2023 Last Day of Unleavened Bread: April 12, 2023

 2023 Last Day of Unleavened Bread                           April 12, 2023  

 

·      How did it go this last week? 

·      Did we eat Unleavened Bread every day during the Feast? 

·      Are we already tired of the Unleavened Bread? 

·      Are we ready for some bread, like a hamburger, ice cream cone, and regular bread or hot rolls? 

 

What I ask now, what are we going to do going forward.  We are on the last day of Unleavened Bread.  We ate unleavened bread through the 7 days of Unleavened Bread.  We are to go on in this Way of Life, following Jesus, our Lord and Creator.

 

We are recognizing that Jesus is Unleavened, no sin, and we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit and symbolically we do not want to put leaven into Temple during this time. 

 

Leviticus 23:4 These are the LORD's appointed feasts, sacred assemblies that you are to declare at their appointed time.

 

Exodus 12:15 You are to eat unleavened bread for seven days. On the first day be sure to remove all the leaven from your houses, because any person who eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh will be cut off from Israel. 

 

Exodus 12:16 Also, on the first day you're to hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day you're to hold a holy assembly. No work is to be done during those days, except for preparing what is to be eaten by each person.

 

That is what we did on the first day and now this last Day of Unleavened Bread.

 

Remember, we already covered leaven which represents sin on the First High Day, and we are to put sin out of our lives or out of us, the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  (17)  If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

 

2 Corinthians 6:16 What agreement can a temple of God make with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said: "I will live and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people." 

 

2 Corinthians 6:17-18 Therefore, "Get away from them and separate yourselves from them," declares the Lord, "and don't touch anything unclean. Then I will welcome you.  (18)  I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters," declares the Lord Almighty.

 

We are to come out from among the world and be separate and to be a light to the world.  How are we a light to the world?

 

Matthew 5:14-15 "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  (15)  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 

 

Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

 

John 17:11 I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by your name, the name that you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 

 

John 17:12 While I was with them, I protected them by the authority that you gave me. I guarded them, and not one of them became lost except the one who was destined for destruction, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

       

 

John 17:13-14 "And now I am coming to you, and I say these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.  (14)  I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

 

John 17:15-16 I am not asking you to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one.  (16)  They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

 

John 17:17-18 "Sanctify them by the truth. Your word is truth.  (18)  Just as you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.  {that is us that Jesus sent into the world}

 

Why, because we are ambassadors for Christ.  How we act, talk, and respond is looked at by the world (everyone that is around us).  We imitate those who we respect and follow.  We are put out in front of everyone to see us and grade what our Lord Jesus is like.

 

Example:  we look at a child and see their mannerism and how they imitate their parents.  A father with their child walking beside them.  Do we become like our father or mother as we grow older in age.

 

2 Corinthians 5:20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

 

One of the commandments (3): 

 

Exodus 20:7 "You are not to misuse the name of the LORD your God, because the LORD will not leave the one who misuses his name unpunished.

 

This means far more than swearing or profanity, but Ambassadorship.  If we are going to take the name of the King, we better be prepared to represent the Father faithfully.

 

·      We know we are ambassadors, and then we call ourselves Christians or Believers, taking the name of Christ upon ourselves.

·      If we claim to be Christ's disciples, and yet we don't live as one who has taken the name of Christ should, then we are misusing His Name.

 

Why do I say this, because the Apostle Paul tells us:

 

Romans 2:24 As it is written, "God's name is being blasphemed among the gentiles because of you."  {from Isaiah 52:5}

 

·      If our actions are in the Way of Death (which are the works of the flesh) and the wicked, then we will be blaspheming the name of God. 

·      If our actions are in the Way of Life that Jesus taught, lived and instructed, then the Way we live our Lives shows the fruit of the Spirit. 

 

Yes, we are Ambassadors, Lights to the World and the Temple of the living God and how we act and react to people in the world will reflex on the Creator God.

 

Paul tells us that God has entrusted His Servants with the gospel: 

 

1 Thessalonians 2:4 On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts.

 

1 Corinthians 15:2-4 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.  (3)  For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,  (4)  that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

 

As an ambassador, we are to be like:

 

Matthew 10:16 "See, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So be as cunning as serpents and as innocent as doves.

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

 

Remember, Paul tells us we are Unleavened and we are to keep the feast with sincerely and truth.

 

There are consequences for our actions in our Life.  The decisions we make today will affect us and our families now and later on in our life.  {old age}

 

·      We are to give all Glory to God by the way we live our lives.

·      The Christian Churches today have water down Jesus teaching that now, religious beliefs and actions literally have no impact on how Christians are to live their lives. Do we, as part of the Body, do this.

·      On church day, as a whole, Christians live one way and on the other six days, live another way. 

·      They do not believe the Words of Jesus or His instructions found in the Scriptures.

 

When we as individuals or as a nation choose the “Way of death” instead of the “Way of life”, then the Judgment of God will be on the individuals and nations. 

 

Why again are we here in the flesh because we are to follow the commands of our Lord Jesus to show we Love Him and to walk in obedience to His words and follow His example and be living examples to other individuals. 

 

Jesus from the scriptures calls how we live “Way of Life” or “Way of death”. 

 

Proverbs 14:12  {16:25} There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the Way of Death.

 

Where did the term “Way of Life” come from?

Proverbs 10:17 He who keeps instruction is in the Way of Life, But he who refuses correction goes astray.

 

Jesus gives us a direct statement to live our lives in a certain Way.  Jesus said,

John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

 

How we live a Christian life, shows how bright or dim our light shines.

Jesus tells us about the two different and contrasting Ways of Life we can live.

 

Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you Life and Death, Blessing and Cursing; therefore choose Life, that both you and your descendants may live;

 

Deuteronomy 30:20 Love the LORD your God, obey his voice, and cling to him, because he is your life—even your long life—so that you may live in the land that the LORD promised to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

 

·      So, now what are we to do for this next year.

·      We are to let our light shine in our sphere of influence. 

·      We can only influence by our actions with those who we are around.  Work, family, going to the store, doctor’s office, Home Care workers, fueling up our vehicles, driving our vehicles, defensive driving, etc. 

 

What is the most important work that can be done on this planet, right now.

 

Preaching and Publishing

 

What specific thing did Jesus tell us to do.

 

 

 

Matthew 28:18-19 Then Jesus came up and told them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  (19)  Therefore, as you go, disciple people in all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 

 

Matthew 28:20 teaching them to obey everything that I've commanded you. And remember, I am with you each and every day until the end of the age."

 

Mark 16:15-16 Then he told them, "As you go into all the world, proclaim the gospel to everyone.  (16)  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever doesn't believe will be condemned.

 

1 Peter 3:14-15 But even if you should suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. "Never be afraid of their threats, and never get upset.  (15)  Instead, exalt Jesus as Lord in your lives. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you to explain the hope you have. 

 

1 Peter 3:16 But do this gently and respectfully, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak evil of your good conduct in Jesus will be ashamed of slandering you.

 

Preach: Interesting word; “Kerusso {Kay Roos So} can be translated as divine truth, preach, proclaim, and publish. 

 

We are to proclaim, preach, and publish the gospel to everyone.  Our actions speaks louder than any words we will ever speak. 

 

Interesting, in some ways, we are publishing with our church website. 

 

It seems we are going into all the world in our small part.  With the internet and other communication devices, the Gospel is going out to the world.

 

 

 

·      I read somewhere; I would rather see a sermon than hear one. 

·      Meaning, our living example, our light, is more powerful than what we might say or preach. 

·      Our example must glorify our Father in Heaven.

·      Remember, as we go out into the public, people are always looking at Christians and see what we are doing with our light. 

·      Since we are ambassadors for our Lord Jesus, think of this when we do things.

 

Mark 13:10 But first, the gospel must be {preach, proclaim, or publish} to all nations.  It can be any of the 3 words.

 

So we are to study Jesus words, to grow in grace, knowledge, and to learn the Way of Life that Jesus instructed us to learn.

 

The Apostle Paul tells us:

 

1 Corinthians 9:16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about, for this obligation has been entrusted to me. How terrible it would be for me if I didn't preach the gospel! 

 

Some translation uses Woe instead of terrible,

 

·      Sharing the Words of Jesus is not an optional thing for a Believer. 

·      It is what Jesus tells us to do as a Believer, a member of the Bride and a Saint in the Body of Jesus.

 

Stay close in prayer and study, to our Lord Jesus

 

This is what we should be doing as we go forward to the next feast and High Day, Day of Pentecost.