Thursday, April 25, 2019

Christ In You (Unleavened Bread - Day 7) - 2017 "VIDEO"

by Michael C. Garrett


Hello friends, wherever you might be. You might be here in America, you might be in some other country or continent. Wherever you are we are so glad that you are joining us here. My name is Michael C. Garrett, and this is the weekly church service of the Owensboro Church of Jesus Christ. And today’s sermon is going to be a continuation of trying to understand the meaning’s of the Days of Unleavened Bread. And we’re just going to call it – Christ In You part 7. Now, to be honest, most of the material which dealt with that concept of Jesus Christ dwelling in you through His Spirit we have covered in the first six parts of this series. But now today we’re gonna take just a little different path. But I just said for the sake of continuance, or continuity, we will just call it Christ In You part 7.

Mother's Day

An issue that I wanted to talk about, is Mother’s Day. Now, when we come upon these special occasions, I often like to go to the computer and try to find out the history of them. I urge all of you to find a good source albeit a hard back book, an older encyclopedia, or to go to your computer and your search engine and look up the history of thing’s like Christmas, or celebration’s like Easter, of celebration’s like Valentine’s Day, or Halloween. And you probably would be shocked - if you stick with the research, what you’re gonna find out! And all of these so-called holidays or “holy days” are extremely pagan in their origin. Well I thought – Mother’s Day, what’s the history of Mother’s Day!? And, first of all I want to make a comment. The commandment says – and we read through all the commandments through this week – and turn if you would back to Exodus 20. Now, Deuteronomy 5 contains the same basic information. Exodus 20:12 – “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.” And the Apostle Paul was inspired to write that the commandment to honor thy father and thy mother was the one commandment that had a specific promise to it. And so in the commandment is a promise from God that if you honor your father and your mother as you should, that God will bless you for this good attitude that you have. And as I mentioned in the last sermon, the spiritual component – honor your Father, as in your Heavenly Father and your Heavenly Big Brother, and honor as it were the Church – our spiritual Mother – the Body of Christ. And so there again, a two-fold meaning.

And I think everyday should be Mother’s Day. Because I think everyday people should honor their mother’s and their grandmother’s. And I think everyday should be Father’s Day – not just once a year. But I think it should be for the entire year everyday – 365/24/7. Because literally if it weren’t for these two people in combination - you and I would never have existed. So we literally owe them our lives! In a secondary nature to God the Father and Jesus Christ, but we owe them an awful lot. Now, some parent’s are easier to honor. Some grandparent’s are easier to honor. And, sad to say, some parent’s are harder to honor. But to the best of your ability that should be your attitude.

Now, this is a Wikipedia article –

“Mother’s Day is a celebration honoring the mother of family as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mother’s in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world. Most commonly in the month’s of March or May. It compliments similar celebration’s honoring family members, such as Father’s Day, Siblings Day, and Grandparent’s Day.

In the United States celebration of Mother’s Day began in the early 20th century. It is not related to the many celebration’s of mother’s and motherhood that have occurred throughout the world over thousands of years.”

And, then it mentions some of these different festivals. And, in one of them is “the festival of Hilaria, or the Christian Mothering Sunday celebration (originally a commemoration of Mother Church, not motherhood).” I knew there had to be somewhere back there a connection with religion. And sure enough, in some respect, there was once upon a time a celebration which honored Mother Church. Not female ladies who are mother’s.

“However, in some countries, Mother's Day is still synonymous with these older traditions.”

So, in some parts of the world, Mother’s Day is directly related or linked – according to this article – to religious reasoning’s or thought’s or philosophy. And the article goes on to say –

“The modern holiday of Mother's Day was first celebrated in 1908, …”

So, Mother’s Day doesn’t go back to the 1800s or the 1700s. The first celebration was in 1908.

“when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia.”

And it goes on to say –

“St Andrew's Methodist Church now holds the International Mother's Day Shrine. Her campaign to make Mother's Day a recognized holiday in the United States began in 1905, the year her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, died. Ann Jarvis had been a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War, and created Mother's Day Work Clubs to address public health issues. Anna Jarvis wanted to honor her mother by continuing the work she started and to set aside a day to honor all mothers because she believed a mother is ‘the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world.’ In 1908, the U.S. Congress rejected a proposal to make Mother's Day an official holiday, joking that they would also have to proclaim a ‘Mother-in-law's Day.’ However, owing to the efforts of Anna Jarvis, by 1911 all U.S. states observed the holiday, with some of them officially recognizing Mother's Day as a local holiday (the first being West Virginia, Jarvis' home state, in 1910). In 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating Mother's Day, held on the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers.”

Now, this next part is interesting –

“Although Jarvis was successful in founding Mother's Day, she became resentful of the commercialization of the holiday. By the early 1920s, Hallmark Cards and other companies had started selling Mother's Day cards. Jarvis believed that the companies had misinterpreted and exploited the idea of Mother's Day, and that the emphasis of the holiday was on sentiment, not profit. As a result, she organized boycotts of Mother's Day, and threatened to issue lawsuits against the companies involved. Jarvis argued that people should appreciate and honor their mothers through handwritten letters expressing their love and gratitude, instead of buying gifts and pre-made cards. Jarvis protested at a candy makers' convention in Philadelphia in 1923, and at a meeting of American War Mothers in 1925. By this time, carnations had become associated with Mother's Day, and the selling of carnations by the American War Mothers to raise money angered Jarvis, who was arrested for disturbing the peace.”

So, isn’t that interesting!? And, there’s some other information – again, you can look this up online. Well, really quick –

“A Mother’s Day is celebrated in one form or another in forty-six countries throughout the world. On this day many people pray in churches in honor of mother’s while some gift them presents on this day to express their love. Some may have dinner at home with the family. One of the most popular ways to celebrate Mother’s Day is by giving their mother’s card and bouquet of flowers. As it is a holiday, some people prefer to go out for a picnic to celebrate the festival. In school’s kid’s dedicate poems to their mother’s and also perform various roles on this day. In most countries Mother’s Day is an observance derived from the holiday as it has evolved in the United States.”

So the United States was the trend setter – as it were – in the modern incarnation of Mother’s Day.

“As adopted by other countries and cultures, the holiday has different meaning’s, is associated with different events, (religious, historical, or legendary), and is celebrated on different dates. In some cases countries already had existing celebration’s honoring motherhood, and their celebration’s simply adopted several external characteristics from the U.S. holiday, such as giving carnation’s and other present’s to one another. The extent of the celebration’s varies greatly. In some countries it is potentially offensive to one’s mother not to mark Mother’s Day. In other’s it is a little known festival celebrated mainly by immigrants or covered by the media as a taste of foreign culture.”

And then it says –

Religion. “In the Roman Catholic Church, the holiday is strongly associated with revering the Virgin Mary. In some Catholic homes, families have a special shrine devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In many Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, a special prayer service is held in honor of the Theotokos Virgin Mary.”

And then it mentions Islam, Hindu, and Buddhism, and all these other different cultures. But, I just found that interesting. Again, when we come upon a holiday I like to go to my computer and just find some information to find out – why are we celebrating this day!?

Now, in my opinion, is Mother’s Day bad!? No. Is it a nice thing? Sure it is. But like I said earlier, shouldn’t everyday be Mother’s Day!? Shouldn’t everyday be Father’s Day – in one sense or another!? Just something to think about.

Fátima Portugal Children

And, speaking of the Catholic Church. And I’m not trying to make anybody upset here, I noted how earlier today on the news, I heard that in Portugal – I think the town is called Fátima – way back when in the early 1900s, three shepherd children claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary. Now, do I believe that!? No. Do I think they believed it!? Yeah, I guess they probably did. Well, today, the pope was in Fátima, and he officially recognized these three children from 1917 as being “saints.” Now, I have a problem with that also. Again, for those of you who are Roman Catholic, if you’re comfortable in those ideas, I guess you don’t need to listen to me. But if you’re curious – We’re told in the Book of Acts 13 that King David “a man after God’s own heart” at the time of the writing of the Book of Acts was in his grave, in his tomb. In fact he had well changed over into dust. Now if King David “a man after God’s own heart” is not in Heaven, then how is it the “Virgin Mary” is in Heaven!? Now, Mary was only a virgin when Jesus was conceived. The Catholic Church teaches – to the best of my knowledge – that Mary didn’t have any other children. And yet, the “gospel” accounts plainly declare that Jesus Christ had brother’s and sister’s. Jude is one of those brother’s. He wrote the Book of Jude. James, who wrote the Book of James is also one of Jesus’ brother’s. So there we have a problem between what the Catholic Church teaches and what the Bible plainly says. You know, Jesus Christ said, ‘No man has ascended unto Heaven.’ I believe if you were to be a little more inclusive, He could have said, ‘No man and no woman is in Heaven.’ He said that the only One that’s ever been there is the One who came from there, and that was Himself. And so if nobody’s in Heaven, how can the “Virgin Mary” be in Heaven!? It’s just something to think about. And this idea that these three children, many decades after their death are “saints” – that’s not the definition of sainthood. A saint – by many places in the Bible, particularly in the Book of Revelation – from the Bible definition is an individual (a man or a woman) in whom the Spirit of God resides, people’s whose names are written in the Book of Life, people who have truly experienced that phenomenon we’ve been talking about – Christ In You! Through His Spirit! Which is what the whole powerful meaning of the Days of Unleavened Bread happen to be! So again, I have a lot of problems – now if I thought the Catholic Church was correct in all of these thing’s, I guess I would become a Catholic. Well, I’m not a Catholic.

Catholic means globe-girdling

And, just as a side – Once upon a time an organization which had gone by the name the Radio Church of God, founded by Mr. HWA back on the West Coast, eventually changed its name to the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). And then, through the years, we have a Global Church of God. And then Mr. GTA started, after he was relieved of his duties, the Church of God International. And then after he and the leadership of that group got tangled up in a mess, he founded a group called the Intercontinental Church of God (ICG). So here we have Worldwide, Global, International, Intercontinental. And guess what all of those words mean!? It’s pretty obvious they mean globe-girdling. That’s what the word catholic means. When people say the word catholic, whether they realize it or not, they are saying – a global organization. Just like the word worldwide, global, international, and intercontinental. So, I’m waiting for some group – some descendent from the WCG – to stand up and proudly proclaim that they are the Catholic Church of God. I think that would be so unique. It’s so shocking that they’ll never do it. But, when you understand what the words mean, it’s perfectly logical.

And, we can talk more about these things in the future.

Review

Now, we’ve been talking about the subject of Christ In You – the meaning of the Days of Unleavened Bread. And, in fact over the past six sermon’s we have been discussing the major meaning’s of the Passover and of the Days of Unleavened Bread. And to quickly review -

1) The major meaning of the Passover is that Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world, by His sacrifice – so the torture and death of Jesus Christ was the ultimate sacrifice. The One who created mankind, and in the end was the only One qualified to become a sacrifice for all mankind. And we can find that phrase in John 1:29.

2) The major meaning of the Days of Unleavened Bread is that for seven days we are to eat unleavened bread. And this unleavened bread represents the unleavened Bread of sincerity and truth. And you can find that in 1st Corinthians 5:8. And in John 6 – and a long passage – we see that Jesus Christ said that He was ‘the Bread of life.’ And that He was ‘the living Bread.’

3) Our pathway to eternal life is contingent upon Jesus Christ being in us. And that’s what Romans 8:6-13 talks about. Christ being in us through His Spirit. And having the mind of Christ residing within us. That is the KEY to having access to the gift of eternal life.

Now the Passover and Unleavened Bread festival season are also associated, in my mind, with other spiritual lesson’s and other spiritual teaching point’s. If you would – and again, you’re probably not going to hear these thing’s from other churches of God. Quite frankly, the only place you’re going to hear everything we’ve been talking about – most likely – is right here at the Owensboro Church of Jesus Christ. And I know that that’s astounding, and a lot of people, they struggle with that concept. But it is what it is. We here – we are dedicated to teaching the T R U T H of God, and the W O R D of God, and understanding the P L A N of God! And, understanding the meanings of Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread is integral to understanding your future, your pathway to eternal life through the great gift from God the Father and Jesus Christ.

So, in 1st Corinthians 11 – we read this very passage the night of the Passover. Again, be sure to read that here, or if you want to watch the sermon, be sure to go to our YouTube Channel and watch it. Also, on our website, this sermon is under Holy Day Sermons – 2017. And for the past eight sermons we’ve been talking about the Spring Holy Days, and what they mean and what lesson’s we can learn from it. And in 1st Corinthians 11:20-34, this is the very passage we used this last Passover to keep and to understand the meaning of the Passover. Now, notice that’s in chapter 11. And the very next chapter – and I’d never quite seen this before, and it sort of jumped off the page to me this week when I was putting these notes down – the very next passage, or the very next thought that the Apostle Paul had was talking about spiritual gifts. So, a part of the meaning of the Days of Unleavened Bread and Passover is the concept that under certain conditions, certain people, can receive certain powerful spiritual gifts.

Powerful Spiritual Gifts

Now, let’s look at chapter 12, verse 1 – “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: 2) You know that you were Gentiles, …” – now again, he is speaking to a group of people in Corinth, which is in Greece. They were not Jewish people, although there may have been a few Jewish people among them. But the native stock here is Gentile. “You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led.” ‘You were up to your eyeballs in all of that Greek mythology.’ The Greek pantheon of gods – this god and that god, temples and religious ceremonies. They were just filled with it. Verse 3 – “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, …” – that’s interesting. I guess you could mouth those words. I guess you could mouth those words, ‘Jesus is accursed.’ But what if you’re so ashamed of the name Jesus Christ, that you are virtually unable to say it!? Isn’t that almost in the same league as saying that the name Jesus is accursed!? If your so ashamed that you can’t even say it!? Aren’t you real close to be in that territory!? And some of you know what I’m talking about! But, continuing, “…and no one can say that Jesus is the Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” – from the words of the Apostle Paul – IF YOU CAN’T SAY THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE Χριστός (the CHRISTOS; the Anointed One, Messiah, the Christ) then maybe you don’t have God’s Spirit. Now, you can believe that, or you can dismiss it. But for those of you who knows of whom I speak, and yet you want to defend him, take the scales off of your eyes, unplug the wax that has filled your ears, melt the hardened surface of your heart and allow the Spirit of God to teach you! That if you’re ashamed of Jesus Christ you are NONE OF HIS! And the Spirit of God does not reside in you! That’s what the Word of God says. Verse 4 – “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.” – they all come from the same Spirit. They all come from the mind of God and the mind of Jesus Christ! Again, we talked about this last week, that there is no such thing as a Trinity. (Be sure to watch – The Truth Concerning the Trinity Explained). Yes, the Bible talks about God the Father. Yes, the Bible talks about Jesus Christ. And yes, the Bible talks about the Spirit of God. But the Spirit of God is not a personality, the Spirit of God is nothing more than a tool used by God the Father and Jesus Christ to transmit Their strength, Their energy, Their ideas, Their way’s to wherever in the universe They so direct it – including by speaking to human hearts, human minds. Verse 6 – “And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God.” – now, we call ourselves the Owensboro Church of Jesus Christ, because I don’t want anyone confused about what our main Message is. Our main Message is understanding the will and the way’s, the ideas and the mind of Jesus Christ. But I do recognize that we have – as it were – a spiritual DNA link to other churches of God. Now I hope and pray that we are doing the will of God! And if we were not doing the will of God I would be highly disappointed. But I do not presume that we’re the only group of people who are doing the will of God. I will accept that other groups in other places in this country and in other countries can indeed be doing the will of God as much as they understand to do that will. And so yes, there are ‘different operation’s.’ But it is all being inspired by the same God and by the same mind of God and Jesus Christ! Verse 7 – “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.” – God grants His Spirit, and the gifts of His Spirit, and the fruits of His Spirit, so that human beings can be helped. So that the Message can help people. Verse 8 – “for to one is given the word of wisdom through [or by] the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through [or by the very same mind of God] …, 9) to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10) to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits [God allows one to perceive the source of a person or spiritual manifestation and determine if it’s of God or of Satan], to another different kinds of tongues, …”- meaning they can speak different languages. You don’t have to be “babbling” in some incoherent unknown, just sensaphonic sound, to be “speaking” under God’s direction. If you’re one of those people – I have a young niece, and throughout her life she has shown an unusual ability to learn languages. Now, she presently is a Spanish teacher, but as some point in her life she also was a French teacher. Now folks, I’m just working on English. And yet, she’s juggling three languages, and I have a feeling that if two or three decades ago she wanted to learn the Greek language, she could have done it! Or Italian, or Russian. She just has the gift for learning languages. It had nothing to do with some spooky Pentecostal type mentality. It’s just she has the ability to speak different languages. But, in this world today – you know children around the world who are being taught in school, almost everywhere I’m told (I’ve not been to these other places, I’m going by what other people say) do indeed learn English. It may not be their main language – and you know, you turn on the news and some horrible thing happens in Paris, and they find people in the crowd there – young people – who start speaking English. Now, it might not be perfect English, but they’re doing a whole lot better job speaking English than I can French. Because the only word in French I know is “Oui” which means yes. And, the horrible situation’s which happened in Brussels. And, those people interviewed knew how to speak English. Something happens in Russia, they find people who can speak English. English is the most dominant universal language on the earth today. At once upon a time, I guess it might have been Greek. Because Greece owned so much of the known world. And then maybe at one time it was Latin. Because the Roman Empire controlled so much of the known world. So, anyway, when it’s talking about speaking in different kinds of tongues, it doesn’t mean that you show up at a church service, and you sit in the back of the room, and when the preacher says something you like you start babbling some incoherent noise. And notice also “…the interpretation of [languages]. 11) But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” – now I know people who maybe have many of these gifts. And I think I’ve known people who only possess one or two of the gifts. God decides how far He’s going to give His Spirit and to whom and in what quantity and what gifts being associated with it. Verse 12 – “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also [and I might add editorially, so SHOULD BE THE BODY OF CHRIST].” Now what should be and what actually is, sometimes isn’t the same thing. Verse 13 – “For by one Spirit [the Spirit of God] we were all baptized into one Body [the Body of Christ, the Church] – whether we be [Jewish in our background or Gentiles], whether we be [bond] or free …” – whether we be once a Catholic or a Methodist. “…and we have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14) For in fact the Body is not one member but many.” – and that’s something we need to keep in mind.

A lot of people thinks the world revolves around them. And yet, in actuality, the world revolves around each and every one of us. And we need to understand that God works with other people. And not become so provincial. It just astounds me! It upsets me! I hear reports that people of different church groups – and one that comes to mind is the group out of Edmund, Oklahoma. The so-called Philadelphia Church of God. Their leader’s preach hard that they are the ONLY legitimate Church of God! And then, there’s another outfit called the Restored Church of God led by a David Pack. A former schoolmate of mine. And I am told that he teaches that ONLY he and his group have the truth of God and are truly of God! And then there’s the Living Church of God, which was under Roderick Meredith. They teach the same message about themselves. And, I was so tickled, a couple of years ago, we held our feast site up in Montgomery, Indiana, and we were sharing the grounds with another ICG group. And one day I overheard one ICG person say to another, “Well we know that we are the only legitimate Church of God!” And I thought – how arrogant! How unbelievably arrogant on your part that you presume that! What did we just read here!? “For in fact the Body is not one member BUT MANY.” The Body of Christ is not just one little group! There are little groups all around the world who keep the Sabbath and try to keep some of the holy days, or keep all of the holy days, and understand God’s grace and mercy. And I don’t know where they stand in the eyes of God, but I know it’s not my job to dismiss them! Now, if they come out publicly and state something which is just wrong according to the Word of God, I have the right to say, “Well, according to the Word of God, that’s not correct.” And, I said that a little earlier about some of the Roman Catholic Church belief’s. Such as – saints can only be ordained by the pope. But in truth, saints are alive today, they have God’s Spirit, their name’s are written in the Book of Life. The idea that the “Virgin Mary” shows up to people!? No, the mother of Jesus, Mary, died almost two-thousand years ago. And she has become ashes. And she’s not in Heaven, and she’s not in Hell. She’s just sleeping, and upon the Return of Jesus Christ I’m sure that Jesus will be united with His birth mother as a human being. But this idea that – churches can pronounce on their own that “they are the one.”!? The WCG use to do that all the time! They use to tell each other and buck up their members by saying, “We are the only Church.” No. As he says, “For in fact the Body is not one member but many.”

Verse 15 – “If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,’ is it therefore not of the body? 16) And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,’ is it therefore not of the body? 17) If the whole body were an eye, …” – now, think of this… like the size of a beach ball or something, just this eye. And that’s all it was. I don’t know how it would move, maybe it would roll!? But, ‘if the whole body were an eye, “…where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18) But now God has set the members, each one of them in the Body just as He pleased.” – now just maybe, Jesus Christ has given me a job to do and the people who are here with us and supporting us. And maybe what we’re doing is a thoroughly legitimate purpose of God!? You need to stop and consider that! Verse 19 – “And if they were all one member, where would the body be? 20) But now indeed there are many members, yet one Body. 21) And the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’; …” – now I think that a lot of us agree that those of us who have the gift of sight, that we would hate to lose our vision. I mean, that would be a very traumatic thing. But even though we love our vision, we’re not willing to throw our hands away! “…nor again the head [the brain] to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’” – the feet help you get from point “A” to point “B.” And if the body didn’t have the feet that transportation would become extremely difficult. Verse 22 – “No, much rather, those members of the Body which seem to be weaker are necessary.” – and there are different part’s of the body that don’t have a real good reputation. I could get crass or crude right here, but you can use your own imagination. There are part’s of our body that we’re so ashamed of in our society that we always feel the need to cover them up. But quite frankly, if we didn’t have those part’s, what would we do!? Well, we wouldn’t live very long! And that’s what he’s trying to say – we all work together! All the different part’s work together! Each person has their job. Each person has their role. Each person has their purpose. Verse 23 – “And those members of the Body which we think to be less honorable. on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable [unbeautiful] parts have [more abundant beauty], 24) but our presentable [beautiful] parts have no need. But God composed the Body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, …” – all of the Body parts work together and they are needed to be fully and completely functioning. And I’m sorry for people who don’t have all of those functions. And that’s a sad thing. I wish it wasn’t that way. And someday it won’t be that way anymore. Someday, all people on the earth will be healthy and whole in the World Tomorrow – in the Kingdom of God! Verse 25 – “that there should be no schism [or division, no split] in the Body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.” – you know, all of us at one time was in the shower or the tub and we washed each toe, or we cleaned the ear wax out of our ears, or we cut our toe nails, or our fingernails. I mean, we spent a lot of time making sure all of the parts are working properly and are properly equipped to do their job. And we don’t say, “Well, I don’t need you!” We take care of our feet, our hands, those of us with a little hair, we still try to comb it. Verse 26 – “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27) Now you are the Body of Christ, [and each of us are a member] individually. 28) And God has appointed these in the Church …” – and the Church is what!? The Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is what!? The Church. But remember we read way over in verse 6 – that there are different operation’s. We don’t all belong to the same organization. We don’t all operate under the same corporate structure. But hopefully – and I wish, but it’s never gonna be in this age, because people are hard-headed and selfish and want their power, and want their domain and their dominion. and so leader’s of one group will tell their members, “Don’t you dare listen to anything from that other group!” All that I’m ever gonna do is show you the Word of God, the Truth of God, and the Plan of God! That’s what we’re all about! “And God has appointed these in the Church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that [certain people with certain miracle abilities], then gifts of healings, helps, [governments], varieties of [languages]. 29) Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? 30) Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with [different languages]? Do all interpret? 31) But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.”

And that gets us over to chapter 13.

So, we began this by saying that in chapter 11 we read about the Passover ceremony and we see the Words of Jesus Christ in red. And the very next thing that Apostle Paul starts talking about is spiritual gifts. Having spiritual gifts and understanding that we are separate, but we are all united through God’s Spirit is a VERY IMPORTANT understanding to the Passover and Unleavened Bread season.

Godly Love is Most Important

And now, in chapter 13 we’re going to learn, and talk about the MOST IMPORTANT quality of them all. And, this is very poetic. 1st Corinthians 13:1 – “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.” – just a little toy. I can remember way back, when I was about ten or eleven years old. I was picked by my music teacher. I think there was three of us altogether. And we were picked to learn a song – it might have been a Christmas song, I don’t remember. And we all showed up at this Order of the Eastern Star. And we were brought in to sing, and for our performance we were given these little brass bells. I still have it – somewhere it’s still at the house. That was our pay. Well every time I read this – a person can have this wonderful speaking voice, and yet if they have not love they’re nothing more than sounding brass as a tinkling cymbal. Verse 2 – “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understanding all mysteries and all knowledge and though I have all faith, so that [theoretically] I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing [in the eyes of God]. 3) And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned [some type of horrible martyrdom], but have not love, it profits me nothing.” – ‘though I’m given a title!’ A church title – maybe like ‘minister,’ ‘ordained minister.’ And yet I have NOT Godly love - in the eyes of God you are nothing! There’s that one scene where Jesus Christ talks about people coming to Him – this is after He has returned – and apparently are locked out of being a part of the Kingdom of God. And they go, “Lord, Lord, don’t you know who we are!? Why I did these wonderful thing’s in Your name! I had church services, I formed churches, I did miracles, blah, blah, blah. Let me in!” And Jesus Christ says, “I never knew you!” You see, it’s not what people say about you that counts, it’s what God the Father and Jesus Christ say about you that counts. Verse 4 – “[Charity] …” -it’s just an old fashioned word, meaning “Godly love.” “[Godly] love suffers long and is kind; [Godly] love does not envy; [Godly] love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5) does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not [easily] provoked, thinks no evil; 6) does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7) [Godly love] bears all things, …” – which means if your fellow church member has a weakness, you still – do you remember the song quite a few years ago, “He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother”? Well, we get a lot of people on the church scene now, if someone is suspected of having some little minor flaw – then, “Away with them!” Throw them away like a piece of trash! “[Godly love] bears all things, believes [the positive; I’m sure that’s what Paul meant] …” – he didn’t say believe all the rumors you hear that are false. I think he meant, ‘believe the good side of the story.’ “…[Godly love] hopes all things, endures all things. 8) [Godly] love never fails. …” – so, if the love which was once expressed among people disintegrates, that love was never Godly. It was just a human love. Human love can come, and human love can go. Godly love is unconditional. It’s like the love of a parent for a child, or a grandchild. You might have a child that has done some thing’s wrong, but for most parents, they may be disappointed in their child, but they are not rejecting their child. They still love him, or they still love her. They still want to help them. Godly love endures. Think about all the people who say, “I love you!” And then they walk down the isle at the wedding chapel, and then five-years later, “I hate you!” You get my picture. Human love, sometimes, doesn’t last very long. And any human love that does not last very long, is by its definition, not Godly love. Because, Godly love ‘never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they [could] fail; …” – they could, possibly. “…whether there are tongues, they [might] cease; …” – the Latin language, basically, isn’t used anymore. “…whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9) For we know in part and we prophesy in part.” – and keep that in mind, ‘we prophesy in part.’ When we talk about what we think is gonna happen in the future, we’re just giving our best estimate. Based upon what we can see at the present. Knowing that a year or two down the road we may have a more deeper understanding, or a more clear understanding. Verse 10 – “But when that which is perfect has come, …” – meaning Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ comes back to the earth and establishes the Kingdom of God. “…then that which is in part will be done away. 11) When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12) For now we see in a mirror, dimly, …” – like a smoked piece of glass, you can sort of vaguely see through it, but you can’t see very well. “…but then …” – when Jesus Christ Returns and sets up the Kingdom of God, and we who have God’s Spirit are inducted into the Family of God. “…but then [we will see] face to face. Now I know in part, but then [with the establishment of the Kingdom of God] I shall know just as I also am known [by God]. 13) And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” – the greatest trait you can possess is Godly love.

Now, I want to think you for being here with us today. I want to think you for your support, if you’re able to do that. We don’t have a lot of expenses, but we do have some. And it would be helpful – if these Messages are important to you – if you help us out some financially. As much as you can, if you’re able, if you want to. Otherwise we’ll rely upon the people who feel that obligation and to feel that appreciation for what their learning. So, we’re glad you’re here. And, we hope that you go back and either read or watch all of the other sermon’s in this series concerning this Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread season. So, review those. Even re-read this Message today. And please, come back next week. So, on behalf of all of us, our love goes out to you, our concern, our appreciation. And I hope that your love and your prayer’s go forth in our benefit. So, my friends, until next week, goodbye till then.




Thank you, here's the listing's of this series:

Passover - Passover Service - 2017
Christ In You (Unleavened Bread - Day 1) - 2017
Christ In You (Unleavened Bread - Day 2) - 2017
Christ In You (Unleavened Bread - Day 3) - 2017
Christ In You (Unleavened Bread - Day 4) - 2017
Christ In you (Unleavened Bread - Day 5) - 2017
Christ In You (Unleavened Bread - Day 6) - 2017

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