Let me reread a few verses out
of the 11th chapter of Exodus. Chapter 11, verse 4. And I'll
read through verse 6. God has given to Moses a message
for the people of Israel. And Moses said, chapter 11 verse
4, and Moses said, thus saith the Lord. I believe that got their attention. And the reason I believe it got
their attention is because they did what God told them to do. What's it going to take for God
to get our attention? Don't you wish, don't you hope,
don't you pray that God would get- have us to think about the
things of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord. He spoke
this world into existence. He spake, the scripture says,
and it was done. And God said, let there be light,
and there was light. Oh God, speak and say, let there
be light in this man's heart. Let there be light in your heart.
You who are watching, let there be light in your heart. Thus
saith the Lord. There's power in his word, right? There is indeed power in his
word. So Moses said, thus saith the
Lord, about midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt.
Now, God is already in the midst of Egypt. He was then. He was in the midst of the land
of Goshen. In fact, He was present everywhere
in His creation when Moses spoke these words. But God is going
to make His presence known. You see, He is everywhere. But He does, in various times,
especially make known that He is there. When He brought you
to a saving interest in Christ Jesus, He was there. And He made
you know that He was there. because suddenly you found yourself
believing the message that you were hearing. So Moses said, thus saith the
Lord, by midnight will I go out into the land of Egypt, in the
midst of Egypt, and the firstborn, all the firstborn in the land
of Egypt shall die. This is not a God of love. This
is not a God of mercy. Not to the Egyptians, he wasn't
a God of love and he wasn't a God of mercy. He was a God of vengeance. He was a God of anger. He was
a God who hated their idolatry, their sinfulness, their disobedience
for not letting his people go. So it says in verse 5, And all
the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn
of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn
of the maidservant that is behind the mill, and all the firstborn
of beasts. Look at verse 6, And there shall
be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there
was none like it, nor shall be like it anymore. Now go over to the next chapter.
Chapter number 12, and look at verse 29. And it came to pass that at midnight, at midnight the Lord smote all
the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of
Pharaoh that sat on the 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. For there was not a house, not
one house, where there was not one dead. Historians tell us
that it was true of the Egyptian mothers especially. Whenever
there was a death of a child in the household, the mother
would go out in the street and just, she'd squall, she'd just
yell and lift up her voice screaming and crying. Imagine thousands
upon thousands of mothers going out into the streets. No wonder
the Lord had Moses say back in chapter 11 and then it came to
pass in chapter 12, there was a great cry, a great cry throughout
Egypt. There was a death in every Egyptian
house. But there were no deaths of people,
no deaths of the firstborn in all the houses of Israel. Now,
what made the difference? You say, well, there were some
who believed the Lord and others who didn't believe the Lord.
Well, actually, that's not entirely true. The difference was The blood outside the doorposts
and over the doorposts, there was the difference. I don't know whether the firstborn
of the Egyptian families, I don't know if they believed the Lord
or not. I know once Israel began their
journeying through the wilderness, Most of the Israelites, they
died in unbelief. They didn't believe God at all. And yet God spared all of the
firstborn in the houses of Israel, not because they were trusting
in the Lord, though I hope some of them did, but they were spared, they were
saved, they were rescued, they were delivered for one reason. God saw the blood. They didn't see it. They couldn't see the blood because
they were inside. And the Lord said, once the blood
was put outside the doors, shut the door and don't go back out
there. I just read that to you. And
at midnight, surely the people in the land of Goshen, the Israelites,
and the Israelites who lived in various parts of Egypt who
were servants or slaves for perhaps Pharaoh or some high-ranking
Egyptian official, Their firstborn was spared based upon the blood,
but they would have heard this awful blood-curdling cry, rise
up from the land of Egypt. Oh, how grievous was the lamentation,
was the sorrow, the grief of the parents of the firstborn
who died throughout all the land of Egypt. You can't imagine how
many people died. We don't even know. But they did die. And throughout
all the households of Israel, the firstborn were spared. And the only thing that made
the difference was God seeing the blood. And I'm telling you today, tonight,
the only difference between people who are spared, people who are
delivered, people who are rescued, People who wind up in glory,
the only difference between us going to glory and being there
and not going to hell and dwelling there forever, the only difference
is the same difference it was right back here. The blood makes
the difference. You see, with the Israelites,
I said it wasn't their faith, Well, we trust in the Lord, we
believe in Him. Well, I hope they did. But the reason God spared them
was because of what was done on their behalf. The blood was put outside the
door. Well, who put the blood out there?
I would say without, I don't have any biblical reference for
this, at least I can't think of any, but I would say the head
of the household did. The father did. It wasn't the
firstborn. It wasn't the one who was spared. It wasn't the one who was delivered. It wasn't the one who was rescued,
who put the blood out there. It was the Father who did it.
And the reason you're going to be spared the wrath of God is
not because of anything you did. Nothing you've done, nothing
you are doing, nothing you shall do. It's because of what the
Father did to His Son. He hung Him on a tree and He
killed Him. Because you see, Christ is called
the Lamb of God. This Passover Lamb, it's a picture
of the Son of God who loved us and who gave Himself for us. In fact, we have it on divine
authority that this Passover lamb pictured our Lord Jesus
Christ. You know, it says back here in
chapter 12 and verse 11, it's the Lord's Passover. This past Sunday night, I preached
from John chapter 6. Talks about the Passover that
was observed by the Jews. And you know what it was called
then? The Jews' Passover. That's how much it had sunk in
importance to the Jews. It was no longer considered to
be the Lord's Passover. They said, it's the Jews' Passover. And that's the problem. It was
theirs and they didn't recognize God in it. But this is the Lord's Passover.
And our Lord Jesus, He was sacrificed by God. The blood was shed. There's no question about what
the blood has to be sprinkled on our consciences and we have
to be washed in the blood. but that's what God the Spirit
does. But we're not justified by what
God the Spirit does in us, though that's a necessary effect of
what God did for us. And you need to understand the
difference there. It's not when the Spirit of God
quickens you and you believe. That's not when your sins are
put away. That's not when you're justified. That's not when you made the
righteousness of God in Christ. That all happened when God's
Lamb died. And then the spirit of grace
comes to us and he quickens us and he shows us that the blood
was shed 2,000 years ago in fulfillment of an eternal covenant. Because Revelation chapter 13
says, Christ the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. And I'm telling you the reason
you're going to glory Don't you say it's your faith. You say
it's your faith that made the difference, and that's what a
lot of people say. Then you don't have an understanding of the
gospel of grace. It's not your faith that makes
the difference. It's not your repentance that
makes the difference. It's the blood, the blood of
the Lamb of God. That's what makes the difference. And I have it on divine authority
that this Passover lamb, they call it the Paschal lamb, is
a picture of our Lord Jesus. Turn to the New Testament, 1
Corinthians. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter
five. 1 Corinthians chapter five. Let me just give you a few verses
here. 1 Corinthians 5, verse 7. Paul says, purge out therefore
the old leaven, that you may be a new lump as ye are unleavened. For even, here it is, for even
Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. For us, I got it on divine authority. That Passover lamb, been reading
about back, that's a picture of Christ. I got God's word for
that. Look with me in 1 Peter 1. Let
me give you another reference or two. 1 Peter 1. We're talking
about the blood of the Lamb of God. 1 Peter 1. Look at verse 18. Forasmuch as
ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver
and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your
fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb. And watch it without blemish
and without spot. We read back there just a few
minutes ago in chapter 12, The Lord told Moses, tell people,
pick out a lamb, a male of the first year, without spot, without
blemish. Well, what's the purpose of that? Because God's gonna send his
lamb and he was without spot and without blemish. Otherwise,
he wouldn't be qualified to be the sacrificial lamb. Satan came and he thought he
could get a foothold in the Son of Man. Well, he couldn't get
anywhere with it. He couldn't find a place to put
his foot down in the heart and soul of the Son of God. Couldn't
find anything to work with. He comes to you and he comes
to me, finds lots to work with, right? That's a shame, but that's
the way we are. But he didn't find anything to
work with with Christ. a lamb without blemish and without
spot. Even, even when he bore our sins
in his own body on the tree, he himself remained without spot
and without blemish. That's why Peter says in another
place, the just died for the unjust, the righteous died for
the unrighteous to bring us to God. Brother Mahan said, a sinner
can't die for a sinner. Christ was no sinner. He's a
perfect son of God. Watch this, verse 20, who verily
was foreordained before the foundation of the world. but was manifest
in these last times for you. Who's the you? Who by him do
believe in God, that raised him up from the dead and gave him
glory, that your faith and hope might be in God. And give you
another reference, Revelation chapter five. We're just continually
reminded in the New Testament that Christ is the Lamb of God. In fact, in John chapter one, we read
John the Baptist. This was a very heart and soul
of his message. He said, behold the Lamb of God. Behold God's Lamb. that takes
away the sin of the world. How is He going to do that? By
His blood. That is, by His sacrifice upon
the cross of Calvary. Here in Revelation 5, here is
the Son of God exalted. The one who sits upon the throne
of God has, as it were, in His in his right hand a book, it's
the book of divine predestination of all the decrees of God. And
an angel cried out and said, who's worthy to open that book
and bring to pass all the decrees and all the purposes of the Lord? And verse three says there wasn't
anybody in heaven or earth or under the earth was able to even
open the book. or to even look in the book,
much less bring to pass everything that God had purposed. And John
said, I wept much. Because there was no man, if
you don't mind writing in your margin, really no representative
was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to
look therein, much less bring things to pass. Who's gonna bring
the purpose of God to pass? Verse five, and one of the elders
said unto me, well, you can dry up your tears, weep not. Behold, the line of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David hath prevailed. He's conquered to
open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld,
then my eyes were opened, and lo, in the midst of the throne
of God, and in the midst of the four beasts, and in the midst
of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain, having seven
horns, perfect power, and seven eyes, perfect knowledge, which
are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him
that sat upon the throne, and then He begins to open the seals
thereof, as you read on through the book of Revelation. Who is
this? It's the Lamb of God who conquered,
who redeemed us, who saved us by His blood. Verse 8 says, when he had taken
the book The four beasts and the 24 elders fell down before
the Lamb, every one of them having harps and golden vials full of
odors, which are the prayers of the saints. They sung a new
song saying, thou art worthy, Christ is worthy, the Lamb of
God is worthy to open the seals thereof, for thou hast slain
and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred
and tongue and people. and nation, and hath made us
unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.
And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about
the throne, and the beasts, and the elders, and the number of
them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,
saying with a loud voice," Watch it, where is the Lamb? The Lamb, and He doesn't just
say the Lamb, it's the Lamb who was slain. That Passover lamb,
the blood was sprinkled out there after that Passover lamb was
slain. And our Lord Jesus Christ, he was
slain by the hand of God, the hand of vengeance, the hand of
wrath. And I'm telling you, that's when
the great transaction took place at the cross of Calvary. That's
where we were justified. That's where sins were put away. I wouldn't minimize the importance
of believing on the Lord Jesus Christ at all, but believing
on the Lord Jesus Christ is the result of what happened at the
cross. It's not the cause of your salvation,
it's the effect of your salvation. You see? Because the blood that our Lord
Jesus shed was offered to God. And the Savior died. And all the angels, I suppose, waited
What's going to happen now? A day went by. Another day went
by. Another day went by. What's going
to happen now? How do we know that he accomplished
anything? And then God said to an angel,
go down there and roll that stone away. And that stone was rolled away.
And that's God's way of signing the note saying it's paid in
full. That's where we were redeemed.
Redeemed by the blood of the lamb. And I know we come to appreciate
the blood. But we don't appreciate the blood
like we ought to, do we? Come on now. But I'll tell you who does appreciate
the blood of the Lamb fully. The Father does, the Spirit does,
and the Son does. That blood is of such amazing
power. It put away the sins of all God's
elect. It just erased them. They're
gone. And God says, when I see the
blood, his eye is always on the blood. Is your eye always on the blood?
Well, my eye is sometimes, but my eyes have other things that
unfortunately require my attention. Down here. Aren't you thankful this is not
dependent upon your feeble faith? Somebody says, well, I just don't
feel saved. Well, welcome to the group. Our feelings change quicker than
the weather. We moved to Louisiana, and probably
some of the folks down there watching, I remember Brother
Charles said, you know, come to Louisiana, the weather's gonna
change. If you don't like the weather, just wait 20 minutes
and it'll change. My feelings and my faith changes
quicker than that. That's a flimsy thing to rest
in. But I tell you what, I can rest
in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because God rests in
that blood. See, I believe God, don't you?
I don't believe him like all two, but I believe him. I believe
when God says, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. Moses
believed that. He told the eldest son, you tell
the people, you can get you a lamb, a male the first year, not anything
wrong with it now. Put it up four days and inspect
it, and then kill it. Stick a knife in him, shed his blood in a basin, get
you a bunch of hyssop, and you go out there and you sprinkle
the blood, sprinkle the blood on the doorpost and over the
side. What you doing that for, daddy? Because God said when
He saw the blood, He sees the blood. You're safe. You're safe as if you're in the
arms of God right now. And the firstborn was. And I'm
telling you, if God sees the blood on your behalf, you're
as safe as you could be. You may not feel like it, And there may be times when you
can't even see the blood. But it's not dependent upon you
seeing the blood. It's dependent upon God seeing
the blood. Well, sing the closing song.