Tools To Help Us Stay Unleavened

Beth Bucheit

April 29, 2024

We are either starting or ending the keeping of the Days of Unleavened Bread depending on when we hear this sermon. Prior to coming up to the days of Unleavened Bread, if we did what we are supposed to do, we approached Passover with reverence and we examined our lives prior to washing each other's feet, taking the bread, and drinking the wine. We were sobered by reflecting and bringing into remembrance what our Passover, Joshua the Christ, did for us. He died for us so we could be forgiven of our sins.

To start today let’s turn over to Galatians 1:3—Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Joshua the Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Joshua freely gave of himself. Joshua gave his life for us, and he became our Passover. He became mankind’s Passover, and it was according to God’s will and God’s plan.

The latter part of Truth #41 states:

“… Not allowing God and Christ to dwell in us, due to the refusal to repent of sin [or another way you might say it, to become unleavened] is to deny why Christ died for us as our Passover, so that the Father and Son can dwell in us.”

As we approached the days of Unleavened Bread we also removed leavening from our homes as we are instructed to do. We understand that this is for seven days.

Let’s now turn over to Exodus 12 and let’s read and remind ourselves again why we are here today. 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. The Days of Unleavened Bread are to remind us of something. We are to keep these days forever. They remind us that we are to put sin out of our lives our whole life.

Verse 15—Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day, you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.

So, we gather the leavening in our homes that we understand represents sin and we put it out of our homes. Not only do we put it out of our homes, but we do not eat anything with leavening in it for seven days. We understand this spiritually. We know that this is to remind us that we are to put sin out of our lives. If the Israelites ate leavening they were cut off from Israel physically. If we eat or partake of sin, we are cut off from God spiritually.

Let’s now turn over to 1 Corinthians 5 and read what Paul says about leavening. We know that leavening represents sin, so remember that as we read these scriptures.

1 Corinthians 5:6—Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Or think of it as sin can corrupt the whole body. Individually and collectively.

If we look at this on a physical level we understand that a very small amount of yeast, or leavening creates a great reaction. If you have ever made homemade bread you understand this clearly. For those who have not, let me give you a visual. You take a loaf pan and put your bread mixture in it that only has a small amount of yeast and leave it. You only fill the bread pan up halfway because of what happens. The mixture will double in size in the pan and then you bake it.

The bread with yeast or leavening can be compared to how unchecked sin is in our lives and what can happen. It starts off small and if not repented of it starts to consume the whole body. The leavening or sin begins to rule us, and it becomes our master. We become a slave to sin.

Going on in verse 7—Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. So we are to purge out the leavening or the sin in our lives so we can be a new lump or a new transformed thinking individual, someone who puts God first in their life.

We are only truly unleavened or forgiven of sin because Joshua our Passover died and made a way for us, a way that we could always communicate with our Great God.

Going on: For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Coming right back to where we started, Passover. Joshua, who was hung on a pole for us and all mankind so that we can be forgiven of the sins that so easily ensnare us.

Going on in verse 8—Therefore let us keep the Feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Paul is quite clear here. As we come out of the Feast of Unleavened Bread we are to leave the old man, the one who is filled with malice and wickedness, and become a new man, a transformed man filled with sincerity and truth.

I want to bring into remembrance a few more things that we should be thinking of today. We understand that today is a Holy Day. It is a Sabbath. It is a day to rest.

Turn over to Leviticus 23. We will read what God said to Moses. These commands God gave to Moses are very much for us today. Be thankful you actually understand that.

Leviticus 23:1—And the Eternal spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, These are the appointed times of the Eternal, which you shall proclaim to be a holy convocation. These are My appointed times.

I always love reading these scriptures because God starts off by letting us know these are His appointed times. They are His to give. You are blessed that He called you and gave you the understanding. Think of how many people you know that do not.

We see we are to have a holy convocation, a gathering, a group being brought together to be taught God’s way of life. We are sitting here right now, and we listen to these sermons in a holy convocation. Holy because God is in it. Remember we have said before, you may be a holy convocation of one, but you are not alone because God and Christ are with you.

Drop down to verse 4—These are the Feasts of the Eternal, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Eternal’s Passover. 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. 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 and you shall do no customary work on it.

We understand that we are to keep a holy convocation and we understand that means that we are to do no work today. It is a weekday, and we would normally be at work, but we are blessed to understand that God, in His mercy, gave us one extra day this week to not have to go to work and fight with mankind. We were given an extra day to think about God, His plan, and come to a holy convocation and celebrate the knowledge with others of like mind.

Verses 4 through 8 spell it out exactly what this is and what we are to be doing. We were to partake of Passover, and we did. We were to keep a holy convocation and not work on the first day of Unleavened Bread, and we are, or we did. And then we are keeping a holy convocation on the seventh day and doing no work. After the keeping of both Holy Days we have successfully kept another feast of the Days of Unleavened Bread, all possible by the mercy and guidance of Almighty God.

We understand that our objective in life is to grow ever closer to God and His Son, our elder brother, Joshua. We understand that part of this is to continually repent of our sins and to not be cut off from the flow of God’s holy spirit. God wants us to grow in the spirit and He has given us instruction of how we are to do that via His word and His inspired sermons given by His ministry. We understand that God has given us tools so we can sharpen ourselves so that we can be as it tells us in 2 Peter 1:8.

Let’s turn over to 2 Peter 1:8. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Joshua the Christ. The qualities being spoken of in 2 Peter 1 are faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love. So we are to grow with the use of the tools God gives us so that we are effective and productive with the knowledge of Joshua.

There are three tools that God has given us to help us to build a strong spiritual life and to keep sin out. The very thing we are living and learning at this moment in time by the observance of the Days of Unleavened Bread.

In today’s sermon I want to reference three tools, something God gives us to stay focused on Him. We can use prayer, fasting, and studying to do that. We will look at these tools today and how we can apply them in our lives.

It took me a while to get here but the title of today’s sermon is Tools To Help Us Stay Unleavened. I want us to think of how these tools can help us keep sin out of our lives.

I want to start with the tool of prayer. Let’s turn over to Matthew 6:5. We will see what Joshua gave us through instructions about prayer and an outline of how we are to pray.

Matthew 6:5—And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. So, what is a hypocrite? A hypocrite is someone who does not live the way they are saying they live; someone who acts contrary to the way they proclaim their beliefs are or puts on a false appearance.

God knows us, so what good is it to start our prayer by trying to pretend we are something we are not? He already knows what we are; He created us. We all are the same in that we were created with carnal human nature, stinking human nature.

Continuing: For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

Hold your finger here and turn over to Luke 18:11-14. I want to show an example of this. Luke 18:11—The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.

This is not an example of someone with a broken and contrite spirit. This attitude already knows it all and thinks pretty highly of itself – a real braggart. And remember, Joshua called the Pharisees hypocrites and called them out openly.

Verse 13—And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner! We see here a man with a repentant attitude standing by himself too ashamed to lift his eyes towards God asking God to forgive him.

And what does Joshua tell us in regard to this attitude? Verse 14—I tell you; this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

The tax collector had a broken and contrite heart like king David. He knew what he was, and he was personally letting God know it and asking to be forgiven of being what he was. By asking for forgiveness of what he was, he was acknowledging God was right.

Let’s turn back over to Matthew 6:6—But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

This is very simple to understand. We are not to be showy about prayer. This is a very personal thing between us and God. When we individually pray to God we are praying to God about things we need help on, things we see in ourselves, asking for personal direction and/or blessings.

Going on in verse 7—And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. We are familiar that other religions just talk to talk. A lot of religions just repeat the sermon outline Christ gave us to follow and call it “The Lord’s Prayer.” We know one of these religions just uses beads and says the same thing over and over as they touch a bead.

Going on now in verse 8—Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things that you have need of before you ask Him. Yes, God knows what we need before we ask, and He wants us to ask. God wants us to talk to Him personally. This is how we build a relationship with God. As we tell God what we need, we must always make sure also that we are asking for His will be done. He responds to us by letting us know what is best for us. God is listening to every word we say. God knows when we are speaking to Him. We belong to God.

As we start verse 9, Christ now gives us an example that we should follow when we pray. Verse 9—In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. God is our Father. We are His children. This is too big for us to grasp.

We are to sanctify God’s name by living a right standard. We should take time in prayer to always thank God Almighty for all He does for us, all that He gives us. God has given a plan to mankind, and we understand that plan. We are thankful for this in a very personal way, and while we can all be thankful for some of the same things, there are a lot of things that we can be thankful for that are not the same. We need to let God know.

Verse 10—Your Kingdom come. I think more now than ever before God’s people can cry for God’s Kingdom to come. This world is so crazy and cruel it needs God’s Kingdom. It needs God’s government and the 144,000 desperately. We know that God’s Kingdom, God’s government is coming on a Pentecost. We need to do our part and let God know we want that Kingdom.

Continuing: Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We want to do God’s will. We know that part of that is repenting of our sins, or as we are here today being reminded of, coming out of sin by the observance of the Days of Unleavened Bread. By doing this, we are keeping the flow of God’s spirit going, we are growing in the fruits of the holy spirit, having God and Christ live in and through us, yielding to a process.

The only way we are going to be a part of God’s plan is to do His will. He knows what is best for His sons and daughters. We can completely trust God.

Verse 11—Give us this day our daily bread. Our daily bread, that which nourishes us physically and spiritually. While we need physical bread to keep a physical body alive, our spiritual bread, spiritual food, is the most important. The very act of praying daily is part of receiving our daily bread. By praying to God every day we are telling Him we cannot be sustained apart from Him and we need His holy spirit to do this.

This is also a good time to remember we should not just be worried about self. We need to ask God to help those we know of in need, always asking according to His will, remembering He is in control, and He knows what each one of us needs.

Verse 12—And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. We need forgiveness for our sins. We need to be at one with God. We need the flow of God’s spirit every second of the day. We do not want to be a vessel of dishonor; we want to grow and become more like God.

And we know we have no right to hold anything against anyone. If we have a problem with someone we better be praying to God about it and asking Him to help us not to. We have been told over and over we are to love each other.

Verse 13—And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. We need to ask God to help us to stay on the straight and narrow path. Ask God to help us make right choices, rejecting thoughts and attitudes that can lead us astray. Get a quick handle on any sin that can so easily ensnare us.

As part of our daily prayer should be asking for God’s protection against the prince of the power of the air. We do not want his sick perverted thinking to be a part of us. We want to overcome our human nature so that we are not tested in areas of weakness. We know we cannot do this apart from God.

Going on… For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. We should end our prayer acknowledging all is God’s, all power is God’s, and all glory goes to God. We need not worry about this world. It is just a means to an end. We need to remember and reflect on the plan of God and its completion. And that will come to be by His great power.

Joshua set us an example of prayer throughout the Bible. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all record times when Christ prayed. One of the most important times Christ prayed while on this earth was the night before he was to become our Passover and hung on a pole.

I want to turn over to Mark 22. Mark recorded one of the examples of Christ praying just before his arrest.

Mark 22:39—Coming out, he went to the Mount of Olives, as he was accustomed, and his disciples also followed him. When he came to the place, he said to them, Pray that you may not enter into temptation. Joshua is showing the disciples the importance of prayer. He is getting ready to separate Himself and pray to God, but before doing so he tells them they need to pray too. They need to pray for the strength for what is about to happen.

Verse 41—And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and he knelt down, and prayed, saying, Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from me; nevertheless not my will, but Yours, be done. Christ knew what he was about to go through. He knew he was going to be beaten beyond recognition. He was human and he asked that God, if He could do it another way, please to do so. One of the most important examples he gave us at this moment was not his will, but God’s will be done.

Verse 43—Then the angel appeared from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. Then his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Brethren, none of us has ever prayed to the point that we sweat drops of blood. This is an example of the most fervent prayer we will ever read of.

Another powerful tool we have from God is to fast. When we fast we are telling God we choose Him, not self, not giving in to “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” In fact, just the opposite, wanting a broken and contrite heart, a contrite spirit.

When we fast we are wanting to achieve that broken and contrite spirit. I want to turn over to Isaiah 57. We are very familiar with Isaiah 57 what these scriptures tell us. Isaiah 57:15—For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy. We know that this is talking about God.

I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. God can and does dwell in someone with a contrite and humble spirit, and that is only achieved if we are using the tool of fasting. God wants to revive us.

So what is a contrite spirit? I will answer that by reading what God’s apostle said in the sermon, Healing of the Mind, given February 6, 2010. He said:

“‘A contrite spirit’ – it’s an attitude of mind that is able to feel shame, to be ashamed of things that are done wrong, regret, the ability to see those things, to feel those things – because if we don’t then we don’t see where we’re wrong.”

When we fast we need to tell God we want to know where we are wrong. We want to feel the shame. Because, brethren, on the day we stop feeling the shame for doing something wrong we are done. If we do not feel the shame of doing wrong we cannot repent and change.

We know that with fasting will come discomfort. We will get hungry and thirsty. No matter how hard you try to prepare, the bottom line is our bodies need and want food and water. As you age you become quite surprised how your body can feel during a fast. We need to look at this as a good thing. It is to remind us how much we need God in our lives.

If we remove God from our lives we will be spiritually hurting and that could lead to a spiritual death. And we do not want that. We need to look at a little discomfort as a good thing.

We have been given so many sermons from God’s apostle about fasting, and from the other evangelists. Every sermon we have ever heard on fasting is to remind us that it is an opportunity to humble ourselves before God, to cry out to Him and let Him know we need Him.

One thing I remember specifically about a sermon on fasting that Wayne gave was that the hardest thing is to make the appointment, to plan to fast. This is on us. We know we are to fast on the Day of Atonement; we are commanded to fast on this Holy Day from sundown to sundown.

But other than that, when we fast it is up to us. Remember, this is a tool for us to get closer to God, and God wants that. It pleases God when we fast.

When we do fast we need to remember what Joshua told us. Let’s turn back over to Matthew 6:16. Christ gave this right after he gave the outline for prayer. Matthew 6:16—Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

We understand that fasting, like prayer, is very personal. If we are going to be prideful about it we might as well not even bother. One of the things that I love about God’s people is in all my years of being with God’s people on the Day of Atonement when I sit down with the congregation for the sermon and I look around and think nobody would ever guess this room of people has not had any food or water. God’s people are sitting there eagerly waiting on a sermon about that part of God’s plan.

In the sermon Take Action, Part 2, given in 2016, God’s apostle said this about fasting:

“Fasting is an act of humility. It doesn't take very long when you enter into a fast and you're thirsty, you're hungry, you know you need sustenance of some sort; you want it, your body desires it, and you're telling it no. There are things to be learned from that.

And one of the primary things you're to learn on a spiritual plane, be reminded of, is that you can't go a day without a relationship with God. If you go day by day without a relationship with God, if you're not looking to Him for strength in your life, power in your life, sustenance spiritually in your life, then you're missing the mark there. And so again, what an awesome tool that God has given us to humble ourselves before Him, to be reminded of that, to understand, ‘I need God.’”

God has shown His Church that there are times we are to fast, and for very specific reasons. This shows us fasting is an important tool to God. There are two very important times in most of our lifetimes we were called upon to fast, and for a specific reason. One time was during the Year of Dedication. That was when God’s apostle was wrongfully imprisoned.

I want to read to you from the post Year of Dedication, October 30, 2014. God’s apostle wrote:

“In the following year, there will be an intensified focus on the sacrifices and the work that will follow. This is only beginning to be addressed in this post and then far more thoroughly in the series that is to follow. The first thing we are to individually focus upon right now, for those who can physically do so without jeopardizing their health in any manner, is that each of us set aside at least one day each month to fast before God.”

God’s apostle told us in regard to these dedicated fasts that year:

“This fasting needs to be taken soberly and seriously, as it is about much needed humility on everyone’s part to live this following year in a faithful, zealous, and truthful manner.”

Another fast that has great meaning was in January of 2009, when those physically able and of age dedicated themselves to God for two days. I want you to think back to 2009. Prior to this fast God inspired and gave us great focus on what we needed to do and why. In January of 2009, God inspired two sermons, Fasting for Humility Part 1 and Part 2. These two sermons brought to remembrance why we fast and what our focus should be.

These were followed by Esther, Part 1, and Part 2. Going over the book of Esther we were able to see how God prepared Esther to do something. She was molded and fashioned for a job. Just as God molded and fashioned Esther, God molded and fashioned us for a two-day fast.

In the sermon given on January 31, 2009, A Great Fast, God’s apostle stated:

“Today we find ourselves in a great fast, and this fast is of great importance to all of us.”

We were fasting before our Great God and humbling ourselves for two days so we could draw closer to Him and know what He wanted of us. If we are close to God we are working on self and putting sin out of our lives, and we are doing exactly what we are learning by keeping the Days of Unleavened Bread.

A little further in that sermon, it was stated:

“Sometimes we do not recognize the power of God’s love and how much He truly loves us, molding and fashioning us and seeing our response to him and that He has brought us to this point…and he has molded and fashioned us and brought us to this day—and this is awesome to understand—as much as He did Mordecai and Esther in their day.”

God gives us the tool of fasting so we can truly examine ourselves closely and see where sin is and to put it out of our lives – to do as we learn during the Days of Unleavened Bread.

The last tool we will talk about today is studying. So what does that mean? The word “study” as a verb is defined “to undertake formal study of a subject and to consider attentively or in detail.” In other words, really get in there and read and meditate and learn.

To study is to “devote time and attention to something.” When you study you acquire knowledge. We have so many things we can review and really undertake on a subject, or read attentively and learn more about God.

One of the best places to start with is the 57 Truths. Learn the truths of God. Learn more about God’s nature, the nature that we are to be growing in – learning the wisdom of God. We know they are our lifeline, and they reveal God’s character to us. I thought today we would pick a few truths and think about how we could apply this third tool by reading them and meditating on them.

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.

We are living this truth right now. We have just kept the Passover, learning and understanding that nothing starts without the Passover. We are here on a Holy Day that pictures God’s plan, and learning more about God. We are to put sin out of our lives and move forward with God and Joshua.

Now, let’s read part of Truth #28:

28 (7) All of Laodicea was spewed out of God's mouth as prophesied, separated from Christ, and scattered. God did this in order to help awaken some of His people out of the spiritual slumber and sleep they had entered. God will not accept that which is only lukewarm, spiritually sleepy, and steeped in pride. God will not be around sin, and pride is sin. Pride and spiritual sluggishness permeated the Church of God through the mid-'90s, and the entire Church therefore became separated from God, as prophesied in Revelation 3:16.

A lot of us lived this and we were spewed out of God’s mouth. We were spewed out because we sinned and did not repent. We did not do what we should have done. Let’s face it, we stopped using the three tools we’re talking about today. We stopped talking to God like we should have. We didn’t fast like we should have or humble ourselves before God, looking for correction. We did not review God’s word so that it could be a part of us. We stopped living the Days of Unleavened Bread in our lives. We stopped actively seeking to put sin out of our lives.

No, instead we were lifted up because we thought we were something. We stopped enriching our lives with God’s word, God’s truth. We became so spiritually weak we became known as Laodicea. While the era of Laodicea is past, the spirit of Laodicea is not. If we do not use these three tools mentioned in this sermon we as individuals can become sluggish and fall asleep. And if that happens you become spiritually dead.

Something else we can use to study, to learn more about God and what God wants of us is through the sermons. We get fed every week, but we can go back and listen to or read the PDF of past sermons. We always learn because we are always in a new place in our lives. We go through different circumstances that help us to see things differently and God opens our minds more and more as we grow. There is always something new to learn.

There is an incredible amount of knowledge written in the Posts. I encourage everyone to go back and go through them. Go to the Church website. There is a lot of material to review and digest about God. God has also given us much to learn from the five books that God inspired to be written by His end-time apostle and prophet, Ron Weinland.

We have The Prophesied End Time[1], 2008 God’s Final Witness[2], Prophesy Against the Nations[3], When the Countdown Ends[4], and The Fall of the United States[5]. Each book is filled with information, information God inspired to be given at the exact time it was given. All in God’s timing.

For the sake of time today we will just focus on the last book, The Fall of the United States. The book consists of eight chapters. The final chapter, Chapter 8 titled: God’s Holy Days Reveal His Plan. Brethren, you do not have to go past the title to know how blessed we are. Because the world is going mad, all religions are in turmoil and make no sense. While we are hearing the Thunders get louder and louder we are at peace because we know the plan of the Great God. We are sitting here today living the plan of God.

I want to quote from the book:

“God’s Holy Days are exciting once a person comes to understand His purpose for such an incredible plan that spans 7,100 years. This time span of human existence is fully revealed through these Holy Days. Then what lies beyond is even more incredible and awesome beyond human imagination.

It was on Passover night of the day Christ would be put to death that he said to his Father in one of his prayers, “Your word is truth.” God is the source of all that is true and absolute. This book has set out to illuminate truths that He has revealed through His Church.”

Brethren, we know that truth and we are sitting here observing part of that truth. We are coming out of sin; we are fulfilling the Days of Unleavened Bread.

As we start to end today let’s turn over to the book of Isaiah again. Isaiah 55:8—For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Eternal. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than yours, and My thoughts than your thoughts. Isn’t that our goal? That our thoughts be more like God’s thoughts, our ways be the ways God would want us to be?

We have the privilege to again start another Holy Day season with Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, to know the plan of God. To know that by putting sin out of our lives as pictured during this time, we can change, we can transform and start to have thoughts like God, ways like God.

This sermon has just covered three areas, three tools we should be using more – prayer, fasting, and studying. For when we do this with zeal our thoughts will become more like God’s thoughts because His holy spirit will be flowing through us. His ways will become our ways. We need the holy spirit because it is what transforms our thinking.

Dropping down to verse 11—So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

God has spoken, and if we listen and we act on what we are taught by the inspiration from Christ to God’s ministry, what He says will not be void or empty. It will accomplish what God has set out to accomplish. God’s word will prosper, and God will have His Family, Elohim.

Brethren, stay close to our God. Use the tools He has inspired us to use. Pray to God daily, and without ceasing. Share with Him your most intimate thoughts. He already knows them; He just wants to know you want to share them.

We need to fast. And that is between you and God. Do what you can following the guidelines given by the Church. Show God you want to humble yourself and have a broken and contrite heart like king David.

Read God’s word. Pick whatever source you want. Our cup “runneth over.” Glean from whatever you choose to use to become more like God and our elder brother Christ.

I want to end today’s sermon with something Mr. Armstrong said. “There is no failure except in no longer trying. There is no defeat except from within. No really insurmountable barrier save our own inherent weakness of purpose because God is for us.”

We understand that our inherent weakness is we are a human being with human nature, and we sin. The only way to make sure our inherent weakness does not destroy us is to live the Days of Unleavened Bread every day.

Brethren, we must put sin out of our lives. We must live each day keeping the Days of Unleavened Bread, remembering our ultimate goal to become a member of the God Family. In doing this we will be able to go on to the next step in God’s Plan – we will be sitting here on the day of Pentecost to learn more about our God.

[1] https://www.the-end.com/prophesied-end-time/

[2] https://www.the-end.com/2008-gods-final-witness/

[3] https://www.the-end.com/prophesy-against-the-nations/

[4] https://www.the-end.com/when-the-countdown-ends/

[5] https://www.falloftheus.com

1. Chapter 1