Obedient Unto Death

(Sabbath Before Passover)

Fred R. Coulter—March 20, 2024

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Greetings, brethren, welcome to the Sabbath before Passover. Here we are at another Passover time, the most important thing that we can do, and it is one of the things that Satan the devil tries to create as much confusion and so many lies against the true Passover. Thus, we have The Christian Passover book, which covers everything we need to know about the Passover.

We have had the 3rd edition reprinted and delivered. If you need anymore copies, let us know, because this is the most important book that you can have!

• IF you don't have the Passover correct
• IF you don't do it the way that Jesus has instructed

• you don't have forgiveness of sin the way that it needs to be!
• you do not have access to God through Jesus Christ

• IF you do not keep the Passover exactly as Jesus conducted it in His last Passover before He was crucified

which was on the Passover Day, the 14th day of the 1st month according to the Calculated Hebrew Calendar!

Now, this event was prophesied to Adam and Eve after they had sinned. We find that in Gen. 3:15—that He prophesied that there would be the conflict between Satan the devil and Jesus Christ, and that Satan would 'bruise His heel, but Christ the Savior would obliterate or annul all the works of the devil, from Adam and Eve down through to the very last man and woman, because their sin brought sin into the world.

Let's read that in Rom. 5 because this is very, very important for us to understand. This is a key comparing Adam as the first man, and Christ as the Savior.

Romans 5:12: "Therefore, as by one man sin entered into the world…"—the sin of Adam and Eve!

Then God's judgment with them, they also received what Paul writes of in Rom. 7, the law of sin and death!

What is that? That is the Bible's definition of human nature! The law of sin and death follows the eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Remember that the good that comes from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is not the goodness of God! But it always ends in destruction!

"…and by means of sin came death; and in this way death passed into all mankind…" (v 12)—everyone dies!

As we heard recently, some weeks ago, from Russell Kemp, that every human being has a date with death (note message—Today!). 'The wages of sin is death!' No one can escape that without Jesus Christ. We will see that's why He came, so that he could live a human life, have human nature; yet, never sin and become the perfect sacrifice for the sin of the whole world.

"…and it is for this reason that all have sinned" (v 12).

So let's look at that for just a minute; let's see exactly what it is that God did.

John1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

Verse 14: "And the Word became flesh…"

How did God do that? We know the account about how Mary was impregnated, and so forth! But let's see exactly what God did to make this happen.

Phil. 2:5 tells us what kind of attitude and what kind of converted mind that we need to develop through the power of the Holy Spirit. That is also connected with the Passover, because the Passover renews the New Covenant between us and God the Father and Jesus Christ every single year! That's what's important. This is the mind of God because it says in:

John 3:15: "So that everyone who believes in Him may not perish, but may have everlasting life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish, but may have everlasting life" (vs 15-16).

Think about all those mays that are in there, and that tells us that there's a lot of free moral agency that each one of us need to apply in our relationship with God.

• we must choose to love God
• we must choose to keep His commandments
• we must choose to live by every word of God as Jesus said

So, Jesus came!

Philippians 2:5: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." What kind of mind was that?

• based on love
• based on Truth
• based on accepting the penalty of all human sin on Himself

because He created man and woman, made into likeness and image of God for the very purpose of entering into the Family of God through the power of the resurrection. But it has to come through the mind of Christ!

We will see what this mind was and is and what we need to develop in our relationship with God, as well.

Verse 5: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God… [tie in John 1:1] …but emptied Himself..." (vs 5-6).

What does that mean? As God, He divested Himself of as much God as necessary to become the pinpoint of life, to be impregnated in the womb of the virgin Mary, and to be born as a human being. This is possible because we're made in the image and likeness of God. This was prophesied: '

Revelation 13:8: "…the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.".

• here's the mind of Christ
• here is how God is looking at it
• here is what God is thinking about us who have the Holy Spirit of God and what we need to do

We need to understand and grasp everything that Jesus did to become that sacrifice!

Philippians 2:7: "But emptied Himself, and was made in the likeness of men"—the sameness!

The Greek there is 'homoioma' and means the sameness.

He didn't take on a body, but He Himself never experienced anything living in the body as a spirit being. That's called Docetism, and that is not true.

"…and took the form of a servant" (v 7)—Greek there is 'doulos,' which means a slave!

He didn't take a high exalted position, though He was destined to become King of the world. He took the lowest position as a servant or slave!

Verse 8: "And being found in the manner of man…"—everything that we do is human beings!

• we live
• we eat
• we breathe
• we have all of the bodily functions
• we get tired
• we sleep
• we work

We do all of these things, and Jesus was exactly the same as we read in the Gospels.

{note our books {truthofGod.org}:

• A Harmony of the Gospels
• The Christian Passover

After the Passover book, A Harmony of the Gospels is the next most important book for you to read. It tells all about:

• the prophecies
• Jesus being born
• His life
• His ministry

paralleled in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

The Harmony shows when Jesus was born and when He was crucified, which was on the Passover Day in 30A.D. Some Churches still believe 31A.D., but that is not true. That was put in by Dr. Herman Hoeh to try and please one man: Herbert W. Armstrong. And 31 A.D. actually came from the Seventh-Day Adventist.

"…He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death… [that's what we're going to look at today] …even the death of the cross" (v 8).

1-Tim. 3:16; it's interesting:

• Genesis 3:15-16
• John 3:15-16
• 1-Timothy 3:16

1-Timothy 3:16: "And undeniably… [no dispute at all whatsoever] …great is the mystery of Godliness…"

Let's understand that Jesus told the disciples that it was given to the disciples, which means also to us, which we understand through the Sabbath and Holy Days is the Plan of God, the mystery of God!

It was also with the penalty imposed upon Adam and Eve that blinded them to the spiritual things, which would later be revealed when Jesus finally came.

Paul writes, v 16: "And undeniably, great is the mystery of Godliness: God was manifested in the flesh…" We'll look at that.

• How is that referred to by God?
• What does that mean to us?
• What does that mean with the Passover?

"…was justified in the Spirit…" (v 16)—because He completed His mission in the flesh and was crucified!

That death then justified or set the justification ready for all human beings. They can never fulfill the Plan of God in their lives unless:

• they come to the true Jesus Christ
• they come to yield to Him
  • to repent of their sins
  • to be baptized
  • to receive the Holy Spirit
  • to grow in grace and knowledge

That's where all of us are!

"…was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the Gentiles…" (v 16)—and the whole New Testament written down so that today we have the complete Bible of God from Genesis to Revelation in The Holy Bible in Its Original Order!

Right in the middle of the cover is the logo that says: Your Word is the Truth—John 17:17

That's quite a thing for us to remember, and everything we're going to read is in the Truth.

"…was believed on in the world, was received up in glory" (v 16).

Let's see what John the Baptist, who is the messenger sent before Christ's coming so that he could announce who Jesus was.

John 1:20-22—John also told all of the inquisitive Pharisees and Sadducees that came down to his baptism:

They asked, 'Who are you? Are you the Christ?' He said, 'No, I'm not.'

'Well, who are you? Are you that Prophet?' No, I'm not! (That Prophet was Jesus Christ)

'Who are you?'

John 1:23: "…I'm the voice of one crying out in the wilderness." What did he cry out?

Verse 29: "On the next day, John sees Jesus coming to him, and he says, 'Behold the Lamb of God…'"

Now, go clear back to the very first Passover in Exo. 12; what did they offer for the sacrifice? A lamb, either from the sheep or the goat!

"…'Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world" (v 29).

What is the sin of the world? Notice it's not plural! But sin includes everything about sin that we as human beings do. What is that? That's the law of sin and death! "…takes away the sin of the world"

Verse 35: "On the next day, John was again standing there, and two of his disciples with him. And as he gazed upon Jesus walking, he said, 'Behold the Lamb of God!'" (vs 35-36).

The disciples had some knowledge that there would be a Messiah coming.

Now, let's look at:

• the mind of Christ
• how He looked
• what He was going to go through
• what He had to do

Because those who killed him were not just the ones who were guilty! As Creator God, He represents every human being ever produced, which is all of us, from Adam and Eve on down to the end of human reproduction.

He "…takes away the sin of the world." He's called the Lamb of God!

John 10—let's learn something about how Jesus approached this; so that:

• we know what we're doing
• we understand why we're taking the Passover
• we come closer to God each year when we do

John 10:1: "Truly, truly I say to you, the one who does not enter the sheepfold through the door, but climbs up some other way, that one is a thief and a robber." There is:

• one Way.
• one Truth
• one Faith
• one Salvation

Defined by the Bible!

Remember Jesus said that many, many would come in His name. That means the vast majority of all those who profess anything to do with God, any kind of salvation and any kind of afterlife. Regardless of whether it is Protestantism, Catholicism, Islam, Buddhist, Hinduism, whatever.

But if anyone comes any other way… What is the most prominent way with the Christians today? Sunday and the holidays! They don't keep the Passover. What they call the Eucharist, or the Lord's Supper, is following the pattern of the pagan religions.

The same way with the Jews. They don't keep a 14th Passover, as we have seen. They keep a 15th Passover, which is the 1ST day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Isn't that interesting? They do not keep Pentecost on the correct day, because they miss how to start counting!

The Jews reject Christ, and everything about Christ that He did through the Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost, they miss the point completely! That's because they rejected Jesus!

Verse 2: "But the one who enters through the Door is the Shepherd of the sheep…. [that's Christ, the Shepherd of the sheep] …To him the Doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear His voice; and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. When He brings the sheep out, He goes before them; and the sheep follow Him because they know His voice" (vs 2-4).

That is true! The voice of God is recorded and written down, so we know exactly what He said.

After comparing all of the false shepherds and all the thieves and robbers,. doesn't that tell you about all of the Orthodox Christian ministers today? They're nothing but after money and numbers and people and a gospel that's contrary to the Scriptures, which they claim they're following, but don't!

Verse 11: "I [Jesus] am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep"—voluntarily!

He came because God the Father loves us, and He loves us. Those who are going to be in the first resurrection and that calling to that part of God's Plan is going to be one of the most glorious things possible because of what Christ did. This is why it's important that we keep the Passover the way that God wants!

Now this year the Passover will be on what we call Sunday night. Then Monday night is The Night to be Much Observed. Then Tuesday in the day portion of that day is the 15th day of the 1st month, which then is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

We have a whole lot we're going to learn during the Feast of Unleavened Bread and what that means and what we need to do.

He says here comparing the hirelings, that's all of these false ministers:

Verse 12: "But the one who is a hireling, and who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming… the wolf is Satan the devil] … and leaves the sheep, and flees. And the wolf seizes the sheep and scatters them…. [those who followed those false hirelings] …Now, the hireling flees because he is a hireling and has no concern for the sheep" (vs 12-13).

That is true! All they want is fame, numbers, and money.

• How many are willing to lay their lives down?
• How many are willing to do like Jesus said?

That the one who is going to be the leader is the one who is serving! The one who is serving is not the one who is ruling. Christ is the Ruler! All of us as elders are servants! We are to teach the brethren the Word of God, because Jesus said that it's sufficient that the disciple, which is all of us, become as the Teacher! That's what God wants!

Verse 14: "I am the good Shepherd, and I know those who are Mine, and am known of those who are Mine."

• we know the voice of God
• we know Jesus Christ

• that's why we have prayer and study every day
• that's why we yield to God
• that's why we live by every Word of God

Notice the comparison here:

Verse 15: "Just as the Father knows Me… [that is while He was in the flesh] …I also know the Father; and I lay down…willingly, voluntarily, without any sin, without anything that was wrong] …My life for the sheep."

Now think about that! Let's apply that in a direct way here in just a minute.

Verse 16: "And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring those also, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. On account of this, the Father loves Me: because I lay down My life, that I may receive it back again" (vs 16-17).

He knew that if He accomplished His mission with no sin that He would receive it back again.

Verse 18: "No one takes it from Me… [though they did kill Him] …but I lay it down of Myself. I have authority to lay it down and authority to receive it back again. This commandment I received from My Father." That was the mission statement for the whole ministry of Jesus Christ!

Let's see about what all of this means to us. The Passover pictures the New Covenant as Jesus said:

• when He broke the bread
• when He gave the wine
• when He washed the feet

This is the New Covenant in My blood!

In the letter that we sent out, I did a complete study taken from the Passover book on the blood of Jesus Christ. You will see how slightly—but ignoring almost all of the meaning of the sacrifice of Christ in His blood—that the Protestants and Catholics have. They have virtually zero, except to mouth the words.

Now here's the covenant that we enter into. Here is what it is. Here is why Christ was crucified. This is why He laid His life down. This is how we have our sins forgiven. This gives us access to God all the time, directly, directly through prayer and through study!

• no priest in between
• no minister in between.
• no one in between

Because you have direct access to God the Father! Now, we'll see why that's possible and what it takes of us.

Romans 6:1: "What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?"

Well really, that's virtually the motto of Protestantism and Catholicism. Paul says:

Verse 2: "MAY IT NEVER BE! We who died to sin…"

How do we die to sin? Because we see that we still have sin we need to overcome! That's the whole conundrum about human nature, but is solved through the Feast of Unleavened Bread and its meaning, which we will see.

 "…how shall we live any longer therein?" (v 2). You are not to live in the way of sin!

How do you guarantee that you don't do that? The Holy Spirit of God, which we receive at baptism, plus by keeping the commandments of God as Jesus said!

Now let's understand one thing very important. It says there in:

Verse 14: that we "…are not under law, but under grace."

You need to understand this: If you are under Law, that means you're not in covenant with God! If you keep the commandments of God, you are not under Law, but you are within Law because you are keeping the commandments. Under Law means you have the penalty of sin hanging over you! If you get that and you understand that and realize that…

Here's the key for baptism; v 3: "Or are you ignorant that we, as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death?"

We're going to look at that here in just a little bit:

• what He suffered
• what He did
• what He went through

Verse 4: "Therefore, we were buried with Him through the baptism… [only one baptism] …into the death… [the death of Jesus Christ] …so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, in the same way, we also should walk in newness of life."

What is that newness of life as we will see in the days of Unleavened Bread?

• the renewing of our mind
• the converting of our thought
• the changing of our actions

The whole thing there comes from God!

Now notice what it means to be baptized into His death! When we go into that baptismal water, we need to understand this. Then we need to understand it again every single Passover  when we come around to it every single year!

Verse 5: "For if we have been conjoined together in the likeness of His death… [through baptism] …so also shall we be in the likeness of His resurrection." That is the promise!

1-John 3:2[transcriber's correction]: "…we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him exactly as He is."

That's the end result of what God wants with us; that's what's important. Now in the time that we have right now, we can grow in grace and knowledge and study, learn, pray and do all of these things. But we know for sure that the days are coming, we're going to be so upset and everything upside down and backwards and sin everywhere that it's going to be virtually impossible to be doing the study that we need to do. That is why we need to:

• study now
• pray now
• stay close to God

for the time and the days are coming that are going to be very dark,as we have covered in the sermons leading up to this time.

Romans 6:5: "For if we have been conjoined together in the likeness of His death…"

Now what does conjoined mean? I look at it this way: that as He died, shed His blood, then in baptism we are joined to that death. Because in baptism, by full immersion in water, if you are not brought up out of that water, you're dead. But we are spiritually conjoined to the death of Christ! In other words

• His body
• His stripes
• His shed blood
• everything that He did

so that we can have forgiveness of sin applied to us! That's why we are to no longer live in sin, as we'll see in the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Verse 6: "Knowing this, that our old man was co-crucified with Him… [every day] …in order that the body of sin might be destroyed…"—because it's a process!

As we will see, we have thoughts and evil in our mind that have been there from childhood, deep in the recesses of our mind and heart. This is what God needs to cleanse from us through:

• the washing of the water by the Word
• through the renewing of our mind
• writing the laws and commandments and the Truth of God in our heart and in our mind

so that

• we think this way
• we live this way
• we act this way

"…in order that the body of sin might be destroyed, so that we might no longer be enslaved to sin" (v 6).

Doesn't say we won't sin, but we're not enslaved to it. It doesn't rule over us! Rather, with the Spirit of God and the forgiveness of God—through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ—we can overcome that sin. We can have continuous forgiveness by coming to God every day. Remember the model prayer says, 'Forgive us our debts or our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.' So there's a two-way street with forgiveness!

This also tells us that if we want our sins forgiven by God, we need to forgive those who sin against us! Isn't that true? Do you think we can enter into the Kingdom of God if we still hate someone in the Church? A brother or sister in the Church? God wants us to have peace among ourselves! Now in the world, we're going to have conflict.

Verse 7: "Because the one who has died to sin… [in the watery grave of baptism] …has been justified from sin. Now, if we died together with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has any dominion over Him. For when He died, He died unto sin once for all…" (vs 7-10)—each and every one! But we have to:

• come to the knowledge of sin
• come to the knowledge of what sin is in our lives
• come to God in humble repentance for forgiveness

That's what it's all about, so here's what we are to do:

Verse 11: "In the same way also, you should indeed reckon… [calculate and understand] …yourselves to be dead to sin..."

In other words, sin is not going to rule over you. You will sin, but you will receive forgiveness.

"…but alive to God through Christ Jesus our Lord…. [here's the key, and that enters into Unleavened Bread: …Therefore, do not let sin rule… [exercise Lordship over you] …in your mortal body by obeying it in the lusts thereof."

We'll continue on with v 13 when we get to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because that tells us what we need to do.

Now then, let's see what Christ had to do. We saw that He was God manifested in the flesh.

1-Peter 2—let's see what He had to do. There are many things here in Epistles of Peter that are important for us to understand, and especially in chapter 1.

1-Peter 2 tells us that God manifested in the flesh as Christ coming:

• to live a perfect life
• to have a ministry
• to show that He was the Messiah
• to raise up His apostles
• to raise up His Church
• to build His Church

and what He had to do for that!

1-Peter 2:21: "For to this you were called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow in His footsteps."

Stop and think about this: How many were martyred? Look at the things that went on in the Middle Ages, the killing of Christians:

• the Waldensians
• the Huguenots
• those who were Sabbath-keepers
  • hated by the pope
  • hated by the Catholics
  • ordered by the pope to have the civil authorities behead, burn, and torture

Because of the Spirit of Christ that was in them, they did it with the knowledge that they would be resurrected. They did it cheerfully with humility as a witness against those evil ones who were martyring them. We know that's coming again! This is the reason we need to be prepared.

Verse 22: "Who committed no sin… [not one] …neither was guile found in His mouth; Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when suffering, He threatened not, but committed Himself to Him Who judges righteously… [we'll see that's exactly what he did] …Who Himself bore our sins within His own body…" (vs 22-24)—meaning He had to have the law of sin and death within Him, just like all of us as human beings. We are born with that.

So, as He came into likeness of human flesh, He had that law of sin and death within Him. That's what makes His sacrifice so great and so perfect, because He was God manifested in the flesh.

He did all of these things willingly and lovingly for the whole Plan of God, so that we can enter into the Family of God. That is a marvelous thing. And also, that beginning with the return of Christ, as we know, with the rest of the Holy Days in the Millennium that is pictured by the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day. That we will be part and parcel with Christ and the apostles, and all of the other saints, to bring in untold millions of people into the whole Family of God. This is why He did what He did. This is the reason He was without sin.

"…Who Himself bore our sins within His own body on the tree, so that we, being dead to sins… [by baptism] …may live unto righteousness…" (v 24).

What is righteousness?

• the Commandments of God
• the Laws of God
• the Ways of God

"…by Whose stripes you were healed" (v 24). There are two healings:

• physical healing
• spiritual healing

That's what we need to look at! We will look at the prophecies that back up what we just read about what Christ would do.

(break@45:20)

Let's look at the prophecies in the Old Testament. When you examine all the prophecies that relate to Christ's first coming, and there are many, many; as you find in A Harmony of the Gospels as well as in the Bible and in the Passover book, there are 28 prophecies fulfilled in one day, the day of the crucifixion.

So, when you get down to it, after Christ had come and after He was crucified—put in the grave and then raised the third day—then appeared to the disciples, the Jews of that generation had no excuse!

Isa. 53 is quite a chapter because it tells about:

• why He came
• the reason for His crucifixion
• the reason for His suffering

Isaiah 53:1: "Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; He has no form nor comeliness that we should look upon Him, nor beauty that we should desire Him" (vs 1-2). Just an ordinary man!

Then it tells us exactly what He was going to go through:

Verse 3: "He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from Him…"

We didn't want to believe Him. Think about all the thousands that Jesus healed and fed and preached to!

"…He was despised, and we esteemed Him not" (v 3).

Now, notice this, as we read in 1-Peter 2, that He bore in His body our sins.

Verse 4: "Surely He has borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows; yet, we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted."

They were saying that He deserved that; He was deceiving the people. Verse 5 answers the question. I want you to think about this in:

• relationship to your life
• in relationship to your relationship with God
• in relationship to prayer and study

Verse 5: "But He was wounded for our transgressions…"

He bore within his body our sins. That means the sin of the whole world.

"…He was crushed for our iniquities..." (v 5)—He was literally beaten to a pulp with the scourging!

"…the chastisement of our peace was upon Him" (v 5).

That's part of bearing our sins so that when we repent and come to God we can have peace with God. Look what God went through in order to bring that peace to us, so that we can come to God! We'll talk about this during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

"…and with His stripes we ourselves are healed" (v 5). That's what we need to look to!

We need to look to God to heal us. Yes, there are many things that can be done with herbs and natural methods, but a lot of the doctors and the physicians that we have today really don't know how to do what needs to be done. So, we need to look to God in faith, in trust and understanding!

Is anything too hard for God? No! That's why we need to understand this in relationship to the Passover, and when we partake of the Passover and eat the broken bread, we're talking about His broken body, which was broken for us, crushed!

Here's the reason; it gets back to the sheepfold that we talked about earlier.

Verse 6: "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned each one to his own way…"

Yes, we use our own human nature to think we can do it, we can work it out, We're smart enough, we know enough, and all of this sort of thing. But why is it that human beings—the most educated ever before—are on the verge of destroying the whole world? Think on that!

"…and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (v 6).

I want you to think about that when you take the Passover tomorrow night; what He went through!

Verse 7: "He was oppressed, and He was afflicted; yet, He opened not His mouth… [in resistance; He laid down his life for the sheep] …He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away…" (vs 7-8).

Every accusation against Him was false! Talk about a mistrial. Isn't that interesting? Isn't that the way that Satan and sin always works? Yes, indeed!

"…and with His generation who did consider that He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of My people He was stricken" (v 8).

Amazing! Yet, how many really understood it? Even the apostles didn't understand it until after Jesus was resurrected and came back and appeared to them and opened their minds. Where? In the Law, and the Prophets, and the Psalms! About everything He would go through. So, He probably showed all of them this in Isa. 53.

Verse 9: "And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth."

I want you to think about that. No deceit! Isn't that one of the big faults of human nature? Yes, indeed! 'The heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things!' How do we get ourselves in trouble?

• by deceiving ourselves
• by not coming to God

Verse 10: "Yet, the LORD willed..." Look at that!

It was the will of God and of Christ that He do this. Notice how much that he suffered, prophesied right here.

Verse 10: "Yet, the LORD willed to crush Him and He has put Him to grief: You shall make His life an offering for sin…."

The only offering of sin that can truly take away the sins of human beings. The Creator manifested in the flesh! The Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world!That's what the Passover is all about. We are in covenant with God through that for the first resurrection! Think of that! Think how great that calling is, and Christ made it all possible through what He did!

"…He shall see His seed…" (v 10).

In other words, He's going to see all of those who are going to enter the Kingdom of God, who have been begotten by the Father!

"…He shall prolong His days… [How? By the resurrection!] …and that the purpose of the LORD might prosper in His hand" (v 10).

The very purpose of God,so that we and all those who come to him in repentance can have forgiveness of sin and receive the Holy Spirit. Then we have the opportunity to grow in grace and knowledge and build the character that God wants us to have, which is pictured by the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Verse 11: "He shall see of the travail of His soul."

Yes, He did, and what did he say when he was on the cross? Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, which is being interpreted: My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?

I want you to think about this, how Christ through that identifies with every human being, because every human being comes to the point:

• Why am I suffering what I am suffering?
• Why do I go through this?

Well, Jesus had to suffer that so we could come to the Father!

Verse 11: "He shall see of the travail of His soul. He shall be fully satisfied. By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify many; and He shall bear their iniquities."

Let's see what He did to do so. Let's see it right here in Isa. 50:6. Notice that Jesus prophesied this as the Lord God of the Old Testament, and He came as the Messiah.

Isaiah 50:6: "I gave My back to the smiters… [the scourging] …and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair… [they were tearing the hair right out of His beard] …I did not hide My face from shame and spitting."

We read in the New Testament that that's what He suffered!

Verse 7: "For the Lord GOD will help Me; therefore, I have not been disgraced. On account of this I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed."

That's quite a thing! He had that in mind all the way through what He was enduring for the ordeal of the crucifixion.

Isaiah 53:11: "…By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify many; and He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide to Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He has poured out His soul to death…" (vs 11-12).

Remember what it says in Ezek. 18? The soul that sins shall die!

Jesus died not because of His sin, but because of the sins that He bore within Him, which represented the sins of the whole world! That's an amazing thing!

"…and He was counted among the transgressors; and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for transgressors" (v 12).

What did he do for that? That's not just talking about that we have access for forgiveness of sin, though that's true. But what was one of the first things that He said when they hung Him up on the cross? Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing!Because they were given over completely to Satan the devil to accomplish this, the sacrifice of God, to take away the sin of the world!

Satan thought that if he could kill Christ, that would end it, and he would become 'God'! But since Christ did not sin, He was raised from the dead.

Psa. 22—here we see some of the very words of Jesus while He was on the cross, and while there were those around Him jeering Him and saying, 'If you're the Son of God, come down off the cross and save yourself, and then we will believe you.' No, He couldn't do that because He had to die!

I already quoted these words in Psa. 22:1; He had to come to this point. That's why darkness covered the land from the 6th hour to the 9th hour, that is from noon to three o'clock. Darkness covered the land! Imagine what the people were thinking. What a day that happened there. When he died, that huge veil that was covering the face of the temple, which was very thick, and that huge stone lentil that was up there 90 feet holding up this great veil.

The earthquake hit, and BAM! that lentil broke, and it tore the whole veil—it wasn't thin; it was thick—right in two, as symbolically showing that the way to God was open through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ! Amazing!

Psa. 22 talks about the very feelings, the very suffering that He would go through. Remember, Jesus is Lord God of the Old Testament, is the One Who prophesied these words. So, He knew what was going to happen.

Psalm 22:1: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me, and why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?"

He had to do this all alone. That's why there was all that darkness.

Verse 6, "But I am a worm, and no man..."

Isn't that something? Didn't say, 'Look, Father, what they're doing to Me, I'm Your Son.' No!

It's just like all human beings. We're nothing but a speck of dust, as we have in the book: From a Speck of Dust to a Son of God: Why Were You Born?

Verse 6: "But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men and despised by the people."

After all that He had done—think about that for a minute—even those whom:

• He fed
• He preached to
• He healed

They ended up despising Him! Why? Because of human nature!

Verse 7: "All who see Me mock Me; they shoot out the lip; they shake the head, saying, 'He trusted on the LORD; let Him deliver Him; let Him rescue Him, since He delights in Him!'" (vs 7-8).

Well, the rescue came three days later with the resurrection.

Verse 9: "For You are He who took Me out of the womb…. [reflecting back on His very life being born as a human being] …causing Me to trust while on My mother's breasts. I was cast upon You from birth…" (vs 9-10).

In other words, from the very impregnation and birth of Jesus Christ, all of this was set in motion to go in the time that God had determined.

"…You are My God from My mother's womb. Be not far from Me; for trouble is near, for there is none to help. Many bulls have encircled around Me; strong bulls of Bashan have surrounded Me" (vs 10-11).

What is that? There was Satan and the demons there just circling around, probably laughing and jeering and just stirring up the people to hate Jesus.

Mocking Him, the demons and Satan the devil themselves, because remember, Satan was there at the Passover night in the person of Judas Iscariot. So, this was the pinnacle, the highest thing that God could do to provide a sacrifice for the sins of human beings.

Verse 13: "They opened wide their mouths at Me, like a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of My bowels" (vs 13-14).

You know how He gets so weak, there's nothing left in you, because He had to shed all of His blood. Remember that one of the soldiers had a spear and came to make sure that He was dead, and thrust into His side, going clear up from the right side and probably pierced His heart to make sure that every drop of blood was shed.

Verse 15: "My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; dogs have surrounded Me; a band of evildoers have encircled Me; they have pierced My hands and My feet…" (vs 15-16).

How direct and how absolutely definitive are these prophecies concerning what Jesus was to go through in the sacrifice. Amazing!

"…and You have brought Me into the dust of death. I can count all My bones; they look and gloat over Me…. [He could look down and see His rib bones] …They divide My garments among them and cast lots upon My vesture" (vs 16-18).

Isn't that what it says? That's what happened! That's exactly every one of these things. You can go to the Matt. 27 and read it. Then the parallel account in Mark and the parallel account in Luke and the parallel account in the Gospel of John. So think about that. He had not two, not three, but four written witnesses of the Truth and the identity of Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world, crucified for the sin of the world!

Verse 19: "But You, O LORD, be not far from Me; O My strength, hasten to help Me! Deliver My soul from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog. Save Me from the lion's mouth…" (vs 19-21).

Who was the lion? Satan goes around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour!

"…yea, and from the wild ox's horns. You have answered Me. I will declare Your name to My brethren…" (vs 21-22).

That's what He did after He was resurrected and came and appeared to the disciples and taught them for 40 days and 40 nights; before He ascended into the heavens to go to the right hand of the Holy Father.

Verse 22: "I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the congregation I will praise You."

That's quite a thing, isn't it? Yes, indeed! How about that? That's how God works!

Psa. 16 is a very interesting Psalm in itself because this has to do also with the resurrection of Christ. So, when we get ready for the Passover, let's keep all of these things in mind so that we understand and know with great assurance, with love and truth, what God has done and what He's doing and how He is doing it.

For all of those who come to Him, this is why. This is why. It's so marvelous that He did this. We can come to God and have that forgiveness and correct contact with God.

Psalm 16:1: "Preserve me, O God, for in You do I take refuge."

That's true of Christ, and that's true of us. Every day when we pray, we're taking refuge in God.

Verse 2: "I have said to the LORD, 'You are my LORD; I have no goodness apart from You.'"

That's the whole lesson of why we keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We come to the understanding that within our self, we have no goodness that is like the goodness of God within us.

Now we can have some goodness once we receive the Spirit of God, but that comes from God. But apart from God, there is no goodness in us. Jesus brought that out.

Verse 3: "As for the saints in the earth, 'They are the excellent ones in whom is all My delight.'"
Now think about that; God delights in everyone that has His Spirit! The children of God the Father.

Verse 4: "Their sorrows shall be multiplied who run after another god. I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood; and I will not take their names upon my lips."

Paul also warns of this about what the Gentiles sacrifice with their sacrifice, because there was a counterfeit bread and wine service that the pagan religions had. And Paul writes in 1-Cor. 10 that they sacrificed unto demons.

No! This is to God, and we have no part in that. While rejecting all of that:

Verse 5: "The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup… [that's the cup of the Passover] …You shall uphold my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; yea, I have a beautiful inheritance" (vs 5-6).

In other words, He's describing how our minds are opened up to the beauty and wonder of God's Word and the inheritance that God has for us to be in the Family of God.

Verse 7: "I will bless the LORD Who has given me counsel; my heart also instructs me in the nights. I have set the LORD always before me…." (vs 7-8).

Now that's what Jesus did, and this is what we are to do. This is why we have the opportunity to grow, to overcome, to change in all of those things!

"…Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved" (v 8).

That's what he was trusting in God the Father, that he would endure all of this and not be moved and not be ashamed in spite of the fact that God willed to crush him.

Verse 9: "Therefore, My heart is glad, and My glory rejoices; My flesh also shall rest in safety, for You will not abandon My soul to the grave; neither will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption" (vs 9-10).

That's exactly what it was with Christ. Isn't that what Peter talked about in Acts 3 and in Acts 2? Yes, that he was raised from the dead!

Verse 11: "You will make known to Me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy…."—going forward to the fulfillment of entering into the Kingdom of God.

Of course, of Jesus Christ, receiving back to Himself the eternal life that He divested Himself of when He came here as a human being.

Psa. 23 is one of the Psalms that many of those in fake Christianity repeat over and over and over again by rote. Yet, they don't even have a clue how this might apply to Christ and His resurrection and what he went through.

Psalm 23:1: "The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want."

Now, the first time I ever read that, I thought, 'Why would they not want the Lord?' Well, it doesn't mean they didn't want Him! That means they shall not lack anything! Did Christ lack anything? No, indeed!

Verse 2: "He makes Me to lie down in green pastures; He leads Me beside the still waters. He restores My soul… [through the power of the resurrection] …He leads Me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake" (vs 2-3).

Everything that He did, God led Him! He prayed to God day and night, had the Spirit of God, God in the flesh, serving the people, healing the sick, raising the dead, feeding the hungry.

Verse 4: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…"—which He did, He walked right through death, had to be put in the tomb and raised from the dead.

"…I will fear no evil, for You are with Me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort Me" (v 4)

Always trusting in God, regardless of the circumstances, regardless of how devastating and how deadly it would become."

Verse 5: "You prepare a table for Me in the presence of My enemies. You anoint My head with oil; my cup runs over." That is true!

• Did not that happen?
• Was not his head anointed before the Passover took place in preparation for His burial?

Yes, we find that in the Gospels!

Verse 6: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…"

Everything He did when He was a human being, and then after resurrected, for the rest of eternity.

Now notice how this psalm shows what we need to do, as well. We need to keep our eyes on the goal! That's what's important. Nothing else in this world is more important than this next statement in our lives.

"…I shall dwell in the House of the LORD forever" (v 6)—that is New Jerusalem! Think of that!

Let's see what happened at the resurrection. Let's see what took place when Jesus came after being raised to present Himself to God the Father and to tell God the Father face-to-face: 'It is finished. I have done what we need to do.' Imagine that!

So here's what happened in heaven when He was raised to come to God the Father.

Psalm 24:7: "Lift up your heads, O you gates; and be lifted up, O you everlasting doors; that the King of glory may come in."

Then they ask; v 8: "Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle."

Wasn't that a mighty battle that took place between Jesus Christ and Satan the devil? Yet, He won, even though it looked like He lost. Mighty in battle!

Verse 9: "Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you everlasting doors; that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah" (vs 9-10).

So, there we have what we need to know on the Sabbath before Passover! Look forward to it, prepare for it, and that will be tomorrow night.

So, have a wonderful Passover, and we'll continue with the messages to bring on the Passover, and the Night to be Much Observed, And then the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, all in one package. Then the whole Feast of Unleavened Bread, so that we can continue to grow in grace and knowledge, and overcome, and attain to the Kingdom of God! Amen.

Scriptural References:

• Romans 5:12
• John 1:1, 14
• John 3:15-16
• Philippians 2:5-6
• Revelation 13:8
• Philippians 2:7-8
• 1 Timothy 3:16
• 1 John 1:23, 29, 35-36
• John 10:1-4, 11-18
• Romans 6:1-2, 14, 3-5
• 1 John 3:2
• Romans 6:5-12
• 1 Peter 2:21-24
• Isaiah 53:1-11
• Isaiah 50:6-7
• Isaiah 53:11-12
• Psalm 22:1, 6-22
• Psalm 16:1-11
• Psalm 23:1-6
• Psalm 24:7-10

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Genesis 3:15
• Romans 7
• John 17:17
• John 1:20-22
• Exodus 12
• Romans 6:13
• 1 Peter 1
• Ezekiel 18
• Matthew 27
• 1 Corinthians 10
• Acts 3; 2

Also referenced:

Books by Fred R. Coulter

• The Christian Passover
• A Harmony of the Gospels
• From a Speck of Dust to a Son of God: Why Were You Born?

Message: today! by Russell Kemp

FRC:bo/po
Transcribed: 3/18/24

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