The Lamb of God #1

Who Takes Away the Sin of the World #1

Fred R. Coulter—March 14, 2009

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Let's come to John, the first chapter, please; and we will see where it's recorded what John said concerning sin. It's very interesting. John 1:29: "On the next day, John sees Jesus coming to him, and he says, 'Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.'" Now notice, it's singular; doesn't say sins, although there are sins and it talks about forgiving our sins. But what is the meaning here? We 'all sin in Adam' as Paul wrote of in Romans 5. So the sin of the world goes clear back to Adam and that rests upon Satan the devil—does it not? Yes, indeed.

Now let's come down here to v 35: "On the next day, John was again standing there, and two of his disciples with him. And as he gazed upon Jesus walking, he said, 'Behold the Lamb of God!'" (vs 35-36). Now we're going to see that John gives us a great deal of insight concerning the meaning of the Passover and also the covenant of life, as I have covered recently. So this will be kind of an addition to the Covenant of Eternal Life.

Now back in Revelation 13, we find something else which relates to the plan of God in connection with the Passover. And as we have mentioned, and have been studying, the three most important things:

  • Sabbath, because that tells us Who God is.
  • Passover, because that's the covenant day for eternal life.
  • The Holy Days, because that tells us what God is doing.

And as you juxtaposition those with the way that professing Christianity is in the world, you have:

  • Sunday, is the day they worship on vs the Sabbath.
  • Lord's Supper, the Eucharist, or Sacrifice of the Mass, rather than the Passover.
  • Holidays of the world, rather than the Holy Days of God.

So you have the Truth of God on one hand, and the three counterfeits on the other hand, and the three counterfeits borrow a lot from the Bible to justify what they do; and God calls that stealing His words. That's how they miss the point. And we're soon‑‑because of the financial situation—going to learn what counterfeit money really is. It's called Federal Reserve Note in this country. So likewise, the world is going to learn that their counterfeit Christianity—and I'll have a lot more to say about this later on, which is coming in what they call the emergent church, which is a new brand of watered-down even from what the Protestants hand in their version of the Gospel.

So here in Revelation 13:8—it shows you the comparison right here in this one verse. "And all who dwell on the earth will worship him… [Now that's referring to the Beast.] …whose names have not been written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." And so God's plan was laid out even before the foundation of the world, as we read in another place. But He was slain from the foundation of the world, beginning with the first sin of Adam and Eve, and that's why we have then in Gen. 3:15 the first prophecy of the coming Messiah, who would be God Himself.

So that's quite a thing that we are looking at and what God is going to do. Now let's look a little bit concerning the Passover and we will go through some parts of the book of John, but let's look at the requirement for the spiritual Passover. Now we know the requirement for the physical Passover with the children of Israel was that every male had to circumcised. Now today, with Christ, there is a circumcision of the heart and mind. And that does something that no physical circumcision at eight days can accomplish, because God is interested in:

  • the conversion of the mind
  • building of the character of God
  • having us live within His grace.

So the first step to that is the circumcision of the heart. God does the calling; we have to do the answering.

Let's come to Colossians, the second chapter, please. Colossians 2 is very interesting. (We have several studies on that which if you don't have them, you can write in for them, or email us, or call the office, whichever you prefer). So I want to cover part of this here before we get into the actual things concerning the Passover, because there are so many counterfeits out there which are given to make people feel good. Paul writes, and he explains the contrast. If you read Colossians 2 with an A/B-A/B, you'll see there's a contrast all the way along, between what is now the false Christianity of the world and the Truth of what is in the Bible in the Word of God.

Colossians 2:1: "Now I want you to understand what great concern I have for you, and for those in Laodicea… [So this is also a message to the Laodicean age, which is an age in which we are living right now, by the way. So you can tie in Rev. 3:14-21.] …and as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love… [And that's the whole key of what the Passover is about—the love of God. Jesus is your friend and He laid He laid His life down for you and today we'll expand a little bit more on that.] …knit together in love unto all riches… [Now that's interesting, especially talking about the Laodiceans—correct? Because they said, 'We're rich and increased with goods.' So Paul is saying here 'unto all riches.' Which riches? Let's read it.] …of the full assurance of understanding, unto the knowledge of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ… [Because only those that God calls, who repent and are baptized, receive the Spirit of God, are able to receive the knowledge that comes from God about His mystery, or secret of God, His plan, what He is doing.] …in Whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (vs 1-3).

This becomes a very important thing, also in today's world, as it was back then, because they were faced with many false gods, many false saviors, as pagans, in which all the Colossians were. Today we're seeing a uniting of these again.

And just a little side bar, if we could on this. Every year when the Hindus have the feast of Douala, which celebrates their goddess of India. So this is important because people are searching in other religions to find how close is Christianity to these other religions, and let's all get along, and let's all go along, and let's all be nice. Now that sounds good. And it reminded me—I don't know how many saw Glenn Beck's thing on a Friday night? It reminded me of an Old Testament revival to get back to the nine truths and the twelve principles. One of them is to believe in God. It's all based on emotion and it's all based on intermingling of politics, which in the political world and the world out there, that's better than just rank evil that's going on as we see by so many people today. But that should not be confused with the Truth of the Word of God, because it's emotionally based and sounds good and everyone's together in numbers or gathering together; but it's necessarily an answer for what God is doing.

So you're not going to find the answer of God in the religions of the world. You may find some answers up to a certain point. So when you're evaluating these things, you have to ask the question: Do they really believe God? and do they really want to love God and obey Him? the way God says?

So this is what was confronting the Colossians here and so Paul was writing to them, letting them know, 'You don't need Zeus, you don't need Diana, you don't need Dewali, you don't need Buddha, you don't need Allah, you don't need the false Christ's of Protestantism—because their version of Christ is not the true One.

They should have had this primarily for the election. Verse 4: "Now this I say so that no one may deceive you by persuasive speech…. [Which if you want to relate it to the election, which is right off the teleprompter and sounds very, very good. It doesn't matter how eloquent a person is in speaking, it doesn't matter how their logic may be, because always remember this: all logic is not truth, but all Truth is logical.] …For though I am indeed absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, be walking in Him" (vs 4-6). And as we've reduced it down:

  • Stand in grace
  • Walk in faith
  • Believe in hope
  • Live in love

Verse 7 [transcriber's correction]: "Being rooted and built up… [That means you have to have belief that you have proved, you live by, that you understand, rooted in Christ. That also goes back to the parable of the sower where the seed is sowed, and remember the ones where they were in the stones, and then the shallow soil, and they didn't have root and they dried up.] …rooted and built up in Him, and being confirmed in the faith… [That means you're constantly confirming, and as Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, 'prove all things.'] …exactly as you were taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving."

Now let's understand another thing about Paul. He did not teach one gospel in one city, another gospel in another city, another gospel to another group of people. When you read the New Testament, some people go through and say, 'Oh, well, look at this. This is what he taught over here in Corinth, and this is what he taught over here in Rome, and this is what he taught in Colosse, and this is what he taught in Philippi. And they're all different, so we can pick and choose what we want.' Again, you have to add it all together.

Now then, v 8 is a warning—notice where he starts out here—all the things that come along, and then he comes to a warning: "Be on guard so that no one takes you captive through philosophy… [Now philosophy is a pagan religion. And guess who the Protestants follow in the philosophy of the trinity? So-called St. Augustine, who was an erstwhile Catholic. Philosophy! Now there are many philosophies of life.] …philosophy and vain deceit, according to the traditions of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ."
Now one of the biggest sins that men have is this: they like to tell God what to do. Meaning: 'Oh, God, we believe in this out of Your Word, and we believe in that out of Your Word, we believe the other thing out of Your Word, but this over here is a little harsh, and we really don't like that, so we're going to kind of put that on the shelf, God.' And you know basically which commandments those are. Today in this world, it's all of them, all ten.

Here's why, v 9: "For in Him [Christ] …dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him… [Christ! I want you to notice in everything that we are going to cover today in this study, everything points to Christ and not to the man; everything points to the Word of God, and not to traditions of men.] …you are complete in Him, Who is the Head of all principality… [There's nothing higher than Christ, except God the Father.] …and power… [And the principality and power refer to the spirit world and the civil governments and the religions of the world. We have the warning there and the encouragement comes right after the warning.] (Here's how you are complete in Him): …In Whom you have also been circumcised with the circumcision not made by hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ" (vs 9-11). How is that achieved? By repentance and baptism and receiving of the Holy Spirit of God. God does not give His Spirit to those who don't obey Him; and God does not have a shortcut to salvation—it is through Christ.

Now hold your place here and come to Romans 2. Here again is where he talks about circumcision of the flesh vs circumcision of the heart. And what is the circumcision of the heart to do? It's to take away the hostility of the carnal mind

  • toward God
  • toward Jesus Christ
  • toward the laws and commandments of God.

Now he's talking to the Jews here in Romans 2 and we have the Hebrews, Romans, and Galatians all on series. But here we want to cover the thing of circumcision. Romans 2:25 (1,147): "For on the one hand, circumcision profits if you are observing the law… [He's speaking to the Jews. What he says here is very grating to the Jews.] …on the other hand, if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision."

I want you to understand what Paul is saying here concerning this. The religion of Judaism relies all on tradition, and I might mention that Phil Neil is writing a new book, and where he's about half way done with it, that Judaism is not the law of Moses. He's got a tremendous chapter in there: how did the traditions all get started? The Jews don't understand it and Paul is telling them here: if they're transgressing the law, don't think that that is just necessarily breaking the Ten Commandments. But if they place their traditions on a higher level than the Word of God, they are transgressing God in the worst way, just like all traditions of religion, because they're replacing the Word of God with the ideas of men. So in effect, the Jews who copiously continue in physical circumcision today, are in fact in a state of spiritual uncircumcision, because of their traditions and their sins, like all other people.

Now v 26—you talk about pouring salt on the wound, pouring gasoline on the fire. "Therefore, if the uncircumcised… [in the flesh] …is keeping the requirements of the law [God's law] shall not his uncircumcision be reckoned for circumcision?…. [Now this is tantamount to overthrowing everything of Judaism, not the laws of God, because he says here, 'keeping the requirements of the law.'] …And shall not the uncircumcised, who by nature is fulfilling the law, judge you, who, with the letter and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law?" And that's almost worth a whole sermon in itself when you understand the depth of what he is talking about here.] (Then he makes it absolutely clear): …For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is external in the flesh; Rather, he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God" (vs 26-29). Now if you don't have the series we did in Galatians on the circumcision wars, I think you'll find that very interesting. So you can request that, too, we'll get that to you.

Now back here to Colossians, the second chapter. So the uncircumcised in the flesh, if they are circumcised in the heart, and serving and loving God, are acceptable with Him. Colossians 2:11: "In Whom you have also been circumcised with the circumcision not made by hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ… [Here's how it's done]: …having been buried with Him in baptism… [Which goes back to the sermon that I did on the Covenant of Eternal Life.] …by which you have also been raised with Him through the inner working of God, Who raised Him from the dead" (vs 11-12). And we are to walk in newness of life as Rom. 6 tells us.

Now vs 13-14 have been properly translated here, because the Protestants like to come along and say, 'See, the Ten Commandments were nailed to the cross.' When I read the account of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, it was Jesus and the sign which says, 'The King of the Jews.' No Ten Commandments were nailed there. Let's read vs 13-14: "For you, who were once dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has now made alive with Him, having forgiven all your trespasses…. [Now that's quite interesting—isn't it? Because literally in God's sight, if you have not had the circumcision of the heart and receive the Spirit of God, though you're living in the flesh, you are dead! That's why Jesus said to the man who said, 'Oh, let me go bury my father.' He said, 'Let the dead bury their dead.' There are a lot of things in the Bible that when you understand it and put it together, everything fits together and backs up all of it in a beautiful, beautiful way.] …made alive with Him, having forgiven all your trespasses. He has blotted out the note of debt against us… [And I have an explanation of that in the footnote there.] …with the decrees of our sins, which was contrary to us; and He has taken it away, having nailed it to the cross." So key: 'nailed to the cross' was the sin offering for all the sins of all mankind to be given to those who repent and are baptized—that's what was nailed to the cross!

And in doing this, v 15: "After stripping the principalities and the powers… [Because you read back there in Psa. 22 that bulls surrounded Him. Those were like Satan and the demons circling around the cross and the air, hideously laughing at Him because He was dying.] …He made a public spectacle of them, and has triumphed over them in it…. [That means through His death and then His resurrection. Satan's work will be finished in the time of God's plan as pictured by the Day of Atonement. So in these things then, v 16, very interesting verse, because the Protestants say this does away with clean and unclean meats, and it does away with festivals, it does away with the Hebrew calendar, and the Sabbath.] …Therefore, do not allow anyone to judge you… [Now when someone is judging you—what is this? They are looking at what you are doing and rendering a judgment in their minds about what you are doing, whether good or bad. So how can they judge you, if you're not doing it? How can they judge you, if you are not following the laws of God?] …in eating or in drinking, or with regard to a festival, or a new moon… [That's singular in the Greek, signifying the calendar calculations.] …or the Sabbaths…" (vs 15-16).

What happens when you meet a Protestant and you let them know that you keep the Sabbath and the Holy Days? They judge you immediately concerning that—don't they? Now would they judge you, if you said, 'Oh, I'm a good member of the local Baptist church down here in the corner.' Oh, well, welcome, brother, what are your Sunday services like? Oh, and you have a good Christmas tree out on the front lawn every year. There would be no judgment; there would be acceptance. And also judgment can be translated: to condemn you, "…in your eating and your drinking and with regard to a festival, or new moon, or the Sabbaths, which are a foreshadow of things that are coming… [Now the NIV translates it: 'the things that have come.' And that's exactly wrong, because this is a present-tense participle in the Greek right here. It's not complete.] …but the body of Christ" (vs 16-17). The body of Christ is the Church.

Now let's look how this relates to the Passover and the New Covenant. Let's realize something very, very important while we're coming back to John 13. The covenant for eternal life is what Jesus brought, and what we are to follow and what we are to do. But let's come back here and read something else in John 12:37 (pg 1,071): "Although He had done so many miracles in their presence, they did not believe in Him." Now why wouldn't they believe in Jesus after seeing the miracles? You would think with all those miracles that were done, the healing of the sick, especially right here, because in John 11 what happened? He raised Lazarus from the dead—right? And the Pharisees were all upset that He raised Him from the dead. Why would anyone be upset if someone was raised from the dead? Wouldn't you think that would be a miraculous thing? Why? Because He did not join them. The truth of the matter is, though Jesus came from the house of David, the tribe of Judah, He was not a Jew in the sense that Jews think of themselves as Jews. They understood when the Messiah was going to come, because remember when the wise men came to Jerusalem, and they visited Herod, they said they've come to find the one who was spoken of in the Bible. So what did he do? He called the priests and he called the scribes, and said, 'Where is the Messiah to be born?' In Bethlehem. So they knew a lot about it, but they would never believe Jesus, because He did not join them. Now had He joined them, they would have said, 'Oh, good.' But He didn't.

Verse 38: "So that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled who said, 'Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?' For this very reason they could not believe because again Isaiah said, 'He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts to that they would not see with their eyes and understand with their hearts, and be converted, and I would heal them'" (vs 38-40). Now that tells us an awful lot—doesn't it? This tells us something that is very important. Whenever we do not believe God, and reject Jesus, and reject His Word, and reject the Word of God, something happens mentally which is called blinding of the eyes and then hardening of the heart. Because as Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees here when they said, 'Why do you eat with sinners and harlots?' He said, 'I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.' And He also told them, 'John came preaching the Truth, but you didn't believe him. You didn't repent.' So this is why.

Verse 41: "Isaiah said these things when he saw His glory and spoke concerning Him. But even so, many among the rulers believed in Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him… [Politics first, always politics first. And let me tell you the worst kind of politics are religious politics.] …so that they would not be put out of the synagogue… [and lose their chief seats and lose their phylacteries and lose the praise of men.] …For they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God. Then Jesus called out… [I'm covering this so when we come to the things concerning the Passover, we need to understand how absolutely ironclad the words of God are concerning it.] …and said, 'The one who believes in Me does not believe in Me, but in Him Who sent Me. And the one who sees Me sees Him Who sent Me. I have come as a light into the world so that everyone who believes in Me may not remain in darkness. But if anyone hears My words… [And that's why we have them recorded here for us, because it's just the same as Jesus speaking.] …and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world'" (vs 41-47).

Later we find He's going to judge the world later. "'The one who rejects Me and does not receive My words has one who judges him; the Word… [Meaning the whole message.] …which I have spoken, that shall judge him in the last day…. [So we're going to see sooner or later every human being who has ever lived and died is going to have to confront Jesus.] (Here's why): For I have not spoken from Myself; but the Father, Who sent Me, gave Me commandment Himself, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment is eternal life. Therefore, whatever I speak… [Very important] …whatever I speak, I speak exactly as the Father has told Me'" ( 48-50).

So we need to stop and think about this for just a minute—right? Yes, because if you reject the words of Jesus, who are you rejecting in reality? God the Father, the Sovereign of the universe. Now that's something to contemplate—isn't it? Now then you can take that and expand it upon traditions that men add to the Bible, traditions deleting things from the Bible, wrong blasphemous translations of the Bible, etc. etc. You can put all of that together.

Now let's come to John 13, because we're going to cover something that is one of the very first things that when people begin apostatizing from the Truth, do.

  • They change things concerning the Passover, because it is the covenant renewal for us with Christ and God the Father.

So if you change it, and you go against the words of Christ and you do not do what He says, then you're taking a step away from Christ—Who we just read is the light of the world. Men do not like to come to God to have their deeds exposed as evil. Now this becomes really important as we go along. One of the first things they change with the Passover is what? Footwashing. 'Oh, well, we don't do that today. It's so humiliating to wash people's feet.' That's the point! That's the point of it! Now if you want to know more about footwashing, you can read it in the Passover book or The Day Jesus the Christ Died.

John 13:1: "Now before the Feast of the Passover, knowing that His time had come to depart from this world to the Father, Jesus, having loved His own who were in the world, loved them to the end…. [We're going to see that the covenant of eternal life is based upon love, that's the whole thing of it.] …And during supper… [Which is the correct translation.] …(the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, that he should betray Him), Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, Rose from supper and laid aside His garments; and after taking a towel, He secured it around Himself" (vs 1-4).

Now I want you to think about what the disciples were thinking of, these who became the apostles. What was going through their minds when they saw Jesus do this? Because, remember, just a few days before they had a great argument among themselves, and even again at the Passover, they were arguing who's going to be the greatest. And He said, 'The one who's going to be the greatest, is the one who's a servant of all.' The lowest, dirtiest job was to wash dirty, smelly, rotten feet. And He didn't do it like the pope does. The pope has twelve seminary students and they put them on a raised platform, and the pope comes along with a gold pitcher and pours out water in a gold basin, and so forth, and all the ceremony. I don't know how many of you have ever seen that, but when Easter time comes around this year, maybe they'll show that on television. So take a look at that; that's a counterfeit of the footwashing that we're going to cover here in John 13.

Verse 5: "Next, He poured water into a washing basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel which He had secured. Then He came to Simon Peter; and he said to Him, 'Lord, are You going to wash my feet?'…. ['Why are you doing this to me, this is the lowly, lowly, dirty job.'] …Jesus answered and said to him, 'What I am doing you do not understand now, but you shall know after these things.' Peter said to Him, 'You shall not wash my feet, not ever'…. [Now all of those who've given up on footwashing, I want you to stop and think for just a minute with what Jesus said, that follows.] …Jesus answered him, 'If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me'" (vs 5-8).

If you don't have a part with Christ, can you say that you're a Christian? Of course you can't; an impossibility! Now Peter didn't want that. "Simon Peter said to Him, 'Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head'…. [That's how much a part of Christ that he wanted to have. And of course, that's what the priest at the temple had to do, too, wash their hands and feet.] …Jesus said to him, 'The one who has been washed… [Which when you read the Passover book and The Day That Jesus the Christ Died, refers to baptism.] …The one who has been washed does not need to wash anything other than the feet, but is completely clean; but you are clean, but not all.' For He knew the one who was betraying Him; this was the reason He said, 'Not all of you are clean' Therefore, when He had washed their feet, and had taken His garments, and had sat down again, He said to them, 'Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me the Teacher and the Lord, and you speak rightly, because I am…. [And also God manifested in the flesh.] …Therefore, if I, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also are duty-bound to wash one another's feet'" (vs 9-14).

No getting around it. Again, if you reject the words of Jesus, are you following Him? Of course not! You're duty-bound! Now I don't know how you can say something that you're duty-bound to do, you don't have to do. Let's use a modern-day example a little different. Let's forget about Obama's rescue plan and you decide you're not duty-bound to make your mortgage payments. Are you going to live in your house very long? Notice what else here: you're duty-bound and v 15: "For I have given you an example, to show that you also should do exactly as I have done to you." Now there's some good lessons for us here.

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Let's continue on in John 13:13—now here's a tremendous lesson, after He said in: "'You Call Me the Teacher and the Lord… [Not a servant of the house] …and you speak rightly, because I am. Therefore, if I, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also are duty-bound to wash one another's feet; for I have given you an example, to show that you also should do exactly as I have done to you…. [Here is the lesson.] …Truly, truly [in Truth] I tell you, a servant is not greater than his lord, nor a messenger greater than he who sent him'" (vs 13-16). Now especially for the apostles, this is important to understand, and also for all elders and ministers today, which is this: If you add or take away from the Word of God, you are making yourself greater than your Lord and God the Father. That's the basic lesson that is there, and yet so many get all lifted up. They want authority, they want power, they want all of these sort of things, and when they do they have lost the whole lesson of footwashing.

Verse 17: "'If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.'" Which if you take it the opposite way, if you don't do them, you don't have a blessing—correct? Yes!

Now let's look at the words concerning the bread and wine. Let's come to Matthew 26 and we'll look first at the account here and then we'll go to Mark and Luke. Matthew 26:26 (pg 990): "And as they were eating, Jesus took the bread and blessed it; then He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, 'Take eat; this is My body.'…. [Now there was a prophecy of this back in Psa. 34 which says, 'Taste and see that the Lord is good,' meaning that you literally use the Word of God for your food. This has more to do with it, more than that. 'Take eat, this is My body'—the sacrifice of the New Covenant which was coming.] …And He took the cup; and after giving thanks, He gave it to them, saying, 'All of you drink of it; for this is My blood, the blood of the New Covenant… [In talking in terms of covenant, they understood what a covenant was, and that there had to be blood to seal the covenant. Which also tells us this: no other sacrifice, no other blood, nothing but the blood of Christ will suffice.] …which is poured out for many for the remission of sins'" (vs 26-28). So it takes the blood of Jesus Christ to do away with our sins, so you can just put in your margin there Rom. 3; talks all about that and shows the operation of justification.

Now let's come to Mark 14 and here's the parallel account. Now each account adds just a little bit of it, adds a little bit more. So when you take these three accounts and you put them all together, it gives us a real clear picture. Mark 14:22 (pg 1,013): "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). You can add what we have there in Matt., 'for the remission of sins.' Because this one sacrifice, as Paul wrote in Hebrews, was one sacrifice for all time. And in the plan of God, everything hinges around the Passover, so that that will be applied during the Millennium, that will be applied during the second resurrection. It is applied especially for us who are part of the New Covenant, that we renew the New Covenant every year.
Now let's come to the account in Luke and let's come to Luke 22:19 (pg 1,049): "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…. [Now that's a literal translation from the Greek and there is a definite article there. It's not a remembrance, meaning any time you desire, but the remembrance, which then also is the root for memorial, which the very word itself limits it to the Passover day, once a year.] …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'" (vs 19-20). Now here then it is individually applied, for many, because Jesus is the propitiation of our sins and not ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.

Now let's come to the book of John and lets see what Jesus taught here. Some of these things were kind of hard for the Jews, because when they finally found Jesus and cornered Him, they said, 'Oh'—after they, part of the five-thousand, had eaten all of that, they were looking for Him to get another free meal. They came to Jesus and challenged Him and said, 'Oh, what are you going to do for us?' So He told them, let's come here after they found Him:

John 6:25 (pg 1,061): "And after finding Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, 'Rabbi, when did you come here?.... ['Cause we were watching and looking out. Did you escape our surveillance?'] … Jesus answered them and said, 'Truly, truly I say to you, you do not seek Me because you saw the miracles, but because you ate the bread and were satisfied. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall give to you; for Him has God the Father sealed'…. [Now everyone wants to do something for God—right? because they want to be good.]…Therefore, they said to Him, 'What shall we do, in order that we ourselves may do the works of God?.... [Now He answered in a way that I'm sure they didn't expect.] …Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God; that you believe in Him Whom He has sent'" (vs 25-29). Very interesting, you believe in Jesus.

Isn't it interesting—what did He call belief? Where does belief take place? In the mind. Have you ever thought of your thoughts being works? Think of that! A work of faith is what you believe, and what you believe will be expressed in your physical actions later, because you believe it.

Verse 30: "Therefore, they said to Him, 'What sign will You perform, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do?.... [Now here comes the challenge, 'since we came for the food] …Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness, as it is written… [because that was a miracle. So they wanted to see if He would do that.] ..."He gave them bread to eat that came down from heaven."' Then Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven; but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven'" (vs 30-32).

Now He gets into something that is hard for them to understand, and actually some of those who profess Jesus were offended and left Him because of this. Just like many people who may profess Jesus today, if they hear about keeping the Sabbath and keeping the Passover and the Holy Days, will be offended, because that requires a change of belief.

So He said, v 32: "Then Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven; but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He Who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.' Therefore, they said to Him, 'Lord, give this bread to us always…. [Because they were still looking for a handout.] …Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life… [And that's what the whole Passover is about, because the New Covenant is centered in, and anchored in, the Passover day, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and how we keep the Passover today according to the instructions of Jesus. He is the true Bread. So they wanted that.] …Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me shall never hunger; and the one who believes in Me shall never thirst at any time…. [Now He's not talking about the physical bread and water, He's talking about spiritual.] …But as I said to you, you also have seen Me, yet you do not believe'" (vs 32-36). So they were really struggling with this.

Then He begins to tell them something that is quite perplexing to them, because they were complaining, cause they said, 'Who is this guy? Verse 42: "'Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? Why then does He say, "I came down from heaven?".... [because He did] …For this reason, Jesus answered them and said, 'Do not be complaining among one another'" (vs 42-43).

Now all of those of you who are willing, and there are a lot of people out there who are willing. When I saw the Glenn Beck thing yesterday afternoon, I thought, 'Look at all those willing people, willing to sign up. We surround the politicians.' They had pictures of meetings where they were everywhere and they encouraged everyone to have the meetings, and to fight against the political things that are going on. Little do they realize that the political atmosphere is the result of our sins, as I wrote in my letter. So Christianity is not something you join and you sit down, or maybe you move into a new community and you drive around and you find, 'Oh, here's a nice looking church. Well, what do they have? What things do they offer? It's a nice big church, they have daycare so mom can work. They have activities for the kids. They have three services so you can choose to come at ten, two, or four. And they're all inclusive and you're all welcome to come. Now that sounds like a good place to go, 'let's sign up there and be some good Christians,' huh? Well, that's not what the Bible says.

Verse 44: "'No one can come to Me… [God does the selecting. God does the calling. Now this may offend some people, but that's what Jesus said.] …No one can come to Me unless the Father, Who sent Me, draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.'" There is no quick thing: believe in your heart, open you heart, all of a sudden you're changed. Conversion is a process; perfection in Christ takes time. So you're not going to get to Jesus unless the Father draws you.

Now then He goes on explaining things here, a little bit more. Come down to v 47: "'Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in Me has eternal life…. [Now, you can't take this one verse alone, without adding the other verses in the New Testament, which shows repentance and baptism, and so forth.] …I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate manna in the desert, but they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread, which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is even My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world'" (vs 47-51). Now they really didn't understand this, and Jesus put it this way to test to their faith, to see, 'Do you really believe?'

Verse 52: "Because of this, the Jews were arguing with one another, saying, 'How is He able to give us His flesh to eat?.... ['Don't you know human flesh is unclean? Human blood is unclean, how's He going to do that?'] …Therefore, Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you do not have life in yourselves'" (vs 52-53).

All right, let's think about this for a minute, because we'll see He is talking about the Passover. Unless you take the Passover

  • the way that Jesus said
  • at the time that Jesus said
  • in the manner, that is shown in the New Testament

you do not have life in you. So let's think about this for a minute: What did Peter say when they were challenged to not preach in the name of Jesus? What did he tell the leaders? 'We're obligated to obey God rather than men.' God gives His Holy Spirit to those who obey Him. And central to that obedience, by the Word of God, is what then? By doing it the way that Jesus said.

Verse 54, because it's for the covenant of eternal life—right? "'The one who eats My flesh and drink My blood has eternal life… [You have the Holy Spirit of God; you have the begettal of eternal life.] …and I will raise him up in the last day.'" That's the resurrection.

Now just a little sidebar here. When you count toward Pentecost and Pentecost picturing the first resurrection, Pentecost is what? The last day of the fifty-day count—is that not true? This is not talking about the Last Great Day at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles.

Verse 55: "'For My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood is dwelling in Me, and I in him…. [And then He gives the whole lesson, and then we'll see the reaction.] …As the living Father has sent Me, and I live by the Father; so also the one who eats Me shall live by Me…. [That means by what He says, by what He taught, what the apostles wrote because He inspired them, etc.] …This is the bread which came down from heaven; not as your fathers ate manna, and died. The one who eats this bread shall live forever.' These things He said in the synagogue as He was teaching in Capernaum. Therefore, after hearing these words, many of His disciples said, 'This is a hard saying. Who is able to hear it?'" (vs 55-60).

Now just imagine, take what I've just covered today, which is really very basic, and transport me mentally into a large Sunday-keeping church. Let's try Joel Osteen, one of his three sixteen-thousand services. 'Believe' means that you have action. That's why it says in the faith chapter, Heb. 11, 'by faith' they did. It means also believe in Him in such a way that you set aside all of your own personal beliefs and believe in dedication to God. Jesus deliberately preached to them in this manner to see if they themselves would choose to set aside their own selfishness and their own desires to believe and follow Him. Because the lesson is v 57: "'As the living Father has sent Me, and I live by the Father; so also the one who eats Me shall live by Me.'" Now you've got to change your life.

The comment was made, someone would say, 'Are you into cannibalism?' Of course, that's what they were thinking. That's why He put it this way.

Verse 58: "'This is the bread which came down from heaven; not as your fathers ate manna, and died. The one who eats this bread shall live forever…. [v 60]: …Therefore, after hearing these words, many of His disciples… [Those who were following Him, say, 'Oh, look at the miracles, He fed the five-thousand, He fed the four-thousand, look at all the healings.] (They said): … 'This is a hard saying. Who is able to hear it?' But Jesus, knowing that His disciples were complaining about this, said to them, 'Does this offend you? What if you shall see the Son of man ascending up where He was before… [because He came down from heaven] …It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe'" (vs 58, 60-64). The Passover comes down to what? True single-minded belief in Jesus Christ,

  • and all that He said,
  • and all that He did,
  • and all that we are to do.

Let's come back to John 13. We're going to see some other things here which then relate to the Passover and the teachings that are there. We know about Jesus sending Judas out after giving him the sop. And a lot of people say, 'Oh, sop, that means that they have leavened bread for the Passover.' No. For those of you who eat Mexican food, you know you can have a piece of unleavened tortilla and you can stick it in to whatever you're eating and you can scoop up a little bit of beans, or whatever, and eat it—correct? Yes. It wasn't a sop like leavened bread that you stick in soup and sort of let it soak up the soup and then eat it. A lot of people assume that.

So He was betrayed, sent out to betray Him. Let's pick it up in John 13:30 (pg 1,072): "So then, after receiving the sop, he immediately went out; and it was night. When he was gone, Jesus said, 'Now has the Son of man been glorified, and God has been glorified in Him'" (vs 30-31). Now you stop and think about it for just a minute. How is God glorified through the brutal crucifixion of Jesus Christ? You would think, in a human way of reasoning, that would be the opposite of what you would think would glorify God—correct? But when you understand that Jesus was God before He came in the flesh, that He was Creator of all mankind, and that He gave us our human nature as the result of the sin of Adam and Eve, and because of rejecting God they then put themselves under the jurisdiction of Satan the devil who became the god of this world, because they gave it to him rather than worshipping and loving God.

So then God has let the whole world go their way, suffering war, death, misery, rottenness, all of it. Now then God, Who is Holy and righteous, came in the flesh and assumed human nature that we have, and in order to pay the penalty for all the sins of all mankind, He submitted Himself, while He obeyed God, to the abuse of Satan the devil, because He was tempted in the wilderness and Satan was behind the betrayal and everything here leading up to the crucifixion. He turned Himself over to the basest, most evil nature of men, to be scourged, to be beaten, and to be crucified, to shed His blood in payment for the sins of the whole world. That's how God is going to do away with sin. So that's how He's glorified in it, even though, it was very bloody and gory.

Verse 32: "'If God has been glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself, and shall immediately glory Him. Little children, I am with you yet a little while. You shall seek Me; but as I told the Jews, "Where I am going, you cannot come," I am now telling you also. A new commandment I give to you: that you love one another in the same way that I have loved you, that is how you are to love one another'" (vs 32-34). And we'll expand on that as we get into John 14, 15, and 16, because in the sermon that I gave on Jesus Is Your Friend, He laid His life down. And since He's Creator of all mankind, His single life and His single death, and then His resurrection for our justification, applies to all mankind to be open to their understanding as God calls them in His plan. That's why He said, 'None can come to Me, except the Father draw him.'

Then in our covenant with God the Father and Jesus Christ, as pictured by the Passover, we are also then to have that love that comes from God's Spirit for each other in a way that reflects God the Father and Jesus Christ. That's not something you can just do, 'Oh, I love you.' No, God loves you at all times whether you're in trouble, or whatever your difficulties are. So that's exactly how it is to apply here.

"'By this shall everyone know that you are My disciples—if you love one another'" (vs 35). All we have to do is not only look at the world, but look at the Church of God. Do we not have an awful long way to go to fulfill that? What is the key to fulfilling that? Right here in footwashing. You don't exalt yourself above other people.

The comment was made that never really was struck before in the way that we just put it here, but let's come to the Epistle of 1-John and let's look at it, because Jesus' sacrifice is once for all. This is something that is related to the Truth of God, the grace that we receive, and the continuing grace that we are standing in, as Paul wrote of there in Rom. 5. 1-John 1:6 (pg 1,136): "If we proclaim that we have fellowship with Him, but we are walking in the darkness, we are lying to ourselves, and we are not practicing the Truth." Now that's a very interesting thing—isn't it? What is the first operation of the carnal mind? Lying to yourself! And when you do, you create in your mind the reality that you want. Today you have a lot of help with some high tech things, which are called virtual reality. You can be someplace else while you're sitting in your chair. That's called lying to yourself. And why? How do you quit lying to yourself? By allowing the Truth of the Word of God to have entrance into your mind. So you have to be practicing Truth and we know that Jesus said, 'Your Word is the Truth.' We know that in Psa. 119, 'Your commandments are true, Your laws are true, all Your precepts are true from the beginning.'

Verse 7: "However, if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His own Son, cleanses us from all sin…. [Now notice, that's after the statement, 'practicing the Truth.' So if you're practicing the Truth you're what? Walking in the light, because the Word of God is a light to our feet—right?] …as He is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another… [And we can love each other as Jesus said.] …and the blood of Jesus Christ, His own Son, cleanses us from all sin…. [That's why we are told to repent every day.] …If we say we do not have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the Truth is not in us" (vs 7-8). You don't understand the truth of human nature and you don't understand the Truth of God's Word, and you're not willing to admit you own character and your own nature.

Notice v 9: "If we confess our own sins… [And it doesn't say to the priest in the confessional booth. You confess your sins to Jesus in prayer. And you can be totally honest with God, because He knows your heart anyway. You can deceive yourself, but you can never deceive God.] …if we confess our own sins, He is faithful and righteous, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us" (vs 9-10).

Now 1-John 2:1—this will bring us so we understand why the sacrifice of Christ is once for all. "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And yet, if anyone does sin… [Because we're weak and the flesh is weak, and we're fighting the law of sin and death within us, and the carnal mind that we have to overcome, which we can with the Spirit of God.] …And yet, if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father; Jesus Christ the Righteous… [Because He's our sacrifice, He's our High Priest, He's the one that we confess our sins to. Can you get a priest any greater than Jesus? No!] …not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (vs 1-2). That's why you need to understand the Holy Days, so you understand how and when is God going to do this. So there you have it.
The comment was made: We are to confess our sins to Jesus, but what about when we sin against each other. Are we to confess our sins to one another? Yes, certainly we are. We are to ask forgiveness. We find that in Matt. 18. We also find it James 5. So yes! And one of the things that's very important in our relationship with each other is to confess our sins to each other. You don't have to come up and say, 'Dave, you know I sinned against you in my mind the other day.' What you might say is, 'I have had some thoughts about you that really weren't right, and I'm sorry about it. I just want to let you know.' That would be a way of doing it, so that's a very good comment there and what we need to do. And is that not loving each other? Yes! Is that not practicing the Truth? Yes! So we do need to do that and by all means before Passover, if you've got anything, as Jesus said, against a brother or someone, why don't you confess it to God and go work it out between you and the one that you have the problem with. Because there's also another thing that Jesus said that 'if you have anything against your brother' and you're coming to offer a sacrifice‑‑or we could say today, you're coming to offer a prayer‑‑and you haven't resolved that, then 'you don't even pray to Me until you go first and resolve that and then come back.' So, yes, that was a good comment.

The comment was made that what if someone has sinned against you? Matt. 18 says that you go to your brother and bring it to his attention. If he hears you, you have won a brother. Then it shows what to do in case he won't. In almost nearly every case, if you go to your brother or your sister and discuss the problem, then you can come to forgiveness and mutual understanding and put it behind you. So, yes, God expects us to do that.

We're about out of time, so I'll continue down south and see if I can finish this up down there.

Scriptural References:

  • John 1:29, 35-36
  • Revelation 13:8
  • Colossians 2:1-11
  • Romans 2: 25-29
  • Colossians 2:11-17
  • John 12:37-50
  • John 13:1-17
  • Matthew 26:26-28
  • Mark 14:22-24
  • Luke 22:19-20
  • John 6:25-36,42-44,47-58, 60-64
  • John 13:30-35
  • 1-John 1:6-10
  • 1-John 2:1-2

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

    • Romans 5
    • Genesis 3:15
    • Revelation 3:14-21
    • Romans 6
    • Psalm 22
    • John 11
    • Psalm 34
    • Romans 3
    • Hebrews 11
    • Romans 5
    • Psalm 119
    • Matthew 18
    • James 5

Also referenced:

Sermons:

  • Covenant of Eternal Life
  • Series on: Colossians, Hebrews, Romans, Galatians
  • Jesus is Your Friend

Books:

  • The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
  • The Day Jesus the Christ Died by Fred R. Coulter

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 7-10-09
Formatted: bo—7/17/09

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