Removing All Sin From the House*

As Passover approaches, it is the custom in Jewish households to carefully search for and remove all leaven from the house. The apostle Paul pointed out the connection between this Passover custom and our faith, between leaven and sin, as we will read. During this season in which Passover and Resurrection Sunday converge, each of us in the church should be examining our own lives for spiritual "leaven", and removing it: "Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern. And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them. This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof roundabout shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house." (Ezek. 43:10-12). The prophet Isaiah also wrote about the house of God, that in the last days, "the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow into it". The place of the house of God is established in the highest place. Jesus said that our light is not to be hidden under a bushel, but placed upon a lampstand and lifted up high, that all people may be drawn to it. Early in church history, the fathers of the church made the decision to separate the church from its Jewish foundation, which was a foundation that the LORD laid, not man. Ethnic and racial hatred had much to do with this decision, and as a result, the church is now put into the position of trying to re-establish truths that were lost, and dealing with falsehoods that replaced those truths. In Ezekiel's prophecy, the house of God must be shown the sins and iniquities within it, and conform themselves to the pattern of the house of God. In Romans, Paul wrote: "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his (God's) sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (meaning the blood of sprinkling for the remission of sins) through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forebearance of God..." (Rom. 3:20-25). Written in these verses is the truth of the sin of all that by faith is covered by the sprinkling of the blood of Christ for all who believe. This is the Gospel message. All have sinned, but the grace and righteousness of God has been extended to us in the blood of sprinkling of His Son, Jesus. This is also the message of the Passover, as Paul explains: "Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." (1 Cor. 5:6-8). Paul not only urges us to observe the Passover feast, but with the understanding of Christ as our Passover Lamb. He directly associates the practice of ridding the house of leaven with the ridding from our lives of sin. Isaiah also prophesied about the Messiah Who was slain like a lamb: "...he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." (Isa. 53:7). This was done to Him because: "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." (v. 6). None of us are righteous from our own efforts, but only by the sprinkling of Christ's sacrificial blood for us. Writing about straying from the words of Jesus, and from the doctrine which is according to godliness, Paul warned about words of arguments, strife and debate that come from pride. It is corrupt minds that produce perverse disputings, and the desire for riches, incorrectly associating riches with godliness. He mentions a problem for many in the church, and in the world: the love of money. He said, "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." (1 Tim. 6:3-10). Do we differentiate among men based upon their affluence or poverty, esteeming the rich over the poor? Money is not evil, but the love of money leads to all evil. We live in a time when wealth is hoarded and increased among a tiny few, while many are suffering terrible financial hardship, especially during the pandemic. Do we allow money to sway us from the doctrine of godliness, and to have a strong influence over our lives? This is the love of money. Jesus spoke to His disciples about many things that men would experience in the time before His return. These things were to be signs to us of His coming and the end of the age. Among these signs was racial and ethnic hatred - wars: nation (ethnos) against nation (ethnos), kingdom against kingdom. He also said that along with this, there it would be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes (Mt. 24:6-7). Ethnic and racial hatred and bias should not be allowed in the church, or in our hearts. Revelation tells us that the Kingdom of God is made up of people out of every nation, tribe, kindred and tongue. Acts 17:26 says that God made all nations of men on earth from one blood. Racial conflicts and issues have been in the news lately. What has been our personal reaction to them? Innocent people of various racial minorities have been assaulted and killed, but have we, in our hearts, reasoned them to have been guilty of something? The command of God is that the Gospel of grace through Christ is to be preached in all the world, unto all nations, not just to a preferred few (Mt. 24:14). It is time to search ourselves for the leaven of racism and remove it, for we too will be hated for no other reason than our faith in Christ (Mt. 24:9). Isaiah wrote the challenge of God to those who would consider themselves to be godly. This is what God was seeing in the hearts of His people: a vain religious appearance rather than authentic faith, understanding, and desire for Him, strife and debate, smiting with a fist of wickedness (Isa. 58:4). On the other hand, this is God's standard, and His expectations of us: to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, to break every yoke, to give bread to the hungry, to bring the homeless poor into our own homes, to cover the naked, to take awsy the pointing of an accusing finger at others, to stop speaking vain things (v. 6-7,9). If we will do these things, the LORD promises that His light and His glory will break forth upon us. "And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought...thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not." (v. 8,11). Not only will we experience this, but we will affect future generations: "And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in." (v. 12). For those who remember His Sabbath, and keep it holy, doing His will..."they shall ride upon the high places of the earth" (v. 13-14). In the previous and continuing separation of the church from its Jewish foundation, we have lost the understanding of the Sabbath of the LORD, and we have changed it into something that no longer resembles the original powerful truth. It is yet another cost that came out of the sinful racial attitudes of our hearts. In more recent church history, a new church movement, founded out of a great spiritual revival in Azusa Street, Los Angeles, became divided based upon racial lines. The pastor of the Azusa Street church which first saw revival was a black man, William Seymour. His place of leadership in the movement was rejected by those who were white because of his race. Soon comes Passover and Resurrection Sunday. Search your heart for any and all leaven, even the hidden leaven, and remove it. It is an essential part of the Bride making herself ready (Rev. 19:7-8). *Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 3/14/21 message to the church. To contact: Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com, or PO Box 154221, Waco, TX 76705 Look for us on Facebook, Twitter, and endtimesschool.com