Purge Out the Old Leaven — Erlo Stegen

Today is a great day. Even the engagements have the privilege of happening on this day. Our Lord, whom we have seen suffering and dying these days, has risen. Yesterday and Friday we remembered him dying and going into the grave.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Today is his resurrection. He was locked and sealed in the tomb with the seal of the king. But today he has risen. He has risen from the grave, wrapped in death clothes. Joseph of Arimathea came to embalm Jesus with the embalming of a king.

It is said that this moh, and the embalming which was used on him, they say it could have been 25 to 30 kg in weight. For they took it as not just being any ordinary man, they saw him as the king. For after all, wasn't it written on the cross, the inscription said, Jesus, king of the Jews.

It wasn't a grave like ours going down, instead it was a tomb cut out of the hillside into which you could walk. And so it was that important people and kings and nobility would be buried there. And then you would go in and lay the corpse out.

And then you would go in and lay the corpse out. And then you would go in and lay the corpse out. And then you would go in and lay the corpse out. And then you would go in and lay the corpse out.

And Nicodemus, they came with moh and with embalming ointment. And so it wasn't just that they put the embalming ointments on the body, but also the bandages, each one was wrapped and then that wrapped around the corpse.

And so that wrapped around the corpse. And so they would put bandage around the head and then ointment and more bandage then more ointment. And so until the whole body was like that, you could say it was like plaster of Paris.

It was like plaster of Paris.

The head cast and then the body cast wrapping around the chest right down to the feet. After three days, when they came to complete the embalming, they found the tombstone rolled away. It had been cast away before off.

Not to let Jesus out, but rather to let Peter and the women in. He could go through walls. He didn't need to be released out of the grave.

He could go through walls. He didn't need to be released out of the grave.

Christ's enemies remembered that Jesus had said on the third day he would rise. The disciples forgot about it, but Christ's enemies went then to the authorities and said it needs to be properly sealed.

And they demanded soldiers be put there. And so Roman soldiers who were immovable and proper sentries were put there. And so these were proper guards. Even if a hornet would sting them on the nose, they would not be allowed to move.

Even if a wall collapsed on them, they wouldn't move. And they were strong, capable men who were guarding.

Rome had conquered. Rome had conquered.

Rome had conquered the whole known world and every tribe around there. The whole world was conquered by them. They say, some say it could have been even Germanic tribes that were guarding. And these tough soldiers fainted for fear when there was the earthquake, the shattering of rocks, and they fled.

Because They remembered that the whole of creation rejoiced at the release, the resurrection of Jesus. Remember the angels had been there in the beginning. The hosts of heaven when he was born who, as a choir said, they didn't sing, but they swore.

And at his resurrection the angels could not hold back, but they came down with joy to witness this event that Jesus had conquered death and hell. He had come out. When the women came, the angels. The angels said to the women, don't stay here for he has risen, go and tell your brothers and oh how praiseworthy they were, how dreadful women can be, but how praiseworthy in this instance they were the first to be at the tomb.

The first to be at the tomb.

And when they heard the news Peter and John raced to the tomb, John being a bit younger he got there first, but Peter as John was standing at the entrance, Peter rushed inside. And Peter And angels were there at the head where Jesus had lain and at the feet and an angel outside on the tombstone with brightness and glory how they rejoiced that the king had risen.

And Peter when he saw the head part of the garments were lying there neatly lying there and so too with the rest lying there he was convinced Jesus has risen. It's not just that they've stolen him, he's risen.

And so it wasn't just like a cloth like this handkerchief, no it was instead like a cocoon because remember it had been wrapped in bondage. It was forming fluids and liquids and ointment. You see a butterfly?

You find the transformation of that insect as it is going through that transformation it builds a cocoon around itself and then when it comes out it comes to new life and beauty and can fly.

And when it comes out it comes to new life and beauty and can fly.

Peter was utterly convinced he has risen, they haven't come to steal his body for then they would have had to cut into this like cutting into a cocoon it would have been broken but no it was neatly laying there.

He was sure that he had risen.

Peter was utterly convinced he has risen.

Thomas and the Witnesses to the Resurrection

With great excitement they told the disciples he has risen but Thomas said no no no it cannot be until I see it put my hands in his wounds I do not believe it. And then the Lord Jesus appeared and said Thomas put your hands here and suddenly he said my God my Lord and my God he has risen, was dead, has risen.

The Muslim debater went around and he would speak to huge meetings to convince people Jesus never died and so he never rose he was just in a swoop. And he said Jesus was just in a swoon or in a faint and like he used the example Jesus himself said as Jonah for three days and three nights but he wasn't.

It was said he rose on the third day it wasn't three days and three full nights. Jesus said go and preach to all the nations even to the Muslims. If you don't know. Ahmad did I didn't realize that in fact among the Jews with the Israelis they their custom was that any part of a day was considered to be a day and a night.

And so the beginning of the three days and nights was Thursday night and Friday was considered the first day and night then Friday night then Saturday night it was the custom it was no night.

And so the beginning of the three days and nights was Thursday night and Friday night then Saturday night. It was the custom it was no night.

And so it was known like that if you go back to Genesis with the creation it says God created. And the first day and that first day and night is taken from the night before is when it becomes dusk and dark it begins the new day.

From evening till morning. What's the first day.

Now he didn't know that did that and you'll excuse him as a Muslim he didn't know what it was understood to be. And so he went around proclaiming boasting that Jesus never claimed that he would die and rise again or that he was ever dead.

And not only the disciples and Paul and them they were the ones who proclaimed that. And so he didn't know and though he boasted to have read the Bible in fact he had read it like a newspaper. And so at one meeting when he claimed Jesus never said that he actually died the one man stood up and said well read revelations and you'll read there that where Jesus says I am he who was dead and am alive forevermore.

Jesus said I was dead I am the one who was who is and who is to come I was dead.

I am a deer, I say phoenix, I say tequila, I'm a Hindu, but to get by I must have missed it did that.

And so there was the time when some Indians from Phoenix some pastors and from Durban went to Mr. Dirat and said look you can gladly proclaim that Jesus never claimed that he was ever dead. But do not attack the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior if you do not stop doing that we're going to pray and hand you over to the Lord.

And it didn't take long and he got a stroke. And so he was struck down with a stroke that disabled him and in particular his speech he could never speak again till he died. I had invited him beforehand I wanted him to come I asked the Muller family invite him and I planned just to have him in my home let him experience and taste of the life that there is in the faith.

And so those Indians prayed that was answered and he was completely disabled could never speak again. I planned to go and see him even in that disabled state and to say look I had sent an invitation I'm sorry that you didn't come but unfortunately when I got back from overseas he had passed away.

God closed his mouth that was Mr. Dirat. You can blaspheme other things but do not try and poke your finger into the eye of God. You might mock ancestral spirits and the dead or the occult but do not dare to try and blaspheme the one who rose again who broke the seal of death and who broke out of hell and death.

You might mock ancestral spirits and the dead or the occult but do not try and blaspheme the one who rose again who broke the seal of death and who broke out of hell and death. You might mock ancestral spirits and the dead or the occult but do not try and blaspheme the one who rose again who broke the seal of death and who broke out of hell and death.

Easter Customs and Proclaiming the Gospel

It is the day of the sun for the sun has risen and his glory is eternal glory shines forever. Now those who complain and say but all the Easter celebrations are pagan with Easter eggs and so forth. Yes it is true that it has a pagan history.

We also say the Christmas tree has got a pagan origin and the Christmas day does have a pagan origin. Same as music. The offspring of Cain started with music but today there are harps in heaven. Even kings have got a pagan origin.

If you remember when Israel demanded a king the Lord said but I am your king. Why do you follow the pagans and gentiles around you? But today we know Jesus as the king of kings. For me the Easter egg has got special significance.

The egg has been broken. Out of it has come forth life. They used to say that there is life in the egg but more significantly Jesus is the one out of him came life. And even if Christmas has got pagan origins I say well we use the opportunity to preach the gospel.

Tell them about Jesus. There are complaints about the Easter bunny made of chocolate. They say that is just a pagan thing.

They say that is just a pagan thing. They say that is just a pagan thing.

They have spoken of the fertility of the bunnies and they have got many babies. Well much more so Christians should be fertile in being. And when others to the Lord like coming for the next Easter celebration here they say well it is made of chocolate.

It is something sweet. What does that mean? Well the gospel is sweeter than anything you can compare it to. Jesus is risen.

Jesus is risen.

The Resurrection Calls Sinners to Repentance

And so the Lord appeared to his disciples saying,. And so the Lord appeared to his disciples saying,. The resurrection of Jesus shook all of heaven and the angels. Has it shaken you? What is astonishing is that Jesus did not die and be raised up for the angels.

For the pure angels but rather for we wicked sinners.

For the pure angels but rather for we wicked sinners.

For the pure angels but rather for we wicked sinners. For the pure angels but rather for we wicked sinners.

For the pure angels but rather for we wicked sinners. For the pure angels but rather for we wicked sinners.

For the pure angels but rather for we wicked sinners.

For the pure angels but rather for we wicked sinners. For the pure angels but rather for we wicked sinners.

For the pure angels but rather for we wicked sinners. For the pure angels but rather for we wicked sinners.

For the pure angels but rather for we wicked sinners.

For the pure angels but rather for we wicked sinners.

For the pure angels but rather for we wicked sinners.

For the pure angels but rather for we wicked sinners.

For the pure angels but rather for we wicked sinners.

For the pure angels but rather for we wicked sinners. For the pure angels but rather for we wicked sinners. For the pure angels but rather for we wicked sinners.

For the pure angels but rather for we wicked sinners. For the pure angels but rather for we wicked sinners.

This is the wonderful day, the resurrection day on which these two are getting engaged. You can come forward. This ring is a promise to you of holiness, being kept till the day of marriage, not phoning each other, not smsing each other, floating around the secret corners, then pretending and coming out of the veil.

But you need to enter into marriage in holiness. I'm thankful for these two, the way they've lived. The Lord saved him and he parted from sin and the same with her. Now live. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for them and we pray that you'll keep them till the day of their wedding.

Engagement, Purity, and Christian Marriage

Amen. Now the next couple. These two can come forward. Here you receive a ring from him to be kept holy and promised purity. You haven't got married yet. This is just the engagement. Don't mix things up.

Like those who cannot stay apart when they're engaged but they part when they're married. No, you do it the right way round. Where's the mother? I'm thankful that you brought this child up. You're getting a son.

This is still the engagement, not yet the marriage. We thank you, Lord, for the lives that they've lived. Thank you for the lives of purity. Thank you that even if things are spoiled, you are able to make all things new and the old to pass away.

Amen.

Purging Out the Old Leaven

Okay. Corinthians chapter 5. You might say, what has Corinthians got to do with resurrection?

Resurrection because you might know what is written there. From verse 6. Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump as you really are unleavened.

For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival not with old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. You've been seated for a long time.

Let's stand to our feet for a while just to change our position.

Lord, penetrate our hearts.

Let us deal with all the filth and any demonic powers casted out. That we might hear what your word has to say. Amen. You're seated. Isn't it the Passover today? Sunday, the day of the sun, our sun has come out.

The sun has risen. In our text, it says, let us therefore celebrate the festival which is Christ. We are celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. Haven't you heard? We should be full of praise.

But here we read in the text something sad, something very serious. Don't celebrate the festival with the old leaven. We rejoice that Jesus has risen and we say hallelujah, but sin is still inside.

I'm thankful that the whole afternoon,.

Was given over to counseling people to bring their sins to confess them and to deal with them for we should not celebrate the celebration with the old leaven. For it asks the question, do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

One rotten potato makes the whole sack rotten. In Corinthians, a painful matter happened. A young man fell into the sin of immorality. It was said that such sin is not found even among the heathen for he went to his stepmother.

A painful it would be if we celebrate the celebration and yet we have sins that not even the heathen are guilty of. For he said here, there is sexual immorality in your midst, the old leaven. The Corinthian brethren had decided to themselves, let's not rock the boat, let's rather keep the peace after all he's a brother, she's a sister in the Lord and let's just keep quiet about it.

Fortunately, some brethren came out with and said, Paul, there is sin going on, which is covered up and there's a, there's an agreement of silence. Paul then wrote them this letter saying, I've heard that there's sexual immorality in your midst, do you not know that a little bit of leaven will spoil the whole lot?

I've heard that there's sexual immorality in your midst, do you not know that a little bit of leaven will spoil the whole lot?

I've heard that there's sexual immorality in your midst, do you not know that a little bit of leaven will spoil the whole lot? Paul writes and says, I've heard. I've heard that there's this in your midst and I want your spirit to agree with mine.

Come with me and let us be one. Like yesterday we celebrated the Lord's supper, we took the bread to be one. He said, unite with my spirit and let us expel this person so that he would be handed over to the devil so that his soul would be destroyed.

I've heard that he, the man, your kind of your brother, of your family, so have you said. What shall I say? You miskind shall I say? Who can demand you after us of bread?

So that His body would be destroyed. But a spirit be saved. Instead, imagine if there were those who had said, but who gave this information? Who passed on this information about him to Paul? And that would be a terrible shame.

Biblical Examples of Hidden Sin and Judgment

Friends, I've often said, I've often said of the first church that if Ananias and Sapphira were either your brother or your sister, what would you have said?

I can't watch. I can't watch.

Even though his wife knew about it, that he was burying something there in the tent. She didn't own up to it and say, this is what Akin's doing. And the children also kept quiet. So they were all stoned, even their donkey together.

I can't watch. I can't watch.

Repentance and Removing Sin from the Church

Yes, it is good to celebrate Easter, but not celebrating it with this old leaven. If it's something that you know about in the church or in your family, deal with it. If you can't, at least go and speak to your minister, then he'll say you're a child of the light.

Is that the life that you're living? Is that what you're living for and what you died for? If not, you're in the wrong place here. Go somewhere else. There are many churches that will invite you with open arms, but not here.

I can't watch.

I can't watch. I can't watch. Instead, you should have come to the Lord Jesus and begged him for forgiveness, saying, Lord, I've sinned. I wish for all of you a good resurrection day. Though I wish for you a happy Easter, but it helps you nothing that I wish that for you.

If you still have the old leaven, sweep it all out. There's my brother from Tizin. Who was the converted witch? She was a heathen, had been a witch, but she repented. The Lord worked through her, in her.

She said, we sweep our houses out all the time. She said, we should be sweeping out our hearts continually. Though she was a person involved in the occult and demonic things, but this is the revelation.

Take out the old. Remove the old.

Take out the old. Remove the old. Take out the old. Remove the old.

Go and ask the Orthodox Jews, and they will say that at Passover, they make sure that there's not the slightest trace of any leaven, of the old leaven. And so too, it should be the same. None of the sin, none of our flirting around.

Otherwise, Easter is only going to lock you in hell. My brother was telling me this morning in my office as I was preparing about a seven-year-old boy who died of AIDS. His parents had died from AIDS.

He was an orphan. But he He repented thoroughly. He wanted to depart from all the stealing and lying. Others Others spoke of him as a new creature that he had been truly saved from his old ways. Now we too, we are to celebrate with the new leaven.

Have you heard or not?

Have you heard or not? Have you heard or not? I pray that the Lord would penetrate your ears and that you would understand. Are you going to leave here and truly repent and turn from your sin? Shall we bow our heads and pray?

Prayer for Hearts Transformed by the Resurrection

I ask you, Lord Jesus, that the matter of your resurrection would touch each one. If even the boulders were broken, shouldn't your resurrection break our hearts? As the earth was shaken at your resurrection, may it be so with us.

May your words, Lord, be written in our hearts and minds, not just with ink, but engraved as with a chisel in stone. Amen. When we were there in the Garden of Gethsemane, there and at Golgotha, they showed us the grave, a big gravestone, huge, massive.

Our guide said, from the door right up to the top, it was split, rock split, for rock split. When he had entered Jerusalem and the Hosannas were shouted, the children shouted praises in Hosannas, and there was the demand, shut them up.

Jesus said, if they keep quiet, then the very rocks will cry out, and that's what happened. How can you not be touched and broken? How can you remain in your sin? We rejoiced, we danced for joy. You never rejoiced at the rising of our hero.

He who broke the locks of death and hell, the lock in your heart, there's the lock, it's hard. Sin is captive. You can't stop sinning. Jesus' resurrection casts that all aside and makes you a child of life and of light.

Let's bow and pray. We ask you that your grace, Lord Jesus, and the love of God the Father, and the working of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen.