Become Partakers of the Divine Nature

(Sabbath Before Passover)

Fred R. Coulter—April 5, 2025

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Greetings, brethren! Welcome to the Sabbath before Passover. And as a matter of fact, this is one of those years where we have the Passover Day being the seventh-day Sabbath, which means that on Friday night, April 11th, is when we partake of the Passover.

Then Sabbath evening, we have the Night to be Much Remembered, which is remembered unto the Lord for bringing the children of Israel on the start of their way out of Egypt.

Also, the next day, because of the way that it falls, is the first day of the count toward Pentecost, and it works this way. Let's come to Mark 14:12 and let's understand that this tells us about the Passover Day itself, that it is an unleavened bread day!

That's important because the sacrifice of Christ that we're going to talk about today that His one sacrifice fulfills all. That day is for the sacrifice of the sin of the whole world, which goes clear back to Adam! We'll see that in a little bit.

This was right at the beginning of the Passover Day. Listen carefully to what it says:

Mark 14:12: "And on the first day of the unleaveneds…" That is a literal translation from the Greek, it has nothing to do with the Feast of Unleavened Bread!

The sacrifice of Christ was on one day; that day, as a sacrifice for the sin of the whole world, is an unleavened bread day from sunset to sunset!

Verse 12: "And on the first day of the unleaveneds, when they were killing the Passover lambs…"—present tense, active, they were doing it right when they asked Jesus the question.

That becomes important because they hadn't yet partaken of the New Covenant Passover! That came later.

"…His disciples said to Him, 'Where do You desire that we go and prepare, so that You may eat the Passover?'"

• it doesn't matter what men may think
• it doesn't matter what things that they come up with in their minds 'we suppose'

What does it say? It says that the first day where there is unleavened bread is the Passover Day!

It is a separate day of unleavened bread, separate from the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is for seven days. That's where the confusion comes. It's fitting that it is an unleavened bread day. Why? Because it is the day of the sacrifice for the sin of the whole world! Only that sacrifice is the one that pays for the sins of all mankind!

Now let's understand something else very important here. The whole central focus of everything in the Bible is the Passover! It's very clear that if you don't partake of the Passover at the time and in the manner that Jesus said to do it, you have no Life in you! That's what Jesus said!

What did He say on the Passover night? I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life! No one comes to the Father except by Me, or through Him!

Now we come clear back to the book of Gen. 3; here we have an amazing thing. The very first thing that was spoken after Adam and Eve had sinned… We don't know how long that they were in the garden before they partook of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, but it appears to be quite a length of time from the point of view that God is not going to have it happen the very next day after they were created!

Now, after they sinned, we have Gen. 3:15 and God—the One Who was to become the sacrifice of the Passover—spoke this concerning Himself to Adam and Eve.

Genesis 3:15: "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel."

• Christ is going to get rid of Satan—"…bruise your head…"
• Satan was behind the crucifixion of Christ—"bruise His heel."

That's what He said to the serpent (vs 13-15).

Now then, the judgment was against Eve and against Adam, and that's when the law of sin and death—human nature without God—was given to Adam and Eve and genetically passed on to all of their descendants!

John 1—telling us all about Jesus and Who He was. He starts out this way. There are three places in the Bible where it says in the beginning!

• Genesis 1:1
• John 1:1
• 1-John 1:1

John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word… [that's the One Who became Christ] …and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

Now there are various doctrines—especially of the Jehovah Witnesses—which say that Jesus was 'a god'—small g. NO! He was God!

Notice the next couple of verses, because these are very important as it relates to the one sacrifice that takes away the sin of the world!

Verse 2: "He was in the beginning with God."

That means He wasn't created! We'll cover that a little later.

Verse 3: "All things came into being through Him, and not even one thing that was created came into being without Him."

Everything that there is, as we have covered, God is all things to everything, especially relating to:

• the Word of God
• how God is going to solve the problem of sin
• the Passover

and so forth!

Verse 14: "And the Word became flesh… [we know how that occurred, we've already covered that] …and tabernacled among us (and we ourselves beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten with the Father), full of Grace and Truth."

Christ never sinned. Christ was tempted in every way like we are tempted; yet, without sin! That had to be for the perfect sacrifice on the Passover Day, in which He died for the sins of the world! It was His blood, as we have covered! His blood is the only blood that can pay for the sins directly before God the Father on behalf of all of those who repent, believe and are baptized!

It has to be that way. It can't be through the philosophies of men. We're warned of that in Col. 2, where Paul wrote and said, 'Beware that you are not led astray by philosophy.'

• Isn't that what we have with religion?
• Don't we have different opinions that people have?

They don't really believe the Word of God. They want to come in and enforce their beliefs and their interpretations on the Word of God. Christ is the only One!

Verse 29—speaking of John the Baptist: "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.'" What is the sin of the world?

• He doesn't take away the sin of Satan the devil
• He doesn't take away the sins of the demons

The sin of the world is human beings!

The One Who was Creator of Adam and Eve, the One Who was from the beginning and was God and was with God, is the only sacrifice to cover that!

Verse 36: this was on the next day, another day: "And as he [John the Baptist] gazed upon Jesus walking, he said, 'Behold the Lamb of God!'"

How did he know that? Well, God had to tell him and teach him!

This is important to understand: There is no sacrifice of any animal or any other human being that's going to forgive your sins and open the way to eternal life for you.

All of the sacrifices in the Old Testament that God gave to the children of Israel were all types of what Jesus would fulfill completely with His one sacrifice to take away the sin of the world!

Now, there's an interesting book—because all of these things in the Old Testament, as we've seen with the prophecies of Who is Jesus, Who was Jesus, so forth, and we covered these verses, as well—by Andrew Jukes called The Law of Offerings. Very important, because everything that the priest did was a type of Christ as our High Priest!

There are many parallels and analogies and things in all of those offerings, but all of those offerings only brought them justification to the temple:

• not to God in heaven above
• not for spiritual forgiveness of the sins for eternal life

Hebrews 10:1: "For the priestly law, having only a shadow of the good things that are coming, and not the image of those things, with the same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, is never able to make perfect those who come to worship."

Now then, perfect! Let's see something very interesting concerning what Jesus said, because these things are telegraphed all the way through the Bible. They are prophesied all the way through the Bible, and there's some here and some there and some other places. you put it all together properly, as Paul wrote to Timothy, that you rightly divide the Word of God! That means put it together.

Matt. 5:48—After explaining about how to keep the Laws of God in the spiritual sense, from the heart, not outwardly, but inwardly, manifest from within, then Jesus says to sum up the whole thing:

Matthew 5:48: "Therefore, you shall be perfect…"—that's in the future tense!

When is final perfection coming for all of those who are in Christ? At the resurrection! The Greek here is future, so we can't be perfected in the flesh!

• we can grow in grace and knowledge
• we can become mature spiritually

Verse 48: Therefore, you shall be perfect, even as your Father Who is in heaven is perfect."

That's the whole goal! That's the whole purpose of true Scriptural Christianity! The world today has a false Christianity which is worthless!

Hebrews 10:4: "Because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins"—only justifies you to the temple; it doesn't remove them spiritually so you can receive eternal life!

Verse 5: "For this reason, when He comes into the world, He says, 'Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but You have prepared a body for Me.'"

That talks all about what God had to do, and we have covered this, about how He had to divest Himself of being God to become a pinpoint of life and be impregnated in the womb of the virgin Mary and be born as a human being. Everything human, everything about Him growing up, everything so that He would be the perfect sacrifice for all, beginning with consumption.

Verse 6: "You did not delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin. Then said I, 'Lo, I come (as it is written of Me in the Scroll of the Book)… [all of the prophecies that we covered concerning Who Christ is] …to do Your will, O God'" (vs 6-7).

Now, think about that for a minute! Think about the model prayer.

• What is the first thing we do? We honor God the Father!
• What's the next thing we ask for? Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven!

Meaning everything on this earth is going to be done according to the will of God. Everything in every Christian's individual life will be done according to the will of God as they:

• yield to God
• love Him
• keep His Commandments
• grow in grace and knowledge

He says it again in:

Verse 9: "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… [the New Covenant of eternal life]…By whose will?… [listen carefully to this]: …we are sanctified through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all" (vs 9-10)—because only His sacrifice can take away the sins of any human being!

Romans 6:10: "For when He died, He died unto sin once for all…" Amazing thing, isn't it?

Now let's see what Paul says here where Jesus was crucified. Heb. 13 is very interesting indeed, because when we read all the details of the sacrifices of the temple and the tabernacle, all sin offerings were taken outside the camp and burned completely whole, down to ashes!

When the temple was built by Solomon, then across the Kidron Valley and up on the Mount of Olives, there was the Miphkad Altar. Actually, on the Mount of Olives is where the Garden of Gethsemane was, where Jesus prayed the night before He was arrested. The disciples met there quite frequently in the Garden of Gethsemane, along with Christ. So it says here in:

Hebrews 13:10: "We have an altar from which those who are serving the present earthly tabernacle do not have authority to eat… [the bread and the wine, along with the foot-washing for the Passover] …for pertaining to those animals whose blood is brought into the Holy places by the high priest for a sin offering, the bodies of all these are burned outside the camp" (vs 10-11). There we go, the Miphkad Altar!

Verse 12: "For this reason, Jesus, in order that He might sanctify the people by His own blood… [very important] …also suffered outside the gate."

Now, the place where He was crucified was not somewhere down in the city of Jerusalem, but up on the Mount of Olives, not too far from the Miphkad Altar, and not too far from the Garden of Gethsemane.

• "…outside the camp" (v 11)

very interesting, indeed

• "…outside the gate" (v 12)

So we are sanctified by that blood!

Hebrews 10:12—talking about Christ: "But He, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever…"—all human sins—past, present, and future!

You need to have the book: God's Plan for Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and His Holy Days.

What God is doing is completely different from the presentation that the Orthodox Christianity of this world presents.

Verse 11: "Now, every high priest stands ministering day by day, offering the same sacrifices repeatedly, which are never able toremove sins."

Because that's just physical! Christ, as God manifested in the flesh:

• His sacrifice
• His blood
• His perfect obedience

is the One Who does it!

Verse 12: "But He, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time, He is waiting until His enemies are placed as a footstool for His feet…. [that's His second return] …For by one offering He has obtained eternal perfection for those who are sanctified" (vs 12-14). Amazing! That's what God wants with each one of us.

• that's why we keep the Passover
• that's why we keep the Sabbath
• that's why we live every day by the Word of God

Be sanctified means made Holy! That's what God wants! He wants us to be His sons and daughters in the Family of God!

Here is how He does it. God is doing a work inside, not out here in the world, or things in the world, but in our heart, our mind and our thoughts!

Verse 15: "And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us…" That's why:

• baptism, full immersion
• laying on of hands
• receiving the Holy Spirit
• growing in grace, knowledge
• understanding the Word of God
• living by every Word of God

That's all wrapped up in this one verse!

"…for after He had previously said, '"This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days"….'" (vs 15-16). After the days of His ministry!

He made this covenant, the New Covenant, with the foot-washing, the bread and the wine, on the very last day of His physical life. So here's what He wants to do:

"'…after those days,' says the Lord, 'I will give My Laws into their hearts, and I will inscribe them in their minds'" (v 16).

That is the working of the New Covenant right there! So, the pseudo fake pagan Christianity of this world rejects the Laws of God! All the Laws of God have been given graciously to us, and they are all good, and they all lead to blessings when you keep them!

• you cannot come to God and be living in sin
• you cannot come to God and tell God:
• we don't want any of Your Holy Days
• we don't want Your Passover
• we don't want Your Sabbath
• we're going to come to You with our own doctrine, and you better accept it

You think God is going to do that? No way!

"'…I will inscribe them in their minds… [and write them in their hearts]…and their sins and lawlessness I will not remember ever again.' Now, where remission of these is, it is no longer necessary to offer sacrifices… [animal sacrifices] …for sin" (vs 16-18).

That's why we don't do them. Those were all a type. Now let's come here to see about the Passover:

It's very interesting, indeed. I talked to a person who was not acquainted at all with the Holy Days of God, and asked about the Passover; never heard of it for the New Testament.

So here it says and ties right in with the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because once we partake of the Passover, we have the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days, which tells us, as we will see, how we are to grow in grace and knowledge, how we are to live by every Word of God written in our heart and in our mind.

So, Paul says here, concerning the sin that they had there in Corinth:

1-Corinthians 5:7: "Therefore, purge out the old leaven..."

Leaven during the Feast of Unleavened Bread is a type of sin. Outside the bounds of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, leaven is not a sin.

Verse 7: "Therefore, purge out the old leaven, so that you may become a new lump…"—showing that:

• you have to grow
• you have to overcome
• you have to put away sin continually

"…even as you are unleavened. For Christ our Passover…" (v 7).

Everything in the whole Bible comes right down to that last Passover Day that Jesus gave His life as the sin offering for the whole world!

"…For Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. For this reason, let us keep the Feast… [there it is, a command to keep 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" (vs 7-8).

That's the only thing that we can follow and do what is good. So, Jesus was that complete sacrifice for the sin of the world.

This is why we have these. This is why we have the whole Bible and everything in it and every word is needed, every word is necessary, and it needs to be rightly translated. That's why we have The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version.

Now if you don't have the comparative that Joseph Ackermann did—26 New Testament Comparisons—showing that of the New Testament translations, 26 of them, they are missing 3,000 words and taking away vital things out of the Word of God!

What does it say concerning leaven? A little leaven leavens the whole lump!

Luke 22:20—this was after the foot-washing and after the bread: "In like manner also, He took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the New Covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you'"—starting with the apostles.

So it is the blood of the New Covenant. That's what it pictures. This is something so that every year when we take the Passover, we renew the New Covenant and we have direct access to God, direct access to these things in the way that is necessary, and this is for the remission of sins.

There is no forgiveness of sin without the shed blood of Jesus Christ, and there is no continuing relationship with God unless you keep the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

You keep the Passover; Mark 14:23: "And He took the cup; and after giving thanks, He gave it to them; and they all drank of it. And He said to them, 'This is My blood, the blood of the New Covenant, which is poured out for many'" (vs 23-24).

The account in Matthew is much the same thing; Matthew 26:27: "And He took the cup; and after giving thanks, He gave it to them, saying, 'All of you drink of it; for this is My blood, the blood of the New Covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins'" (vs 27-28).

There is no forgiveness of sin without the accepting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The only way you accept it is that you do it with water baptism, complete burial, and you are placed right alongside the sacrifice of Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.

You symbolically die in that watery grave, and you come out of there—not born again—to start a new life by living God's way to be renewed in your mind.

Col. 1—we are going to see about the sacrifice of Christ for the remission of sin. We are going to see that the Lord is going to about the sacrifice of Christ and what a tremendous thing that is. And that also:

• His birth
• His death
• His resurrection
• His shed blood
• everything that is there

That is an amazing thing!

Now, I don't know how long you've been in the Church, but as far as being in the ministry and studying the Word of God, since I was 27, so I am into it about 63 years or more.

Now, this is what the Holy Spirit does for us. Once we are baptized, receive the Holy Spirit—come out of the water, receive the laying on of hands, receive the begettal of the Holy Spirit—then in what Paul writes here summarizes that whole operation together.

Colossians 1:9: "For this cause we also, from the day that we heard of it, do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will…"

• What is the knowledge of his will? His Word!
• Where is it written? In our heart and inscribed in our mind!

"…in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" (v 9)—which only comes from:

• God
• His Word
• His Spirit

Verse 10: "That you may walk worthily of the Lord…" That's also picturing foot washing! That you walk in the way of the Lord! So, you see everything about the Passover fits all together.

• washing of the feet: you walk into Word of God
• eating the bread: shows that you live by every Word of God; that Christ's flesh alone will forgive your sins with His shed blood

Verse 11: "Being strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, unto all endurance and long-suffering with joy…. that's what we are to do] …Giving thanks to the Father, Who has made us qualified for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the Light" (vs 11-12).

That's the whole thing. The Passover starts the whole Plan of God; the Passover is the beginning. Notice what it does, what the Father does with His calling. This is really tremendous. Why was it one day that all of a sudden something happened?

That's God dealing with you personally, spiritually. Because there are seven spirits that go to and fro on the earth seeking those who were seeking God. It was one day when you sought God. He answered your prayer.

Verse 13: "Who has personally rescued us from the power of darkness…"—from Satan the devil; think of that!

God has rescued you from your sins, forgiven your sins, blotted out everything that you have done sinfully in your life from the time that you were born until now, and will continue as long as you're faithful until you die unto faith!

"…has transferred us unto the Kingdom of the Son of His love" (v 13).

That means that you are transferred under the jurisdiction of God the Father and Jesus Christ. Now that's amazing to understand!

We know that in Eph. 2, we have direct access to God with prayer. That's what it's all about! That's why there doesn't need to be a temple. That's why there doesn't need to be the sacrifices. We have a living faith, a believing faith and written in our heart and our mind, and we follow God!

Verse 14: "In Whom we have redemption through His own blood, even the remission of sins."

We have that ability every day, because the whole thing of overcoming and growing in grace and knowledge is overcoming the law of sin and death within us, as we have covered in Rom. 7, and that can only be done with the Spirit of God.

Talking about Christ; v 15: "Who is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation."

Now let me explain this to you, because He was the only One Who was ever begotten directly by God the Father, not a physical man. No other human being came into existence that way. That's why He's the Firstborn of all creation, and all creation refers to the developing of the Family of God and the whole purpose of the creation. Everything centers around that.

Verse 16: "Because by Him were all things created, the things in heaven and the things on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether they be thrones, or lordships, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him"—like we have been studying, God is all things to everything!

Verse 17: "And He is before all, and by Him all things subsist."

• by His Word
• by the Word of His power He upholds all things (Heb. 1).

That's an amazing thing to understand!

(break@43:44)

Now let's continue on this Sabbath before Passover. We're in Col. 1:18; it talks about the Church. Listen carefully: No man is the head of the Church. God never gave any authority to the Roman Catholic Church to have a pope, and Peter never went to Rome!

We have nine half-hour segments on Church at Home {churchathome.org}Was Peter Ever in Rome? Paul would not have gone there if Peter had gone there, and they knew nothing about Christianity at all by the time he got there in 60A.D. The only One Who is 'Holy Father' is God the Father Himself; no man on earth dressed up in women's clothes!

Verse 18: "And He is the Head of the Body, the Church; Who is the Beginning, the Firstborn from among the dead…"

So, He was the premier birth physically because God was His Father, and He was the Firstborn among the dead after being in the grave three days and three nights.

"…so that in all things… [God is all things to everything] …He Himself might hold the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell; and having made peace through the blood of His cross… [that's what it's all about, His shed blood] …by Him to reconcile all things to Himself; by Him, whether the things on the earth, or the things in heaven. For you were once alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works; but now He has reconciled you in the body of His flesh through death, to present you Holy and unblamable and unimpeachable before Him" (vs 18-22).

This is what God wants. That's what the whole thing concerning the Passover is about, and that's what the whole thing of Unleavened Bread—the Feast for seven days—is concerning.

"…unimpeachable before Him" (v 22). That's why we're to repent every day, because of the sins that come along automatically just living:

• in our thoughts
• what we see
• what we hear

and in many cases

• what we do
• what we say

All of that has to be forgiven daily as they occur, and the only way that's possible is if you have the Holy Spirit of God in direct connection to God the Father and Jesus Christ directly!

• you don't have to go through a priest
• you don't have to go through another man

Christ!

Verse 23: "If indeed you continue in the faith grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the Gospel, which you have heard, and which was proclaimed in all the creation…"

Now that was a fact at that time where they were, not to the whole world, but this becomes a prophecy for the whole world, and that's what's being taken care of today,

"…in all the creation that is under heaven; of which I, Paul, became a servant" (v 23).

Verse 26: "Even the mystery that has been hidden from ages and from generations, but has now been revealed to His saints; to whom God did will to make known…" (vs 26-27). Think about that for a minute!

• What do we know? We know that God has willed for us to make known!
• How do we get that? By prayer, by study, by living God's way.

That's what the whole thing of the Passover and Unleavened Bread are all about!

"…God did will to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (v 27).

That's the whole process. That is an amazing thing! For all the years in:

• studying the Word of God
• serving God
• preaching
• teaching
• writing

I realize that even though we have all of the things that we have: What do we really know?

• compared to what God is going to give us?
• compared to understanding the whole Plan of God?
• to realize what Christ went through with
• the beating?
• the scourging?
• the shedding of His blood?
• the rejection of Him by all of those who should have known better?

As we have seen with the prophecies of Jesus! An amazing thing!

Verse 27: "God did will to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." We have faith, hope, and love, and all three of those work together!

Verse 28: "Whom we preach, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, so that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." Isn't that what Jesus said?:

Matthew 5:48 "Therefore, you shall be perfect, even as your Father Who is in heaven is perfect."

John says that when we're resurrected we'll see Him [Jesus] as He is. That is an amazing thing!

Let's see how God did this. He came willingly, going clear back to the son of Adam and Eve, covering all human beings down through history, each in their own order as we know the Plan of God. And then the New Heavens and the New Earth. Amazing! Amazing! Here's what Paul writes about this:

1-Timothy 3:16. "And undeniably, great is the mystery of Godliness…"—how God:

• became a human being
• lived his life
• taught the apostles
• preached as a witness
• was crucified
• beaten and scourged and died

to save all that would repent! And then after three days and three nights in the grave, He was resurrected. The mystery of Godliness!

"…God was manifested in the flesh… [He came as a great Witness, as all the prophecies show] …was justified in the Spirit…" (v 16)—meaning that:

• He lived perfectly
• He never sinned

and spiritually speaking

• He became the justification for the forgiveness of all sin

"…was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the Gentiles… [and still is] …was believed on in the world, was received up in glory" (v 16)—now at the right hand of God!

So here we are; let's see what God wants us to do. How we are to live the way that God wants it done.

This is quite a thing, because what God has given to us that we have: faith, hope and love!

• He's given us promises
• He's given us His Spirit
• He's given us His Word
• He's given us His love
• He's given us His forgiveness
• He is dwelling in us through the power of the Holy Spirit

• What does He want us to do?
• What is the value of having the Word of God if it's not written in our heart and in our mind and is the motivation of what we need to do?

So, Peter writes of this! Let's see what it is we are to do. This overlaps going into the Feast of Unleavened Bread:

• we're to put out sin; we're to put in the Truth of God
• we're to put out bad attitudes; we're to put in the love of God

we're to develop:

• the character of God
• the character of Christ

in our conduct in preparing for the resurrection!

2-Peter 1:3: "According as His Divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and Godliness, through the knowledge of Him [Christ] Who called us by His own glory and virtue."

Think about your calling. It's not a matter of joining a church:

• let's find a nice church that it's in the community
• I like the pastor
• the people are so friendly

• Do they love God?
• Do they keep His Commandment?
• Do they understand what God is doing?
• What's the object of having a church if you don't know what God is doing?
• What is the object of doing it if you don't love Him and obey Him?

Verse 4: "Through which He has given to us the greatest and most precious promises…"

What God has promised, He will give! We need to understand that.

"…that through these you may become partakers of the Divine nature…" (v 4).

Now think about this: We have human nature, which is the law of sin and death! We automatically do the things that are deceitful and wrong, and we live by the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satan is the 'god of this world' and God has called us out of it!

"…that through these you may become partakers of the Divine nature…"

Isn't that amazing? Think about that! That we can develop that with God's Spirit:

• in our heart
• in our mind
• in our actions
• in our lives

"…partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

• we overcome the lust
• we overcome the sin
• we yield ourselves to God

Verse 5: "And for this very reason also, having applied all diligence besides…

Now applying all diligence means you need to do it all of the time! You can read of the seven churches in Rev 2 & 3 and see the problems that they had when they didn't give all diligence.

"…add to your faith, virtue…" (v 5).You believe in God? Virtue is:

• How do you live?
• How do you think?

"…and to virtue, knowledge" (v 5):

• the knowledge of the Word of God
• the knowledge of what He's doing
• the knowledge of understanding
• the knowledge of how God is all things to everything

That way we have a concept of God that is absolutely marvelous.

Verse 6: "And to knowledge, self-control…." That's what God wants:

As we're led by the Holy Spirit of God, we do the repenting of our sins ourselves. We come to God, each of us individually, for forgiveness.

That self-control comes by having the Laws and Commandments of God written in our heart and in our mind. that can only come after the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and His shed blood has been applied to us.

We are continuously under the blessing of God and have access to God through the sacrifice of Christ and His shed blood on a daily, everyday basis.

"…and to self-control, endurance…" (v 6)

We know with our experience in the Church, and many of us have been in the Church for decades and decades and decades!  Endurance! You have to be faithful to the end. 'The one who endures to the end shall be saved!'

"…and to endurance, Godliness" (v 6).

• the kind of thinking
• kind of behaving
• the kind of love and service and things that we are able to give to others
  • by loving God
  • by loving the brethren
  • by loving each other

Verse 7: "And to Godliness, brotherly love, and to brotherly love, the love of God." The very love of God dwelling in us!

That's what the sacrifice of Christ opens the door to so that we can receive; can't receive it any other way! You can't have it without keeping:

• the Sabbath
• the Passover
• the commandments of God

and loving God with all your heart, mind, soul and being!

It'll just never happen. Now notice what Peter says.

Verse 8: "For if these things exist and abound in you…" That's what it's all about! That's why we keep every year:

• the Passover
• the Feast of Unleavened Bread
• the Feast of Pentecost
• the Feast of Trumpets
• Day of Atonement
• Feast of Tabernacles

"…they will cause you to be neither lacking effort nor lacking fruit in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (v 8). That is producing these things on a continuous basis!

Now you look at a tree, you look at a plant that produces fruit. Every year it produces more. I've told you about my two lemon trees out in front of our front porch. Every year it's been producing lemons and all of those lemons, I use them every day and I have for years and years and years. As long as it's taken care of, as long as those two trees have the proper nourishment and have water, they grow. They produce fruit every year.

Same way with us. Every year we have to come back and renew and reinvigorate our lives:

• through the Passover
• through understanding the New Covenant
• through committing ourselves to God even more

so that we bring forth the fruit! He says you won't be lacking anything (v 8).

Verse 9: "But the one in whom these things are not present is spiritually blind…"

Heb. 4—Let's once again look at the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, because it is all of what He has done, and that's amazing. It's really an amazing thing. The longer that I read and study the Bible and do the teaching and preaching that I do, the more I realize how much more there is out there for us to learn!

It's amazing that God is going to give us eternal life so we can learn to do it. This has to do with keeping the Sabbath. That's one of the great keys, as we know. Let's see:

• how the Word of God is going to help us
• how the Word of God is going to convict us
• how the Word of God is going to lead us
• what we're going to do

Hebrews 4:11: "We should be diligent… [notice how many times it tells us to be diligent] …therefore, to enter into that rest… [the rest of God, which is the Sabbath] … lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience"—as the children of Israel did!

So, this tells us everything is keyed to the power of God, the sacrifice of Christ, the Sabbath, and the Holy Days right here.

Verse 12: "For the Word of God is living and powerful…"

There is no other book in the world that you can open up and read that will convict you in your heart and mind, unless it's quoting some of the Scriptures,

• so that you can come to a knowledge of God
• so that you can do the things that you need to do

That's amazing!

"…living and powerful…" but also there's no compromise!

• that's why there's mercy and forgiveness.
• that's why there's repentance and coming to God to overcome
• that's what we're going to be doing in our lives

We have this re-emphasized with the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread every year.

"…living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of both soul and spirit, and of both the joints and the marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart" (v 12). Amazing!

• How many times have you read the Word of God and been convicted? You go repent, because you see that you have sinned against God!
• How many times have you read the Word of God:
• where you're inspired?
• where you're uplifted?
• where you know that God is there leading you with His Spirit?

All of that, think of that down into your very being, because they know that all of these things affect your whole physical body, beginning with:

• your mind
• your thoughts
• the way that you live
• your attitude
• your outlook

That's why there is faith, hope, and love, because those things give us life and those things give us understanding along with the Word of God! That's what it's talking about here.

Verse 13: "And there is not a created thing that is not manifest in His sight…"

God knows everything! Like we've been covering, God is all things to everything!

"…but all things are naked and laid bare before the eyes of Him to Whom we must give account" (v 13). We give that every day!

• that's why we pray
• that's why we study
• that's why we live by every Word of God
  • for our blessing
  • for eternal life
  • for what God wants to give us
• to enter into the Kingdom of God
• to be a part of the Family of God
• to be part of the Bride of Christ

So that when the marriage supper of the Lamb takes place and the wedding of the Lamb takes place on the Sea of Glass, we'll all be there and be a part of it! That's an amazing thing!

Verse 14: "Having, therefore, a great High Priest… [Jesus Christ] …Who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, we should hold fast the confession of our faith. For we do not have a High Priest Who cannot empathize with our weaknesses…" (vs 14-15). God knows!

That's why he came to be in the flesh, so that He could be tempted:

• tempted directly by Satan the devil
• tempted by the law of sin and death in Him

but never sinning!

"…but One Who was tempted in all things according to the likeness of our own temptations; yet, He was without sin" (v 15).

Amazing! God has done that to save all that will repent! The whole Plan of God, which the world doesn't know, they ridicule it; they have no idea what it is.

Verse 16: "Therefore, we should come with boldness to the Throne of Grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Now, that's why it's written in 1-John, and this is what we have here. This is what God wants to give us! When we can come to God:

• we know that we can have our sins forgiven
• we know that we have contact with God
• we know that we have the Spirit of God

Whenever we do the things that we shouldn't do, the sins that we ought not do, then God's Spirit will convict us. That's why He's given His Spirit. That's why we exercise the Spirit of God with newness of life. (We'll talk about that during Unleavened Bread.)

Now let's see about sin, and what He wants here, because these you can read this over and over again, and every time you read it, you come up with a greater feeling of understanding and a closeness to God and an understanding of how He deals with us in overcoming our sins.

1-John 1:1: "That which was from the beginning… [goes right back to where we started and goes forward to the end] …that which we have heard…"

All the apostles heard it, heard Jesus speak, saw Him do the healing, saw Him do those absolute miracles.

"…that which we have seen with our own eyes, that which we observed for ourselves and our own hands handled, concerning the Word of Life" (v 1)—Christ! The Word of Life! 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life'

Verse 2: "And the life was manifested, and we have seen, and are bearing witness, and are reporting to you the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested to us"—and they didn't understand it at first!

But through everything that He did, they began to understand that He was the Son of God!

John was one of the three—Peter, James, the brother of John, and John went up to the Mount of Transfiguration and saw Jesus in vision transformed into what He looks like as God. God gave that to them so they would have the conviction of heart and mind and would never, ever, ever leave their thoughts!

Verse 3: "That which we have seen and have heard we are reporting to you in order that you also may have fellowship with us; for the fellowship—indeed, our fellowship—is with the Father and with His own Son Jesus Christ." That's what God wants!

• that's why we pray
• that's why we study
• that's why it's so important

especially in these times

• while we have enough peace
• while we have the time when we can assemble together
• when we can watch these things over live television or watch them with DVDs

Verse 4: "These things we are also writing to you, so that your joy may be completely full."

It was written down to share with us down through time so that we can have the same joy that they had when they saw Him personally.

Verse 5: "And this is the message that we have heard from Him and are declaring to you: that God is Light, and there is no darkness at all in Him…. [NO!] …If we proclaim that we have fellowship with Him, but we are walking in the darkness…" (vs 5-6).

That's the way the world is. They proclaim they know Christ but they're walking in darkness, because they

• keep Sunday
• keep Halloween
• keep Christmas
• keep Easter
• keep New Year's

IF they're walking in darkness and proclaiming that, look at what it is:

"…we are lying to ourselves…" (v 6).

That's the worst lie, that you convince yourself of your own deceitful, satanic lie, and think you're right.

"…and we are not practicing the Truth" (v 6). What is the Truth?

• Your Word is the Truth
• Your Law is the Truth
• all Your statutes are true
• every Word of God is pure
• the Law of God is perfect

Verse 7: "However, if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His own Son, cleanses us from all sin."

That's why the model prayer is, 'forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.'

Verse 8: "If we say that we do not have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the Truth is not in us." You can see that on Daystar and TBN, all that!

Verse 9: "If we confess our own sins… [you know them, we all know them, and you can confess them directly to God because He knows our mind and our heart] …He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Why? Because He wants us in His Kingdom, because He wants us in His Family. Christ wants us to help rule the world during the Millennium:

• to bring peace on earth
• to bring the most glorious time that ever is

Verse 10: "If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us." That's something!

1-John 2:1: "My little children, I'm writing these things to you …."

IF you have it written in your heart, written in your mind, inscribed in it, and:

• you think on it
• you live by it
• you apply it
• you are diligent in doing it

"…And yet, if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father; Jesus Christ the Righteous" (v 1).

That's why only His sacrifice can forgive our sins!

Verse 2: "And He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world." Why is Jesus Christ:

• the only One Who can be a Savior?
• the only One Whose sacrifice can forgive our sins?
• the only One Who humbled Himself more than any other human being?

To divest Himself of His glory as God, to become a pinpoint of life and be born as a physical human being? God manifested in the flesh!

Here are seven reasons why He alone can be that sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin and only His blood and His stripes:

• He was the Creator or is the Creator of all human beings

At the very instant when you were conceived, you received the spirit of man to become a human being.

• He was the only One Who was Divinely begotten by God the Father

No other human being (Col. 1).

• He was God manifested in the flesh

That's self-evident, we covered that.

• He was the only human to live His entire life according to the will of God

No sin! He was handicapped because He took upon Him the law of sin and death! He became sin for all of us!

• He was the only human never to yield to a single temptation of the flesh or of Satan the devil

Remember what we read: He was tempted in every way like we are, yet without sin!

• He was the only human not to come under the death penalty for sin!
• Only the precious blood of the Lamb of God could atone for all human sin

Nothing else can do it.

The death of God in the flesh was complete and a perfect sacrifice and atonement, because in His life, in the flesh, encompassed the whole scope of human experience. That's amazing!

• He suffered the vilest of human indignation and excruciating torture, enduring the violence of beating, scourging, crucifixion, and the shame of public death
• He was rejected by his own people and suffered injustice at the hands of the religious and civil authorities
• He was a victim of political expedience and religious hypocrisy
• He overcame all, gaining total victory over Satan the devil and the pulls of the flesh through his perfect love and obedience to God

That's why His sacrifice is the one and the only sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin through His life and death is shed blood so that we can be perfected so that we can enter into the Kingdom of God. An amazing thing!

That's what the sacrifice of Christ is all about! So let's go forward with the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread and let's have a great Passover and a great Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Scriptural References:

• Mark 14:12
• Genesis 3:15
• John 1:1-3, 14, 29, 36
• Hebrews 10:1
• Matthew 5:48
• Hebrews 10:4-7, 9-10
• Romans 6:10
• Hebrews 13:10
• Hebrews 10:12, 11-18
• 1-Corinthians 5:7-8
• Luke 22:20
• Mark 14:23-24
• Matthew 26:27-28
• Colossians 1:9-23, 26-28
• Matthew 5:48
• 1-Timothy 3:16
• 2-Peter 1:3-9
• Hebrews 4:11-16
• 1-John 1:1-10
• 1-John 2:1-2

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Genesis 3:13-14
• Colossians 2
• Ephesians 2
• Hebrews 2
• Revelation 2; 3

Also referenced:

• Book (secular: The Law of Offerings by Andrew Jukes
• Book {truthofgof.org}: God's Plan for Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and His Holy Days
• Booklet{truthofgof.org}: 26 New Testament Comparisons by Joseph Ackermann
• Church at Home {churchathome.org}Was Peter Ever in Rome?

FRC:bo/po
Transcribed: 3/9/25

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