The Easter holiday can be somewhat confusing because the word itself is found in the King James Version (Acts 12:4).  In this one verse, the Greek word, “pascha” is curiously translated as “Easter” when 28 out of 29 times in the New Testament it is correctly translated as, “Passover.”  So, technically Easter is not really in the Bible.  The Jews were accustomed to observing the Passover as it commemorated their deliverance out of Egypt and God commanded this feast to be kept under Old Testament law (Exo. 12; Lev. 23:4-8).  At the death of Jesus, the Old Law was no longer binding, and the observance of the Passover was not necessary for Christians (Eph. 2:15; Col. 2:14).  However, it seems that since Jesus’ death and resurrection happened at the time of the Jewish Passover, the observance of the Passover eventually transformed into an observance of His death as “Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Cor. 5:7).  After this, other observances were added like, “Palm Sunday” (the day of His triumphant entry), “Good Friday” (the day He was crucified) and “Resurrection Sunday” (Easter).
The problem is that God has given no authority for the church to elevate this one Sunday over any other.  We cannot go beyond the doctrine of Christ (2 John 9-11) and elevate days, months, or season as religious holidays that God has not designated (Gal. 4:10,11).  There is only one true holy day that we must observe today and that is the first day of the week (every Sunday).  Every Sunday is the Lord’s day (Rev. 1:10).  The Lord Himself has designed that we remember His death and show it to the world through the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week (Mat. 26:26-28; 1 Cor. 11:23-26).  There is no need for a special religious “Easter” observance, in fact, it is simply a vain tradition of men (Col. 2:8; 2 Tim. 4:3). 
~Derrick Coble

​It is a fact that every person who has ever lived will be judged according to his works upon this earth (2 Cor. 5:10).  But, do we ever think about the Judgment Day and the scenes that we will see?  As we are all standing and waiting to be judged, we will see scenes of joy but we will see some sad scenes as well.  Concerning that day, Jesus said, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Mat. 7:21-23). From this passage, we can see three sad scenes:
First, notice the proclamation of the Son and Savior.  Jesus said that not everyone who professes to believe in Him will enter into Heaven.  Why is this the case? It is simply because belief alone is not enough to save, but each must do the will of the Father in Heaven. What is the will of the Father?  To obey all of His commands to salvation and life a faithful, obedient life so as not to fall away (Heb. 3:12).  Not only must one believe (John 8:24), but he must repent (2 Cor. 7:10), confess the Christ (Rom. 10:10), and be baptized in order to have forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  Then live faithfully (1 Cor. 15:58).  When a person obeys the Father in this way and continues to do His Will, he will be able to enter Heaven.  All those who profess to be Christian but have not obeyed all of God’s commands will be sadly rejected from Heaven in judgment.
Second, Jesus tell us of the pleading that many will do on that great day.  All those who profess to be Christians by merely naming His name will plead and tell the great things they have done.  These people think that are saved, but Jesus will tell them otherwise.  How sad it will be to hear all the pleading of those who have been deceived into thinking they are children of God on Judgment Day.
Third, we will hear the profession of the Great Shepherd.  After all the unrighteous have pleaded their case, Jesus will profess to them that all the works they did were in vain because they didn’t do the Father’s Will.  No matter how hard the pleading, no matter how long the cry, Jesus will say, “I never knew you.”  In essence, He never recognized them.  They will simply be told to depart from Him.  When one departs from the light of life (John 8:12), he can only go to the darkness of death.  This is final and the saddest scene of all.
The scene for us does not have to be sad if we will obey the Lord.  The only time we are promised on the earth is now—this is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2).  Are you prepared for the great day of judgment?  Don’t let it be sad for you.
~Derrick Coble