|
First Day of
Unleavened Bread 4-5-08 Sermonette- Bill Behrer Hypocracy-Forgiveness-Unity Good afternoon everyone. For those of
you who were at services yesterday you saw Mr. Railston place this beautiful
twenty-five thousand year old plaque, from the time of Nebuchadnezzar, on the lecturne. And
at the end of the sermon they called my name for the closing prayer and my
wife leaned over and said; "don't touch the podium!"
All she could see was me kind of leaning on
it and this careening downward, so. Well, we want to thank all of those who made the Passover so
beautiful. All the arrangements that were so
necessary to make sure that everything ran so well and certainly for all
those who arranged the afternoon and evening of the Night to be Much
Observed, when we gathered here together. And all
those of you in your homes. A very special time and
we welcome Chris and Nick back from A.B.C. as part of the family here in the
local area to have them out at home office at the A.B.C. is a tremendous,
tremendous thing and we certainly welcome them back. And
I think everybody can see what a fine representation of young people we have
from this congregation. Lets turn over to Colossians chapter three, cause here we are,
brethren, gathered on the first Day of Unleavened Bread. We
are here to worship God and to practice a time that is so very special, but, you know, you and I have been called out to change
each and every day, haven't we? You and I have been called to become mor like God, The Father
and Jesus Christ in our lives, everyday, but God in His wisdom knows knows
that you and I need refresher programs. In His
wisdom and understanding of human nature, He's called us here together today
during the Days of Unleavened Bread to picture something. To
picture something so very special and so lets begin reading here in
Colossians three verse one. Where told here under
the inspiration of God, and Mr. Railston yesterday went over that in detail. He showed us how awesome our God is and how we need to
release ourself and to understand the plan and purpose He has for each and everyone of us. Col.3:1-2 "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. v.2 Set your
affection on things above, not on things on the earth. v.3 For ye are dead,
and your life is hid with Christ in God. v.4 When Christ, who
is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. v.5 Mortify therefore your members which
are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil
concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: v.6 For which things' sake the wrath of
God cometh on the children of disobedience: v.7 In the which ye
also walked some time, when ye lived in them." And during these Days of Unleavened Bread don't we become
conscious of how we once walked? Before God opened
your mind and my mind to His truth, before God opened our understanding and
gave us His Spirit through the sacrifice of His Son and our repentance, we walked just as everybody else
walked. And through human tendancy we can have the
tendancy to still walk incorrectly and go to God and we ask for repentance
and we ask to be forgiven, but during these days especially, as we search for
the leaven, God wants us to be very much aware: v.7 "In the which
ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. v.8 But now ye also
put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out
of your mouth. v.9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye
have put off the old man with his deeds; - and these days symbolize that. Each and every day as we prepared, as we put leavening
out of our house, we were told to consciously think about the old man- the
sin that still lies in each of us cause we're human beings. v.10 " And have put on the new man,
which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: v.11 Where there is
neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian,
bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all." And so, I know each of us, as we've been preparing for these
days, have been going through certain things and maybe we've made check lists. What I'd like to do is share a
few items on my check list, that I know that I have to struggle with and
thought that, perhaps, in the sermonette time it might help you to understand
some of the things that you too might be struggling with. The first is found over in Matthew 23. Because
God gives us these days to specifically dwell on how it is that you and I
live our lives and how it is that as human beings you and I still fall short
of that mark that we have to aspire for and in Matthew 23 we'll pick up the
thought in verse 23. Our savior says: Matthew 23:23-25 " Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe
of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the
law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to
leave the other undone. v.24 Ye blind guides,
which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. v.25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup
and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess." A message for us here today during Days of
Unleavened Bread as we have been looking inwardly as we have been cleaning
physically our dwellings and looking inwardly to the deep
insides of each of us. How does this apply to you
and me? v.26 " Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse
first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may
be clean also. v.27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchers,
which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's
bones, and of all uncleanness." And oh, how easy it is for we as human
beings to appear beautiful outwardly, isn't it? How
much do we prepare inwardly to reflect the very nature of our savior and
our Father in heaven? cont.v.27 "but are within full of
dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness." So, on my check list is something to look for and that's
hypocracy. To really, truly and completely, as this
Day of Unleavened Bread unfolds, to look inwardly to understand how it is,
sometimes that I need to look more at myself. And to
make sure that my insides are reflecting the love and forgiveness, the
justice and the mercy that Christ has taught us; and so, that the outside and
the inside are in harmony. Another thing on my check list is found over in Matthew
chapter six. Lets look over there because as I,
Matthew 6:14, went through the physical cleansing of my dwelling looking for
sin, I realized this is very important and God has a lesson for each of us to
understand and even more so now during these Days of Unleavened Bread. Matthew 6:14 " For if ye forgive men
their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: v.15 But if ye forgive
not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses." And we know that the parallel scripture is found in
Mark11:25&26 . Forgiveness, we are told,
brethren, that forgiving others is a key to the fact and the essence and the
where-with-all for God to be able to forgive us. That
if we're harboring something inside of us, and
through these Days of Unleavened Bread that we're going to God to cleanse on
the inside, we're missing the mark and forgiveness is something we want isn't
it? We know the story where the individual was forgiven much
because of a debt that he had. And he went to the
ruler and he pled for forgivenessm and the ruler forgave him. And yet he turned around, and with someone who owed him
far less sums of money he would not forgive him. That
is something we need to be cognisance of during these Days of Unleavened
Bread. Let us continue to understand the concept of
forgiveness and to make sure, Brethren, that we know; that if we forgive men
their trespasses our Heavenly Father will forgive ours, but if we do not
forgive men their trespasses neither will our Father in Heaven forgive ours. The third thing on my list is found in first Corinthians in
verse seventeen. We covered this the other night
during the Passover Service. It goes: "as we
gather together to partake of the bread and the wine, our Father in Heaven
looked down on His children and was very pleased." We've developed a concept that we have to be aware of because
without it we're missing the mark. And during these
Days of Unleavened Bread it needs to be something on the forefront of our
minds as we're reaching inwardly, ourselves looking, at how we can become
more like our Father and our Savior. 1Corinthians 10:17 "For we being many
are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread" And indeed we are from all different backgrounds, from all
different ethnicities, form all different races, from all different economic
backgrounds. What unifies us? What
brings us together? "For we being many are one
bread," and Brethren, we did, didn't we at the Passover Service partook of
that one bread? And the third thing on my checklist
is unity. Lets turn over to the book of Ephesians, chapter four. In Ephesians lets begin reading in chapter four, verse
four. Because the Bible is repleted with information
at how you and I need to look at each other. As we
said before, we can have different likes and dislikes and different things we
disagree on and that's okay because we're human. We're
not all yellow pencils but, Brethren, there is something that we must all
agree on and it's found here in verse four of Ephesians four. Paul writes to us here under God's inspiration. He says: Ephesians 4:4 "There is one body, and
one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; v.5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, v.6 One God and
Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." And we heard during the Passover Service too, that if God's
Spirit is not in you, it's working with you to lead you to repentance, but
once you have repented and once you have accepted God as your savior, Christ
as your Savior and you become part of the family, God dwells in you and that
unity is there through His Spirit. Lets drop down to
verse eleven. 1Corinthians 10:11 "And he gave some,
apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and
teachers;" God is not the author of confusion. God
instituted within His congregation order and discipline and why did He do
this? verse12 "For the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
v.13 Till we all come in the unity of the
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:" And I want to have a conversation with any body in this room
who's come to that point. Brethren, it's a process. We are gearing and directing ourselves to become
everyday more like our Savior, but He has put into His church order. He has put into His church teachers to help us come to that
fullness. In 1 Corinthians chapter one the apostle
Paul had to write a letter that was very hard for him to write. Lets turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter one. The apostle Paul wrote here to the brethren in
Corinthians, he said: 1Corinthians 1:10 "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that
there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in
the same mind and in the same judgment." As we go through these Days of Unleavened Bread lets turn our
attention to the trunk and what God has taught each and everyone of us. To the purpose that you and I are sitting here. To the reason we've been called out of this world and
given knowledge that is so astounding and so special and what these days
picture. He says: " Now I beseech you, brethren, by the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that
there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in
the same mind and in the same judgment." The
mind of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God that dwells in each and everyone of us. v.10 " and
that there be no divisions (or quarrels) among you; but that ye be perfectly
joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." And , brethren, it should not be so. So, in conclusion lets turn back to the book of Ephesians. We here are sitting as God's people, assembled as His
people are assembled around the world. Motivated and
led but the very Spirit that was given on the Day of Pentecost. We're not playing games, we're not a member of a social club. This isn't something we're doing one day of the week. Brethren, this is our life. You
and I are in training to change the world. You and I are in training to become part of a family that is going to
make a difference. That we have people clamoring
everyday on our television that their looking for. You
and I are given the opportunity to do that. So lets turn to Ephesians four and read in verse seventeen
because here we are gathered on the Day of Unleavened Bread; a period of time
where God has you and I constantly looking for that piece of leavening, and I don't know about you, but doughnuts never looked so attractive
as they do this time of year. I can go for a cup of
coffee and never want a doughnut, but during the Days of Unleavened Bread
that Ephesians 4:17 "This I say therefore,
and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk,
in the vanity of their mind" And we recognize, brethren, that people wake up, they go to
sleep and they have no hope. In effect
it's a futility of the mind. v.18 "Having the understanding
darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is
in them, because of the blindness of their heart:" Brethren, that ignorance is not in you and me. We know better. We understand. We have God dwelling in us and we have the text book
which our Lord and Savior said is all we need for salvation.
If we get ourselves into it and turn to Him for the guidance that comes from
Him alone. v.19 " Who
being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work
all uncleanness with greediness. v.20 But ye have not so learned
Christ;" Here we are sitting in the Days of Unleavened Bread
understanding that we have a special commitment and we have a special
commission, if; v.21 "If so be that ye have heard
him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: v.22 That ye put off concerning the former
conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
" And that's what these days picture. We should do it every day, shouldn't we? These days especially. Ephesians 4:22 "That ye put off
concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to
the deceitful lusts; v.23 And be renewed in the spirit of your
mind; v.24 And that ye put
on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true
holiness." I'm sure each of us has a list. I'm sure
each of us has been doing that inspection of our lives that is growing
accordingly and that each of us will make these days profitable, but I think
hypocracy, forgiveness and unity are three that I hope are on each of our
lists because they're things that plague us, things that we're dealing with,
and things that we must over-come. So, I wish everyone a wonderful Days of Unleavened Bread. Again, Chris and Nick, it's been a pleasure having you
back among us. We wish you safe passage home and
great success. And to all of you wonderful Days of
Unleavened Bread. |