Dear Brethren:
We have just observed Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread. We focused on the fact that the annual Passover reminds us of the great Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Because He was willing to shed His blood for the sins of humanity, we can in the future become a part of the Family of God, ruling with and under Christ in the Millennium and throughout eternity.
The Passover was preceded by a period of self-examination to ensure that we were taking the Passover in a worthy manner, as admonished by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:28-29: “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.”
It was and still is important, not only to examine ourselves, but also to root out any sin which we may have, by first identifying it. That is where the Days of Unleavened Bread came in.
We concentrated on the truth that the seven Days of Unleavened Bread are an annual reminder of the need to remove sin from our lives and to replace sin with righteousness. The seven days denote completion, so at the end of the seven days, sin should have been completely conquered and removed. Of course, this is the ideal, but we all know that this is not how it works. As some of us may have found leaven in our homes during the Days of Unleavened Bread, which we inadvertently failed to remove, so we are still confronted with sin. No human being, who is alive today, has reached the state of sinlessness.
However, we must strive to remove each and every sin. The importance of this cannot be overemphasized, since sins, even in small quantities, corrupt the thinking of a person—just like a little leaven which leavens the whole lump, as we read in 1 Corinthians 5:6: “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?”
Likewise, a little sin that is not dealt with and removed, can corrupt the whole mind. Compare this to a virus in a computer! If it is not dealt with, it can corrupt the hard drive to the point where it becomes totally dysfunctional.
Let us consider Job. God said that he was righteous; that is, he was not committing any outward sin, but he had a deep-rooted problem of being self-righteous, which, as any sin not being dealt with, can totally corrupt the human mind. It took God a while through some really tough trials to get Job to finally see his problem and to repent for his own benefit. He said in Job 42:5-6: “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”
Once this happened, God restored the losses that Job had suffered, and He rewarded Job. It took a while, but from God’s perspective, it was worth it, which is an important lesson for us.
Sin must be repented of daily in order for it not to get a hold on us. That is why daily prayer is so important, since we can ask for forgiveness for any sins of commission and omission, and we can beg God to help us not to allow sins to sneak up on us and overpower us.
The next annual Holy Day in God’s master plan is the day of Pentecost, which will be kept this year on June 12. It reminds us of the gift of the Holy Spirit which God bestowed on the New Testament church in 31 A.D., enabling the disciples to become more and more successful in their endeavor to overcome and conquer sin.
As we move forward, we must also consider the job that we as a Church and individually have been given. We are to participate and support our commission of preaching and publishing the gospel to this sick world as a witness, in order to facilitate and hopefully speed up the return of Christ, which is the only solution for mankind.
World conditions are deteriorating at an accelerating pace, and it has become evident that God has removed His blessings that He had promised unconditionally to the modern descendants of Abraham—the modern house of Israel, and more specifically, the descendants of the sons of Joseph—Ephraim and Manasseh—who can be found today in Great Britain, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and, of course, the United States of America.
Recently we observed flooding in Australia and earthquakes in New Zealand, and currently we are plagued with droughts in certain areas of the United States, while fires are burning out of control in Texas, and storms and tornadoes are descending by the hundreds on states like the Carolinas, which is historically unheard of.
And while our nations condemn the killing and slaughter of protestors and demonstrators by the governments of Libya and Syria, we ourselves murder millions annually by abortion. What hypocrisy! Those nations in the Middle East are killing hundreds of people, and our Israelite nations kill millions of innocent babies each year, while pointing the finger at others.
Things are going to get progressively worse for our nations as we approach the time when God will have to literally save the very elect to prevent them from being exterminated. Plainly stated, things will get worse for us as we are currently under the self-inflicted curse of our sins.
But those of us who are called by God, know that there is hope, and that hope lies in Christ who will return to save mankind from itself.
Therefore, our focus at this time should be on finishing the Work that God has given us, as God opens doors before us to accomplish that goal. Now is not the time to slack off or to be or become complacent. Rather, now is the time to zealously seek God and do His Will which is clearly stated, and to ensure that we do not become victims of sin in our lives, but, as admonished by Christ, we are to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Because of our involvement and collective and individual efforts, Christ will eventually give us eternal life at His return. Isn’t that a goal worth striving for and being totally involved in?
In Christ Service
Rene Messier
