Last Day of Unleavened Bread 2012—Live

"God is My Helper"

Fred R. Coulter—April 13, 2012

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On occasion we have a Holy Day and Sabbath back up upon each other. But the Calculated Hebrew Calendar has it so that you don't have Sabbath and Holy Day back up on each other for Trumpets and Sabbath. You would have Trumpets and Sabbath back-to-back; Sabbath and Atonement back-to-back—wrong Holy Day and the true Holy Day—which then would be one on Friday/one on Sabbath, or on Sabbath and then the Holy Day on Sunday. When you have one back-to-back, you have four back-to-back. Whereas with Days 49 and 50 [Pentecost] you have a Sabbath and a Holy Day. Now here we're having a Holy Day and a Sabbath; so it will fall that way occasionally.

We always take up an offering. God says that we are during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. You know where that is in Deut. 16:16. We don't have to turn there. If you don't know where that is, then we'll help you with it later.

But always remember this: God knows the heart; He looks to the heart and whatever we do has to be from the heart, not based on the fear of men, not based on pleasing men, but based on thanks and praise to God and pleasing God.

This is why the Apostle Paul said that 'he who sows sparingly will reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will reap bountifully.' It says in Mal. 3 that God is able to make 'the heavens pour out' to us. Paul says that through God's grace we'll have 'sufficiency in all things.' We need to keep that in mind. Need to understand that's all part of our relationship with God.

I know sometimes on a regular basis with different people, they send in a thank offering for an answered prayer. That's fine, that's what they want to do. Whatever you determine in your heart and mind, that's what God expects you to do. That's why He says, 'Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Anything more of that is of the evil one.' This is where it comes with the grace of God within. God wants us to have our lives oriented with the Spirit of God, led by the Spirit of God, to have obedience from the heart, through the grace of God.

That's why we have the series, God's Grace and Commandment-Keeping. That is what is important. What we all see of ourselves outwardly as we look in the mirror, or we look at each other outwardly, that's not what God is interested in. He's interested in what is going on here—in the heart. This becomes very important for us to realize in our relationships with each other. I'm going to give some sermons on relationships with each other because as we expect that as Church at Home keeps going there will be new people. We've had four new people in our area in California.

I want you to think about this and pray about this and I want you to understand some very important things. We have all been through some very traumatic events that in our naiveté, though we read it in the Scriptures, did not think it would happen to us—correct?

• There has been destructions of churches because of sin and corruption.
• There have been destructions of people because of anger, hatred, dissidence, gossip, and all of that sort of thing.
• There has been divorce and remarriage, which should never happen.

One thing that people have done is this: The brethren of God instead of solving their problems face-to-face with each other in love and forgiveness and understanding and reconciliation, they have moved from church to church.

How many have seen this ad, I think it's where two highway patrolmen are sitting in their highway patrol car and they are eating lunch. The traffic's coming by and here comes a car dragging a big anchor. How many have seen that? They say, 'Look at that.' He gets out his radar gun and goes, 'Fifteen miles an hour. Oh, seventeen miles an hour. Hee, hee hee'—on the freeway.

A lot of us in the Church of God are just like that. In here we're driving with anchors in our minds and we are not willing to go to brother, to sister, to acknowledge sin and fault, to acknowledge anger, to ask forgiveness, and also to forgive.

Before God is going to add new people, don't you think we better be about God's business of solving those problems? Don't just give that something to you to think on and you ask and answer: What conflicts do I need to resolve? You can't have hatred in one part of your mind and say you love God, because God says, 'If you have anything against your brother, even if you come to the altar, you leave your gift at the altar and you go be reconciled with your brother. Then come back.'

That's all something we are going to have to face. Let's take it another step further: How converted are we if we have hatred in one part of our mind and say we love God with another part of our mind? If that is true, then we have—what you would call—cognitive dissidence. You know what that is? Holding two opposite opinions as truth! That's what's wrong with the world.

You also hear it in the phrase 'unity through diversity'—correct? Yes, indeed! What did Jesus say to His disciples on the Passover night? You all know this by heart. He said, 'I am the Way—not a way; the Truth—not a truth, not divided opinions; and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'

Just this last thing I'll mention concerning this: concerning the problems in the world: you cannot solve spiritual problems by political means! Okay? Have you ever found a totally honest politician anywhere? The truth is, God has called us to solve the problems of the world. But we must first solve our own problems through Christ. He's there

• with His Spirit
• with His love
• with His Word
• with His mercy
• with His grace

That's what we need to use.

(break for offering)

That was a very fitting song, I'll Walk With God, because the Feast of Unleavened Bread has to do with the exodus. For the children of Israel, they were coming out of physical Egypt. For us, we're coming out of spiritual Egypt and there are a lot of things that we need to learn.

Let's go to Matthew 13. How many have kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread 40 years? How many 50 years? I was baptized in 1960, so I'm 51 years. How many are keeping it for the first time?

Here in Matthew 13:52 is something what Jesus said concerning the Word of God, concerning teaching. The Word of God is inspired by the eternal mind of God. As Paul wrote, 'All Scripture is God-breathed'—all means each and every one. There are certain key words you can key into. All of those revolve around three words. Remember what they are? Obey My voice!

• Do we have the voice of God recorded in the Book of the Law? Yes, we do!

The Lord spoke to Moses and Moses said to the children of Israel.

• Do we have recorded the history of God talking to Joshua? Yes, we do!
• Dealing with the children of Israel and the Judges? Yes, we do!
• 1-2-Samuel? Yes we do!
• 1-2-King, the history? Yes, we do!
• Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, all the Minor Prophets? Yes, we do!
• Do we have the response of conversion back to God through the Psalms and teaching of God's way through the Psalms back to us? Yes, we do!

All of these things are God-breathed.

It's interesting: the Bible is divided into seven parts. The middle of the Bible is the Gospels and Acts. That's the fourth division. Jesus began His ministry on the fourth day of the week and He ended His ministry on the fourth day of the week. The Gospels—the teachings of Christ—are in the fourth division of the Bible, which is the transition between the Old and New Testament. Which also then becomes the New Testament Pentateuch.

You have the five books of Moses. You have the five books of the Gospels. One book of the Book of Moses was the book of Numbers recording the travels. The book of Acts records the beginning of the preaching of the Gospels. The Bible all ties together so fantastically. Then you have all the epistles of the apostles coming after that—the General Epistles, then you have the epistles of the Apostle Paul. All of those things all fit together.

So therefore, the Word of God is layered with meaning. It just kind of keeps expanding. Never contradicting, never leading off into heresy. If you have any speculation or anything, remember the cowbell [Fred rings for speculation]. That'll keep you out of trouble.

Matthew 13:52: "Then He said to them, 'Therefore, every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of Heaven...'" That's what we are, we're scribes; scribes are teachers. Wouldn't it be nice if we didn't have exalted men going around saying they're thus and such. No, Jesus called Himself a Teacher. Why don't we just, all who are ministers be teachers and elders, that's it. Exaltation doesn't come because of human proclamation. Exaltation comes at the resurrection and eternal life.

"'...is like a man whois a householder, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old'" (v 52). We're going to cover some new things; we're going to cover some old things. We're going to cover some old things and apply them to new things.

Let's come to 1-Corinthians 10 because here is something very important for us to realize concerning the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Today the Church is more like the Church at Corinth than anything else you can imagine. So yes, there are many lessons for us to learn.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread pictures what God is doing to us and for us and our response back to God. He wants us to understand that He is rescuing us from sin and Satan and the world. We can't rescue ourselves. We all have to come to the point of repentance and crying out to God, 'Oh, Lord, save me.'

That's what the children of Israel did. He says in 1-Corinthians 10:1: "Now I do not wish you to be ignorant of this, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea. And all were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea" (vs 1-2). Now we'll go back to Exo. 14 a little later here and we'll cover part of that.

Verse 3: "And they all ate the same spiritual meat.… [But they didn't understand it. We're to understand it. That's why God gives us the Holy Spirit.] ...And they all drank of the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them. And that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not pleased..." (vs 3-5).

As we go through these things, let's ask: Do we do the things that please God or not, beginning with our thoughts? This is why we have the series, The Washing of the Water by the Word, to have our mind cleansed.

"...for their dead bodies were strewn in the wilderness. Now these things became examples.. [the Greek there is 'topos' which means types] ...for us, so that we might not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be idolaters..." (vs 5-7). Where does idolatry begin? Begins in the mind!

Just put in your notes there, Ezek. 14. God told Ezekiel, 'Some of the elders of Israel are coming to you and you tell them this, that every man has his idols in his mind and I will not be inquired of them.' That's just like the way of the world. They have everything they want and they expect all the blessings of God. Idols in our mind can be all the thoughts of the flesh.

"...as were some of them; as it is written, 'The people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.' Neither should we commit sexual immorality... [living in this world of Sodom and Gomorrah it's everywhere] ...as some of them committed, and twenty-three thousand were destroyed in one day. Neither should we tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted Him, and were killed by serpents" (vs 7-9).

As we are reading this, I want you to think—because most of us have been 40 years or more with keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread—about some things that we need to understand. Everything that we thought was permanent is gone, that is in the Church—right? I'll just name the locations: Pasadena, Big Sandy, Bricket Wood; the name of the Church. Is that not similar to what they went through here? Only in a little different way? Yes, indeed!

Verse 10: "Neither should we complain against God, as some of them also complained and were killed by the destroyer. Now, all these things happened to them as examples, and were written for our admonition on whom the ends of the ages are coming. Therefore, let the one who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall. No temptation has come upon you except what is common to mankind. For God, Who is faithful, will not permit you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear; but with the temptation, He will make a way of escape, so that you may be able to bear it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry" (vs 10-14). So, he says twice there about idols.

Let's come back to Exodus 14 because there are some lessons here. The lessons we're going to learn are:

• God is our Helper
• God is our Savior
• God is the one Who is leading us
• God is the one Who is given His Holy Spirit
• God has given His Word, which is the Truth of God
• We all need to come to God on His terms through Jesus Christ

God did not take the children of Israel the way that was the easiest. There was the highway out of Egypt—went from west toward the east. You know how the Gaza Strip is, there was the highway called the Way of the Philistines. That went right along the coast, nice and flat, nice sea breeze every day, easy travel. But God didn't take them that way.

They came to the junction for the way toward the Red Sea. He took them down along the coast of Egypt, along the Red Sea, and across was the Sinai Peninsula. Now, with that many people, you know that that was a long, long column. In estimating the time of their travel, they would go about a mile and a half an hour, because they would be considered refugees. Here they came to Baal Zephon and word got back to Pharaoh that they are trapped alongside the Red Sea. He got all of his troops ready to go, whichever ones were still there. He got all the chariots. He got all of the horsemen and they came after them. God had a purpose.

Remember this, always remember this as we go through: whenever things don't work exactly the way you think they ought to work, God has another purpose in mind and will work it out His way if you yield to Him! If it's a difficult trial, you need to ask God for understanding. He won't withhold it from you. You may not learn the lesson right away. I know there are many things I've learned years after.

• Oh, God, help me. Yes, He helped me!
• Oh, God, what should I do? The message kept coming: Keep your nose in the Bible!

• What are we going to do?' I still ask God that every day.
• What do we do, God?
• How do you want us to do the things? Lead us and show us.

Pray about different things:

• God, lead me, show me, help me.
• Open my mind.
• Help me to see and understand the things that I need to see and understand.

When God exposes a sin in your mind, He does that so you can repent of it, because it's still lodged there somewhere back in the back of your mind. He wants you to get rid of it. This is a continual lifetime process. Also remember this: as long as you are in the flesh, with God's Spirit, you can be in the process of being perfected! But you will not be perfect until the resurrection! Always keep that in mind. In between, you can do the things that please God. If you love Him, if you love the brethren, if you are overcoming your problems, you are looking to Him for help, He'll be there!

Here comes Pharaoh. God's going to take care of him. Sometimes God has a plan that's greater than what we think. He says that He would be glorified through Pharaoh and his army, so they came.

Exodus 14:9: "So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army. And they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi Hi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon. And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes! And, behold, the Egyptians marched after them. And they were very afraid. And the children of Israel cried out to the LORD. "And they said to Moses..." (vs 9-11).

As we go through this, I want you to think about your reactions to different things in your life and how you may be looking to things and other people to accuse instead of accepting your own responsibility. Also, they just saw all the plagues in Egypt—didn't they? They were able to understand that all the firstborn in the land of Egypt were killed and only God could rescue them out of that. Here they are, six days later. Here comes Pharaoh and his armies. What they should have done: should have gone to Moses and say, 'Moses, we know that God can call down plagues upon Pharaoh. We saw it while we were in Egypt. Look! They're coming. We'll all go to our tents and pray.' No, they didn't do that!

Verse 11: "And they said to Moses, 'Have you taken us away to die in the wilderness because there were no graves in Egypt? Why have you dealt this way with us to carry us forth out of Egypt? Did we not tell you this word in Egypt, saying, "Let us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians?" for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness'" (vs 11-12). When you look just to the circumstances, they can look really, really bad.

Verse 13: "And Moses said to the people... [this is the theme for this Holy Day.] ...'Fear not!.… [Don't be afraid! Don't be fearful! Cast all your troubles upon the Lord. He will deliver you from all your fears!] ...Stand still... [We're going to see even Paul mentioned that four times.] ...Stand still and see the salvation of the LORD which He will work for you today... [God's solution was entirely different] ...for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall never see them again! The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall be still'" (vs 13-14).

• God is going to fight for us
• Christ is going to fight for us
• the angels of God are going to fight for us.

The time may come when we have to give our lives. Many of us thought we'd be in the Kingdom of God by now, but I think many of us who thought that we're going to be in the Kingdom of God after we're resurrected from the grave. We have to be faithful to the end—is that not right? Yes, indeed!

Verse 14: "'The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall be still.' And the LORD said to Moses, 'Why do you cry to Me? Speak to the children of Israel that they go forward'" (vs 14-15). That's the whole key of this day. Regardless of the circumstances, regardless of the trials and difficulties, regardless of what you are going through, go forward! Don't go back, go forward!

Then He told Moses, v 16: "'And you—lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And behold, I am about to harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. And I will get honor for Myself upon Pharaoh, and over all his army, over his chariots and over his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD when I will be glorified through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen'" (vs 16-18).
Then God intervened to perform a miracle. He sent the cloud that was leading the children of Israel to become a wall between the Egyptians and the children of Israel. It was darkness to the Egyptians and it was light to the children of Israel. That was getting toward sundown. Moses raised his rod and the Red Sea divided.

Every year at this time they play the movie, The Ten Commandments, and you see crossing the Red Sea a very narrow little way. That would have taken a minimum of 19 hours if they went with 1.3-million or more people going in just a very narrow column through a very narrow path in the Red Sea. What God did: He opened the Red Sea, approximately however long the column of the children of Israel were, because they came down there and they couldn't spread out in a camp. They were all in a column, that's how they got there. So the wind came, blew back the water, dried out the ground, and then in the morning watch which is just before sunrise, they all went across and got to the other side.

You could not do that in that short period of time if they were just a narrow column The whole column did what you call in military marching a 'flanking movement.' They all got there. Then the cloud lifted back over toward the children of Israel and the Egyptians who were really ready for a fight, they said, 'Look! They're on the other side. Look! It's dry ground. Let's go after them.' So they went in there and when they got in the middle of it

God sent the angels, took off the wheels, made it all muddy and mucky. Then they heard the sound of rushing water coming from both sides, took care of them.

• God fought for them
• God worked out the circumstances
• God took care of them the way that only He can do it.

Same way with all the difficulties that we find ourselves in! You have to lay it before the Lord. You have to tell Him, 'God, I don't know what to do. Give me wisdom and understanding what to do. Please work the circumstances out.' God will eventually do it. Sometimes it will take years, but God will do it.

So, they got across and then Miriam and all the women they had their dances with timbrels and drums and, 'The Lord is a Warrior, the Lord is our Hero, the Lord is the one Who fights our battles for us.' Then three days later they were complaining because they didn't have water and the waters at Marah were bitter. So you see how fickle human nature is.
Let's come here to Psalm 50. We're going to look in the Psalms because these are a lot of prayers of David relating to his life and our lives. We can take these Psalms and we can use them as our words to begin our prayers to God. This is quite a Psalm. We will see how this applies to us today. Same thing from Exo. 14.

Psalm 50:1: "The mighty God, God, the LORD, has spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun to its going down. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shined forth. Our God shall come, and He shall not keep silent; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous all around Him" (vs 1-3). That's what it's going to be like with the return of Christ.

Verse 4: "He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, so that He may judge His people.... [the  resurrection]: ...'Gather My saints unto Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice'…. [What is our covenant sacrifice? Baptism!] …And the heavens shall declare His righteousness, for God Himself is judge. Selah." (vs 4-6). When you have Selah that always means stop and think and meditate on this.

Remember this, v 15: "And call upon Me [the Lord] in the day of trouble; and I will deliver you, and you shall honor Me." Yes, God will deliver us! He will raise it up.

• Never forget: is Christ in you? Yes, He is!
• Is He going through the troubles with you? Yes, He is!

Sometimes you need to cry out to God this way, Psalm 61:1: "Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth I cry to You when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the Rock higher than me" (vs 1-2). Don't wait until the problems become overwhelming and then you don't pray. That's when you need to pray. How about if you're angry and a real carnal attitude? Get on your knees and say, 'God, forgive me. I've got a carnal attitude and I'm real angry. Help me.' He will!

Verse 3: "For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower against the enemy. I will dwell in Your tabernacle forever..." Notice what happens here; notice the sequence of these verses; notice the change in attitude. What did he do? He went from

• his problems that were overwhelming (v 2)

to

• putting his mind upon God's shelter and protection (v 3)

to

• to the ultimate purpose of why you're called (v 4): "I will dwell in Your tabernacle forever..."

Isn't that something? We're going to see by the grace of God we have all the power necessary

• to overcome
• to fight our battles
• to God coming against our enemies
• to doing the things that please Him

"...I will take refuge in the hiding place of Your wings. Selah" (v 4). Isn't that interesting? "…hiding place of Your wings." Just like little chicks. What did Jesus say? After He denounced all the scribes and Pharisees, He says, 'Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. How often would I have gathered you like a mother hen gathers her chicks, but you would not. Now your day has come.' We need to come under the wings of His protection.

The world can't see that protection. It's just like standing in a shadow. You can stand in a shadow, but as you're standing there and someone looks at you from afar off, they can't see the shadow. They can see you. They may be able to tell the difference that the sun is brighter over here than where you are. But you can't reach out and grab a shadow. Remember as a kid when you first discovered your shadow? You thought you could run away from it faster and it would go away? But every time you moved, it moved. The shadow that is cast, you can't see the substance of the shadow.

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Psalm 91 becomes a very important Psalm because it tells us about God's love and relationship to us, His protection for us. Notice the difference in the attitude compared to Exo. 14.

Psalm 91:1: "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High... [That's us! We dwell in the secret place of the Most High. We have God's Spirit—don't we? God has called us. He's given us His Word. Does the world know that? No, it's a secret to them!] ...shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty….. [He is watching out for us.] …I will say of the LORD, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Whom I will trust.' Surely He will deliver you from the fowler's trap and from the destroying pestilence" (vs 1-3). God is going to be there to intervene, to help. We pray to God, ask Him to do so.

Verse 4: "He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge. His Truth shall be your shield and buckler." That's why we always are looking for the Truth. This is why we're not to let our carnal minds deceitfully lead us in the wrong way. Satan is there also, as the prince of the power of the air, to put in some thoughts. Remember, Satan likes to give what are 'good' thoughts, but it may not be from God. It may be from Satan. So, let "…His Truth be your shield and your buckler." Just put in your margin there: Eph. 6.

Verse 5: "You shall not be afraid... [Remember what Moses told the people, 'Don't be afraid.'] ...of the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flies by day." A lot of people ask, 'With the troubles that are coming around, should I arm myself to protect my family?' If you arm yourself, have some rubber bullets and have some rock salt, but you've got to trust in God! You can have all the ammunition you want, but unless God is going to trust you, you can kill as many people as come charging toward you, but unless God is going to protect you, all of that isn't going to do any good!

Verse 6: "Nor for the plague that walks in darkness, nor for the destruction laying waste at noonday." We're going to see all of that. Can you imagine what's going to happen when the economy collapses and lo, it will collapse. There is no way around it. What do you think they're going to do?

Verse 7: "A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand; it shall not come near you." What do you do? Instead of worrying and fretting about it, you get on your knees and you pray to God!

• Oh, God, send your angels, protect us!
• You promised!
• God, You're a God Who cannot lie!
• God, You're a God of Truth!
• God, Your Truth is our shield and buckler!

Just like You showed Elisha's servant When the armies were surrounding Samaria, his servant said, 'My lord, what shall we do?' Elisha said, 'There are more for us than there are against us.' The servant looked around, 'Where?' Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, 'Lord, open his eyes!' Then he could see all the angels and chariots—spiritual warfare, to take care of the physical warfare that was coming against them.

Remember, God is not way off some place. God is working within this earth every minute, every second of every day with His people, with the nations of the world, leading people to repentance, answering prayers of those who are seeking Him, etc. God is busy! His angels are spirits to serve those who are heirs of salvation, who are us! We can have that confidence.

Verse 8: "Only with your eyes you shall behold and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the LORD, Who is my refuge... [as David said] ...even the Most High, your habitation" (vs 8-9). Think about that for just a minute. Does not God the Father and Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, dwell in us? Yes! We are a habitation for the Holy Spirit of God.

Verse 10: "No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling, For He shall give His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways. They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone" (vs 10-12). There is also going to be a martyrdom. But what did Jesus say? He said the same thing, 'Fear not the one who can kill the body, but cannot kill the life!' The truth is: we're all one breath away from 'sayonara.'

Verse 13: "You shall tread upon the lion and asp; the young lion and the jackal you shall trample underfoot." When? When we come back to the earth with Christ and set up the Kingdom of God! And oh my, is that going to be a job, because we don't have a clue as to how much destruction and desolation is coming upon this earth. God is going to destroy all of Babylon the Great, which is the whole world's society.

The next time you get an opportunity to watch anything in documentaries of cities on television, you will notice all the cities are the same. It blew me away when I was watching a special on China. They have massive freeways. If you just put English signs up there, it would look like any place in America. It's all built on Babylon the Great, the great city. That's the whole system of the world.

The first thing that people do when they have troubles—it may be because you have some things to learn, maybe because you have some sins to repent of, it may be that it's going to be something that you're really going to learn from, undoubtedly—always remember this regardless of the circumstances:

Verse 14: "Because he has set his love upon Me... [That's referring to Christ. That's referring to us, because we're all part of the body of Christ—correct? Does God love us? Yes! That's why we're here. God loves us, we love God.] ...therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble... [Seeing you through it. If you're going through trouble and you have the Spirit of God in you, as I said, God is in you also experiencing the trouble.] ...I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him, and honor him. With long life... [Our life is going to be long. Is eternal long enough?] ...I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation" (vs 14-16).

Psalm 62 helps us to understand how we need to look to God in everything. Here's what we need to realize. I know you have done this; I have done it. How many times have we done things that we think is the solution to a problem without consulting God?

Remember what happened with the Gideonites. They knew the Israelites were going to come and destroy them so they got all their old ragged clothes and they escaped and went north, then came back and came to Joshua and the armies and they said, 'Where are you from?' Oh, we're from a far country, my lord! 'What do we do with them?' Oh, we're not your enemies! They conferred with each other and they didn't confer with God!

What happened? They became a snare! They made them hewers of wood and drawers of water. They did what was right in their own eyes as a solution without looking to the Word of God.

Psalm 62:1: "Only for God does my soul wait in silence; from Him comes my salvation. He only is my Rock and my salvation; He is my fortress; I shall not be greatly moved…. [Then he says, concerning himself, or concerning the enemy]: How long will you imagine mischief against a man? You shall be slain, all of you; you shall be like a bowing wall and as a tottering fence. They only consult to cast him down from his great height; they delight in lies; they bless with their mouth, but inwardly they curse" (vs 1-4). That's the way the world is.

But notice what our reaction has to be, v 5: "My soul, wait in silence for God alone; for from Him comes my hope. He only is my Rock and my salvation; He is my strong tower; I shall not be moved" (vs 5-6). If there is any one thing that needs to be really fixed in our minds, that's it right there: "…not be moved"—held fast there by love and strength and God's Spirit.

Here's how you do it, v 8: "Trust in Him... [whenever it gets difficult. No! it doesn't say that—does it?] (It says): ...Trust in Him at all times..." All the time! The world likes to have God when they're in trouble. Remember what happened with 9/11? Everybody go to church, everybody go to your synagogues, go to your mosque and pray to your God. Two weeks later they forgot all about it. They were singing, God Bless America, because they only did it part time.

Verse 8: "Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him... [Let God know everything, because He knows anyway. Cry out to Him.] ...God is a refuge for us. Selah."

You find yourself in difficulties, here's what you do, Psalm 59:1: "Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; defend me from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from the workers of evil and save me from bloody men. For behold, they lie in wait for my soul; the mighty are gathered against me—not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O LORD. Without my fault they run and prepare themselves; awaken to help me, and look upon me.... [That's quite a prayer—isn't it? Trusting in God. Christ is the One Who is going to come in all power.] ...And You therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to punish all the nations; show no mercy to any wicked traitors. Selah" (vs 4-5). Yes, God is going to be right there and help us in everything that we do.

Even the circumstances may get very, very difficult. This is why we have the Psalms. The Psalms contain the heart of David and Asaph and the chief musician, and so forth and it encompasses every experience in life that we will all be faced with. That's why we need to go to the Word of God constantly.

Here's what we need to do, Psalm 11:1: "In the LORD I have taken refuge; how then can you say to me, 'Flee like bird to your mountain'? For lo, the wicked bend their bow; they make ready their arrow on the string, so that they may secretly shoot at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (vs 1-3). We've seen that—haven't we? What do you do? You stay with God! We're going to see

• you have to stand
• you have to be not afraid
• you have to trust in God

Here's why, and we'll see the power of this in a little bit, v 4: "The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD'S throne is in heaven... [He knows what is going on.] ...His eyes behold; His searching gaze tests the children of men."

• He's got His angels watching—doesn't He?
• The demons are working—aren't they?
• Christ is working—isn't He? Yes, He is!

There are the seven Spirits of God going to and fro through all the earth, all there.

Verse 5: "The LORD tries the righteous, but His soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. Upon the wicked He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone; and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.... [read Rev. 16, seven last plagues] ...For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; the upright will behold His face" (vs 5-7). We're going to see Him face-to-face.

Sometimes you need to pray this. The first word when you get on your knees is HELP! Psalm 12:1: "Help, O LORD, for the godly man ceases... [the way this society is going to go] ...for the faithful disappear from among the children of men." Think about that concerning the Church. Remember there was a time when the income reached $200-million in one year? $200-million in one year! They had 125,000 attending the Feast of Tabernacles. Where have they gone? What has happened to them? We can pray that God will restore them and bring them back. We can pray that they will come to themselves in their difficulties and their problems.

Just like the prodigal son, out there feeding swine. Finally came to his senses. You have to sink deep in mud and manure and smell and squealing hogs. You're not allowed to even eat what they're being fed. You come to yourself. Let's hope all those people that were there will come to themselves. The difficulties and problems that are coming on the world, let's hope and pray that that will help them come to themselves. Then we need to be ready to help them. You may get a phone call one day saying, 'Hello, remember me? I'm so-and-so. Where do you go to church now? My life is a wreck, I need to find God.' You can help them.

We'll see what we need to fight against and how God will be there with the power of Christ to help us. Also, if you come to a time you say, 'I don't know what I should pray about.' You ever had that happen? Take your Bible and open it to the Psalms! Start reading it on your knees and let the words apply to you. You select what you're going to read and then you can start praying and let these words become your words. Pretty soon you're going to have a lot that you're going to be praying for. It's not just a matter of a list that you need that so you don't forget. It's a matter of the heart, matter of the mind, matter of the Spirit in praying to God. Like it is right here:

Psalm 54:1: "Save me, O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your might. Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth, For strangers have risen up against me, and violent men seek after my soul; they have not set God before them. Selah" (vs 1-3)—think on this!

Verse 5: "He shall reward evil to my enemies. Destroy them in Your faithfulness. I will freely sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O LORD, for it is good. For He has delivered me out of all trouble... [Not some of it, not part of it, but all trouble.] ...and my eye has seen its desire upon my enemies" (vs 5-7). That you will see, too. God will take care of the enemy. Don't worry about those who are against you. Pray for them. How do you pray for an enemy?

• You pray that they may be converted, like Saul who became the Apostle Paul
• You can pray that they will forget you and go someplace else
• You can ask God to deal with them in His terms
• You can ask God to destroy them

There are many different ways to pray for the enemy.

Let's come back to Ephesians 6 and let's see the archenemy that we are dealing with. We have the best and the worst. We have the whole Word of God. Because we're living in the end-time we can understand many things about the end-time. That's the best. We're living in the worst, because Satan is deceiving the whole world and we're inexorably marching toward a one-world government, a one-world economic system, and a one-world religion. We have the best and we have the worst. And all of that you have God and Christ on one hand and you have Satan and the world on the other hand.

The book of Ephesians is really something. Let's just do a real quick survey:

• Eph. 1 tells us about the blessing of God and our relationship with Him
• Eph. 2 tells us that we have been rescued by grace from the prince of the power of the air
• Eph. 3 tells us the glory that God is going to give us
• Eph. 4 tells us how we grow and overcome
• Eph. 5 tells us how we are to walk in the Truth and God's ways
• Eph. 6 tells us how to overcome the wicked one

Ephesians 6:10: "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord... [Sound a little bit like Ex. 14? Yes, indeed! Sound a little bit like some of the Psalms that we have read? Yes, indeed!] ...be strong in the Lord..." If you feel discouraged and down, go to God. Tell God,

• I'm discouraged and down!
• Help me to be strong in You!
• Help me to rely upon You!
• Fill me with Your Spirit!
• Grant me understanding!
• Lead me in the way I need to go!

"...be strong in the Lord, and in the might of His strength.... [the real enemy is always there] ...Put on the whole armor of God... [don't go out half dressed] ...so that you may be able to (1)stand... [Notice how this ties in with what we've covered: be strong, stand]: ...against the wiles of the devil" (vs 10-11). He's got a lot of very sneaky things to do.

Just think about it for a minute. Why is the world so deceived, yet claims to be Christian? What is the one central thing that Satan likes to come after to get you to be removed—step-by-step from God? What is the one most important central thing? The Passover! Look at what has happened in the Churches of God. That's why we have The Christian Passover book.

Look what has happened to the Jews. They are in the Diaspora and they have rejected Christ. They can't keep a 14th Passover because of that and they think that their 15th Passover is the command of God. No!It is the rejection of God! Let's go with the Seventh Day Adventists. They take communion the first Sabbath of every quarter. Where's chapter/verse? Have they been misled? Have they been infiltrated by the enemy? Take it one step further—Jehovah Witnesses. Only the 144,000 can take it and no one knows who they are. Take it one step further—the Protestants. Have communion every Sunday, always with grape juice, never with wine. Maybe some places a little bit.

How about the Catholics? They have the Sacrifice of the Mass hourly at some of the temples in the big cities. They never break the bread, they give you a round wafer. How do they read the Scripture, break the bread and give you a round wafer, with an idol stamped right on it?

All of that comes from Satan the devil. He would like to move you away from the Truth incrementally! It's like leaven, a little leaven—incrementally—leavens the whole lump. That's whatever could be. If he can't you on the Passover, 'Oh, did you know there's the lunar/Sabbath calendar'? Really! Then everything gets mixed up. Whatever it may be. We have to stand against the wiles of the devil. This is why you have to know that you know that you know that you know.

Verse 12: "Because we are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities and against powers, against the world rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual power of wickedness in high places" (v 12). Every capital city of the world, every regional capital of every country in the world. Every capital of every state in America. Every county! Every city! They enact lawless acts and have laws on the books that are contrary to the laws of God. When you have lawlessness enforced as law, then real oppression can come.

Verse 13: "Therefore, take up the whole armor of God so that you may be able to resist in the evil day... [Every day has enough evil in it. Jesus said, 'Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.'] ...and having worked out all things, to (2)stand.(3)Stand therefore... [3 times] ...having your loins girded about with Truth... [just like putting on the armor, Word of God] ...and wearing the breastplate of righteousness…. [that you're not going to get involved in sin] …And having your feet shod with the preparation of peace.... [always walking in the way that Christ teaches us] ...Besides all these, take up the shield of the faith, with which you will have the power to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one; And put on the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit... [be led by the Spirit of God, not your carnal nature] ...which is the Word of God" (vs 13-17). That's manifested in two ways:

• Christ
• written Word of God

As I've mentioned before, we've got the whole Bible, brethren. What a blessing that is. How many have seen the video clip, Israel of the Alps? Think about living in those days. Think about how we have everything to become the most zealous, the most learned, the most faithful, the most righteous of any of the people of God down through history, because we have all the tools available—correct? Yes, indeed! We need to use them.

• We need to study
• We need to pray
• We need to love God
• We need to overcome
• When we have our trials we need to ask God to help us.

Verse 18: "Praying at all times with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and in this very thing being watchful with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints."

Here's a promise to claim. This is the theme of this last day:

• The Lord is my Helper
• The Lord is my Savior

Hebrews 13:5: "Do not allow the love of money to influence your behavior, but be satisfied with what you have; for He has said..." Here's the promise. When you feel down and discouraged and you're really fighting a problem, claim the promises of God.

I know every time I send out an anointed cloth, and every time I pray for anyone who I'm anointing personally, I always claim the promises of Christ. He said, 'I give you power'—that is Greek 'dunamis'—and authority over every sickness and every disease and every bodily weakness and over the power of the enemy.' It's not what I do, it's what Christ has promised and God and Christ cannot and will not lie. When you get really down—have you ever felt like you're clear down in the bottom of a barrel some place or at the end of a tunnel and it's just kind of, 'Help!' We'll all get to that point because that's when we really turn to God. So remember this promise.

"...for He has said, 'In no way will I ever leave you; no—I will never forsake you in any way... [analyze that verse, what He said] ...'In no way... [Christ isn't going to leave you. Don't think about leaving Him.] ...In no way will I ever leave you; no—I will never forsake you in any way'" (v 5). This is a triple-negative guarantee that He will not, not,not leave you or forsake you or let you be alone. In no way, in any way! That's pretty powerful—isn't it?

We know that through Christ we have entrance into the Holy of Holies—don't we? Our prayers come right up before God—don't they? Yes, they do! That's why we pray. Rev. 4—here is a scene of the throne of God in heaven. I want you to think about this when you pray that your prayers comes right before God the Father. What is the first thing that Jesus said when He gave us the model prayer? He said, 'Pray after this manner: Our Father...' First thing.

He told us in John 16 on the Passover night, 'I say to you, you pray to the Father for the Father Himself loves you.' Those are strong, fantastic words, very inspiring and uplifting. The Sovereign of the entire universe, through His grace and His love is dealing in your life individually and the life of all the saints wherever they are.

John was given this vision, Revelation 4:1: "After these things I looked, and behold, a door opened in heaven; and the first voice that I heard was as if a trumpet were speaking with me, saying, 'Come up here, and I will show you the things that must take place after these things.' And immediately I was in the Spirit... [this is the vision.] ...and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one was sitting on the throne. And He Who was sitting was in appearance like a jasper stone and a sardius stone; and a rainbow was around the throne, like an emerald in its appearance" (vs 12-3). Awesome! Beautiful! Glorious!

Remember, this is what God is going to share with us. When we see God the Father face-to-face we are going to His very throne, personally. We will look Him right in the eyes!

Verse 4: "And around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments; and they had on their heads golden crowns. And proceeding from the throne were lightnings and thunders and voices; and seven lamps of fire, which are the seven Spirits of God, were burning before the throne" (vs 4-5). God is there in all power, all might—the power and might and the energy that created the heavens; that created the earth; that created you.

Isn't it interesting that in the book of Job it says, Elihu talking to Job, he says, 'The Spirit of God has formed me.' He said in another verse, 'The hand of God has made me.' Carried right down from Adam. Did not God form the genes and chromosomes of Adam? and in Eve? What do you have? That which God formed with His own hands—is that not true? He formed Adam; he formed Eve. We're all the children of Adam and Eve—correct? God—even in what looks like something that is distant and far off—is directly involved in what is going on. Just keep that in mind here with the throne.

Verse 6: "And before the throne was a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne and over the throne were four living creates, full of eyes before and behind….

Then it describes them, v 8: "…'Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was, and Who is, and Who is to come.' And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanksgiving to Him Who sits on the throne, Who lives into the ages of eternity, The twenty-four elders fall down before Him Who sits on the throne; and they worship Him Who lives into the ages of eternity, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 'Worthy are You, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power because You did create all things, and for Your will they were created and exist'" (vs 8-11).

What is the workmanship that God is doing in you, right today? In you He is forming the character of Christ! We are His workmanship created unto good works with a great and a glorious future! That's why we have the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of God, so we can get our minds looking to God.

• We understand what He's doing
• We understand His purpose
• We understand where we're going

And God is involved directly with each and every one of us along with Christ Jesus.

Here's a description of Jesus. Revelation 5:5: "Then one of the elders said to me, 'Do not weep... [he was weeping because no one could open the seven seals] ...Behold, the Lion Who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome to open the book, and to loose its seven seals.'…. [Christ as the Warrior and King] …Then I saw, and behold, before the throne and four living creatures, and before the elders, was standing a Lamb as having been slain... [That day, that very day of Passover was selected from the foundation of the world. And here it is completed.] ...having seven horns... [The seven churches right in His head. Is He the Head of the Church? Yes, indeed!] ...and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God that are sent into all the earth. And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him Who sits on the throne. And when He took the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having harps and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints" (vs 5-8). Coming right up to God.

When your prayers go to God, they go right there. You can be thankful the Spirit does editing for us. It edits out all the garbage of whatever shouldn't go to God and takes the essence of our thoughts and our mind to God.

Verse 9: "And they sang a new song... [This is a song referring to us, because this is a song we're going to sing.] ...saying, 'Worthy are You to take the book, and to open its seals because You were slain, and did redeem us to God by Your own blood, out of every tribe and language and people and nation. And did make us unto our God kings, and priests; and we shall reign on the earth'" (vs 9-10). When you pray and you say, 'Our Father in heaven above,' this is where it's going.

Verse 11: "And I saw and I heard the voices of many angels around the throne... [All being dispatched to help the saints carry out the will of God, raise up this nation, take down that nation, fulfill prophecy.] ...and the voices of the living creatures and the elders, and thousands of thousands… [amazing power, amazing work that is going on] …saying with a loud voice... [Think about this when we pray in Jesus' name, when we pray to the Father, He has given us this direct access.] ...Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory and blessing'" (vs 11-12).

I'll tell you one way to really get out of a deep funk. You get The Messiah by Handel, you get that with the best chorus that there is and you play that. You play this section where they are singing. This is the finality of it. 'Worthy is the Lamb.'

Verse 13: "And every creature that is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and those that are on the sea, and all the things in them, I heard saying, 'To Him Who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing, and honor and glory, and sovereignty into the ages of eternity.'"

God has a plan for us. Just like the children of Israel had to get out of Egypt and come to the other side of the Red Sea, we have to get out of this physical life and come to the other side at the resurrection and be the spirit sons and daughters of God the Father and Jesus Christ.

Verse 14: "And the four living creatures said, 'Amen... [Isn't that nice to know that they 'amen' our prayers, as well?] ...And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him Who lives into the ages of eternity."

So, brethren, think what it's going to be like. Forget all the troubles, forget all the difficulties; set that aside. What is it going to be like to be raised from the dead, be on the Sea of Glass with all the saints? So, we're projecting forward to Pentecost, to see God the Father for the first time and everything that's going to take place.

I don't know how God is going to do it, but He's going to give every one of us a new name. We're going to look enough like what we are, because that's the substance God is going to use but transform. But we're all going to be glorious spirit beings, truly absolutely unleavened!

So just remember, the battle is worth the fight and let Christ fight for you.

Scriptural References:

• Matthew 13:52
• 1-Corinthians 10:1-14
• Exodus 14:9-18
• Psalm 50:1-6, 15
• Psalm 61:1-4
• Psalm 91:1-16
• Psalm 62:1-8
• Psalm 59:1-5
• Psalm 11:1-7
• Psalm 12:1
• Psalm 54:1-3, 5-7
• Ephesians 6:10-18
• Hebrews 13:5
• Revelation 4:1-6, 8-11
• Revelation 5:5-14

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Deuteronomy 16:16
• Malachi 3
• Ezekiel 14
• Revelation 16
• Ephesians 1-5
• John 16

Also referenced:

Sermon Series:

• God's Grace and Commandment-Keeping
• The Washing of the Water by the Word

Book: The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter

DVD: The Israel of the Alps (by the Seventh Day Adventist Church)

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 4-30-12
Formatted: bo—5/1/12

Copyright 2012—All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner. This includes electronic and mechanical photocopying or recording, as well as the use of information storage and retrieval systems.