Spring Holy Days 2007
Sermon #1
Sabbath Before Passover
Fred R. Coulter – March 31, 2007
And greetings, brethren, this is a Sabbath sermon for the Sabbath before
Passover. And this year, it’s quite unusual. We have the Passover being observed
on Sunday night. Then we have the Night Much to be Observed on Monday night, and
then the first Holy Day on Tuesday. And so, what we’re going to have this year,
recorded on this CD, we will have a sermon for the Sabbath before Passover. We
will have the sermon for the first Holy Day. Then we will have a sermon for the
Sabbath during and then we will have the last Holy Day, which will be the
following Monday.
Now we need to understand this, the central theme of the whole Bible is Jesus
Christ. From Genesis to Revelation—and that’s why in the book of Revelation and
also in Isaiah He says, "I am the first and the last." And in Revelation He
says, "I’m the beginning and the ending." And in Revelation 3:14, it says that
He is the "Beginner of the Creation of God."
Now back in Genesis 3:15, we find the first prophecy of the coming Messiah
for the forgiveness of sin. And it is very interesting when we understand how
this is, this is all put together. Now, let’s come back to Genesis 3:15 and this
is right after Adam and Eve sinned—and then God was giving His judgment and His
punishment. And He started out with the serpent.
So, let’s pick it up right here in verse 14, Genesis 3: "And the LORD God
said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all [livestock] cattle… [Now, the King James says ‘cattle’,
but this means all livestock] … and above every beast of the field; upon
thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I
will put enmity between thee and the woman… [Now, this is a prophecy directly of
Satan and Christ and the Church. The woman, in this case, was Eve—but
prophetically the Church.] … and between thy seed and her seed; it… [that is the
seed of the woman, the one who would become Jesus Christ] … shall bruise thy
head… [He’s going to annul all the works of Satan the devil and everything that
man has done in rebellion and, and, and defiance against God. All the works the
Satan has done, all of the civilizations, everything that Satan has done is
going to be annulled.] … and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Gen. 3:14-15, KJV).
Here’s a prophecy of the crucifixion. Now, I think it’s very interesting that
right in the first part of the book of John, chapter three, we have a
fulfillment of this, as John wrote. And this is one of the famous verses that so
many people know, that so many people rely on and is used by almost every single
false prophet that comes along and people really don’t understand it, because
they don’t realize that the crucifixion of Jesus Christ occurred on the Passover
day. And that’s why He is called "our Passover."
Now, let’ me suggest this—that if you don’t have the book, The Christian Passover, you write in for it, or e-mail us, or call the
office. And if you don’t have the book, The Day Jesus, the Christ, Died, get both of those books. The Day that Jesus, the Christ Died, is smaller
and it is more of summary. But you need the Passover book to fully understand
everything about the Passover.
Now, there are a lot of people who have said a lot of things against the
Passover book, but remember this: not one thing that has been written in there
has been proven to be false or wrong or incorrectly researched. Now, if it does
come up that those are the cases, we certainly will make the corrections.
Now, back here to John 3:16, FV: "For God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish,
but may have everlasting life." Now, that’s very interesting because in the
Greek this is in the subjunctive, which means there is a choice involved: "may
not perish" and "may have everlasting life." And of course, in the
equation in salvation, God is not the problem. God is true, God is righteous,
God is Holy, God will fulfill His will, God will do the things He is going to
do. And in dealing with mankind, mankind because of the judgment that God gave
to mankind through Adam and Eve, we have a sinful nature. And God gave it to us
so that we would learn, and in the flesh we would learn.
If you are going to enter into the Kingdom of God as a spirit being by being
born again, at the resurrection, you’re going to have, have learned the lesson
that sin does not pay! And that there will be no more rebellion in
the heavens or in the Family of God. So, that’s why God created us in the flesh.
And also, that’s why God gave us the law of sin and death within us.
Now, here’s the phenomenal thing that God did, which most people really don’t
understand. God, in sentencing all of mankind to have a sinful nature with the
law of sin and death, when He became the Son of God—which occurred at this
point—one of Elohim became the Father, and the other of Elohim became the Son.
And you can read in the second Psalm that: "This day have I begotten you." Now,
that’s the day that Jesus became the Son.
And He had to be reduced to a very pinpoint of life, and impregnated in the
womb of the virgin Mary and be born as any other human being. Now, what is so
astounding about this is the way that God did it.
Now, let’s come back here to Philippians, the second chapter and what we’re
going to do—and I don’t’ think that there’s a verse today that we’re going to
cover that we haven’t covered some time in the past—but you know, we learn
"precept upon precept, line upon line." And this is what’s so important in what
we are doing—and the reason that we have the Passover, and the reason that we keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Holy Days and
the Sabbaths of God.
Now, let’s come here to Philippians 2:5, FV: "Let this min be in you,
which was also in Christ Jesus… [Now, we have to let it, and desire it,
we have to want it, and the Passover is the key that makes all that possible.
But here’s what Jesus did:] … Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. But emptied
Himself…" (vs 5-7). Divested Himself of His glory, of His honor as God. And
retained just enough of God to be in the flesh. There’s no such thing as hundred
percent God, hundred percent man—that is a falsehood. Because God, in His glory, cannot exist in human flesh. Because His glory would destroy the
human flesh. So God had to reduce Himself down to a very fine, pinpoint of life.
And whatever genes and chromosomes that He had with the Father then united with
the genes and chromosomes of the virgin Mary and He was born at the set time.
Now notice: "… and was made in the likeness of men, and took the form of a servant…. [And the Greek there is doulos which means ‘slave.’] … And being found in the manner of man…
[Everything about being human, Jesus was and did.] … He humbled Himself… [Now,
no one, no one has humbled himself as greatly as Jesus Christ has done. And what
we also need to understand is this: God the Father and Jesus Christ are the most
humble beings in the universe. And you have to be in order to uphold the
universe in righteousness and truth.] … and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross" (vs 7-8).
So everything keys on the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Now, we know that in 1
Timothy 3:16 it says that God was manifested in the flesh. Now, the question is:
What kind of flesh did Jesus have? That becomes important. Let’s come to Romans,
the eighth chapter. Let’s see that Jesus took upon Himself the same punishment
that He gave to Adam and Eve and all their descendants.
Now this is important to understand and really realize and comprehend from
this point of view: That’s why Jesus’ one sacrifice, for the sins for everyone
for all time, can be contained within the offering of His body—because:
1) He was Creator,
2) He took on flesh, and
3) He took on the same kind of flesh that we have.
Now let’s see that right here. Let’s pick it up, let’s pick it up in Romans
8:3, FV: "For what was impossible for the law to do, in that it
was weak through the flesh, God, having sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh…"
Now, what does that mean? Now in the Greek we have two adjectives there: ‘in
the likeness of sin,’ and ‘in the likeness of flesh.’ Now, what does this mean? This means that Jesus took within Himself of the genes that He received from His
mother, Mary. Because the law of sin and death is passed on through
inheritance. That’s why all sin. So He inherited, from His mother, the law of
sin and death from His mother so He could be just like we are.
Now, since He was begotten by the Holy Spirit of God the Father and was
filled with the Holy Spirit from the very instant of conception, He never
sinned. Now, we’ll see that a little later. But it’s very, very important
because you see, God put to death sin in the body of Jesus Christ when He was
crucified—and because He did this He took upon Himself the law of sin and death.
And notice: "… and for sin [that means as a sacrifice], condemned sin in the flesh" (v 3).
Now, let’s come to 2 Corinthians 5, and let’s see what else it says about
Jesus. Even though He had the law of sin and death within Him, He never sinned.
He never knew sin from the point of view that He never experienced it Himself by
sinning Himself. But, with the law of sin and death within Him, He was "tempted
in every way as we are, yet without sin"!
You see without having the law of sin and death in Him, He could never be
tempted. And how would He know how would He know what it’s like to be tempted?
How could He be that perfect sacrifice for the sins of all mankind if He was
different than we are?
Now let’s come to 2 Corinthians 5:21, FV: "For He made Him… [that is,
God the Father made Him] … Who knew no sin to be sin for us, so
that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
Now that’s the mystery of Godliness for us. That we can truly become the sons
of God through God’s plan.
Now, Satan counterfeited it back there in the Garden of Eden, and said,
"Look, you can do it right now, just eat of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil. And you can decide for yourself."
Now let’s continue on and see what else we have here. Now, we also know this.
Let’s come to John, the first chapter, and, as I mentioned before, this is
really quite an interesting thing the way that this is phrased. John, the first
chapter. Maybe you never noticed this before.
Let’s pick it up here in verse 29—John 1:29, FV: "On the next day,
John sees Jesus coming to him, and he says, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes
away the sin of the world." Isn’t that interesting. He doesn’t say, "take away
the sins." He says, "take away the sin of the world." Because "as in Adam
we all sin" and "as in Adam we all die." So God looks at it: every human being
has the sin, which came originally from Adam and Eve. Quite something, isn’t it?
Now, we also know, he says down here, down here in verse 36, he said again:
"…Behold the Lamb of God!"
And we know in Revelation 13:8, FV, it says: "… the Lamb [of God]
slain from the foundation of the world." So God had this all
planned in the way that He is going to work it out according to His Sabbath and
Holy Days as revealed in the Scriptures.
Now, let’s continue on: Let’s come here to Exodus, the twelfth chapter. Now
as we’re turning to Exodus 12, because Exodus 12 records the commands that God
gave for the Passover for the children of Israel. Now, let’s understand, and
that’s why I mention concerning the Passover book, that the Passover actually
began, not with the children of Israel, but the Passover actually began with
Abraham.
And, as you will see in the Passover book, the timing of the sacrifices that
were given in Genesis 15, after God made the promise to Abraham and later the
covenant with him, was this: that the timing sequence there was exactly the same
timing sequence on the day that Jesus was crucified. Now the timing sequence for
the children of Israel was slightly different, because the lamb is slain right
at the beginning of the day, right after sundown, at the beginning of the
fourteenth.
Now, everything is written in the Passover book, you can get all the details
there with that, so I’m not going to go through it. But what I also want to also
point out here is something very important concerning the Passover with the
children of Israel. One of the major features was, in addition to the blood from
the lamb, on the lintels and the upper doorposts, was to protect the firstborn.
And so, there is a type of Christ in that, and a type of Christ in the lamb
without blemish, that is true. But there’s another reason that is far more
important, as in relationship to understanding about God’s way that we need to
realize in Exodus 12 as to why that God did it the way that He did it. And what
was the other thing that God did.
Now, let’s read it here in Exodus 12:12, KJV—it says: "For I will pass
through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn [that’s the first reason] in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; [second
reason:] and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD…." (vs 12-13).
Now, it’s very important to understand, and this is way, right from here on,
God made it clear that there was not to be a bringing in of the religions of the
world into the way that God gave the children of Israel—and later into the way
that God gave to the Church. Just like they were not to go out and ask about the
other gods and say, "Oh, this is interesting, let’s incorporate that in our
worship." God said, "You shall not do so." For "every abomination that He hates
have they done unto their god."
Now, likewise with the New Testament. We’re not to go out and combine a, a
paganism with the teachings of Jesus Christ and come up with our own version of
Christ—our own version of Christianity. And that’s what the world has done. They
use the Bible and reject the Bible at the same time. Now that’s almost an
oxymoron or a "moryoxon"—if you could put it that way. You see, man has to live
by every Word of God and the Word of God is inspired by Him; this is God’s
message to us so we know what to do, and so God tells us what to do. Remember,
here’s another important, a very significant thing. No man will tell God
what to do—or what He will accept—because God has provided the way
through Christ. And God has provided the way through His Word. And God has
provided the way with His Spirit. And so, that’s why it’s very important when it
says, "I will, and against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment."
And they had every god that there ever was there, just like in Babylon and we
have today—Babylon the Great—which has all the Egyptian factors in it, and also
remember back in Revelation 11:8, it talks about that Jerusalem today is like
Sodom and Egypt.
That’s telling us, stay away from all false religions. God has already judged them as worthless. He has destroyed them. So why go out
and resurrect them. And say, "Oh, this is wonderful, we’ll do this." or "Oh,
this tradition by these people is interesting, let’s do this." or this, what
other people believe, "Oh this is nice, this is good, let’s do this."
See, that’s why the Passover is so important, because the Passover means that you have forsaken all other gods. Let’s realize that.
Now, let’s see some things concerning Jesus Christ. Let’s see what Jesus had
to go through to be the very sacrifice, for the forgiveness for our sins. Let’s
come to the book of Hebrews. Let’s come to Hebrews, the second chapter, and
let’s see how important this is and understand what Jesus did, and how He did
it, and why He did it, and what we are to do.
Hebrews, the second chapter, and we find—and then we’ll examine a little bit
more about the prophecies of what Jesus was going to go through in the
crucifixion. Now, let’s pick it up here in verse nine—Hebrews 2:9, FV:
"But we see Jesus, Who was made a little lower than the angels,
crowned with glory and honor on account of suffering the death, in order that by the grace of God He Himself might taste death for everyone." Now,
that’s everyone who repents.
Now, come over here to chapter one, chapter one, and verse three: "Who being the brightness of His glory… [that’s what Jesus is now: the
brightness of the glory of the Father.] … and the exact image of His
person, and upholding all things by the word of His own power, when He had by
Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty
on high…" (Heb. 1:3, FV).
Now, come back to chapter two and let’s go through this some more. Now
notice, verse 10, Hebrews 2, FV: "Because it was fitting for Him, of Whom
all things were created, and by Whom all things exist, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Author of their salvation perfect
through sufferings…. [Isn’t that something! ‘through sufferings.’] … For both He
Who is sanctifying and those who are sanctified are all of one; for which
cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren." So He had to die.
Now, come back here to Hebrews, the tenth chapter. And let’s see something
concerning the sacrifice of Christ. And let’s see what He went through. Now,
I’ve mentioned this before and you might want to take this and review it during
the Feast of Unleavened Bread—and that is, get out from the series of Hebrews
that we did: #27—The Covenant Between God the Father and Jesus Christ; because that was a prelude to everything that we are talking about today.
Now, let’s pick it up here in verse eight of Hebrews 10, Hebrews 8:10 [transcriber’s correction:] Hebrews 10:7, FV: "Then said I, ‘Lo, I
come (as it is written of Me in the scroll of the book) to do Your will, O God.’ In the saying above, He said, ‘Sacrifice
and offering and burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin (which are
offered according to the law) You did not desire nor delight in’… [Why? Because
it couldn’t affect what the sacrifice of Christ would do.] … Then He said, ‘Lo,
I come to do Your will, O God.’ He takes away the first covenant in order
that He may establish the second covenant" (Heb. 10:7-9, FV).
Now, let’s come down here to verse twelve, because this is important. "But
He, after offering one sacrifice for sins for ever… [Only His
sacrifice can take away sin.] … sat down at the right hand of God" (v
12). That’s quite something, His sacrifice.
Now, we’re going to look at some of the prophecies. What did Jesus go
through? Now, we’ve also got it in The Harmony of the Gospels, if you want to go through there, The Last Days of Jesus’ Life—that would
be the place to go. But, what I want to do this time is focus in on the
prophecies that Jesus Himself gave, because He was Lord God of the Old
Testament, and He inspired the prophets, He inspired David, and he wrote down
these Psalms as a prophecy of what He would go through.
Now let’s turn to Psalm 69, and you know, as we go through some of these
Psalms, let’s ask the question: I wonder what David thought when God inspired
him to write these Psalms? Or to sing them? Or to sing them and write them? Very
interesting.
Now, we also need to realize this: back in the book of Hebrews, Hebrews 5:7,
it said that Jesus—let, let’s just turn there. Hold your place here in Psalm 69
and let’s go to Hebrews 5, and then we will go to Psalm 69.
Hebrews 5, Hebrews 5, very important. All right, Hebrews 5, and it says this
of Jesus. Verse 5, Hebrews 5, FV: "In this same manner also, Christ did
not glorify Himself to become a High Priest, but He Who said to Him, ‘You are My
Son; today I have begotten You.’ Even as He also says in another place, ‘You are a Priest forever according to the order of
Melchisedec’; Who, in the days of His flesh, offered up both prayers and
supplications with strong crying and tears to Him Who was able to save Him from
death… [Now, this tells us that Jesus drew close to God all the time, knowing that having the law of sin and death in Him, He could have
sinned. And this is how God is perfected even more. Overcoming sin in the
flesh by having sin within His flesh to overcome. Now, that’s
awesome indeed! That is tremendous! Now, notice:] … was able to save Him from
death and was heard because He feared God. Although He was
a Son, yet He learned obedience from the things that He suffered;
And having been perfected…" (Heb 5:5-9, FV)—from everything that
He went through. From being born, all the way through His
ministry, all the way through the horrible events on the Passover day, to be the
sacrifice for the sin of the world. He was perfected, so that He
then could in turn what? Perfect us! And that’s why it talks about
that "God so loved the world." Very interesting isn’t it?
"… He became the Author of eternal salvation to all those who obey
Him" (v 9).
Now, let’s come back to Psalm 69, and let’s see what Jesus Christ, who was
Lord God of the Old Testament, inspired in the Psalms as a prophecy of what He
would go through. The very experience of becoming a human being, carrying the
law of sin and death within Him, and to come to the crucifixion. That’s why it
had to be on the Passover day and all the other things that go with it.
Now, let’s pick it up here in verse one: "Save me, O God… [and it says that
he cried out to Him Who was able to save him from death, right?] … for the
waters are come in unto my soul. [overwhelmed with it.] I sink in deep
mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the
floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail
while I wait for my God. They that hate me without a cause are more than the
hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies
wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away" (Psa.
69:1-4, KJV).
Now, what you have here in the Psalms is this: you have a prophecy of some of
the thought of Jesus while He was on the cross of crucifixion. Then you have
some of the words of David interspersed there relating to his life. Then you
have some other verses which then relate back to the prophecy of Christ.
Because, you see, in the Old Testament it’s line upon line, here a little there
a little, precept upon precept, and you put it together. So, when you read these
things it is not just a straight, on line prophecy every verse.
Now, let’s come down here to verse, verse seven—come down here to verse 7:
"Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. I am
become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children….
[They didn’t even believe that He was the Messiah, did they? Why did they do
this?] … For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up… [To complete the plan of
God. And the plan of God cannot be complete without the Passover. And the plan
of God cannot be perfected unless Jesus came in the flesh carrying the law of
sin and death within Him.] … and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are
fallen upon me…. [He took upon Him all the sin] … When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach" (vs 7-10).
Now, let’s come down here to verse twelve: "They that sit in the gate speak
against me; and I was the song of the drunkards…. [You can almost here it
in the saloons, cursing against Jesus.] … But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy
mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. Deliver me out of the mire, and
let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep
waters. Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up,
and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me… [That is permanently, the grave.] …
Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according
to the multitude of thy tender mercies. And hide not thy face from thy servant;
for I am in trouble: hear me speedily" (vs 12-17).
Now, let’s come down here to, down here to—no, let’s continue, right here
verse 18: Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it… [He had to be brought
back to life again, didn’t He?] … deliver me because of mine enemies. Thou hast
known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee…. [All standing right out there at the base of the
cross, aren’t they?] … Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of
heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none;
and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in
my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink" (vs 18-21). Prophecy of what they would
do when Jesus was on the cross.
So He was giving this in a prophecy ahead time. How far ahead of time did God
do this? Well, it had to be about 1400 years—almost 1500 years—before the
crucifixion. Quite a thing isn’t it? Quite a witness, isn’t it?
Now, let’s, let’s continue on, let’s come here to, let’s see what else He
went through. Let’s come to Isaiah 53. Now, as we go through Isaiah 53, we need
to understand and realize what it was that Jesus did for us. And if there’s any
good thing that could be said about what, what Mel Gibson did with the Passion of the Christ was he did show the brutality of it—and it was as
brutal as it was depicted. He had a lot of Catholic doctrine and traditions in
there, but nevertheless, that made an impact upon people.
Now, let’s pick it up here, Isaiah 53, and it talks about the preaching of
Gospel, it talks about Jesus as growing up and so forth.
Verse one: "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD
revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out
of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him" (Isa 53:1-2, KJV).
Now, I want you to think about this if you think you’ve had it tough in your
life. That’s why Christ did what He did. And came and was put to death by the
hands of those He created. And think about this: "He is despised and rejected
of men…" (v 3).
That’s why Christ can comfort us. Regardless of the circumstances you are
going through, Jesus Christ—through the power of the Holy Spirit—can
comfort you. Whether you’re despised or whether you’re rejected, that
doesn’t make any difference to God, because God went through that Himself and bore that burden for you! That you can come and lay that before God and
ask God to lift it from you.
"…a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not" (v 3) Isn’t that an
amazing thing? All of this has to do with the crucifixion that He went through.
The mindset that, that He also had. And everyone rejected Him at
that time.
Now, notice verse 4: "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our
sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted…. [and
that’s what they said, didn’t they? They all gathered around the high priest and
the people saying, ‘Well, He trusted in God, let’ God save Him.’ But notice
verse 5, why did He do it?] … But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the
chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are
healed."
Now, let’s understand something about this, very, very important here: Every
sin that human beings have done was poured out upon Jesus Christ in the flesh.
Every sin that you committed laid stripes and bruises and spitting and tearing
of the beard upon Jesus Christ. Now, that’s why repentance is so very, very
important for us to understand and grasp. Because who—as you look
at all of us weak of the world—who cares for us? Who loves us? Who would die for us—and all of those who
God would call?—other than Jesus Christ Himself—and that shows the profound love
of God.
And that’s why John 3:16 says that God "gave His only begotten Son." And this
is what He gave Him to. And this is what He experienced. Now, Jesus did this and
took all of this upon Himself that we can have peace with God. That’s why, in
the New Testament, it says "He is our peace." That’s something, isn’t it? Yes!
Now, also, "with his stripes we are healed" (v 5). And healing is something
that we need to look to God for all the time. And that’s why we have anointing
and prayer. And in this world, there is so many things in the world that cause
bad health, and we need to be alert to that and take care of ourselves the best
we can. But healing comes from God.
Now, let’s continue here, showing exactly what human nature is like. "All we
like sheep have gone astray…" (v 6). We’ve gone from God. We’ve sinned against
God. We, even after we’re converted, we have to change and grow and overcome,
don’t we? And that’s why we have the Passover every year for the renewing of the
New Covenant.
"… we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all" (v 6). In other words all are going astray, all are going
our own way, and "there is a way that seems right to a man, the ends thereof are
the way of death." And Jeremiah said, "Oh, the way of man is not in him to
direct his steps." And "the heart is deceitful above all things, who can know
it."
He took all of that upon Himself. What did that do to Him? "He was oppressed,
and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth… [You can read that in the
Gospels, He didn’t talk back.] … he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and
as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth…. [That’s
something, and He had to do it that way, didn’t He? Yes, indeed.] … He
was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation?
[Well, the apostles did.] for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken" (vs 6-8).
That’s why He went through everything that He did. That’s how great our
Savior is. And that’s how marvelous Jesus Christ is. And that’s how loving that
God the Father is. Willing to take all of this upon Himself that we can have our
sins forgiven and all those that He calls can have their sins forgiven and put
into a relationship with God so that we can be changed. So that we can be
converted. And we’ll talk about that on the first day of Unleavened Bread. How
God wants us to become.
(Break)
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