Good evening. Let's read from
Exodus chapter 12. Exodus 12. I'd like to thank the Hudson's
on behalf of this church for having us all over, feeding us
so well, entertaining us. I thought about that. We met
And Abby's honor. It was all about Abby. It was
a privilege. We love her and want to honor
her and celebrate her. But now when we come here, and
what we're going to do tonight is in honor of our Lord. We wouldn't have had that if
Abby hadn't been born. And our Lord was born in this
world and He died. And so we do this in remembrance
and honor of Him gladly. May the Lord enable us to enjoy
this fellowship tonight. May He feed us with His body
and His blood. Exodus 12. We almost always take the Lord's
Table when we look at Exodus 12. We've already looked at the
first part of it. Let's begin with verse 21 and
read to the end of the chapter. Exodus 21, the end of the chapter. Then Moses called for all the
elders of Israel and said unto them, draw out and take you a
lamb according to your families and kill the Passover. And you shall take a bunch of
hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, strike
the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the
basin. And none of you shall go out at the door of his house. Don't leave the house until the
morning, until the sun comes. For the Lord will pass through
to smite the Egyptians. And when he seeth the blood upon
the lintel and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over
the door and will not suffer the destroyer to come into your
houses to smite you. And you shall observe this thing
for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons forever. And it shall
come to pass, when ye come to the land which the Lord will
give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep
this service. And it shall come to pass, when
your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? That ye shall say, It is the
sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over the houses of
the children of Israel in Egypt. when he smoked the Egyptians
and delivered our houses. The people bowed the head and
worshipped. The children of Israel went away
and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. So did they. And it came to pass that at midnight
the Lord smoked all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the
firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne, unto the firstborn
of the captive that was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn
of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night,
he and all his servants, and all the Egyptians, And there
was a great cry in Egypt, but there was not a house where there's
not one dead. And he called for Moses and Aaron
by night and said, rise up and get you forth from among my people,
both ye and the children of Israel. And go, serve the Lord as you
have said. Also take your flocks and your
herds as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also. The Egyptians were urging upon
the people that they might send them out of the land in haste,
for they said, we'd be all dead men. The people took their dough
before it was leavened, They're kneading troughs, bread troughs,
being bound up in their clothes, upon their shoulders. And the
children of Israel did according to the word of Moses. They borrowed
of the Egyptians jewels of silver and jewels of gold and raiment.
The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians,
so that they lent unto them such things as they required. They
spoiled the Egyptians. And the children of Israel journeyed
from Ramses to Succoth, about 600,000 on foot, men beside children,
and a mixed multitude, a great mixture went up also with them,
flocks, herds, very much cattle. They baked unleavened cakes of
the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, but it was
not leavened. Because they were thrust out
of Egypt and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for
themselves any victual. Now the sojourning of the children
of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was 430 years. It came to pass
at the end of the 430 years, even the selfsame day, it came
to pass that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land
of Egypt. It is a night to be much observed
unto the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This
is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the children
of Israel in their generations. And the Lord said to Moses and
Aaron, this is the ordinance of the Passover. There shall
no stranger eat thereof. But every man's servant that
is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall
he eat thereof. A foreigner, an unhired servant,
shall not eat thereof. In one house shall it be eaten.
Thou shalt not carry forth all of the flesh abroad out of the
house, neither shall you break a bone thereof. all the congregation
of Israel shall keep it. And when a stranger shall sojourn
with thee, and will keep the Passover to the Lord, let all
his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep
it, and he shall be as one that is born in the land. For no uncircumcised
person shall eat thereof. One law shall be to him that
is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you. Thus
did all the children of Israel as the Lord commanded Moses and
Aaron, so did they. And it came to pass the selfsame
day, That the Lord did bring the children of Israel out of
the land of Egypt by their armies. With me. Exodus chapter 12. We have three things to consider here. The divine command. The Lord
commands us to take this table. And who may, who may not take
this table, and what is this table? What is it all about?
The title and the subject is found in verse 26. It shall come
to pass when your children shall say of thee, or ask you, what
mean ye by this service? That you shall say, it is the
sacrifice of the Lord's Passover. Okay, this is a divine command. Did you notice with me how many
times He said, this do, this do. Do this always. Always do this. Who is He speaking
to? Look at verse 3. speak unto all the congregation
of Israel. They represent the church. Every
professing believer, everyone who professes faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ is to take of this table. It's a divine command. Not only is it a privilege, but
it's a duty. Verse 8 says, They shall eat
the flesh. They shall eat it. And verse
11, thus shall you eat it. You shall eat this. Verse 14,
you shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generation.
Verse 17, you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread in
your generations by an ordinance for ever. So this is speaking
to God's people. Our Lord in Matthew 26, when
Judas had gone, Judas was full of leaven. Judas was a hypocrite,
a fake, all that time. And the Lord told him to leave.
And when he left, then he said to his true disciples, he said,
this is it. And remember to me, take, this
is my body broken for you, not Judas. This is my blood that's
shed for you. So he said to his disciples,
you do this. As often you do this, you do
it in remembrance of me. And John 6, turn to John 6 with
me. This is vital. And you need to
know what this means. Our Lord, these are very serious
words He said. John 6, look at verse 53. There you have it. Jesus said
unto them, His disciples, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except
you eat the flesh of the Son of Man." Well, he said this to
everyone, but except the person eat his flesh
and drink his blood, he said, you have no life in you. Whoso
eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life. I
will raise him up the last day. My flesh is meat indeed. My blood is drink indeed. He
that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and
I in him. So he said, you must eat my flesh
and drink my blood. Do you understand what that meant? It had something to do with it.
You know that Christ is what you need, like food, and you
hunger and thirst for Him, right? He that hath the Son hath life.
That means faith in the Son, a need for the Son, a love for
the Son, thanks, a thankful heart for the Son. You know that much,
don't you? You know you need His righteousness,
don't you? You know you need His blood. You know that. You
know you need Christ crucified. You know you need Him. And you
eat. Do you enjoy hearing the gospel? We eat with our ears. He said,
let these sayings sink down deep into your ears like chewing on
it, you know. Get what you can out of it. So, and Paul gave these commandments,
and we'll look at it in a little bit, 1 Corinthians 11. He said,
the Lord gave me this command and I so will give it to you.
That he said, take, eat, this is my body in the cup. Take this,
drink it. It's to his people. His people. All right? Who may and who may
not eat this table? And I have written down here,
don't dwell on who may not. Let me get past that. But it's important then. It's
important. Don't eat this unless you know
what you're doing. Look at Exodus 12, because did
you read the dire warnings? Like leaven. He said, if I find
leaven, I'm going to cut you off. And Paul said some have
eaten condemnation to themselves by doing that. Who may not? Look at Exodus 12, verse 43. Verse 43, He said, this is the
ordinance of the Passover, no stranger to Ethera. You cannot be a stranger to this
Gospel. It cannot be a strange thing
to you. You need to know. You need to
know the Lord. You need to know yourself. You
need to know why Christ came. You need to believe Him and trust
Him and not be a stranger to this covenant of grace. There
was a time when we were all strangers to the covenant of grace. Foreigners. That's what Ephesians said then,
but not now. But don't partake of this if
you don't know what this is about. Verse 45, a foreigner and a hired
servant. if this is something foreign
to you, you don't really understand it, or a hired servant. You know,
people do this for game, they do it for business, for favors
with people. The world is full of people,
millions of people that take so-called the Eucharist and the
Mass and the Lord's Table and communion. without a thought
to Christ crucified. And they do it because it's what
they're supposed to do, because it's a ceremony, because what
would people think if they didn't do it? They're good, faithful
Catholics and they observe the Mass with no thought of Jesus
Christ. So, as a hireling, you're doing
it for gain. No, no hireling. Look down at
verse, let's see, verse 44. I'm sorry, verse 48. If a stranger
shall sojourn with thee and keep the Passover, his mail must be
circumcised. Verse 48. No uncircumcised person
shall eat thereof. Do you know how many times we've
dealt with circumcision? And that doesn't mean physical
circumcision, because females must be circumcised. This is
not the circumcision with hands of the flesh, but the what? Heart. It's when the Lord takes
away the stony heart. When the Lord breaks the heart.
They cut you with the knife, the sword of the gospel and break
your heart, okay? And then He takes away all flesh. When He reveals Christ to you,
He removes all this notion of any flesh having anything to
do with your salvation. Like circumcision is the removal
of some flesh, and the circumcision of the heart, you have no confidence
in the flesh. Do you understand that? Do you know how few people understand
that? See, this is all about Christ
and Him alone. Every one of these children of
Israel knew that one thing is what made the Lord pass over
them in mercy. One thing. The blood. The blood. And so when we do
this, we remember that. No. Him. Him. So that's who may
not eat. And Paul, as I said in 1 Corinthians
11, for the sake of time, we won't turn there right now, but
he said, let a man examine himself and so let him eat. But don't
drink, don't eat it or drink it unworthily. That means not
discerning, not understanding. Not really knowing who Christ
is and what He did, and believing and trusting Him. Don't do it.
All right? Who may eat this? Look at chapter
12, verse 42. This is something to be observed
of all the children of Israel and their generations. It's a
night to be much observed by all the children of Israel. Are
you a son of Jacob? Are you? What's your name? Jacob? Sinner? Cheat? Surplanner? Who told you
that? Did the Lord wrestle you and get you down and make you
confess what you were? Then you must eat this in remembrance
of Him. Look at verse 44. It says, everyone, if a man's
servant is bought for money, have you been bought with a price? Are you the Lord's servant? Do
you really want to serve His glory and His honor? I believe
you do. I know you do. I've known many of you for many
years. It's not about us. It really isn't. If you've been bought with a
price, you know this. Peter said, you know this. You're
not redeemed with a corruptible thing. Do you know how few people
know that? Your vain conversation or life
or works or your religion, you know that. What are you redeemed
with? The precious blood of the Lamb. You know that, don't you? Verse 44. And one bought for
money and circumcised. Have you already looked at that?
All right. Verse 48. When a stranger comes,
he must be circumcised. All right? We were strangers,
but the Lord gave us a new heart. Now we're no more strangers,
foreigners. We're fellow citizens of the
house. How did we get to be that? He came and preached peace to
us. Let me read that one. I don't want to misquote any
of that. That's Ephesians chapter 8. It says you were strangers at
one time from the covenant of promise, no hope without God
in the world, without God. In Christ Jesus, you who were
sometime afar off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ, for He
is our peace. You know that. And He's made
us both one. He says He abolished that enmity
in His flesh and make two men, one new man, make Him peace.
And it says, He reconciled us to God by His cross and came
and preached peace to you that were far off. And now you no
more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens of the household
of God, and you're built on that foundation of Jesus Christ the
Chief Pornister. So, that's who may eat them. And this, Acts 2. I want everybody to turn to Acts
chapter 2. Baptized believers. Baptized believers. Those who
know they've been bought with the price, the blood of Christ.
Those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who've been
given a new heart. And those who have, they will
confess Him. This, and I talked to Brother
Edmondson about this today, and every man I know believes the
same thing according to this passage. Peter said in verse
38, Acts chapter 2, after he preached the gospel, Peter said,
Repent and be baptized, every one of you, without exception,
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. promise unto you
and your children and all that are far off, even as many as
the Lord our God shall call. So He commands every single person
to repent and believe on Christ and confess Him. In verse 40,
with many other words, He testifies, saying, Save yourselves from
this untoward generation. Then They that gladly received
his word were baptized. Every one of them. Three thousand
men, they were baptized. And then it goes on to say that
then they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine, that
means hearing the gospel preached, and fellowship, and breaking
of bread. That came after baptism. Baptism is the public confession
of faith in Christ. This is called communion. Okay? You have no communion with
the Lord if you don't confess Him. You must confess Him. It's like a marriage, you know. There's this vow that you take.
Before everyone, you're not ashamed to own this person, your husband
or your wife. This is the one I love and you
want everyone to know it, all right? Then what comes after
that? Common union. And you're joined
together forever. And you walk with each other
and you talk with each other and you commune with each other.
Okay? Now communion doesn't just take
place right here. That's it. It's all life. It's
all life. This is for those who have communion,
baptized believers, okay? And I'll say this. I wouldn't
discourage anyone. If there's anyone in here that
truly believes Christ and has yet to confess Him and believe
His baptism, you go ahead and take this table tonight. But
then you get in that pool Sunday. Don't tarry anymore. I left the
water in there. Here's water. What doth hinder
you? Okay? All right, now, what is
this service? When your children ask you, what
is this all about? Go back to our text, Exodus 12.
When they ask you, what is this all about? Could you tell your
children? Do you tell your children? You
must. This was a command. This is a
command all the way through here, wasn't it? Tell your children.
When your children ask, tell them. What do you mean by this?
Can you tell them? Can you tell them? Do you tell
them? What is this service all about? That's what they, that's
what he said. All right, verse 27, here's the
answer. It is the sacrifice. This is all about the Lord Jesus
Christ's sacrifice that he made, the Lord's Passover. It's not
our table, it's the Lord's table. This is not about our works,
it's about his works. It's not about our doings, his
doings and his dying. who passed over, that is, he
had mercy on me. Just tell them what great things
the Lord had done for you, who passed over and had mercy upon
me. And he didn't reveal himself
to my brother or sister or others, but he did me, like Jacob and
Esau. And he delivered our house. He delivered me. He's a living
man. So, you can tell the children,
look at chapter 13. Here's what you tell them. Chapter
13, verse 14. You have it? Sunday morning we're going to
look at what it means to sanctify your children. Here in chapter
13. Verse 14, it says, when thy son asked thee in time to come,
what is this? You shall say, by strength of
hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of
bondage. I was a bondman. I was captive. I was captive in this world.
If your child is captive, say, I was captive just like you are.
But the Lord, through the gospel of Christ crucified, delivered
me, brought me out by His strong hand. So you can tell them that,
can't you? Tell them that. I was once a
child of wrath, walking according to the course of this world,
even as others. But God, rich in mercy to me,
and revealed himself to me by his gospel. Look at Deuteronomy
4, and a few more, and then we'll take the table. So he tells us
to tell our children when they ask. If we don't, nobody else will.
I'll do it. You bring them here and I'll
do it. But the Lord tells us to do it in our homes. Look at Deuteronomy 4, verse
9. You have it? Take heed to thyself,
keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which
thine eyes have seen. In other words, you remind yourself.
Lest they depart from thy heart, all the days of thy life, but
teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons, your grandchildren. Look at chapter 6. Chapter 6,
look at this, verse 7. Verse 6, These words which I
command thee this day shall be in thine heart, and thou shalt
teach them diligently unto thy children. So talk of them when
you sit in that house, and when thou walkest by the way, and
when thou allowest down, when thou risest up. And verse 20,
look at this, when your son asks thee in time to come, say, what
is the meaning of this? Tell him. Tell him. Tell him. Tell him. Tell him.
Oh boy. What a privilege. This is a duty,
a duty, it's the divine command. But what a privilege. It's both
our duty and our desire, like our Lord said, with desire, if
I desire to eat this Passover. Who may eat this? Well, all those
who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ have confessed Him. You
may eat it, you must eat it. Come and dine. Come and dine. Somebody's prepared all this
for you. Okay? Well, Christ's prepared
to get everything for you Himself. And who may not? Those that don't
understand this. And what is this service all
about? It's about Christ. All about Christ and Him crucified.