Sermon "A Night of Watching" by Rick Shabi, March 27, 2021

i mentioned it's an unusual time for us to be together on the 14th of abed during the the daylight portion of the 14th of aber of course that began last night with passover and we observed passover and typically the 14th of abe is a work day if we look back in israel's time they were preparing to leave egypt during that time there's a lot of things that they had to do on the daylight portion of the 14th of abib they would have destroyed all the leftover passover meal from the night before they would have been packing up their belongings they would have been plundering the egyptians it was a work day much as for us on typically on the 14th of april if we haven't finished 11 in our homes we do that on the daylight portion of the 14th this year it's a sabbath and i don't honestly remember the last time that the holy days fell in this order that we had a friday night passover a sabbath and then the night to be much observed and 48 hours of of holy time to begin the spring holy days but when i look back indeed it did happen in 2008 i just don't remember 13 years back but it's an unusual time that we're in here today the fact that we're all together and tonight we will observe the beginning of the days of unleavened bread and god specifically mentioned the beginning of the days of unleavened bread in his in his command to egypt or to israel he called it a night to be much observed the only holy day the only holy day that he specifically references the evening as it begins and he tells israel and all generations remember this day keep it holy keep it holy and and remember what happened on this day if you will turn with me back to john 13. as we look at the beginning of the days of unleavened bread tonight and as we'll be together here or in the various homes that we'll be in we'll be keeping this night to be much observed what do we really know about it why did god instruct us to to observe this night as he did in exodus 12 42. what was really the purpose of it was it just the pure celebration for coming out of egypt did he have a purpose in mind and something that we should be thinking of as we get together tonight and as we converse together and we're all together even though we may be in separate places all together in spirit as we open the days of unleavened bread and observe this night to be much observed last night we read christ's words in john 13. and i want to start there today and just keep that in mind as he introduced the new covenant passover ordinances he told his disciples in verse 7 what i'm doing now you do not understand but you will know after this and there are times when god has us do things and we follow what god says and we may not fully understand all the reasons for the things that we do but he was telling the disciples that night i'm going to introduce some new things to you they're going to wash each other's feet and that has that meat deep meaning you're going to be taking a bread you're going to be taking of wine and that has deep meaning you may not understand what you're doing now but do it and later you will understand and as we go through life and as we observe god's ways he does help us to understand exactly what it is he has built into his plan and these holy times that we keep we learn more and more each year about what god had intended so today i want to talk about passover and the night to be much observed specifically and explore why do we do what we do what did god mean when he said keep this date keep this evening and much much observe it let's go back and let's establish that there were the two nights we kept passover last night i think all of us here in this room and listening on understand passover evening is different than the 15th of abia which is this evening and the night to be much observed but let's go back to exodus 12 as we begin today and as god is instructing israel back then about the passover and then the beginning of the days of unleavened bread he has very specific commands that he gives them and in those commands and into remembrances that he tells us to keep as we keep these days we can learn a little bit about what we are doing and why in exodus 2 and verse 11 he's talking about the ordinance of the passover says and thus you shall eat it speaking of the passover meal that they would have of the lamb the bitter herbs and the unleavened bread and thus you shall eat it with a belt on your waist your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand you shall eat it in haste it is the lord's passover for i will pass through the land of egypt on that night and i will strike all the firstborn in the land of egypt both man and beast and against all the gods of egypt i will execute judgment i am the lord and he speaks about the blood the blood will be a sign for you in the houses where you are and when i see the blood i will pass over you and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when i strike the land of egypt so this day this passover day shall be to you a memorial and you shall keep it as a feast to the eternal throughout your generations keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance well that's passover that's what we did last night and we understand how passover in the old testament jesus christ fulfilled and we keep it the way jesus christ instructed us to on passover evenings now we go same chapter up to to verse 26 of exodus 12. god teaches his people how do you teach your children about this day verse 26 it shall be when your children say to you what do you mean by this service and it is our job as parents to make sure our children understand what we do and why we do it and that it's god's commands when your children say to you what do you mean by this service that you will say it's the passover sacrifice of the lord who passed over the houses of the children of israel in egypt when he struck the egyptians and delivered our households so the people bowed their heads and worshipped so when you your children ask why do we keep this passover they need to know it's a separate a separate time than the days of unleavened bread separately listed in leviticus 23 the 14th you'll keep the passover on the 15th is the beginning of the days of unleavened bread now within the same chapter as god is instructing the israelites through moses about passover and then what they're going to be doing the very next morning after passover and the days of unleavened bread in verse 16 he talks about these seven days of unleavened bread in verse 15 right after we read about the ordinance of the passover he says seven days you shall eat unleavened bread on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses of course that's the first daytime that would be the daytime of today leading up to the evening that begins the 15th of abib for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day that person shall be cut off from israel on the first day that begins this evening tomorrow we'll have a holy day service on the first day there shall be a holy convocation and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you no manner of work shall be done on them but that which everyone must eat that only may be prepared by you so you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread and then he says for on this same day i will have brought your armies out of the land of egypt therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance so you keep the passover and then you keep the days of unleavened bread because on this same day i will have brought you out of the slavery and life of death that you had when you were living in egypt now we've spoken we know what it is in new testament times that god brings us out of a life that is destined for nothing but death until he opens our minds and brings us out of the world to open our eyes to the sin that marks our lives and he sets us free from death and promises us eternal life if we follow him so one of the reasons we keep the days of unleavened bread is to remember that on this day and for israel on this very same day i will have brought you out of the land of egypt same chapter verse 42 we read the words that i'm sure we all read before we keep the night to be much observed each year in verse 42 it says it is a night of solemn observance to the eternal for bringing them out of the land of egypt this is that night of the lord a solemn observance for all the children of israel throughout their generations it is the night to be much observed you see where we get the name god is the one who set the name it is a night to be much observed and he repeats it twice the hebrew word translated much observed there is notable it's the hebrew shemar s-h-a-m-a-r and it's only used twice in the entire bible and the entire old testament both times are right there in verse 42. that alone tells us there's something special about this evening that god wants us to recognize and to remember as we observe it shemar it says it's a night of observations is what strong says it's a night watch watching a vigil the only time in the bible i mentioned this word occurs is twice in this verse thayer's lexicon says it means to watch over our guard in the sense of preserving or protecting a night to be much observed did god mean just celebration a really nice meal a time just to kick off the days of unleavened bread in that way or is there deep meaning that he wants us to be thinking of as we gather together tonight and we start the days of unleavened bread let me read you the same verse from some other translations of the bible this is from young's literal translation it's pretty much a word for word translation from the original hebrew it's a little confusing in its wording but that's what happens when you do when you do word to word translations it says it is a night of watchings to jehovah to bring them out from the land of egypt it is this night to jehovah of watchings to all the sons of israel in their generations the new the king james said much ob what does that mean i'm sure they thought a night of watchings god's word translation one of the newer ones out there that went back through the entire bible and translated it with the more enhanced meaning of the greek and hebrew words that we understand today says that night the lord kept watch to take them out of egypt all israelites in the future generations must keep watch on this night since it is dedicated to the lord and the english standard version says it was a night of watching by the eternal to bring them out of the land of egypt so this same night is a night of watching kept to the lord by all the people of israel throughout their generations a night of watching a night of watching what does that mean god what did he want us to be thinking about what did he want us to be remembering as we keep this night to be much observed you know as we think as we think about israel coming out of egypt and on the 14th they had the passover and the evening portion of the 14th and then that next day when they got up it was a momentous and busy day as i mentioned they went through all the things that they had to do pack up leave bake their unleavened cakes be ready to get out of egypt by that night it was a work day and it was a busy day in christ's time as well on that poor daylight portion of the 14th on the evening of the 14th at the same time we gathered together for passover last night christ gathered together with his apostles on that evening later on that evening he was arrested and as you read in matthew when that morning came jesus christ appeared before the sanhedrin and the rest is history it wasn't a day of rest it was a day that there was an awfully lot that was packed into it as the jews did everything they could to convict christ and have him killed before the beginning of the 15th of abib a lot went on on that day later the apostles would think back on the 15th of abib as they were there and their savior was dead he was buried as that day began and they didn't understand on that first night what had happened and why later later they would understand later they would appreciate the night to be much observed and what god had wanted us to learn from this as we think back on the the example of israel coming out of egypt and the example of jesus christ dying and being buried and setting us free from slavery to sin and death that occurred with his death before the fourteenth of abib ended we're here in exodus let's look at exodus 13 and verse 3. the children of israel are moving out of the land of egypt as the 14th of abib ends and the 15th of ava begins and in verse 3 moses said to the people remember this day in which you went out of egypt remember this day in which you went out of egypt out of the house of bondage for by strength of hand the eternal brought you out of this place no leavened bread shall be eaten remember this day don't forget what god has done for you don't forget the passover and don't forget this day that you went out we'll turn with me to deuteronomy 6. in deuteronomy 6 we have another one of those occasions where moses is reminding the children of israel about everything that god has brought them through and he reminds israel to teach their children about everything that we believe and the reason that we do it in deuteronomy 6 of course we know that chapter well he's admonishing teach your children about god make him a part of your everyday life talk about him when you rise up talk about him when you lie down talk about him as you go through your day make him the most important part of your life a part of your family and what you do but here in verse 20 similar words that we read back in exodus 12 when your children ask you about passover in verse 20 moses says when your son asks you in time to come saying what is the meaning of the testimonies the statutes and the judgments which the eternal god has commanded you what do these things mean why do we do these things then you shall say to your son we were slaves of pharaoh in egypt and the lord brought us out of egypt with a mighty hand and he showed signs and wonders before our eyes great and severe against egypt pharaoh and all his household he brought us out from there that he might bring us in to give us the land of which he swore to our fathers this is why we do those things look what god did for us he brought us out of egypt he took a existence going nowhere and gave us life gave us promise gave us hope gave us a purpose gave us meaning to life and because he did that we obey him we follow him verse 24 the eternal commanded us to observe all these statutes to fear the lord our god for our good always that he might preserve us alive as it is this day then it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the lord our god as he has commanded us when your son asks remind him what god has done for us in old testament times remember he brought them out of egypt today we would say god has set us free from a feudal existence an existence going nowhere you can't look at the world and say that's where i'm going to hang my hat we can all see the world headed to nothing but oblivion and certain death and extinction the only hope is with his god the only hope is with him and he has brought you and me out to a rich existence we have purpose we have meaning we have hope he's made us promises just as he did israel and on that 15th of abib he made good on his promises he brought israel out of egypt he delivered them from the hand of the egyptians he took them out of slavery and made them a free people he delivered them from death it was a momentous occasion the most momentous occasion in the old testament of course the parallel for us a new the new covenant time is what christ has done for us we were no different than the israelites slaves to ourselves slaves to our own evil nature slaves to a world that is under the sway of satan going nowhere nothing in our future but death except god looked down and he called you and me and all who are listening and the more besides who are observing his days and obeying him looked down and said i'll deliver you i'll set you free i will give you life and we talked about that a little bit last night we know what the purpose of the passover is but what about this night to be much observed what about this night to be much observed that the very next evening god says you keep this night of watching you keep this night of watching and remember it let's go back to exodus 12 because in that chapter we may find a clue as to how important this time is to god how important it was to the israelites back in old testament times and how important it is to us as we remember and as we observe this night of watchings this night of a vigil again back in exodus 12 and in verse 40. now verse 37 that we we see that the israelites did everything we talked about they were ready to leave they plundered the egyptians verse 37 they left egypt they left egypt the journey from ramses to success about six hundred thousand men on foot besides children somewhere around two million people left egypt if you can imagine a city the size of something like a chicago or orlando complete metropolitan area just all leaving egypt it's kind of amazing when you think of the exodus from egypt how many people were involved down in verse 40 it says the sojourn of the children of israel who lived in egypt was 430 years and it came to pass at the end of the 430 years on that very same day it came to pass that all the armies of the lord went out from the land of egypt on that very same day and then god caps it off and says that's the night this is the night of solemn observance the night to be much observed down in verse 51 after he gives the instructions on the passover verse 51 he repeats that he says and it came to pass on that very same day that 15th of abib as we'll see here in a minute it came to pass on that very same day that the eternal brought the children of israel out of the land of egypt according to their armies on that very same day when god repeats things well when he says things once we should pay attention when he repeats things or something significant about that very same day and the 15th of abib let's go back to psalm 105 or forward to psalm 105. it's a beautiful psalm composed by david of course under the inspiration of god and in it he gives really a beautiful history of israel in egypt he talks about all the plagues he talks about everything the children of israel went through and if i had the time i would read through the entire chapter here the entire 45 verses i won't do that you can look at it later but let's read through some of what david wrote here as he talked about this momentous time in the history of god's people psalm 105 verse 1 oh give thanks to the lord call upon his name make known his deeds among the peoples sing to him sing psalms to him talk of all his wondrous works glory in his holy name let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the lord seek him and his strength seek his face evermore remember one of those words we hear often during this time of unleavened bread remember his marvelous works which he has done his wonders and the judgments of his mouth o seed of abraham his servant you children of jacob his chosen ones israel was his chosen nation in old testament times the people of god you and me and all that god kills from every tribe calls from every time tongue in nation today are his people verse seven he is the lord our god his judgments are in all the earth he remembers his covenant forever the word which he commanded for a thousand generations the covenant which he made with abraham and his oath to isaac and he confirmed it to jacob for a statute to israel as an everlasting covenant saying to you i will give the land of canaan as the allotment of your inheritance there were promises that he made to abraham there were covenants he made with abraham he never forgot them he never forgets his promises they may not happen in the time that we would like to see them happen but he never forgets them he always delivers on his promises we trust in him we know him and we know he watches over us always verse 12 when they were few in number and you remember in exodus one there are only 70 who went into egypt when joseph was there when they were few in number indeed very few and strangers in it when they went from one nation to another from one kingdom to another people he permitted no one to do them wrong he watched over them always it was always when israel departed from god that they suffered but god didn't permit anyone to do them wrong he rebuked kings for their sakes saying do not touch my anointed ones and do my prophets no harm but whatever happened to those was god's will part of his plan he always had a watchful eye on his people he always knew what was going on israel might have thought at times that god forgot them he never forgot everything that went on with israel was part of the plan as god was preparing them to be his people in old covenant times jesus christ on that last passover on that passover as they were headed toward the days of unleavened bread and the 15th of abeb he made his disciples then his disciples you and me today the same promise remember we just read it last night i will not leave you orphans i'm going away now where i'm going you can't come now but i will not leave you orphans i'm going away and i'm preparing a place for you before not so i tell you but when i return my will is that you will be with me also but you have this time to be prepared for the place that god is preparing for us he tells us in hebrews 13 5. he says the same thing in deuteronomy 30 i believe it is i will never leave you and i will never forsake you my eyes are always on you i know what's going on i'm watching what you're doing i will never leave you or forsake you god said the same thing to israel now if you read down verses 16 to 36 there you see in very poetic terms the history of israel as they went as egypt went through the plagues and how god differentiated between them and egypt later on we drop down to verse 37. we come down to what we'll be talking about what we are talking about today god bringing israel out of egypt verse 37. he also brought them out with silver and gold he told them back in chapter 11 it exists before it ever happened you're gonna the egyptians are going to want you to leave you're going to plunder them and they will give you whatever you want just because they want you out of them hebrew also brought them out with silver and gold and notice verse 37 the second verse the second sentence there phrase and there was none feeble among his tribes isn't that amazing two million people of all ages left egypt and there was none feeble among all his tribes is god a healing god yes he is can god give us health absolutely no matter what our condition when he brought israel out there were none feeble among his tribes egypt was glad when they departed for the fear of them had fallen upon them god showed them that he would be with them as they left egypt he spread a cloud for a covering and fire to give light to the night all israel had to do any time of day is look up there was the fire in the night there was the cloud during the day god is always with us he is always watching over us the people asked and he brought quail and he satisfied them with the bread of heaven he opened the rock and water gushed out it ran into dry places like a river things they couldn't even imagine out there in the wilderness that god was able to provide them as he showed them i can provide whatever you need in ways you can't even remember or you can't even imagine for he remembered his holy promise he knew what he had done promised abraham 430 years before he remembered his holy promise and abraham his servant he brought out his people with joy his chosen ones with gladness he gave them the lands of the gentiles and they inherited the labor of the nations why that they might observe his statutes and keep his law praise the lord my people living by my way completely completely committed to me well let's go back to the time of abraham when god made great promises to abraham because the history of israel isn't as they entered into egypt the history of israel begins back with abraham we could read genesis 12 you know what the promises that god made to abraham in genesis 12 but let's go to genesis 15 where god repeats those promises and something unusual happens to abraham where god shows abraham the future and the history of his people genesis 15 let's begin let's begin in verse 1. verse 1 after these things the word of the lord came to abram in a vision saying don't be afraid abram i'm your shield your exceedingly great reward words throughout the bible that god reminds us don't be afraid i'll shield you i'll protect you i know who you are don't be afraid i'm your shield your exceedingly great reward but abram said lord god what will you give me seeing i go childless and the heir of my house is eleazar of damascus and abram said look you've given me no offspring indeed one born in my house is my heir and behold the word of the eternal came to abram saying excuse me came to abram saying this one shall not be your heir but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir and god brought him outside and said look now toward heaven count the stars if you are able to number them and god said to him so shall your descendants be as numerous as the stars of heaven abraham had no heir at that point but abraham verse 6 believed god and god accounted it to him for righteousness abram knew whatever god says how improbable it might be in human reasoning god can do it and if god says he will do it he will do it and god said to him i am the eternal who brought you out of ur of the chaldeans to give you this land to inherit it and he said lord god how shall i know that i will inherit it so god said to him bring me a three-year-old heifer a three-year-old female goat a three-year-old ram a turtle dove and a young pigeon and abraham did as god said he brought all those to him cut them into down the middle and placed each piece opposite the other but he didn't cut the birds in two and then littleton said in verse 11 when the vultures came down on the carcasses abram drove them away something moments momentous was going to happen abram was laying out and god instructed him to lay out a covenant a sign of the covenant that he would make between him and abram and of course the vultures were there satan doesn't want us to believe the promises of god and whatever he can do to interrupt them he will but abraham drove them away verse 12 when the sun was going down a deep sleep fell upon abram and behold horror and great darkness fell upon him horror in great darkness as the sun was going down and he goes to sleep let's keep our fingers there in genesis genesis 15 go over to matthew 27. on this day by 3 p.m on the 14th of abem jesus christ died the sun was close to going down and if you remember joseph of arimathea had to go to pilate and ask for his body that it could be laid in the tomb because it needed he needed to be buried if you will before the 15th of abe of the holy day began but as that time drew close in matthew 27 let me get to matthew 27 and verse 45 we see as christ is about to die and as he is hanging on that crucifix in verse 45 there was darkness on the land verse 45 from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land a horrible thing was about to happen beside the messiah the savior was going to be put to death by man from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land and about the ninth hour jesus cried out with a loud voice saying eli eli lama sabachthani that is my god my god why have you forsaken me some of those who stood there when they heard it said he's calling for elijah they phil gave him a sponge he refused it in verse 50 jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his temple or his his spirit then behold the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom and the earth quaked and the rocks were split and the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of the graves after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many it was so momentous what went on there was so earth-shattering to the people who witnessed it who hadn't hardened their hearts to what was going on that when the centurion those with him who were guarding jesus saw the earthquake and the things that had happened they feared greatly saying truly this was the son of god as the sun was going down as it was about to set jesus christ in darkness died back in genesis 15 as god puts abraham or abram into a deep sleep as the sun was going down behold horror and great darkness fell upon him was god showing him what would happen at the time that jesus christ would die that he would see one of his descendants going through the horrible death that he did see the darkness that was there and the momentous things that would happen verse 13 of genesis 15 god said to abram know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs and they will serve them and they will afflict them 400 years here he made abraham a promise you will have a son your descendants will be as numerous as the stars of heaven and abram believed him and it happened exactly as god said because as they left egypt 70 going in but a few hundred years later two point something million going out of egypt that's quite that's quite a bit of blessing and fertility for a small group of people in just a few hundred years but god shows him this is what their lot will be it's going to be a trying time for them know that they will be strangers in a strange land know that they will be servants to them know that they will be afflicted for 400 years verse 14 in the nation whom they serve i will judge afterward they shall come out with great possessions but it's going to be 400 some years later and exactly what god promised to abram back on that day as the sun was going down and went into evening happened exactly as god said that people abram's descendants would leave egypt they would go out from egypt with great possessions on that very same day we will see also the nation whom they serve i will judge afterward they shall go out with great possessions as for you abram you shall go to your fathers in peace you shall be buried at a good old age but in the fourth generation they will return here now when we say the word generation in the bible it can mean any number of years today we might say a generation is 30 40 years back in biblical times people lived to be 100 i think joseph was 110 abram was 135 a generation was more like a hundred years at that time so god is saying 400 years your people that will be in captivity that will be afflicted i will bring them back in the fourth generation 400 years later 430 years that he talks about in exodus 12 is in that fourth generation that god talks about in the fourth generation they will shall return here for the iniquity of the amorites is not yet complete god was going to give them that land but the iniquity of the amorites for god would judge them and give the land to israel not complete yet but it would be it would be by the time god brought them back and it came to pass when the sun went down and it was dark that behold there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces it was a sign of the covenant that god was making between abraham and him this is the promise i make you this is what will happen it is as sure as there is god on the same day the lord made a covenant with abram saying to your descendants i have given you this i've given this land from the ridge of the from the river of egypt to the great river the river euphrates the canaanites kennezides cadminites hittites perizzites rephiam amorites canaanites gergescites the jebusites i will give them this land on this very same day they will receive this promise on the very same day god tells us in exodus 12 430 years later he brought israel out of egypt he freed them from slavery and he would give them the promises that he made to them way back whenever at the time of abram israel may have thought and god forgot them they may have thought and well that was abram and that was promises god made to him but god never lost sight of israel his eyes were always on them he knew exactly what the plan for them was he told abram this is what will happen to them they will be slaves they will be afflicted i will bring them out with great possessions i will give them this land in god's time 430 years later on the 15th of abib god brought them out and he delivered that promise when god says it's a day it's a day to be much observed a day for you as a night of watching and if we put ourselves in israel's place as they are have left egypt as they've gone out by night as it tells us in deuteron in fact let's turn to deuteronomy 16. you can write down numbers 33. you can write down numbers 33 where god says it was on the 15th of abe that israel left egypt in deuteronomy 16 a verse we'll be looking at tomorrow as we talk about offerings that god commands but let's look at the first few verses here of deuteronomy 16. he says observe the month of of course we're here this is now right now the 14th of april when the sun says tonight is the 15th of abib observe the month of abib and keep the passover to the lord your god for in the month of abib the lord your god brought you out of egypt by night on that 15th and as israel left egypt at the end of the 14th as on the 15th therefore you shall sacrifice the passover to lord your god in the place where he chooses and you shall eat no leavened bread with it seven days you shall eat unleavened bread that is the bread of affliction for you came out of the land of egypt and haste that you may remember the day in which you came out of the land of egypt and then he goes on and repeats the no leavening command that we will be observing here for the next seven days so on that night as israel left egypt and they thought back over what god had done all the plagues that god had brought on egypt how the first few plagues reflected affected them just like it did the egyptians but later on god made a difference between the israelites and the egyptians what happened to the egyptians didn't happen to the israelites they saw the hand of god they saw his protection and we can read verses in the bible that let us know that god watches over us that what happens to the world around us may not happen to us if we have faith in him if we believe in him if we understand that we are his chosen people if we remember to keep his commandments do his statutes live the life that he has called us to live in remembrance of the things that he has done for us but as israel sat there and as they camped at second on the 15th with these they ended their exodus you look at the atlases it says the journey from ramses the second was only about 15 miles but there were 2 million people 2 million people with all their flocks and herds that were leaving at that time we can't even envision that exodus but they did it what were they doing that night on the 15th why did god say remember this night it is a night of watching a night of vigil to you do we read about the israelites having wild celebrations talking about the food food is not even in the issue with them they ate their unleavened cakes we don't read about wild celebrations we read about that later after god completely ended pharaoh's reign by having the armies of egypt the egyptians drown in the red sea you don't read that on the night to be observed as israel sat there that night i imagine they sat and they realized everything that god promised he delivered god was always watching over us we may have forgotten that everything he promised he has done in ways that we couldn't even imagine as we observe the night to be much observed maybe we should be thinking about what god has done for us the promises that he's made us the watching over us that he does every single minute of every single day how many times have we talked in the last few weeks about how much jesus christ loves us how much god the father loves his people as much as he loves jesus christ he loves us he is keenly interested in what is going on in your and my lives he's keenly interested in us living a life of repentance and commitment to him he's keenly interested in getting us ready for the kingdom if we would just yield ourselves and remember that he is there that he is watching over us that he will lead us it might not be in exactly the way that we expect or we want but it will be in his way and he will bring us out he will bring us to the promises that he has made it is sure as sure as you and i are sitting here but we have to have the faith we have to remember we have to know and believe in god and do what he said and as we remember this day be committed to him with all our hearts and minds to remember as we read in exodus 13 8 as we eat the unleavened bread why do we eat it god said that the law of god may be in your mouth that it may be part of you just like we ate the flesh of god of jesus christ last night that it may be part of you eat that daily make him part of you how many times did we read last night when when jesus christ said if you love me keep my commandments three or four times in genesis or john 14 alone he said that and he said if you keep my commandments if you abide in me and i in you i'll make my home with you isn't that what we want it's up to us it's up to us what we do know jesus christ just well just like israel it wasn't a bed of roses just because they were god's chosen people they endured some really really trying times in egypt trying times that you and i have not experienced at all and jesus christ didn't promise us that it's going to be a bed of roses between now and the time of his return either if we go back to john 16 john 16 and verse 32 after he reminds them i'm coming back i'm coming back john 14 i've made you promises and i will come again in john 16 verse 32 he says indeed the hour is coming the last words he said before he moved into the prayer that we read in john 17 indeed the hour is coming yes has now come that you will be scattered each to his own and you will leave me alone something's going to happen that's going to scatter you it'll get your attention i'm telling you it's going to happen they didn't get it until later as he said and yet i'm not alone because the father is with me these things i've spoken to you that in me you may have peace in the world where god's will is that we are today in the world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer i've overcome the world and god promises i will give you the spirit so that you too as you follow me can overcome the world only with his spirit you too can overcome self and your own nature you too can overcome and be there when jesus christ returns if we believe if we remember the things the many things that god continues to tell us many things that god continues to tell us to remember about him one of them is the night to be much observed remember i'm watching over you remember the vigil that i have for you you too watch have a solemn observance think about it think about what god has done and what a tremendous awesome and fearful in the right sense of the word privilege it is to be part of god's people and to know what he's doing isaiah isaiah 43 he read this on the bible study the other day bears reading again what happened to the disciples and what they went through on the 14th of abib and on the 15th of abib as they contemplated what had gone on they didn't understand then they understood later what god was saying god always brings us to the understanding of what he wants us to do and what we should learn out of the holy times that we keep one of those is to have faith in him to know that he is always there isaiah 43 and verse 1 but now thus says the lord who created you o jacob who formed you o israel fear not for i have redeemed you i have called you by your name you are mine when you pass through the waters i'll be with you and through the rivers they will not overflow you when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned nor shall the flame scorch you for i am the lord your god the holy one of israel your savior i gave egypt for your ransom ethiopian siba in your place since you them in the old testament you and i today you are precious in my sight you have been honored and i have loved you god loves us he watches over us and if we as we enter into the days of unleavened bread and the night this evening let's remember what god has done for us let's be eternally grateful for him watching over us and keeping vigil over us now let's all commit with our hearts minds and soul to honor him the way he said let's obey him and yield ourselves to him completely and holy

Channel: United Church of God Orlando

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Length: 52min 21sec (3141 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 27 2021