What Would You Do With 4 Minutes?

Beth Bucheit

April 12, 2023

In the sermon God’s apostle gave February 11, 2023, while reading to us U.S. news articles, the following was stated: “‘However, military insiders expect the staging to be a test launch.’ Someone keeps testing, and one day it’s not a test, it’s already off the ground: it's already going up. How much time do we have? Four more minutes. That’s insanity.”

That stuck with me. I pondered that statement, “Four more minutes.” I thought to myself, do I live my life like I have four more minutes? Of course, the reality is you cannot do much in four minutes, but I was thinking about the spirit of four minutes.

Now, I am a little ashamed my first thought went to how I live my life physically, the worries of work and family. You do not mean to worry. After all, at the time we were in the middle of a series going through the Psalms telling us how much we should and need to trust God. But I am human and that is where I went.

I thought about how much more time I should be spending on being happy and doing more of what I want to do, so to speak: go take a walk and blow off doing a little extra work that I need to do or was planning on doing. You get the picture.

The next day Pam, Sarah, and I went for a walk. This would have been on a Sunday. I brought this up, that it has stuck with me, and how I said I wrote down the statement “four more minutes” and was going to start reflecting on this more. In doing this, I was hoping I will not worry about what I don’t need to worry about. I would be learning to trust in God and let all the stupidity and drama go. We had a very nice follow-up conversation about it.

So, I think I am equipped with one more thing to use during the day to stay focused on God and I am feeling pretty good about it. Then on Monday, I get behind the wheel of my car and I drive to work. Now, anyone who has ever driven with me knows that I am an aggressive driver, lacking patience and compassion for the car in front of me.

Yes, I know it’s wrong, and trust me, it’s on my list of things I am working on. I will say to myself,  “Beth, do not push your issues onto the car in front of you making it their problem.” And it does help. I have not conquered it, but there certainly is improvement.

But this wonderful Monday morning as I am traveling down 129 on my way to work, a car in front of me is not living up to my sick standards… And trust me, they are sick because it is my human nature, and frankly, letting down my shield, taking off my helmet, ignoring my feet, giving into the wiles of Satan, the prince of the power of the air, stumbling in front of the lion. We will just say it, transgressing God’s law. Sinning. Yes, sick.

But something happened. It hit me like a ton of bricks and I said to myself, “Beth, live your life like you have four minutes.” Four minutes to get it right. Four minutes to prove to God Almighty I choose Him. Four minutes to stare the lion down. Four minutes to repent and move forward.

So, I ask you the question today, and it is the title of today’s sermon. What better time to ask ourselves this question than during the Days of Unleavened Bread? So, brethren, what would you do with four minutes?

That is the title of today’s sermon. What Would You Do With 4 Minutes?

We are in the time frame we know as the Days of Unleavened Bread. We know that these days represent that we are to be putting sin out of our lives. The very sin I just spoke of. We are to repent, and that means change. We know this means coming out of sin and doing something different, what is in line with God’s laws physically and spiritually. We know that this is only possible because we took the Passover. We understand it started there.

So today, let’s remind ourselves of both. None of this is possible without the Passover, and once we have taken the Passover the very next step in God’s plan is to put sin out of our lives. If there is one thing in the Church we understand, it is sin and how we must put it out of our lives, so we are not cut off from God and His help.

It is a circle isn’t it? We sin, we repent, we change with God’s help. We transform our lives. Then we sin, we repent, we change with God’s help. We transform our lives. And hopefully, it is a new sin and not one that we have been trying to overcome and repent of and conquer. But no fear, regardless, God is there to forgive us as long as our feet are moving forward.

We are in the beginning of God’s annual festivals, starting with Passover which we know is not a Holy Day, but essential. This is where it all begins. Without the Passover, we cannot have any of the Holy Days. We know and understand Truth 19 was given to God’s apostle, Mr. Armstrong, to give to the Church. The annual Holy Days had been lost. Truth 19 states:

19 (16) The annual festivals. The plan of God, as shown through the Holy Days, was revealed to the Church of God only through Herbert W. Armstrong. The Passover and Holy Days picture God’s plan of salvation for mankind.

God’s current apostle said in a sermon given at the Feast in 2018 on September 30th, called The 7th Day of the Feast:

“The rest of the world hasn’t been able to receive the truths of God. The rest of the world doesn’t understand the plan of God. The rest of the world doesn’t understand who the Passover is and what he went through for us, what day he died on and why he died at that particular time, and what it all means for everyone.

People don’t understand what the Wave Sheaf offering is. They don’t understand about the wave loaves. They don’t know those things. They don’t understand the Holy Days and what they mean, the Days of Unleavened Bread, and what it means to be called out of spiritual Egypt. But you do.

I mean, in just what I mentioned right there, how awesome is that? How awesome is it that we are given such knowledge when no one else out there has that knowledge? They don’t grasp it. They don’t understand Pentecost. They don’t understand the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement that we just observed. They don’t understand this Feast of Tabernacles or the Last Great Day. But we do.

Do we understand the value of what God has placed before us? Because so often we really don’t. We don’t grasp the value! Because we’re in a routine in life and it’s kind of surreal in some ways, that we have all this, and so we don’t generally think about the rest of the world around us doesn’t though. Who has this?

Let’s turn over to what we might call basic scriptures. “Basic” meaning “something that forms the base or essence; being fundamental; or being part of the essential structure or function.” They talk about the beginning of God’s plan for mankind. The word of God given to us so we understand who we are and what we are. Let’s start with scriptures about our Passover, our elder brother, Joshua the Christ.

So, if you could turn over to I Corinthians 5:7—Therefore, purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.

I want to concentrate on the latter part of that verse. We will come back to the first part a couple of times later in the sermon. So, let’s read it again, “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.”

Christ is the Passover, and he was sacrificed for us. We know this is a surrender of something for the sake of something else. Christ was a willing sacrifice. He surrendered himself for the better of all. He gave himself for the plan of God. We know Christ died so that God and Himself could dwell in us. Truth 37 states:

37 (16) The remnant of God’s Church from Laodicea has been given the greatest proof ever of Joshua the Christ perfectly fulfilling all the symbolism contained in the entire Passover day of Abib the 14th. Ever since the 1970s there have been ministers throughout the Church teaching that Christ fulfilled some aspects of Passover on the 15th day of Abib and not on the 14th (which was when the Israelites observed Passover). Mr. Armstrong taught that this teaching of the 15th was false, yet it continues today. Along with fulfilling the symbolism of the Passover lamb, Joshua also fulfilled the symbolism of the Passover sacrifices performed by the Levitical priesthood on the afternoon of Passover, before the beginning of the 15th. This daylight portion of the 14th, which contains great meaning for what Joshua fulfilled, has not been fully understood. All of what Joshua the Christ fulfilled took place between the two evenings,” in the night of the 14th and in the day of the 14th, and not on any part of the 15th.

Now that we have refreshed ourselves in that nothing is possible or nothing has a beginning without Christ, our Passover, let’s ask the question, “What would you do with 4 minutes?” We could thank God Almighty He gave us a Passover to reconcile us to Him, so we can go directly to Him personally in the Holy of Holies and form a personal relationship. Thank Him for Joshua, a willing sacrifice, Joshua, showing a perfect example.

Now let’s cover a few scriptures that talk about the Days of Unleavened Bread, the reason we are here today, celebrating this part of God’s plan.

Exodus 12:14—So this day shall be to you a memorial, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Eternal throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. If someone in the world read that they would be completely confused. But not us because God called and opened our minds, and we understand that a memorial means we are to remember it.

We understand that every spring we will partake of Passover (if baptized) and then we keep the Days of Unleavened Bread and will remember the first and last days are Holy Days, a Sabbath, and we will bring it into remembrance. We will remember that our forefathers kept this day, Joshua and the disciples kept this day, the early Church kept this day, and we are keeping it today.

Just as the next line states, “throughout your generations,” some of us in the Church today have more than one generation who have kept these days and it was passed along. A blessing indeed, and one we should be thankful for if in that situation.

Some of us in the Church today may be the first generation in the end-time keeping these days and knowing the blessing we will share with our families later. But no matter who you are, God has passed this on to you, and we need to remember that. We also understand it is everlasting through all time, or never-ending.

This is an ordinance, or a law, God has declared. By keeping the Days of Unleavened Bread we are actually obeying a law God has put into motion and will never change. God said so. By keeping the Days of Unleavened Bread, we are actually doing what we are instructed to do. We are coming out of sin. Because if we did not keep it, it would be sinning.

Verse 15—Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. We are to eat unleavened bread for seven days. That means every day for seven days, not just if we think about it. There are several options to that. Some may eat a matzo cracker, some may eat homemade unleavened bread, but you are to eat it. When we eat the unleavened bread each day we should take the time as we are eating to reflect on what it means. It means we are to put sin out of our lives.

I want to read to you again I Corinthians 5:7, and I’m going to read the first part and see what Paul had to say about leavening. You do not have to turn there; I’ll just read it.

1 Corinthians 5:7—Therefore, purge out the old leaven. Leaven represents sin, so purge or put out the old leaven, the old man killed at baptism. Do not return to the sins we have come out of, the temptations that used to rule us, or the part of our carnal human nature we have overcome to this point of our converted lives.

Continuing …that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. We came up from the watery grave a new man. For one brief second in our lives, our sins had been forgiven and we were a new person. Then we received the laying on of hands and received God Almighty’s holy spirit to help us on our journey to stay a new man or at least acknowledge when the old man was sticking his head up, that we could shove him right back down.

Being truly or honestly a new unleavened person, one without sin. Now, that does not mean we get to become sinless. That will never happen as long as we are flesh and blood and breathing, but it does mean we can see what we are and repent and become unleavened in a moment of time. It is honest and true because it has God in it.

Continuing – For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. We already covered this. Christ, our Passover, who sacrificed his life for us is the only reason this is possible. If you take nothing away today, please take away the fact that Joshua, our elder brother, is the only reason why we are here today. After God called us and drew us to Christ, Christ has been there leading the way. He willingly died for us and anxiously awaits his brothers and sisters to join him in Elohim.

Now let’s pick up where we left off in verse 15—On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. God gives us specific instructions. We are to remove leaven from our homes. We know that we do this prior to the first day of Unleavened Bread. Our homes are to be leaven free during these days.

Physically, that means we are to go through the pantry or cabinets or wherever we keep our food and remove all things that have leavening – most crackers, cookies, bread, and mixes that contain leavening, like cakes, brownies, and pancakes. We have heard and been given instructions on this in the past, so if you are unsure, ask.

In some cases, if there is a mate that does not understand this way of life yet, you need to just make sure you have removed your leavening. We cannot put this on them. They are not held accountable, we are.

As we remove the leavening from our homes, we should reflect on the spiritual leavening in our lives. While we are following the physical instructions to get the leavening out we understand that the physical points to the spiritual. Getting the sin out is what we are to be concentrating on. Do not let that escape you.

If during these days you come across some leavening you missed (and trust me, this has happened to all of us one time or another), don’t panic. Just remove it and reflect on how some sins are lying in wait. As God helps us to conquer one, trust me, another one will take its place. As stones, we have rough edges, and they all must become smooth.

Continuing… For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. If you ate leavening physically you were cut off physically from Israel, but if you eat leavening spiritually you are cut off from spiritual Israel, from the Body of Christ, if you do not repent. This is much more serious, much more serious spiritually. If we are cut off from the flow of God’s holy spirit, we will lose the plan of God. We will not become a part of Elohim. It is very serious.

Continuing now in verse 16—On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day, there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you. If you are sitting here today or in another location, or in your homes, you are doing as commanded. You are keeping a holy convocation because God and Christ are with you. You are observing today as you would a regular Sabbath day. This is a Sabbath too. We have separated ourselves from the world to learn more about God’s plan and to participate so that we can remember this day as told earlier in the scripture.

By not working and doing our own thing, we are able to give this day the reverence it deserves, to really dig in and be a part of something larger than life, something that leads to a wonderful way. A way without sin. A way that we can grow closer to God and become more like Him and Joshua.

Verse 17—So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore, you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. God finishes by reminding us He brought us out of the land of Egypt.

Physically, He led the Israelites to their freedom, a freedom that they were able to physically learn more about God and His ways. While they did not understand they were living physically the plan of God, by them living it physically and giving us an example, we are able to now live it spiritually, understanding this is the first step.

God has brought us spiritually out of Egypt. He has brought us out of a world of sin. He has given us the very knowledge of what sin is, the transgression of His laws. He set us free to always to be able to repent and move forward, to look to Him freely. Remember, the truth shall set you free.

Now let’s turn over to Exodus 23:14-15. Remember, God not only tells us about the Days of Unleavened Bread and how we are to keep it, but He also tells us we are not to come before Him empty-handed.

Verse 14—Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to Me. Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt. No one can appear before Me empty-handed.

We understand that the three times a year is referring to the three Holy Day seasons. The spring Holy Day season, which we are keeping at this time, Pentecost, which follows this time of year, and the fall Holy Days. God is reminding us we are not to appear empty-handed.

God has given us great spiritual blessings, and this is the time of year that we can give an offering to God and show God how much we appreciate His many blessings He pours upon us. God leaves it up to us what we are to give, but we should reflect on our lives and give accordingly what we are able to afford. But make no mistake, we are to give something.

To not give to God what He has commanded is a sin, and we are working on coming out of sin, brethren, so give a Holy Day offering so that God can use it as He wills, as He gives to His apostle to do.

Now let’s turn over to Leviticus 23:4. God explains the Days of Unleavened Bread here again. These are the appointed times of the Eternal, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. God is reminding us He set specific times we are to come together in a holy convocation, a group that comes together. Remember, the “group” may just be you and God and Christ.

We know we are to be taught by God through His ministry on these days. We will be reminded and learn about God’s plan for mankind during these specific times. God’s plan is very important to us. It is how we are able to come to know God and what He wants for us. It leads us to our end desire, to be born into Elohim.

Verse 5—On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Eternal’s Passover. A few days ago, at sundown, all baptized members came together and kept God’s Passover. It is something that God gives to us. We understand that Joshua is our Passover, and that he gave his life willingly, and it shows us the first step necessary to come out of sin. Once we have taken the Passover symbols of eating unleavened bread, drinking the wine, and washing each other's feet we should be in a humbled state of mind to be able to understand we must put sin out.

We cannot be cut off from God Almighty. We need God’s Passover, and we need God. Brethren, I hope we never tire of hearing this. We should never be so settled that this does not stir our hearts every time we hear it. If it does not, go to your God and ask for the same zeal that you had in the beginning, the zeal that led you to baptism.

Verse 6—And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Eternal; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. Again, we are told to eat unleavened bread. Again, not maybe eat it when we think about it, but we are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, and that means every day for seven days.

When we eat the unleavened bread of choice, we need to remember this represents we are to put sin out of our lives. And remember we are not just putting sin out of our lives during these seven days, but we need to remember it’s every day of our life. We should get up every morning ready to tackle the sin in our lives, and when we fall short we should earnestly ask for forgiveness and be determined to move forward trying to conquer the sin.

Verse 7—On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Eternal for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. Again, coming together in an assembly with those of like mind, before God and Joshua, and being taught God’s way of life. A life filled with peace and happiness.

For seven days we are able to think about this, and then again on the last day have another assembly, hopefully having learned and internalized a different way of thinking and having put sin out of our lives.

God does help us to understand that this is to be the same as a weekly Sabbath. We are to do no customary work on it. We observe it from sundown to sundown just like the weekly Sabbath.

So, let us pause now and ponder that question, “What would you do with 4 minutes?” We just covered the beginning part of God’s plan. We are to put leavening (representing sin) out of our lives. We can use the four minutes (and trust me I am sure it would take longer), to think about our #1, #2, and #3, etc., in our lives, how disgusting they make us and how can we get a better handle on them. How can we put these sins out once and for all, or at least, see improvement?

Now, brethren, let’s reflect on leavening. We understand that leaven is something that puffs up. Let’s turn over to 1 Corinthians 5 and we’ll start with verse 6 this time.

I Corinthians 5:6—Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

We know that Paul was pointing out to the Corinthians a specific sin that was in their midst. When he commented, “Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough?” is showing us that if sin is allowed to remain, to exist, and is not repented of, that it can affect the entire body.

It is like the example I gave at the Feast about one bad apple spoils the whole bunch. The leaven, the sin will spread. It cannot be that way. Sin must be stopped. By getting rid of the “old yeast” and becoming a new “unleavened batch” we are putting the old man we got rid of at baptism back down into the water and becoming the new man who rose from the water.

We were cleansed and new at baptism for a brief few moments. Then our carnal human nature came back, and we have to fight to keep the leavening out. We have to become unleavened. Paul tells us that this is only possible because of our Passover Lamb, Christ. Christ was sacrificed for us, completely without blemish, without sin.

Paul encourages us to put away the malice, the unlawful acts, put away the wickedness, the state of being wicked, something that causes harm, and to be unleavened with sincerity, free from hypocrisy, and with truth, remembering the truth is what sets us free.

Again, let’s ask the question, “What would you do with 4 minutes?” Every time you eat a piece of unleavened bread remember this is what we are to become. This is what we are living and meditating on. However long it takes you, four minutes or less or more, think about it.

We are not to be puffed up, but we are to have humility, a broken and contrite heart, a heart like king David, one that feels regret for wrong actions and choices, one that knows it needs to be corrected and changed, and then can be thankful for it.

Brethren, we understand that sin is the transgression of God’s law. We are to be coming out of sin. That means we are not to transgress or break the laws of God. Our minds should automatically go to the ten commandments. We know that this is God’s law to mankind, how mankind is to live. We have been taught that the first four are about the most important relationship we should have, and that is with God.

Brethren, let’s turn over to Exodus 20 and let’s go over the ten commandments. So, turning over to Exodus 20:1—And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Eternal your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.

So, #1 – Have no other gods before Me. What do we put in front of God, brethren? A god is not just something you religiously worship. We know that. A god can be anything. It can be a job. It can be a mate. It can be “lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” God brought us out of Egypt, out of sin, out of bondage. Thank God and have no other gods before Him.

Verse 4—You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Eternal your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to the thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

#2 - Make no graven images of God. We understand that there are a lot of religions on the earth that use images and relics in their worship of their gods – not God Almighty, not the Living God, but the god of this world. God is spirit and has no specific image. We are to worship in spirit and in truth.

Verse 7—You shall not take the name of the Eternal your God in vain, for the Eternal will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

#3 - Do not take God’s name in vain. This is just not saying God’s name in profanity. We know that. It is referring to how we live and how we behave. We are in the Church of God - PKG, the Body of Christ. We are to live a life of standards reflecting God’s character, God’s nature. Remember the fruits of the holy spirit.

Now verse 8—Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Eternal your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Eternal made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Eternal blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

#4 - We are to keep the weekly Sabbath and the annual Holy Days. That is why we are here today and listening to this sermon. To be taught about God’s way of life and what God expects from us and how to grow in our relationship, the most important relationship we have.

We know that the next six commandments represent our relationship with each other in the Body and with mankind.

Verse 12—Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Eternal your God is giving you.

#5 – We are to honor our parents. I remember being taught that this was the first commandment with promise. The best way anyone can honor their father and mother is to obey God Almighty. I can think of nothing more for my children or my grandchildren, or what they could give me, that they obey God first and foremost, putting nothing else before Him. For those who have parents outside the Church that can be hard sometimes, especially if they are hostile toward the Church. But make no mistake, someday they will be very thankful you put God first in your life. And when you are remembering your parents, remember the Church is your mother and God Almighty is your Father spiritually. Live a life that honors both.

Verse 13—You shall not murder.

#6 – We are not to murder. We are not to take another human being's physical life and we are not to take a brother’s or a sister’s spiritual life. Watch what you say, watch what you do, always putting them above self.

Verse 14—You shall not commit adultery.

#7 – We are not to commit adultery, but we are also not to fornicate either. Christ reminded us too, that to lust in your heart is the same as the actual act. We need to have self-control of self. We understand what horrible harm comes to families and individuals with the breaking of this law.

Verse 15—You shall not steal.

#8 – Do not steal; do not take what is not yours. Work for what you obtain. And when working, give your employer a full day's work. Don’t be like the world trying to get something for nothing. Have character.

Verse 16—You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

#9 – Do not lie. Remember, Satan is the father of lies. Be honest. I told my children growing up “Your word is all you have. If you break your word, you have nothing, you are nothing.”

Verse 17—You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.

#10 – Do not desire what is not yours. Again, work for what you have. Be content. God has placed us in life where we need to be to be the most successful and fulfilled, to mold and fashion us to be Elohim. Nothing your neighbor has will ever be better than what God has in store for you.

Brethren, I have quickly gone through God’s ten commandments. Each one could be a sermon in itself. My purpose was to show you what we are to be doing during the Days of Unleavened Bread. We are to reflect on putting sin out of our lives. That means putting God’s law in our lives. We understand that this can be difficult.

The apostle, Paul, said it so perfectly. Let’s turn over to Romans 7:14—So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. (Verse 16) But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, that shows that I agree with the law and that the law is good.

So, brethren, let’s stop again. Let’s ponder. Let’s ask the question, “What would you do with 4 minutes?” Fall flat on your face and thank God Almighty He cares enough for His creation He gave us a set of laws to start with, that we can know exactly what is expected of us. We are not out here in the dark stumbling around. We have a Father who is direct with us and tells us what His expectations are. Then we remember, He is there to help us throughout our journey out of Egypt.

Before I end this split sermon I have one more area I want to remind us of. We have the ten commandments. We can turn to them in the scriptures, and we can read them and say, yes there they are, black and white, in print. I get it.

But what about when God’s apostle instructs God’s Church in something? Mr. Armstrong, led by Joshua, changed Pentecost from Monday to Sunday. People had opinions and people left. Something as simple as to wear makeup or not to wear makeup, another issue Mr. Armstrong dealt with, causing people to leave. Who cares about makeup? I wanted to hear more about the two trees.

Now, in God’s end-time God’s end-time apostle said, “Get a COVID shot,” and people balked at it. Do we understand that “What is bound on earth is bound in heaven”? It becomes a law, and if you break it, it is a sin.

God chooses who His apostles are, and He gives it to Christ. Christ then leads them, his apostles, and they instruct the Church. So, if you disagree with God’s apostle you have placed something before God. Your stinking human nature. It is your opinion, and it means absolutely nothing. When you open your mouth and disagree in front of others instead of going to God and praying and asking Him to help you see where you are wrong, you have committed idolatry.

As a reminder, Matthew 18:18 states, Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

I’d like to remind you what Truth #4 says:

4 (1) The government of God. When Christ comes, He will restore God’s government to the whole earth. God’s government was restored to His Church during Philadelphia. It is not a government of men where decisions are made by such practices as voting or one’s own will, but as God leads through the power of His spirit.

I can tell you assuredly, God does not care about your opinions. He made us so He knows our opinions stink. What He wants is complete obedience to His word, His commandments, His law. He wants us to come out of sin.

So again, let’s ask the question, “What would you do with 4 minutes?” Thank God that He gave His Church an apostle. We know what happens when there is not one in the Body. The Body goes to sleep and disappoints God to the point He vomits us out from His presence, no longer living in us. We go to sleep and die.

Thank God that His apostle and His prophets are so willing to sacrifice all for the Body and are willing to do all it takes to protect us and help us.

Brethren, let’s turn over to Psalms 119:165—Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble. Peace. Isn’t that we all are longing for? A life with no drama. We will obtain not just peace, but great peace if we obey and love God’s laws. And the reason why nothing can cause us to stumble is we will have the flow of God’s holy spirit flowing through us. A person not cut off can live a life of peace because they are obeying the Great God of this universe.

I would like to read something from a post that our apostle wrote March 28, 2013, titled Deliverance From Egypt.

“This world is in captivity and enslaved to sin, and it is ignorant of this fact, for the world does not see God, and therefore cannot see nor understand His way of true freedom and true peace.

In the Church, God has been magnifying the need for His rule over this world as His Kingdom is drawing very near. God desires that His people see more clearly how evil this world really is in every aspect of life. He is doing this because the Church and the Kingdom of God will soon begin to work to change every structure, basis, principle, focus, and practice of every governmental, economic, religious, and educational system. Nothing in this world is worthy of being saved, as nothing is founded on the ways and truth that come from God.

So God has been blessing His Church to see spiritual Egypt (bondage) in a far deeper way. However, when one is given that ability, it most often comes about through very unpleasant experiences in this world, as this is the spiritual means of blessing us with much deeper conviction of God’s true ways. Though it is a blessing to more clearly see the stark contrast between what God is bringing to this world and the ugly way this world is now, such learning experiences usually include notable suffering on our part. Yet we are so very blessed to be able to see such an infinitely vast contrast between the two.

As I end today, four minutes may not mean the same to everyone like it does me, and that is okay. We all know that God works with each of us in a very unique way because He is trying to remove chunks of sin, chunks of leavening off of us so we can be placed smoothly into our place in the temple, in the Family of Elohim.

I am just glad that the four minutes got my attention. I have been blessed to learn a lot since that Sabbath. I have reminded myself that I am to come out of sin, to remove the leavening, and live my life more productively and with zeal to remove the sin that ensnares me.

So, whatever it is that God used to get your attention prior to coming into the spring Holy Day season, celebrating the Passover if you are baptized and then keeping the Days of Unleavened Bread and putting the leavening out of your lives, thank Him. For without God and His intimate working with us, we would be as the world. We would be lost and alone.

But fear not, for we are loved, and we are not alone. We will celebrate this Holy Day season, and with much anticipation look forward to the next step in God’s plan, Pentecost, the day we eagerly await to be fulfilled, the day God’s Passover and our elder brother will return to the earth and take his rightful place as King of kings and Lord of lords that God has given to him.

Remember and reflect on Truth 56. I will end with a part of it:

56 (35) Through the power of the holy spirit, Almighty God will “dwell” IN His Family into everlasting life, and they will always dwell IN Him. This will be accomplished through the power of the holy spirit that emanates from God and it will never cease to be “coming into” the lives of all who are in the God Family. This will be a perpetual and continuing process into everlasting life.

Brethren, that means no sin. That means living the Days of Unleavened Bread for eternity. I cannot imagine myself being able to do that. But then I remind myself I am here today, you are here today, because with God all things are possible.