Passover Service 2012

Ron Weinland

April 5, 2012

We observe each Passover service in a sober-minded and serious manner as we reflect on the extreme suffering and death of our Saviour, our Passover, Jesus Christ.  Last year at Passover we felt that not everyone would be able to meet together for this service today as we considered the short time that was remaining and the end-time events that were yet to take place and the Trumpet blasts that were yet to sound. But here we are again, and this is indeed a unique Passover as it’s the last Passover in this age of mankind.  We are so blessed to be able to meet together here today for this last Passover in this age of man and for some the last Passover.

Although we observe the Passover in a sober and a serious manner we also rejoice in a spiritual manner since we know that our Passover is about to return as our King of kings.  And last year’s Passover we fasted, seeking to draw closer to God and to take to heart in a very focused manner those things that Jesus Christ taught on His last physical day on earth.  And so much of that is just about relationships.  It’s about our relationships with one another and with those around us.

Tonight we’re focusing upon those things He taught as we also focus on what He sacrificed in order to make it possible that we could live what He taught.  So as always, we are partaking of this Passover in a serious manner but also in an encouraging manner as we look forward to our Passover once again being here on earth.  And it’s very encouraging when you consider, at each Passover service, the depth of God’s love and the blessing of being reminded of Christ conquering sin and death for us.

We need to be reminded that our participation in this service is an expression of our faith in the death of Jesus Christ on our behalf, faith in the reconciling death of Jesus Christ.  This service also reminds us of our commitment to not only allow but to deeply desire Christ to live His life in us.  God gave us this appointed time to remind us of the kind of love, the sacrificial love, the reconciling love Jesus Christ has shown mankind and His Church.

So, if you turn over to 1 Corinthians 11:23 to begin with here where Paul was talking to the Corinthians about Passover and the Passover service.  For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus in the same night in which He was betrayed He took bread: And when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, Take, eat: this is My body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of Me. After the same manner He also took the cup, after He had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament in My blood: this do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death until He come.

Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink the cup of the Lord, unworthily, or it really is in an unworthy manner; is how the expression is here in the Greek, because no ones worthy, it’s the manner of the manner, it’s the matter of the manner in which we approach the Passover and take the Passover.  And again, so much of it is simply about our relationships and examining ourselves and seeking to make certain that we are doing those things that Jesus Christ taught on that last night in our relationships toward one another; how we think and how we treat others.  It’s about a way of life.

So, it says, Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner; and that has to do with, again, if we’re not living this, if we’re not doing these things in our relationships toward one another... you know, God says beforehand that we’re to examine ourselves, we’ve looked at some of these things before we came to the Passover service here tonight.  And again, God’s desire is that we yield ourselves to Himself and His Son living and dwelling in us on a spiritual plane, living this way of life.

So again, Whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. So that’s how serious it is!  It’s a matter of still having sin.  It’s a matter of recognizing what Jesus Christ went through so that we could have sin forgiven us.  Not a small thing!  Not to be taken in a small way!  It’s about relationships, it’s about how we function as a Body, in unity and harmony and oneness in our care and love for each other and that we yield ourselves to that process of God living in us, of learning how to love one another with Godly love.

But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of this bread, and drink of this cup. That’s why we were encouraged before coming here tonight, in the sermons we’ve had, about examining ourselves, preparing ourselves, and so much of it is about preparing for this particular night.  And not only that, but it’s something we’re to do all year round anyway, but especially at this time of year as we focus upon what He did for us in our stead.

And then it goes on in verse 29 - For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.  Not grasping the depth and the magnitude of what Jesus Christ went through for us.  That’s why we can’t afford to ignore the things we do wrong in relationships, that we’re to repent.  He’s made it possible to repent so that He can live in us, so that His Father could live in us.

For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. So again, that which is on a spiritual plane, that which takes place in our lives; that which many of us tonight, as we observe this, have experienced in a very powerful way, what it’s like to fall asleep, what it’s like for the Church to fall asleep.  And it begins by being weak and sickly on a spiritual plane until finally those things are not there, that life is not there; we go to sleep, we fall asleep. Unless God mercifully wakes us up that’s where we’ll remain.

Let’s turn over to Luke 22.  So, in our relationships we’re to change, we’re to grow, we’re to become more Godlike in our relationships and learn to conquer or at least to fight this human nature more and more and more.

Luke 22:7 - Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, or the season, if you will, of Unleavened Bread when the Passover must be killed.  So this was before the Passover itself, obviously, before the Days of Unleavened Bread.  And it says, He sent Peter, speaking of Jesus Christ, Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the Passover that we may eat.  And they said to Him, Where will You that we go to prepare it? And He said to them, Behold, when you have entered into the city, there shall a man meet you bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he goes. And you shall say unto the good man of the house, The Master said unto you, Where is the guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with My disciples? Again, this was the Old Testament Passover where the lamb was killed, where they roasted it and ate it in that particular night.  And then, of course, on that same night Jesus instituted the symbols that we’re going to read a little bit later here about the Passover service.

Then it goes on in verse 13 - And they went and found as He had said unto them: and they made ready the Passover.  And when the hour was come, He sat down, so again, it continues on here.  And when the hour was come He sat down with them, with the twelve apostles there and He said to them, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer:  Something that is difficult sometimes when you just read something like this, to grasp what He was experiencing, what He was going through.  But He knew, very powerfully so, what His whole purpose, of everything that came to this moment in time, of being our Passover, of what He was getting ready to go through, though they had no comprehension whatsoever what was coming; in order, again, to be our Passover, the one who would take away the sins, offer to take away the sins of all mankind.  It’s a matter of whether we receive it or not in our lives.

John 13:1 – it goes on to say here - Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end. And supper having ended; so again here, when it talks about ‘Now before the Feast of the Passover’ – that’s before, obviously, the Passover itself.  This is during the Passover day before the 1st Day of Unleavened Bread, before the following evening when it would begin, the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  So this is during the Passover night, and it says here; And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him; Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He was come from God, and went to God;

Verse 4 - He rose from supper and laid aside His garments; and took a towel, and girded Himself. So this is not any ordinary supper, this is the Passover meal itself that He told them to go and prepare.  And so this is what they had just finished eating of and this is the moment that Jesus Christ begins to institute the symbols then and what we’re going to begin reading here in verse 12 where it says: So after He had washed their feet, and had taken His garments, He was set down again and said unto them, so again here, this is the moment in time where He set aside time here to wash their feet, and He says, Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord: and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Again, attitude, relationships, how we see each other, how we think about each other, an attitude of humility - and if we have an attitude of humility then we’ll swallow our pride and making certain that we strive to live a right way of life toward others, because usually it’s about pride, relationships. The things that get in the way is about pride; and if we humble ourselves then we’ll have an attitude of service...or that’s the attitude we should have toward one another, of sacrificing and giving to each other.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, that the servant is not greater than his lord; neither He that is sent greater than He that sent Him. If you know these things, happy, or as the word is, blessed are you if you do them.  So again here, it’s not just about the foot-washing; that’s not what He’s talking about.  This is a part of the service, yes, to wash one another’s feet, but it’s that attitude of mind all the time in our lives that we’re to have, that God wants us to have toward each other, to have that kind of humility toward others and to be willing to serve and to help one another.

So again here, this example was set for us as Paul even said, talked about those things that were given to him, talked about the bread and the wine; and certainly this is a part of that service as well that Jesus Christ instituted.  So He instituted this ordinance for His disciples to illustrate His desire and willingness to serve and love us unconditionally and He commanded us to follow His example of humility.  And that’s about relationships.  So we’re to humble ourselves to serve others out of genuine love, care, and concern – all about how we treat each other, how we think toward each other.

At this point we’re going to observe this portion of the ceremony as well and wash one another’s feet.

[At this time if everyone would pause the recording and then after you’ve finished this portion of the service come back and resume the recording of the service.]

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Partake of the Foot-washing

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If you turn over to Isaiah 53; again, prophecies about Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 53:1 - Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Eternal 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, and when we shall see Him there is no beauty that we should desire Him.  In other words, there is not that by looking upon Him that people would be drawn to in the sense of embracing as far as a friendship is concerned; and God making this very distinct here about the life of Jesus Christ.

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; in other words, acquainted with pain, is what the word is here: we have hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. So again here, something that we begin to experience, that God lets us experience in a small part, being in this life and the life of Christ living within us and what it’s like in relationships.

Verse 4, it goes on to say; Surely He bore our grief’s, and carried our sorrows: or our sicknesses, our infirmities and our sicknesses, yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with/by His stripes we are healed; in other words, to be made whole, or thoroughly whole is what it means in the Hebrew here – not just physical healing but it’s a spiritual healing that takes place as well.  It has to do with our lives and the process that God takes us through.

And it goes on to say then in verse 6 – All we are like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; it’s just the way of man.  No one follows God, no one has followed Christ unless and until the time that God begins to draw us and call us and bring us to Him: and the Eternal has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.  So again, paying for the sins of all mankind.

Then it goes on and tells about some of the other suffering and things that He went through and that it was, as it talks about in verse 10, a part of God’s purpose, a part of God’s will that it be this way.

Then in verse 12 it says - Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He has poured out His soul, speaking in essence of His life, His blood, unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; treated like a criminal in that period of time; and He bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. So again, things in prophecy about Jesus Christ, that which He fulfilled.

And over here in Matthew 8:16 – And when even was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with demons: and He cast out the spirits with His word, and healed all who were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bore our sicknesses. So some of those things there in Isaiah we just read even talking about some of this as a part of that fulfillment on a physical plane but every bit of it pointing to that which is physical and spiritual, those things in a relationship that God provides and makes for people, makes for mankind.

So again, Christ suffering and sacrifice was very much about removing suffering from mankind and this began to be demonstrated by the compassion He showed others in casting out demons and healing those who were sick.  It’s God’s desire for mankind that we be made whole and that we not be in bondage and that we not be tormented or in torment in this physical life.

Going on: this leads to the greater purpose of His suffering which was to totally free mankind from all suffering by His suffering for us, by what He had to go through even unto death so that we can have deliverance from all sufferings and the way open for us to become part of God’s Family.  So His sacrifice was given so that we could have our sins forgiven and thereby begin the process of being reconciled to God our Father through Him and His Son being able to dwell in us, to make reconciliation and salvation possible.

And then in Hebrews 4: these are only snippets in a story, much larger, much greater as we understand, but just reviewing some of this tonight in an overview, if you will, as it talks about here in Hebrews 4:14 where it says: Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. Our calling, what God has called us to is what it’s all about, to hold fast to what He’s given to us.

For we do not have a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; He knows what it’s like to suffer as a human being, obviously, what it’s like to deal with people that hate you, that loathe you, that despise you, and yet have a right spirit toward others understanding they don’t grasp, they don’t comprehend what they’re caught up in, frankly what they’re in bondage to. We know, and that should affect the way we treat others.  And so it says...goes on to say; but He was tempted/tried like as we are, yet without sin.  So He knows what it’s like to go through these things that we go through day by day, and yet He did so without sin, lived a perfect life.  We sin; difficult for us to deal with situations and people when things don’t go our way.

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. So again, that attitude of mind of the things that Jesus Christ went through for us and knowing full well His desire is that we come to Him and ask Him for the help to live right, to be right, to think right toward others and He’ll give us that help.

Luke 22:14 - And when the hour had come He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer: And this was before He would die as the Passover lamb.

And then in verse 19 - And He took bread, gave thanks, and broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is My body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me.  Jesus Christ instructed the disciples to eat some unleavened bread which symbolizes Christ’s suffering for us so that we can eat of His life, the true Unleavened Bread of Life.

Let’s look at John 6:32 - Then Jesus said unto them, Most assuredly I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven; but My Father which gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Then they said to Him, Lord, give us this bread always. And Jesus said to them, I am the Bread of Life: he who comes to Me shall never hunger and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

Verse 48 – I am the Bread of Life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and are dead; this is the bread which comes down from heaven that one may eat of it and not die.  I am the living bread which came down from heaven.  If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever, and the bread that I shall give is My flesh which I shall give for the life of the world.

Verse 53 - Then Jesus said to them, Most assuredly I say to you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh, and drinks My blood, abides in Me, and I in him.  As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father: so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers ate the manna and are dead: he who eats this bread will live forever. The bread is symbolic of Christ’s suffering in our place for our sins.  The punishment that we deserved for our guilt fell upon Jesus Christ, and the unleavened bread is also symbolic of the life of Christ living in us and of our need to live by every word of God.  In this symbolism of eating the bread also pictures the unity we are to have in the Body of Christ.

At this time everyone should remove the cloth covering the bread and I will pray over it.

[...would everyone bow their heads...]

Father, we ask You to bless this bread as a symbol of Christ’s body given for us that we may continue to receive of that true Bread of Life into our lives.  Christ suffered for us and we ask that You help us to become more willing to suffer for others as He did for righteousness sake.  Thank you Father for your love and all your mercies and benefits given toward us through our Passover.  We ask that You give us more of Your mind and that of Your Son, Jesus Christ, that we might have a right attitude of service to You and Yours as members of the Body of Christ.  Amen

Now is the time to break the bread and pass it out.  After being served each of you should quietly and solemnly eat the small piece of bread, thinking about its meaning as you do.

[It is time now to pause the recording and then resume it once you are finished with this portion of the service.]

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Partake of the Unleavened Bread

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Matthew 26:27- The next thing to follow.  It says: And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink you all of it; For this is My blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Then over in 1 John 1:7 - But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son is cleansing us from all sin. And if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

So, over here in Hebrews 9 – again, Jesus instructed earlier the disciples to drink the cup which symbolized His shed blood, and then 1 John showing that it’s our sins, the transgression of God’s law that caused the death of Jesus Christ.  Hebrews 9:11 - But Christ being come a High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the Holy Place having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered Himself without spot to God, no sins, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause He is the mediator of the new covenant, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant/first testament, they who are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

So again, at this time if you would remove the covering from the wine and I’ll pray over it.

[...and if all of you would bow your heads...]

Holy Father in heaven, we give You thanks and ask You to please bless this wine as a symbol of Christ’s blood shed for the remission of our sins.  We thank You for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in our stead to die for us, washing us clean that we might be reconciled to You, Holy Father.  We thank You for Christ’s willingness to submit to Your will, even to death.  And so Father, we thank You for this opportunity now to take part in this ceremony and to partake of this wine now; and we just ask these blessings of You, Great God and Your setting us aside in a very special way. In Christ Jesus’ holy and righteous name, amen.

So, each of you should take a glass and quietly and reverently drink it and remember that it’s the symbol of your acceptance of the blood of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins.

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Partake of the Wine

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It’s time now to replace the napkins on the unused portion of bread and back over the wine.

It truly is an incredible opportunity this evening.  I couldn’t help but... thinking about this being the last Passover before He returns and He talked about those things He looked forward to in the sense of ‘until everything was accomplished’ when it came time to be a part of the Kingdom and the Kingdom.  And you think, this is what it’s all about, because 144,000 and those through the last 2,000 years especially who have partaken of the Passover service in this particular manner, it’s about what’s accomplished in their lives, because that’s when it’s accomplished – at His return.  So again, it continues on for those others into the Millennium and what’s being accomplished in their lives, but it’s quite an awesome thing when you think about this being the last one before He returns.

Let’s turn over to John 14 and continue on with some of those things that He taught on that very last night of His physical life on earth. So much of what He taught was just in the last several days of His life, but especially on this particular night, incredible things that God gave to us, again, about relationships and about why He was giving His life, so that we could have right relationships with Him and His Father and with one another.

And here in John 14:1 it says: Let not your hearts be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in Me. It’s quite a powerful thing He had to say there. In My Father's House are many places of dwelling, not ‘mansions’ but places of dwelling: if it were not so, He said, I would have told you. And He said, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come; again, it’s present progressive meaning, I am coming again, and meaning on a continuing basis here.  But again, it goes on to say, I am coming again and receive you unto Myself; and where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know. And Thomas said unto Him, Lord, we don’t know where you’re going...how can we know the way? Again, all these things taken physically.  Over and over again that’s what we do, we normally take things physically.  And we’re the same way; in the Church we’re the same way.  That’s how we grow, that’s a part of a process, and there are those things that God continually reveals to us that we find that we’re still taking in a physical way.  There are things yet to be revealed before Christ returns, of things we still take in a physical way because we don’t understand what God is doing until it’s His time to reveal it to us, what the spiritual meaning is in our life and what it’s all about.

Verse 6 – And Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: and no man can come unto the Father, but through Me. If you had known Me, you should have known My Father also: and from henceforth you know Him and have seen Him. So again, their reaction was something physical.  They’d never seen the Father; they didn’t know what He was talking about.  And Philip said unto Him, Lord, show us the Father and that’ll satisfy us. And Jesus said unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet have you not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how do you say then, Show us the Father? And they still didn’t get what He was saying.  No idea what He’s saying here.

Believe you that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? So again, He’s beginning to reveal something here on a spiritual plane; and these are the most awesome things that have ever been revealed, has ever been revealed to mankind – right here in these verses.  He said, Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?  He was revealing something on a spiritual plane that was taking place in His life and the life of God the Father, that this life that was dwelling and living within Him.  ...I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me... the words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: in other words, they’re not My Words; but the Father who dwells in Me, He does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works' sake. In other words by the things you see and the things that were accomplished; understand where it comes from.

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes on Me, the works that I do shall he do; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to My Father. In other words those things that are going to take place within the Church in thousands and the thousands who would be called through time, through 2,000 years of a period of time of those things that would be accomplished because [of] God living in them now.  And the power then of...just like I think of Philadelphia and the power of what went out during that period of time and those who were called in the Church to be a part of it, to reach out in the world in a very powerful way.

And whatsoever you shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. So it’s not whatever we want, it’s whatever is according to God’s will, it’s whatever is according to God’s will as a part of our calling, as a part of our growth, as a part of what this is all about, why He’s getting ready to die, about right relationships, the things we pray about, the help we want, the things we need, just like we read earlier this evening, the desire we have of going before Him, our High Priest.  He knows what we’re going through; we go to Him and ask for help so we can live right.  We go before Him and repent when we do what’s wrong because we want to live what’s right.

And if you shall ask anything in My name, I will do it. So again, as long as we understand what that ‘anything’ is.  Because there are a lot of people in God’s Church in times past who have read this totally wrong.  It’s like you can... anything you desire, anything... any battles you have in life you can just go before God and He’s going to take care of all of it.  No, some things are there for us to live by, to grow through, to experience so that we can grow, so we can overcome. He doesn’t just take everything away from us.  And there are those things that are needed but there are things having to do with relationships and about God’s spirit, and the reason we cry out for God’s spirit, for God to dwell in us, because that’s just what He’s explained; ‘I dwell in the Father and the Father in Me’ – and God’s desire, and the reason He’s dying here this particular night that’s pictured here is so that He can dwell in us, so that He and the Father can dwell in us through the power of the holy spirit.  And it’s those things we cry out about.

So, what do we cry out about when we want God to dwell in us?  “Don’t leave us!  Forgive me of my sins.”  That’s what you do over and over again in your life.  It’s about going before God and asking to be forgiven of your sins.  If you shall ask anything in My name, I will do it.

If you love Me, keep My commandments. Surprise, surprise, what it’s all about, relationships; relationship toward God, relationships with one another, something we can’t do.  You can’t love God, you can’t love one another without God’s help – not the way God says to do it – and so we cry out to God for help.  And so much of that, again, involved repenting, asking God to forgive us of our sins, seeing where we’re wrong and then asking for help to live it right.

If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another... What’s it about?  Giving the strength, the power, the spirit, God’s help, the holy spirit, that it may abide with you forever; And when does it not abide with us forever?  When we sin!  That’s God’s will, that the holy spirit dwell in us constantly.  That’s why when we come into God’s Family, that’s why it’s such an awesome thing what God revealed – that He is going to dwell in us for eternity in the God Family; we’re going to dwell in Him for eternity in a spiritual plane.  But as physical human beings it’s interrupted over and over again in our lives whenever we sin and the flow of God’s spirit is cut off, until we repent, and as we repent and we cry out for help, if you ask anything in My name, I’ll do it.  That’s what this is about.

And so again, talking about Even the spirit of truth; that which we’re able to see that is true, our ability to know the truth, our ability to keep the truth, our ability to hold onto the truth that God gives us is a spiritual matter.  Even the spirit of truth; which the world cannot receive, because it sees it not, neither knows it: but you know it; for it dwells with you and shall be in you.  What an awesome thing that God’s given to us, the power of the holy spirit and the things we see and the truth we see and the truth we know.  That’s why we talk about the truths so often, that’s your power and your strength in a very powerful way, your ability to see and your ability to know.

I was moved by a young man’s letter here the other day, of battles he’s been going through for quite some time, and hasn’t been able to be a part of fellowship because of some of those things, and yet quite a struggle because of some healing of the mind that he needs in his life that he cries out for and desires, but he says that he knows that God is working with him, in essence, because he sees the truth, he knows it and believes it.  That’s a powerful statement that was made; his ability to know it’s because of the truth that’s in his mind, that he knows that God’s still working with him, which I know and I believe as well in a very powerful way.

Christ says, I will not leave you comfortless: I am coming to you. So again, that which He’s going to do, I am coming, there’s that point in time when the disciples, again here, just a little bit later after Christ died and was resurrected, and then He stayed, told them to stay around Jerusalem until the Day of Pentecost, and then finally the holy spirit was poured out.  From that moment on in their life, that’s when this process began, He began to fulfill this where He says, I am coming to you.  It’s present and progressive.  It started then and it continued on in their life, only interrupted when they sin.  That’s the way it is for us, only interrupted when we sin because God will not dwell in sin; we have to repent.

Yet a little while, and the world sees Me no more; but you see Me: He said, because I live, you shall live also. At that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. Again, sometimes we read through scriptures and we don’t recognize the magnitude of what’s being said; this is one of the most important things ever revealed to human beings in the Bible that you can read.  The most powerful, most awesome thing that you could read in God’s word - and not to be skipped over but to be thought about because Jesus Christ died so that this could become a reality.  If He hadn’t died for our sins this would not be a reality, it wouldn’t be a part of life.  But God’s will is that He live in us and we live in Him so that we can change; that’s the only way we can change.

At that day, so on the Day of Pentecost for them.  For us it’s on the day we’re baptized and have hands laid upon us, that’s when the process beings.  God begins to draw us ahead of time but this promise then of a covenant relationship happens after baptism and hands are laid upon us and we’re impregnated with the holy spirit.  At that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

He that has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me: and he who loves Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him and will manifest/reveal/show Myself to him. Again, over and over again, relationships, how we treat each other, how we think about each other.

Verse 22 - Judas said unto Him, this not being Iscariot, Lord, how is it that You shall/will manifest/will show Yourself unto us, and not unto the world? Again, this physical thing; ‘How can we see You and the world can’t? This doesn’t make any sense.  And Jesus said unto Him, If a man love Me, he will keep My Logos/My Word: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him and make our abode, that same word that’s translated as ‘mansions’ up in verse 1, our place of dwelling with him. It’s about Him dwelling in us.

He who loves Me not keeps not My Sayings: keeps not My Logos, and the Word which you hear is not Mine, the Logos is not His, but it’s from the Father.  That’s why He was made, the Logos made flesh, the Word of God made flesh; but the Father's who sent Me. These things I have spoken unto you, yet being present with you. But the comforter, which is the holy spirit which the Father will send in My name, it shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said to you. So again, what an awesome thing on Pentecost, all these things that they could only take on a physical plane and all of a sudden the power they had on that day, the things that they could see, the strength they had – they knew it!  Peter, when he was preaching, all the stuff that was coming into him by the power of the holy spirit, made these things come alive now.  And it’s an awesome thing when God’s Word comes alive because of the holy spirit. That’s why we’re able to have what we have and share what we share.

John 15:1 - I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. The example that is given is like unto a grapevine.  And it says, Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away: and every branch that bears fruit He prunes that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide/dwell in/live in/continue/remain in Me, that’s what it means, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides/dwells/lives in the vine; neither can you unless you abide/dwell in/continue in/remain in Me.  I am the vine, you are the branches: He who abides/continues in Me and I in him bears much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing.

Verse 6 – But if anyone does not continue/abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire and they are burned.  And you and I understand what this means.  If you abide/continue/dwell in Me, and My words continue in you, you will ask what you desire, and the emphasis is focused on God’s will to produce fruit, to give us understanding, to give us the truth that is revealed to us; and that’s the context of what is being said.

Verse 8 – By this is My Father glorified, when we produce fruit, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you: abide/continue in My love. It’s talking about a sacrificing love...is what it’s talking about.  And if you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and continue in His love. These things I have spoken to you that My joy might remain/abide/continue/live in/dwell in you and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment; That you love one another, as I have loved you. It’s talking about relationships and sacrifices that are made for these relationships.

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for His friends. And we know that Jesus Christ gave the ultimate sacrifice by giving His life for us and for the whole world.  And you are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants; for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but we understand.  And He says, but I have called you friends; for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. And we do understand God’s plan for mankind. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain: that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another.

If the world hates Me, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own: yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. And it does!  The world doesn’t understand the plan of God and therefore the world does hate us.

Remember the words that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; and they do...if they kept My Word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake because they do not know Him who sent Me. But they will in a short while when Jesus Christ returns to this earth.

If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin: but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin: but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. But that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, They hated Me without a cause.  But when the comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the spirit of truth which proceeds from the Father, he will testify of Me: And you also shall bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

John 16:32 - Indeed, the hour is coming, yes has now come, that you will be scattered each to His own and will leave Me alone: and yet I am not alone because the Father is with Me.  These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

John 17:1 – it goes on to say: -  These words Jesus spoke, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son, that Your Son may also glorify You: As You have given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is life eternal, that they might know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  I have glorified You on the earth: I have finished the work which You gave Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me with Your own self, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. Again, referring back to that which God had planned so long ago, that which was written in prophecy that Jesus Christ was fulfilling at this moment in time.

I have manifested Your name unto the men which You gave Me out of the world: Yours they were, and you gave them to Me; and they kept Your word/have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever You have given Me are of You. For I have given unto them the words which You gave Me; and they have received them and have known surely that I came out from You, and they have believed that You did send Me. I pray for them: I do not pray for the world, but for them whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.   So again, it’s about those who God is calling and those whom God is working with.

Verse 10 - And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You, Holy Father, keep through Your own name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as we are. So again, all these things in this prayer to God written for us.  It’s what we are to learn from it; it’s what we are to see and understand what was taking place and why.

While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name: those that You gave Me I have kept, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves.  I have given them Your Word; again, God’s Word, God’s Logos; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world even as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world but that You should keep them from the evil, or from the evil one, as well. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Sanctify, set apart for holy use and purpose, them through the truth: so again, it’s through the truth, the Word of God, the Logos, that we’re sanctified, we’re set apart; Your Word is truth. As You have sent Me into the world, even so also I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither do I pray for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word; so again, that which has been passed down through the Church, through the ministry, through time from brethren to brethren over the past 2,000 years; That they all may be one; as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in us: so again, it’s by the power of the holy spirit in how God dwells in us through them; that the world may believe that You have sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: so again, that glory, it’s the power of God’s spirit.  It’s through what He did that we’re able to have that glory, that life from God the Father that’s able to dwell in us. I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them, as You have loved Me.

Father, I will that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold/they may see My glory which You have given Me: for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. So before anything was ever created that plan and purpose that God had in and through His Son.

O righteous Father, the world has not known You, but I have known You, and these have known that You have sent Me. And I have declared unto them Your name, and will declare it: that the love/the agape wherewith You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them. So again, it’s all about a way of life; God’s spirit dwelling in us so that that love, the mind, the life of God dwells in us to each other.

So, with that we’re going to conclude this evening by singing a song here, ‘In Thy Loving Kindness, Lord’; and we’ll conclude this at this time by singing this.  We’re going to sing all four verses and then after that the service is over and you’re dismissed.

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Sing ‘In Thy Loving Kindness, Lord’

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In Thy Loving Kindness, Lord

Psalm 51

Dwight Armstrong

In thy loving kindness Lord, be merciful to me;

In compassion great blot out all iniquity.

Wash me thoroughly from sin, from all guilt cleanse Thou me;

For transgressions I confess; sins I ever see.

'Gainst Thee only have I sinned, done evil in Thy sight,

That Thou speaking may be just, and in judging right.

My iniquities blot out, my sin hide from Thy view,

And in me a clean heart make, spirit right renew.

From Thy gracious presence, Lord, O cast me not away,

And Thy Holy Spirit take not from me I pray.

Joy which Thy salvation brings again to me restore;

With Thy Spirit free do Thou keep me evermore.

Sacrifice dost thou not want, else would I give it Thee,

And with offering shalt Thou not delighted be.

For a broken spirit is to God a sacrifice,

And a broken, contrite heart, Thou wilt not despise

~~~end