that what it's for? Sure! So that we altogether attain to the Kingdom of God! Here's how it's done, and this is what God is doing.
- When is God going to reveal what He has done?
- When s He going to reveal it to the world?
- How is He going to reveal it?
It's going to be revealed at the first resurrection!
We don't know how many are going to be in the first resurrection, but there's that giant Sea of Glass. Think about that! All of a sudden what they've been talking about now is going to happen! Invaders from outer space! We are aliens to the world! Think about it, it's going to be a HUGE Sea of Glass and a mammoth amount of those who are now all the sons and daughters of God under Christ.
Peter tells us what God is doing; 1-Peter 2:1: "Therefore, having put away all wickedness… [we're to keep at it] …and all deceit… [the most important is to quit lying to yourself] …and hypocrisies and jealousies, and all slanders, as newborn babes, yearn after the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow… [after that what is called 'strong meat'] …if you yourselves have indeed tasted that the Lord is gracious. To Whom coming, as to a living Stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, and precious" (vs 1-4).
The Creator of all mankind—Jesus Christ—was rejected by His own creation. Even all the disciples fled except Peter and John.
Verse 5: "You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house—a Holy priesthood—to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."
That's what God is doing, making it possible! Here's what is, very clear:
Verse 9: " But you are a chosen stock… [the called, the faithful, the chosen] …a royal priesthood, a Holy nation, a people for a possession of God… [He's talking about us and all the brethren] …that you might proclaim His excellent virtues, Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people, but now are the people of God; who had not received mercy, but now have received mercy" (vs 9-10).
He continues right on with the thing concerning Unleavened Bread, v 11: "Beloved, I exhort you, as strangers and sojourners, to restrain yourselves from fleshly lusts which war against the soul; having your way of life honest among the Gentiles…"
Look at what John writes; this is quite a fantastic thing. In spite of all the troubles, all difficulties and all ups and downs, think on this:
1-John 3:1: "Behold! What glorious love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God! For this very reason, the world does not know us because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be; but we know that when He is manifested, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him exactly as He is" (vs 1-2).
That's where we're headed. So, how do we get from here to there. Here's how we:
- grow
- overcome
- develop love
- develop faith
All of these things come because we come to God! That's what it's all about!
On the website—truthofGod.org—True Fellowship with God, which I did about a year ago. I wanted to keep in online because it will help you if you get discourage or depressed, and you need to get your mind on Christ.
Notice what John is writing and how important that this is:
1-John 1:1: "That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our own eyes, that which we observed for ourselves and our own hands handled, concerning the Word of Life."
What did Jesus say to them when He appeared the them and they were astonished? See, it is I, here! Look at My hands, feel My hands! Thomas—who wasn't there—said, 'Well, I have to put my hand in His side where the wound was.' So, Christ showed up eight days later and said, 'Thomas, come here!' He repented real quick!
Verse 2: "And the life was manifested, and we have seen, and are bearing witness, and are reporting to you the eternal life… [that' what we're going to receive from Christ] …which was with the Father, and was manifested to us; that which we have seen and have heard we are reporting to you…" (vs 2-3).
This also shows the purpose of the ministry. Not to rule over brethren, not to rule over people and become high 'mucky-mucks'! NO! The purpose of the ministry is to teach the Word of God so that everyone can grow in grace and knowledge.
"…in order that you also may have fellowship with us; for the fellowship…" (v 3)—direct translation from the Greek! It is not a fellowship, it is the fellowship!
"…—indeed, our fellowship—is with the Father and with His own Son Jesus Christ" (v 3). That is the ultimate of being unleavened!
Verse 4: "These things we are also writing to you, so that your joy may be completely full. And this is the message that we have heard from Him and are declaring to you: that God is Light, and there is no darkness at all in Him" (vs 4-5). John explains how living in this world:
- we still need Christ
- we still need forgiveness
- we still need to overcome
On a daily basis!
Verse 6: "If we proclaim that we have fellowship with Him, but we are walking in the darkness, we are lying to ourselves, and we are not practicing the Truth." Interesting the statement. If you are practicing something, you are doing it!
Verse 7: "However, if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His own Son, cleanses us from all sin." I want you to analyze that verse a little bit:
- "…if we…"—not if you
- Why was that important? John was an old apostle at this time!
- What is John saying? Still in his old age, he had things to overcome!
- "…if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, then we have fellowship with one another…"—to God and back, and God to us and to each other!
- "…and the blood of Jesus Christ, His own Son, cleanses us from all sin." Continuous basis!
This is why, when you read the model prayer, it says, forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us!
Verse 8: "If we say that we do not have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the Truth is not in us."
I have had people send me e-mails saying, 'I don't sin anymore.'
Notice what we do to keep us on this track so that we are growing and overcoming and fulfilling the whole purpose of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Verse 9: "If we confess our own sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us" (vs 9-10).
This is the ultimate of getting rid of the leaven. Remember how important it is, because 'a little leaven leavens the whole lump.' Have you ever had that where you get one bad apples and the whole basket goes?
1-John 2:1: " My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin…." You may sin, you may not sin, you don't know!
"…And yet, if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father; Jesus Christ the Righteous; and He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (vs 1-2)—in God's time and plan!
That's why it's so important, because we have this fight and struggle, because we're fighting against sin and the world! How does God look upon it. Here was the Apostle John at the time, I don't know how old he was then, but he lives to be, perhaps about 100-years-old. Maybe not quite that, but anyway, it died between 98 and 100A.D. the last thing he was given was the book of Revelation. Here he writes this epistle: If we sin… including himself!
How does God look at if we're overcoming and changing, repenting every day? Let's look at it here:
Romans 8:1: "Consequently, there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus… [have the Spirit of God/the Spirit of Christ] …who are not walking according to the flesh…"—not living as the world!
The very fact that you're here today on the Holy Day, you're not living as the world.
"…but according to the Spirit" (v 1). The words that Jesus spoke were Spirit and Life!
Verse 2: "Because the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has delivered me from the law of sin and death."
He doesn't take it away, but He gives us the deliverance. What is the deliverance?
- mercy
- forgiveness
- repentance of sin
- growing and overcoming
Verse 3: "For what was impossible for the Law to do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God having sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh"—His flesh!
As God manifested in the flesh, and having the law of sin and death! That's how He condemned it! Had to be Him! For what purpose?
Verse 4: "In order that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who are not walking according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."
That's what it means for the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
- you grow
- you change
- you draw close to God
- you learn of His way
And He will be there to:
- help you
- serve you
- forgive you
- help you to grow in love and Truth
That's the whole message of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Don't let a little leaven, leaven the whole lump!
Scriptural References: Fred Coulter:
- Exodus 23:13-17
- Leviticus 23:1-8
- Deuteronomy 16:16-17
- 1 Corinthians 5:6-8
- Romans 5:12
- Romans 6:23
- Romans 5:12
- Romans 1:18-19, 22-26, 28
- Luke 12:31-32
- Colossians 3:1-16
- 1 Peter 2:1-5, 9-11
- 1 John 3:1-2
- 1 John 1:1-10
- 1 John 2:1-2
- Romans 8:1-4
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Romans 7; 6
- Revelation 1; 17
Also referenced: DVD: True Fellowship with God
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 4/4/21
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