as Brother Rex was praying, leading
us in prayer a few minutes ago, praying for our sons and daughters,
grandsons and granddaughters. I was reminded a friend this
week contacted me and was discussing a very dear friend, someone I dearly love. He said,
He's not beyond hope yet. And the fact is, we must remember. God give us grace to remember. No one this side of hell is beyond
the reach of God's omnipotent mercy. Many years ago, John Newton
asked William Jay, a friend of his who pastored in a town nearby
they were visiting one day, if he knew a certain man. And Jay
said, oh yes, he's such a rogue. Newton was asking about the man's
soul. And Jay said to him, there's no hope for that man. And Newton
said to his friend William Jay what Jay knew but had momentarily
forgotten. He said, since God saved me,
I despair of none. Since God saved me, I despair
of none. God give us grace ever to be
mindful of the greatness of his grace to sinners in Christ the
Lord. Turn with me, if you will, to
Leviticus 23. And I'll try to talk to you a little bit about
that. My subject is the Feast of Unleavened
Bread. In this 23rd chapter of Leviticus,
God the Holy Ghost gives us Jehovah's instructions to Moses and to
us about the seven annual feast, holy convocations that God required
the children of Israel to keep throughout their generations.
Let me remind you of them again. They were given in this order,
the feast of Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast
of Firstfruits, the Feast of Weeks or a Pentecost, the Feast
of Trumpets, the Feast of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles.
Tonight we'll look at the Feast of Unleavened Bread here in Leviticus
23 verses 6 through 8. These holy convocations are called
feasts of the Lord. They're called feasts of the
Lord because they were feasts of worship which God required. They were feasts of worship by
which men and women drew near to God, by which they came to
God in holy worship. And particularly, primarily,
they were feast of worship by which the Lord God portrayed
in vivid symbols the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ
and the accomplishment of our salvation by his obedience unto
death and by the power of his grace given to us in the new
birth. These were material carnal feasts. We don't keep material, carnal,
religious feasts or holy days of any kind in this day of grace. But these feasts pointed to things
altogether spiritual, and they are very much instructed to you
and me. We no longer keep material carnal
feasts, but all who believe God, all who are born from above,
all the Israel of God, keep these feasts spiritually and continually
in the exercise of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I remind you
the chapter begins with instructions about Sabbath keeping. This of
course speaks of that blessed rest that is ours by faith in
Christ. Believing sinners come to God
by faith in Christ and as we do, we cease from our own works
even as God ceased from his. That's what it is to keep the
Sabbath. That was the whole meaning of the Old Testament Sabbath.
Men and women were required on the seventh day of every week
to cease from work and rest. And we come to Jesus Christ,
trusting him, and cease from our works. We rest. He that has
entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works. In verses 4 and 5, we're given
instructions about the Feast of Passover, which, as you know,
portrayed Christ, our Passover, who was sacrificed for us. The
only way sinners can come to God The only way sinners can
find rest and peace before God is through the blood atonement
of Jesus Christ, our Passover, who was sacrificed in our stead,
who purged our sins by himself with his own blood, who has put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Only by the substitutionary
death of Jesus Christ our Lord can sinners approach God, find
acceptance with God, and have peace with God. So I say to you,
come now to God. Come now to God by Jesus Christ
the Lord. To you who believe not and to
you who believe, come now to God by faith in Christ and rest
your souls in him. Now let's look at verses six,
seven and eight. This is our text this evening
and the subject is the Feast of Unleavened Bread. On the 15th
day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread unto
the Lord. Seven days ye must eat unleavened
bread. In the first day ye shall have
an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein,
but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven
days. in the seventh day is in holy
convocation. You shall do no servile work
therein. Now be sure you don't miss the
connection between the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast
of Passover. The Feast of Passover was to
be kept on the 14th day of the month. This Feast of Unleavened
Bread begins the very next day on the 15th day of the month,
the first month of the Jewish calendar. The reason is obvious. These two feasts refer to two
things that can never be separated, the death of Christ and the life
of his people. the death of Christ and the gift
of grace to his people. It was his death that delivered
us from the curse of the law. And that death that delivered
us from the curse of the law delivers us by his grace into
life and liberty as the sons of God. In fact, these things
are so inseparable that in the New Testament, on at least three
occasions, the Feast of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread
are used synonymously, one used as a synonym for the other, because
there is no possibility that any for whom Christ died are
not saved by God's almighty grace. Feast of Unleavened Bread portrays
our experience of grace. The Passover portrays the basis
of that grace. The Feast of Unleavened Bread
speaks of faith in Christ, the life of faith. The Passover speaks
of the sacrifice of Christ by whose merit we have this eternal
life. Know that that connection is
true because if you'll turn to first Corinthians chapter 5 and
look at it for just a moment You'll see that God the Holy
Ghost Inspired the Apostle Paul to tell us about this connection
first Corinthians 5 verse 7 Purge out there for the old leaven
that ye may be a new lump and Now underscore these words, I
don't think they ever struck me quite so strongly as they
have in these last few days. As ye are unleavened, you are unleavened. You who are born of God, unleavened. Ye are unleavened. For even Christ,
our Passover, is sacrificed for us. Since Christ is sacrificed
for us, we're unleavened. Therefore, let us keep the feast,
not with the old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and
wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Now, those two verses of Scripture
are often applied by men to the observance of the Lord's Supper,
which we will do here in just a few minutes. But that is not
what Paul is referring to when he says, let us keep the feast. Rather, he is referring to the
believer's life of faith. We know that this is not a reference
to the Lord's Supper because Paul tells us plainly in 1 Corinthians
11 that the Lord's Supper is not a feast. There is a connection. Both are a remembrance of deliverance
by Christ. Both are remembrance of our Lord's
substitutionary sacrifice. But this Old Testament ceremony
typifies for us the believers life of faith in Christ. When Paul says, let us keep the
feast, not with the old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice
and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity
and truth. He's saying this, since Christ,
our Passover, has been sacrificed for us, and we are unleavened
in him, you and I are to spiritually keep the feast of unleavened
bread by faith in Christ continually. When God the Holy Ghost inspired
Paul to say, ye are unleavened, this is exactly what he means
for us to understand. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ,
All who believe, every sinner who trusts the Son of God is
pure, holy, and righteous. really pure holy and righteous. John says in him is no sin. Christ our Passover by the sacrifice
of himself has put away our sins and we have been made the righteousness
of God in him. and we are by him and with him
unleavened as new creatures in Christ. By the new birth, we
are made partakers of the divine nature. We have created in us
that new man, Christ Jesus the Lord, created in righteousness
and true holiness. We have in us that which is born
of God, which can not sin because it is born of God. Yes, we still
have in us this flesh. We still have in us old man Adam,
but we are new creatures in Christ. We are one with Christ and holy
in Christ. We keep the Feast of Unleavened
Bread, not one week in a year, but spiritually every day of
the days of our lives in sincerity and truth, living by faith on
Jesus Christ, continually feasting upon the manna which came down
from heaven, Christ the bread of life, continually eating his
flesh and drinking his blood. The Feast of Unleavened Bread,
I repeat, began the day after Passover was ended. So, too,
the gift of life and faith in Christ always follows the accomplishments
of Christ at Calvary, so that all who were redeemed by his
blood are made to live by his grace. This matter of particular
redemption, limited atonement, effectual redemption, is something
that we stress here all the time because everywhere men seek somehow
to give man something to add to the blood of Christ and make
the blood of Christ meaningless. All for whom Christ died at God's
appointed time are made to live in him Receiving the gift of
the Spirit Galatians 3 13 and 14 tell us that's the very reason
why he died Feasting upon our crucified Redeemer. We glory
in him and we glorify him now here in Leviticus 23 Carefully notice five specific
words of instruction about the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Let
me just give you these five statements. I'll just give you the statements. First, the Feast began with a
Sabbath day observance. Life in Christ begins with the
rest of faith. No servile work was to be done
during the feast. That's the second thing. A cessation
of work was maintained throughout the seven days of the feast.
No works of our own can bring us to God. and no works of our
own are to be offered to God for acceptance, for favor, for
a renewed relationship with him, for revival of soul, for anything,
we offer God only what God gives, Jesus Christ our Lord. Third,
throughout the feast, every day, an offering was made by fire
to the Lord. I beseech you, therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto the Lord, which is your reasonable
service. Fourth, the Feast of Unleavened
Bread lasted for seven days. Seven, as Lindsay has told you
many times in the study of Leviticus, is the number representing grace.
It represents perfection. It represents fullness or fulfillment. Here it speaks particularly about
the full age of a man, the whole span of our lives. We are to
continually keep this feast, offering ourselves to God through
Jesus Christ our Lord all the days of our lives in this world. And then last, the feast ended
with another Sabbath observance. And this feast we have here by
faith will end in a blessed rest called heavenly glory. How does
all this apply to us? Paul tells us to keep the feast. But how? How are we to keep the
Feast of Unleavened Bread? Spiritually, of course, as I've
said. But how do we keep it spiritually?
The Feast of Unleavened Bread typifies and represented the
life of faith. the whole of our experience of
grace in this world. It begins with the blessed deliverance
of our souls from the curse of the law by the blood of Christ.
Everything we experience of God's grace is based upon and arises
from Christ a sinner sin atoning sacrifice We can't worship God
We can't come to God. We can't have peace with God.
We can't be accepted of God Except by the blood of Christ And once
we've received the atonement by faith, we enter into a blessed
Sabbath of faith, ceasing from our works, finding rest in Christ. Resting in him, we are unleavened
without sin before God. Because Christ, our Passover,
is sacrificed for us. Israel's redemption did not stop
at their deliverance out of Egypt. But Israel's redemption continued
as they crossed the Red Sea. It continued as they went through
the wilderness. It continued until Joshua at
last brought them into the land of Canaan to possess that land. And our redemption will be complete
when we're delivered at last into the glorious liberty of
the sons of God. Here we are to keep the feast. without the malice of wickedness,
of ungodliness, without that leaven of malice and wickedness. The Son of God gave himself for
us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto
himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. So we keep the
feast of unleavened bread as those who stand before God unleavened
in Christ. For as he is, so are we in this
world. Now let's look at these three
verses in Leviticus 23. Two Sabbaths were involved plus
the weekly Sabbath in the Feast of Firstfruits. It was to begin
on the 15th day of the first month of the year. It might begin
on Wednesday. It might begin on Saturday. It
might begin on Sunday. It didn't matter when the day
began, when the 15th fell. That was a Sabbath day. It was
then kept for seven days. It may be the Sabbath day is
to be kept again in just a few days. Then on the last day, it's
concluded with the Sabbath day. Let me make you just a few statements
concerning it that are obvious. First, in this life of faith,
in keeping this feast of first fruits spiritually, we must constantly
purge out the old leaven of malice and wickedness. Now you know,
and I know, all who are born of God know that we cannot cease
to sin. We want to. We strive not to sin. But if
any man does anything and says, I have not sinned, He makes God
a liar and his word is not in us. It is not possible for you
and me to stop sinning. It is not possible for us not
to sin while we live in this body of flesh. And yet the scriptures
make it abundantly clear that it is our responsibility And
our heart's desire is to put away sin, to put off the old
man, to say no to ungodliness and worldly lust, and to put
on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what Paul means when he
says, purge out the old leaven. Look at Ephesians chapter four.
Hold your hands here in Leviticus and turn to Ephesians four. We'll
look at this again in a minute. Verse 21. If so be that ye have heard him,
and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus. that
you put off concerning the former conversation, the old man. Conversation refers to manner
of life, the way you used to live, which is corrupt according
to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your
mind, and that you put on the new man, which after God is created
in righteousness and true holiness. What's he talking about? Put
off the flesh, put on the spirit. Put off Adam, put on Christ. Put off corruption, put on holiness. Say no to ungodliness. Don't give in. Don't give in,
but rather continually put on Christ. Leaven comes in many
forms. My wife used to bake bread regularly. When she found out I was diabetic,
it's been a long time ago now, she quit making her, oh, what
was it called? Sourdough bread. Oh, the best
bread I ever tasted in my life. And when she was making it, I
could smell it while the yeast was rising. And once it got in
the oven, Oh, wonderful stuff, wonderful stuff. But yeast is
used in scripture in a unique way. It refers to that which
makes you swell. That which puffs up, that's what
yeast does to the dough. It makes it swell. You leave
it in too long and your bread just goes everywhere. Just the
right amount at just the right time is what the ladies do. But
yeast speaks of that which causes us to swell. There is in us something
called sin. that constantly drives us to
a sense of self-sufficiency and self-righteousness. Most of you
are all parents. You will remember these struggles.
Every parent has had them. When your darling little child
is doing something and they can learn to talk and they're just
learning things, and you start to help, suddenly a day comes
you didn't expect. They push you aside, I can do
it myself. I can do it myself. It's just
the nature of the beast. We all think with regard to all
things truly needful, I can do it myself. We resist aid, we
resist help, I can do it myself. And there is no time that attitude
is more manifest than in relationship to God and Christ and salvation
and eternity. I can do it myself, leave me
alone. That's the attitude of man. Someone rightly observed, the
strangest thing about the human body is that when you pat a person
on the back, the head swells up. And that's just the way it
is. That's just our vile, proud nature. Our Lord warned us to beware
of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. self-righteousness. Nothing swells the heart. Nothing swells a man like hypocrisy. The hypocrisy of self-righteousness. You've all heard reference to
people who have a tendency to speak things without truthfulness. And you say, well, he's told
that lie so long he believes it himself. Man has lied to himself
so long he believes himself righteous and good, and nothing swells
like the hypocrisy of self-righteousness. Our Lord also warned us of the
leaven of the Sadducees. He particularly refers to it
as the doctrine of the Sadducees. Rationalism, self-sufficiency,
the denial of the supernatural, the proud assumption that everything
can be understood and explained on human terms. Things can be
understood by seeing and tasting and touching and smelling and
feeling and thinking and studying. In reality, the Sadducees' doctrine
was, nothing is beyond the grasp of man, man sufficient of himself. We don't need God, we don't need
grace, we don't need a savior, we don't need a substitute. That's
the doctrine of the Sadducees. It's legalism, rationalism. Gnosticism, freewillism, decisionism. The doctrine of the scribes and
Pharisees, though expressed with dogmatic maintained distinctions,
is one doctrine. It is the religion of the worship
of man. And then our Lord warned us against
11 of the Herodians. The Herodians were materialists.
They lived for pleasure. for comfort, for luxury. They live for status, for prestige,
for people to look at them as somebody. They live to be seen
and recognized and applauded. But then Paul speaks in 1 Corinthians
5 about the leaven of malice. Malice. What a strange word. The leaven of malice. What's
that talking about? Malice is that natural, sinful,
proud love of self that makes other people contemptible in
our eyes and disposable. Oh God, keep us from the leaven
of malice. Let none, my God, be contemptible
in my eyes. not the most wicked, and especially
none of your children. That horrible leaven of malice
is so much a part of my nature, I wrestle with it every day. Let us not keep the feast with
that leaven of malice that makes other people disposable. The
leaven of wickedness, he mentions, refers specifically to those
sensual lusts of our hearts that are reflected in an ungodly attitude
and behavior. Now look at Ephesians 4 again.
I want to read a lengthy passage to you. I'll read it without
comment. It is God's word. Hear God speak. Ephesians 4, verse 17. This is Paul himself giving us
his counsel not to keep the feast with the leaven of malice and
wickedness. Ephesians 4 17. This I say therefore and testify
in the Lord. that ye henceforth walk not,
as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having
the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God
through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness
of their heart, who being past feeling have given themselves
over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned, Christ,
If so be that ye have heard him and had been taught by him as
the truth is in Jesus That you put off concerning the former
conversation your old empty meaningless vain way of life Put off the
old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful lust. Everything
about your nature, everything you got from your daddy, everything
is corrupt. And be renewed in the spirit
of your mind. and that you put on the new man,
which after God is created in righteousness and in true holiness. Put on this new man, constantly
renewed in your mind. Wherefore, putting away lying,
speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members
one of another. Be ye angry and sin not. In other words, when you get
upset, don't let anybody know about it. Keep your mouth shut.
You don't have to say everything you think. Let not the sun go
down upon your wrath. Neither give place to the devil.
Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working
with his hands the thing that is good, and labor for this reason,
that he may have to give to him that needeth. that no corrupt
communication proceed out of your mouth. He's not talking
about cussing now, he's talking about another kind of corrupt
communication. But that which is good to the use of edifying,
that it may minister grace unto the heroes, and grieve not the
Holy Spirit of God, whereby you're sealed into the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness, this is the evil conversation, and wrath,
and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you
with all ballast and be you kind one to another. tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath
forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of
God as dear children, and walk in love as Christ also hath loved
us and given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to
God for a sweet-smelling savor. Oh, God teach us. put off the
leaven of malice and wickedness. If we would worship and serve
our God and Savior, we must put away the old leaven. In other words, we must live
not to ourselves, but to God our Savior. Oh God, give me grace. I'm an old man now. God give
me grace to live not to myself, but to God, my savior. Not for
myself, but for my God and his people. He said, Pastor, how
can a man put off the old levit? How can a man keep this feast
in sincerity and truth? Here's the second thing. The keeping of the Feast of Unleavened
Bread involved a daily offering of fire unto the Lord. You shall do no servile work
therein, but you shall offer an offering made by fire unto
the Lord seven days. You see, the life of faith, the
life of true Christianity is a continual offering made by
fire to the Lord. It is the constant giving up
of our sales to our Redeemer. To trust Christ is to cease from
all servile work for acceptance with God. There is no faith in
Christ. There is no faith in Christ. where there is no constant denunciation
of all personal righteousness. A constant denunciation of all
personal righteousness. Not the righteous, not the righteous
sinners Jesus came to call. Faith in Christ does not only
involve a ceasing from work, It is the giving up of my life
to Him. The surrender of the rule of
my life to Christ my Lord. It is continually losing my life
to Him. If a man lose his life for my
sake and the Gospels, the Savior said, he shall find it. As long
as you keep it, you've lost it. It is the continual surrender
of my will, my life, my ways, everything about me to the dominion
of Christ as my Lord. This voluntary, continual, lifelong
surrender of my life to Christ is the most reasonable thing
in the world. It's the most reasonable thing
in the world. Many years ago, Brother Mahan
was preaching for some folks, and he had a meal with the lady
and her daughter. The daughter was grown, the lady
was older, and the daughter spoke just with glowing terms of love
and affection for her father, who had been dead for some time.
And finally, Brother Henry asked the daughter, you speak so admirably
of your father, I have to ask. What is it about him that stands
out in your mind that makes him so admirable? She replied, Brother
Mahan, my daddy died for me. When I was a little girl, we
were at the beach, and my dad had a bad heart. And I got out
in the water too far, and he saw that I was in danger. And at the peril of his own life,
He swam out to get me, brought me to shore before I drowned. And when he brought me to shore,
he fell dead right beside me. I love my daddy because my daddy
gave his life for me. Most reasonable thing that she
should, isn't it? What could be more reasonable?
The son of God loved me and gave himself for me. Did you hear
me, my brother, my sister? The Son of God loved you and
gave himself for you. What can be more reasonable than
that you should daily give yourself to him? Here's the third thing. Living in this world by faith,
this life of faith in Christ, is portrayed here as a continual
eating of unleavened bread. A continual feasting upon unleavened
bread. You don't need to turn there
for sake of time. But in Deuteronomy 16, we're given a slightly different
name for this unleavened bread. This bread they were to eat all
the days of the feast of unleavened bread. It's called the bread
of affliction. The bread of affliction. It's
not talking about personal trials, difficulties like that. The bread
of affliction is used for unleavened bread because unleavened bread
is thick and heavy. It's hard to digest and you really
don't want it. It doesn't taste very good, doesn't
have anything about it appealing unless you add something to it. And the Lord calls it the bread
of affliction because it represents the same thing as eating the
bitter herbs with the Passover lamb on the night God passed
through Egypt. The believer's life of faith
is continually eating the bread of affliction. It is bread of
affliction unsavory to the flesh. Hard to swallow. It is something you won't eat
by nature. It's not talking about even repentance,
no. When you look on him whom you
pierced, you mourn for him as one mourns for his only son.
So that the believer's life, being a life filled with the
joy of faith, not a life of despair and long face sadness, not at
all, not at all. But the believer continually
has this bitterness. This bitterness. The cost of
my ransom. The cost of my soul. The cost
of my life. is the lifeblood of God my Savior,
who loves me with infinite everlasting love. The cost by which I walk with
God, the cost by which I anticipate heavenly glory, is the cost of
my Redeemer laying down His life under the wrath of God when he
who knew no sin was made sin for me. I rejoice in his love. I rejoice
in his sacrifice but oh the bitterness. How can we begin to think about
describing that? If a child has his or her life
spared because another sibling or mother or dad gives an organ
and in the process dies so the child can live. The child rejoices
in the love of the one who sacrificed and rejoices in the life it has,
but there's always a bitter remembrance of the cost. And the Lord God,
our Savior, would have us never forget the cost of our ransom. I will rejoice in his goodness,
his mercy, and his grace. One more thing. At the end of the Feast of Unleavened
Bread, the Jews kept another Sabbath. Turn over to Revelation
21. The feast began with the Sabbath
observance. Speaking of the rest of faith,
And it ended with a Sabbath observance. So it is with us. Soon we will
eat the bread of affliction no more, and there shall be another
Sabbath. Our gospel feast of unleavened
bread will end in a blessed Sabbath rest of eternal heavenly glory. Blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, sayeth the Spirit That they
may rest from their labors and their works do follow them the
revelation 21 verse 4 and God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes and I can almost imagine him wiping
away tears of repentance and tears of sorrow, tears of bitter
experiences. I can almost imagine that, all
tears. When we see things as God sees
them, there will not even be the unleavened bread of affliction
because our Savior died. God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes. And there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain,
for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the
throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he said unto
me, write. Oh God, help you to hear me now. These words God gave me for you
today are faithful and true. They are faithful and true. I
have proved them. I am proving them and I shall
prove them. God give you grace to do the
same. Amen.