First Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread – 2016

Fred R. Coulter—April 23, 2016

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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, 2016. For me this is my 56th Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. I’m happy we’re all here on God’s Holy Days.

• these are the days that God blesses
• these are the days that God commands us to keep

This is one of the things that sets us apart from the rest of the world that we love God, we keep His commandments, and we keep His Holy Days. It is true that God says that seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.

We know the command for the Feast of Unleavened Bread is right here in Lev. 23. Let’s begin the Feast right here in the chapter of the Feasts of God. Lev. 23:5[transcriber’s correction] has to do with the Passover, and we’ve already had the Passover.

Leviticus 23:6[transcriber’s correction]:“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…. [that is today] …You shall not do any servile work therein, but you shall offer a fire offering to the LORD seven days….” (vs 6-8)

That was for the priesthood and all the offerings on the altar. But the people brought the offerings and offered them. One of the most important ones was the offering for the redemption of the firstborn. That was because God passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt and spared their firstborn, while God executed the firstborn—man and beast—of all the Egyptians.

“…In the seventh day is a Holy convocation. You shall do no servile work therein” (v 8).

We know that every Holy Day we are to bring a special offering to God, because this is our thanksgiving to God for all that He is doing. It’s very interesting that one man said one time, ‘Well, if God is first in your life…’ and he was talking to some of the Protestants ‘…why is He last in your budget?’

When we come to Deut. 16:16 we find that God gives the commands to bring an offering. He demands all the males to come three times, minimum, during the year. Women—because there’s childbirth, taking care of the sick and so forth, and those who couldn’t come—He does not demand that they come. But, unless it’s under circumstances like that, they should.

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.” We’re not to come empty, or maybe just have a little bit and throw that in the offering.

But, v 17: “Every man shall give as he is able…” It’s something we have to pre-determine to do and desire to give to God of our on free will and volition, as he is able. Now, here’s the category:

“…according to the blessing of the LORD your God, which He has given you” (v 17). That’s not just necessarily the physical blessing, that’s spiritual blessings. That includes understanding the Word of God, having contact with God, knowing God and understanding His Word; all of those are tremendous blessings that God gives to us.

Now, our part is that we respond to God. It’s just like Paul wrote that ‘the one who sows sparingly is going to reap sparingly,’ (2-Cor. 9) and God doesn’t want you to give grudgingly or by compulsion, but you do it freely of your own free will, because God says so. God is able, if we sow bountifully we will reap bountifully, and God’s grace will be sufficient to us in all things. That’s what God wants us to do.

With the tithes and offerings that all the brethren send in we are able to serve many, many people. We are reaching pretty close to 3700 on our mailing list just here in the United States.

I hope you all have the new book: From a Speck of Dust to a Son of God: Why Were You Born? You’re going to find that is a very helpful and inspiring book for you, so that you know:

• why God has called you
• what He is doing
• how you need to respond in your life to Him
• and the great blessings that God is going to give us

(pause for offering)

Now let’s come to Exo. 13, and as we read these Scriptures, we’ll apply them spiritually to us. Yes, there is the physical part we need to do:

• put the leaven out of our houses

We should do that before the Passover. Get rid of it all, because the Passover is an unleavened bread day, as well.

• eat unleavened bread seven days

There’s another special consideration for the Feast of Unleavened Bread that God brings out in:

Exodus 13:1: Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Sanctify all the firstborn to Me…’” (vs 1-2). Spiritually speaking we are the Church of the Firstborn. All of us have been sanctified to God the Father, to be His sons and daughters as spirit beings in the Kingdom of God. There are spiritual parallels that we can learn here.

“…whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, of man and of beast. It is Mine” (v 2)—because that is a new creation of God.

Verse 3: “And Moses said to the people, ‘Remember this day in which you came out of Egypt…’” So, it’s right along with the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

“…out of the house of bondage; for the LORD brought you out from this place by the strength of His hand…. [the might of His hand] …There shall be no leavened bread eaten. On this day you are going out, in the month Abib. And it shall be when the LORD shall bring you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. You shall eat unleavened bread seven days, and in the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And there shall be no leavened bread seen with you, nor shall there be leaven seen with you in all your borders” (vs 3-7).

They had to unleaven not only their homes, they had unleaven the whole country. What they did, they would collect it and then they would burn it. All the leaven was to be collected and burned before the Passover Day, because the Passover Day was also an unleavened bread day! And it is called that in the New Testament. But it’s not part of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is in addition.

In the spring we have Passover, which is one day; that’s unleavened. Then seven days of Unleavened Bread, a total of eight days. In the fall we have the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days, and then we have The Last Great Day, which is the eighth day, so we have eight. We have an extra one at the beginning and an extra one at the end that God has put there.

Verse 8: “And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘This is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out from Egypt.’ And it shall be a sign to you upon your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD’S Law may be in your mouth, for with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt” (vs 8-9). Look at the world today. Let’s see a little spiritual analogy:

There’s even a new movie coming out called The God’s of Egypt. All the religions of the world came from Babylon to Egypt and spread to the whole world.

When we are called out of the world, God is bringing us one by one out of spiritual Egypt, also called ‘spiritual Sodom.’ As we know and have seen, we are to have the laws and commandments of God in our heart and mind.

• redemption of the firstborn

Verse 10: “You shall, therefore, keep this law in its season…” What is the law? Not only the Feast, but the firstborn!

Verse 11: “And it shall be, when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and to your fathers, and shall give it to you, you shall set apart to the LORD all that opens the womb, and every firstborn that comes of any animal which you have; the males shall be the LORD’S” (vs 11-12). They belong to Him!

Verse 13: “And every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb…. [notice how important this is]: …And if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck…. [that’s pretty strong language] …And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.”

There’s a reason for that, and this helps explain the reason between the problems of Deut. 16 and Exo. 12.

Verse 14: “And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘The LORD brought us out of Egypt by the strength of His hand, from the house of bondage.’” Today, we’re brought out of the bondage of sin, out of the bondage of spiritual Egypt, also called ‘Babylon the Great.’

Verse 15: “‘And it came to pass when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn of the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of animals. Therefore, I sacrifice to the LORD all that opens the womb, that are males. But all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ And it shall be for a token upon your hand, and for frontlets between your eyes, for the LORD brought us out from Egypt by strength of His hand” (vs 15-16).

Let’s see something that is one of those things that creates some problems if you don’t understand the firstborn. You can’t go from Exo. 12 to Deut 16 and then understand it in the way that the Passover was changed. God never changed the Passover from the 14th to the 15th.

I’m sure you know that because you have the book: The Christian Passover. That’s a big thick 500-page book! That book explains everything! One man asked: Why does it need 500 pages to explain about the Passover? The answer is because it is so important to God that Satan has attacked it from hundreds different way!

If Satan can get the people of God to begin missing keeping the Passover the way that they should, just a little… Remember: Satan always works with incrementalism, then a little more, then a little more, and pretty soon they will miss the mark!

Deut. 16, I admit, is a little confusing. But we have the answer to that in the book The Christian Passover. Deuteronomy 16:1: “Keep the month of Abib, and observe the Passover to the LORD your God. For in the month of Abib, the LORD your God brought you forth out of Egypt by night.” Passover first, leaving Egypt second. Passover is one day, Unleavened Bread is another day.

Verse 2: “And you shall, therefore, sacrifice the Passover offering…” This is not the sacrifice, this is the offering. Remember, Passover is observed at night. What did they do on the day portion of the Passover? In the first Passover they left their homes at sunrise and they all gathered in Rameses and then beginning the night of the 15th they left Rameses and began the exodus, and that became The Night Much to Be Observed unto Lord.

What is a Passover offering? Here’s a clue. Remember that the offering for the domestic Passover at the house was that you would take a kid from the flock, and that would be either a goat or a lamb.

When we come to Deut. 16 it looks like everything has changed, but it hasn’t. I want you to read it from this point of view, from the point of view of Exo. 13, which is that they had to redeem their firstborn by an offering of a lamb. All the males belong to God.

They could also redeem it with an offering of the herd, but at no time was there ever a Passover calf to be eaten with the Passover meal. It was always a lamb from the sheep or a kid from the goat.

When you read here, this is talking about all the firstborn offerings to redeem the firstborn—man and beast—on the day portion of the Passover in preparation for the Feast of Unleavened Bread so they could eat the meal that night and then the firstborn would be redeemed!

If you read it that way then you understand the truth of it. I have it fully explained in The Christian Passover book.

Verse 2: “And you shall, therefore, sacrifice the Passover offering to the LORD your God, of the flock and the herd… [He distinctly said that it should not be of the herd in Exo. 12] …in the place, which the LORD shall choose to place His name there.”

The redemption offering would be brought to the tabernacle or the temple. The Passover could be celebrated at home, because it was a domestic Passover.

Verse 3: “You shall eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it…” So, these offerings for the redemption of the firstborn began on the day portion of the Passover, and then continued through the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Then they could eat unleavened bread with it seven days; these are the seven days of Unleavened Bread.

“…the bread of affliction, for you came forth out of the land of Egypt in haste, so that you may remember the day that you came forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life” (v 3). That is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the whole meaning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Verse 4: “And there shall be no leaven seen with you in all your borders for seven days. Nor shall any of the flesh, which you sacrificed in the first day at sunset remain all night until the morning.”

The redemption offering was very much like a peace offering. The peace offering had the same command that it had with the Passover lamb that you couldn’t have anything left in the morning, and you had to burn it. Here it doesn’t say that you had to burn it. “…Nor shall any of the flesh, which you sacrificed in the first day at sunset remain all night until the morning.”

The Passover offering, remember, is different than the Passover sacrifice. The Passover offering is what they did at the temple for the redemption of the firstborn, beginning the day portion of the Passover going on into the evening and night of the first day of Unleavened Bread and that was to be their meal. As it were they literally stayed up all night then, as we will see here in just a minute.

Verse 5: “You may not sacrifice the Passover offering… [for the firstborn, not for the Passover meal] …within any of your gates, which the LORD your God gives you, but at the place which the LORD your God shall choose to place His name in, there you shall sacrifice the Passover offering at sunset, at the going down of the sun, at the time that you came out of Egypt” (vs 5-6). This could not be the Passover meal because they had to stay in their houses until sunrise!

Verse 7: “And you shall boil and eat it…” Some translations have ‘roast’ but that’s incorrect. In Exo. 12 it says that you’re not to boil it. This is an entirely different offering.

“…in the place which the LORD your God shall choose. And in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents” (v 7). This shows that they stayed up all night, and these offerings turned out to be offerings redeeming the firstborn, and also a celebration of the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and also keeping the Night to Be Much Observed unto the Lord.

There you have it all right there! That’s why there’s confusion with it, because the Jews come along and say that God changed the Passover. No, He didn’t change the Passover at all! But you have to put Exo. 13 with Deut. 16, and then do the comparison like we just did, and Exo. 12 was to be of the flock, a lamb or a kid. It was not be boiled in water at all; this says boil, so this has to be the redemption of the firstborn offering. I hope that helps explain it.

Leavened/Unleavened:

What is another lesson of the Feast of Unleavened Bread? Leaven, during the Days of Unleavened Bread is considered a type of sin. Putting in the unleavened bread is a type of putting in the Word of God, of having your heart and mind developed the way that God wants it to be.

This is important for us to understand. As we are going to see, the whole Feast of Unleavened Bread is:

• to be converted
• to get sin out of your life
• put righteousness in

That’s the whole theme of it, and in keeping the Feast we recognize the evil within, inherently within!

Let’s see what Jesus says about human nature; human nature indeed is abundantly evil. And even many of the things that appear good are not good, because they break the laws of God. Jesus said what comes from within with human nature:

Mark 7:21: “For from within, out of the hearts of men…”—and women and children, all human beings, because we have human nature.

We will see about the ‘law of sin and death’ within us. We have to overcome that ‘law of sin and death.’ That’s the whole purpose of conversion: changing, growing and overcoming. Here’s what we are without God:

“…out of the hearts of men, go forth evil thoughts…” (v 21). The first one is evil thoughts! Why did God bring the Flood (Gen. 6)? Because the heart of man was only evil from His youth continually! It’s not just the actions alone that God is concerned with. God is concerned with the heart and mind:

• what we think
• how we react
• what we do

Conversion is a complete changing of the mind!

All the things that we are going to read here, the way that human nature is, is what we see on television every day. This is the way that the thoughts of human beings are.

“…adulteries, fornications, murders…” We’ve just covered right here nearly 100% of all movies, stories, histories, television, whatever!

Verse 22: “Thefts, covetousness, wickednesses, guile, licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; all these evils go forth from within, and these defile a man” (vs 22-23).

We know Jer. 17, but we need to look at some of the verses before and after, because this is what raw human nature is like. This is what our nature is like. Think of it this way: Jesus is talking about what comes forth from within. This is just human nature! Human nature causes sin, and human nature within is called, by Paul, the law of sin and death!

Let’s talk about this, and follow this through, because this is a good comparison for the Feast of Unleavened Bread: the wicked/the righteous! And we could put in there the unconverted mind and heart. Later we’ll see the converted mind and heart.

Jeremiah 17:5: “Thus says the LORD, ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the LORD.’” That’s why all the schemes of men never work, even though it appears good. It’s really incredible when you think about it.

Here’s what’s going to happen when you leave God, compared to a plant, v 6: “For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes. But he shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land that is not inhabited. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD and whose hope is the LORD” (vs 6-7). See the difference here: leavened/unleavened!

Verse 8: “For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters… [Psa. 1] …it sends out its roots by the river, and it shall not fear when the heat comes, but its foliage shall be green; and he is not worried in the year of drought, nor will it cease from yielding fruit.” That’s the blessing!

Now the cursing, v 9: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?”

People don’t even know that these things are deep within them. But look at what it produces in this society; look at it now. I think that right now with all the things that are coming out in movies, on television and things like this, that Satan is preparing for a great onslaught on this world, and it’s going to come if it’s not already pretty much on its way.

Verse 10—no one can escape this whether converted or unconverted: “I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” His about that for a minute!

What are “…the reins…”? The reins is the connection that God has with every human being through the power of His Spirit to know what the heart or the mind of a man or woman is! He doesn’t control us because He gives us free, independent moral agency.

“…according to the fruit of his doings.” There are thoughts and there are doings.

Here’s a very interesting Proverb and this is something that we need to overcome. We need to realize it so that we don’t slip back into the ways of being carnal.

Proverbs 21:2: “Every way…” It doesn’t say some of the ways, part of the ways, most of the ways! It says: “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD ponders the hearts.” Just like we saw right back there in Jer. 17. Isn’t it interesting that we find this all the way through the entire Bible: the comparison:

• right and wrong
• good and evil
• righteousness and unrighteousness
• truth and lies

Proverbs 16:2: “All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes…” Think of that! Everything! Even the most evil acts that some people commit, they think they are justified and right in doing them.

“…but the LORD weighs the spirits” (v 2). God is involved all the time! This is important in understanding how we need to look at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and what we need to do:

Verse 3: “Commit your works unto the LORD, and your thoughts shall be established.” You do what God says; remember the three words: Obey My voice!

How do you overcome sin? That the whole purpose of the Feast of Unleavened Bread! We will see how, but there are works that need to be done with it, and these are the works of God:

Verse 6: “By mercy and Truth iniquity is purged, and by the fear of the LORD men turn away from evil.”

Some of these Proverbs are so absolutely fantastic!

Verse 7: “When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”

Now let’s put this together, all of this. We are to be converted and transformed! We will see how that is, what we need to do, what God needs to do and how God responds to us. This follows right along with what we just read in Proverbs:

Romans 12:1: “I exhort you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, Holy and well pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service.” Your spirit service comes by:

• the laws and commandments of God written in your heart and mind
• helping and serving those of your family and the brethren
• to love God
• to love the brethren

That’s how God wants us to live our lives!

Verse 2: “Do not conform yourselves to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”

• from all of the evil
• from all of the vanity
• from all of the self-will
• from all of those things that seem right to a man but the ends thereof are the ways of death

“…in order that you may prove what is well pleasing and good, and the perfect will of God” (v 2).

How do we come from sin to righteousness, because that’s what it’s talking about. Again, you read the first part of Rom. 3 and there are many quotes that Paul gave from the Old Testament.

Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Every one of us! Our physical life after conversion is fulfilling Rom. 12:1-2—to be renewed; renew your mind; that is conversion. That means that we need to repent of our sins.

Verse 24: “But are being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”—our Passover! The Passover is the sacrifice of God for the forgiveness of the sins of us as human beings. We need:

• God’s will
• God’s way
• God’s forgiveness

Verse 25: “Whom God has openly manifested to be a propitiation through faith in His blood…” And we’re going to see it takes the blood of Jesus Christ to wipeout our sins. He carried up Him all the sins of the world!

All the sins of the world haven’t been forgiven, because the whole would hasn’t repented! But for those of us, as we covered earlier, we are the Church of the Firstborn, we are the ones who are under the grace of God, received the Holy Spirit of God and able to have our minds changed, our hearts and everything converted through the power of God’s Holy Spirit. That’s how God does it!

“…in order to demonstrate His righteousness…” (v 25)—or justification. It’s this:

• you sin
• you repent
• God forgives
• God covers it with the blood of Christ
• you are now justified

That’s all by the righteousness of God. So, His righteousness here is talking about His justification from [our] past sin.

“…in respect to the remission of sins that are past” (v 25). God isn’t give you a carte blanche in the future to commit sin. But that doesn’t mean that since you have repented and have received the Spirit of God that you are perfect and cannot sin. NO! We’ll see in just a little bit that the whole process of growing and overcome every year—that’s why we have the Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread every year—so that we know and understand that we need to continue to work on our human nature and continue to overcome the things and sins in our lives. There are still sins that are there, because we have to fight against ‘the law of sin and death.’

All sins are past! You sin, immediately it’s past! God’s not going to forgive your sins tomorrow, today, because you haven’t sinned, yet. Tomorrow hasn’t come! That’s why the Bible says, ‘Today if you will hear His voice harden not your hearts!’ Today!

Verse 26: “Through the forbearance of God; yes, to publicly declare His righteousness in the present time, that He might be just, and the One Who justifies the one who is of the faith of Jesus.”

• you believe in Jesus Christ
• you believe in His shed blood
• you believe that He has died for your sins
• you accept that sacrifice

Then you also have to get up off your knees and sin no more!

Jesus said that if your brother sins against you seven times in a day—which shows that there are weaknesses and things that come along—you’re to forgive him. Same way with God! We have to go to God to be forgiven. We’ll see it here when we finish this.

Verse 27: “Therefore, where is boasting?….” The Jews can no longer say:

• ‘Oh, we’re the promised people.’ No! The Church of God is the promised people!
• ‘Jerusalem is the Holy City and Palestine is the Holy Land.’ No! It’s no the Holy City and the Holy Land, because God isn’t there and it’s full of sin and wretchedness at the present time!

“…It is excluded. Through what law? The law of works? By no means! Rather, it is through a law of faith” (v 27). You believe what God has said!

(go to the next track)

Verse 27: “Therefore, where is boasting? It is excluded…. [because God gets all the glory] …Through what law? The law of works? By no means!….” There are no longer animal sacrifices.

Now we need the true spiritual works of God, and if we have the works of God and doing those, those are not our works. We’re not trying to save ourselves by our works. We are to love God and keep His commandments; those are the works.

“…Rather, it is through a law of faith. Consequently, we reckon that a man is justified by faith, separate from works of law” (vs 27-28).

Take note of the books: Judaism: A Revelation of Moses or a Religion of Men? by Phil Neal; and you don’t have The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version with Appendix Z: Understanding Paul’s Difficult Scriptures Concerning the Law and the Commandments of God in it, you need to study Appendix Z to know what works of law are. Those are the traditions of men, the works of Judaism and the physical sacrifices at the temple, which were required.

The temple no longer exists and sacrifices are no longer needed, because Jesus is our Sacrifice and our High Priest in heaven right now. We go through Him for the forgiveness of sin, with God the Father.

Verse 29: “Is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? YES! He is also God of the Gentiles.” All of us as human beings live, move and have our being in God. Even the wicked partake of breathing, eating and sleeping. God has provided that for all. But for those whom He calls He has provided

• His Spirit
• His Word
• the understanding

This is the unleavened bread that we are to eat:

• the Bread of God
• the Word of Truth

Verse 30: “Since it is indeed one God Who will justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith. Are we, then, abolishing the Law through faith? MAY IT NEVER BE! Rather, we are establishing the Law” (vs 30-31). Why? Because they are written in our heart and mind! That’s how our minds are transformed.

Heb. 10 becomes very important for us to know and understand. Here is what God wants:

• to love Him with all your heart, mind, soul and being
• love your neighbor as yourself
• love the brethren as Christ has loved us
• love our enemies

There are many ways we can love our enemies.

Here is the whole purpose of the covenant that we are in, as we have covered with the covenant of the Passover and what that means.

Hebrews 10:14: “For by one offering… Rom. 3—He is the propitiation, the continual atoning of our sins. We will see how that works.

Verse 14: “For by one offering… [the sacrifice of Jesus Christ through His crucifixion] …He has obtained eternal perfection for those who are sanctified”—set aside. Just like the firstborn, all the firstborn are set aside or sanctified to God.

• we are the Church of the Firstborn
• we are set aside and sanctified by God
• we are set aside from the world
• we live in the world, but we’re not part of the world

Here’s what God wants. This is why you hear us say all the time: prayer and study, prayer and study, prayer and study, and yielding to God. Why? The same way with Sabbath services or keeping the Sabbath at home.

We have Church at Home (churchathome.org) and we have thousands who come to Church at Home every month and use churchathome.org. You’ve read the letters that we sent out in a recent mailing. Brethren, we’re serving a lot of people that we don’t even know. That’s the amazing thing of the Internet.

Verse 15: “And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after He had previously said, ‘“This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days,” says the Lord…’” (vs 15-16). After the days that Jesus came and He gave Himself as an offering and sacrifice for sin.

Here is the covenant and the meaning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread:

• we eat the unleavened bread, which a type of the Word of God
• we put the leaven, which a type of sin, vanity, arrogance and evil from within

“…I will give My laws into their hearts…” (v 16). That happens with the Spirit of God through the Word of God. Remember that the Word of God is all God-breathed; it’s all inspired by the Spirit of God. When we read the Word of God, it is a spiritual experience. This is to help us to let God put His laws into our hearts:

“…and I will inscribe them in their minds” (v 16). Inscribe is very interesting. They know that our memory within our mind is much like inscription. Memory is something written right upon the cells of your mind. There are different places:

• memory for sight
• memory for smell
• memory for sound
• memory for emotional experiences—good and bad

All of that is in our mind! We must have our mind:

• cleansed with ‘the washing of the water by the Word.’
• sanctified with the Spirit of God so that we have our sins forgiven

It’s all right there!

Verse 17: “And their sins and lawlessness I will not remember ever again.” That’s really quite a promise!

Now, let’s see how this works; let’s see what God is doing, and this is continual. Repenting of sin, because it’s all lodged here in the mind is a continuous thing that we do, because with ‘the law of sin and death’ it’s right there to pull you back, pull you back, pull you back!

1-John 1:6: “If we proclaim that we have fellowship with Him, but we are walking in the darkness…” We have to walk in the Light of Christ. He is the One Who is the Light, and we have to keep coming to Him because He’s the Light. The Word of God is the Light.

If you’re walking in darkness you’re doing it without the Word of God, without the Spirit of God; you’re walking in darkness in the world. And if the darkness in you is great, ‘how great is that darkness?’ Jesus said.

“…we are lying to ourselves…” (v 6). The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things! (Jer. 17:9). There it is right there!

“…and we are not practicing the Truth” (v 6). The Truth is the Word of God.

• that’s how it’s written in our heart and mind
• that’s how it’s converted
• this is how we get the leaven of sin out of our lives

and put in the righteousness of God! There’s got to be the cleansing of the mind. We’ll see right here, this is it. I want you to notice carefully how John has written this:

Verse 7: “However, if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, then we have fellowship with one another…”

Verse 3: “…our fellowship—is with the Father and with His own Son Jesus Christ.” Then our fellowship with one another.

Verse 7: “…and the blood of Jesus Christ, His own Son, cleanses us from all sin.” Just exactly as Paul wrote.

I want you to analyze this verse a little more carefully: “However, if we…” John is including himself.

When John wrote this he was probably about 85-years-old, so what he’s doing is saying that even at 85 and after being an apostle of Jesus Christ for all of those years, say 55 years or more, he includes himself in the ones needing forgiveness of sin!

But we have to be walking in the Light of God’s Word as He—Christ—is in the Light and there’s no sin in Him! Then we have fellowship with one another “…and the blood of Jesus Christ, His own Son, cleanses us from all sin”—continually!

Verse 8: “If we say that we do not have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the Truth is not in us.” ‘We’re all good people, we don’t sin. We’re all lovely and nice people.’ Show me one group that’s really, really that way. Outside of those who are in the Church of God and have the Spirit of God, it’s not so.

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.” Notice that it is a cleansing! That’s what we need; to have our minds and our lives clean through the laws and commandments of God, His Spirit, His Truth and walking in the Light; all of it together. That is the whole package of the meaning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread for the New Testament. To put in Christ and to put out sin!

Verse 10: “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.”

1-John 2:1: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin…. [subjunctive; that tells us that we can sin] …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…” (vs 1-2). In other words, the relationship that we have with God is this:

• He calls us
• we repent
• we are baptized
• He’s forgiven our sins
• He gives us the Holy Spirit

That is a beginning and that is a start! The finished product does not come until the resurrection. Between the start and the finish is the whole life of living by every Word of God. As Jesus said, ‘Man—men and women—shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’

That comes right back to obey My voice! See how consistent the Bible is all the way through? God is there to forgive you through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Some sins are very hard to overcome, so you may have to repent of them over and over again for a long time, until they are wiped out of your mind. It’s not that God doesn’t forgive you, it is that you need your mind transformed by the renewing of your mind!

To renew your mind you need to get rid of the old mind that was in there, which was carnal, hostile and against God. So, you see how that works.

Jesus gave a warning to the scribes and Pharisees that were not just to put on a front. We’re not to appear righteous outwardly, but inwardly we’re full of greed and lust!

There are some people who are so good at putting on that they actually live a double life! Sometimes being married, and the husband or wife does not know that the double life is going on for years and years. That’s sad, but that shows you how deceitful the carnal mind is.

Let’s see what Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees. We’re not to be bums and filthy, dirty on the outside, that is true. What good does it do if you’re the nicest most handsome man, or the most beautiful woman in the world finely dressed with the best of everything and your mind is evil and sinful? Doesn’t do you any good! We’ve talked about the Light, and here’s what Jesus said:

Luke 11:34: “The light of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is without guile, your whole body is light…” Evil affects your whole body; not only how you think, but how your body functions, etc.

“‘…but when your eye is evil, your body also is dark. Therefore, beware that the light that is in you is not darkness. Now then, if your whole body is light, not having any part dark, it shall be full of light, as when a lamp shining brightly gives you light.’ Now, while He was speaking, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him; and He went in and sat down” (vs 34-37)—because He didn’t wash His hands. That was a ghastly sin!

Verse 38: “But the Pharisee, seeing this, wondered why He had not first washed before dinner…. [of course, Jesus knew this] …Then the Lord said to him, ‘Now, you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are full of greediness and wickedness’” (vs 38-39). How much evil is covered with a facade of goodness? That’s exactly what they were doing.

So, Jesus wasted no time, He said, v 40: “Fools, did not He Who made the outside also make the inside? Rather, give alms from the things that are within; and behold, all things are clean to you. But woe to you, Pharisees! For you pay tithes of mint and rue and every herb, but you pass over the judgment and the love of God. It is obligatory for you to do these things, and not to set aside those lesser things. Woe to you, Pharisees! For you love the chief seat in the synagogues and the salutations in the marketplaces” (vs 40-43).

‘Oh yes! Here comes the rabbi, here comes the priests! Look! It’s the pope!’

Verse 44: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are as unseen tombs, and men who walk over them do not know it.” Now, that’s pretty strong!

Verse 45: “And one of the doctors of the law answered and said to Him, ‘Teacher, by saying these things You are also insulting us.’ And He said, ‘Woe to you also, doctors of the law!…. [you’re worst than ever] …For you weigh men down with burdens heavy to bear…” (vs 45-46).

You don’t cleanse just the outside; you cleanse the inside! Let’s see how all that works. Let’s put all of this together.

Psalm 51 is the Psalm of repentance. This is so fantastic and important, because there can be no forgiveness without repentance, and there can be no change and overcoming unless you are growing in grace and knowledge. What is going to happen? The longer you are in the Church and the more that you are overcoming and growing, the more that you are going to understand the sin deep within!

This the repentance of David after his affair with Bathsheba:

• you talk about self-deception
• you talk about taking advantage of office
• you talk about using your authority improperly

Same way with Bathsheba; she knew what she was doing! She consented to it! Because it takes ‘two to tango.’ When David came to himself and repented… How long was he converted? Decades! This should have never happened!

With us it needs to be the same way. That’s why when we start getting old and gray, we’ve got to watch and make sure that we don’t think that we have it made and we regress back into sin! Here’s how David started out:

Psalm 51:1: “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving kindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion, blot out my transgressions.… [the same thing in 1-John 1] …Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin” (vs 1-2). The sin is lust within! The sin is the evil thought (Mark 7). Here’s what we need to do; this is what David did:

Verse 3: “For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done evil in Your sight…” (vs 3-4). When you sin, yes, other people are involved, other people get hurt. But you sin against God! Because

• God says that ‘you shall not’ and you do!
• God says ‘you shall do this’ and you don’t!

See how that works?

“…that You might be justified when You speak and be in the right when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (vs 4-5). That’s just another way of talking about the ‘law of sin and death.’

• that’s the thing we have to fight within
• that’s the thing that needs to be cleansed and rooted out

and replaced with:

• the Word of God
• the love of God
• the Scriptures of God

We need to have it in such a way that as we are led by the Spirit of God, we think with the laws, commandments, words, precepts and concepts of God.

• not in terms of carnality
• not in terms of the way that the world is
• but in the way that God is

Verse 6: “Behold, You desire Truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part You shall make me to know wisdom.” That’s something! We must have the wisdom of God through His Spirit and through having the Truth in our inward parts! That’s starts with:

• God’s Truth
• His love is true
• His faith is true
• His righteousness is true
• His Word is true
• His commandments are true
• His precepts are true
• everything concerning God is true

And in Him ‘there is no variableness or shadow of turning,’ because His light of righteousness is constant all the time!

Verse 7: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” That’s what Jesus says. This takes repentance! Listen! Look at how many things we’re covering in the Old Testament, and yet, we’re preaching New Testament doctrine.

God says to people, what they need to do if they’re living in sin. This is what the world needs to do; God says to those who are following their own religious experience, another Jesus or Baal, whatever:

Isaiah 1:15: “And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; yea, when you make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood.” There needs to be repentance! What I want you to do is see how very similar 1-John 1 is with this section of Isa. 1. That proves another point, which is that God ‘is the same yesterday, today and forever.’

Verse 16: “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean…” How do you do that? This is not the dirt from working someplace; this is the filth of sin, which is within. So, how do you wash yourself and make yourself clean?

“…put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes; cease to do evil” (v 16). Evil is the transgression of the laws of God.

Go back and read 1-John 2:4—right after John says that His sacrifice is for the propitiation of our sins, he says: “The one who says, ‘I know Him’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the Truth is not in him.” That’s exactly what we have in Isa. 1.

Verse 6: “Anyone who claims to dwell in Him is obligating himself also to walk even as He Himself walked.”

Isaiah 1:17: “Learn to do good…” That takes time!

• How do you pray?
• How do you study?
• How do you overcome temper?
• How do you overcome evil?
• How do you overcome lying?
• How do you overcome jealousy?
• How do you overcome sexual obsessions?

“Learn to do good… [Have your mind cleansed! We’ll see how God does that!] …seek judgment, reprove the oppressor. Judge the orphan; plead for the widow” (v 17). God says that if you do that, you come to Him and here’s what will happen. Notice how this parallels 1-John 1:

Verse 18: “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool. If… [same thing; independent free moral agency (IFMA)] …If… [and it applies to us] …you are willing and obedient… [Didn’t we read that we have to obey Christ? Yes, indeed!] …you shall eat the good of the land; but if… [the choices; we have to choose] …you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword’; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it” (vs 18-20). The Word of God never fails! Remember that! It never fails; not one word of it!

Let’s see what Rom. 7 tells us about human nature and ‘the law of sin and death,’ then we will see what we need to do so that we are unleavened from the inside out! Isn’t that true, you don’t put the leaven in unleavened bread. It’s unleavened from the inside out. When there is leaven in it, it puffs up from the inside out!

After showing that we have to keep the commandments of God, because they’re Holy, righteous and true, then Paul talks about the working of human nature within him.

• even though he’s converted
• even though he has the Spirit of God
• even though he knows what is right
• even though he knows what is wrong

Human nature is there to pull us down. Paul explains it, and he says that we are rescued from it through Jesus Christ.

Romans 7:14: “For we know that the Law is spiritual; but I am carnal, having been sold as a slave under sin; because what I am working out myself… [if I do it myself and it turns out to be sin] …I do not know… [what made me do it] …For what I do not desire to do, this I do; moreover, what I hate, this is what I do” (vs 14-15). We find ourselves in that situation many, many times. That’s why there needs to be

• prayer every day
• study every day
• repentance every day

Even repentance right in the minute when something happens that isn’t right, you can pray in your own mind to God for forgiveness for it, because ‘the way of man is not in him to direct his steps.’ It has to come from the Spirit of God.

Verse 16: “But if I am doing what I do not desire to do, I agree with the Law that it is good.” Nothing wrong with the Law; it pointed out to you what was wrong.

Verse 17: “So then, I am no longer working it out myself; rather, it is sin that is dwelling within me… [hasn’t yet been all the way removed] …because I fully understand that there is not dwelling within me—that is, within my fleshly being—any good. For the desire to do good is present within me; but how to work out that which is good, I do not find. For the good that I desire to do, I am not doing; but the evil that I do not desire to do, this I am doing” (vs 17-19). We find ourselves in that—don’t we?

Verse 20: “But if I do what I do not desire to do, I am no longer working it out myself, but sin that is dwelling within me. Consequently, I find this law in my members… [the law of sin and the law of death] …that when I desire to do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the Law of God according to the inward man; but I see another law within my own members, warring against the law of my mind, and leading me captive to the law of sin that is within my own members. O what a wretched man I am! Who shall save me from the body of this death?” (vs 20-24). And it is through Jesus Christ!

Let’s see how that works. The putting away of the spiritual leaven in our mind is a daily exercise, something we need to do all of the time. This becomes one of the most important sections in the Bible, tied together with Rom. 7

2-Corinthians 10:3: “For although we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.” There are no possible ways of human endeavor to get rid of sin within. That can only be done by repentance, by God’s Spirit and by learning to do good, cease from doing evil and have our mind cleansed.

Verse 4: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the overthrowing of strongholds… [that law of sin and death] …casting down vain imaginations…” (vs 4-5)—how we think and vain reasonings.

“…and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought into the obedience of Christ” (v 5). That is a description of how we must overcome, bringing every thought, not getting carried away with carnal wild ideas, but bring every thought into captivity to Christ.

Get rid of those things out of your mind. That’s getting rid of the leaven. Put out the leaven! That’s why Paul said, ‘For Christ has been sacrificed for us, therefore, let us keep the Feast. Not with the old leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of Spirit and Truth!’ That’s how we do it!

Verse 6: “And having a readiness to avenge all disobedience, whenever your obedience has been fulfilled.” Bring every thought into captivity!

Let’s see what we are admonished to do in the book of Ephesians. The book of Ephesians is a wonderful, tremendous book to help you grow, change and overcome. Here’s what Christ is doing. Rely on Christ to change, grow and overcome with the Spirit of God.

Ephesians 5:26: So that He might sanctify it… [the Church; each and ever Christian] …having cleansed it…” He’s cleaning us, forgiving us, purging. We have our part: we need to cease to do evil, learn to do well:

“…with the washing of the water by the Word” (v 26). What is that? The water is the Spirit of God! The Word is the Word of God! We use the Spirit of God to train our mind to renew our mind, to let it be converted. We grow and overcome. That’s how we become unleavened from the sin within, and only through the sacrifice of Christ—and only through His being our Passover and the forgiveness of sin—is this possible with the Holy Spirit of God.

“…with the washing of the water by the Word.” That’s how we bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. There it is right there!

Now, we have our part. Eph. 4 tells us what we need to do. It is:

• put out the leaven
• put out the sin
• put in the righteousness
• have your mind cleansed and scrubbed with ‘the washing of the water by the Word’
• bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ

Ephesians 4:21: “If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, according to the Truth in Jesus: That concerning your former conduct, you put off the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts; and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind” (vs 21-23).

• by the Spirit of God
• by the washing of the Word of God
• bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ

Verse 24: “And that you put on the new man… [converted] …which according to God is created in righteousness and Holiness of the Truth.” Then it shows to put away the things of lying, the things of anger and those things that cause you to sin.

This is why there is repentance every day, growing and overcoming every day. I’ll tell you one thing, after all the years that I have been in the ministry, the more that you do this, the more that you will understand how evil and rotten and wretched that human nature is, and why we need the mind of Christ and the Spirit of Christ, and why it is so important for us to grow in grace and knowledge this way.

So, Paul says right here, Ephesians 5:1: “Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, even as Christ also loved us, and gave Himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor” (vs 1-2). Then he finishes the rest of the chapter by saying, ‘Put away sin!’

• this is how we are unleavened in Christ
• this is why Christ died for us
• this is why He gives us the Holy Spirit

• Be renewed in your mind!
• Bring every thought into captivity into the obedience of Christ and the love of God!

Have a good Feast of Unleavened Bread!

Scriptural References:

1. Leviticus 23:6-8
2. Deuteronomy 16:16
3. Exodus 13:1-16
4. Deuteronomy 16:1-7
5. Mark 7:21-23
6. Jeremiah 17:5-10
7. Proverbs 21:2
8. Proverbs 16:2-3, 6-7
9. Romans 12:1-2
10. Romans 3:23-31
11. Hebrews 10:14-17
12. 1 John 1:6-7, 3, 7-10
13. 1 John 2:1-2
14. Luke 11:34-46
15. Psalm 51:1-7
16. Isaiah 1:17-16
17. 1 John 2:4, 6
18. Isaiah 1:15-20
19. Romans 7:14-24
20. 2 Corinthians 10:3-6
21. Ephesians 5:26
22. Ephesians 4:21-24
23. Ephesians 5:1-2

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Leviticus 23:5
• 2 Corinthians 9

• Exodus 12
• Genesis 6
• Psalm 1

Also referenced: Books:

• From a Speck of Dust to a Son of God: Why Were You Born? by Fred R. Coulter
• The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
• Judaism: A Revelation of Moses or a Religion of Men? by Philip Neal