[Joe Horchak] So has everyone been enjoying the Days of Unleavened Bread? Hopefully no mistakes, or slip-ups along the way. Typically, there’s a story or two in the congregation that are shared with us that are sometimes quite entertaining as to how or why you might have slipped up during the Days of Unleavened Bread. But that’s all part of the game, part of the routine.

Let’s turn over to 1 Corinthians 5, as we begin here today – 1 Corinthians, chapter 5. We’ve been there quite a bit prior to and during these Days of Unleavened Bread, of which we have two full days to go – we have two full days ahead of us yet. Paul talks about the spiritual side of these days here in 1 Corinthians 5, which we’re going to read in just a moment.

We’ve also read on multiple occasions that we must get physical leavening out of our homes, or any place else where we reside during the week. And God gives us instruction for that all the way back in the book of Exodus, when He first created the concept of the Days of Unleavened Bread. Like so many issues in the Bible, there are physical examples or exercises that God takes us through and gives us as an example for us to be able to ultimately then be able to translate something into a very spiritual principle. Let’s see, once again how, Paul helped with this translation from the physical to the spiritual applications here in 1 Corinthians 5.

Paul had been talking to the city of Corinth, as we heard last week in the sermon that Mr. Miller gave about the incredible sexual immorality that was taking place in this community – I mean, it was just really disgusting what they were getting involved with. And people were basically just overseeing it, looking at it, turning the other way and not paying any attention to it – in other words, just accepting it. Let’s pick it up here in 1 Corinthians 5:6. Paul says:

1 Corinthians 5:6 – Your glorying – about that immorality – is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

This is a huge point that Paul makes – that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. I’m going to address this at quite a length a little bit later. But hold on to this thought about a little leavening leavening the whole lump, as we continue on here.

1 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.

And we’ve heard many things about that, even in the sermonette today. There are things that God has done – things that God is doing – and Passover was the focal point of all of this taking place, giving us the opportunity to have our sins forgiven, being able to go to God and look and seek for repentance and seek for forgiveness – r  elating in the Old Testament Passover to the New Testament Passover which Jesus Christ introduced the night before he was taken away and died.

1 Corinthians 5:8 - Therefore, let us keep the feast – the Feast of Unleavened Bread – not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

When you stop and think about it, there’s Paul’s summary of the whole Passover season for us, in those few verses. Let’s think about that for a moment. There are actually four things that we have been doing over the past week and we should be doing for the next couple of days:

1. Getting and keeping leavening (physical leavening) out of our lives and out of our homes.
2. Eating unleavened bread during the Days of Unleavened Bread.
3. Getting and keeping sin out of our lives during this week.
4. Doing good through sincerity and truth.

 

Four-step program for the Days of Unleavened Bread. Fairly simple formula, but we’ve had to be more aware of these four principles every single day of the week, or we won’t be able to accomplish them.

How many times have we gone through the Days of Unleavened Bread? For me, it’s been many, many, many years – going all the way back to the sixties. This year – I will admit something to you – this year was the first year that I took this from this perspective from these four principles. Every morning, when I’ve gotten up this week, I’ve asked myself the question: “How are you doing which each one of these four points?”

Which do you think (think about this), which do you think you have been most successful with in the first five days? Would it be getting and keeping leavening out of our homes and our lives? Would it be eating unleavened bread during the week? Would it be getting and keeping sin out of our lives? Or would it be doing more good through sincerity and truth?

I’m guessing that the one that we’ve been most successful with has been number 2 – eating unleavened bread during this past week – something that’s fairly simple to do. I’m also guessing that number 1 is the second easiest thing, or the second thing we’ve been the most successful with – getting and keeping leavening out of our homes and our lives. But, if we go out of our home, we’ve got to be conscientious about it – we’ve got to be aware of the fact that we might go to a business meeting, or business luncheon, or gathering, or some kind like this, school, meeting with people, where they might be serving something with leavening in it, and if we’re not conscious about it, we might, by accident, eat leavening.

But what about the last two? Which of those was the toughest to adhere to all week? Would it be getting and keeping sin out of our lives? Or would it be doing good through sincerity and truth? Did we think about it? Did we even think about it during the week that we’ve been involved with this – whether we were doing one or the other daily? Conscientiously, did you ever ask yourself the question, “Am I getting sin out of my life? Am I putting sincerity and truth and goodness into my life?” Every morning this week, when I got up and went into my office, the very first thing I did, “What are you going to do to get sin out of your life today?” And I also asked myself the question, “What good can you do with sincerity and truth that you haven’t been doing or forgot to do?”

You know what that did for me every single day this week? It got me focused on conscientiously thinking about getting sin out and putting good in. And as the day progressed, every time something came up I’d think, “Well, wait a second. Could I get rid of that or could I help make this not so sinful thing?” Or, I’d be thinking to myself, “I wonder if I can do good for somebody else and help them.” And I did that several times during the week. You know what? If you don’t look at it that way, if you don’t have that perspective, if you don’t conscientiously ask yourself the question, virtually, every morning, the success of accomplishing what God intended for the Days of Unleavened Bread will be really diminished, and maybe even worthless, which would be a shame.

Why is it so tough? Why is it so tough in keeping sin out of our lives, and doing more good through sincerity and truth? I think it’s tough because it doesn’t come naturally. We, as human beings, have become so accustomed to living in a sinful environment – even our own little world is full of little pockets of stuff that we’ve just gotten used to – we’ve gotten used to being like that, we’ve gotten used to accepting that – like the Corinthian church did. And unless we conscientiously look at ways to change that, it won’t change.

Another part of it is that there’s so much sin floating around in the world in which we live that we are being bombarded 24/7, 365 days a year (and I’ll talk more about that in a little bit). Probably every second, that we’ve been alive over this last week, we’ve been bombarded with sinful things. Even when we don't seek it, it’s still there! It’s there all the time – unless we somehow learn how to block it out and protect ourselves against it.

I did an experiment this last week. I’ve never done this before, which I began on the morning of the very First Day of Unleavened Bread. And, I found out that...I want to share that experiment with you today. But before I do, I want to go back to 1 Corinthians 5, and verse 6. You don’t have to turn there, because you just read it.

1 Corinthians 5:6 - Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

A little leaven leavens the whole lump. What does that mean?

If you’ve ever made bread from scratch, which I know some of you – many of you in this room – have, you know that you can make quite a bit of bread using one of those little packets of yeast – the little powdery packets or little granules of yeast – or, you can get one of those yeast cakes. There are two different types of yeast that you can incorporate into your bread. And you can make quite a bit of bread from one of those little tiny packets. I remember pouring it out one time when I was making bread, and looking, and there were hundreds if not thousands of those little tiny capsules – little nubbins of yeast – I don’t even know what they’re called, but it’s yeast – ground yeast, maybe. But I do know that that little tiny packet can make a whole lot of bread. I didn’t bring any of those with me, but I’m pretty sure you know what I’m talking about.

But, if you are patient enough, you don’t need to go to the store and buy one of those packets. You don’t need to buy one of those yeast bars. You can do what I did.

(Mr. Horchak pulls out a couple of jars and sets them in front of the podium.)

I’ve got two jars, and every day starting the morning of the first holy day, I put a bit of flour and a bit of water in each one of the jars. One jar I kept sealed, the other jar I kept covered with cheesecloth to allow air to flow in and out of it. I wanted to see which, if either, or both, would ever have any kind of a reaction.

After the first two days, which would have been Wednesday afternoon, by Wednesday afternoon, both of those jars were gurgling. Both of those jars were rising. One of the jars had doubled in size. How is that possible?

Let me give you a quick physics lesson about size. A human hair is about 35 thousandths of an inch. That’s tiny. If you want to write it down, it would be 0.035 – 35 thousandths of an inch. That would be about 100 microns on the international scale. A micron is 1 one-millionth of a meter. It’s tiny. It’s impossible to be seen by the human eye. As a comparison for this size thing now, a human red blood cell is about 8-9 microns, or less than one tenth of a strand of hair’s diameter. It’s tiny - you can’t see it, it’s so tiny. A yeast spore, just so that you know, this room is filled with billions and billions of yeast spores as we sit here. Everywhere on the planet, there’s bacteria and spores. Yeast spores happen to be one of the spores that exists everywhere all the time, no matter where you’re at unless you have a vacuum. A yeast spore is only 5 microns. That’s one twentieth, or half the size of a red blood cell – one twentieth of a hair thickness. They’re so tiny, you can’t see them! You can’t see them, you can’t smell them, you can’t feel them, you can’t touch them. But they’re there. They’re so much there, that when I put flour and water into two jars on Tuesday, by Wednesday afternoon enough spores of yeast from the air had impregnated both of those jars that they started to gurgle, bubble, and rise.

I found out that if I were to continue doing this for about 10 days – which is about three, four days after the Last Day of Unleavened Bread – those two jars – one or both – would become what is known as sourdough starter to get sourdough bread going. And I could use what’s in those jars after about Wednesday or Thursday of next week to make bread the same way I would use one of those packets of yeast.

It’s in the air. I put nothing more into those jars than water and flour. It’s too bad that we went over the mountain today and came back because all of that puffiness got deflated. You know how when you make bread and the dough rises and then you push it back down, and then it rises again and you push it back down? Well, those things collapsed. One was bigger than the other. They had actually doubled in size. All from what’s floating around in the air. Super-tiny.

Why do I share this with you? Well, as impossible as it seems that that could take place…. And by the way, I found out today over in Reno – because somebody did some research on it – that right there (points to jar) is how ancient Israel created yeast – exact same way. Yeast didn’t exist back in those days. Yeast didn’t exist until like, the Middle Ages. What they did, they found out – how, I don’t know – if they put water and flour out in the air, it would be impregnated by spores of yeast, and it would ferment and grow and develop and double, and then next thing you know they’d have sourdough. And virtually all of their breads were made from this sourdough starter. So it goes all the way back to that period of time.

Why do I bring this up to you? Well, just as almost incredible as it seems that that could happen with these two jars, the exact same thing is happening in the air with you and me, and sin and Satan. Remember Paul said, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump?” How little of leaven did I need for that (points to jars)? Five microns of a piece of yeast. You can’t even see it with the human eye. And what did it do? It caused that stuff to react.

Paul used that analogy because the exact same thing happens on the spiritual plane with us. Any infinitesimal amount of sin entering our lives can pollute us. And sometimes it comes in so tiny, so small, so seemingly insignificant. And why do I say that? Because if you go back ten years, twenty years, thirty years, in this country alone, and ask yourself “What was unacceptable then, what was unacceptable then, what was un….” I mean, what was unacceptable thirty years ago is completely acceptable today! And as I’ve said – many people have said – so as the world goes, so goes the church. We, as God’s people, accept things today that we would have never accepted thirty years ago.

Let me re-read 1 Corinthians 5:6:

1 Corinthians 5:6 - Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

Paul fully understood that it doesn’t take much leaven, and in our case, sin to really affect our whole being. And sometimes it can happen so slow, so gradual, we don’t even notice it until it’s too late.

Let’s go to Ephesians, chapter 2. Let’s let Paul here in Ephesians 2, explain how these analogies work together, but in a more profound way. Just as I exposed these two jars of flour and water to the “air around them,” we are being exposed to the air around us on a day-to-day basis. This scripture, in Ephesians 2, has been used to make the point about the power of Satan – his influence in our minds – and many times we’re not even aware of it.

As these two jars sat in my kitchen all week, you couldn’t really tell by looking at them that much of anything was going on until you really looked at them close! And you open that lid and look down, and it’s bubbling! I mean, why would water and flour be bubbling? There’s only one reason. I couldn’t see, smell, taste the yeast spores that were floating around the air all day and all night, but they were there. Big-time, they were there – so much so, that the one jar that I sealed right after I mixed the flour and right after I sealed it – every single day, I kept it sealed – so there was nothing floating around all day long except what was in the jar. There was a sufficient amount sealed in the jar to do the exact same thing. Amazing!

But nonetheless, those little spores were there doing their job. Let’s look at Ephesians 2, and begin in verse 1.

Ephesians 2:1-3 - And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

We have, brethren, or are continually being exposed to the power of what’s in the air – all around us all the time – and it’s being transmitted by Satan. Sometimes it’s really small stuff – little stuff! Other times, it’s gargantuan! But we’re exposed to it, just like those tiny little yeast spores that are floating around here in the room with us today! I would think, I would hope and I would pray, that as we had the opening prayer God would keep Satan and his negative influence away from this room. In God’s mind, this is holy time and a holy place. The minute you walk out that door though, it’s there – 100% of the time, no matter where you go.

And as Paul pointed out earlier, it doesn’t take much of any of that influence to affect us and turn our behavior against God’s way of life. It’s so bad and has such a strong impact that Paul said in 1 Corinthians to disassociate ourselves with individuals who have any form of this kind of sinful behavior exhibited in their life! You can’t hang around people who act like this and behave like this and not get affected by it. It’s an impossibility.

Flip over to James, chapter 1. You can’t hang around somebody who has a foul mouth. You can’t hang around somebody who likes telling dirty jokes. You can’t hang around somebody who has sexually inappropriate behavior being discussed or acted upon. You can’t hang around somebody who gets drunk all the time and you’re out drinking with them. Because this behavior’s not the right behavior, and it’s a sinful nature. And God says, “You got to stay away from that!” You can’t hang around that behavior and not be affected by it. It’s an impossibility.

Hence, we have the Days of Unleavened Bread to literally work at staying away and protecting ourselves from this form of sin – the type of sin that’s just there all the time. It’s hard sometimes to realize that maybe some, as we’ve slipped into a lifestyle, or an approach, or an attitude, or a behavior pattern, that’s actually become distasteful to others. It happens. I know it happens because I’ve had people tell me it’s happened. But it happens so gradually, and over such a long period of time, that we don’t even see that change in behavior in ourselves. It has become the norm for us, and sometimes we need somebody else to bring it to our attention, and we’ve got discussions in the Bible about doing that, but doing that in a gentle and in a way to try to help somebody. You know, to go up and say, “Do you realize that this is the way you’ve been acting and the way you’ve been behaving? Because it’s not a good thing.”

Here in James 1, James talks about the efforts that we must make to truly be good examples as Christians. Let’s begin in James 1, and verse 21, to get the setting for the statement that I want to read.

James 1:21-25 - Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he [really is]. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

It’s so interesting to me that God constantly is giving us direction, giving us instruction, giving us correction even at times, to adjust our lives to get back on track, but He always ties it to a blessing! It’s like He’s trying to sweeten the pot so much that you won’t not do it! Not only do you do what God asks you to do, but God says, “I’ll bless you on top of it, if you do it.” And then he goes on in verse 26:

James 1:26 - If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.

Then the passage that links to today’s sermon, verse 27:

James 1:27 - Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

“Keep oneself unspotted from the world.” Don’t let those little spiritual spores enter your life. Let’s go back to Romans, chapter 12. While you’re turning to Romans 12, I want to re-read James 1:27, but from the New Living Translation. It makes it more profound and more specific.

James 1:27 (NLT) - Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress, and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

“Refusing to let the world corrupt you” – not allowing those little spiritual spores of Satan to impregnate our mind or our being ever. The whole concept ties in with what Paul is saying here in Romans, chapter 12. Let’s begin in Romans 12, and verse 1. Paul says:

Romans 12:1 - I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God – he is pleading with them – that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Just saying the same thing that James said, but in a little different way. They’re on the same wavelength. Then another comment about the world we live in. Verse 2:

Romans 12:2 - And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Let me re-read that again from the New Living Translation. You can just listen.

Romans 12:1-2 (NLT) - And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God, because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. Then the statement about the involvement of the world. Don’t copy the behavior and the customs of the world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you which is good and pleasing and perfect.
If you stop and think about it, the more we feel the need to fit in – the need to fit in with the world – the more inclined we are to allow it to affect us – like those tiny little yeast spores. If we want to play around with it, mess with it, hang out with it, fit in so we don’t stick out – again, like Mr. Miller was referring to last week – then it’s going to have a bit more negative power. We have to conscientiously, consciously avoid the evil influences, and protect our minds and our hearts from all of this negative power. Brethren, when Paul said, “…a little leaven…”, he meant a little – a tiny amount – any tiny little infinitesimal amount of evil or sin. He said, “It’s just going to affect you. It’s going to turn you sour.” It’s real, and we have to defend against it, as we’ve heard in other messages lately.

Let’s go now to 1 John 2. In 1 John 2, we hear from John on the same subject of the influence of the world around us and how distracting it can be to our Christian walk. Regretfully, some of us at times have really snuggled up to the worldly ways around us. Satan has done a magnificent job. Let me state that again. Satan has done a magnificent job at making all of this stuff in the world that is wrong really appealing. And it appeals to many of our senses. He’s a master at it! And we have sometimes allowed ourselves to fall for it! John discusses that here in 1 John 2. Let’s pick it up in 1 John 2, and begin in verse 15. I’m going to, once again, read this passage from the New Living Translation, so it’s going to sound a bit different.

1 John 2:15 (NLT) - Do not love this world nor the things it offers you. For when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.

I’ve come to really believe that this ties into what God told ancient Israel all through all those millennia about not serving other gods. God was emphatic about it! God got angry every time it happened! “Don’t go to other gods, don’t build temples, don’t build gods, don’t make gods, don’t create gods, don’t serve their gods, don’t do anything with any other type of god. Only Me!” It’s because all of that other stuff, all of those other gods, were evil. They came from Satan, and God said, “I don’t want you messing with any of that!” God knows that a little leaven leavens the whole lump, and He’s shown that through ancient Israel and Judah, all throughout that millennia. When they would listen to God’s guidance and that, and stay away from that stuff, God blessed them and blessed them and blessed them!

As I’ve been saying, Israel’s up, Israel’s down. Israel’s up because they’re ignoring all those other gods and they’re only serving and doing what God the Almighty created. The minute they started serving those other gods, they went down into the toilet. God cursed them, God took away everything from them, God destroyed them at times.

It’s the same with us. All of these little things that Satan’s got going on in the world around us – that we can’t live without – become our gods. And God said, “I hate that. I want you to not be able to live without Me, and Me alone.” That’s why He’s talking about the world all the time. The influence of the world is not a Godly influence. And if it’s not Godly, it’s evil. Those are our only two choices.

Verse 16 of 1 John 2:

1 John 2:16 (NLT) - For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.

In other words, they’re from Satan! That’s not where God wants us focused. They are as these little tiny spiritual spores that love to affect our lives by puffing us up in all different kinds of ways. And he explains that this world is not going to be around forever, but there’s a better thing coming, or a better way coming.

1 John 2:17 (NLT) - And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God is going to live forever.

It all goes together! It all fits into the plan of God for us and mankind – a plan that requires absence of sin. There’s no plainer way to put it. Hence, we have the Days of Unleavened Bread. God said, “I want you to focus – just for these seven days,” as I mentioned earlier, “focus on ‘What do I need to do today to keep sin out of my life? What do I need to do today to do something good with sincerity and truth today?’” If we don’t approach the day like that, the day’s going to come and go, and it’s going to be gone, and over and done, and it’s going to be a waste of time.

Let’s go over a couple of pages to 1 John, chapter 5. I’m going to stay in the New Living Translation. Here in 1 John 5, John brings this whole relationship idea – relationship with God or our  relationship with Satan – however we choose to go. Let’s begin in 1 John 5, and verse 18 – again, New Living Translation:

1 John 5:18 (NLT) - We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning. For God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them.

This is making an enormous assumption that we as God’s children are staying close to God and Jesus Christ. God and Jesus Christ told us, “Stay close to Us. Draw close to Me and I’ll draw close to you. Resist Satan and he’ll flee from you.” But as we’ve been discussing today, this negative stuff is everywhere. Verse 19:

1 John 5:19 (NLT) - We know that we are the children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one…

As we’ve been discussing today, it’s everywhere! It’s non-stop! It’s like those tiny little yeast spores in this room and in my kitchen. They’re there, and they’re looking for a place to land!

To drive home the point about Satan’s influence on us on this earth, let’s flip over to 1 Peter 5 – just a few pages back. Here in 1 Peter 5, Peter captures the extreme approach that Satan has implemented as he tries to destroy everything that God has created which is holy. He’s after us, primarily because we’ve been given what he cannot have. We’ve been given the opportunity to be in the God family and live eternally. Satan’s after us and God is giving us the direction for His protection, which is a constant non-stop battle. It never goes away. Let’s begin here in 1 Peter 5, and we’ll start in verse 8:

1 Peter 5:8 - Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Then Peter says what we must do to protect ourselves. Verse 9:

1 Peter 5:9 - Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

James tells us the exact same thing: “Resist Satan, and he’ll flee from you.” When the inclination comes up to do wrong, or not to do good when we have the opportunity, that’s when we need to exercise Godly character and do what is right.

I know it’s not easy. I’m one of us. I struggle with the exact same things you struggle with. This is a constant challenge. And one thing that I’ve learned: you can’t do it if you’re not conscientious about it. And it can’t be an occasional conscientiousness.

Again, that’s why we have the Days of Unleavened Bread – seven solid days. Focus, focus, focus! Get sin out! Do good with sincerity and truth! Really focus on it! Ask God to help you root it out, find it, get rid of it, stay away from it. And then he tells us here that God’s always ready there to help us. Verse 10:

1 Peter 5:10-11 - But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and dominion forever and ever.

God says that He will see us through all of this, if we’ll just stay close to Him and Jesus Christ. That’s the caveat. Stay close.

As we get ready to close let’s turn to Ephesians, chapter 4. Here in Ephesians 4, Paul had been discussing how not to be living our lives – like so many of the Gentiles did with futility in seeking their own desires, serving their gods, not following the true God, and basically living a life of disgust and filthiness. He tells us that that should not be that way with us. Let’s pick it up in Ephesians 4, and begin in verse 20.

Ephesians 4:20-21 - But you have not [learned that kind of behavior from] Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus.

He explains that he is making an assumption: the assumption being that we indeed have been taught – taught by Jesus Christ – and we are following that teaching – following that lead. He then ties it back in what we’ve been discussing this whole message about our relationship with the whole world at large and our lives. Verse 22:

Ephesians 4:22 - That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts.

This is always a danger as we go about life, if we are not conscientiously trying to avoid it, we can slip back into those behaviors that we had prior to conversion. Paul’s telling us, “You know, that’s sitting there, nipping at your heels. Satan knows you love that stuff! You gave it up because you knew you had to.” He says, “You can slide back into that. You’ve got to make sure you don’t.” Verse 22…oh now we just read that. Then he points us in the right direction. Verse 23:

Ephesians 4:23 - And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.

How often? As often as it takes. I’ve pretty much made a commitment to myself that every morning my morning’s going to start by renewing my mind with the Spirit of God. And I’m going to ask God every morning, “Guide me on a path where I can keep sin out. Give me the character to resist it, and guide me down a path to be able to do good with sincerity and truth to whomever needs it.” It’s something that has become almost hourly with me over the last couple of weeks because of all of the trauma that we’ve been facing, both in our lives personally, members’ lives, children, families, issues, traumas. It’s like, I find myself praying hourly – not daily – hourly, for all of these poor people. I mean, every free moment that I’ve got, when I’m driving, when I’m sitting in my office, those thoughts come back to my mind, and tears come to my eyes! And I get all choked up and I get sick to my stomach thinking about what everybody’s going through. So I just start praying again. I can’t do too much of it, I know I can’t. He said:

Ephesians 4:24 - And that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

In other words, the power of God’s Spirit living in us is a power that we can tap into. And it can give us strength to keep going on, keep doing better, all the time, no matter what it is. He then gives some specific instructions in this regard. Verse 25:

Ephesians 4:25 - Therefore, putting away lying – where’d that come from? – Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor – well, it’s there because it’s a problem at times – for we are members of one another.”

He’s telling us that lying to each other is as ridiculous as lying to yourself! Verse 26:

Ephesians 4:26-27 - “Be angry, and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.”

In other words, don’t allow yourself to become so angry about something that you can allow this root of bitterness to set in. Once that happens, it’s almost impossible to get rid of it. And then we’re in deep trouble. He said, “You can’t just harbor this stuff. You’ve got to get it out! Get rid of it! Don’t sit there and stew over it. Address it!” Verse 28:

Ephesians 4:28 - Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.

He’s telling us to do something constructive with our lives, so that we can have the wherewithal to be able to help others when they have need. In other words, don’t be lazy, be constructive and productive. Verse 29:

Ephesians 4:29-30 - Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

In other words, don’t go against our conscience of God’s Spirit as it’s working to guide us. I’m sure you’re just like me. As you go through your day, your week, your month, your year, there’s moments, something inside of you says, “You probably shouldn’t be doing that.” And if that’s what we’re hearing, we shouldn’t be doing it. Or, “You know, you could probably help right now.” It’s God’s Spirit saying, “Guess what? I’m trying to direct you. I’m trying to push you down the right path here.” Listen to those words. Listen to those feelings. Listen to those inspirations. That’s God’s Spirit trying to talk with us, to deal with us. And then he goes on in verse 31:

Ephesians 4:31 - Let all bitterness, [all] wrath, [all] anger, [all] clamor, and [all] evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.

Get rid of everything.

Ephesians 4:32 - And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Brethren, that sort of wraps it up for the Days of Unleavened Bread – doing our best to keep the devil’s, Satan’s, tiny little spiritual spores of leavening from having an impact on our lives, so that we can live more sin-free. And as we learn to live more sin-free, it allows us to be able to do more good for, and with, each other. Enjoy these last two days of Days of Unleavened Bread, and have a great Sabbath.