Herbert W Armstrong

   I mean, we've cleaned. I knew one guy who used to assist me in Chicago, and he got so righteous and so reverent about cleaning unleavened bread out that he blew his toaster to bits. He'd get his vacuum cleaner in there and try to suck all the crumbs out of it. And so one day he decided, "Well, there's a lot better way to do it than sitting here sucking, tearing it all down and sucking around on it with a vacuum cleaner. I'll hook up my compressor. And with a little jet hose, a little air hose, I'll just blow it all out," but he forgot that the elements inside were brittle from being hot soften, and when he turned on the air, he blew the guts completely out of the thing and destroyed his entire toaster.

   So from that day on I think he just sucked it out or turned it upside down and patted it out or whatever and I think maybe if a little bit of leavening were left in there, I don't think God would get too upset and angry as long as we did the best we could.

   But like I say now for the last few days prior to last evening, which began the 7 Days of Unleavened Bread, we have been meticulously cleaning out, physically cleaning out, leavening from our homes, vacuum out automobiles, cleaning out the garage, going through the freezer, refrigerator, the entire thing, and then sometime yesterday prior to sunset, we took all of that and we disposed of it off our property and we became physically unleavened.

   Then why are we here today? If we are unleavened, why are we here today? If we've already unleavened our homes, why does God require that we go ahead and be here today and then take 5 days and observe this feast and then come back on the 7th day to learn a lesson? There must be a lesson in the day. A vital spiritual lesson.

   Now if we're going to follow Mr. Armstrong's example, we ought to start by going back to Leviticus 23 and reminding ourselves very briefly why we are keeping this particular day. In Leviticus 23, we have outlined the seven feasts or the seven annual holy days. It could be rendered either way. They are annual festivals and they are at the same time holy sanctified feast days.

   And we find in verse 6 (Leviticus 23:6-8), "On the 15th day of the same month" and that month, if you notice in the previous verses is the month Abib or the month Nissan or Nison. "On the 15th day of that same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread unto the Lord. 7 days you must eat unleavened bread. The first day is a holy convocation. You shall do no servile work therein." And then in verse 8 it says the 7th day is also a holy convocation.

   Now the first day then is a convocation which means a calling together of people. And it is a holy convocation means that we are called together in honor of God. We are here to worship God and to have God teach us. So we're here today to do that. And then we'll come back next Friday downtown at John Hall to do the same thing to complete 7 days of a special type of worship that could show us how we are to worship God the entire year.

   Now let me run very quickly through the 7 holy days, just giving a comment or two about each one of them. And let's show how this entire thing fits into a proper pattern.

   The Passover. The Passover which we kept day before yesterday in the evening. Is the beginning of God's plan for mankind. The Passover, as we all know, and we had explained very clearly that night on evening prior to that, is the pouring out of the blood of Jesus Christ. And without his pouring out of blood, there would be no possibility of salvation.

   So the Passover then shows us that salvation is opened up to all mankind, Jew, Gentile, man, woman, old, young, all of us. Once that time of salvation is open up, the Bible very clearly points out that we must be converted, that we must take on Jesus Christ, that we must become a new creature in Christ. We must be renewed in spirit and in mind. And that takes place by the receiving of God's Holy Spirit at the time we were baptized, at the time we follow the example of Jesus Christ going down into the grave, we go into a watery grave of baptism, and we accept in our Passover. We accept the full payment of our past sins by Christ's blood.

   Now we come up a new creature. Romans 8 says we still have a carnal mind. We still have a mind that unless we have outside help of God's Holy Spirit, we can't overcome it. So we have the laying on of hands in the receiving of God's Holy Spirit. And then we began a full lifetime operation of changing or of being converted that Christ talked about, and that process of conversion is typified by the seven Days of Unleavened Bread.

   So you know 7 days, not 6 days, not 8 days, but God has chosen 7 days. Because 7 typifies two things particularly. It typifies completion, and we're not going to have, and I'm not going to have sin completely out of our lives until God finishes with us and we are born into the family of God. Once we are born into the family of God, then we become perfect. And that's what 7 also means. 7 means complete and it means perfect. So once we have completed this life of overcoming and of sins being taken out of our lives by God's spirit in us, then we become perfect once we enter the family of God.

   When shall we enter the family of God? Well, we enter the family of God once Jesus Christ returns to this earth. Now I should of course interject Pentecost, and I think I explained Pentecost in the previous process of conversion because Pentecost pictures the receiving of God's Holy Spirit so that we can put sin out. And once we receive that spirit, like I say, we completed a lifetime of overcoming. We now wait to be made perfect by a resurrection. We are made perfect when Jesus Christ comes back to this earth. And that return is pictured by the blasting of trumpets on the Feast of Trumpets, and of course we'll observe that day later in the fall.

   Once we enter into the family of God and Christ is back here, we began a job of a family of God to rectify the entire creation of God and to bring all things back to their normal and natural and perfect state. And that's going to take over 1000 years. Those 1000 years are pictured by the Feast of Tabernacles and of course that's the next great holy day which is opened up by the Day of Atonement, and that Day of Atonement pictures Satan being put out of the way so we can start the process of a complete creation of God.

   That Feast of Tabernacles is also 7 days long picturing a complete and perfect process. And then at the end of the 7 days of the Feast of Tabernacles, we have the final holy day of the year, which is the Last Great Day, and the Last Great Day typifies the period of time right after the 1000 year reign of Christ of Revelation chapter 20 and verse 5 and then on down about verse 11 or 12 (Revelation 20:5-12), when God is going to raise all of those both small and great who have lived in the past, not knowing God's way, have not had an opportunity to be converted. The day of salvation has not been offered to them. They'll be raised and given an opportunity then to qualify for God's family.

   Once that Last Great Day is completed by the 7000 years of God's plan, then God's plan for mankind will be completed. And so you have 7 holy days completing the 7000 year plan of God. So that briefly is how it all fits in. So right now we're keeping the days of unleavened bread and that pictures, changing, that picture is putting sin out of our lives.

   Well, let's go back to Leviticus 23. And we'll have a little bit more on putting sin out of our lives later. I notice in chapter 23 of Leviticus, and going down to verse 6 (Leviticus 23:6), it says "On the 15th day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread. You must eat unleavened bread 7 days."

   Now for any of you new, you may have a question of what is unleavened bread and what is bread that is leavened? What is the difference between the two? Now if you're new, it may be rather confusing. If you've been in the Church of God for a while, it still may be confusing because you might be throwing out things that really are not leavening. And this has happened to our house in the past. It happened to me privately in the past when people have taken it upon themselves to clean my house or my apartment or my room in college of what they call leavening, which was not leavening or leaven.

   What is first of all, leaven? Now in ancient Israel, there were no such things as Johnson's or other types of yeast. Ancient Israel did not go around buying blocks of flash yeast or packaged flash yeast. They didn't refrigerate things and keep the meat under control that way. They had a natural process of dough rising, and we would call it today sourdough. And once they were out, in some cases, they would knead in various herbs that would speed up the process, but the process of the stores chemically raising the bread, making it rise, a raised bread or a loaf or a fluffy bread was the process of leavening.

   With dough, you know, moist dough out in the view of everything and allowing the natural spores of the earth to infiltrate the dough. And then it would sour. It would begin to ferment. And then you had leavened products. They didn't add yeast to it like we would today. They allowed the natural yeast forces of the world to do that. And like I say, they could speed it up by the adding of various things. They could add potato water, they could add various herbs that according to the dictionary did speed up the process.

   Now we found on the Feast of Unleavened Bread the gospel says, that they were not to have any leavening with them. So they had to put all of it out. They had to get rid of all of it when they left Egypt, and when they went out, they had no sourdough. They had no little small particles of old dough that was left over. They had to go out with unleavened products. They had to go out with flour. They had to go out with things that were not yet open to the world and leavened.

   So then what is leavening, or what is leaven? In the Hebrew, the word leaven denotes any small portion of dough that is left from preceding baking processes which was fermented. So they would simply save over some dough and start a new batch the next time they needed bread.

   Now, distinctly and precisely the word leaven in the Hebrew means "a fermented or leavened mass." A leavened mass, leavened by the natural yeast of the air in most cases. I think we don't do that today. How do we obtain leaven products? Well usually by adding a leavening agent and the most common leavening agent is yeast, and I think yeast and another, probably the only other really leavening product that I can think of would be baking powder. A baking powder again, which is a natural leavening product.

   So on these 7 Days of Unleavened Bread, we are to have those things out of our houses. We are to have the agent out of the house. We are to have anything that has been acted upon by that agent out of our house. So all yeast products, all baking powder products, and those agents themselves are to be out of our houses for 7 days and we ought to replace that with unleavened or unraised or flatbread.

   So I think that briefly would explain it and if any of you are new, you could come to almost anyone here and I think we could explain to you what leavening is and what leavening is not.

   Now the most common types of unleavened bread today, and we had to really fight for ours last night to get it in, in our Night to Be Much Remembered. I called the gal up and I said, "Look, we don't want to have any bread on our table. Because this is the Passover." And of course she didn't know, you know, Passover from Christmas. She said, "Oh yeah, OK." And I said, "Well now I don't want any rolls or any bread, or any sliced bread or anything on the table. Please replace it with either good matzo bread or bataw."

   And on the phone, it sounded as though she was somewhat dumbfounded and she says, "Oh, well I'll see what I can do" and she came back and she said, "Well, we don't carry that." I said, "Well, could you provide it for us?" Well, she called back and called back to the manager who ordered everything. And then she got back with me and she said, "Well, I don't know, we might be able to order it." I said, "Well, why don't you just stop by Wee Gardens and buy a box? You know, that would simplify things" and to her it was a kind of a confusing thing. She thought "What is matzo bread, what is flatbread or what is this unleavened bread?"

   Well, finally it got down to where we did not have to bring it, but somehow they were able to buy a few boxes or order a few boxes, and we finally did get our unleavened bread and I hope all of you had unleavened bread with your dinner last night as well. Here's the commandment of God that every day of these 7 days you must eat unleavened bread.

   Ok, Passover matzo, the Jewish type matzo with the stamp on it, is a good unleavened cracker. Rice Krispies, I think, is still one. I didn't check it this year, but usually Rice Krispies is a good unleavened product. Anything that doesn't have yeast or baking powder in the on the label, is fine. I think some use rice, and what have you, you know, some bake their own bread by not leavening it, and there are a lot of recipes from Pasadena.

   You have a number of Swedish flatbreads on the market. Ry-King. You have one type of Ry-King that is a leavened product. You have a Ry-King that is not a leavened product. So brethren just because it looks flat does not mean it doesn't have any leavening in it because you can buy leavened matzo. So you have to be careful. You got to read the label. It's gotta say "Passover only" kosher rabbi stamp all over it, you know, the whole thing, and that will be an unleavened product.

   So don't just take it for granted, you know, when you buy a matzo that it's unleavened. I've bought them before and they were leavened and we had to throw them out. So you might check that kind of thing. So this is one season when you do read labels. This is one time when you're more careful.

   So let's get into something here and notice how this particular feast day is commanded for all of us. I think we've already seen in Leviticus 23 that it is a commandment and it is to be a memorial forever. And there's no question that we don't, do not need to belabor the problem here. There is no question that the Feast of Unleavened Bread was commanded in the Old Testament. There is never an argument about it. There is no biblical scholar who will argue that point.

   The Feasts of Unleavened Bread, like all the other feasts were kept by ancient Israel. They were continued by the nation of Judah, and they continued right on up until the time of Jesus Christ without question. So the Old Testament keeping of Unleavened Bread is a proven fact. Now we'll go to the New Testament and ask ourselves, are we supposed to keep it today?

   Now you might think, well that's quite easy to prove that we should keep it, but brethren, if it is so easy to prove, or unless it appears as though there are loopholes, why doesn't everyone keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread? Well, actually, the Feast of Unleavened Bread is mentioned very sparsely in the New Testament. Very, very sparsely. And there's only one place in the entire New Testament that appears to be a positive command to keep it. And it's kind of hidden. Unless you're really looking for it, you might read right over it.

   Let's begin by noticing first of all, that our example, according to I Peter 2:21 is Jesus Christ and his life. And so all we've got to really do is look to the Bible and ask ourselves, did Jesus Christ observe the festival of Unleavened Bread? Now, frankly, brethren, if you can find one place where Jesus Christ ever kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that's all you need. Because he's the example. Now unless later on in his life, like in the cases of sacrifices, he shows us that they are not necessary, then you would simply follow his very clear command.

   Now, are there any commands or any examples by, or any commands by example of Jesus keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread? Let's notice 3 of them. There are several of them, but let's notice these 3.

   In Luke 2. In Luke chapter 2 in verse 41 (Luke 2:41). We find at the age of 12 years old, that Jesus did keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread with his family. In Luke 2 in verse 41: "Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover." Now when you read the expression "feast of the Passover," that is the same thing as what we would call, in our day the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and you could call it the feast of the Passover because the Bible does. It calls it the feast of the Passover in so many words in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament.

   So you could say "feast of the Passover" or "feast of Unleavened Bread" because the Passover itself is not a holy day, it is not a feast day. So anytime you see the expression "feast of Passover," it is talking about unleavened bread days. "Every year at the feast of the Passover and when he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast." So they kept it customarily.

   OK, that was Jesus Christ then at the age of 12. Now one might say, "Well, Jesus was obeying his parents, his parents were Jewish. They attended the synagogue and he was simply doing what everyone around him did." Well, that's true. He was doing what the nation of Judah did and the reason he was doing it is because it was biblical. It was right.

   Well you might say, "Well, he's only 12 years old here. He didn't have the right to make up his own mind." OK, let's go to the time when Jesus was a little bit older. In fact, he was about 31 or maybe 32 years of age here in John chapter 2. So he was almost 20 years older, and he had 20 years now to determine what is right and wrong. And let's notice what Jesus is doing now at about age 31 when he began his ministry, when he began to perform miracles.

   In Luke chapter 2, excuse me, John chapter 2, I’m going to the wrong book here, John 2:13: "And the Jews' Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem." Now drop on down to verse 23 (John 2:23): "Now when he [referring to Christ] was in Jerusalem at the Passover in the feast day." So now we're talking about the holy day period, not just the Passover ceremony, or not just the Jewish Passover of Lamb, or not just the what would later be called the symbolic Passover of bread and wine, but the feast day called the Passover. "Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover in the feast day." Now what was he doing in Jerusalem at the Passover on the feast day?

   Well if you go ahead and read the entire context if you want to take time sometime, you'll find he was performing miracles among people who were gathered observing a holy day. So that's age 31, maybe 32. I'm not really sure. I didn't take time to figure that out.

   Now, do we find a later example of Jesus Christ keeping Unleavened Bread? Remember, he's the example. Well, let's go on to John 11. John 11. Now here we have the case of Jesus, the kind of the squeeze being put on him and the heat was increasing and he was being accused more openly. His life was being threatened more often, and so we find in verse 54 (John 11:54) that "Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews." So Christ then would stay out of the public eye in more cases than he used to. He would stay away from persecutors more than he did at one time.

   "And went thence into a country near to the wilderness into a city called Ephraim. And there he continued with his disciples and the Jews' Passover was nigh at hand and many went out of the country, up to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves." So now we come to the Passover season, the Days of Unleavened Bread. The Jews came ahead of time to purify themselves and to prepare themselves for that season.

   In verse 56 (John 11:56), "they sought after Jesus and they spoke among themselves," these are the Jews now. "As they stood in the temple and they said, 'What do you think? Do you think that he will not come to the feast?'" Now why would they ask that question? Well, because Jesus' life was being openly threatened. And so they said, "Well, do you think he will come?" One would say, "Well, I'm sure he will because he always has ever since I knew him as a little kid, he has come to the feast every year right here. Ever since he lived here in Jerusalem or in this area, he has come to the feast of Unleavened Bread." Others would say, "Well, I don't know if he really would come because his life is being threatened."

   In verse 57 (John 11:57): "Now both the chief priest and the Pharisees had given a command that if any man knew where he were." Now the Pharisees brethren knew Jesus would be there. They didn't say go up to Ephriam to get him and get him. They said "When anyone finds out where he's hiding out here. When you find out where he is. If any man knew where he were, he should show it that they might take him in Jerusalem." See, so they knew Jesus would be there. They just didn't know which house he was in or what motel he was staying in or what friend or relative he was spending the night with, but they knew he would be there.

   Well, I think without question we can see by example that Jesus Christ observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread even when his life was being threatened. Now that's all the example we need.

   Well, let's go on now very quickly to the New Testament and notice that the entire New Testament church continued to follow the example that Jesus Christ set. In fact, if you want to go to Matthew 28 in the last 2 or 3 verses, you'll recall that Jesus left an overall final instruction to the church, the apostles and disciples at that time and then of course later on the entire church. And he says, "I want you to go out and I want you to go to all nations, and I want you to teach them all things that I have taught you." And without question, by example and by direct teaching, Jesus taught the Passover season. Now that's why they continue to keep it.

   Let's go to Acts chapter 12. Acts chapter 12 and beginning in verse 3 (Acts 12:3). Now this is the time when James was killed by Herod Agrippa the First apparently. And persecution was against the church at this time. The church at this particular time was about 10 or 11 years old according to chronology. And we find that they killed James in verse 2. Then in verse 3, "because he saw it pleased the Jews," that is Herod, "he proceeded further to take Peter also," and then you find a parenthetical statement that is written in the Bible to clarify to the Church of God when this took place. The parenthetical statement was, "Then were the Days of Unleavened Bread." Then were the Days of Unleavened Bread.

   Now there are various arguments about this. Some were saying, "Well, Luke injected this expression, 'the days of unleavened bread' to clarify what time of the year among the Jewish festivals they were, he was talking about." Well, first of all, Luke was not clarifying anything to the world because Luke didn't write to the world. Luke recorded the history of the New Testament church for the sake of the church, and he included this chronological benchmark to show us in the church to know what the Days of Unleavened Bread are when James was killed. It would mean nothing to the world, would mean nothing.

   And a second interesting statement is that you'll find that Luke did not use the expression "This is the feast of the Jewish Passover." Some might say, "Well, he was just doing it to clarify to the Jews," but if you're gonna clarify to the Jews, why not use the expressions the Jews use? That was Passover. It was called the Jews' Passover, but you'll notice here that Luke says "the Days of Unleavened Bread." Those are expressions, very personal and very, a personal type thing that the Church of God used, the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

   So without question, we find here again that Luke is identifying a period of time that was very commonly known by the church and observed by the church called the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Now you might say that's a very weak proof. Well, on the surface it is. I don't think you could really definitely prove one thing one way or the other by that statement, but let's go on and see if the New Testament narrows it down and leaves us only one decision, only one final conclusion. And that is the New Testament did keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

   Go to Acts 20. Acts chapter 20, and we find here Paul, and he's traveling from one church to another. And in verse 6 (Acts 20:6), "We sailed away from Philippi," again notice, "after the Days of Unleavened Bread." Paul went from church to church. He at this time was visiting church areas. He was visiting with Christians in the New Testament church and again you'll find Luke did not say, he did not say, "the feast of the Jewish Passover," but he used an expression that the church used, "the Feast of Unleavened Bread." Because the church was keeping it.

   Now brethren, if the church had not been keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread, here we are, at this time, almost 30 years after the church began. The New Testament church would not know what Luke is talking about. If they weren't keeping it, they would scratch their heads and say, "What do you mean unleavened bread?" I mean, here would be 2nd and 3rd generation Christians by now, 30 years after Christ died. So you'd have the old timers dead in some cases. You would have 2 generations possibly with small children, and they're sitting in the church of God and Luke writes a letter or he's talking to some or he's recording the history of the church and he says, "Well, Paul left Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread." And you scratch your head and say, "Now why did Luke say that if we don't even keep it? You know why, why say that?"

   Well, obviously because the church knew exactly what he was talking about. I think that's a little stronger indication, but you can't tie it down and say, "Well, the Bible says that Paul was keeping Unleavened Bread."

   Now, is there any place in the entire New Testament that shows us the apostle Paul or any of the apostles with the church in the New Testament kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread? Did he write that to the book, to Romans, to the church in Rome? Did he write it to the church in Philippi or Thessalonica or Ephesus, you know, or Colossae, or did Paul or any of the apostles ever tie it down without question and say you must keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread?

   Can you think of a place? How many of you can think of a place? Nobody. You stayed up late too, OK. But so did I, and I feel it right now. I really feel it? OK, a few of you do recall that particular place. There is one very common place that we can always go to, and that is I Corinthians chapter 5.

   I Corinthians 5 again is written about the same time as Acts chapter 20. And that's almost 30 years after Christ died and almost 30 years after whatever was done away with was done away, whatever was abrogated was abrogated, whatever was changed was changed and whatever was to be kept forever was being kept forever.

   Now what was one thing the church was keeping about 30 years after Christ died and everything that was supposed to be nailed to the cross was nailed to the cross, and everything that was to be replaced by his death was replaced by his death? What was the church doing? Well, in the case of Corinth, they were making a big mistake, but the apostle Paul took that mistake, took the opportunity of that mistake to remind them that they were to be learning a lesson by the keeping of the seven Days of Unleavened Bread.

   Notice this now about 30 years later. In verse 8 of I Corinthians chapter 5 (I Corinthians 5:8), the apostle Paul says, "Therefore, let us keep the feast." Big deal. Which feast? Thanksgiving? Christmas, Easter, Passover, Tabernacles? I mean, you can't tie it down and know exactly what time of the year the apostle Paul is writing, so how do you know? He doesn't identify here. He doesn't say, "Well, this is the month so and so" or whatever. He didn't say "We're going to the Feast of Tabernacles, that's the feast we're talking about."

   When you and I usually talk about the feast, what do we mean? When you call up your best buddy in the church, you say, "Where are you going for the feast this year?" You're not talking about Day of Atonement or Unleavened Bread. You're talking about the Feast of Tabernacles in the fall, aren't you? Well, that has become a traditional expression that we use. But what did Paul mean when he said, "Let us therefore keep the feast"? Were they getting ready to go to the Feast of Tabernacles?

   Well, actually the word "feast," if you've got a marginal reference, it says "a holy day." A particular holy day. "Let us keep the holy day." Now there is another translation, not a translation, but if you took a diagloth and you literally translated this particular sentence, it would read like this: "Therefore, we must keep the feast." Not just "we should," or "I'm reminding all of you that you should do it," but literally it's a command. "Therefore you or we must keep the feast." Something very strong, something that means something very personal to the entire church.

   Now brethren, how do we know that this was the Feast of Unleavened Bread? Well, go back to verse 7, or verse 6 actually (I Corinthians 5:5-7). And Paul said, "Your glorying is not good." If you'd like to know what that glorying was, we'll study the entire chapter and you can discern that easily. "Your glorying is not good. Know you not, that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?"

   Oh, that's fine. That still doesn't prove anything because a little leaven leavens a whole lump any time of the year. And the little bit of leaven that the apostle Paul was talking about was the leaven of sin in the presence of a or in the personage, excuse me, of a fornicator who was committing incest actually with his Stepmother, if you read verse one right on through to verse 5. And the church was allowing him to stay in the congregation. They were not disfellowshipping him. They were accepting him and it was going on all the time and Paul said, "Look," he said, "don't you know that a little leaven leavens the entire lump? If you let this guy stay, then others are going to feel that they can break God's law and after a while you're going to have an entire church that is breaking God's law wholesale." A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

   But then he says in verse 7, he says "Purge out therefore the old leaven." What leaven is he talking about? Verse 6, the leaven of this man being in the church. He says, "Purge him out or put him out of the church. That you may be a new lump even as you are unleavened."

   Now what did the apostle Paul mean when he says, "as you are unleavened"? He writes to the entire church. He says, "You are a carnal church," and I don't think he would write three chapters later and say "Now you are a nice unleavened church, spiritually unleavened." OK, no, he was talking about a physical state. They had already put leavening out of their homes. They were now keeping the 7 Days of Unleavened Bread.

   So the apostle Paul writes and he says, "Now since you're keeping the 7 Days of Unleavened Bread, keep it spiritually as well. Put out the sin, get rid of the man. Set him up as an example as to what will happen to anyone who does that same type of thing." So there's a conclusive proof without question that the Corinthian church was keeping the Days of Unleavened Bread. So I think that's ample proof. And all you need is one place and all you need is one example by Christ, but we have here 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 examples that I think strongly prove that the days of unleavened bread are for the New Testament church.

   Now normally at this time of the year we like to spend a lot of time telling you why you put leavening out of your homes and that it does picture putting sin out of our lives and how to put sin out of our lives and so forth, but I want to approach it from a little different angle this morning and show you rather than the negative side of, you know, get rid of unleavened bread or get rid of sin, which is kind of a hard thing to do. Let's notice a positive command in the New Testament. Let's notice something extremely positive. In fact, it almost appears like this is just as important as putting out leaven. This seems to be just as important as putting out leaven.

   Notice the command in three places. We read one of them, but let's read it again. Leviticus 23. Leviticus 23 and verse 6 (Leviticus 23:6):

   "On the 15th day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread unto God, 7 days you must eat unleavened bread." So eating unleavened bread 7 days is just as important, if not more important. Although I don't think we can compare the two because you can't do one without the other. But it's just as important and it is actually emphasized more often than putting leavening out. And that is eating unleavened bread. "7 days you must eat unleavened bread."

   Now you'll find in this particular instruction here that God doesn't tell you to put leavening out. He doesn't even mention that. Now that doesn't mean you should not put leavening out because that's explained in Exodus 12 and it's explained in the book of Numbers and so forth and that's quite clear, but here's a positive command of how to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and that is eat unleavened bread seven days. So every day, sometime during that day, you should have some matzo bread with your meal or Ry-Krisp or whatever your desire is. It's a positive command.

   Let's notice it mentioned two other times. In Numbers 28. Numbers chapter 28. And here's a very specific command. Numbers 28:17, it says, "In the 15th day of this month is a feast," that is Unleavened Bread. "7 days shall unleavened bread be eaten." That's the first thing that God says. 7 days unleavened bread must be eaten.

   Now let's go back to the original command. Go back here to Exodus. Exodus chapter 12 and notice that God emphasizes eating unleavened bread just as much as he emphasizes putting the leavened bread out of your houses. Exodus 12 and beginning in verse 15 (Exodus 12:15). Notice he starts the command by saying, "7 days shall you eat unleavened bread." And then he explains how we're to get into the right attitude by putting leavening out, verse 2 or the second part of verse 15. "Whosoever eats leavened bread from the 1st day into the 7th day, he shall be cut off from Israel" and then dropping on down to verse 19, it says "7 days shall there be no leaven found in your houses." And then in verse 20 it says "You shall eat nothing leavened in all of your habitation shall you eat unleavened bread."

   So God starts the command for the feast day and God ends the command for the feast day by saying eat unleavened bread 7 days, a very positive thing. Now, I think mostly in most cases, and I know this is what I used to think all the time. I used to always think, "Well I've got to get rid of the leavening, you know, and make sure no bread's on my table" and you go out to a restaurant and they serve your meal and they bring some buns and you feel condemned and you kind of lay a cloth over them or you put them on the floor or you ask the waitress to come over and take these away as though that's the most important thing is getting rid of the leavening.

   Well it is very important. But again this morning I want to emphasize that the thing God really emphasizes in a positive way is replace the leavening by eating unleavened bread. You get rid of one, you might say, by doing the other. The real importance is eating the unleavened bread. That's the important command. You'll find Deuteronomy 16:3, 8 also says the same thing. It emphasizes eating unleavened bread 7 days.

   Now those are 4 places and those are not the only ones, but they are 4 very clear commands that we should eat unleavened bread 7 days. Now if you're brand new in the church or this is the first time you've ever heard about this, it may be somewhat unclear to you. And I recall the first time I attended a church service out in California. I take that back. The first time I attended an Unleavened Bread service, I didn't know anything. All I knew is, you know, don't eat yeast and don't eat bread and don't eat donuts and stay away from cake and all that kind of thing, and I sat down beside Art, excuse me, Arthur Dawkin, and he was my roommate out there.

   And I don't recall what the subject was in the sermon that particular evening, but anyway, I turned to him and I said, "Well, we're not supposed to eat any bread, but do we have to eat unleavened bread? Do we have to eat that stuff every day?" And he said, "Well, yeah, don't you understand that you're supposed to eat that not only during the feast but eat it every day and preferably several times through the day." And not until then that I turned and he showed me that God commands that it be kept every day, be eaten every day, and like I say, preferably through the day.

   Now don't make the mistake as others have done in the past and feel that you must eat unleavened bread only, only. Because I'll guarantee you, you'll be one plugged up Christian. It just, it's just not something God wants us to do, you know, let's get all plugged up spiritually. And I'm afraid that's what the Jewish matzos would do after 7 days of about 8 or 9 boxes of matzo bread with no butter on them and no salt, you know, and just water and matzo bread.

   Well, God does say it is the bread of affliction. It really does, but he does not say that it is a bread of constipation. The affliction is what God emphasizes, and it is to represent affliction of our forefathers and also an affliction that you and I are presently going through which we might be able to cover at other times during this holy day or season. But you eat your regular meals, you know, your meat and potatoes and salad and what have you, but just don't eat leavened bread and replace it with eating unleavened bread.

   OK then, brethren, we see a very positive command to eat 7 days or for 7 days unleavened bread. Now why does God emphasize eating unleavened bread 7 days? Why is that so important? Everything that took place on any holy day that you and I have to do by typifying something or by doing something is to teach a lesson. Why eat unleavened bread 7 days?

   Well, let me just say first of all that God does say 7 days. And like I pointed out at the beginning, 7 days indicates a process of perfecting. A process of completing something that God is trying to do in us. And what God is trying to do in us is make us perfect. Now you can find that in Matthew chapter 5:48 is a good clear example where Jesus Christ says, "Become you perfect as my Father in heaven is perfect." 7 typifies being made perfect. And for 7 days we are to remind ourselves that we are to become perfect and how do we remind ourselves by eating unleavened bread.

   Now what does unleavened bread have to do with becoming perfect? Some people hate the stuff, you know, and then some people get into bad attitudes eating it and so what does that have to do with becoming perfect? Well, there is a great deal of type and antitype. There is a great deal of dualism in the Bible. And I want to show you 2 reasons why you must eat unleavened bread 7 days.

   First of all, it's a national reason. First of all, as a national reason back in Deuteronomy 16, and we've already read this, but let's emphasize one thing. Deuteronomy 16 and verse 3, there's definitely a national reason. In Deuteronomy 16:3, "You shall eat no leavened bread. 7 days shall you eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction, for you came forth out of the land of Egypt in haste." Colon. OK, now here's a thought. Why do we eat unleavened bread 7 days? Colon, here's the explanation, "that you may remember the day when you came forth out of the land of Egypt, all the days of your life."

   So reason one, which is not the most important reason, but it is a reason. You and I are to eat unleavened bread 7 days to remind us that our forefathers in most cases. Now all of you did not come from Israel. That's granted. Let's accept that fact. But in that the Bible does point out in Galatians 3 that we all become spiritually Israelites, I think we can draw a lesson from it. We need it to remind us that God called a people out of bondage. There's a national reason then for it.

   But number 2, there's something even much more important than that. There is a spiritual reason. Now if you want to search the scriptures, you'll find very clearly that God typifies sin with one word. And that word is Egypt. He calls sin Egypt, that’s a type. So there is a spiritual lesson I would like to get into that.

   Just coming out of the world being baptized, you know, and keeping these holy days does not get rid of sin. There's something that you have to do, there's something I have to do, there's something that God has to do. There's something that Jesus Christ has to do. There's something that the power of God's Holy Spirit has to do. And those things that we, God, Christ, and the power of God's Holy Spirit have to do are to be remembered when we eat unleavened bread.

   Now let me show you what I'm talking about. First of all, we need to realize that humanly it is impossible to overcome by our own strength, by our own power, sin. Now just like ancient Egypt. We know that the lesson taught there is that Egypt could not have come out of, excuse me, Israel, I'll back up there. Israel did not come out of Egypt or out of bondage on her own strength. In fact, you'll find Israel would not have come out of bondage had not God forced Israel to come out. Did I say Egypt again? Israel, OK.

   Israel would not have come out of bondage except this thing reverberating just keeps you confused. I feel sorry for Mr. Marrs this afternoon after a meal and we're gonna have corned beef and pastrami, so he'll have a mouth full of cotton and then hear all the reverberation and the people will be asleep. It's hard to keep your train of thought up here. OK, let's get back. It's a little animal back up there keeps talking back to him and I'm trying to out talk him but I can't do it. He's just as fast as I am.

   Israel would not have come out of bondage or out of Egypt had not God forcibly brought them out. And that's a lesson for us that you and I cannot, it is an absolute impossibility to come out of sin and to become perfect unless God does something. An absolute impossibility, and that has to do with eating unleavened bread.

   Now let's get into the subject. If you would, turn to a few scriptures, one of them is Romans. Romans chapter 8. Let's notice when Israel came out of Egypt is a very good type of our coming out of sin, but notice that no matter what we do and how hard we try, you and I really cannot come out of sin by ourselves. Now why can't we do that? Well it's because we're locked into something.

   Romans 8. And in verse 5 (Romans 8:5), "They that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh. They that are after the spirit, the things of the spirit." So it shows unless you have God's Holy Spirit, you cannot be anything but carnal. You cannot really come out of sin. You're not even going to have a strong desire to do so. "For to be carnally minded is death and to be spiritually minded is life and peace."

   In verse 7 (Romans 8:7), "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God." Because the carnal mind is against God, because the carnal mind hates God's way, it does not love God's way. Now you might say, "Well, can't the mind change a little bit? Can we begin to see things from a different perspective and then begin to change ourselves?" Well, yes, to a certain extent, but keep on reading. "It is not subject to the law of God. Neither indeed can be." Or you might say it is impossible for the carnal mind to obey God.

   Now the entire nation of Israel is the lesson wrapped up in the entire nation that we cannot do it. In fact, if you go back to the book of Hebrews, you'll find that God very clearly through the apostle Paul said there was a fault with that old covenant. There was a fault. When God dealt with ancient Israel. And he says the fault lay in the flesh. It lay in the fact that people were not converted, they did not have God's Holy Spirit.

   OK, let's keep on going now. We see then that the carnal mind without the help of God's Holy Spirit cannot yield to and obey God or be in a process of becoming perfect. Totally impossible. You might remember some other scriptures that say basically the same thing. And we've used them quite often in the past. One of them is Jeremiah 17:9, and it does say there that the heart of man, or we could say the human heart or the carnal mind is what? The carnal mind is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked, who can know it? Showing that the human carnal mind naturally is not going to go God's way.

   Now Christ said the same thing in Mark 7. In Mark 7:21 thru 23, Jesus said, "Out of the heart of man, out of the carnal mind of the carnal heart, out of the heart of man proceed, evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication," and he goes right on and lists the major things that come gushing out of our heart. And brethren, that's sufficient information right there to show us that of and by ourselves just like ancient Israel could not have come out of Egypt which was sin. You and I are locked in, we are in bondage. We are in a state that we cannot come out of unless God brings us out, and bringing us out of sin is a process. It's a long process. It doesn't take place in weeks or months or a few years. It takes a lifetime, whether that's a short lifetime or a lengthy one.

   Now what is that process of bringing you out of Egypt? Well, Acts 2:38 says that first of all, you and I must repent. That is turn away and be sorry for our sins and be in a process of trying to turn away from them. We must repent, we must be baptized in water. And we must receive the gift of God's Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands. So that's just like Israel beginning to leave Rameses, and they're heading toward the Red Sea, and they're heading across into the wilderness. It was a process they had to take one step at a time.

   And the steps you and I have to take are repentance. They are baptism, they are the receiving of God's Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands, and then as Acts 5:32 then says, there must be then a lifetime of obeying God. God gives His Holy Spirit to those who obey Him. So again we get back to the fact that God is saving us. That Christ is saving us. He is the one bringing us out of sin or He is perfecting us as these seven Days of Unleavened Bread picture.

   You can't unleaven yourself. You cannot do it. You can try. You can start. But you cannot rid yourself of leaven. It takes an entire lifetime, and even at the end of that lifetime you will not, you will still not be totally unleavened. And only the resurrection. Only the resurrection when a corrupt body with corrupt passions and a mind that has been infiltrated by the influence of Satan's spirit is done away. When Satan's put away, when the human heart, or excuse me, the human body with all of its pulls is put away, and now you have a mind that wants to obey God, now you have a mind without any of the human passions and pulls that we have now, then you have a mind that is not troubled by an evil spirit and that mind then is given a spiritual body. In an environment that is perfect, then and only then, brethren, can you be perfect. It is a process.

   Let's go on with this process. OK, we've seen that it is impossible for you and me to come out of sin by ourselves just like it was impossible for Israel to come out. God had to give them a desire, God had to encourage them, God had to give them leadership, and then God had to perform miracles to keep them from turning back and miracles to keep their enemy away. God did the entire thing.

   Now again, let's get back. What does eating unleavened bread have to do with this process of becoming perfect? Well, there are two scriptures in the New Testament. One of them is Galatians 2 and verse 20. Galatians 2:20, the apostle Paul says that Jesus Christ must live his life over in us. Another one is Philippians 2:5, where the apostle Paul says, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus."

   Now right there, brethren, is how you become perfect. There has to be a different mind replace the carnal mind. The carnal mind has to be replaced by a different mind. And that mind has to be God's mind. It's that simple. Now it's a simple statement, but it takes a long time to do it.

   Again, I ask you the question, why does God emphasize that we must eat unleavened bread for 7 days? The answer being you and I have got to develop the mind of the Son of God. That's what unleavened bread typifies. It typifies Jesus Christ. It typifies his mind in us. It typifies him living his life over in us so that we can qualify for God's family. That's why you eat unleavened bread 7 days. You don't eat it because God wants to see you suffer. Don't eat it because God wants to take something away. You eat it to remember that the only way you and I are going to come out of sin is by eating something that is unleavened.

   Now am I stretching a point to say that eating unleavened bread is a type of eating Jesus Christ? Do you think that's stretching a point? Let's go into the New Testament and notice that it is not.

   John chapter 6 is probably the best chapter in the Gospels to go to. Because in this particular chapter, Jesus Christ himself says he is the bread, and I think we can safely say in this case that Christ was referring to the fact that his life was unleavened, that he was without sin, and it seems to indicate that Jesus Christ was taking advantage of the Feast of Unleavened Bread season.

   Now some have argued against that, and I don't know whether you can prove it one way or the other. Some have said, "Well, no, this is the Feast of Trumpet season." And others have said "No, this is the Passover and Unleavened Bread season." Well, I don't know if you can prove it one way or the other, but all I know is in John chapter 6 and in verse 4 (John 6:4), it says "The Passover, a feast of the Jews was near." It was near. And during that season is when Jesus Christ fed 5000 people with bread and fragments.

   And then you go on to chapter 6 and verse 32 (John 6:32-35). "And Jesus said unto them, 'Verily, verily I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which comes down from heaven and gives life unto the world.'" Verse 35, "Jesus said unto them, 'I am the bread of life. And he that comes to me shall never hunger, he that believes on me shall never thirst.'"

   Now as far as I can see and if I'm wrong, maybe someone can show me, but as far as I can see, Jesus Christ is taking advantage of the Feast of Unleavened Bread season. A time when people were eating unleavened bread. A time when a nation was putting leavening out of their homes. A time when they needed to be taught why they were eating unleavened bread. They were not just doing it customarily or nationally, there was to be a spiritual purpose for doing so. And Jesus says, "Don't you know that I am the bread of life. I'm the bread. I'm the bread that if you eat me, you'll become unleavened. I'll do it for you. I'll do it in and through you by the power of my Holy Spirit."

   Let's go on here. In verse 48 (John 6:48), I believe it is. Yes, "I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and they're dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die." What better description of perfection is there than that? "Your fathers ate physical bread, but if you will come and eat of me, you shall never die."

   Now that seems to me to kind of tie in with 7 days of unleavened bread, 7 picturing perfection, picturing completing a process in our lives, and once that process is completed as a result of eating the bread called Jesus Christ, we shall not die. That's perfection. That's eternity, that's immortality. That's what we're looking forward to. He shall not die.

   "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world." And then in verse 53 (John 6:53), "And Jesus said unto them, 'Verily, verily I say unto you. Except you eat,'" notice a positive thing just like eating unleavened bread seven days, "'except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood.'" And we did that two nights ago at the Passover. "You have no life in you."

   And then go on to verse 55 (John 6:55). "My flesh is meat indeed, my blood is drink indeed. He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood dwells in me and I in him. As the living Father has sent me and I live by the Father, so he that eats me, even he shall live by me." So Christ then tells you and me to eat him.

   Now of course when he said this to the disciples, I mean they got all bent out of shape and they didn't know what to do. You find they looked at one another and then they kind of thought, "Well, you know, maybe he's lost sleep or you know what's the matter with Jesus Christ our King, why is he saying eat him? Is he talking about cannibalism, what does he mean? He that eats this bread shall live forever."

   "These things said he in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum and many therefore of his disciples when they heard it said this is a hard thing. I don't understand it." And Jesus knew that they were murmuring against him. He says, "Does this offend you? What and if you shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before. It is the spirit that quickens the flesh profits nothing, nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life."

   So I think from those few verses then we can see very clearly that Jesus Christ took the opportunity to teach those who are going to become his church that the only way to become perfect was to eat of the Son of God. To eat of him.

   Now how do we eat of the Son of God? How do we go about doing that? Because as you eat of him, you take on his mind. As you eat of him, he begins to live in you just like you eat food and it lives in you and gives you life. It's a literal thing that takes place.

   Well I think first of all we certainly can apply this to the reading and the study of the Bible, and I think Jesus makes it extremely clear in those verses that we read, particularly verse 63 says (John 6:63) "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." So the very things he was saying for them to do, to eat of him, he says, "Remember my words and if you will apply my words, they will be life to you." These are God's words, this is the Bible.

   And so often, and I think we all fall short here. We do not really sit down and read the words of God. I don't mean read the Plain Truth, Correspondence Course, AICF, Human Potential, Good News magazine, booklets and all of that. I mean God's word, the word, there's no better way to put it than the way Christ put it. That's why on the Passover night, we just simply read the words with very little explanation because frankly I don't think I can explain things better than Jesus explained them, the words he left with his disciples in the first person.

   So just read them, you know, just make a few explanations maybe to clarify a thought or a transition between various thoughts or whatever, but let Christ do the talking. We need to let Christ talk to us. And that is done by simply reading the Bible. Reading it word for word, going over it and letting these words which he says are spirit and life feed us. Now that's one way to eat unleavened bread.

   Now during these 7 Days of Unleavened Bread, brethren, if we are only eating unleavened bread and failing to eat of God, the Son of God, then we're missing the point. We're not learning anything that will add to eternal life. Only if we learn the lesson of eating of God.

   Now let's go on very quickly now. We are to eat of Christ. Now I notice John 15. John chapter 15 and Jesus makes it extremely clear here that we must eat of him. We must eat of him just like a vine feeds the branches. The branches are alive only as the life comes through the vine. We are alive only if we eat of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And that's done by Bible study. That's done by personal prayer to God. And that's done then by going out and doing what God says, trying our best, just like Israel had to walk out of Egypt.

   God didn't drag them out. He didn't boot them out. He didn't, you know, have to physically take them by the arm and pull them out, but if they would start walking, then God did the miracles. God closed the back door, God opened the front door. And only if you and I start doing something, we start obeying God. We start studying the Bible, we start praying to Almighty God, then brethren, and only then will God begin to live through us. He's not gonna do it otherwise. We have to do something first of all.

   Now, John 15 points out that if we will start doing something, if we will study our Bibles, if we will pray. And it's surprising anymore that so many of God's people do not pray. I mean it's really surprising or if they do pray 5 minutes is a good day, you know that that's like a hard day's work to them. Well, that's not sufficient, that's not sufficient to eat. We spend a lot more time than that just eating physical food, you know, munching on salad each day or whatever.

   John 15: "I'm the true vine and my father is the husbandman. Every branch of me that bears not fruit, he takes away and every branch that bears fruit, he purges it that it may bring forth more fruit." Now go down to verse 5, verse 4, "Abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself." Does that remind you of a verse we read earlier? Romans 8:9. And it says that the carnal mind is enmity against God. It cannot be subject to the law of God or it cannot do what is right. It cannot bear positive fruits.

   "Abide in me and I in you, the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except to abide in the vine. No more can you except you abide in me. You eat of me. I am the vine, you're the branches. He that abides in me and I in him the same brings forth much fruit." And then in verse 6, "If a man abides not in me, he is cast forth as a branch." And then in verse 7, "If you abide in me and my words," notice that, "abide in you." The only way to get God's words in you is to read them. "And my words abide in you. You shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you."

   Well, I believe that's sufficient there to show that without question, God points out through His Son Jesus Christ that we have got to eat of Him. Now can we begin then to see why God commands 7 days of eating unleavened bread? That's really the only way to get rid of the leavened bread. Because we found that you can't put out the spiritual leavened bread out of your life because the carnal mind won't let you do it. The only way to do it is to eat the right bread. Eat the proper bread, or is the expression is stated in Romans chapter 13, I believe it is, the end of the chapter, I think I wrote that verse down here. Romans 12:21, where the apostle Paul said, you have to overcome evil by doing what is good.

   You have to replace that which is sin or wrong with that which is right or righteousness. And by replacing good you force out evil. You have to force one out with the other. You can't just get rid of sin. You get rid of sin by obeying God. You get rid of sin by taking on a different mind, and that mind will not want to break God's law. It's a very positive process.

   So often we emphasize the negative thing, you know, of overcome sin. Don't do what is right, but how do you do that? How in the world do you go about doing that? You've got to start doing what is right and that will automatically force out the wrong. You eat unleavened bread and that is the spiritual process of getting rid of leavened bread. It's a very positive command.

   That's why God says in all those places in the Old Testament, 7 days you shall eat unleavened bread. The unleavened bread that he talks about is the unleavened bread of the attitude that Jesus Christ had. It's expressed in other words in I Corinthians 5:7, as the unleavened bread of sincerity and the unleavened bread of truth.

   If you could ask yourself, what's truth? Well John 17:17 says the word of God is truth. John 1 verses 1 and 2 (John 1:1-2) say Jesus Christ is the word. If Jesus is the word and truth is the word, then Jesus is truth, isn't he? Jesus is truth. So we have to take on the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. And truth is personified in the life of Jesus Christ.

   So there are different ways of expressing it, but when you boil all these different ways down of truth, of sincerity, of unleavened bread, you boil them all down and they always boil down to one common denominator, and that one common denominator is the example that Jesus Christ sets. That he promises that he will do again in your life if you and I will repent, if we will be baptized in water, if we will receive the gift of God's Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands, if we will continue to work at obeying God, then God will perform a miracle with His Holy Spirit.

   And that's an absolute axiom. It's an absolute law, and just like God brought Israel out of Egypt miraculously, God will be able to bring you and me out of sin. And finally perfect us and finally put us into his family as a great spirit being miraculously.