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Pastor David Mitchell
Turn with me please to acts chapter 11 verse 29 at a glorious week this week because of the experience I mentioned a little earlier, but also because I've gone back and reviewed the feasts of the Israel the latter part of this week and.
So I'm going to share with you as much as I can this morning about what I've gleaned. Let's look at Acts chapter 11 verse 29. I want to speak to you this morning about the three big secrets about Easter.
The three big secrets about Easter. Acts chapter 11 verse 29. Then the disciples every man according to his ability Determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea. Which also they did and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church and he killed James the brother of John with the sword and Because he saw it pleased the Jews. He proceeded further to take Peter also.
This week when I read that verse I thought about how many times I've read that verse. That passage and when I get to the place where it says. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword and because he saw it pleased the Jews.
Blah blah blah and you just read over the little phrase where it says and he killed James with the sword. We live in such a day in this country and we thank the Lord for it. We live in a day where there's very little persecution if any.
I can remember seeing Lester Olaf thrown into jail for a few days back in the late 70s and That was persecution. But that soon passed away and he was let out and things go on. But to realize that there have been many many generations of Christians where things like this happen and Just simply because James believed the Lord Jesus Christ.
They took him and they slew him with the sword and it pleased the Jews so much that Herod said well I'll get another one. So they're right. They arrested Peter. Now if you remember the story he didn't get Peter at least not at that point.
But let's look at this and he killed James the brother of John with the sword, you know I pictured that little goat when I read that. That's helped me picture a lot of things in the Bible because you see the life slowly go out the verse 3.
And because he saw it pleased the Jews he proceeded further and took Peter also. Then were the days of unleavened bread and When he had apprehended him, he put him in prison and delivered him to four Quaterians of soldiers to keep him intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people and I wanted to read this passage because it mentions Easter.
But I also want you to notice that in parentheses at the end of verse 3. It says then were the days of unleavened bread. I think it's kind of interesting in our version of the Bible. It puts that in parentheses and it puts Easter there the capital letter.
Fact is that's not right and I'll show you why in just a few moments. Let me talk to you about the three big secrets about Easter things we we really Don't know things that have been swept under the rug.
So to speak first of all Easter is not a true Christian holiday at all. It is a pagan holiday. And I hope you'll listen to me. Don't let that close your mind. Wait till you hear what I've got to say. Well, let me read to you a little bit just straight from an encyclopedia any of you could go pick up any encyclopedia Encyclopedia Britannica or whatever anyone that you may have in your home or in the school or the library and you can read this.
But let me read to you a little bit about the tradition of Easter. The origin of its name Comes from an 8th century English scholar named st. Bede who Began to search into why we call this Easter. He believed that it came from.
It sounds the same Easter, but it's spelled e a s t r e. Which was an Anglo-Saxon name for a Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility. To whom was what was that was dope that wasn't a rabbit. That was my son by the way.
Ha ha ha ha. Rush you're gonna have to work on us some more. Okay Easter was a Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility. To whom was dedicated a month corresponding to April. Her festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox and Traditions associated with this festival still hang around such as the Easter rabbit, which was so adequately demonstrated by my son.
It wasn't really a bunny though the Easter rabbit, which was a symbol of fertility and colored Easter eggs originally painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring and Used in Easter egg rolling contests and giving of gifts.
So this dates back to the Teutonic goddess of spring named e a s t r e. Such festivals and the stories and legends that explain their origin were common in ancient pagan religions. A Greek legend tells of the return of Persifone or Persifone Which was the daughter of Demeter the goddess of the earth from the underworld to the light of day.
Her return symbolized to the ancient Greeks the resurrection of life in the spring after the desolation of winter. Many ancient peoples shared similar legends. The Phrygians believe that their omnipotent deity Went to sleep at the time of the winter solstice and they performed Ceremonies with music and dancing at the spring equinox to awaken him.
So the first secret about Easter is that it is a pagan holiday. The second secret about Easter is That the date of Easter is not on the day that Jesus Christ was resurrected. Let me talk to you a little bit about the dating of Easter.
According to the New Testament We know that Jesus was crucified on the eve of the Passover. But in time a Serious difference arose over the date of Easter festival among Christians. Those of the Jewish origin in other words the Jewish believers the early Jewish believers celebrated the resurrection immediately following the past of Passover festival which According to their lunar calendar fell on the evening of the full moon on the 14th day in the month of Nisan.
The first which was their first month of the year. By their reckoning then Easter from year to year fell on different days of the week and of course they were right. However, the Gentile Christians wished to commemorate the resurrection on the first day of the week Sunday and By their method Easter occurred on the same day of the week, but from year to year it would fall on different dates.
An important historical result of the difference in reckoning the date of Easter Was that the Christian churches the one in the east which was a little closer to the birthplace of the Lord Jesus and so forth their Traditions perhaps a little stronger.
They observed Easter according to date of the Passover festival. However, the church in the West which is the Roman Catholic Church Celebrated Easter on Sunday, which is what we do all over the world now.
Now The reason that we do this all over the world is easily found in history. We go to the Council of Nicaea and we find that the date for Easter was defined at that Council under Constantine the great Roman Emperor who in fact founded the Roman Catholic Church and made it the church of the Nation of Rome.
Well in that council which happened in the year 325 The council unanimously rule that the Easter festival should be celebrated throughout the quote Christian world On the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox.
That sound like it has anything to do with the resurrection of Jesus. Now if we think about the if we go back and remember when we mentioned the Phrygians a while ago Their goddess they believed that She came to life and brought spring to life and fertility to life at the vernal equinox.
Well, this is the same time that Constantine ruled that Easter would be. Now This was an interesting thing about this council. Not only did they pick the date and they picked when the date would be they said it would be on The first full moon following the vernal equinox in the spring.
But they made a little corollary ruling they said if the full moon should occur on a Sunday and thereby coincide with the Passover festival. Then Easter should be commemorated on this Sunday following Coincidence of the feast of Easter and Passover was thus avoided avoided.
Now, why do you think Constantine would want to avoid Easter being anywhere near Passover? Who could give me a Good guess at that. He did not want any connection with the Jewish Passover. Why do you think that is?
He was willing to remove to remove Easter From when the resurrection really was and move it Far away from that point so that it would not be associated with Passover. Because he was an anti-semite. Just like Hitler was he hated Jews and he hated them vehemently and So he says that quote Christian world will not Have this festival at the same time that the Jews have their Passover.
The problem with that is that The Last Supper that the Lord had with his apostles was the Jewish Passover. And it must be associated with it. And so therefore now because of the Roman Catholic Church We now no longer Celebrate Easter on the resurrection day and we have brought in these interesting things from the Celtics and the Phrygians and the Greek gods and goddesses of the Easter bunnies and the colored eggs.
And all the things that the pagans had done a long time before Jesus was resurrected. And that have absolutely nothing to do with biblical Christianity. Isn't it sad that the world is able to rob us of truth in that manner.
Well There's been a battle over this date through the years. It's kind of interesting to note that when Constantine chose To pick the date he then sent his men to Alexandria Egypt because in his day That was the astronomical center of the world.
So they went to Egypt to let Egypt decide when the date for Easter would be now. We know Egypt pictures the world system and everything evil about the world and that's where the date was actually figured by the astronomers.
Well, they had a problem. They didn't understand science quite well enough so they had a problem between the solar year and the lunar year and they began to lose years and Months and days and so they never really knew when Easter should be held after this.
There were some later methods that were used to try to figure a more accurate date. They brought in some other scientists later sometime around the year 465 and it's kind of interesting that There was one year where in one part of the world they celebrated Easter 35 days before they did in another part of the world and there was a lot of confusion about it.
As a matter of fact Easter is still celebrated a different day in the East than it is in the West and since 1865 there have only been two days in which Easter was held on the same day in both parts of quote Christendom so nobody knows when Easter is supposed to be and And Now the Roman Catholics with the Pope have made a ruling that they would be in favor of changing the date once again.
So that the whole world could celebrate Easter on the same day. So they are probably in the next few years will pick a new way of dating it you suppose will change. So the first secret about Easter's is a pagan religion a Pagan celebration.
The second secret is it's not celebrated on the day of the resurrection. Third secret is this Easter is not found in the Bible. You say well brother Mitchell. You just read a verse that had Easter in it.
Well, let's go back and look at this first. Look at Acts chapter 12 and verse 4. How many of you have a little letter beside the word Easter if you have like a reference Bible? Would someone if you're a little younger than I am and you can still read those little bitty letters would you go and read what the Margin says Passover.
Why would it have a little letter beside the word Easter that says Passover? I'll tell you why because the Greek word that was translated into the English word Easter is the word Pascha. Which comes from the Hebrew word? Pesca which means Passover.
That's all it's ever meant the entire Bible as a matter of fact. It's mentioned 76 times in the Bible in some 71 verses and in every place it means the Jewish Passover and That's all that it ever means and so this word Easter was erroneously Substituted in our English version of the Bible the use of the word Easter is from the Anglo-Saxon Goddess Easter and is used among the Roman Catholics as an anti-semitic device.
That's how it found its way into our English Bible. It's not in the Greek Bible. It's not in the Greek New Testament. So when you read this, you should read it Passover. The word Easter is not found anywhere in the Bible because it's not a biblical celebration.
Now, let me say this because I don't want you to misunderstand me. Certainly we who know the Lord celebrate his resurrection on Easter do we not and We're not partaking in pagan rites. Especially if we don't have any Easter bunnies around and little colored eggs.
Let me talk to you about some secrets that have been kept from us that are even more devastating than the three we already mentioned. And that is in my my friend Russ is in the midst of writing a book.
It's gonna be very interesting. I Want you to shake his hand and love on him today because when he finishes that book There won't be many people that love him anymore. Because he is writing a book about the paganization of Judaism and the paganization of Christianity.
So, I don't know who's left to love him and I know the Islamics will not so his wife might. But she's married to him she has to but One of the things that has happened to the church and Russ has been instrumental and the Lord used him to bring this To my mind is that we have removed all of the feasts of Israel.
They've been removed from the Jews. Because when they went into captivity in Babylon when they came out they brought a lot of Pagan things and inserted them into the feasts that were not biblical and then Satan did the same thing in the church.
When he brought in such celebrations as the Easter Bunny type Easter and all of that. Through the Roman Catholic Church. He did the same thing with Christmas, which is not even the time of year when Jesus was born.
He was not born on December the 25th. Actually the Sun God was it's a celebration of the Sun God and so Satan has been able to do this to both Judaism and Christianity. To remove the feasts of Israel so that no one looks at them anymore.
The Jews certainly don't celebrate them in the right fashion and The Gentile Church just has been taught they're not for us so we don't look at them and so some of the secrets that God could share with us about his son Jesus have been taken away from us and That's the worst thing that I find about Easter.
Because we shouldn't be talking about Easter at all. In fact, I've gotten to the place where the word Easter offends me. And I don't know if you're that way or you're there yet. But I am it just the word offends me because it's a pagan word.
It's a pagan goddess of fertility. They used to place their children in the fire for fertility rights and That's what this season has come to be because the Roman Catholic Church made it to be that way and we have followed right along.
But let's talk about this little hidden word here that's hidden beneath the word Easter in verse 4 of chapter 12 of Acts. It really is the word Passover and that's really all we'll have time to do this morning is look at a little bit of what?
We miss when we fail to realize that the resurrection of Jesus Christ occurred about the time of Passover. I Think what we miss is this before we can ever celebrate a resurrection. We've got to witness a death.
We've got to focus on a crucifixion or you'll never appreciate the resurrection and in a sense Satan has taken from us a Strong hard look at the crucifixion, which is what Passover is all about by removing it from among our circles.
We don't go to church on Easter Sunday and talk about the Passover and yet unless you go by that way. You don't ever get to the Feast of Firstfruits which pictures the resurrection. God and his sovereignty put the Passover first.
And that's the proper order and then the Feast of Firstfruits. Well It's interesting in Bible history that there are some times when the Passover was not observed by the nation of Israel. They were always times of rebellion.
They were always times when they had gone into idolatry and the depths of sin and Gotten so far away from the true God That they even ceased to practice The Feast of the Passover which God had enjoined them to do for every generation forever and ever.
All the way out into eternity future. But there were times when they disobeyed him and they stopped Partaking of the Passover let me read to you in 2nd Chronicles chapter 35 and verse 7 a time such as this and there was a good king named Josiah who came along and noticed that Biblical things had gone by the wayside and they'd gotten into pagan traditions.
And you know what he did? Straightened it out he straightened it out with the strong right arm of God and the Word of God and Look what he did to straighten out this problem in 2nd Chronicles 35 and verse 7 and Josiah gave to the people of the flock lambs and kids All for the Passover offerings for all that were present.
Now here we have a king and you know, a lot of their money is in livestock and This king gives to the children of Israel these animals that belong to himself to the number of 30 ,000 plus 3 ,000 33 ,000 bullets.
Which were of the king's substance which he gave of his own to the children of Israel that they might keep the Passover and There was no Passover like that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet.
Neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a Passover as Josiah kept and the priests and the Levites and all Judah in Israel that were present and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and God greatly blessed the nation when this King straightened them out and moved them away from the pagan idolatry back to Keeping the Passover in a biblical fashion.
There were other times in nation in the nation of Israel's history When God himself removed the Passover. Let me read a little bit of this to you. In fact, you can turn to this where we may be in this section a little bit lamentations chapter 1.
These were always times of God's Correction on his children. There are times when they'd gotten into idolatry into pagan practices. They had began to worship other gods. They had began to sacrifice to other gods in some cases.
They even sacrificed their children if you can believe that God's people sacrificed their children to Moloch and other gods. And there were times when God The true God said I will no longer accept your sacrifices With the same hands that sacrifice your children to Moloch.
Now let's read a little bit about this. And what I want you to do is we read this is to realize that the Bible instructs us Those of us who live in the last days that everything in the Old Testament was written as a shadow or a type for us to understand spiritual truths.
And I want you to look and see if you see a little bit of the church of the American Church here. I Want you to even go further than that and examine our own individual lives and see if you see a little bit of this having crept into certainly our society, but possibly our homes and our churches across this land.
Lamentations 1 4 says the ways of Zion do mourn because none come to the solemn feasts. Isn't that interesting? Satan had subtly removed the feasts from Israel at this time. He's done that today. Israel does not keep the feasts and when they do they did you know it that in the Passover feast, you know.
One of the things they put on the table brother Russ. What is a little round shaped thing an egg? Where do you think that came from? Find this go back and read everything you can find about the Passover and find an egg on the table.
It's not there. Where did it come from? And and out of what place did they get this idea and God did not put that in the in the feast. And today we've got to the place where the Jews don't keep the feasts properly Biblically and the Christians have been taught not to look at them.
And so here it says that they came to a place where none come to the solemn feasts. All her gates are desolate. So this brought desolation to the nation. Her priests sighed her virgins are afflicted and she is in bitterness.
Her adversaries are the chief her enemies prosper. For the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions. Her children now watch this don't just read through this. See what God is teaching us today.
Apply this to us today. Her children are gone into captivity before the enemy. Now some of us are sheltered and that's wonderful. We have a Christian school in this church and We have Christians homes in this church and we even have a Christian church in this church.
And Yet the world is moving Outside these walls and outside the walls of our homes and outside the walls of our schools and the world is changing. It's changing subtly but probably far more quickly than we would like to think and We live in a society where our children are Absolutely offered to Moloch.
They're offered to him through the music. They're offered to him through the culture. At this suicide rate of teenage girls is higher than it's ever been because we offer them to the world just like Dinah went out to see what the Women of the girls of the world were doing and she found out didn't she and it brought death and destruction.
Her children are gone into captivity before the enemy. Who is our enemy? Satan who else is our enemy? We have three. The flesh and what's the other one? The world system. Are we not offering our children to the world system today?
Allen it's American. It's the way America is today. Just raise them up and let them go. Her children are gone into captivity. They've got the place where they're total slaves to the enemy. They cannot help themselves.
They cannot stay away from the drugs. They can't stay away from immoral illicit sexual activity because they see it every commercial they watch on TV. And we think we're letting our children only watch good shows and are you watching the commercials in between?
What are they like nowadays? Seductive sensual. All of it has to do with illicit ungodly immoral sex. So The children are captive. Look at verse 10 the adversary and I hate this verse. The adversary hath spread out his hands upon all of her pleasant things.
For she hath seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary. Whom thou didst command that they should not enter into that congregation. Could this be happening to us in our churches? Could the enemy be coming in and spreading his hands?
On our own children our own daughters in our youth groups across this land. Is he coming right into the sanctuary. Isn't it interesting that I believe in the last 25 years most of the Baptist Church have come to the philosophy that what they're supposed To do on Sunday morning is preach a salvation sermon.
Why is that? Well, why would you need one if you have God's children in the congregation? You would only need one if you're bringing the heathen into the congregation. Now I understand that sometimes we have to realize not everyone in the room is born again.
So it's always appropriate for a pastor if he's led by the Holy Spirit to give what we might call a salvation verse or Some understanding about that area. But I'll promise you the Holy Spirit will move you when to do that.
But the problem is We have allowed the heathen to enter into the church. And we've brought the world in the church thinking that that'll help us reach the world. Lamentation chapter 2 verse 5 says the Lord was an enemy at this point.
He hath swallowed up israel. He hath swallowed up all her places. He hath destroyed his strongholds and hath increased in the daughter of judah mourning And lamentation and he hath violently taken away his tabernacle as if it were a garden.
He hath destroyed his places of the assembly. The Lord hath caused the solemn feasts And sabbaths to be forgotten in zion and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king. And the priest. Isn't it interesting?
That When the nation came to the place where god took his hands off of her so to speak. That he removed the solemn feasts and the sabbaths. So they didn't have them anymore and at that place He had indignant anger against not only the king of israel, but the the priests the religious people as well.
The lord cast off his own altar and he abhorred his own sanctuary. He hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces. They have made a noise in the house of the lord as in the day of a solemn feast.
Instead of keeping the solemn feasts there were pagan things going on in the house of the lord and they were making gleeful noises about it. I'd like to say something about christian rock music at this point.
But I won't. The lord hath purpose to destroy the wall of the daughter of zion. He had stretched out a line. Verse nine says her gates are sunk into the ground. He hath destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the gentiles now.
Listen to this the law is no more. The word of god's not there. Her prophets also find no vision from the lord. The people preaching and teaching the word of god were teaching it in the flesh. They had no vision from god himself.
The holy spirit was not moving in their life and giving them new things out of the word to teach. As jesus said if you're a real teacher you teach both old and new. It doesn't mean something new that's invented.
It just means something glean that god shared with you. I have got close friends in large cities across this country that tell me often we cannot find a good church to go to. I've had people as far away as is way north of dallas say if we just lived on the south side of dallas.
We'd drive and go to your church because of you folks. And they know you're real. It's sad though to think that in all of dallas and fort worth. They can't find a place. I'm, not saying there's not one.
They just haven't found one yet. But it's because we're in these same types of days. As we find the children of israel in. What about hosea chapter 2 if you'd like to turn there in verse 10? Hosea 2 10 says.
And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers? And none shall deliver her out of mine hand. I will also cause all her mirth now. This mirth is usually associated with the feasts. The feasts were a wonderful family time a time when they spent time with their children.
And they spent time teaching these beautiful types of the lord. Jesus christ together in creating memories in the home. Well, he will cause this gladness and mirth to cease. Her feast days will cease her new moons and her sabbaths will cease.
And all of her solemn feasts will go away and I will destroy her vines and her fig trees. Now the economy is affected. Whereof she hath said these are my rewards. That the world has given me you see Israel was giving credit for the things she had the economy and so forth to her lovers, which means the world system not to god.
And I will make them a forest and the beast the field shall eat them god said and I will visit upon her the days of Balaam wherein she burned incense to them and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels.
And she went after her lovers and forgot me. Saith the lord in chapter 9 verse 1 of hosea rejoice not oh israel for joy as other people do. For thou has gone a whoring from thy god and house has loved a reward.
Upon every corn floor the economy was more important to them than god. The floor and the wine press shall not feed them and the new wine shall fail in her. They shall not dwell in the lord's land, but ephraim shall return to egypt.
Which is a type of the world and they shall eat unclean things. In assyria now if you don't have a jewish mindset. Then you can't imagine what it means to eat unclean things. But if you remember in the levitical laws god told the nation of israel certain things.
He did not allow them to eat and to them. It was an abomination. And when they went into assyria, you know what they forgot all that they weren't keeping the feast. They weren't keeping the passover. They were eating the king's unclean food and it didn't even seem to bother them.
They let it all go. They shall not offer wine offerings to the lord. Neither shall they be pleasing unto him. Their sacrifices shall be unto him as the bread of mourners. All that eat thereof shall be polluted for their bread for their souls shall not come into the house of the lord.
What will ye do in the solemn day and in the day of the feast of the lord? Isn't it interesting to ask that question? What do we do in the solemn day? I mean here we have easter. What do we do today? What's the country doing?
What is christendom across the world half? Anyway, the other half don't even celebrate it today because they don't know when the day is supposed to be. Because it has nothing to do and Really in the world's religion with the resurrection of jesus christ.
It has to do with the easter bunny and the eggs and the things that we can do like that. And satan has moved us away from anything that pictures passover. Or the feast of first fruits which pictures the red the resurrection.
And we get our minds off of all that and it seems so innocent. I mean, I imagine there's at least one person in this room is a little mad at me for even touching on a sacred thing such as easter. I mean some of you may already have them hidden.
You're gonna go home, you know. Kids gonna look them up and they're gonna be thinking boy. Mom and dad are evil brother. Mitchell said this is wrong. I understand all that. And I probably should have picked christmas to preach about easter and you had a little time to prepare.
Maybe we'll talk about easter this afternoon. I mean christmas this afternoon amos. Chapter 8. Verse 9. And it shall come to pass in that day saith the lord that I will cause the sun to go down at noon and I will Darken the earth in the clear day and I will turn your feasts in the morning.
And all your songs into lamentation and I will bring upon sackcloth upon all loins and baldness upon every head. And I will make it as the morning of an only sun and the end thereof as a bitter day. Behold the days come saith the lord god that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread.
Nor the thirst of water but of the hearing of the words of the lord. That's a bad famine. Do you think it might be the case that in churches all across this country people are sitting there all dressed up pretty today.
And they're not really hearing a message from the word and if they are it has to do with how to be successful as a human. How can I find a principle out of the bible to help me be successful be happy not to be depressed?
How many churches do you this morning? Do you think and I know there are some but i'm talking about when you look at the whole nation. How many churches do you think are talking about god this morning?
How many churches are drawing near to the lord? How many churches are picturing? The death burial and resurrection of the lord jesus christ this morning. How many people even know about the passover that has anything to do with what we call easter?
Well, it says there will be a famine Of the hearing of the words of the lord and I believe that's in the last day. They shall wander from sea to sea and from north even to the east. They shall run to and fro to seek the word of the lord and they shall not find it in that day.
Shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst of the word of god. They have no spiritual knowledge. They have no understanding. They don't have the The river of water. They don't have the water of the lord.
Jesus christ in their hearts. Chapter nine says I saw the lord standing upon the altar and he said smite the lentil of the door and the post mate that the post may shake. What does that picture? Can anyone remember from the passover story?
What the lentil of the door and the door post was all about. They put the blood there. And what did that cause to happen that night? The death angel passed them by notice in this particular point in the history of israel.
It says god when he comes by that same door, he will smite it. He will smite the lentil of the door and the post will shake and he will cut them in the head all of them. Why. Well, I would assume it's because they are not practicing the passover biblically in this place in time.
And they think they are they're doing something. They've got some kind of festival going on. They just don't realize how satan has come in and so subtly changed everything and paganized everything. And they think they're doing the feast like god said to do it, but they hadn't checked out the word of god lately.
They're just doing what mom and dad told them to do perhaps. And what the country's doing perhaps and what the world is doing perhaps? And god comes through and he sees the lentil of the door and he smites it and he cuts them in the head.
And he says I will slay the last of them with the sword. He that fleeth of them shall not flee away and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered though. They dig into hell. Then shall my hand take them though.
They climb up to heaven. Thence will I bring them down in malachi. Chapter 2 verse 1 says and now oh ye priest this commandment is for you. If ye hear will not hear and if you will not lay it to heart to give glory unto my name.
Sayeth the lord of hosts. I will even send a curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Yay. I have cursed them already. That's frightening, isn't it? Because you do not lay it to heart. Behold I will corrupt your seed.
And spread dung upon your faces even the dung of your solemn Beasts and one shall take you away with it. So what have we missed with all of our easter egg hunting. Amos 5 20 says. Shall not the day of the lord be darkness and not light even very dark and no brightness in it.
I hate I despise your feast days. I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings. I will not accept them. Neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.
Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs for I will not hear the melody of thy vials. But let judgment run down as waters and righteousness as a mighty stream. Have you offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness 40 years.
Oh house of israel that ye have borne the tabernacle of your moloch and chiyun your images the star of your god. Which he made to yourselves. Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond damascus saith the lord whose name is the god of hosts.
They began to mix the world. They mixed moloch and chiyun and their images in with the tabernacle of god and the feasts. And god turned them over to The wrath of the nations. What were they missing when they were paganizing.
What they should be looking at well. As I said earlier as the world Tries to look at easter. And they want so much to talk about the resurrection. They've forgotten the fact that it happened at the passover time and that jesus christ was killed on the eve of the passover.
And that you cannot properly appreciate a resurrection if you don't look at the death. Turn with me to exodus chapter 12 verse 10. And katie, would you hit the air for me make it go on just Turn the thermostat back.
No just the thermostat back to the left. Exodus chapter 12 in verse 10. I want to share with you a little bit of what I experienced this week. And at the same time I'm sharing with you what the nation of israel experienced every year at this time.
When they celebrated the passover. And i'm also sharing with you something that the church by and large has missed. Because they don't celebrate the passover either physically or even in their hearts at easter time.
But in exodus chapter 12 verse 10 It says and moses and aaron did all these wonders before pharaoh and the lord hardened pharaoh's heart. So that he would not let the children of israel go out of his land.
And the lord spake unto moses and aaron in the land of egypt saying this Month shall be unto you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of israel saying in the tenth day of this month.
They shall take to them every man a lamb according to the house of their fathers a lamb for a house. You see this was a family matter. And if the household be too little for the lamb Let him and his neighbor next unto his house.
Take it according to the number of the souls and that's kind of like Russ and brenda invited us into their home. Because they have a small family. They just had three and so they Enlarged it greatly by the time we got there.
We had 10. And So that this was part of it if the household was too little for the lamb then Let him and his neighbor next into his house. Take it according to the number of the souls every man according to his eating.
Shall make you your count For the lamb. I want you to notice something before we read a little further notice that they took the lamb on the 10th day. Now this could be a lamb or it could be a goat. The bible says Of the first year without splat splat spot or blemish.
Notice that they brought the little animal into the home on the 10th day. And he literally stayed in the house probably many times. Why do you think god caused them to do it that way? Why do you think the children said when the first thing when they saw this lamb this little goat that russ had chosen?
Which by the way. And so the little children it would become a pet. They would feed him. Well, they didn't feed him actually, but they took care of him. And he would become a pet and become More or less part of the family over these days.
Now The children would also notice some things about this little animal and don't think for a moment that it passed by the adults. Because we noticed it too. They would notice its innocence. They would notice its joy of life as it wagged its little nub of a tail and Would climb up on things and play.
They would notice his special love for the children. And these things would be noticed for about four days now. Let's go on to verse five your lamb shall be without blemish a male of the first year. Ye shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats.
Why do you think it says without blemish a male? That's right. The bible says in hebrews 4 15 for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. But was in all points tempted like as we are and yet without sin.
That's something. This picture is the lord. Jesus christ. And in verse 6 it says. And ye shall keep it up until the 14th day of the same month. And the whole assembly of the congregation of israel shall kill it in the evening on the 14th day.
That's the day of the passover. That's the same day that the lord. Jesus christ was crucified in the evening of that passover. It's been said that at the same time the high priest's hand Rose above the Sacrificial animal and struck it into its neck.
The lord. Jesus was lifted up Above the earth on that cross and was crucified. As the men killed the little lamb They certainly realized some things. Now you have to realize that the men in the household literally took this lamb or this goat.
And they killed it while the women and the children were watching. But the men had to do the killing. I need somebody to check that thermostat your brother jesse. Would you do that or someone I don't know if it's still.
Is it turned to auto. Very good, brother russ. Thank you. Now as the men took this little animal this animal of innocence. And paul helped us paul had to hold help hold the animal as the men Slay this little animal.
There are some things that you can't escape. First of all, it was my hand doing the killing. And it's not a fun thing to do. Some of you men have hunted and killed animals with your own hands and skinned them and Taking them home and let the wife cook them, but it's never something that's easy to do.
But when you realize that it's your hand by which this Lamb dies. You cannot escape the fact that it was your sins that were on his body on that tree. And I know that it was god the father who slew jesus christ as his own sacrifice.
But I know that there was a reason why that happened and it's because of sin the sin of god's children throughout all of history. First peter 2 24 says who his own self bear our sins in his own body. On the tree that we being dead to sin should live under righteousness.
By whose stripes we are healed. Our sins were placed in his own body when he was on that tree. And in a sense our hand Helped hammer the nails into his hands and feet. And when you kill that little innocent animal, you cannot escape that thought.
It is very obvious who's doing the killing and why it's being done. It's being done because of sin. Even in the case of the little sacrificial animals of the old testament, it was still god who said that it would be done, wasn't it?
So actually it was his sacrifice. But it points out it's our sins. That are why it happens. Another thing we notice is this. It dies at the hands of the command of the father. In matthew 1 21 and she shall bring forth a son and shall call his name jesus for he shall save his people from their sins.
In matthew 27 46 says in about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice saying eli eli lama sabachthani. That is to say my god my god why hast thou forsaken me. There's no way in the world. Jesus could have been killed by men.
It's absolutely impossible except for the fact that god the father Turned his head. And god the father turned his head and the lord jesus christ said my god my god why have you forsaken me. Acts 2 36 says therefore let all the house of israel know assuredly that god hath made that same jesus.
Whom you have crucified both lord and christ. Now when they heard this they were pricked in their heart and said to peter and the rest of the apostles men and brethren What shall we do? And i'll tell you when you put your hand to the neck of that little animal that's what you think about.
You think about the sins of yourself. You think about what it was that drove the father To sacrifice his son and the purpose of it. Another thing you would notice if you took part in this type of ceremony or the feast of the passover Is as they watched the little lamb's blood pour from the veins of its neck.
And the life That was so precious. Slowly, but surely passes from this innocent little lamb. You notice the value of life. You notice what it is that god gave for you. As you picture the lord jesus christ on that cross slowly bleeding to death.
And the blood of his life dripping from his veins. You think about the value Of that price that was paid. John 19 30 when jesus therefore had received the vinegar. He said it is finished. And then he bowed his head did for us.
So you see this precious life. Slowly go from this little animal. And the holy spirit takes your mind and heart to the cross. It stays there all week. Another thing that you notice when you take part in this I'm sure paul would agree.
That really the little lamb did not resist death, but he just lay still and he quietly died. Matthew 27 39 and They that passed by reviled him wagging their heads In saying thou that destroy us the temple and build us it up in three days save thyself.
If thou be the son of god come down from that cross in matthew 26. In 53 it says now pray to the father. I could pray to the father jesus said and I could Cause him to presently give me more than 12 legions of angels.
But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be. Jesus had the power To bring legions of angels to destroy the world if he had chosen to. But he submitted to the cross quietly. And as they spat upon him and reviled him.
First peter chapter 2 verse 23 says this who when he was reviled reviled not again. When he suffered he threatened not But committed himself to him. That judges righteously Who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead to sin should live under righteousness.
Another thing that happened was we captured the blood of this little animal in a bowl and probably. They would then Hang the lamb up. Perhaps on some wood or maybe even well on something to allow it to bleed properly.
Because the lord had told the jews not to ever eat blood. All the blood had to be drained from the meat. And the bible says and they shall take of the blood And strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses wherein they shall eat it.
And they shall eat the flesh in that night roast with fire and unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. They shall eat it. We're back in exodus now, and this is part of the continuation of the passover.
So this is what took place back in the home. The women would make the table. And there would be some bitter herbs placed on the table and all would partake of these bitter herbs. And they pictured the slavery and the bondage to the enemy that took place for them in egypt.
But for us from the world and the flesh and the devil. And when you partake of the bitter herbs you think about how bitter it was as you think back how you were before you were saved. Do you think back how you could not even troll the slightest urge?
You could not say no to the slightest sin. You had absolutely no power over you were in fact, we were all in fact a slave to sin. Whatever satan said we went his way. Whatever the world took us to do young people the fads of the world.
We just followed right along. We had no power over these things. For we were slaves we were in bondage and even our own flesh that were surrounded by every little urge it put forth. So We consumed it With absolutely no power.
And as they ate of the bitter herbs they remembered this time of bondage, but then They took some hyssop weed and they dipped it in this blood and they applied it to the door post. And that pictures so beautifully how the blood of jesus christ Is applied to our lives individually by the hyssop weed of faith as god gives us This beautiful thing the faith of the lord jesus christ.
And we're miraculously born again. This is pictured by the application of the blood. The blood of jesus is applied to our life individually at that point. And then they ate the flesh and the unleavened bread.
What does leaven picture in the bible sin and evil. So they were commanded to eat bread without leaven. In fact part of the passover festival includes the Unleavened bread. For an entire week there to totally remove leaven from their homes.
And eat only unleavened bread. In luke chapter 22 verse 19 It says and he took the bread. And gave thanks and break it and gave unto them saying this is my body which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me.
We call this the lord's supper, but you know what it was it was the lord's passover. It was the last passover that he shared with his apostles. Likewise also the cup after supper saying this cup is the new testament in my blood which is shed for you four times in the passover feast.
You drink from the cup. Which pictures the blood of jesus christ? John 6 35 and jesus said of them. I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
But I say unto you that ye also have seen me and believe not. All that the father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me. I will in no wise cast out. And verse 55 says for my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink Indeed.
And he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him. As the father hath sent me and I live by the father. So he that eateth me even he shall live by me. Isn't it a shame that we've removed from the world this picture Of eating this passover lamb.
Not only was he sacrificed he was consumed. He was roasted on a fire and brought into the home and part of the Passover was the eating of the lamb. Jesus said he that eateth me even he shall live by me.
It's a beautiful picture of the fact that when we're born again We are baptized into christ and we are in him and he is in us spiritually. And we walk in him. And our life is in him and when we keep the law we keep the law in him.
And what a beautiful picture this is of that fact that he is what gives us life. Just like the physical food gives life to the body. This is the bread which came down from heaven not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead.
He that eateth of this bread shall live forever. Well, when you go back into exodus it says. Eat not of it raw or sodden at all with water. But roast with fire his head with his legs and with the pertinence thereof.
And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning and that which remaineth of it until the morning. You shall burn with fire. Russ and I stayed up till three o 'clock that morning burning what was left.
What does this speak of? Why did the entire thing have to be consumed by fire even the part that they didn't eat? At the passover dinner. What do you think that would picture how much of himself did jesus give?
All. We just finished studying the parables. The parable of the pearl of great price in matthew 13 46. It says who? When he found one pearl of great price, that's the church. He went and sold all that he had.
And bought it. Sold all that he had In the verse above it. It talked about the great treasure that he found in the field. He gave all that he had that's israel and the pearl is the church and jesus gave all that he had.
And bought it. The word bought is the word ransomed. And the bible then in the passover god instructs that thus shall ye eat it. With your loins girded and your shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand and you shall eat it in haste.
It is the lord's passover. Why do you think he said to eat it in that fashion? Keep your shoes on keep your staff in your hand. And eat the passover quickly. He said why what is that picture? You know what they were ready to leave the world system.
They were ready to fly Out of egypt. To sojourn through the wilderness but to end up in the promised land. The christian life is a life of moment by moment movement and growth not stagnation and complacency.
And god said in verse 12 back in exodus for I will pass through the land of egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn. In the land of egypt both man and beast and against all the gods of egypt will I execute judgment?
I am the lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are. Why was it just a token? It was a token of the real passover. Who was jesus christ? And when I see the blood I will pass over you.
And the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of egypt. Which is the world system. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial. And you shall keep it a feast to the lord throughout your generations.
You shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. How long is that? It's a long time, isn't it? All who do not come under the blood are destroyed. Then moses called for all the elders of israel to send to them draw out and take you a lamb according to your families.
And kill the passover. It was a memorial forever in matthew chapter 26. In verse 1 it says. And it came to pass when jesus had finished all these sayings. He said unto his disciples You know that after two days is the feast of the passover.
And the son of man is betrayed and to be crucified. Do you see how the passover was a part of all this verse 17 says now the first day of the feast of the unleavened bread. Now the feast the unleavened bread really begins with The beginning of passover and it is carried out for the next seven days and the leaven is removed from the homes.
And what did we say that pictures? Sins and specific types of sins and malice and so forth and hypocrisy and it's moved from the homes and. So the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to jesus saying to him where wilt thou we prepare?
For thee to eat the passover. So we begin to see that the lord's supper the last supper that they had was the passover. And he said go into the city to such a man and say to him the master saith my time is at hand.
I will keep the passover at thy house With my disciples. And all of these things were pictured. Can you imagine? I don't believe the eyes of the apostles were open even then. But can you imagine them thinking back about that event?
With hindsight. I bet they remembered every word that he said. I bet the holy spirit brought to their memory every motion that he made in every countenance of his face and Every gesture of his hand and the feeling on their feet when he washed their feet that night.
John 13 1 says now before the feast of the passover. When jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the father having loved his own. Which were in the world he loved them unto the end.
And supper being ended the devil having now put into the heart of judas iscariot simon's son to betray him jesus knowing That the father had given all things into his hands and that he was come from god and went to god.
He rises from supper. And laid aside his garments and took a towel and girded himself. And after that he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet. And to wipe them with the towel wherein he was girded.
Do you realize that's almost the same thing? As the feast of unleavened bread because what he's doing is removing the sin. The world dust that had gotten on their feet and peter said don't wash my feet.
He said i'll wash yours, but you won't wash mine and jesus said well If I don't wash your feet, you'll have no part with me and he said then wash my whole body. Just wash all of me. And jesus had to correct him.
Once again, he said no you went too far that time because you don't need to be washed because you you are clean. Because he knew that his own crucifixion his own death burial and resurrection and presentation of that blood at the true mercy seat Would totally remove the sins from peter.
So he didn't need that he didn't need to be washed. But he didn't need his feet cleaned because they walked in this world. What a beautiful picture. Of the feast of the unleavened bread that went on for a whole week after that of removing the sin from the homes.
First corinthians 5 7 says this purge out therefore the old leaven that ye may be a new lump. As ye are unleavened for even christ our passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast. Not with old leaven neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Isn't it interesting that it says therefore let us keep the feast and we find this in first corinthians chapter 5. Which isn't the old testament if we're not keeping this feast of the passover, then certainly we should be keeping it in our hearts.
But i'll tell you what. Jesus has always known that Physical lessons teach spiritual truths better to us. So we then went into the feast of the unleavened bread that it talks about for seven days. It says over in leviticus chapter 23 verse 6 for seven days.
There will be the feast of the unleavened bread unto the lord seven days. You must eat unleavened bread. We have all this picture the Leaven of the pharisees which is legalism hypocrisy ritualism in religion.
The leaven of the sadducees which is liberalism and belief in no spiritual thing. No belief in the resurrection. No belief in anything you can't see which is the same as our modern evolutionary science uh.
The leaven of hedonism, which was the leaven of herod that jesus talked about malice wickedness fornication covetousness. Idolatry railing drunkenness extortion all of this is pictured in this feast and none of us look at the feast anymore in the church.
We don't need to worry about stuff like that. Do we we got it all we got it all under control. We don't need to be reminded like the old jews were. About our own sinful state do we. Of course we do. But that's not what we think about usually at easter.
It was said therefore. Let us keep the feast. What did paul mean? What feast was he talking about? He's talking about the feast of passover and the feast of unleavened bread and i'll tell you this. Unless you go by that way, you can never make it to the feast of the first fruits.
Did you know that that happened 50 days later and that pentecost which was the birth of the church happened exactly 50 days after the death of jesus christ. Isn't that amazing? What a coincidence. Pentecost the jews believe was the birth of the law.
They believe it was given on that same day and did you know that it's also the birth of the church. And you know that when god told them to bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest unto the priest.
And he shall wave the sheaf before the lord to be accepted for you on the morrow after the sabbath. What would be the day after the sabbath? What day is the sabbath on? Saturday, so what's the day after the sabbath sunday?
That's when the feast of first fruits happened on sunday because it it pictures the resurrection. Which occurred on sunday? And part of this god told them the only time recorded in the old testament. To take bread with leaven in it and to wave it before the lord.
You know what that pictured the church. The good fish and the bad fish the wheat and the tares. And it's all right there. And it's all given in such beautiful object lessons in the old testament for us.
So you got to go by way of the passover you've got to examine ourselves our sin Jesus christ on the cross the value of the blood and the life that he gave. You've got to examine that before you can appreciate the feast of the first fruits and the resurrection of the lord jesus christ.
And you miss it all if you don't take a look at these beautiful feasts. Can anyone guess what the next feast would be after the feast of pentecost? We're not going to cover it this morning. Don't worry.
But what was what do you think it was? Feast of the trumpets. What do you think that would picture that trumpet? We're going to hear it's all right there. Can you see why the devil wouldn't want us to look at these very often?
Can you see why the devil would not want easter to have anything to do with the passover. But to have to do with easter bunnies and eggs. It's amazing, isn't it? Well, I want to close with this thought.
The bible is very clear in one thing. I'm going to read to you A couple of verses from zechariah 14 starting with verse 16 and it shall come to pass. That everyone that is left of all the nations Which came against jerusalem?
Does anyone have a clue as to the time period of this event? Everyone that is left of the nations that came against jerusalem Shall even go up from year to year to worship the king The lord of hosts and to keep the feast of tabernacles Which is one of the feasts.
And it shall be that whosoever will not come up of all the families of the earth into jerusalem to worship the king The lord of hosts even upon them shall be no rain. And jeremiah 16 14 says therefore behold the days come sayeth the lord that it shall no more be said The lord liveth that brought up the children of israel out of the land of egypt.
But it shall be said the lord liveth that brought up the children of israel from the land of the north, which is russia. Over a hundred thousand of them a day or a year have been going into israel from that place the last few years.
The bible says there'll come a day when it is said that the children of israel come up from the land of the north and From all the lands whether he had driven them and I will bring them again into their land that I will that I gave to their Fathers.
Behold, I will send for many fishers sayeth the lord and they shall fish for them. And hunters will hunt from them in every mountain and from every hill and out of the holes of the rocks. For mine eyes are upon all their ways.
They are not hit from my face. Neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes. And the lord talks about the fact that the feast shall be reinstated. And all of the nations of the world who are left remaining after the battle of armageddon Will go into the millennial period.
Where jesus christ will step on this earth and set foot on this earth and reign from the earth from jerusalem for a thousand years. And every gentile nation and every gentile and every jew Will keep all of these feasts that we discussed we didn't discuss them all but every one of them in detail will be kept.
Even to the fact that each of you Well, I don't believe you know, we'll be in a different Different arena. We'll be helping to reign over that. But if you had gone into that period you fathers and your families would slay the lamb yourself.
By picturing and memorializing What jesus did for us and the price that he paid it's going to be reinstated. And so I hope this morning the lord's given you a more vivid picture of what Easter really should be all about it should be all about passover.
Just mark that word out in the book of acts dribble through easter and put passover in there. And from the rest of your days on this earth until he comes back for us. Gather your little children around and forget the easter eggs and the bunny.
Talk to them about a lamb. Talk to them about an innocent lamb the lord has done for us. Let's stand and have prayer together. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you that your holy spirit teaches us New things out of your word things that have always been there that perhaps we Had not seen yet but you revealed to us according to your will when you want us to see things.
And I pray that you would help this local church to Be different than the churches of the world. To be a church that is biblical not traditional. To be a church that would obey your voice. From your word as you would speak to our hearts.
Help us all to rejoice in the first fruits the resurrection of the lord jesus christ. The fact that if we're born again this morning, we not only died in him on the cross. But when he came from the ray from the grave.
We were resurrected with exactly the same power of god that brought him forth from that grave. We are quickened with that same power and therefore we are no longer slaves. We're no longer bound by sin or satan or the world or the flesh.
We thank you for what those bitter herbs remind us of but we thank you most of all. For what the blood of jesus christ has done for us. And may you work in our hearts and lives and cause us to be Your children your servants the servants that we need to be in our day and time.
And to fulfill your purpose for us in this generation. And father we ask for you to go with us in our time of fellowship together in a few moments. Bless the meal we're about to have together. And bless our conversation.
We ask it in jesus name. Amen. If you're visiting with us today, we certainly invite you to stay and have lunch with us. We have plenty.