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Now let’s continue on.  The next verse says, “The meek will He guide in judgment: and the meek will He teach His way” (vs. 9).  Now the meek are those who repent to God, who yield to God, who seek Him with a whole heart as we have seen.

Now notice verse 10.  Listen carefully.  “All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.”  Now that’s an interesting statement, isn’t it?  If you don’t keep His covenant, if you don’t keep His testimonies, if you don’t keep His commandments none of the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth.  So that’s why it’s so important for us to keep it.

Now notice, “For Thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity: for it is great” (vs. 11).  And that’s the whole purpose of the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread.  To know that our sins are forgiven.  To know that we live in the grace of God.  To know that salvation is a process.  To know that we need to walk in God’s ways and let Him teach us and let Him lead us, and let Him guide us in everything that we need to do.

Now let’s come to the book of Proverbs.  Let’s come to Proverbs 12:28, and it talks about the way of the Lord.  It talks about the way of God.  And we will see that likewise in the New Testament it is the same thing.  Now notice it’s called the way of righteousness.  “In the way of righteousness is life…”  And the way we are called to is to walk in righteousness, is it not?  And does not God impute to us through His grace, the gift of righteousness?  Yes, He does.  So in the way of righteousness is life.  “…And in the pathway thereof there is no death.”  So this is actually a prophecy of salvation through the New Testament.

Now let’s come back to Psalm 91 and let’s see some more concerning the way of the Lord, and His way and His truth and His righteousness.  Because that’s what this whole Feast of Unleavened Bread pictures.  Walking in the way of God.  Coming out of the sin of Egypt.  We can say coming out of the sin of the world.  Coming out of the world.

Here, Psalm 91:11.  “For He shall give His angels charge over Thee, to keep Thee in all Thy ways.”  That is if you are walking in the ways of God.  If you are walking in the paths of righteousness.  I mean this is tremendous brethren.

Now let’s go to the New Testament and let’s see that what was taught, and of course remember they taught the “way of the Lord”, and that’s what we are to live.  We are to not live our own ways.  We have been called out of that.  Acts 19:8.  We’ll see what the apostle Paul taught.  And you know the more you study the Bible, and the more you look at the silly arguments that men have against keeping the commandments of God, you know not only are they silly, but they are Satanic.

Now here, Acts 19:8.  “And he [that is Paul] went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.”  And of course, you know, almost everywhere Paul went in the synagogues there was a near riot because there were those that didn’t want to believe.

Now verse 9, “But when divers [different ones] were hardened [their hearts were hardened not to believe], and believed not, but spake evil of that way…”  Brethren, today we are to walk in the way of the Lord.  Today we are to walk in the paths of righteousness.  Today we are to walk in all the ways of God because He has ordained that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).  “…Spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.  An this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the LORD Jesus, both Jews and Greeks” (vs. 9-10).  Now let’s understand something.  Right there in Ephesus was the center for the goddess Diana.  And Paul was preaching against idol worship, and preaching against the witchcraft booklets that they had.  And there were thousands which converted to Christianity and came and burned all of those books.  So much so that the idol makers got together and they created a riot and a rally for Diana and nearly drove Paul, well they did, they drove Paul out of town.  Paul escaped with his life.  But it is the way of the Lord.

Now let’s come back here to Acts 13.  Let’s see again what the apostle Paul preached when he was in the synagogue.  Because we have something, brethren, that is greater than what it was in the Old Covenant.  Now look what you do, you understand that there laws and commandments in every covenant that God gives.  Sabbath keeping is required for salvation, just as all the commandments are to be kept which are required for salvation.  You don’t earn it, but those are the ways that God has ordained that we are to walk in.  And because of that, and because of the sacrifice of Christ, and because now we have direct access to the throne of God in heaven above, the apostle Paul in teaching in the synagogues, he told the Jew this, Acts 13:38.  “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38-39).  Because you see, now the heart and the mind is changed, not just the exterior of your behavior.  And you are justified from things in heaven above from all your sins.  Now the law of Moses was never able to do that.  It only justified them to the temple.  So they never really had complete forgiveness, as we now have before the throne of God in heaven above.

Now let’s see how that works.  Let’s go to Romans 3.  We are to believe.  And that belief comes with God’s Spirit.  And we also have our belief that we add to it.  We are to believe and then we are granted belief through God’s Holy Spirit.  God is the one who calls.  God the Father is the one who initiates the action in our lives that we are brought to repentance and come to understand and are called and chosen for eternal life.

Now let’s begin right here, Romans 3:23.  “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely…”, that is by belief.  There is nothing you can use to buy.  There is nothing that you can use to force God to bring this kind of forgiveness upon you.  This is the free gift of God by grace.  Now grace, as we will see establishes law.  Because with a converted heart and mind, with the leaven of sin out of you, and walking in the way of the Lord in the paths that God has ordained for us to walk in, then we will see this establishes law.

But you see we are “…justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God…” (vs. 24-25).  No this is important to understand.  God never forgives future sin because there is no such thing as a future sin, because time has not arrived then you have not yet done it.   So that’s why indulgences that are sold by the Catholic church are blasphemous before God because that is perverted grace giving license to sin, and claiming forgiveness ahead of time.  Every sin that is committed, brethren, as soon as it is committed it is a past sin.  Therefore needs to be repented of and you will be freely forgiven.  But He does not give carte blanche so you can go through life and sin, and say “Aha, I have the grace of God, so therefore it’s ok.”  No way.

Now let’s come down here to verse 31.  Last verse in chapter 3.  “Do we then make void the law through faith?  God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”  Now let’s put that together with what we read in Exodus 13, that we are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread so the laws of God will be in our mind and in our right hand.

Now let’s see the spiritual fulfillment of that in Hebrews 10.  And this becomes very profound for us to really grasp and understand.  And this is the work that God is creating in you.  His Holy righteous character.  His love, His faith, His truth, His righteousness, His holy days, His Sabbath then are the means by which we constantly walk in God’s way so He can do that.  Now then He has another operation that He performs for us.  Let’s come here to Hebrews 10:15, and this is so profound brethren for us to understand.  And this then is how we come to have the mind of Christ.  Come to understand the will of God.  Come to have the love and desire to do God’s way.

“Whereof the Holy [Spirit] Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that He had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them…” (Heb. 10:15-16).  That’s how you are unleavened.  That’s how you get rid of the sin that is in your mind.  You bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Jesus Christ and cast it down.  That is your work of walking in God’s way, in keeping His laws and commandments, in overcoming sin.

Now notice when you do that, when you’re constantly in an attitude of repentance and drawing close to God, asking Him to help you to overcome, to overcome the law of sin and death which is in your members.  And that’s what makes you sin.  And that’s what makes you do the things that you don’t want to do.  But notice, upon repentance and yielding to God, and coming to God to be strengthened that you may overcome, that you may keep His commandments, that you may love His way, notice verse 17.  “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”  They are gone.  “Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.”  And that means animal sacrifice offering.  “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus…” (vs. 17-18).  We have direct access to God the Father in heaven above.  And that is the greatest, as you might say, unleavened operation in the world, that you come before God.

Now let’s come back here to chapter 4.  Yes we are weak, and yes we’ve all gone our way.  Like sheep we’ve all gone astray.  And yes, we have sinned that we have to overcome yet.  And as long as we are in the flesh there will always be the pull of the law of sin and death so that we need to always yield to God and change and grow and overcome and ask Him for help and strength, and the mind of Christ to do so.

Now notice here’s how we do it.  It says here, verse 14.  “Seeing then that we have a great high priest…”  We have a great way to walk in that we can come before God the Father and Jesus Christ at His right hand and know that we have contact with Them.   Know that they love us.  Know that Jesus died for our sins and He’s the perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins.  Knowing that He was sinless, tempted in every way that we have been tempted.  He is our high priest that He can help us and be with us and lead us and guide us and give us the strength to overcome.  “…Have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession” (Heb. 4:14).

Let’s not waver.  Let’s not doubt.  Let’s not impute evil things to God because they are difficulties or trials or problems.  We’ll always have those things.  Jesus said that we have to take the Kingdom by force.  Paul said that those who enter into the Kingdom of God will have much tribulation, and that’s because we’re living in this world.

But remember this, let us hold fast our profession.  For we have a high priest who knows.  We have a high priest who understands.  We have a high priest who has experienced the pull of all of these things and has overcome sin and Satan and death.  What a fantastic high priest.  What a great and marvelous way of grace that God has given us to live in.  Now notice, “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (vs. 15).

Now here’s what we are to do.  Many times when we sin and the sin easily besets us as Paul wrote there in Hebrews 12.  “Let us lay aside every weight, every sin…”  We’ll get to that in just a minute here.  Verse 16, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”  And this is what God wants us to do.

Now let’s go to Hebrews 12:1.  “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses…”  That is everything that’s in the Old Testament, and we can say now everything that’s in the New Testament for us.  And our current experience in the Church of God and everything that we have gone through, and all the trials and all the tests and all the correction that the Church of God has been put through, notice, “…let us lay aside every weight…”  Put all those things upon Christ for He cares for us.  “Let us lay aside every weight…”  Or you could say, put out every leaven.  “…And the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us…”

And here is how you can be in unleavened condition, verse 2.  “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  To be our high priest, that we can come to Him in time of need.  “For consider Him…”  Now you see, think about what Christ went through lest you get discouraged, you see.  “For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (vs. 2-3).  No, the Feast of Unleavened Bread is that we are to be renewed in our minds, you see.  Now notice verse 4.  “Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.”

Now let’s come to Romans 12:2 and let’s see what we are to do.  “And be not conformed to this world…”  Now one man put it very well.  He said, “People have just enough religion that they figure they’re close enough to God so if trouble comes they can hurry and scoot over to God.  And they have just enough religion that they are close enough to the world and can get along with it.”  Well, when the day of trouble comes they’re going to be surprised, see, because we’re not to be conformed to this world but be transformed.  That’s why we have the Feast of Unleavened Bread to put the leaven out.  To get rid of the sins in our lives.  To put them under the blood of Jesus Christ.  And be “…transformed [in our minds] by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”  That is by doing it.  Walking in the way of the Lord.  That’s how it is.  There it is right there.

Now, let’s come to 1 Corinthians 5.  This is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and so we find right here 1 Corinthians 5, we find the whole operation explained to us about how we are to put out the leaven and the spiritual reasons for it.  Now let’s read it.  Here we had as situation where a man was actually committing incest with his stepmother.  And the whole church was glorifying in it as if this were some wonderful new doctrine from God, see.

Paul says, verse 4, “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh…”  That’s putting sin out of the congregation, just like we are to put sin out of our lives.  And we have to take boldness, and we have to take action, and we have to be resolute about it.  Notice, here’s the reason why that was done.  “…That the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”  Hopefully that he would repent.  “Your glorying is not good.”  And oh has there been a lot of that, that has gone on in the Church of God.  About all the self-willedness of men trying to come along and create new doctrines and do things that are just almost incredible.  And they glory in it, and they glory in one another.  “Your glorying is not good.  Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” (vs. 4-6).  Now whether it is in the congregation, or whether it is in your life, God has given you His Spirit.  So when God’s Spirit is working to let you know that what you’re doing is sin, you respond to God and you get rid of it.  Because if you don’t it’s going to leaven the whole lump.  And that’s how people are going to lose out on salvation because they choose not to purge the leaven out of their lives. They choose not to purge the sin out of their lives.

Now notice verse 7.  “Purge out therefore the old leaven [that’s the action we are to take], that you may be a new lump [that you may be the new creature in Christ], as ye are unleavened.”  Because they have unleavened their houses.  “For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.”  And that’s why we keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  Now there are some churches who keep the Sabbath and the Passover but not the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  And so they miss the whole point of it, and they don’t understand the truth of God.  That’s why we do it.  Because Christ is our Passover.

Now notice verse 8, a direct command.  And remember this for the New Testament, a direct command to keep the feast of God in the New Testament right here.  Now how many commands do you need?  How many times does God need to say it to someone?  Once is sufficient.  And if you have one feast that means you have them all.  And you go back and see how the life of Jesus Christ is centered around the Passover, the fall festival season, the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day.  And He kept those days and we are to walk in His footsteps are we not?  Yes, indeed.  No doubt about it.

Now notice, “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven…”  Not with our old ways.  Not with our old sins.  Not with the things that we have done in the past.  “…Neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness…”   And that means among ourselves and toward each other because not only are we to have our sins forgiven but we are also to forgive the sins of others.  And that is all part of the whole program that God has given us.  “…Neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (vs. 8).  And that’s what God wants in us.

Now let’s see how this is to be done.  Let’s come to Ephesians 4.  This shows us what we need to do.  Now let’s pick it up in verse 17, and this is very important.  This is the same teaching as the Old Testament where God said don’t do the way of the heathen, learn not the way of the heathen.  Don’t go and find out how they worship their gods.  Now notice here, “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk…”  Which is what?  In their way.  Their religions, their holy days.  Sunday, Easter, Christmas, New Year’s, all of that, “…in the vanity of their mind.”  And that’s what it is.

“Having the understanding darkened..”  And isn’t that what happens to people who do that?  They don’t understand the word of God, do they?  “…Being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart…” (vs. 18).  Just like the prophecy in Isaiah 29.  They have the Bible right there but they say, “Well, I can’t understand it.”  Well the reason they can’t understand it is because they won’t obey it.  Simple truth.

The way you understand the Bible is:

            #1  What you see you need to do and are commanded of God to do, you do.

            #2  Start with the simple things and understand those.

Now verse 19, “Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.  But ye have not so learned Christ…”  You don’t learn Christ by learning the way of the heathen.  “If so be that you have heard Him, and have been taught by Him [by Christ teaching you], as the truth is in Jesus…” (vs. 19-21).  Now here’s what we are to do, which is the whole theme of put out the leaven and then put in the unleavened bread of sincerity of truth.  And the reason we eat the bread is because not only does it picture the body of Christ, but it pictures the righteous way of God without sin.  And remember we are to eat the Lord.  We are to live by His way.  That’s what it symbolizes.  That’s what it means.  Jesus said, “The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood even he shall live by Me.”  And that’s what this pictures.

Here’s what we do, verse 22.  “That ye put off concerning the former [conduct]  conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts…”  So you put out that leaven.  “…And be renewed in the spirit of your mind…”  And oh, what renewal that brings when there is repentance.  And oh, what renewal that brings when you seek the way of God and ask God to teach you, and to lead you, and to guide you, and to help you.  “…Be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that you put on the new man…” Let Christ be created in you.  Walk in the ways that God has fore ordained.  “…And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (vs. 22-24  So the fact that we have been saved and are being saved, and the ultimate salvation comes at the resurrection when salvation will be complete.  But in-between having been saved from our sins and Satan the devil and the resurrection, is that we are being created in righteousness and true holiness.  That’s what God wants.  And it is a battle.  And it is a struggle.  But that’s why God has chosen the Feast of Unleavened Bread because leaven is so common.  It’s everywhere.

Now notice how we are to do this.  Verse 25, “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.”  And this is what we are to do.  Live God’s way in every word that we say and do.  Verse 26, “And be angry, and sin not…”  In other words you can be righteously angry, but don’t let it go to sin.  “…Let not the sun go down upon your wrath” (vs. 25-26).  Because that develops into bitterness.  And what it also does, it gives a place, an entrance, a space for the evil one. verse 27, “Neither give place to the devil.”   See, when you don’t forgive and when you carry those things of wrath and hatred and bitterness in your life and let it go beyond sundown and don’t repent of it and ask for a clean heart and a loving mind that Christ can give you, you see, then you give place to the devil.  Then you cannot be delivered from the wicked one.

Continuing, “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that [has need] needeth.  Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth…”  And boy, in this day and age that is a challenge.  Especially when you have a work where there are a lot of carnal people around and all they do is swear and curse and it sort of bombards your mind with all of these words.  So you need to go to God and ask God to help clean up your mind.  But instead of corrupt communication “…but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (vs. 28-29).  So that they can grow.  So that they can understand the love of God.

Now notice verse 30.  “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God…”  How do you grieve the Holy Spirit of God?  By going your own way and just stiffneckedly continue in sin.  That’s how you grieve the Holy Spirit.  Listen and understand, Christ is dwelling in you so don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, you see.  “…Whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

Now here’s all the clutter and leaven to get out.  “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (vs. 31-32).  That’s how you get your forgiveness through Christ, because of what He did and how great He is and how marvelous He is.

Now let’s come to 1 Corinthians 12, the very last verse,  verse 31.  And here is the way that we are to walk in.  And brethren, we are to grow in this every year as we come to the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, and grow in grace and knowledge, grow in wisdom and understanding.  And the more that we do it, the more that God’s Spirit reveals to us the sinfulness of human nature.  And that’s why we are to put these things out and overcome.  But we are to replace it with these things.  Now notice we have the same operation here.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12:31, “ But covet earnestly the best gifts…”  And the best gift is the love of God.  Faith, hope, and love.  He said, “…And yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.”  The way of the love of God and keeping His commandments is a more excellent way.  Not to be compared to anything in this world.  So Paul in chapter 13 and verse 1, which is called the love chapter, which it is, he says, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not [love] charity, I am become [a] sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal” (1 Cor. 12:31-13:1).  Not as, but that’s what he becomes.  Just a hollow physical piece of noise.

“And though I have the gift of prophecy…”  And everyone wants prophecy.  Boy they want to understand it.  “…And understand all mysteries [all the deep things of God], and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not [love] charity, I am nothing” (vs. 2).  Now you see, all of what Paul is doing, he’s saying put these things out.  Get rid of the vanity of the self by putting in the love of God.  See, you can’t get rid of anything out of you and have it remain permanently out or make progress in growing and overcome unless you are constantly putting in.  So this is what we are to put out and this is what we are to put in.

“And though I bestow all my goods [and that’s for any cause, not just for the poor] to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not [love] charity, it profiteth me nothing” (vs. 3).  Now just think how many people there are out in the world who are doing things that profit them absolutely nothing.

Now here’s what we are to do.  Now, since we are to have the love of God, it says, “[Love] Charity suffereth long, and is kind…”  Now just put your name there, see. “[Love] Charity suffers long and is kind…”  And oh that is so hard, isn’t it?  Oh yes, indeed.  “…[Love] charity envieth not; [love] charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up…”  It is not looking for itself or it’s glory, but it’s looking on the things of others to help them, to serve them.  “Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth…” (vs. 4-6).

And you know I think a lot of these things if we just sit down and just examine…let’s just take the one thing of television.  When we sit down and we revel in all of that stuff coming in over the TV, which is everything that is listed here.  All the sin and destruction and hatred and murder and kidnapping, and fornication, and adultery, and lying, and cheating, and stealing.  And just sit there and absorb it and let it come in our minds.  No wonder we become carnal.  That’s why we have to let God’s Spirit work with us and put those things out of our minds.  And we need to ask the question: should we spend all that time watching television, or should we not spend more of it studying the word of God and growing in grace and knowledge?

Verse 7, “Beareth all things, believeth all things [that is of the truth and the scriptures], hopeth all things, endureth all things.”  Now remember this: regardless of the problem, as long as there is life there is hope.  And it’s never over till it’s over.  So you endure all things, because you will never know what the blessing will be at the end when you can look back and see what you have gone through, until you have gone through it.

“[Love] Charity never faileth…”  This is the formula for absolute success.  Never fails.  “…But whether there be prophecies [prophecies of men], they shall fail;  whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.”  Because we’re going to have the full knowledge of God and know Him as He knows us.  “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.  But when that which is perfect is come…”  And that’s the ultimate result of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the perfection of us spiritually so that we will be ready for the resurrection.  “…Then that which is in part shall be done away.  When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (vs. 8-11).  And brethren, we need to grow up in Christ and put away a lot of these childish things, and immature spiritual things that we have been going through.

“For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face…”  And that will be the supreme moment of complete unleavenedness, if we could put it that way, that we will be spiritual beings and will see God face to face.  “…Now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”  So here is the more excellent way, summarized in verse 13.  “And now abideth faith, hope, [love] charity, these three; but the greatest of these is [love] charity” (vs. 11-13).  And you can be guaranteed this, that if you put on love and put in Christ you will be truly unleavened in Jesus Christ and learn from the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

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