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Biblical Truth Ministries: “…the truth shall set you free”

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 “…That ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.”  And brethren you need to understand that.  This world is in darkness, utter darkness.  And we’ll also see the darkness as a type of sin.  And He’s called us into His glorious, marvelous light.

Now notice verse 10, “Which in time past were not a people [he’s writing to Gentiles here], but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.  Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul…”  And that’s all a part of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, abstaining from the fleshly lusts, overcoming the battle within, overcoming the battle with Satan the devil, overcoming the battle with the world.  That is all absolutely a part of it.

Now let’s come to John 12, and let’s see something very important here.  And let’s keep this in mind, He’s called us into His glorious and marvelous light.  He has called us out of darkness.  And this Feast of Unleavened Bread pictures a time when we are to be walking in God’s way, that is in the light. 

Now here John 12:35, “Then Jesus said unto them, yet a little while is the light with you.”  That is Christ talking.  He was with them just a little while physically.  Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you…”  Now here’s something very important.  If you’re not walking in the light of Christ you will walk in darkness.  And what is that scripture there…Darkness covers the earth and the people walk in darkness and live in darkness.  But Christ the light, arose and shined.

Now notice continuing here.  “…For he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.”  That’s what happens.  If you’re out in the world you don’t know why you’re here.  You don’t know who God is.  You don’t know what life is all about.  You don’t have a clue where you are going.  And if you get wrapped up in some religion in this world they may bring you a little light but you’re still walking in darkness.  “While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light” (John 12:35-36).  So brethren, let’s follow this theme a little more closely here.  Let’s understand what we are to do.

Now let’s come to the book of Proverbs.  Proverbs 4:18.  We are to walk in this light.  We are to come out of the darkness.  And that’s what this Feast of Unleavened Bread is all about, and how we are to do it, and the way we are to do it.  Casting the leaven out, casting the darkness out, casting the sin out.  Getting rid of these things out of our lives.  Here’s the contrast.  And the Proverbs are marvelous because they show the contrast.  One and then the other.  Verse 18, “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”  Now this is a prophecy of us shining more and more unto that perfect day.  And what is the perfect day?  The perfect day has got to be the resurrection.  No doubt about it.  

Now let’s notice the contrast.  “The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.”  Just like Jesus said, if you walk in the darkness you don’t know where you’re going.  And brethren, God has called us into His marvelous light.

Now let’s see what happened to the children of Israel when they got rid of God’s way.  Let’s come back to the book of 1 Kings.  As we’re going back here to the book of 1 Kings 16, let’s understand something very important.  When God split the kingdom between the northern 10 tribes and the tribe of Judah, and Levi, and Benjamin, when He split them off Jeroboam was made king.  God gave him the promise and said to Jeroboam, “If you walk in My ways, and if you will do what I ask you to do then I will give you a dynasty just like I promised to David.”  But he wouldn’t do it.  And what did he do?  He set up the two calves, one in Dan and one in Bethel.  He changed the feast from the seventh month to the eighth month for the Feast of Tabernacles.  And he set up idols, and built an altar, and he himself was high priest.  And so Jeroboam the son of Nebat, was known as one of the most evil…as a matter of fact he is the epitome of the evil of the kings of the house of Israel.  And Manasseh is the epitome of the evil of the kings of house of Judah. 

Now here in 1 Kings 16:29, let’s see something here that’s very important.  What happens when people go back into the world and walk in darkness and walk in the way of sin?  “And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years.  And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him.”  So this was really a tremendous thing that happened here.  “And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat…”  So here we find even Ahab was worse than Jeroboam.  The only reason that he ended up not being worse than Jeroboam was that Ahab did repent.  But notice what’s said here.  “…That he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.  And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.  And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him” (1 Kings 16:29-33). 

Now you see what happens when a little leaven leavens the whole lump.  It grows and it grows and it grows and it grows.  And because there is profit in sin, because there is pleasure in sin, and because God doesn’t come and immediately cut you off then people begin to think well then they’re all right.  But the day of reckoning comes.  But you see for us every year we are to examine ourselves before the Passover, as we have done.  And every year we are to get sin out of our lives, which we do.  Every year we are to look again to the sacrifice of Christ and the grace of God, and the blood of Christ to lead us through the power of His Holy Spirit to walk in righteousness.

Now let’s come to Proverbs 2, and this becomes quite an important thing for us to understand, how God will show us the way to discern the way between right and wrong, and good and evil, and light and darkness.  Now here in Proverbs 2:10, “When wisdom entereth into thine heart…”  And I’ll tell you something brethren, wisdom cannot enter into your heart unless you become unleavened in Christ.  When there’s vanity and foolishness and self-serving, those are all a lack of wisdom.  The true wisdom comes from Christ, having the mind of Christ, having the Spirit of Christ. 

“When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee…” Now here’s what it will do.  “To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things…”, or that is perverse things.  And these men are the ones “…who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness…” (Prov. 2:10-13).  So it is to keep you from those things.  And the true wisdom comes from Christ.

Now let’s come to Psalm 81.  Let’s see how important this is that we come out of darkness and we walk in light.  Psalm 81:8, “Hear, O My people, and I will testify unto thee…”  Will you listen to God?  Will you hear His voice?  “…O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto Me; there shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.”  That’s the ultimate of a little leaven leavens the whole lump.  “I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.  But My people would not hearken to My voice; and Israel would [have] none of Me.  So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.”  And that’s what happens, you see, when there’s so much leaven that comes in, and there’s nothing but sin, and there’s nothing but evil, and there’s nothing but darkness then God gives them over to all of their own lusts.  “Oh that My people had hearkened unto Me, and Israel had walked in My ways!  I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned My hand against their adversaries.  The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto Him: but their time should have endured for ever.  He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat…” (Psa. 81:8-16), and so forth.  In other words God would have blessed them.  All of the difficulties and problems that Israel had was because they wanted to go their way and not walk in the way of life of God.

Now let’s come to John 3 and let’s see something concerning the light.  Let’s see what Jesus said, and let’s see how it is that human beings respond.  Let’s see what they like.  Let’s see what they love and how difficult it is for those who are in the world to become unleavened and follow God. 

Let’s begin in John 3:16 because this is the whole statement of God and His whole mission purpose, as it were. “For God so loved the world…”, and God loved you.  And God does love you and still loves you and wants to love you more, and wants to love you even more perfectly, and wants to love you even personally when you are resurrected to be in the Kingdom of God.  “…That He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  And so this is all a part of God’s plan.  And the way that you believe in Him, at that is that you believe with all your heart and you commit with all your soul, and all your mind, and all your being.

Verse 17, “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.”  And ultimately God is going to do this.  God is going to save the world.  And the rest of the holy days show exactly how God is going to do that especially beginning with Trumpets on down through Atonement, Tabernacles and the Last Great Day. 

Now verse 18, “He that believeth on Him is not condemned…”  Now you need to understand that.  We’ll cover that a little bit later, but you are not condemned if you are in Christ.  “…But he that believeith not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world…”, and Christ said, “I am the light of the world. If you walk in the light darkness shall not overtake you.”  “…But men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For every one that doeth evil [that is practices evil] hateth the light…”  That’s why there’s so much hatred in the world today.  That’s why people believe so many lies.  And we are living in a world of wonder fantasy in everything that is in the world.  The only reality is that they are living a lie.  They don’t understand the reality that’s going to hit them when finally they come to the end of the bubble and the lie bursts and there they are. 

Now notice verse 20, “For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.  But he that doeth truth [or the one who is practicing the truth, as the way it should read] cometh to the light…”  And that’s why God has these annual feasts that every year we renew, we come back to God, we keep our course steady, we keep it straight, we keep heading toward God and the Kingdom of God, and overcoming year by year, and month by month, and day by day coming to the light.  “…That his deeds may be made manifest…”, and of course also to repent, “…that they were wrought in God” (vs. 20–21).  In other words Christ in them was activating and motivating them to live the way that they lived, but notice you are coming to, you are walking in the light. 

Now there’s a strange phenomenon that happens, which is this.  Once you are in the light, if you turn around and turn your back on the light you will still seem like you are in the light though you’re walking away from it because the light is shining.  And then you walk a little further, and a little further and it gets a little darker but you get accustomed to that.  And you walk a little further and it still gets a little darker yet and you get accustomed to that and pretty soon you’re back in the darkness of the blackness of total sin.  So that’s why we have to keep coming to the light, keep coming to Christ.  Keep knowing and understanding His ways.

Now let’s go to Psalm 43 so we can understand that light and truth go together.  The light of God and the truth of God go together.  That’s why Jesus Christ said, “I am the way”, that’s the way we are to live, “the truth” no other truth, and “the life”.  Now we’ll see part of this back here in Psalm 43:3.  “O send out Thy light and Thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto Thy holy hill, and to Thy tabernacles.”  Now brethren let’s understand that spiritually.  This is also a prophecy of how we are to live, how we are to walk, how we are to be led.  Now where is the holy hill?  He’s talking about Mt. Zion at the resurrection.  “And unto Your tabernacle,” and that’s where the throne of God is.  The tabernacles of God dwells with men as we find there in Revelation 21 in the completing of God’s plan.  “Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy [so that you can have joy and happiness in your Christian living.  “…Yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.  Why art thou cast down, O my soul?”  So what David doing was coming to God to get out of a depression.  He was depressed, his soul was cast down.  “Why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God…”  And that’s what this whole Feast of Unleavened Bread is for.  To have hope in God.  “…For I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God” (Psa. 43:3-5).  Not only for the health for your physical body but the health of your spiritual well-being. 

Now let’s come back to the epistle of 1 John, clear back into the New Testament.  Remember it says, send out your light and your truth and let them lead me.  Now let’s come back here to 1 John 1, and let’s see something very important.  Now if you don’t have our series on 1 John you can write in for it and we’ll send you the booklet, “The Seven General Epistles”, and that will help you go through James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2, 3 John and Jude.  There are a lot of lessons for us here.

But let’s pick it up here in 1 John 1:5, “This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”  And James says there is not even any variance or shadow of turning.  Now you need to understand that concerning the word of God.  If anyone says that God did not mean what He said, he is a liar.  Let’s go on.  “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth” (1 John 1:5-6).  And “do” there comes from the Greek poieo, which means to practice.  So if you’re in darkness you can’t be doing the truth because the truth is light, as we just saw.  Send out your light and your truth.  So there are many that way who think they are doing God’s way but they’re not.  So if you’re walking in darkness you can’t be doing the truth because the darkness has blinded your eyes to the truth and you don’t know it.  And the greatest darkness that you can get into is have a little bit of truth mixed in with a whole lot of error. 

Now notice, verse 7, “But if we walk in the light [notice condition “if”], as He [Christ] is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”  You are sinless before God, did you know that?  And that’s what the Feast of Unleavened Bread is all about.  Now I’m going to bring a sermon for the Sabbath during Unleavened Bread, being unleavened in Christ, and we’ll see how that is. 

Verse 8, “If we say that we have no sin [we have nothing to repent of or that we don’t have a sinful nature], we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”  So again, two strikes against the truth, walking in darkness and saying you have no sin.  Now notice verse 9, “If we confess our sins [that’s the key to becoming sinless], He is faithful and just 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. 8-10).

Now let’s notice how we are to walk.  Let’s come over here to 1 John 2:3, “And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.”  And part of the commandment was inspired through the apostle Paul, “Therefore let us keep the feast.”  So we are, the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  That’s part of His commandment right?  And if we do know that we know Him, if we’re keeping His commandments that’s how we know.  Anyone who’s not keeping the commandments of God does not know God.  It doesn’t matter what they profess.  It doesn’t matter what they write.  It doesn’t matter what they think.  Because it says right here, verse 4, “He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected…”  And that’s the whole thing.  This Feast of Unleavened Bread is to perfect us even a little more from last year.  And next year, and the next year, and the next year beyond that to perfect us in the love of God.  “…Hereby know we that we are in Him.”  God doesn’t want us to be in doubt.  He doesn’t want us to believe in something we’re not sure of.  We know because we keep His commandments. 

Now notice the result of this is verse 6 how we ought to walk.  “He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.”  And Christ walked in the light and He is the light.  That’s how we are to live our lives.

Now let’s come over here to 2 John 6, and it talks about again walking, because you see the Feast of Unleavened Bread pictures the Exodus for the children of Israel.  And the Feast of Unleavened Bread for us pictures the Exodus out of the world.  And this tells us how we are to be out of the world.  “And this is love, that we walk after His commandments.  This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.  For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.  This is a deceiver and an anti-christ” (2 John 6-7).  And these deceivers carry the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees of old time and also of modern time.  Those ministers who say that Christ did it all for you, you don’t have to do anything.  Look if you are in the liberty of Christ, you’re in the liberty of not having sin imputed to you.  You are not at liberty to not keep His commandments.  So you see the difference there?  Christ delivered us from sin.  He didn’t deliver us from commandment keeping.  He delivered us from darkness to walk in His light.

Now continuing on.  “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.  This is a deceiver and an anti-christ.  Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward” (vs. 7-8).  And brethren, that is true.  You have to be careful how you’re building on that foundation of Christ that you receive the full reward.  

Here, hold your place and let’s go to 1 Corinthians 3.  And this is very important for you to understand.  What are you building on that foundation of Jesus Christ, and how are you building it?  Are you walking in the light as He is in the light?  Are you coming to the light?  Are you walking as He walked or are you becoming laxadazical as we live in this age of the Laodiceans who are lukewarm and have need of nothing.  And they are not watching how that they are building on the foundation from Christ. 

1 Corinthians 3:10, “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon.  But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon.  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones…” (1 Cor. 3:10-12), the jewels of true spiritual righteousness if you could put it that way.  And also in understanding that Christ told the Laodiceans to buy of Him gold tried in the fire.  That’s why we’re going through all the trials that we are going through now.  Because the fire is not the tribulation alone.  The fire represents the trials that you go through.  We’ll see that here in just a minute.  So are you building the gold, silver, precious stones, the precious jewels of true righteousness, or are you building wood, hay, and stubble?  

Now wood, hay, and stubble is very interesting.  Wood can have a veneer and look really nice.  And as a matter of fact, even iron wood is very hard to burn.  But it’s still wood and still can be burned up.  Now then hay is fodder that you feed cattle, so there is still some little value in it but not very much.  Stubble is that which is left over after the hay and after the grain has been harvested.  And stubble is that which can blow up and explode almost on it’s own just like some of these grain storage centers have done.  They get too much stubble in there and it builds up and then it gets real hot and BOOM, it explodes of itself and there’s a great fire and everything is burned up.

Now notice here, verse 13, “Every man’s word shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it [and that is the day of the trial], because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.”  And Peter said, “Don’t think it strange concerning the fiery trials which have come upon you.”  That’s why when we read back there that the Lord delivers us from all of our fears and saves us out of all of our troubles, it’s important to understand God will bring us through that.  And if you come through that, delivered from all of them, then you have the building there of gold, and silver, and precious stone.  But if you give up, and if you waver and you fall and you go back into the world, or you sin greatly then you’re building wood, hay, and stubble, and the fire is going to try it. 

Now verse 15, “If any [every] man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”  So you’re going to lose what you have wrought.  That’s why back here in 2 John 8 it says…let’s go back there now…that’s why he says, “Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought [or have worked already], but that we [you shall] receive a full reward.”  Because if it’s burned up you have no reward.  So you need to understand that.  And that’s how it’s so important that the Feast of Unleavened Bread is brethren.  And we need to resolve, come to God, repent of our sins, examine ourselves, see where we’re falling short.  Ask God to help us, ask God to uplift us, ask God to help us walk in His light and walk in His truth, and walk in His commandments, and walk in love, and do the things that are pleasing in to Him.  That’s so important.

Ok, let’s continue on here.  Let’s come to Psalm 26.  Again, that’s why David experienced so many trials.  He experienced these trials, he wrote of them to give us encouragement, to help us realize that God will help us, to help us understand, that God will be there.  Psalm 26:1, “Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity.”  Now we’re going to show that this judging… God is constantly judging us now.  Judgment is upon the house of God now.  God is judging us all the time, you see.  “I have walked in mine integrity [which we will see is really the integrity of the commandments of God in just a minute]: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide.  Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart” (Psa.26:1-2).  Now that’s why we are to prove ourselves whether we are in Christ or not.  That’s why we are to examine ourselves before the Passover and let God do the proving, let God do the testing.  And let it be that God finds us in a repentant attitude and a humble mind and a willing heart, or a tender heart as we have gone through with the heart/mind connection to have the heart of David and the mind of Christ. 

“…Try my reins and my heart.  For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in Thy truth” (vs. 2-3).  That’s how we are to walk brethren.  Isn’t that something?  Walk in the light, walk in the truth, walk away from darkness.  Let God give us the wisdom to open our minds, to open our hearts so that we can see that we don’t walk with deceivers and vain men and false doctrine, and self-serving and all of the leaven of the flesh.  That’s why we keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  It’s very important that we understand that.

Now let’s come back here to Galatians 5 and we will see something very important, how we are to walk.  Now this gives an added dimension to our walk because we don’t do it by ourselves.  We do it by the power of the Holy Spirit.  And the way that we overcome is through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Let’s come back here to Galatians 5:16.  “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”  Now that’s how you overcome.  You walk in God’s love. You walk in His commandments.  You walk in His truth.  And if you’re doing that you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 

But what happens if you don’t?  Let’s go back to verse 15, and this is what we’ve seen happen here recently in the Church, and it’s been going on.  Verse 15, “But if ye bit and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.”  And so also during this Feast of Unleavened Bread there needs to be forgiveness.  There needs to be understanding.  There needs to be reconciliation.  Because all of those things can also be part of the sin that you have.  Remember Jesus said that if you have anything against your brother, even as He was saying there in Matthew 5, He didn’t even want them to put the gift on the altar.  He said, “You leave your gift and you go your way and be reconciled to your brother first.”  Now if there are anything that you need to do with that then be reconciled to your brother.  Now sometimes there are those who just absolutely throw the gauntlet down and run off on their own and there’s virtually little that you can do to be reconciled to them.  But pray for them anyway.  Now over here he repeats it in verse 25.  He says, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”  And so that’s how we are to walk, how we are to live. 

Now notice between these verses we have quite a bit having to do concerning human nature, comparing the way of human nature and walking in the Spirit with the fruits of the Spirit.  Verse 19, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies…”  Sounds like I’m giving a review of the televisions, right?  Yes because that’s the way it is.  “…Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal 5:19-21).  That’s why we are to put the leaven out.  That’s why we are to put the sin out.  That’s why we are to ask God to help us overcome the vanity, overcome the self, overcome all of the lust of the flesh. 

“But the fruit of the Spirit [if we are living by the Spirit, and walking in the Spirit you see] is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (vs. 22-23).  In other words when you are doing these things there is no law that you are breaking.  As a matter of fact you are fulfilling and you are doing what God wants you to.

Now let’s come over here to Ephesians 5, just a few pages over, and this also tells us how we are to walk, what we are to follow.  Ephesians 5:1, “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children…”  Just like the little children that Jesus said, “Allow the little children to come to me.”  And He said, “I tell you unless you become like a little child, such as one of these, you shall in no way enter into the Kingdom of heaven.”  So likewise Paul confirms that.  “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children…”, willing, humble, serving, loving, kind, all the fruits of the Spirit of God, as dear children.  That you truly love God with all your heart, all your mind, with all your soul, and all your being.  And ask God to help you do that.  Ask God to give you His Spirit that you may walk that way.

Verse 2, “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us…”  And that’s why we had the words of the New Covenant.  And when we go through the Passover on the Passover night we read the very words of Jesus Christ, “Love each other as I have loved you.”  “…And hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”  And so all of our sins have been removed.  Count all of your sins as leaven and Christ has removed them, and now you have been renewed by taking the Passover.  And now you are coming to God in this Feast of Unleavened Bread so that you can put sin out, just like you put leaven out of your homes you can put sin out.  And this is something that we need to work on. 

Now notice what he says verse 3, “But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness [which we saw are all the works of the flesh], let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.  For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, which is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God” (vs. 3-5).  Now Paul was very straightforward there with it, wasn’t he?  Yes. 

“Let no man deceive you with vain words…”, because there were those coming around with their vain words and twisting and turning the scriptures as we saw in a case in 1 Corinthians where this man was having incest with his stepmother.  And their glorying was not good and the leaven was leavening the whole church.  And the church was going down in an inglorious blaze of destruction.  And I do believe personally, that the church at Corinth was one of the very first churches to leave when Paul died.  I think that they went into idolatry and all of those things almost immediately.  It was all that Paul could do.  He said, “Examine yourselves whether you are in Christ or not.  Know you not that Christ is in you else you be reprobates?”  And so those were pretty stern words.  Now he’s saying here, “Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience” (vs. 6).  So here again we see you are either the children of obedience or disobedience.  If you are obedient you are walking in the light.  If you’re disobedient you’re walking in the darkness.  The darkness blinds your eyes and you don’t know where you’re going.

Verse 7, “Be not ye therefore partakers with them.  For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord; walk as children of light.”  And that’s what Jesus said.  “(For the fruit of the spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)”  That is the true unleavenedness in Christ.  “Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.  and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather [expose] reprove them” (vs. 7-11).  It says reprove here but it means to expose them.  To show sin for what sin is.  And during the Feast of Unleavened Bread that’s what Christ wants us to do.  To show what sin is, to show what righteousness is, to show what truth is, to show what error is and to realize that there is a firm dividing line between them and we are not to mix them.  We are not to bring them together.  We are not to do these things in that way. 

Here come back to 1 Corinthians 10.  Let’s go back there and see what Christ said.  As we come back to 1 Corinthians 10 this is not what Christ said, I was mistaken there, but this is what Paul wrote as inspired by Christ.  Now he says here in verse 20, “But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to [demons] devils, and not to God…”  He’s showing clearly you can’t mix the religions of this world with the way of God.  “…And I would not that ye should have fellowship with [demons] devils.”  And that then becomes the ultimate with walking in darkness because Satan is the lord of darkness. 

Now notice verse 21, “Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of [demons] devils; ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of [demons] devils.”  And that has a direct reference to the Passover.  That’s why those who have gone off and have allowed the leaven in their lives and in their churches and in their organizations to come to such a great height that they have gone back into total darkness. That’s what happened.  And notice, do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?  Are we stronger than He?  Can we do these things and get away with them?  No.

Now let’s come back to Ephesians 5 where he says expose them.  And Paul did.  Verse 12, “For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.  But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.  Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” (vs. 12-14).  And so let’s do that for this Feast of Unleavened Bread.  Let’s let Christ wake us up.  Have Christ intervene in our lives with His Spirit to lead us, to guide us, to help us to walk in His way, to walk in His truth.  And rededicate ourselves to God in a greater way, asking for His Spirit, asking for His truth, asking for His love and His mercy and His grace and His kindness to lead us and help us to get all leaven out of our lives. 

So therefore brethren, let’s keep this feast not with the leaven of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.  And then we will be truly walking in the light and in God’s way.