May 10, 2008

• The Promise of Passover: Do this in Remembrance of Me by Pastor Don

  Here is another closed captioned service for you to enjoy.  Remember three dots “…” means a pause, and what is in the brackets [ ] is what the congregation says. I edited slightly knocking out things like the repeating of the chapter and verse of the Bible passage which is sometimes done until we let our fingers walk through the pages and arrive. 

   

  Praying that this sermon blesses you.

   

  Have a wonderful weekend.

   

  Heather

   

  Say Amen

  Show #96

  The Promise of Passover: Do this in Remembrance of Me

   

  We have just come to a season called Easter. “Easter”, the word itself is an abomination to God because it is an attempt of the devil to separate us from the Jewishness of the season and to keep us from seeing the total picture of what Christ did in His sacrifice. I ask you now, from this time forward, refer to it as Resurrection Sunday at least. But you should be referring to it as the time of the Passover… You need to get Easter out of your vocabulary. It doesn’t appear in the, in the Gospels until after 70 AD and later on the word begins to be a part of the Christian vernacular.  But, actually, Christ, being a Jew, the disciples were Jewish, there was a purpose in God sending Jesus and calling Him the Passover Lamb.  So we need to keep that focus in mind, the Passover Lamb. 

   

  I highly recommend if,  what I have said in the last two sentences offends you, or makes you feel bad, you know, buy a copy of my book, Christianese, and turn to page 134 and read through and you’ll get the history of how Easter got into our culture, into the Christian culture, and you’ll see that it’s roots are pagan.  The eggs, the bonnets, and the bunnies have nothing to do with the Resurrected Lord.  [amen]   Well, say, “Amen.”  [amen]  So, let’s get on with the important thing. 

   

  At the end of this week the event that we are facing is Passover.  There is a promise in Passover that once we understand the Jewishness of Passover given to us in Exodus and what Jesus did, we begin to see the importance of it and a better way to relate to it.  My desire is that by your understanding Passover, you then can achieve the promise of Passover.  [amen]  There is a promise that is inherent in it and we need to step into it. 

   

  In Matthew, Chapter 26, we want to look at a few choice verses.  Matthew 26, verse 17.  “Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?”

  In Verse 19 “So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover. When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve“…The first half of verse 21, “Now as they were…[eating] eating….” verse 26.  “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the”…what? [new covenant] new covenant, “of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”  And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives”...”when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”  I ask you to remember, what is the event. [Passover]  The Passover meal, amen. 

   

  Now, go to Mark, chapter 14… Hallelujah!…You there? [yes]  Look at verse 12.  Mark 14, verse 12.  “Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?”….verse 16 “So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and

  found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover. In the evening He came with the twelve. Now as they sat...” Lord have mercy!  “and ate…”  See, the Church is always eating. [laughter]  There’s a reason for that…Now, verse 22.  You there with me?  Verse 22.  “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” 

   

  Go to Luke, Chapter 22…Obviously, I’m trying to show you that it’s clearly spelled out in all of the Gospels…We should have never have arrived at this confusion concerning communion, when communion’s supposed to be taken, what does it represent, and, what is the Passover all about?…Hallelujah!…Luke, Chapter 22, verse 1.  “Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover.“  Verse 7 and 8 “Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed. And He sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.” Verse 14 “When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”  Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”  And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this...” what? [in remembrance of Me.] “in remembrance of Me…Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table.  And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”

   

  Now, in all of these passages we see a concurrent line running through this meal.  First of all, we should ascertain and see clearly that it is the first day of the Passover, it’s the beginning of the Passover, it is the time when the lamb is to be taken and the lamb is to be slain.  Don’t want to do it now, but if you look in the book of John, John tells us the rest of the piece of the puzzle.  He tells us that that particular week the Passover was falling on a Sabbath.  Which meant then, that  if it was in the week where there was a Sabbath, the Sabbath being Friday at sundown,  if the Passover was falling in front of it, it meant that that Passover would be falling on what they called, the Jews called a high day.  You can look it up yourself.  That meant that the Friday was holy because it was the beginning of the Sabbath, but it also meant that the Thursday in front of it was holy.  Was a holy day, and was also called a Sabbath.  In other words, any holiday in the Jewish culture, any holiday was considered, if it was a religious holiday, a Sabbath, or a time of rest, time not to do work, a time to focus upon other things.  This is telling us clearly that when Jesus is going to eat the Passover meals with His disciples, therefore He is not going to eat it with them in time for Good Friday.  He’s many days before Good Friday.  It is Wednesday evening.  They are eating the Passover meal on Wednesday evening at sundown, because sundown means the day begins in the Jewish culture at sunset, not at sunrise. 

   

  Therefore, it is to fulfill the prophesy that Jesus had to fulfill if He was the Messiah.  It says three days and three nights He must be in the belly of the Earth, as Jonah was in the belly of the whale.  If Jesus is on the Cross and dies on a Friday at sunset, 3:00 they take Him off of the Cross, there is no way He’s going to be three days and three nights in the grave…Unless you have some other new kind of math.  You only have Friday, Saturday, and then He rises on Sunday.  So, we know that it has to be Thursday all day and all night, Friday all day and all night, Saturday all day and all night, because He actually rises Saturday night for us in our thinking, Saturday night while it was still dark, or you could say, Sunday morning predawn.  Alright?  So we know all sunrise services are in error, cause most churches have sunrise service at six or seven when the sun is already up.  By that time, Jesus is well resurrected, and was busy doing other things…But it said that Mary, when she arrived at the Garden, it was still dark.  Ok? 

   

  Now, when we put all of this together, why is that important?  The reason it’s important is because the life and death and resurrection of Christ must perfectly parallel, perfectly parallel everything in Exodus concerning the sacrificed lamb, concerning the Passover lamb.  And that’s why Christian, you should go to a Seder.  You should participate in a Messianic Seder so that you can understand how Jesus is in every aspect of it.  Alright?  We’ll do that on a different sermon. 

   

  Right now, we have an appointed time with communion.  So, this communion is going to take part as part of what?  The Passover meal.  The Gentile Church has never understood that.  And the reason is because they’re celebrating Easter, instead of celebrating Passover.  If they were celebrating Passover, they would realize that the only required and appropriate time to take communion is as part of the Passover meal.  Jesus was taking it with a point, He was saying, this is the Passover meal, I am entering into a New Covenant with you concerning the Old Covenant of Moses and the lamb.  I am fulfilling that and you must realize that your sins can be forgiven and you can enter into a New Covenant with Me at this time. 

   

  As time went on, the Gentile Church, who didn’t participate properly in Passover, began to take communion to celebrate Resurrection Sunday. There was nothing wrong with that, the Apostle Paul and the other the other Apostles, they said, “Well, that’s a good thing to remember Christ, to remember His sacrifice, to remember the Body of Christ, if you want to do it Sunday morning, that’s fine.”  But they weren’t doing it Sunday morning by itself. We need to get this picture very clearly.  It was done after all the praise, after the worship, after all the time of getting together of the congregation, they would sit and have a meal, just like we do at this church. 

   

  A lot of churches don’t eat together, but at our church we do.  And I hope we continue that.  The purpose is when you come and break bread together, it forces you into relationship.  You begin to know the people around you.  You begin to socialize with them.  You begin to talk to them.  Hopefully you begin to talk Scripture and share, and you go, “Well, what was Pastor preaching about?  I didn’t get this point.  I didn’t get that point.  What was the music?  That was, I don’t know, whatever.  Where are you from?  I’m from here, you’re from there. Oh, what are we doing?  How we can get together?”  It is a blessed time where the Body of Christ would come together and they would discuss different issues.  And that’s why the breaking of bread is important.  It’s your prerogative.  I can’t make you stay after Church and fellowship, but that’s the place and that’s the time that Communion would be taken. 

   

  The Gentile Church began when they would have Church, and get together on Sunday Morning, remember the Jews would still get together on this true Sabbath.  The true Sabbath was when? [Friday night]  Friday night.  They would get together on the true Sabbath and the Gentile believers started getting together on Sunday Morning.  They never should have separated though.  I don’t think it’s asking too much to go church Friday night and then to get together on Sunday morning and say, let’s remember the Resurrection.  [amen]  Well….[amen]  I spend almost every day at Church, so, you know, but, but that was what the Church would do.  They would get together Friday night, have the Sabbath service, then they would get together Sunday morning, and have an afternoon, and have a meal.  But it wasn’t a meal to like fill your gut. It was just a little bit of food, and then they’d have this little social thing and they’d get to talk about the Lord, and then they would have communion to remind them of the sacrifice of Christ.  Everybody got that so far? 

   

  Alright, so the Church should be taking communion at the same time Jesus said, which would be at the Passover.  For the last, almost 2000 years, we’ve been in error, and out of order.  It’s because we’ve been having Communion on Sunday Morning, but on the Passover we’ve been leaving that as a Jewish thing, when actually it is a believer’s thing.  [amen]  For it is at the Passover Meal that we understand the historical and spiritual significance of why Christ came.  He didn’t come just for the Jew.  He came for Jew and Gentile.  [whew!]  I don’t know about you, but I came out of Egypt one day!  [yeah!]  Lord have mercy!  And I’m not going back!  [come on]  Watch out now, I’ll start preaching here.  Let’s move on, I got some places to take you. 

   

  Now, let’s go to First Corinthians…  It is in First Corinthians that Paul attempts to do the very same thing that I’m attempting to do right now.  And that is to help some people get their theology straightened out so that they can properly line up with God.  You see, God is sovereign, He’s not going to line up with your theology.  [amen]  No matter how you want Him to, God is not going to start changing and doing things your way.  He’s not going to answer your prayers according to the way that you prayed because you thought He should answer your prayer.  He’s going to do it when you line up with the way you should be praying.  When you line up with the way you should be believing, then God begins to move.  [amen]  Well, glory to God.  It may not be popular, but I’m believing it.  Amen.  In the 11th Chapter, are you there?   [yes]  Paul realizes that there’s some problems going on in the Church at Corinth, they’re getting things out of order.  And in verse 17 he says, “Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.“ 

   

  Shouldn’t be any divisions in the Church….There should be time periods where we are confused and we need to get straightened out, but listen to me carefully.  I’m, I’m just incensed about this.  My flesh, I just can’t stand it.  Why can’t we get mature enough that if you don’t agree with me, I don’t have to separate from you?  [amen]  I can agree with you disagreeably.  But I can also disagree with you agreeably. [amen]  I can say, you have a right to not believe what I am teaching, or to think what I am thinking.  But that doesn’t mean you have to leave the Church.  That doesn’t mean that I have to separate from you.  That doesn’t mean I have to put up a wall between us…Lord have mercy!  And, you know, we, we get to a place where, oh, I can’t talk to Sister so and so, this so and so and I, you know -  Forget all of that!  Let’s come together and, and avoid division.  I can walk in brotherly love with all my brothers and sisters.  I can even walk in brotherly love with those guys that don’t like me… [clapping]  What’s wrong with that?  You know, I love you.  I just don’t agree with your theology….You know, if Sister Charmaine said, “I don’t like your stinkin’ thinkin’ but I love you….now, pass me the Matzo.”  [laughter]  Alright.  So that’s what he’s saying, there shouldn’t be these divisions. 

   

  And then, let’s go, in verse 19, “For there must also be factions among you,..”  Watch this, what he says.  “For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.”  Well, what is he saying?  He’s saying that this division that is not allowed is division that backbites and cuts and hurts.  But there is another division, because we need to understand the separation and the division between the factions of the sanctified, and those that are unsanctified, those that are holy and those that are unholy.  We need that.  We need an understanding that so and so needs to get saved.  And so and so is an elder of the Church and they’re walking right and doing right…So we should have those factions.  We should have an understanding that somebody singing in the choir doesn’t have their righteousness together, but they’re following so and so who does, and it’s just a matter of time between those two factions coming together.  Jesus!  [clapping]  Hallelujah! 

   

  You know, and, and I tell new members all the time, God is sending us new members right now, because since we’re going into discipleship we’re going to be able to disciple these new members.  And that’s why people are coming around that are curious, that have never been here before.  The Holy Spirit is sending them. [amen]  He’s sending them because they need some fresh Manna.  He’s sending them because they need a place where they can grow in the Lord and get, and move on to the next level of maturity.  So, what you have to realize is that everybody in this, everybody in this House isn’t as mature as me or as mature as Elder Rolf, or as mature as some of the, some of the spiritual leaders here.  We have some people that have been in the Lord 20 years and are still babies.  They’re still sucking on a pacifier.  And still have attitudes and their flesh will get up in a heartbeat.  So if you think that they are your measure of whether you should participate in the Body of Christ, you’re making a big mistake.  Lord have mercy! 

   

  I could preach the best sermon in the World, but somebody could preach a sermon out in the lobby in 30 seconds and ruin everything I’ve done. [amen]  Hallelujah. Say, hello.  [hello]  Hello.  A parking attendant with a frown can keep somebody from coming in the building.  [that's right]  Huh?  Right.  Somebody can walk by you in the lobby and instead of saying, “Hello,”  to you and you go….”I don’t like that church.”…I left a church once because when they served the food nobody came over and invited me.  They knew I was a visitor.  I was the only black guy in the place.  [laughter]  But not one person came over and said, “Hello, let me shake your hand.  Come over here and have a coffee and a cookie.”…You know.  So, I felt what?   I felt totally unwelcomed.  So I figured if that’s as much Jesus as they have,…. can’t minister to me….Amen, come on now!  An unfriendly church is a closed club.  A closed club is of no value to the Body of Christ.  [amen]  You know.  My father’s motto of his church was, “Be friendly and love everybody.”  Cause people aren’t coming necessarily for relationship, but in the process of their being in the Church, they should find relationship.  [amen]  Hallelujah.  Moving right along.  And that should be a relationship not based on I have judged you ok or not ok.  You know.  I’m prepared to receive you and, and move on into the relationship. 

   

  Then He says, in verse 20 “Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.“  He’s saying if all these divisions and factions aren’t working out right, he says that’s not so good.  In verse 21 “For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk.”  You know, we use Welch’s grape juice but back in that day, drunkenness wasn’t as big a problem or as pervasive.  In Jesus’ day and culture, if you were a drunkard you, you’re considered a serious outcast.  Now in this modern day we make it a disease….I better move right along.  Move right along.  We’re going to come up with a disease named for cigarette smoking too.  You watch, they’ll come up with that.  Cigarmoteitis.  [laughter]  I can’t help, I can’t help myself, I have cigarmoteitis.  You know.  Thank you.  Moving right along.  Ok, let’s send in the cards and letters.   Listen, I have compassion for people in all of those situations.  Lord have mercy.  I’ve been a drunk, a cocaine user,  a fool and stupid.  I’ve been all of that.  So I can talk about you just he way I want to.  [laughter] 

   

  Alright, verse 22 “What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this?” And he says, “I do not praise you.”  Now, you guys ready?  “For I received from the...” Who? [the Lord]  “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;” What night was that?  [Passover]  Passover night.  “and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this…“How? [in remembrance of Me]  “in remembrance of Me. In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant …” New what?  [New Covenant]  “…new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in…” In what? [In remembrance of Me] Now, there’s a loop hole in there.  He said, “as often as you drink it.“ 

   

  Well, originally, it was only at Passover. But the early Church decided, hey, why can’t we remember Christ more often?  Well, yeah, we can.  But we should remember Christ more often, disassociated from the Passover. You see, Jesus, in drinking the Cup, was drinking the cups according to what happens in the Passover meal.  There are a subsequent number of cups that are drunk for spiritual significance.  And what He was saying was, when you get to the Cup, drink this cup in remembrance of me.  [yes, yes]  Because, I am the Passover Lamb and now it’s time you begin to honor me in the Passover meal.  And then the Gentiles began to separate it and just have communion all the time and forgot about the Passover.  That’s error.  If you haven’t been to a Seder, you need to get there. 

   

  Moving right along.  You ready?  [yes]  “Therefore, whoever eats...” verse 27 “this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.“  Hold your finger there and quickly go over to Second Corinthians chapter 13 verse 5. Verse 5 says, remember he says, “Examine yourselves.”  Check things out, what is he saying?  What does he mean when he says that?  We get the explanation here.  “Examine yourselves…” How?  “…as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.“  Then he says, this is beautiful, “But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified.“  In the church I grew up in, they would get to this part in the communion, and they would go, “Examine yourself.”  And the pastor would get real serious and everyone would start thinking, well did I sin?  Well, the answer to that is always.  Yes.  [laughter]  So why do you have to look for that?  That’s not what he’s talking about.  He is not saying examine yourself to see if you’ve sinned.  It’s obvious, yes, you’re a sinner, saved by grace of God, and forgiven by His sweet mercy.  [amen]  So everyone would sit there and get all serious and solemn and thinking, when did I last sin?  What did I do?  What did I say?  Am I guilty now?  Whatever.  And then 10 or 15 people wouldn’t take communion and would miss the blessing of God.  That’s not the examine yourself…So, until next time, bye, bye.  God bless. 

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