UNLEAVENED BREAD – Day 7 – 2006

“Trust God”

Fred Coulter – April 19, 2006

And greetings brethren. Welcome to the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread – 2006. And the feast days, as we know, picture the plan of God and lays out for us step-by-step what He is doing. Now as I mentioned before on the first day, Passover, first day of Unleavened Bread, Wave Sheaf Offering Day, and last day of Unleavened Bread, and counting to Pentecost is all one connected sequence. And this is why it is for the church. When it comes time for Trumpets, as we will see, that is heralding a new age – the kingdom age with Christ and the saints on the earth. That’s why, as we will see, Pentecost must be the day of the first resurrection.

Now let’s come to Leviticus 23 and we’ll just review here just a little bit. It talks about as we saw in verse 7; the first day is a holy convocation, make an offering made by fire; the seventh day is a holy convocation, you shall do no servile work therein, and an offering is also to be made.

Now we’ve gone through many of the scriptures about giving and tithing and all of this sort of this thing, so what I’m going to say is this: The whole purpose of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is so that we grow to have the mind and character of Jesus Christ. And so whatever we do, we do because we love God from the heart, and we love Jesus Christ, and we have been bought and paid for by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and we belong to Him. And also if we love our neighbor as our self then we’re willing to put forth whatever we can in the way of our own personal efforts and the way of combining things together to put out the books and literature that we do to help other people. And if we love the brethren the way Christ loved us then another thing is very, very important in it, which is this, as we saw during Passover: that there must be forgiveness, there must be longsuffering, there must be forbearance with one another.

And now when we come to the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and taking up the offering, I want you to keep that in mind. And what we need to realize is this: God knows our hearts, and whatever we do we need to do from our heart with love, and we need to do generously and abundantly according to the way that God has given to us. And from this point of view is very, very important, because today so many people are selfish. They want salvation but they don’t want to do anything for God. Like one man said, twenty dollars in the grocery store doesn’t go very far but it looks real big in the collection plate. So I just leave that with you to assess what you are going to do in the way of giving because we have many, many things that we are doing as you have seen in the letters that have come out, and we are going to proceed and continue doing those. So we’ll just take a break now and take up the offering, and thank you brethren, very, very much.

(Pause)

Now let’s continue on brethren. This last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread has a tremendous meaning for us. And as we started out, the sanctifying and setting aside of the firstborn (and we are the firstborn church and we will not be born again until the resurrection, which we will talk about when we come to Pentecost), and how that we are delivered by God from Satan the devil from Egypt and from this world. Now on the Passover night when Jesus was praying to the Father, He said, “Father, protect them (or rescue them) from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:15-16, paraphrased). So after we have been rescued by God, saved from Satan, saved from this world, now then we are confronted with many, many different trials and problems that come along, as we all know, because we are not living in the world. So we are actually going cross-grain against many of the things that are in the world and Satan is still after us. And that’s the whole lesson of the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Now, we know what God did when they left Egypt and started out, they started out the beginning of the night of the 15^th and God had the pillar of fire by night and the cloud cover by day, and He took them deliberately. Now we need to understand this also: God will deliberately put us through difficulties and trials to prove us, to test us – do we really love God, do we really believe God, are we willing to endure the difficulties and problems that we experience? What is it that our character is going to be? Are we good-time Christians as long as everything is hunky-dory, lovey-dovey, goody-goody, no problems, everything you touch turns to gold? Hey, if that’s the case then we would end up being presumptuous and arrogant and be so selfish and self-centered that we would be worthless spiritually. So you see to create Godly character in us is a process where then God is going to bring trials upon us, God is going to let us go through different things. And that’s the whole lesson of this last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

So the children of Israel left with a high hand. They were happy, they were rejoicing, God was leading them, Moses and Aaron were guiding them according to God’s leading and God deliberately said, “I’m not going to take them by the way of the Philistines, which is an easy shoot into the Promised Land.” No, He deliberately took them down by the edge of the Red Sea into a wilderness area which hemmed them in. They had the sea on one side and they had the mountains on the other side, and they were spread out along the length of the Red Sea. And then all of a sudden here comes Pharaoh and his armies and his chariots and all of his soldiers and coming to get them to re-enslave them. Now you see, this is a great lesson for us. Satan wants to re-enslave us to his way and to his system.

So what happened? The children of Israel when they saw it… Let’s come here to Exodus 14:10. And this is what happens: many times when we go through a trial we say, “Oh God, why?” Well I found this out, it’s a good lesson: you learn after the trial is over, after you have endured in faith. And that’s what we need to keep in mind. Now here the children of Israel just left Egypt. There’s been absolutely no endurance in anything that they were in doing. So they, verse 10: “And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.”

Now some people take that attitude concerning God’s calling, concerning the church of God, concerning things like that. The first time there’s difficulty or problems they say, “Oh my, why is God doing this? I never had it this way before God called me.” True. Why? Because you were not being called to eternal life. Just like the children of Israel, another time they said, “Oh, we really enjoyed sitting by the flesh-pots with the fish and the leeks and the onions and the garlic and all of this sort of thing. And all we have to eat is this rotten manna.” They didn’t think about how much God had done for them. They didn’t think about how God was providing manna for them every single day. A miracle, a daily miracle, and a weekly miracle every Sabbath. No, they complained and grumbled and gripped and were not pleased with God. Well what we need to do is take that attitude and turn it around the other way and say, “Is God pleased with that?” And we can also take another approach to it and say, “Well, who are we to judge God?” That’s why whatever comes we are to ask God to help us in faith. So the whole lesson is: not only are we delivered (and as we will see a little later, salvation is a process), salvation and developing the mind of Christ takes work, it takes effort, it takes the faith in God to trust in God and the fighting and resisting against Satan the devil and this world continually.

Now notice what Moses told the people. And this is what we need to understand, and this is the reason for this day: “And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” In other words, don’t be complaining to God by accusing Him. Now you might go to God and say, “Oh God, this is more than I can handle. Oh God, I don’t know the answer to this problem. I know that You are there to help and to intervene and to fight our battles for us, but I’m just at my wits end, I’m at the bottom of the pit and I don’t know what to do.” Now, that’s different than saying, “God, why did You do this? Why did You bring us out here to die?” No, He brought them out there to save them, you see.

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto Me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward…” (Ex. 14:10-15, KJV). Now we’re going to just concentrate on three lessons here. 1) Don’t complain. 2) God will fight for you. 3) Go forward. That’s the whole lesson of this, because you are never going to solve any problem that has already happened by complaining. And you’re never going to understand it unless you make a true righteous judgment.

And I just need to interject right here, there are some brethren who have accused other brethren, falsely so, and not even taking the time to get all the facts. And when the facts were presented to them they refused to see it and went off in anger and hatred and bitterness simply because they didn’t get their own way. Or, they listened to someone else who sounded convincing, like the proverb says, “He who comes first in his cause seems just…” (Prov. 18:17, KJV, paraphrased). And that’s all part of the world. That’s what you see in the world today, isn’t it?

Now part of the things during the Days of Unleavened Bread that God wants us to do is to not bring in the ways of the world. And the Feast of Unleavened Bread is so that we overcome carnal thinking, carnal nature, and the hostility to God. So God deliberately brought them through this so that He could show them His salvation. Now you could not have a greater problem, more inextricable; you had no weapons – the Egyptians did; you had no where to go because the sea was in front of you and they blocked you off in back of you. So the only thing they had to do was look to God. So God said, “Moses, raise up your rod, hold it over the sea.” And He began blowing back the sea to the extent of probably twelve miles wide. And it blew all night. And the children of Israel, just before sunrise, went across the Red Sea on dry land. And then Pharaoh, thinking he could do the same thing, went in there and God had hardened his heart, had them all go into the sea and then close it down upon them.

Now you see, this tells us this: that if we let God fight for us, He can fight better than we can, right? And He can do a better job than we could do, correct? But you see part of the problem is that once God has fought for them, just like the children of Israel when they got to the other side of the Red Sea and went in for three days beyond that – they didn’t have any fresh water – they started complaining and saying, “Oh who’s going to give us water to drink.” And they found water and it was bitter. “We’re going to die in the wilderness.” I mean, you read the whole book of Exodus and the book of Numbers and what do you see? You see that the carnal mind cannot handle the way of God. And the carnal mind is only interested in self and does not see the value of yielding to God and let God fight the battles for you.

Now let’s come to I Corinthians 10 because this becomes very important for us to understand, because here Paul talks about the very thing that the Israelites did after they were saved from Egypt; after they were rescued; after they went through the Red Sea. And then the whole litany of the 38½ more additional years that they had to suffer while they died, all of those over 20, and their bodies were strewn in the wilderness because they didn’t believe God, yet God was right there, you see. This is the way that human nature is. Even if God is standing right there as with Adam and Eve, they still didn’t believe God, did they? See, “There is a way that seems right to a man but the ends thereof are the ways of death” (Prov. 14:12, KJV, paraphrased).

Now let’s see what Paul says, and what I’m going to read here is very important because it has happened to the church of God over and over and over and over again because they don’t believe God, and they don’t trust in God, and they would rather have a little leaven in their lives then to let Christ unleaven them spiritually. And as Christ said through Paul, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (Gal. 5:9, FV). That’s why we have the Feast of Unleavened Bread, so we can get the leaven out, get the sin out of our lives.

Now let’s pick it up here in I 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.” And you see, God originally intended that they go into the Promised Land within a year and a half. They didn’t believe God. “And they all drank of the same spiritual drink…” In other words they saw all the miracles of God, right? They drank of the water that came out of the rock. They ate of the manna that came from heaven. They ate of the quail that God gave, right? Yes. “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, for their dead bodies were strewn in the wilderness” (I Cor. 10:1-5, FV).

Now let’s understand something here. Hold your place and come to I John 3 and let’s see something here that’s important for us to really grasp, which is this: It is possible to love God and please Him with a right heart and a right attitude. Because what does God say there in Isaiah 66? “…But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor [broken heart] and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My word” (Isa. 66:2, KJV).

Now let’s pick it up here in I John 3:21: “Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us [because we are getting sin out of our lives, etc.], then we have confidence toward God. And whatever we may ask we receive from Him because we keep His commandments and practice those things that are pleasing in His sight” (I John 3:21-22, FV). Now is it pleasing in God’s sight that we keep the Sabbath properly? Yes. That we keep the Passover and feasts of God properly? Yes. It is pleasing in God’s sight that we are growing in grace and knowledge and overcoming? Yes.

Now come back here to I Corinthians 10. God was not pleased with them. Why? Because they wanted their own lusts and their own ways. And I’m telling you, brethren, today there are a lot of ministers and a lot of brethren, and in fact I’m beginning to see that brethren are causing more problems than ministers. And as I’ve said before just read The Journal. You can’t believe what is in there. You talk about a Babylonian smorgasbord of stupidity. It’s all there in The Journal. Now I get The Journal so I can see what’s going on and I can keep track of who’s alive and who’s not.

Now let’s come back here to I Corinthians 10:6: “Now these things became examples for us, so that we might not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.” Now do we have that with people? Now what I want you to do is realize that since these are examples for us, I want you to keep in mind when it says in Revelation 2 and 3 concerning the problems that the churches of God have had down through history, right? These same identical problems that the children of Israel were confronted with, right? Yes indeed, only now the stakes are higher. Because you see, once you receive the Spirit of God you’re in a different category than the carnal children of Israel when they were in the wilderness.

So he says in verse 7: “Neither be idolaters, 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, 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. 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…” Now you see, that’s why the religions of the world don’t want you to read the Old Testament. They don’t want you to read about the laws and commandments of God. They don’t want you to see how God views the kind of carnal behavior that people have in the world. Now you see today it’s even more dangerous than ever before, because we’re living in an age when everything is here and everything is done automatically by remote control, etc., etc., and our attention span and our endurance is short. Now last part of verse 11: “…As examples, and were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages are coming.” And it’s coming. We’re closer to the return of Christ than ever before, regardless of how far off it may be. And you know, there are going to be a lot of people come to the end of their lives and the next thing they’re going to know is they’re going to meet Christ.

“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.” So, 1) if you have a problem and difficulty don’t think you’re being picked on; 2) if God leads you into a trial to test your faith, don’t complain because always remember what happened to Job – after it was over God blessed him with twice as much, and God converted his heart and his mind because of it. That’s the whole thing we remember, see.

“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.” Now we are going to see there are times when we think it’s unbearable and we don’t know what we are going to do and how to do it, you see. But God will make a way, as we will see.

“Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” And idolatry is one of the first things to come up, and we will see what else, and we will see the very first thing that Satan tries to do to leaven the church of God and lead people astray in the churches of God is to attack the Passover. That’s why the Passover has so many confusing aspects and it’s because Satan the devil is out there to confuse it, because if he can get a little leaven into the keeping of the Passover then he can get you to change almost anything over a given period of time, right? Yes indeed. Haven’t we not seen that happen? Yes. Have we not seen and met people who supposedly kept the Sabbath and the holy days faithfully, but now because they didn’t follow the example here, and they didn’t learn the lesson of Exodus 14 and all the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness, what happened? They could care less about the holy days. And they go to Sunday just following along like lemmings walking over the cliff. And you try and talk to them and it’s just kind of a blank stare. This one man said it’s almost like there’s nothing there. It makes you wonder, has God removed or reduced His Holy Spirit so much that there is virtually nothing left?

Now notice what he says here, verse 15: “I speak as to those who are wise; you judge what I say.” Because he shows what happens, verse 16: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not the fellowship of the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not the fellowship of the body of Christ? For we, being many, are one body and one bread, because we are all partakers of the bread. Consider Israel according to the flesh. Are not those who eat the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What then am I saying? That an idol is anything, or that which is sacrificed to an idol is anything? But [now notice: this is the leaven of the Passover] that which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God; and I do not wish you to have fellowship with demons.”

Now notice verse 21 because this is very, very important for us to grasp and realize, especially concerning the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread: “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord, and the table of demons.” That’s why Satan always attacks the Passover and then brings in communion, and then brings in Easter Sunday. Notice, he doesn’t start with doing away with the Sabbath and then brings in about Sunday-keeping, and then brings in about holiday-keeping. You see, it’s a step and a process. A little leaven leavens the whole lump, you see. And when you’re not trusting in God to help you through these trials and difficulties then you’re going to find yourself in trouble. So Paul says: “Now do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?” (I Cor. 10:6-22, FV). In other words, can you go out there and sin and automatically be exempt from the penalties of sin? Can you go out there and sin and transgress the ways of God, can you go out and live in the sin of the world and not suffer the penalty of it? Yea, and in greater proportion than the world because they are blind and ignorant out there and they don’t know any better. But those who have been called, know better. So the whole purpose of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is this: If we are to be unleavened in Christ and to become that new creature in Christ, then we’ve got to trust God in everything, in all circumstances, all the time regardless of what is happening.

Now let’s come to Psalm 37. We’re going to look at quite a few psalms here because psalms talks about the continued ongoing salvation and deliverance that we need to have that comes from God. Because we are constantly going to be fighting the world, we are going to be fighting overcoming the self, we are going to be fighting against the things that are in the world, and we are going to have to, as we’ve seen, guard the door of our mind – all of those things together. You see, we are living in an age that we are assaulted daily, hourly, and in some cases even every minute with Satan’s influence. It’s always there, so we have a greater job of overcoming than a lot of people in ages past that didn’t have all of these things crashing in on them. And that means that we have to have more faith, we have to have more understanding, we have to have more trust, we have to let God fight the battles for us, we have to see and understand why we go through the things that we go through. And that’s the whole purpose of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the whole story of the Exodus – are we going to make it to the mountain of God?

Now let’s come to Psalm 37:27. Here’s what we are to do: “Depart from evil…” That’s what they did leaving Egypt, right? Then they had to depart from their evil attitudes, right? Then they had to overcome their lusts and selfishness, correct? See, all of that is: “Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore. For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not His saints…” Remember that, even if you are in the throws of the final trial of your life and you know that death (which God says we’re all going to die) is just around the corner. Understand this: God does not forsake you. “…They are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land [the earth], and dwell therein for ever.” This is why always God shows us the goal, God shows us the purpose so we can keep our minds on what God has called us to. And this is the greatest help in changing and growing and overcoming, you see. “The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.” See, you’re going to be walking in God’s way continually.

Now notice the next verse: “The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.” That’s Satan lurking at every door to try and get us, to tempt us, to get a little foot in the door, to get a little leaven of carnality going, to get some fruit of the flesh going so that he can have a handle, so that he can have an inroad, you see. And that’s why on the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread they went through the Red Sea showing that God alone can bring you the salvation. God alone can fight for you. Who are we to fight against Satan the devil? I mean, we don’t have any power unless it’s by the Spirit of God and we ask God to fight for us, you see.

Now verse 33: “The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.” So God isn’t going to leave you in that situation. But you’ve got to trust God, you’ve got to believe God, you’ve got to let Him fight for you. “Wait on the LORD, and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land [not just the land, but the world]: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.” And we’re going to see it. And that’s going to be a great day. And God is going to judge this world. And Babylon the Great is going to fall. It hasn’t reached it’s glorious height yet because the prophecies have not been fulfilled, but it’s going to.

Now verse 35: “I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.” See, God is going to take care of the wicked. God will take care of those who are fighting against the saints of God as agents of Satan the devil. “Mark the perfect man…” I mean, God knows. And we’ve seen, how are you perfect? In heart and mind and attitude. “…And behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: He is their strength in the time of trouble.” The whole lesson of the last day of Unleavened Bread. “And the LORD shall help them and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him” (Psa. 37:27-40, KJV). So you see how this ties right in with the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. There are some great psalms here for us to go through and for us to see.

Now let’s come to Psalm 18 since we’re right close here. And I tell you what – going through the psalms and understanding the psalms when you are in trouble and difficulty really helps give you faith and understanding. So what you do when you pray, you take your Bible and you open it up and you read these words and you use these words as your words and your prayer, and let them become a part of the way that you think and pray, and ask God to give you the strength and understanding to be able to do so.

Notice Psalm 18, and this was right after God intervened – David had a great victory over the enemies and over and from the hand of Saul so he said, verse 1: “I will love Thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in Whom I will trust…” See, not on his bow to defend himself, not on his own abilities – and David had a lot of abilities, but he was put into a situation where he had to trust in God. “…My buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the LORD, Who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.” Now notice how bad it got. Verse 4: “The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry came before Him, even into His ears.” So much so that he said He came and the ground shook and the heavens were dark, and the lightning and thunder, and fighting against the enemy, and all of that sort of thing.

Now come over here to verse 19. Remember, this will always happen: When there is a difficulty or problem and God needs to fight for you, there will be a resolution of it. As David says: “He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me, because He delighted in me.” See, because we do the things that are pleasing to God. And because we do that doesn’t mean we won’t have trials and difficulties. That means we are trusting God to help us, you see. “The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath He recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.” That’s the key: we all have sin we need to overcome. God knows that. As long as they are forgivable sins, God will forgive.

Now let’s come over here to verse 28: “For thou wilt light my candle…” In other words God is going to give us light and understanding. “…The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness. For by Thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.” So there will be times when you’ll be able to avoid problems and difficulties, see. Notice verse 30, his attitude. This is what we need to understand. See, rather than be like the children of Israel when things don’t work out the way that they should, or we see someone who we think ought to be perfect, and no man is perfect. You aren’t and I’m not and no one is you see, but here’s the key: “As for God, His way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried…” It is refined, and it’s refined in fire so that it is pure. “…He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him. For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God? It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon my high places. He teacheth my hands to war…” Now they actually had battles then, but you see, our fight is a spiritual fight, so the New Testament teaches us the warfare and what we need and how we need to overcome because we are not fighting against flesh and blood, but against wicked spirits and powers and principalities in high places, so we need God to teach us how we need to do that.

Now verse 35: “Thou hast also given me the shield of Thy salvation…” and Paul talks about that, doesn’t he? “…And Thy right hand hath holden me up, and Thy gentleness hath made me great.” (Psa. 18:1-6, 19-21, 28-35, KJV). Quite a psalm. Read the whole psalm and what God did to intervene and help David.

Now let’s come here to Psalm 44. Again, all the way through the psalms it shows the way of deliverance. It’s almost like every one of these psalms reminds me of that Moses is standing there holding the rod over the Red Sea, and God is making it happen. Verse 1: “We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work Thou didst in their days, in the times of old.” That’s why we have it recorded for us. You know, it’s very interesting that God says in Romans 10 that He raised Pharaoh up for the very purpose of preaching His Word to the ends of the world. And is that not true? It’s written there and that’s why every year we go through the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover, and what does it do? It proves that God’s purpose in preserving the Word is true.

“How Thou didst drive out the heathen with Thy hand, and plantedst them; how Thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out. For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but Thy right hand, and Thine arm, and the light of Thy countenance, because Thou hadst a favour unto them. Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob.” That’s quite a thing. What we need to do, brethren, is ask God to command deliverance for His church, and deliverance for His people that we grow spiritually and change and overcome. That we don’t fall victim to the same problems that other people have fallen into and go back into the world. Remember the lesson there in I Corinthians 10 and Revelation 2 and 3. We have those things to fight and guard against constantly.

Now come down here to verse 6: “For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. But Thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us.” And there we finish off with verse 8: “In God we boast all the day long, and praise Thy name for ever” (Psa. 44:1-4, 6-8, KJV). That’s what we need to do in trusting God to help us, to save us, to fight our battles for us. And so we’ll take a little break now and we’ll come back.