Sabbath Before Passover 2013—Live

Fred R. Coulter—March 23, 2013

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Hidden in plain sight! How many Bibles are there in the world? They're probably pushing about 6-1/2-billion at the present time! What does it contain? It contains the Word of God!

Let's understand something; we're going to see that the world doesn't know, though they could know. That the world has all the knowledge of everything that they need, probably right on their library shelf, or the way they have it today—right on their digital media device.

But here's what God has done, Proverbs 25:2: "The glory of God is to conceal a thing, but the honor of kings is to search out a matter." God conceals it in plain sight. This is what the allies before the WWII didn't understand. Hitler produced the Messerschmitt 109 and put it up in plain sight at the Paris Air Show as a trainer plane. They all thought, 'Oh, what a wonderful thing.' Well, God has done likewise.

Let's remember what Jesus said. Jesus said many things, but let's put it together so we have a foundation to look at it. He said first of all, 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.' He also said, 'Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall never pass away.'

Mark 13:10 is talking about the end-times and all the things that are going to take place at the end. We're getting closer and closer to a lot of these things. While at the same time, during our lifetime it may be further off than we have expected. But nevertheless, even if it's further off in the relationship of our chronological age and things that we do, that doesn't mean that it's off schedule. It's right on schedule.

Mark 13:10: "And the Gospel must first be published among all nations." You want to know what the Gospel is? Right here, you've got it—the Bible! Anyone who has the Bible has it. Well, why can't they understand it? Several things have to happen! Before they can understand it they have to be willing to obey it.

Let's come to Mark 4:10: "Now, when He was alone… [after He told a parable] …those who were around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. And He said to them, 'To you… [those who were with Him] …it has been given to know the mystery of the Kingdom of God; but to those who are without, all things are done in parables" (vs 10-11).

If you watch Fox News, you're seeing it live on the Bill O'Reilly Show. He talks about the Bible, then he talks about Easter. No one has asked him, 'Don't you know that Easter is pagan?' Oh, well, that's okay; the pope has blessed it! Might ask him, 'What does the resurrection of Jesus Christ have to do with Easter bunnies and chicken eggs boiled, dyed and tattooed?' Nothing, but yet, he claims to be an expert in it and is writing a book, The Killing of Jesus.

Here's the key, v 12: "So that in seeing they may see, and not perceive…" You tell someone about the Christian Passover and they're eyes go crossed and say, 'Passover? Are you Jewish?' No! Like one woman said concerning Easter when she found out that the person talking to her did not keep Easter but kept the Passover and asked her the question concerning the Easter eggs and the paganism of Easter, she said, 'That's why I don't go to that church.'

Verse 12: "So that in seeing they may see, and not perceive; and in hearing they may not hear, and not understand; lest they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them." That is one Scripture that orthodox Christianity cannot answer because they want to convert everybody in the world. God has His own time plan. That's why you need the Holy Days. That's why the Last Great Day answers the question what is God going to do because He blinded their minds?

• they blinded themselves because they didn't believe and wouldn't obey
• God blinded them so that they wouldn't be converted and is saving them for the second resurrection

God isn't going to lose anything, but is only going to save it on His time plan.

Satan the devil inspires men to come along and say, 'Oh, God, we'll improve on what You're doing. Here's a good idea.' You ask them about Christmas and Easter and all that sort of thing, they always come down to this. 'It's for the children.' Exactly! Satan wants to get them early—correct? Yes, indeed!

Let's talk about the disciples as we turn to Luke 24 for a minute. They were with Jesus for three and a half years and He taught them. How many times did He say, 'We're going up to Jerusalem and I'm going to be betrayed into the hands of the chief priests, the scribes, the Pharisees, the elders, and given over to the Gentiles and crucified and spit upon and mocked and rejected.' They just went along as if it never penetrated.

What has to happen? Not only do you have to believe, but without

• the Word of God
• the Spirit of God
• belief
• faith
• obedience

you will never understand the Word of God, though you have it right in front of you and it is in the language that you understand.

This was quite a thing. We've never had an experience like this. It would be like we were sitting right here and all of a sudden right in the middle of the room there's Jesus. As a spirit being, you can walk through the door, you can walk through the wall. How did Jesus get out of the tomb? He just walked right out of it!

The angels rolled back the stone to show He wasn't there, because He had already left. They didn't roll it back so Jesus could get out. Jesus was not behind the stone, knocking, 'Angels, are you there on time? Will you open the door and let Me out? Roll away the stone.' No!

When He appeared in the middle of the room they were astonished, and He said, 'It's Me.' In order to show that it was Him He said, 'Do you have anything to eat?' They gave Him some fish and honey. I've never tried that as a combination, but I think I will.

Luke 24:38: "Then He said to them, 'Why are you troubled? And why do doubts come up in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I. Touch Me and see for yourselves; for a spirit… [that is a demon spirit] …does not have flesh and bones, as you see Me having'" (vs 38-39). Notice He didn't say blood. He appeared as flesh and bones. He could also disappear as nothing. He appeared as flesh and bones so they could see that it was He.

Verse 40: "And after saying this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they were still disbelieving and wondering for joy, He said to them, 'Do you have anything here to eat?' Then they gave Him part of a broiled fish and a piece of honeycomb. And He took these and ate in their presence" (vs 40-43).

How do spirit beings eat? What do they eat? Remember, manna was called angels' food. Imagine for 40 years they had angel food cake. I don't know. But you have to go back to the beginning and get a basic thing. God said He made us male and female after the image of God. So, there are a whole lot of things we don't even know about ourselves and only God knows—correct? Yes, indeed!

Verse 44: "And He said to them, 'These are the words that I spoke to you when I was yet with you, that all the things which were written concerning Me in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.'" What did He say to them? 'Why are your hearts still hardened?'
Here is the key, the only way you're going to understand and discover what God wants you to know and it is a spiritual thing. It must come from God and it must come from Christ. Verse 45: "Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures."

We're told in Isa. 28 how to understand: 'Line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little, rightly divide the Word of God,' put it together. Remember, if you profess belief, you're belief is no more than a profession unless you obey!

Remember the four men that were carrying the paraplegic on a stretcher and they were going to bring him to Jesus and they got there and the house was full and people overflowing outside. I don't know what they said to one another, but they really worked at it. I don't know how far they had to carry him to get there, but they got there with him.

Then they climbed up on the top of the roof and they opened up the tile and they let him down right in front of Jesus. Can you imagine sitting there, Jesus talking and all of a sudden the tile goes back and here comes down a stretcher and there is a paraplegic on the stretcher. What did Jesus say? 'Your faith has healed you.' What did their faith do? It gave them the power to do! They had to walk there, they had to climb up there, they had to open up the roof, they had to let him down because they believed that Jesus would do it!

Same way with the Scriptures, v 45: "Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures." You want to know when God is dealing with you with the Word of God? Whenever you're reading along and all of sudden there's that little light in your brain, God is the One Who is giving you the understanding. It's a lifelong thing that we learn.

Verse 46: "And said to them, 'According as it is written, it was necessary for the Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day. And in His name, repentance and remission of sins should be preached to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. For you are witnesses of these things'" (vs 46-48). And He said, 'Stay in Jerusalem until you receive power from on high.'

We will see on the Passover night that Jesus said to the disciples that they must work and their works would remain. Let's look another miracle that's contained in the Bible.

By the way, there's a new New Testament coming out. Did you hear about it, yet? It has all the Gnostic gospels in it. I gave warning of that concerning the Jesus Seminar how many years ago? Now they've got the New Testament. I've got one on order so I'm going to give you some sermons on it.

Acts 1:6—they wanted to know "…'Lord, will You restore the kingdom to Israel at this time?' And He said to them, 'It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has placed in His own authority'" (vs 6-7). Let's also understand something that the apostles didn't understand: We know more about the plan of God from the writings of the Bible and the apostles than the apostles themselves knew during their lifetimes. Think about that. If we do, that gives us a lot of responsibility to respond to God, does it not? Yes, indeed!

Verse 8: "But you yourselves shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses… [Follow this along very carefully.] …both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the ends of the earth." They did not get there physically, but with 6½-billion Bibles, their writings got there. 'To the ends of the earth.' God is going to have it that no man is going to say, 'Lord, You didn't tell me.'

Now, concerning the Passover, this is one of the first things that is attacked and eliminated by orthodox Christianity, the first thing. The Jews keep it a day late because they don't believe Jesus. Even if they are Messianic Jews, they still follow the tradition so they haven't crossed the threshold they really need to for the Passover.

I'll tell you why. Let's come here to Matthew 28; I've covered this before, but sometimes it's good to repeat some things so it sinks in. That's why they have songs. Remember the songs that you like the best? They are the songs with the easy lyrics and the catchy tune. Finally you get it drummed in your head and it plays over and over in your mind, same thing with the Word of God.

The experience that people in the church have had when Jews find out that as a Christian they keep the Passover on the 14th, and yet, the Jews keep it on the 15th. That's all explained in The Christian Passover book. At the end of the age we've got to go through all the piles of false doctrine that have been overlaid on the Bible and teachings and we've got to know what is right, what is wrong, why is it wrong, why is what is right right, etc.

The children of Israel understood that if they were not in the geographical area of Israel they could not keep a 14th Passover. The ten tribes were sent off into captivity. The Jews were sent off into captivity, brought back and sent off into captivity again. There are only a few Jews in what is called the Holy Land, which I refer to as Palestine, because it is anything but Holy today.

Even one of the rabbis wrote that when a temple is built they may do something on the 14th, but until that time they are going to keep with the 15th. Another rabbi, a Karaite, wrote saying, 'We do nothing on the 14th, because we follow in the footsteps of our fathers and their sins and this is why we are exiled.' That is in The Christian Passover book. Why can the Church keep a 14th Passover and the Jews cannot?

The Jews do not believe in Jesus Christ, in the main. There are some Messianic Jews but they've never gotten out of the mess of their traditions. I only know one Jew who has. So therefore, unless you have the teachings of Jesus Christ concerning the Passover, you don't know that you can keep a 14th Passover. Judaism to this day will say, 'That's for the Jews only.' Orthodox Christianity will say, 'We celebrate the resurrection.'

Matthew 28:16: "Now the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them to meet Him. And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted…. [I wonder who they were?] …And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me'" (vs 16-18). No man can take any of that authority to himself to proclaim something that is a religious practice, but God or Jesus did not tell us to do. That simple!

No one has any authority to do it. The pope's authority is null and void. He sits there as the replacement of Christ, 'the vicar' of Christ. Yes, the new one Francis we have now is more humble than the other ones, but that doesn't change anything that they do.

Verse 19: "'Therefore… [based on His authority] …go and make disciples in all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you… [for how long?] …And lo, I am with you always, even until the completion of the age.' Amen" (vs 19-20).

When did Jesus keep the Passover? On the night of the 14th! We find in the book of John that some of the Jews kept it on the next day. We find that in order to justify that, as you can read in The Christian Passover book, many, many excuses but none of them provable to be true. They sound blessedly true, but they are not.

Let's understand something concerning the Passover. We will see what it means 'the body and the blood of Christ.'

• Where did this take place (Mark 14)? In Jerusalem!
• Do you suppose that there were any Catholics there at that time? No!
• Any Protestants there at that time? No!
• Any Orthodox there at that time?
• Do you suppose that anyone could keep any other days than what were scheduled in Lev. 23? No!

Can you imagine what would have happened if someone tried to erect a Christmas tree on top of a house in Jerusalem during those days? And have an Easter egg roll on the lawn in those days? And say, 'We're doing this to God'? Could never have happened! As you find in The Christian Passover book there were two Passovers:

• The domestic Passover based upon Exo. 12.
• The exiled Passover for those who took a temple sacrifice lamb

We will see that they were nowhere near the temple when this occurred. We will see that nothing was said about communion, the Eucharist, or any of that and the false ceremony that the Catholics have on Maundy Thursday celebrating the first Eucharist is an absolute farce and lie of the nth degree.

Mark 14:12: "And on the first day of the unleaveneds…" This is right at the beginning of the Passover Day. How are days calculated in the Bible? From sunset to sunset—correct? When were they to kill the Passover lamb according to the instruction in Exo. 12? Between sunset and dark—correct? Everyone knew this. The domestic Passover was the one that was in the majority use at this time. They kept it in a house!

You will notice as we read this, Jesus did not say, 'Get a lamb, go to the temple and have it sacrificed and carry it over here to this place where we can keep the Passover.' That couldn't happen until the next day, so this is on the 14th. This also tells us that the Passover Day is an unleavened bread day and why should it not be an unleavened bread day.

"…when they were killing the Passover lambs…" (v 12). What were they looking at? Here they are, coming toward Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives sits this way: You come down into the Kidron Valley, cross a bridge, go up by the temple and go around the temple and go into Jerusalem. So, they were coming from Bethany and Bethphage and those who were over here on the side of the Mount of Olives. By the way, that's where most of the priests lived, too. Most of the priests kept the 14th Passover. It was the Pharisees who kept the 15th Passover. Pharisees always caused problems—didn't they?

Jesus told them nothing about the Passover. Here they are going to Jerusalem and the disciples are wondering, as they look up and see those at the different houses, killing the Passover lamb for the domestic Passover that they were to keep. Up on the Mount of Olives they could have gone right down to the temple to get a lamb but Jesus didn't tell them to do that. Those weren't sacrificed until the next day. That's what they were seeing.

The disciples were wondering, 'Where are we going to keep the Passover? What's it going to be?' The Lord had it all worked out, but He didn't tell them.

Verse 12: "…His disciples said to Him, 'Where do You desire that we go and prepare, so that You may eat the Passover?'" Not the Lord's Supper, not a pre-Passover Passover.

Verse 13: "And He sent two of His disciples, and said to them, 'Go into the city, and you shall meet a man carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. And whatever house… [What did Jesus observe? A domestic Passover!] …he shall enter, say to the master of the house that the Teacher says, "Where is the guest chamber, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?" And he shall show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. There prepare for us.' And His disciples went away; and when they came into the city… [they didn't go to the temple, they came into the city] …they found it exactly as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover" (vs 13-16). What did Jesus eat? The Passover!

Let's see what happened here. Let's follow right along in the context, He says, 'Someone's going to betray Me' (v 18). They all asked was it them (v 19). Then He told them it was the one who was dipping in the dish with Him (v 20); that He is going to be betrayed as it was written of Him (v 21).

Verse 22: "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread; and after blessing it, He broke it and gave it to them, and said, 'Take, eat;' this is My body.' And He took the cup, and after giving thanks, He gave it to them; and they all drank of it. And He said to them, 'This is My blood, the blood of the New Covenant, which is poured out for many'" (vs 22-24).

Let's see what else He said about it. Then we will look at the instructions that the Apostle Paul received from the Lord. What was the Apostle Paul's commission? To go to the Gentiles—correct? Yes!

Luke 22:15: "And He said to them, 'With earnest desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you that I will not eat of it again until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.' And He took a cup; and after giving thanks, He said, 'Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I say to you, I will not drink at all of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God has come'" (vs 15-18).

I want you to remember what we read in Matt. 28. What did He say? Teaching them to do all things 'that I have commanded you'! Let's look at what He commanded them.

Verse 19: "And He took bread; and after giving thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is My body, which is given for you. This do in the remembrance of Me.'" Who were they to teach this to? To all nations! Starts with the Jews because God said 'to the Jew first and then to the Gentile.'

Verse 20: "In like manner also, He took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the New Covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.'"

Since Jesus' words will never pass away, what do you suppose that He taught the Apostle Paul concerning the Passover? Did He teach anything different? There were some problems and difficulties that they had concerning the Passover, just like today. Why? You will learn this: the Passover is the New Covenant pledge; God to us and us to God! That's why Jesus died on the Passover Day. No other way or ceremony will God accept—period!

Let's see what Paul says, remember the Church at Corinth was mainly Gentile, 1-Corinthians 11:23: "For I received from the Lord… [Paul was taught for three years in Arabia in visions and dreams and direct teaching by Jesus.] …that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed..."

That's very interesting—isn't it? 'In the night.' That why in The Christian Passover book and The Day Jesus the Christ Died, you look at the chart of that Passover Day. You look at the timing of everything and you look when He was arrested. It was about midnight.

You go back to the Passover of Israel, what happened at midnight? If they took care of the Passover properly, and if they put the blood on the sideposts and the top lintel, their firstborn were spared—correct? Yes! All the firstborn of the Egyptians, man and beast, were killed—correct? Yes! The Passover night in which Jesus was betrayed and arrested at midnight God did not pass over Jesus Christ, Who was the firstborn.

Verse 24: "And after giving thanks, He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body, which is being broken for you… [present tense passive. Very interesting way that he wrote it, because it's continually applied.] …This do in the remembrance of Me." What was Paul to teach? Everything that Jesus commanded—correct? Paul was not there for the last Passover—was he? No! So, Jesus taught him directly.

Verse 25: "In like manner, He also took the cup after He had supped, saying, 'This is the cup of the New Covenant in My blood… [that's important to understand] …This do… [The next phrase you're going to have to read in The Christian Passover book to understand that there is a qualifier in the Greek that is not translatable which limits 'as often as' to once a year, but yearly until He comes. You only take it once a year. You'll have to read that there.] …in the remembrance of Me.'"

1 Corinthians 10:18: "Consider Israel according to the flesh. Are not those who eat the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What then am I saying? That an idol is anything…" (vs 18-19). You could hardly get any meat to eat unless it was sacrificed to some kind of pagan idol. The idol itself can't hear, can't see, can't talk, can't walk, can't do anything. It's like Dagon that fell down before the Ark of God.

Verse 20: "But that which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons..." If you have not read the book, The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop, you get it and you read it. Lo and behold, you're going to find out that there were many counterfeits way ahead of time that Satan had already put out there in the different religions. The round disk with a cross in it, that comes from Egypt depicting the sun.

What did Jesus do with the bread? Did He say, 'Be careful, don't break it'? No! He broke it! Why then do they use a round disk that they don't break? That goes clear back to Egypt. 'Oh, it's been blessed by the church.' Really! Has it been blessed by God? No!

Here's what Paul says, v 20: "But that which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God; and I do not wish you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of demons… [You can't mix the way of the world and religions of the world with the Truth of God.] …You cannot partake of the table of the Lord, and the table of demons" (vs 20-21).

Verse 22: "Now do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?" This tells us we need to do it exactly the way that Jesus taught!

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It's very important to understand that once we take the Passover, we are just starting. That's the first of the annual feasts listed in Lev. 23. Then there's:

• Feast of Unleavened Bread
• Feast of Pentecost
• Feast of Trumpets
• Day of Atonement
• Feast of Tabernacles
• Last Great Day

All of those are parts of the plan of God hidden in plain sight in the Bible. It's like a jigsaw puzzle, you have to properly put it together.

Remember this is to the Church. This Church [at Corinth] was a Gentile church and he's teaching them to keep the Passover and we're going to see here, the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

1-Corinthians 5:6: "Your glorying is not good…. [they were glorying in sin and immorality] …Don't you know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?" This is why God has the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It's common; it's everywhere. It comes upon you without notice.

Verse 7: "Therefore, purge out the old leaven… [get the leaven out of your homes] …so that you may become a new lump… [leaven in your own life] …even as you are unleavened. For Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us."

We saw how to keep it there in 1-Cor. 11, but here he tells us in 1-Cor. 5:8: "For this reason… [because Christ was sacrificed for us] …let us keep the Feast… [the Feast of Unleavened Bread] …not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and Truth." What is Jesus? I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life! So, we have to do it according to God's way.

• If you add something to it, is that insincerity? Yes, indeed!
• If you change the day, is that insincerity? Yes, it is! You are not right with God.
• Is that Truth? No! Neither one are Truth.

Let's see something about Jesus. Let's understand a little bit more about what God did. Let's add some other things we know from the Bible to it without turning there. We know that in Rev. 13:8 it talks about the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world. In other words, it was determined at the foundation of the world what was going to have to happen in order to redeem mankind.

That doesn't mean necessarily that Adam and Eve were predestined to sin. But God having made them incomplete, He made provision for sin. If you haven't heard the sermon, What Would the World Have Been Like if Adam and Eve Had Not Sinned?, you need to write in for it and we'll send it to you.

After they had sinned, God judged them and sentenced them but He also promised a Redeemer, a Messiah—correct? Yes, He did! Then we find in God dealing with Abraham in Gen. 15, that there was that maledictory oath that God took promising His future death. Then we find, as we will look at some other Scriptures here, that Jesus even prophesied as the Lord God of the Old Testament exactly what was going to happen to Him when that Passover came and He had to sacrifice Himself.

The One Who became Jesus Christ emptied Himself of His glory and Divinity to become a pinprick of life to be begotten in the womb of the virgin Mary and to be born like any other human being. Why? He also received human nature from Mary, His mother! So, He had the pull of the flesh, just like we do.

Why did God do this? Because He sentenced human beings to death and with the law of sin and death! It is only just and right on God's part that God, Who made man in His own image, would take upon Himself being a human being and carrying within Him the law of sin and death, and yet, never sin. So that no human being could say, 'Oh, God, look what you did to us. Now if you hadn't given us the law of sin and death, I could have been perfect.' No!

Let's see what Jesus said. We'll look at some of the other Scriptures here, but let's see how this took place. Nothing could be greater; nothing could be more just than the Creator of all human beings, Who gave them the law of sin and death, to take that upon Himself as well. And that He would live a perfect life, never sin, offer His life which is greater than any other life could ever be.

John 10:14: "I am the good Shepherd, and I know those who are Mine, and am known of those who are Mine. Just as the Father knows Me, I also know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring those also, and they shall hear My voice…" (vs 14-16). How are they going to hear His voice? Through the Word of God and the Spirit of God!

"…and there shall be one flock and one. On account of this, the Father loves Me: because I lay down My life, that I may receive it back again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have authority to lay it down and authority to receive it back again. This commandment I received from My Father'" (vs 16-18). Quite a thing!

If you haven't gone through The Covenant Between God the Father and Jesus Christ for this, that's in the Hebrew Series, #27. He laid His life down willingly that He may receive it back again.

Now let's see what He knew was going to happen. Even though He said that He is in a straight. Remember, James and John the sons of Zebedee when even 'mama' got involved and came to the Lord and said, 'Lord, I have a little favor to ask You for my two sons.' The two sons were right there. 'May one be on Your right hand and one be on Your left hand.' Jesus looked at them and said, 'Are you able to have the baptism that I'm going to be baptized with?' Yes, indeed! He said, 'It's going to happen but to give the right hand and left hand only the Father can give that.'

Jesus knew everything that was going to come down. Let's also understand something else going through the sermon that I did recently, How Do You Preach Christ From the Old Testament? The apostles didn't have the New Testament, wasn't written yet.

Again, if you have blinders on because you don't obey or you don't believe, you can't understand this. How have the rabbis recently interpreted Isa. 53? Do you know? We're going to read some very gruesome things. They interpret it, not to Christ, not to a single man, but all of those Jews who were killed in the Holocaust; because they are blinded!

Let's read it with the understanding of the New Testament, Isaiah 53:1: "Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; He has no form nor comeliness that we should look upon Him, nor beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows… [not a nation of sorrows] …and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from Him, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not" (vs 1-3). Didn't even understand what was going on.

Remember what Jesus said, 'You're all going to be scattered this night.' Peter said, 'I won't deny You, Lord.' Jesus looked at him, and said, 'Before the cock crows you're going to deny Me three times.' And it happened. The last time is recorded in the book of Luke. When that cock crowed after Peter denied Him the third time, he could look right over and see Jesus eye-to-eye.

Verse 4: "Surely He has borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." Isn't that what the chief priests and those mocking said? 'If You're the Christ, come on down, save Yourself.'

Verse 5: "But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed." All prophesied there.

I'd like to show you something very interesting in Isa. 50. We're going to see how some of these prophecies are given. They don't necessarily follow in chronological order. That's why it's 'a little here, little there, precept upon precept.'

Isaiah 50:4: "The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the learned, to know to help the weary with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens my ear to hear as one being taught." This is how Jesus was educated. Anyone who says He was educated by the rabbis doesn't know this prophecy.

Verse 5: "The Lord GOD has opened My ear, and I was not rebellious, nor turned away backwards." That's how He was educated. We find in John 4 when Jesus was at the temple, they were all amazed and said, 'How does this Man know letters, having never learned?' What does that statement tell us? Don't you think by that time that all the rabbis had checked with each other and all the rabbinical schools and headmasters checked with each other and they asked, 'Did Jesus come to your school? Did you teach Him these things?' What do you think they would have done to that rabbi?

No, He was taught of God the Father! What did Jesus say? 'I speak what the Father taught Me! I do what the Father taught Me!' Notice from His birth to His education, right down to His death:

Verse 6: "I gave My back to the smiters… [that's scourging] …and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair… [pulling the beard out by the roots] …I did not hide My face from shame and spitting. For the Lord GOD will help Me; therefore I have not been disgraced. On account of this I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed" (vs 6-7). That's how He was able to endure it.

Isaiah 42:21—I don't know what all the Protestants do with this when they say that Jesus came to do away with the Law. I don't know how they can say that when Jesus Himself said, 'The heaven and earth shall pass away by My law shall not pass away. My Word shall not pass away. One jot or tittle of the law shall never perish.' So, they couldn't even say that it was done away if they're standing on the earth and the heaven is still above them—correct?

Isaiah 42:21: "The LORD is well pleased for His righteousness sake; He will magnify the Law and make it glorious." That's how we are to keep it, in the Sprit, in Truth, in the heart and mind. That's why the New Covenant is to have the laws and the Word of God in our heart and in our mind.

We will see what else is said of Jesus and His sacrifice and why did He do it. There are many other Scriptures we can cover, note Psa. 22, because these are the very words that Jesus said while He was on the cross. You read it between now and tomorrow night for the Passover.

Isaiah 53:6: "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned each one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all…. [not on the Jews who went through the Holocaust] …He was oppressed, and He was afflicted; yet He opened not His mouth… [He could only do that the strength that came from God.] …He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and with His generation who did consider that He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of My people He was stricken?" (vs 6-8). That can only apply to Jesus Christ.

Verse 9: "And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet, the LORD willed to crush Him and He has put Him to grief: You shall make His life an offering for sin. He shall see His seed… [the children that God gives Him] …He shall prolong His days… [through the resurrection] …and that the purpose of the LORD might prosper in His hand" (vs 9-10). Quite amazing—isn't it? He knew all the things that were going to take place.

Let's see why He did it. This is quite a thing! That's why in the New Testament it is called the death; can't be compared to any other.

Hebrews 1:1: "God, Who spoke to the fathers at different times in the past and in many ways by the prophets, has spoken to us in these last days by His Son, Whom He has appointed heir of all things…" (vs 1-2). When we get into more of the plan of God, we are joint heirs with Christ and 'all things' means all things.

• Don't you suppose that includes the universe?
• Do you suppose that God made the universe in vain? No!

or

• Does He have a purpose? Yes, He has a purpose. Yes, indeed!

"…by Whom also He made the world… [or ages; it means the same thing in the Greek] …Who, being the brightness of His glory and the exact image of His person…" (vs 2-3). What did He say to the disciples when they said, 'Show us the Father'? He said, 'If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father!'

"…and upholding all things by the word of His own power… [Remember where we started out? 'All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me.'] …when He had by Himself…" (v 3). Only He could do it. No religion, no ritual, no sacrifice of animal, nothing; only the sacrifice of Jesus Christ can with His shed blood forgive sin and purge it away!

…when He had by Himself… [While He was on the cross, what was it He said? 'Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,' which is to say, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? He did it by Himself.] …purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high" (v 3).

• Why did He do it?

He talks about the purpose of man.

• How many people know why they are here?
• Why are we made the way that we are?
• Why that just the pinpoint of life from father and mother you became a human being?

God starts with the smallest! That gives us a clue. If He did that for physical life, what's it going to be for spiritual life?

Hebrews 2:6: "But in a certain place one fully testified, saying, 'What is man, that You are mindful of him, or the son of man, that You visit him? You did make him a little lower than the angels; You did crown him with glory and honor, and You did set him over the works of Your hands'" (vs 6-7).

He gave us the whole world. God is not stingy—is He? He gave the whole world. Some people get upset if you say, 'God commands tithes and offerings.' Oh, I'm not going to do that. Try something else you're not going to do either, too. But He gave the whole earth to all human beings—didn't He? Yes, He did!

Verse 8: "You did put all things in subjection under his feet…." Look what they're talking about now, the things that they can do, as we have covered in some of the sermons, that nothing is left beyond their imagination that they're not able to do.

"…For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that was not subjected to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him" (v 8). Aren't you happy that God hasn't subjected the universe to man, yet? Look what he's done to the earth. Think what he would do to the heavens.

Verse 9: "But we see Jesus… [Remember, 'in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.' That's the One Who became Jesus.] …Who was made a little lower than the angels…" Could God overcome Satan the devil with His power alone? Yes! Could God do it as a powerful angel, if He chose to make Himself an angel? Yes! Now then, to take upon the likeness of human flesh and be perfect and overcome, now that's a whole different story—isn't it? Yes, indeed!

"…made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor on account of suffering the death…" (v 9). That one death of God manifested in the flesh, Whose name is Jesus Christ, His shed blood alone and His sacrifice for sin can forgive the sins of anyone who repents to God! Nothing else can do it.

What if you kept the Sabbath all your life, never missed it? Would that give you eternal life? No! There's no law which gives eternal life! Life must come from life and eternal life must come from eternal life. So, for Him to die it is the death. To save all mankind from the judgment that He gave to Adam and Eve.

"…suffering the death, in order that by the grace of God He Himself might taste death for everyone" (v 9). Then you go back and read, what will God forgive? Anything, but the rejection of God the Father and the Holy Spirit!

Verse 10: "Because it was fitting for Him, for Whom all things were created, and by Whom all things exist, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Author of their salvation perfect through sufferings."

He took upon Him the sufferings to a higher degree than we have in our lives. Every one of us here have had troubles in our lives. Is that not true? Everyone of us here have had difficulties and sufferings. Is that not true? Nothing compared to what Jesus took! That's why His life and death alone can apply to ours. Let's understand that this took a lot, a lot, a lot of effort on Jesus' part.

Hebrews 5:7: "Who, in the days of His flesh, offered up both prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him Who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because He feared God. Although He was a Son, yet He learned obedience…" (vs 7-8). He carried within Him the 'law of sin and death' and He had to learn obedience.

Sidebar: To show you how the law of sin and death works very deceptively. If any of you exercise, you know this. How many times when you've started exercising you talk to yourself? Everybody talks to him or herself. 'Oh, well, I don't need to do quite as much today. Yesterday I really had a good day.' I exercised yesterday and that's what I said to myself and that's what I did. Because I exercised the four days before that, so I'm justifying.

That's how sin works. Satan comes along and says, 'Try it, you'll like it.' He doesn't tell you that somewhere down the road can be a lot of difficult things going to happen to you. So, just take exercise. If you never exercise, if you never use your body, what's going to happen? Things are going to come upon you—correct? Yes! Heart attack, diabetes, whatever, overweight. Once you get it on you can't get it off. I'll vouch for that.

That's why Jesus had to take it upon Himself because He was tempted. He learned obedience by the things that He suffered.

Verse 9: "And having been perfected, He became the Author of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him." Let's see what we're promised.

Hebrews 4:12: "For the Word of God is living and powerful… [It's always there, just like the law of gravity. Having it written down, that's even better. You can see what it is.] …and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of both soul and spirit, and of both the joints and the marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart."

That's what God wants. We all get trapped into it—don't we? We're all weak—aren't we? We go along and sooner or later we justify sin because we think, 'Oh, well, that's okay. I'm not doing too bad.' Whatever we use to justify it. I've done it; you've done it. We all need to repent of it. That's why we have the Passover coming up and that's why the Passover is available because of Jesus Christ's sacrifice.

Here is what the deceitful mind forgets, v 13: "And there is not a created thing that is not manifest in His sight; but all things are naked and laid bare before the eyes of Him to Whom we must give account. Having therefore a great High Priest, Who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, we should hold fast the confession of our faith" (vs 13-14).

This is why He went through what He went through and why we confess our sins to God the Father and Jesus Christ and to no man. I defy anyone to tell me when you were supposedly 'a good Catholic' that you went into the confessional booth and you told your deepest sins to the priest. You probably told just enough so you wouldn't have to do too many 'our fathers' and 'hail Marys.' One man went into the booth, as I've mentioned before, the priest said, 'Are you ready to confess your sins, my child?' And he said, 'Well, father, let's begin with yours.'

Naked and laid bare! That's good for us to know because the deceitful mind must understand the power of God and the Word of God that it does to lead us to repentance, so that we can receive forgiveness!

Verse 15: "For we do not have a high priest who cannot empathize with our weaknesses… [we're going to see we have a lot of weaknesses] …but One Who was tempted in all things according to the likeness of our own temptations; yet He was without sin." That's powerful—isn't it?

What if you went to a priest and he thought, 'This is the worst thing I have ever heard. My son, I can't forgive you.' Yet, the Bible says you can be forgiven. That's why we can be totally honest with God because He knows. We can be totally honest with Christ because He has been tempted in every way. He understands.

Here's what we are to do, v 16: "Therefore, we should come with boldness to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Let's come to Hebrews 12; this is a very interesting chapter, especially the way that it starts out. This helps us in the things that we need to know and do. Heb. 11 is called the faith chapter and you will notice that when it talks about any one of the patriarchs here that 'by faith' they did something. It wasn't just, 'I believe and everything is just fine.' You must do.

• How are we going to be judged? By our works!
• How can we have works unless they are motivated from the Spirit of God?
• How can we have access to God unless we have forgiveness?

He talks here about our situation and the crucifixion of Christ, Hebrews 12:1: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great throng of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight… [every problem, every difficulty, every trouble] …and the sin that so easily entraps us…" Yes! That's how it comes about—isn't it? That's why we have the Feast of Unleavened Bread. You put the leaven out and it is a lesson that you must look for sin, you must get it out, but you have to get it out within.

On the first Holy Day we're going to talk about how to overcome the sin within because that's where sin really is. You can have the best kind of behavior out here that other people will think is impeccable, but what is in your mind and heart is what God wants converted and changed.

"…and the sin that so easily entraps us; and let us run the race set before us with endurance, Having our minds fixed on Jesus, the Beginner and Finisher of our faith; Who for the joy that lay ahead of Him endured the cross… [He did not go through what He went through without having the goal, without having the purpose. We must have that in our lives, too.] …although He despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Now, meditate deeply on Him Who endured such great hostility of sinners against Himself so that you do not become weary and faint in your minds. You have not yet resisted to the point of losing blood in your struggle against sin" (vs 1-4).

We need to look to God to help us. That's why we have read in 1-Cor. 11 we're to examine ourselves. You can be totally honest with God and through the blood of Jesus Christ all your sins can be forgiven. Then we have to get up and do what God wants us to do. There has to be a change.

Let's see how we can apply this in our lives. Let's see if we have the same mindset that Jesus had, the same resolve that Jesus had. One thing that's important to understand:

• though we're made the way that we are
• though we have the law of sin and death in us
• though we're weak and subject to things that come upon us

God gives us a renewal!

Every Passover is a renewal. Every Passover is a renewal of the covenant between each one of us, God the Father and Jesus Christ! That's why on the Passover night we go through the Scriptures and read those that we read because that is our covenant contract with God and God with us. It's quite a fantastic thing, brethren.

Notice, the same way that Jesus did having His mind fixed on the goal, Psalm 57:1: "Be gracious unto me, O God, be gracious unto me; for my soul trusts in You; yea, in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge until these great troubles pass by."

What troubles have you had this year? We all have had them. All of our difficulties, all of our trials and things we go through, they will pass by. God will see us through them. It's not pleasant going through them. Can be emotional, can be upsetting, can be depressing. But nevertheless, God will see us through it.

Verse 2: "I will cry to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me." Because God is doing a work in every one of us!

• His purpose
• His job
• His creation in us

Verse 3: "He shall send from heaven and save me; He rebukes him who would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth His mercy and His Truth" (v 3). That comes through Jesus Christ. Isn't that something? That's what God wants us to have—isn't it?

Let's read through so we can see that it really doesn't matter the difficulties that you're going to go through.

Verse 4: "My soul is among lions… [Daniel was that. What did God do with that? They all purred and slept!] …I lie among those who breathe out fire, the sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword."

We're going to see how vicious this society can be. I don't how many of you saw on the news just last night, just some people right in a restaurant, going in to get something to eat. Here comes in a man with a—I don't know how they're going to outlaw revolvers, he didn't have a machine gun or anything like that. He came up and asked for money from a mother and she didn't have any to give him, so he took out his gun and shot the baby right in the head. Listen, the way they're building up hatred toward Jesus Christ, we are going to see some difficult things in the future. The only way we are going to get through it—we don't know if it's going to be exactly like that, but barbarism and lawlessness multiplies. Those things are going to come.

Verse 5: "Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be above all the earth. They have prepared a net for my steps;' my soul is bowed down; they have dug a pit before me; into the midst of it they have fallen themselves. Selah" (vs 5-6).

This is what we need to renew every year at the Passover, v 7: "My heart is fixed, O God… [Just like Jesus had His heart fixed so He could endure the cross.] …my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise. Awake, my glory! Awake, harp and lyre! I myself will awake the dawn. I will praise You, O LORD, among the people; I will sing of You among the nations, For Your steadfast mercy is great even unto the heavens and Your truth to the clouds. Be exalted above the heavens, O God; let Your glory be above all the earth" (vs 7-11).

That's the whole sum of how then we need to change and grow and overcome through the sacrifice of Christ and have our minds fixed in

• loving God
• serving God
• obeying God
• keeping His Word

Let's keep all of this in mind for the Passover for tomorrow night.

Scriptural References:

• Proverbs 25:2
• Mark 13:10
• Mark 4:10-12
• Luke 24:38-48
• Acts 1:6-8
• Matthew 28:16-20
• Mark 14:12-16, 22-24
• Luke 22:15-20
• 1-Corinthians 11:23-25
• 1-Corinthians 10:18-22
• 1-Corinthians 5:6-8
• John 10:14-18
• Isaiah 53:1-5
• Isaiah 50:4-7
• Isaiah 42:21
• Isaiah 53:6-10
• Hebrews 1:1-3
• Hebrews 2:6-10
• Hebrews 5:7-9
• Hebrews 4:12-16
• Hebrews 12:1-4
• Psalm 57:1-11

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Isaiah 28
• Leviticus 23
• Exodus 12
• Mark 14:18-20
• Revelation 13:8
• Genesis 15
• John 4
• Psalm 22
• Hebrews 11

Also referenced:

Books:

• The Killing of Jesus by Bill O'Reilly
• The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
• The Day Jesus the Christ Died by Fred R. Coulter
• The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop

Sermons

• What Would the World Have Been Like if Adam and Eve Had Not Sinned?
• How Do You Preach Christ From the Old Testament?

Sermon Series: Hebrews (specifically #27): The
Covenant Between God the Father and Jesus Christ

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 4-4-13
Formatted: bo—4/5/13

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