Called to be Unleavened

April 29, 2016

Wayne Matthews

The title of this sermon is Called To Be Unleavened.

Over the years we've come to know and understand the spiritual intent behind the seven days of Unleavened Bread. We've come to understand that Egypt is a "type" of sin and that when the Israelites were in Egypt, held in bondage and in captivity, they were taken out by God. They had to follow. They followed the pillar of cloud, which was that fire that they saw by night and the cloud by day. So they followed these things because our calling is about this following, leaving Egypt. So Egypt is a "type" of sin. It's a "type" of being called to leave sin.

We then move into the symbols of unleavened bread or leaven. Leaven is symbolic of sin. And being unleavened or deleavened (which we deleaven our homes), the unleavened component is not having sin in our life. So we see that leaven is symbolic of sin. We are to deleaven our homes as an outward sign of a spiritual intent. To be unleavened points to the continuous process, this continual, continuing process of removing sin (removing leaven) from our life. And we do that by repentance. We have been called to walk an unleavened way of life, a sinless way of life.

Now, we do that over a lifetime by repentance. When we deleaven our homes it's actually a physical sign of something that is spiritual. We go in and we remove all leaven from our homes so that our homes become unleavened (there is no leavened product). And we understand that leaven points to sin because leaven puffs up, it's to do with pride. It's the way we think naturally.

So we have been called out of this leavened way of life, which is the natural way of thinking, to live an unleavened way of life, which is about this continual removing of sin, being unleavened.

Now, once we've deleavened our homes it's only the physical component, because the more important component is the spiritual component of deleavening our homes, which is deleavening our minds. Because when we're first called, we're riddled, we're filled with leaven. Well, a calling is about this removing leaven from our life for the rest of our life. And we strive to be unleavened. So once we remove the leaven out of our home it's really a sign that we desire for the rest of our life to live an unleavened way of life, to have a sinless life. And every time we come across a piece of leaven in our life (not just during the seven days— it's about a lifetime), when we see the leaven, when we see the sin which God reveals to us we strive (we diligently try to remove it by this continual way of repentance), seeking to remove the sin from our life.

So we have been called by God to live with sincerity and truth, or live a life of sincerity and truth, which is really pointing to living an unleavened way of life. Now, we have been called to be unleavened. That's why we've been called. Because this process of a calling that God gives us in His mercy is about this way of life, which is about this living an unleavened way of life. So we continually deleaven our minds; we continually repent of sin.

Let's start this sermon by looking at Leviticus 23:4. Now, when we go through this we understand the component is physical from the point of view of what God was telling the Israelites to do, which was about removing this leaven physically from their life. Well, for us we understand that Leviticus 23 is spiritual in composition, and therefore, it's God telling us what we have to do in our life, what we have to do within our thinking.

Leviticus 23:4—These are the appointed times of the Eternal, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. In the fourteenth day of the first month, between the evenings; or it says here, at twilight (but it's between the evenings), is the Eternal's Passover. Now, we have kept the Passover and the spiritual component of it, which is we understand the Passover is about the covering of sin.

Verse 6—And on the fifteenth day, which is this day, of the same month, which is the first month, is the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Now, this is actually a Feast. This is a time for celebrating and rejoicing …the Feast of Unleavened Bread. So this is about removing sin and removing leaven from our lives …the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Eternal. So it's about what we sacrifice to God. We give up ourselves to God. …seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. Now, this eating of unleavened bread is an outward sign of something spiritual. So we take a piece of unleavened bread during these next seven days for the purpose of demonstrating to God that we are willing to sacrifice our selfishness, we are willing to sacrifice ourselves (which is our selfishness), and get rid of sin out of our life. And by taking this piece of unleavened bread we demonstrate to God (we have a physical sign of something that is spiritual), our intent. Our intent is to live a life that is unleavened. We know that leaven (pride) puffs up. That's the way we are naturally. Well, by taking this piece of unleavened bread for seven days we demonstrate to God that we desire with our whole being that we want to live a life like Christ did – totally unleavened.

Verse 7—On the first day, which here we are today, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary/occupational work on it, which is no working. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Eternal. Well, there's components to this. We are a living sacrifice so we're offering ourselves, we're giving up of ourselves, we're resting on this day as God has said. We're assembling together as God has said, "before Him," in spirit and truth, and we are willing to give a physical offering as well. Because there is a command to in three seasons to give an offering to God. And this day being part of that season, the first season of the three seasons. Well, we know the Church has made a ruling, a binding and loosening – this is a binding – that we are to give offerings for seven times in a year, which points to those seven annual Holy Days of God.

Back on verse 8 again: but you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Eternal for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation, which is the seventh day of Unleavened Bread, you shall do no occupational work on it. So we're not to work on that time.

So we understand that this is a command of God to have two days during the seven where we actually stop to worship God in spirit and truth. Now, during these seven days we are not to partake of leaven. We're not to get involved in sin. Now, these seven days are about searching our life to find leaven, spiritually, within our minds. Although we do a physical component before the first day of Unleavened Bread and then we don't try to consume any leaven physically for the seven days, this is more about a spiritual intent or a spiritual focus about this. We are to look and search during these seven days for leaven in our life.

These days of Unleavened Bread are about us being called, having been baptized, received God's holy spirit, and now we continue for the rest of our life trying, striving to be unleavened, to come out of it. We've been called to umpire ourselves, to umpire our thinking for the rest of our life. This is an exciting process! We have to have Passover for the forgiveness of sin, but we have to have the Days of Unleavened Bread as well because this is about how we live the rest of our life, which is this coming out of sin.

We must eat spiritual bread during these seven days, not physical bread (not leavened bread). We can eat unleavened bread, but really it's about the spiritual bread that we have to eat. We have to consume, during these seven days, spiritual bread. And Jesus Christ had said, "I am the bread of life." He was the Word of God. The spiritual bread that we must consume during these seven days is spiritual. We're not to eat leavened bread. We can eat unleavened bread, which is that sign about us not wanting to participate in sin. We want to live an unleavened way of life because we want no sin in our life, but we have to consume bread. We have to consume spiritual food, spiritual bread. The Word of God has to be consumed by us. It's God's Word in us. It's God's thinking in us that gives us life. It's God's thinking in us that makes us unleavened.

The time we are leavened is when we're leaning on our natural carnal mind; we're not controlling self. Self has taken control and we're living this leavened way of life again. God's holy spirit is not leavened. It's actually unleavened. So the more we consume of God's thinking, the more we take on of God's way of life in our thinking, looking at our motive and our intent in every single thing in our life, we're living this unleavened way of life – which is a wonderful, beautiful picture the Days of Unleavened Bread picture.

Deuteronomy 16:1—Observe the month of Abib, and keep/do the Passover to the Eternal, for in the month of Abib the LORD God, which is the Eternal, the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night, which is this first day of Unleavened Bread. Therefore, you shall sacrifice the Passover, which is to kill it on that day, to the Eternal your God, from the flock and from the herd. It's actually not that Passover night because they weren't to kill it from the herd. They were allowed to take it from the flock, which was a lamb pointing to Jesus Christ. Well, this here we see is a totally different sacrifice because it's from the herd, so it can't be on the fourteenth night, it's actually going to be offered on the fifteenth …in the place where the LORD chooses. So it's not in our own home. It's not in homes. …to put His name, because this is where God has placed His name.

Verse 3—You shall eat no leavened bread with it, which is now talking about the seven days of Unleavened Bread. …seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, that is, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), that you may remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. Now, this is pointing to something that is wonderful and is beautiful if we understand it.

They were called out to come out of Egypt on the fifteenth, which is the first day of Unleavened Bread. Then they were to remember this day, this day that they came out, the night and the day, to remember this time particularly, "in which you came out of the land of Egypt." Well, when did we come out? We came out at baptism. And then we're to remember it "all the days of your life." For the rest of our life we are to remember this particular day, to remember our calling, remember when we were baptized. Because this is the beginning of the process about becoming unleavened. So once we have been called, once we are in a state of repentance, once we've received baptism, we then receive God's holy spirit, we've entered this battle. Because it is about "the bread of affliction." This is not going to be easy. We're going to battle in our minds for the rest of our life. We're going to leave sin as quickly as possible in our life. How do we do that? Through the state of being repentant, by being repentant.

Exodus 12:19— For seven days no leaven shall be found in your homes, since whoever eats what is leavened, pointing to sin, that same person shall be cut off. Now, when we sin we are cut off from the flow of God's holy spirit, and this is what it's pointing to. Leaven is sin so we have to be in the state of being unleavened, or to deleaven our minds. …that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, because of sin, whether he is a stranger or a native in the land. You shall eat nothing leavened. So we're not to take leaven into our life for the rest of our life. …in all your habitations you shall eat unleavened bread. Well, that's what we're striving to do for the rest of our life, to be unleavened.

1 Corinthians 5:6. We're touching on these scriptures because we know the Days of Unleavened Bread, it's a commanded assembly, and we do understand what it is on a physical level. But we also understand what it is on a spiritual level. And the main point of this particular sermon is to have us to focus on the process of this calling and the end result of the calling, about being unleavened for the rest of our life.

Now, this is a component in 1 Corinthians 5 where we understand the situation about sexual immorality and it being tolerated by the Church, which is about us tolerating sin in our life. That's the key to this particular scripture. It's about us tolerating sin in our life.

1 Corinthians 5:6—Your glorying, your boasting, is not good. This tolerating sin in our life is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven, this tolerating sin in our life and just leaving it go and not working on it or not worrying about it, to get rid of it, leavens the whole lump? It's going to leaven us. It's going to puff us up in pride because we're tolerating sin. We'll become spiritual blind and we won't see. Not only affecting the individual but it affects the Church.

Verse 7—Therefore, purge out the old leaven, purge out that sin connected to pride, get rid of it, that you may be a new lump, because it's going to be unleavened, since you truly are unleavened, because we've gone through the process of deleavening our own homes on a physical level. Well, we are truly unleavened by this state of repentance. For indeed Christ, our Passover, where it all starts, was impaled for us.

Verse 8—Therefore, let us keep the Feast, let's keep this Feast of Unleavened Bread, seven days of unleavened bread striving to get rid of sin out of our life. …not with the old leaven, it's not just a physical thing. Well, the old leaven really is about pride and being a hypocrite. Because here we see people tolerating sin in their life, tolerating sin in the Church and thinking, taking it to themselves that they're merciful. Yet God says we've got to get rid of sin, we've got to get rid of leaven out of our life. …not with the old leaven, sin, nor with the leaven of malice, which is this ill will, and wickedness, which is to do with evil, but with the unleavened bread, so with the unleavened, this putting out of sin, getting rid of sin, being unleavened, of sincerity, which is this purity, which is about motive and intent, being sincere, genuine before God, and truth, according to God's word, according to what God has established through Jesus Christ, what God has established in the Church through an apostle. "Sincerity and truth." It has to be according to God's thinking, not according to our own thinking.

The process of being unleavened starts with a calling. So we're going to go through this whole process of what it really means to live a way of life, a way that God has established in our life through starting with this calling that we have, ending with baptism, and then striving to be unleavened the rest of our life. The rest of our physical life, it's a battle for the mind. And we've entered this unleavened way of life and we're going to continue to walk in it. And these days of Unleavened Bread simply highlight the fact of what we have to do. We're not to have pride. We are to be working on striving to be unleavened, striving to be unleavened in our thinking.

And when we look back in the history of mankind we see that people believe they had a calling or a purpose in life and they went out to different countries – they were known as missionaries – and they tried to change people. They tried to convert people. So they would go there with their various religions, whether it was Catholic or Protestant, whatever it was, these people went out and tried to convince other people of a change of a way of thinking, that they needed to change the way they thought and become like them; in other words, believe in what they believed. And many of them were (so-called) Christians and they were to talk about Jesus Christ and come to the understanding that if they believed in Jesus Christ they would be saved from what they were. Well, this is what these people believed in the way that they thought that they had a calling from God to do this converting, or this transforming that was to take place in these various villages and areas, or different countries even.

That is not the truth by any means, because it's God that calls and it's God that does the converting. A person can't convert or change somebody else's thinking. It has to be done on a spiritual level by God the Father. Well, that's the purpose of why we were called.

Now, we're going to look at this topic if why we were called and this whole process that takes place within a person's life. The end result is that we live a different way of life than the world, and this different way of life that we live is according to God's word. As we grow and mature spiritually we believe what God places in the Church and we live accordingly. Well, it's about obedience to God. It's about humility, believing God, believing the truth, and living faith. In other words, we live what we believe.

No matter what direction God decides to take us through Jesus Christ we live a particular way. And that is we live our faith, we live obedience to God, we live in the spirit of the law. We desire to become unleavened and to live a life of overcoming sin. And no matter what happens we always continue in this way of life because we make choices to yield to God, and therefore, our life becomes a way of life.

We keep the Sabbath. It's just the way of life that we live. And no matter what happens in our life and what goes on around us we simply keep the Sabbath.

John 6:27—Do not labor, which is about physical work. Do not labor for food which perishes. In other words, don't stay focused on trying to work to acquire physical things. But, so there's something opposite here, But for food which endures to everlasting life, or life everlasting, which is spiritual in nature. In other words, we are to put our priorities as God first. We are to put our priorities and work towards having this relationship with God, which is about this obedience to God. Our way of life is one that we do not focus on putting all our efforts into laboring for physical things, because we understand that they will perish. Jesus Christ said, "Don't labor for physical food which perishes, but labor for food which endures to everlasting life."

Continuing on in verse 27—which the Son of Man will give you, because the truth would be given to them, the same mind as God the Father. Now, this truth or the Word would be given to them by what Jesus Christ said. Because the things that Jesus Christ said were of God the Father. It was the same thinking as God the Father …because God the Father has set His seal on him, on Jesus Christ. So everything that was going to be given was now the truth. It was of a sound mind (because God has a sound mind), and it was spiritual in nature. Now, to be able to understand this truth, this food that was going to be given, which would last, or which would endure to everlasting life, which would lead them to enable, to give them life, spirit life in Elohim, they would have to seek it. And they were to labor for it.

Well, this is what we have been called to. We have been called to labor for something that is spiritual. And it will lead to something. It will lead to everlasting life.

Verse 28—Then they said to him (Jesus Christ), What shall we do, that we may work the works of God? Jesus Christ answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe in him (in Jesus Christ) whom He (God the Father) sent. This is the work that we have to undertake. Now, a calling is about that. A calling is about believing God. We are called by God, which is this invitation into a relationship with God the Father with Jesus Christ, and then we are placed in the Body of Christ when we are baptized and receive God's holy spirit. Then we are able to continue in the work of God, which is this believing in Jesus Christ as our Passover sacrifice.

We believe that God has provided Jesus Christ for us so that we can have our sins forgiven. And this will apply to all mankind when they are given the opportunity to see spiritually. Then when they see spiritually they will be able to be in the work of God, or to do the work of God. When they are called they'll be able to "see" the work of God. Because it is a work of God. This invitation has to come from God the Father. We are called by God the Father, so it's God's work.

Now, outside of a calling, if we don't have it, we will lean on our own understanding and we will do things from our natural mind. And that's what the missionaries have done. That's what all of these people that have gone out, they believe they're doing the work of God, but they're not, and they go out and try to change other people to try to save them. They don't understand the scriptures because they've not been called to understand.

Now, Jesus Christ is making it very clear here this is the work of God, that when we are called that we believe in him, in Jesus Christ as our Passover sacrifice. Now, the missionaries go out and they preach certain things but they don't preach obedience to God the Father, the work of God. Well, how is it that we can do the work of God. Well, we believe God, therefore, we believe the 10 Commandments, therefore, we will be Sabbath keepers. If we love God we will keep His commandments as Jesus Christ goes on and says in other scripture.

Now, mankind doesn't understand it, but there's coming a time where they're going to be given this opportunity to do the work of God within themselves. The work of God within us is this transformation of the mind that must take place. To continue to strive to be unleavened is a work. It's a work that we must undertake. Everyone must undertake this work, otherwise they can never enter Elohim. We're in the work of God. We believe God and we give ourselves over to, we chose to believe God. Because there is a choice in this. We can either believe God or we don't. Well, we understand that the first part of this is to believe that Jesus Christ is our Passover sacrifice. So we are called or invited, then we move into this state of repentance, then it leads to baptism, then it leads to the laying of hands so we receive the power of God in us, then we have a way of life to live. From that point we live obedience and faithfulness to God. That's what we do. That's who we are.

Verse 30—Therefore, they said to him (to Jesus Christ), What sign will you perform then, that we may see it and believe you? So they wanted physical proof. What work will you do? "You prove yourself to us," is another way to put it. They were still looking at something physical. They weren't looking at this on a spiritual level because they did not have God's holy spirit living and dwelling in them. This believing God, believing in Jesus Christ as our Passover sacrifice is a spiritual thing. It can only be really seen on a spiritual level if we are called or invited by God to see it. Outside of that, it'll only be physical interpretations of scripture.

Verse 31—Our fathers ate manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Now, this is referring back to the manna and that period of time where they were in the wilderness and they were given bread by God so that they could live life, or be sustained.

Verse 32—Then Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you bread from heaven, because it was actually God the Father that did it. It was not Moses that did it. Moses was used by God as a vehicle. God gave Moses the opportunity to serve Him. He was called to be a servant. He did things according to what God desired, the outcome that He desired, which was the deliverance of Israel on a physical level from Egypt. Well, God intervenes into our life now through this invitation, through this calling to deliver us from spiritual Egypt, which is about this transformation of the mind that must take place.

So, Moses did not give you bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. Now, this true bread is about Jesus Christ. Because we can only have life through Jesus Christ, spiritual life through Jesus Christ. God gave Israel bread, physical bread, so that they could have a physical life. God provided for them. Well, God provides for us. God provides for us the true bread, which is from heaven. It comes from God. Jesus Christ came from God. He was provided so that we could have life. Just like physical Israel was given bread for life, we as spiritual Israel are given bread for life. We can only have this bread of life through a process. And the first part of it is we are to believe God. We are to believe in Jesus Christ. We are to believe what God did through Jesus Christ for us. We understand from other scriptures that God's love is proven by the fact that He did provide a Passover sacrifice for us. God's love is proven by the fact that He has given us the opportunity to live. And the opportunity to live was because God provided Jesus Christ, the true bread from heaven. It came from God.

Verse 33—For the bread of God is it, talking about the Word, the Word being the Word of God made flesh, Jesus Christ, the Word manifested, who came down (which came down) from heaven and gives life to the world. Now, that was going to happen through Pentecost 31 A.D. when God was to give His holy spirit to mankind. Well, it was a process that had to be gone through, which was about the true bread, Jesus Christ, coming to this earth, which is the Word made flesh. And it came from God the Father because it was God's thinking. And through that Word, life was given to the world, through the Passover sacrifice of Jesus Christ, then Pentecost 31 A.D. where God poured out His holy spirit. Because we have to have God's spirit to be able to be given life, true life.

Verse 34—Then they said to him, Lord, give us this bread always. They're still thinking very physical. They wanted the bread now so that they could have life because Jesus Christ had said to them it gives life to the world. And they're saying, "Well, that's good. Just give us that bread!" Now, previously they'd already gone through this experience where Jesus Christ had done the miracle of more bread being provided from a small amount. Well, they're still thinking physical. It's still in their minds. And therefore, they're saying, "Well, just give us this bread always and physically we're going to be all right and we're going to have the bread of life. We're going to be fine."

Verse 35—And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. And now we understand that is symbolically pointing to the Word of God, the logos of God. He who comes to me… Now, it's talking about anybody that is called into this relationship, or invited into this relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ. Because we have to go through Jesus Christ to have life. We have to believe. We have to believe who Jesus Christ really was. He who comes to me will never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst, which is about this living waters that are going to be given, which is talking about God's holy spirit.

Verse 36—But I say to you that you have seen me (physically) and yet you do not believe. So they saw these physical things, yet they were still struggling with this belief system of who Jesus Christ really was. All that the Father gives me, talking about all that God the Father calls and invites and gives to Jesus Christ, into this relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. Because that's what's happened to us. God the Father has called us and we've been placed in the hands of Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, the head of the Body. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and one who comes to me I will by no means cast out, which is referring to we have a choice.

We have the choice in this, brethren, that if we are called or invited into this relationship with God the Father and we're placed under the authority of Jesus Christ, and if we come to Jesus Christ and we yield to Jesus Christ we won't be cast out. But we can be if we choose not to follow Jesus Christ, or we choose not to follow God the Father, or we choose to remain leavened. "I will by no means cast out." Well, Jesus Christ won't cast us out. He loves us and he has sacrificed for us. Therefore, if there is a separation to take place it's because of the choice that we have made, not the choice that God has made, because God loves us and desires to give us life.

Verse 38—For I have come down from heaven, because it's from God, it's out from God, it's from God's thinking, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. So Jesus Christ was there to fulfill a purpose of God. It was God's plan and purpose that Jesus Christ was going to fulfill. Jesus Christ was part of God's will and purpose. "Not to do my own will, but the will (the desires) of Him (God the Father) who sent me." Because it was in God's plan that Jesus Christ would exist, that Jesus Christ would be the Passover sacrifice for sin.

Now, this whole process all goes through what God was going to do for mankind. God is going to save mankind from what he is and Jesus Christ is part of that process of salvation – to be saved from sin. And that is done through the Passover sacrifice, through us believing in Jesus Christ. Now, if we don't believe in Jesus Christ and we don't believe that Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for sin we cannot be saved. It's absolutely impossible.

This is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all He has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day, which is being part of the 144,000. "The last day," being referred to here, in part, is referring to the end of 6,000 years.

Verse 40—And this is the will of Him (God the Father) who sent me. Now, it's not that Jesus Christ was in heaven and came down and was sent by God the Father. No, it's because God the Father had planned this out. It's about God's plan for mankind, which was about saving man from who he is, which is riddled with sin and his natural carnal mind, and through a choice that mankind has to make he could be saved. Well, Jesus Christ is part of God's plan. …that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him, so it goes back to this whole point about believing. When we are called, we are called to believe. We are invited to believe in Jesus Christ, that Jesus Christ was from God's thinking. It was God's thinking in Jesus Christ that was the Word made flesh. We are to believe in Jesus Christ and what Jesus Christ was sent for. God's purpose in creating Jesus Christ and allowing him to go through all that he did, we have to believe that this is the truth. And we believe that because we can only be saved through the very Passover sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Now, without that belief system, without believing God and believing in Jesus Christ, what Jesus Christ was to fulfill, we cannot be saved. Absolutely impossible.

Continuing on in verse 40 …that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day, which is in this time order that God has purposed.

Verse 41—The Jews then murmured, or they were talking amongst themselves, against him. They were complaining and mumbling about it because they didn't believe what he was saying. …because he said, I am the bread which comes down from heaven. Now, they were all thinking physically here, and of course Jesus Christ is speaking spiritually. We can only live, be alive because of the bread of life, which Jesus Christ said that he was. "I am the bread." "I am the bread of life which came down from heaven." They're only thinking physically. They're thinking about the manna and the Old Testament scriptures they had.

Verse 42—And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph? So now they're reasoning physically. Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Yes. Whose father and mother we know? Yes, they do. But they don't know God the Father. They don't know his true Father. They're still looking at it physically. How is it then that he says, I have come down from heaven? We understand it's Jesus Christ as the Word made flesh, the Word from God.

Jesus, therefore, answered and said to them, Do not murmur amongst yourselves.

Verse 44, which is the key of the beginning of this process of salvation. The way of life we are now living can't be lived by others because they're not being called to it. This is the scripture that proves it. Verse 44—No one can come to me, no one can come to Jesus Christ, no one can believe Jesus Christ, the truth about what Jesus Christ spoke. They'll mix it up and confuse it all, which they do. No one can come to me unless, now, this "unless" is really the key. "Unless," in other words, it can't happen, unless the Father who sent me draws him, invited into this relationship. And if this takes place, the outcome of it all, and I will raise him up at the last day. Isn't that incredible? That covers the whole plan and purpose of God. We are first called or invited by God the Father. Now, unless that happens we can't have this relationship with God because we haven't been drawn into this relationship with God and we don't believe God and we don't believe in Jesus Christ, what Jesus Christ fulfilled, what God fulfilled through Jesus Christ. We have to be called to see spiritually. We have to be called to see spiritually so that we can believe God. We can then believe and see the need to become unleavened.

Then the end result of it all is this conversion or this transformation of the mind, which is covered in the book, Prophesy Against The Nations. "I will raise him up at the last day." That is what life is about. Physical life is about a spiritual life. But we have to be called into this relationship with God so that we can be raised up at the last day. Other than that, it can't happen.

Verse 45—It is written in the prophets, And they shall all be taught by God. People will have the opportunity to have their minds opened so that they can be instructed by God. This is what a calling’s about. Our mind is opened so that we can be instructed by God, and that is done through Jesus Christ through the Church. We come into this relationship with the Body and God's ministry (the true ministers of God) will teach us the truth. We are taught by God. It has to be with God's holy spirit involved.

Therefore, everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. They are then called, and then by the power of God's holy spirit we come to Jesus Christ. We come to believe in Jesus Christ. We come to believe Jesus Christ, and it's all done by the power of God's holy spirit. We become sheep in a spiritual sense because we are willing to hear the voice of the shepherd and follow. The truth doesn't come any other way but through the power of God's holy spirit through His Church, through God's Church, the Church of God. And it's the only way truth can be understood is to have God's holy spirit. And the only way truth enters the Church is through the power of God's holy spirit through an apostle. That's the only way. It doesn't work any other way.

We have been called. We have been invited into this relationship with God and we have made a choice to accept it. Because there is a point in a calling where we have to make choices. We're either going to continue in this – because it's difficult: "Difficult is the way and narrow is the path." Because it is difficult. It's a difficult way because we have to fight against ourselves and the pressure that is around us from the world and the pressure from relatives and friends where they see us as odd and different and we've lost our marbles, so to speak. But it's all because God has called us into a relationship with Him. We've been invited into this relationship. We now believe in Jesus Christ as our Passover sacrifice, and we believe what Jesus Christ taught. And Jesus Christ taught that, "If you love me, keep my commandments." Well, the first one that we come to see in a greater sense is the Sabbath, the seventh day Sabbath. That's the beginning, the foundation of believing God.

Now, if we're not willing to believe God and start to keep the Sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset what we're really declaring by our works, by our actions is that we don't believe God. Because we're not willing to yield to God, we're not willing to believe God. Because God clearly said that He created all things in six days and rested on the Sabbath and the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, in one of the commandments it says, "Keep holy the seventh day." "Keep holy the Sabbath." Rest physically and spiritually. That's the beginning of this transformation of the mind. It's the way we think differently.

Now, this process means if we're going to think differently we're going to have to change. Well, change is repentance. We begin to repent. So we're first of all invited into this relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. We then are given the opportunity to begin to change the way we think. And the first thing that we start to change is this one day of the week. We begin to worship God in spirit and truth. Now, this is repentance – where we change. We go from thinking one way to thinking another way.

Verse 46—Not that anyone has seen the Father, except he who is from God, because Jesus Christ saw this on a spiritual level in the sense of God's character. He saw how God thought because he thought like God. So he saw how God was in the sense of the way God thought. …he has seen the Father. This is not about physical sight, this is about spiritual character. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me, he who believes me, has everlasting life.

Well, this is where we are at, brethren. We have been invited. We've been called. We have been given the gift of repentance, therefore, we have started this process of thinking differently. Now, this process of thinking differently takes a lifetime! It takes a lifetime to become unleavened powered by God's holy spirit. It takes a lifetime to "see" God. It takes a lifetime to see God. Now, by that I'm not saying seeing God physically, but to "see" God on a spiritual level, which is God's character that we see. We see the Word. Now, we only "see" the Word of God, which is the truth, we only see more of the depth of the spirit of the matter based on this calling, this repentance, then baptism, which is that outward sign of repentance and the willingness to change and obey God. And then from that we receive the gift of God's holy spirit through the laying of hands of a true minister of God. From that point, if God provides us His holy spirit, we then begin to see spiritually. Therefore, we can see the Father. Not physical sight – spiritual sight. We begin to "see." Also, we start to "see" the leaven that is polluting our thinking.

Verse 47—Most assuredly I say to you, He who believe in me has everlasting life. We have this potential to be given spirit life in Elohim. We can only achieve this life through believing God, believing God's plan, believing in what Jesus Christ did for us (which was this covering of sin).

Verse 48—I am the bread of life. Jesus Christ speaking spiritually. Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and are dead, physically. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. Now, this is about this spiritual component of our life. We can eat the bread of life. We can believe Jesus Christ. We can take the Passover, which we have just completed, which is an outward sign of something spiritual, and if we do take the Passover service and believe God, believe what Jesus Christ did, we cannot die, which is talking about something spiritual. We can die physically, but spiritually we will remain alive, and at some point God will give us life, spirit life.

Verse 51—I am the living bread, "I am the Word of God." I am the living bread which came down from heaven, came out from God's thinking. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world, which is referring to Passover. God provided Jesus Christ, which is the living bread, so that we could have life. It's life of the world. Now, to accept this, to believe it, well, it then enables life. And if we don't believe, we don't accept Jesus Christ, who he really was and believe what he said, we can't have life.

The Jews, therefore, quarreled amongst themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Because we understand from scripture in the Old Testament it's an abomination to eat human flesh. And they're still thinking physically.

Now, Jesus Christ goes on and explains, really, the purpose of Passover so that we can understand it more on a spiritual level. Then Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. They would have thought about this and it was just insane to them. But it's really referring to something spiritual. Because we have to believe that Jesus Christ is our Passover sacrifice. We believe what Jesus Christ has said. We believe he is the Word of God made flesh. Well, all this is the foundation of living this new way of life. We believe what God said. We believe what Jesus Christ said here, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." Of course he's talking about something that is spiritual.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, or has everlasting life. It wells within us! It's God's holy spirit that gives us life. …and I will raise him up at the last day. Isn't this an incredible promise? Because this is a continual spiritual thing that must take place in our life. We are invited, we believe, we are then baptized, we receive God's holy spirit, then we live a particular way of life. We obey God. We live Leviticus 23. We live it! We do it! We implement it into our life. And we take the Passover as the beginning of it all. Because without Passover all the rest is what? It's just time off. Because the reality is we have to be in this spiritual relationship with God. It's not a physical one; it's actually spiritual in nature.

Verse 55—For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. This is the only way to have life. They're looking at it still thinking, "Flesh and blood. Eating that? And this is indeed real food and real drink?" Christ is really saying here that this is the only way to have life, through food and drink, to stay alive, which is to accept Jesus Christ as our Passover sacrifice. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides/dwells in me, and I in him. So there's this unity taking place because it's God's spirit that unites. It's the Word of God living and dwelling in Jesus Christ. It's the Word of God living and dwelling in us. "I in you, you in me."

Verse 57—As the Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on me will live because of me, which is referring to the Word of God. This is that bread, which is referring to the truth, that came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna (physical) and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever. These things he said in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum.

Now, we understand the Passover. We have been invited by God into this relationship with Him. We have been given access through the power of God's holy spirit to believe God. We believe God and because we believe God we believe in the 10 Commandments, we believe in the annual Holy Days; therefore, we repent. Repentance is change. And because of this repentance we're willing to do certain things. We're willing to live a different way of life than mankind lives.

Romans 1:1-7—Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle. Paul was actually called, just like we have been called, had a different experience in his calling as we all have. Everyone you talk to within the Body of Christ that has been called, or invited into this relationship with God, invited to follow the truth, to believe God and to live the truth, well, everyone you talk to has a slightly different calling. Some have been called through books, or some people have been on the internet looking. Other people were simply being called in really difficult situations. Other are called in much easier situations. But it is God that does the calling.

So Paul was in the same environment. He was called to be an apostle. He was one sent forth to the gentiles. …separated to the gospel of God. So God was calling Paul for a very strong purpose, and that purpose was to be an apostle to the gentiles. To go out and preach the gospel, because we only believe through the hearing of the word. If we don't hear we don't believe. So at some point we have heard the truth. We've heard the truth of God's Sabbath, for example. Or we've heard the truth about something that God has placed in the Church. Now, that has come in many ways. Some people hear it through other people. Other people hear it through books, and since they read it. Other people hear it on radio programs that have been in the times past. As I originally was called through the hearing of the word, which was through Mr. Armstrong. Others have seen things through TV programs and many other ways of hearing the word.

Well, this is no different than when Paul went around physically and would go into various towns and he was separated to preach the gospel, the good news of the Kingdom of God. And from that people would hear, and therefore, they would believe. But to hear and believe you'd have to be hearing first, you'd have to be invited into this relationship with God. You'd have to be called to be able to hear, to understand what is being said. But there is a choice in this. People have choices in their life, and during this early period of the calling that takes place many choices have to be made. Now many don't survive the initial invitation. Many have roadblocks put in front of them and they, by strength of character, just can't do it, they cannot fight against themselves or they can't fight against others that aren't called at that time. Because people do turn on you if they see you are different, because of this calling.

Verse 2—which He (God the Father) promised before through His (God the Father's) prophets in the holy scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Jesus Christ was provided by God the Father.

Through him we have received grace, we've received this favor from God through Jesus Christ, and apostleship for obedience to the faith. Now, this is the next step within this whole process. First of all, we are called. We are given the opportunity to hear God's word. We're given the opportunity to believe. We're given the opportunity to repent. All powered by God's holy spirit. God's holy spirit is not living within us, but we have access to it because we can only believe, we can only "see" the truth through the power of God's holy spirit. But it's not permanently residing in us. But we do have access to it because God opens the mind by the power of His holy spirit.

Here we see the process take place that Paul was called to be an apostle, the apostle for obedience to the faith. Now, that's our next step. Our next step is to believe God and then to obey the faith, what is put in the Church, the belief system that is put in the Church. We're called to obey the truth. We're called to be faithful. We are called to become unleavened.

…among all nations for His name, for His names sake, among whom you, talking about the gentiles, also are called of Christ. So they were called and they were given this opportunity to believe God. And then they move from this process into obedience to what they have been taught, the faith, the belief system that is been placed before them.

We also have been through this process and we are facing a time when millions of people are going to be given this opportunity to be called into the faith. Now, whether or not they want to believe God and whether they have the strength to believe God and move into this obedience to the faith, obedience to the truth, well, that's where their choice comes into it. Because it does take a lot of personal choice. Because God is interested in us making choices. And as we make more right choices we are led more and more into the spirit of a matter.

Verse 7—To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints. We're called to be separated. We're called to be holy (which is to be separated), set aside for holy use and purpose. Well, God has called us for this purpose and He is in the process where soon He is going to give this opportunity of opening the minds of more people. In other words, they're going to be invited into a relationship with Him, and therefore, they're going to have to go through this process. Are they going to believe what they read? Are they going to believe what they hear? If they're given opportunity to believe, well, in the end it does boil down to them. They have to make a choice. And from that they're going to have to move into obedience to the truth, obedience to the faith, the belief system that is either written about or they hear about.

1 Corinthians 1:9—God is faithful. Yahweh Elohim is faithful. He's not playing games. It's not a lie. It's not deceit. "God is faithful." In other words, He will deliver what He has said, by whom (God the Father) you were called into the fellowship, which is this relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. God the Father has called us into a relationship, which is this fellowship that we are to have with His Son, the head of the Church, Jesus Christ our Lord, our Lord and Master. We are called into this relationship with God the Father and with Jesus Christ. We've been placed under the authority of Jesus Christ, but it was all done by God the Father.

Now, as we go longer in the Church sometimes we forget our calling and how important this calling is. To be called is an incredible, incredible thing when you consider the number of people that have actually been called over the history of mankind. There's not that many in the scheme of numbers of mankind. We at the moment are so fortunate to have been called into this relationship and placed under the care of Jesus Christ. And we can have this relationship, this fellowship with Jesus Christ with others in the Body and with God the Father all because of the fact we have God's holy spirit. We have God's power living and dwelling in us. We are in this process of converting, thinking differently.

Now, this thinking differently at the beginning is generally about basic things. We think differently, for example, about the Sabbath, where it normally would start. We have to start to believe God. We listen to God. We rest on this day, Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, and we open our minds to receive the truth from God, which is God teaches us on the Sabbath, which is the real purpose of the Sabbath because it's spiritual in nature. Then we often also go into areas like clean and unclean foods, and they become quite the high priority in our life. Because in part it's still dwelling partly on a physical, but has a spiritual connection. So we see the physical, and sometimes we can go a little bit too far with the physical rather that the spiritual intent of all that, which is about cleaning up our mind and cleaning up our thinking. Because as a physical thing God made us, He created us, and we have a body that operates a certain way. And God did create foods to generate energy for the body, good foods, clean foods that God outlines. And something unclean can be digested by the system, but it does pollute it. It does make it sick. In other words, the body doesn't work as well.

Well, when we come to see this on a physical level we tend (because we're physical) to make these things really high priority and like they're the only thing that really matters, is clean and unclean foods. When really the spiritual component of that is about having clean things come into our mind and keeping the unclean out. Because we can pollute it, our minds, with unclean food, which is unclean things, evil, from spirit realm, from within our own thinking, which is sin. We're polluted by sin. Well, God says we're to reject sin. We're not to consume sin. And therefore, we're to consume right foods, righteousness. We're taking on the thinking of God. So really clean and unclean food is about physical body, but it points to something spiritual. The clean foods that we are to consume is to consume God's word, is to consume the truth. That's why we've been called into this relationship with God and each Sabbath we are consuming clean food, we're consuming the spirit of a matter. And that's why we have been called, to take on this new mind, to transform the mind.

This process that we have undertaken is an incredible journey and it takes a time. While we have breath, the breath of life, it will never, ever stop. We never stop growing. We're always changing. We're always ready for change. And this is one thing that we have to be aware of within our own life, that we have to be always willing to change. We might think we know a lot. Well, in the scheme of the fact that God has existed for eternity, never, ever had a beginning, what do we really know? We know a little bit. We know a little bit, and by a little bit I mean a little bit. But compared to the world we do know a lot on the spiritual level. But compared to God, what do we know? We don't know a lot. Because we have existed, some of us, maybe 80 years, 90 years, some maybe, some 60-70 years, some 30, some 20 years. Well, that's nothing in the scheme of things, therefore, we have been called and invited into this relationship with God. But this relationship and the purpose of it is that it will never end. That's God's desire. God desires a relationship with us. He has invited us into this relationship through this calling. We've been given this opportunity to believe God, to believe who He is, to believe what God is doing for us so that we can be enabled to overcome sin. And at some point in time we change to spirit and the relationship that is through this invitation, through this calling will never cease. We're always going to have this relationship with God. We're always going to have this fellowship with God, for eternity. Always learning. Never stop learning. We're always going to be learning because God has existed forever. And when we enter Elohim at a point in time we will never, ever stop learning, learning about God and God's way, this incredible plan that God has for us.

We've been invited into this relationship for the purpose of always having a relationship with God, a relationship that will never, ever end. The choice is ours whether we want to endure to the end so that we can have this life. Whether we want to endure to the end, it's our decision. It's up to us what we choose in life. And God will honor our choice. God will honor what He has said. It's up to us whether or not we will inherit what God has promised.

Colossians 3:12—Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do, which is referring to this transformation of the mind that must take place. We have been called by God, which is the elect of God. We've been called. We've been separated, which is to be holy, to be separate, and beloved, because God loves us. What are we to do? The way of life we are to lead is about this scripture.

"Putting on." Now, this "putting on" means we've had something else on. We've got to take something off to put something on, and that's what we are doing. We're taking off pride, we're taking off vanity, and we're putting on something else. "Put on tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering." It's a total transformation of the way we think naturally. "Bearing with one another," which is about the way we think towards others. "And forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave, so you also should do (must do)." We're not to have any ill will to anybody else. We're never to be offended. In actual fact, to take offence is sin, because we're not being like Christ. Because Christ was never offended. He took all the types of insults. He took a lot of rough behavior towards him, but he never held it against them. He simply forgave. He was of the understanding of true love, what true love really is.

Verse 14—But above all these things put on love, put on agape, put on the thinking of God about every matter, which is the bond of perfection. God in us holds us together, this bond. It's what holds us together, the bond of perfection, which is this way of thinking which is spiritual in nature. And let the peace of God, which is the mercy and forgiveness of God, rule your mind, which is the way that we think. We're to supervise ourselves. We're to control our attitudes to make sure that they are in line with God's thinking. We are this word, "rule," umpire self, which is to control. We blow the whistle on ourselves so that we say, "Ah, I'm wrong. This is wrong. You've sinned, therefore, we need to repent and change." Well, the whole process of this conversion, this change of thinking is about this thing, "and let the peace of God rule your mind," which is God's holy spirit living and dwelling in us. We are to supervise ourselves, which is all internal, which is spiritual. That's why we are different. This umpiring ourselves, this supervising ourselves, this control of our attitudes, we can't give it to somebody else. We can have belief systems and we can believe certain things. Well, that's fine. But if we're not umpiring ourselves, if we're not supervising ourselves, if we're not controlling ourselves, disciplining the minds …the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you also were called in one body. We were called for this purpose. We were called to umpire ourselves, to blow the whistle on ourselves, to pull ourselves up and say, "Foul! Sin!" and to repent and change, called to become unleavened and get rid of spiritual leaven, which is pride. We don't have to pay the penalty for sin, which is death on a spiritual level, we don't have to pay it because of the gift of repentance. What an incredible plan God has and how this all works together. Because we now umpire ourselves. That's the purpose of our calling. The invitation we have to join this one body, the Body of Christ, and we join the Body of Christ through a process, a calling, repentance, baptism, receipt of God's holy spirit. And when we receive God's holy spirit we become part of a body, the Body of Christ. And that's what our calling is about.

Now, many fail in the process. What happens? They let down. They forget about umpiring themselves. They forget about supervising themselves. They forgot and they forget about becoming unleavened, about getting rid of leaven every single day of their life, not just during the seven days of Unleavened Bread. They forget about believing the truth, believing in Jesus Christ. They forget it and they no longer believe God. They no longer believe God.

Now, there have been many in God's Church that have started this process and have failed. They have failed because of forgetfulness or letting down or many other reasons in life. They're just overpowered by other things. Rather than enduring to the end, which is living this way of life. And it is our choice. We don't have to live this. It's our choice. And God says, "If you don't want My ways, if you don't want to live this way of life, it's your choice and there is a reward for it. There is a reward for not choosing to live this way." Well we, brethren, have to "let the peace of God," which is the way that God thinks about being merciful and being forgiving towards others "rule," which is to govern or control our hearts. Because it's all done by the power of God's holy spirit, which is talking about our minds, "to which you were called in one Body," and what else was it? …to be thankful. We are to be thankful. Now, the point of all of this is that we should be thankful for our calling, because in the scheme of it we are unique people, we are different people. And this way of life that we choose to live, this working at supervising and controlling our own thinking (the spirit of a matter) is a choice that we have made. We've entered into this agreement with God and He has promised us a reward at the end if we continue in it. Well, we have to do this every single day of our life.

And this being thankful is actually an outward sign of the way we think because if we're unthankful, who are we thinking of? And we'll stop and think about that. If we are unthankful, who are we thinking of? If we're unthankful we're thinking of ourselves. Because to be thankful, truly thankful to God, requires humility. It requires great humility. Where if we become unthankful we're actually letting pride get in the way and we're dwelling on self and the impact of self on us. Well, we've been called out of that selfishness. We've been called out of that thinking. We've been called out of being unthankful to God into a way of being thankful, to thank God for our calling, to thank God that we have the gift of Jesus Christ as our Passover sacrifice, to pay the penalty of sin (death) for us on our behalf based on our repentance, to be thankful, the fact that we were called, given repentance, and that we were baptized as an outward sign, a change to a new way of thinking. We think differently now. We have repented. We don't want the old man. We've buried the old person. We've come up. Now we desire to live a new way of life, to be part of the one Body. We desire it. And we become part of the one Body when we receive the gift of God's holy spirit. Because it is a gift. God doesn't owe it to us. He gives it to us so that we can keep the spirit of the law, to follow through with that relationship that we have about the one Body, the one way of thinking, the one mind all under Jesus Christ. And it leads to something. It leads to life. We have the bread of life, the Word of God living and dwelling in us, and it leads to something. We'll be raised up at a point in time. And in all of this, we can be thankful. We can thank God.

We have been called to live a way of life that is in unity with God's way of thinking. That's what our calling is about, to be in unity with God, to be in unity with one another, which makes the one Body, a body knitly joined together, people that are faithful to God, called and invited to have this relationship with God so that this relationship will never, ever end. And it never ends if we enter into spirit life in Elohim.

Matthew 20:1. Jesus Christ giving the parable here about the workers in the vineyard, which is really referring to (on a spiritual level) the workers within the Body of Christ, those that are called according to God's will and purpose and they have a work to do. And it depends on choices that we make whether or not we will receive the reward according to the work we do. But in all of this there are many called early, and there's many called later on. And this parable covers this area about this enduring and not looking at each other about, "Oh, I've been in the Church 50 years, therefore, I'm better than you," or someone who's been in the Church three years. No, we've all been called for a purpose. We're all called according to God's will and purpose in our life. And how we view one another and how we treat one another is something that God measures within us.

Verse 1—For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day… Now, this is the reward that is going to be given. Now, when we look at this, "had agreed with the laborers for a denarius," this is referring to baptism. We agree at the point of baptism to a certain thing. We state, clearly, that we have repented of our sins and that we are willing to change. We can see from this, "had agreed with the laborers," which is those that are called to be baptized, "for a denarius," which is a payment that's going to be given, "a denarius a day." And he sent them into his vineyard. Now, the point of baptism, what actually happens is a person has heard the truth, they now believe God, and they're in a state of repentance. They desire to change; they want to be something different.

I'm going to go through now the baptism ceremony so it reminds us what we have committed to God before God. Because we've made a promise to God, therefore, if we break our promise with God what is our reward? Well, the wages of sin is death. So we have to be in a state of repentance, and if for some reason we have fallen backwards or we've gone backwards a little in our spiritual growth, now is the time to remember our calling, to remember the agreement we made with God. Now, some of the wording here has changed a little, but we made, in principle, this commitment to God before God and Jesus Christ. We made this commitment to God about what we would and wouldn't do. This is from the baptism card that is read out by a true minister of God so that someone is then immersed in water for the purpose of an outward sign of something that is spiritual. Now if there is not a spiritual connection in this, which  means there's no real repentance on a spiritual level, where God is not really calling a person and granted them the gift of repentance, the baptism is just simply somebody getting wet, going under the water, and it's not really something that is spiritual. So this is a physical sign of something that is spiritual. And the card goes:

You are here today because you have acknowledged and repented of your sins.

If the person hasn't acknowledged their sin, in other words, acknowledged they are wrong, that the natural carnal mind is wrong because in all of this we can't see ourselves as we really are at the point of baptism, it's something that we see as we go longer in God's Church as God's spirit leads us to see more of ourselves. And at this point we just simply acknowledge certain things. Generally it's to do with basic things like Sabbath keeping and other components of our behavior, but it's not the depth of the spirit of the law, because that's what conversion's about. It's a change of thinking over a lifetime.

You are here today because you have acknowledged and repented of your sins, and you desire to be baptized [to be immersed in water] and forgiven through your acceptance of Jesus Christ as your Passover and personal Savior.

Which takes us back to the beginning of this sermon, that we believe God. We believe that baptism is an outward sign of something. It's a sign of our sins being forgiven. Now, God instituted this for the purpose of that our sins can be forgiven at the point of baptism because we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. We accept him as our Passover. Continuing on:

As a result of your repentance of sins, which is the transgression of God's holy and righteous law [because sin in the transgression of God's law], and the acceptance of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Master, your High Priest, and soon coming King, I (we) [can be "we" if there's more than one minister there present and there's a group together], I  (we) now baptize you in water, then in the spirit through the laying on of hands by God's ministry.

So this is referring to the fact that there could be, say, ten or twelve people, and there may be three or four ministers there. Well, only one minister has to read out the words. And the others are there to fulfill the role, which is the laying on of hands. It has been with the person (God's holy spirit). Now it's going to be dwelling in the person. They have God's holy spirit living and dwelling in them. Now they have the opportunity to overcome self, to see more of self, to see the truth, to see God's word, and now it all becomes a way of life for them. They live a particular way of life, and that way of life is obedience to God. They understand that sin is the transgression of God's holy, righteous law. Well, now they come to the point where they see this, they know it, they acknowledge it, now they're going to implement it into their life and that's what they're going to strive to do, to obey God for the rest of their physical life.

The baptism in water is for the remission of your sins through the power and authority of Jesus Christ.

Which is according to God's word.

You are burying the old self and you come up out of the water to live a new life.

Because that is the process. This is the outward sign of getting rid of the old self, which is the old way we used to think, the old way we used to live. Now we're going to live differently. We used to walk a particular way in life. Now we're going to walk a new way of life. We're going to live a way of life which is in accordance to God's word. The old way is gone. We're going to bury it. This is what baptism is about, getting rid of the old self. And God says if we're immersed in water and we're truly in a state of repentance, our sins will be forgiven. Forgiven and forgotten. We don't have to go back over them and over them and over them. They're forgotten and forgiven, therefore, we need the power of God's holy spirit from this point so that we can live this new way of life.

So we come out of the water and live a new life, a new way of thinking.

That new life will be made possible through receiving the gift, the impregnation of God's spirit dwelling in you through the laying on of hands.

Now God's holy spirit is going to be living and dwelling in us. We're going to be impregnated with it. It's going to dwell within us. And it comes through one way. It comes through the laying of hands of a true minister of God. That's what God has established in 31 A.D., continuing on with the wording that is used in a baptism:

By water and by God's spirit, you are being baptised into the very name of the Father, in and through the Son, through the power of the holy spirit – and this is through the power and authority of Jesus Christ.

Because the ministry, God's ministry, true ministers of God work for Jesus Christ and they have the authority of Jesus Christ from God's word. So a person is firstly baptized into water. Their sins are covered, they're gotten rid of. They come up as a new person. Then they're immersed in God's spirit. God's spirit is put in them. It's the power of God's holy spirit in them. Now they can "see" the truth. And this is a lifetime process. This "seeing" of the truth is a lifetime process. We have aspects of the truth, each and every one of us, at different degrees at different levels. And as God reveals truth to us we all see it gradually – some more than others – but over time we will "see" it. God will give it to us, if we remain humble and we remain in a state of repentance, a desire to become unleavened, a desire to get rid of sin, a desire to "see." We all desire to "see." And as God reveals more truth to the Church and a deeper understanding of the truth, and new things come to us, we have to be very patient within ourselves to make sure that we don't rush ahead and try to work things out. God will give it because God is the one who gives truth. God is the one who helps us to "see."

Well, we have come into this baptism and we have made this agreement with God. God has made an agreement with the laborers for a denarius a day, and we've been sent out in the vineyard. We've been sent out to work! We've made this agreement with God, which we've just gone through. Our sins have been forgiven. But we have agreed to walk a new way of life.

Now, other people can't understand it. They don't understand the agreement we have made. And the agreement we have made, which is what we've gone through, but we've seen previously, it's about thinking differently. It's about implementing change of thinking within our life, but it has to be powered by God's holy spirit.

Verse 3—And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. So he's seen others. Others are out there working, which is pointing to there's being people that have been called into the Body of Christ and the Church of God and been around for a long time in God's Church. Now there are more coming into the Church. And he said to them, You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you. So it's the same reward. So, "whatever is right." Well, God has called us all – doesn't matter when He calls us – we've all been called for the same reward, eternal life. Everybody has been called for the same gift. Now, there are degrees of timing here, because some are called early, as we know. We go back to many that were called early – Enoch for example. Well, that's a long time ago. He labored in his time and has died and is waiting the reward. Well, we're laboring now because we're some of the ones at the very end. But we're laboring now all for what is right according to God's will. And they went. So they went out and worked.

Again he went out the sixth hour and the ninth hour, and did likewise. Now, if we look at this over a twelve hour period the first lot go out 12 hours, laboring during the daylight period for a day. They're going to get paid for a day, a denarius a day, 12 hours. The next lot after he goes out three hours means there's 9 hours of labor. The next lot there's 6 hours. The next lot, the ninth hour, which is now 3 hours to go before the end of the day. And he did this and he keeps adding to the workers in the field. That's what God does. God adds to the workers in the field. As we are called into a relationship with God we are called to work. And everyone's been called at a different time, but we all have the same work to do, which is conquering or overcoming the self.

Verse 6—And about the eleventh hour, which means there's one hour to go, he went out and found others standing idle, and he said to them, Why have you been standing idle all day? So they've been out all day. They're at the very end of the day, one hour to go, and what's he going to do? And they said to him, Because no one hired us. In other words, "No one has called us." And he said to them, You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive. So God's called them. It's very near the very end, which is where we are now. It's near the very end but God is going to call people into this relationship with Him to begin a work within themselves. The work of God is to believe God. People are going to have to now start to believe God. To enter into this work force, this work that has to take place, the laboring, the laboring within self, the overcoming self, the conquering of self, there's going to be people called soon to start that work.

Verse 8—So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last, those that had started an hour ago, to the first, those that started twelve hours ago.

Verse 9—And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, which is the last, the last hour, they each received a denarius, which is symbolic and pointing to eternal life, or life everlasting. So they have the time to work; it was only a short time. God is in control of all things. He is the Master. He can do whatever He wants with His wages. Or He can do whatever He wants with ever whom He employs, ever whom He calls. We've all been called, but we all have different functions within the Body. Some have been called for one purpose, others have been called for another purpose. And others are yet to be called to be added to the Body. And this same principle will apply as we move forward. Many are going to be called. Many are going to be called, but at different times.

Verse 10—But when the first came, those who were called first, they supposed, they reasoned within their own thinking, human reasoning, that they would receive more. But if we go back to the original agreement in verse 2, "Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day," so that's what they were working for. That's what they agreed to. It's like our baptism. When we were baptized, we agreed to something. We agreed to something at that time. Now, others are going to be called. They're going to agree to something. It's the same agreement! It's the same agreement; we agree to obey God. We agree to live a new way of life. We agree that we are going to implement change within our thinking. So it doesn't matter how long we've been in the Church, whether it's ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty years, it's about what we have been laboring in and how we've been laboring. And the reward will be the same for everybody. The reward is eternal life.

Verse 10, again, But when the first came they supposed, they reasoned with human reasoning, that they would receive more, because it's logical and practical to the human mind, and they likewise received each a denarius, which is what they agreed to. And when they had received it, they murmured, they grumbled and complained. And what would they have been thinking? "God is unfair! God's unfair. I've been in the Church for fifty years and this person over here has been around ten, and what do you mean we're both going to receive the same reward, eternal life, life everlasting in Elohim? Is that fair? God are you going to make me do fifty years and someone else ten or fifteen or twenty? Is that unfair? I've been around sixty years! God, you're unfair."

They murmured against the landowner, which is complaining that God is unfair, saying, These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us. So this is the natural carnal mind at work. It's the way we see things. Well, we have to overcome ourselves in all of this. We have to overcome this thinking about thinking God's unfair. Because we could turn around and say, "Well, God's unfair that He called the twelve apostles. He's given them something," kings of Israel, "in the Kingdom of God! And I'm going to be nothing. I'm a nobody." Well, that's just human reasoning, and it's actually turning and judging God. We have to be on guard about this thinking. These men have worked only one hour and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day. "My trials were much bigger than yours. I lived during the beginning of the Church and we were persecuted and hunted down and we were killed and some of us were staked. It was incredible what we've been through." "I lived in the fourteenth century when ‘this’ happened." "I lived in the eighteenth century when ‘this’ happened," and, "I lived this and I was…" It's all "I," "I," "I," because we think we are more valuable to ourselves than the way God sees us. God loves everybody. God loves all. He calls everybody into the Body. How merciful and great is God! So this is about a way of thinking. We have to be on guard that we don't think God is unfair. And it can easily happen to us that we can look at things and say, "That person's been given that; I'm not given anything. God's unfair."

Because this is God's Church. This is God's Church and God sets up the Church for a purpose, to nurture the Body, to feed the Body. Well, we're all fed the same food. Whether or not we hear it and how we hear it, a lot of that is about our choice and what we are doing for the rest of the week. And on the seventh day when we are fed, how much we hear and what we hear – of course, it's according to God's will – but a lot of it also boils down to decisions that we are making in our life, whether we're allowing sin in our life or whether we're repenting of sin. It's based on our level of humility, whether or not we're teachable or not. So all of those things are impacting the decisions that God makes in our life.

Verse 13—But he answered one of them and said, Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? So this is the agreement, the baptism agreement. We all agreed to the same thing, repentance of sin. The agreement is that we will walk a new way of life and that God would provide His holy spirit to enable us to see spiritually and to live this new way of life.

Verse 14—Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give this last man the same as you, which is life everlasting. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Which is the question. And the answer is, yes. It's like the potter and the clay. God can do what God desires to do. God has different purposes in people's lives. And if God desires to mold somebody into a particular shape – and I'm not talking physically here, talking spiritually – we're molded and fashioned into a particular shape. We're given spiritual gifts. We're given spiritual understanding or a particular level of wisdom. Well, that's God's choice. It's up to God to do what He desires with His own things. We only exist because God allows it. And we're molded and fashioned into a spiritual shape as God desires. Therefore, one person may live a lot longer to learn something spiritual because of who they are and what they are, and their level of fighting or overcoming. And it may take a lot longer to "see" something. It may take twenty years for a person to learn a particular lesson. Whereas another person may learn that lesson in two or three years. Because? They are doing something different in their life or God has a plan for that person or a position for that person in His Kingdom in the future. And they will fit perfectly in it. And God knows exactly how to bring them to a particular point where they will fit into the Kingdom with those experiences in life.

Is it not lawful for Me, Yahweh Elohim, to do what I wish with My own things. Well, the answer is, yes, He has that right. Or is your eye evil because I am good? This is referring to this spiritual attitude. That we've got to be very careful not to look at God as being unfair or unjust. Because it's having an "evil eye," which is actually sin, because God is good. God is generous. God is merciful. God is love. He loves His creation and He has a plan for every individual within the Body.

Verse 16—So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen by God. So if we have a physical focus in life, well, what's going to happen to us? We're going to be left out. Whereas if we have a spiritual focus, if we focus spiritually and are spiritually focused in our life in everything we do, putting God first, God says He will reward us. And we know that from the point of view of the explanation of this scripture, "For many are called," which many have been called over a lifetime, "but only a few," 144,000, have actually been chosen at this point in time by God. The key of all of this is we agreed to something at the beginning. We agreed to labor for a denarius a day, which is our commitment at baptism. We agreed to walk a new way of life. Now, that is our agreement, so it doesn't matter how long we have been in the Church, our role is to continue to overcome and to endure to the end. It has nothing to do with the length of time of service. God will give life to all those who remain faithful and who endure to the end no matter how long it is that they are required to labor in the field.

1 Peter 2:9. This is referring to us, brethren, members of the Body of Christ who have entered this agreement at the point of baptism. What we have agreed to is to walk in a new way of life. We live it. We keep the Sabbath. We keep the Holy Days. We monitor ourselves. We check ourselves. We monitor our mind. We umpire ourselves. Others can't understand it. Others can't see it. But God can, and God is interested in the choices we make every day.

1 Peter 2:9—But you, because we've entered this agreement at baptism, we are now in this agreement with God that says we're going to walk a new way of life. But you are a chosen generation. We have been called by God, granted repentance, we have been baptized and received God's holy spirit, because we've been chosen by God to do this, to overcome self, to conquer self for the rest of our life, so that at some point in time we'll be given that denarius because we will have endured to the end and we'll be given the gift of life everlasting. "But you are a chosen generation." How incredible is that? That God has called us out of the world to walk a new way of life. And now because we're doing it, we live this way of life because God lives and dwells within us. We will be different. We'll be hated by others. We'll be despised by others. Don't see it as being unusual or different. That's just the way that it's going to be because we are a chosen generation, a royal (kingly) priesthood, a holy nation; we've been separated by God for holy use and purpose, His, Yahweh Elohim, God, the Creator of all things, His own special people. This should be so encouraging for us. We have been separated by God. We've entered this agreement to labor in the field for as long as it takes. And the reward is the same for all of us. There are the components to the reward, but the main part of the reward is that we're going to enter Elohim, His own special people. How more unique can we be? Therefore, when we see the suffering around us and when suffering comes to us, whether it's physical suffering or difficulties come to us, we should look back at this scripture and read it with the zealousness that God has written it through the apostle Peter.

"You… But you are a chosen generation." How unique is this? How incredible is this? "A kingly (royal) priesthood." We've been called for a purpose to serve because priests serve. And when we enter Elohim we're still going to be serving, because that's the whole purpose of life. God serves. Jesus Christ serves. 144,000 are going to serve. And those after them in Elohim, we are going to have a mind of service, our role of service. A mind of sacrificing. Incredible to have this way of thinking. We strive for it now. Well, we don't always fulfill it. God says we're a royal priesthood, kingly priesthood, we've been set aside for holy use and purpose, "A holy nation." Church of God – PKG. God in us makes us separate. We're separated for holy use and purpose by God. And this is going to become more evident as we move forward.

His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him, which is to live a way of life, which is we live God's character. "The praises of Him." It's the way others see us now. And in the future they'll see the praises of Him in the end. They don't see it now. Because we proclaim it by the way we live our life. …that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness, out of the world, out of the selfishness. Because that's where we were, that's where the world is. We've come out of that. We've been called out of that way of thinking, of selfishness and pride and prejudices, into His marvelous light, into the truth. We have been called into the truth. How special are we, brethren? Not that we make ourselves special. We're special to God. We're not special to the world. The world thinks we're crazies. But we are special to God. That should encourage us. That should remind us of our calling and the fact that we've agreed to walk a particular way of life and we continue to walk that way of life now.

Verse 10—who once were not a people, because we weren't a people joined together. We were not a people of God in times past, we were in the darkness. We were living our selfishness …but are now the people of God. We now have a purpose in life. We understand the purpose of life and we now live a particular way because we see the promises of God. God is faithful and He will deliver His promises. The result of it all is will we labor to the end? No matter when we're called, will we continue to labor to the end of the day so that God can give us that denarius, so that God can give us life?

…who once were not a people, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, because we weren't called, but now have obtained mercy. We've obtained favor from God because we were called into a relationship with Him. We've been called. We've been granted the gift of repentance. We have been baptized. We've entered into that agreement. We've received the gift of God's holy spirit by the laying of hands of a true minister of God. And now we walk a particular way of life. And this particular way of life is obedience and faithfulness to God. It's about disciplining, umpiring, and conquering selfishness. Therefore, we will be different and people will look at it and think that we are strange. If people criticize and condemn us for obedience to God, well, that is a glory. That is a praises to God of what He is doing in our life.

1 Peter 1:13—Therefore, gird up, which means to get ready, the loins of your mind, so it's about the mind. It's about the way we think. Be sober, which is to be serious about this matter, and rest your hope fully upon the grace (the favor) that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. We now have to gird up our thinking. Whether we're part of the 144,000 or not, this way of life we lead is going to continue into the thousand years and into the hundred years. People are going to have to gird up. They're going to have to get their minds ready, and they're going to have to be serious about their calling (the commitment to work for a full day for a denarius), and to be serious about that fact. We've made this commitment. We've agreed to live a new way of life. Well, now we've made that commitment to God, we'd best be doing it. We'd best be preparing our minds, ready to overcome self, because we have to overcome our selfishness.

Continuing… and rest your hope fully upon the favor (the grace) that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. We are to be teachable and ready.

Verse 14—as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts. So we're not to go back to where we were before the agreement was entered into, which is before our calling, before our repentance, and before our baptism, and before the receiving of the power of God's holy spirit, which is back to selfishness, back to our selfish desires. We're not to go back to that. …but as obedient children; we have to learn to obey God, to yield ourselves to God, which is, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." What's the keeping of the commandments? "As obedient children." In obedience to God in spirit and truth. We learn the truth from the Church. We learn the truth about the 10 Commandments. We learn the truth about many ways to live our life, which is yielding to God in spirit and truth. And we learn about these Sabbath and Holy Days, for example. Well, we then become obedient children. And we're not conforming ourselves to the former ways, which is Sunday worship and the garbage of the natural carnal mind, as in your ignorance, which is before our calling. …but as He (God the Father) who called you is holy, He is pure, you also be holy, we have to purify our minds. And we do that through repentance. …in all your conduct. So we are now to purify our minds, purify our thinking, and to be holy. We're to live a particular way of life, "in your conduct," which is through our intent, our behaviors. We are to live godly before all men, which is going back to our thought process and the way we discipline ourselves, bring our mind into check, bring our thoughts into check.

Verse 16—because it is written, Be holy (become holy), for I am holy, I am pure. We are to become pure just like God is pure. If you call on the Father, who is without partiality, so He's not got a bias about things and so, "Oh, this person's been around ten years. Oh, this person's been around thirty years. This person is tall. This person is short." No, God is not partial. He is not partial in His judgment. God loves all. He called us into the Body of Christ, the Church of God and has given us the opportunity to repent and receive God's spirit for the purpose of success.

God desires to give us something. We are begotten sons of God. We are heirs of a promise. God has called us to succeed.

Verse 17, again—If you call on the Father, though prayer, who (God the Father) is without partiality, judges according to each one's work, which is the way we think, what we do, the choices we make, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your sojourning here, which is in this life right now. We are to look at the way we live our life, the way we live. We're to do it, in fear, in fear of God, to respect God's government, to respect God, to obey God, to be faithful to God. So while we're here on this earth and we have the breath of life we are to be in fear of God. We should fear to sin. We're not to fear in a human way, but we're to fear God through the way we live our life, the way we conduct ourselves. We respect God's word, therefore, we yield to it in humility.

Verse 18—knowing that you are not redeemed with corruptible things, so we're not purchased by corruptible, physical things like silver and gold, from your aimless conduct, cause that's what we were in, received by the traditions of your fathers, which is the way we used to be in this thinking you can save yourself. But you can't because you'd have to be called to be saved. ...but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, talking about Jesus Christ, our Passover.

He indeed was foreordained, because God determined it this way, God set it this way. He, referring to Jesus Christ, indeed was foreordained by God the Father before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, for us, brethren. We "see" Jesus Christ. He was born of Mary for a purpose and he was there at that time for a purpose, which is about Passover and the forgiveness of sins. Well, we now have had Jesus Christ manifested to us at these last times. How? Through a calling and through this ongoing process of conversion. We now see Jesus Christ. We now see God the Father on a spiritual level.

…who by him believe in God, so it's through Jesus Christ that we can actually believe God, who raised him (Jesus Christ) from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Well, that's true, brethren. Our faith is in God the Father. Our hope is in God the Father that He will fulfill in us what He has promised.

Now that we've looked at that whole process, brethren, about coming out of sin, being called. We have been called to become unleavened and to live an unleavened way of life. We have been called to deleaven our life over a lifetime. Because that's how long it takes. We have looked at the process of how God in His mercy has established the only way to salvation. Because this is the only way. It starts with Passover, then Unleavened Bread, because we have to learn to be unleavened. We have to change the way we think.

Salvation is about becoming unleavened. God has established the way we can become unleavened, and we understand that is through repentance, through this whole process that God has established, because it's about changing the way we think, changing from being leavened to being unleavened. Once called by God the Father we have to continue to choose to be unleavened by always being in a state of repentance. We must labor to become unleavened.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1