Speaking for the help of the
Lord, I direct your prayerful attention to Paul's first letter
to the Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse
7. 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse
7 and really just reading the last part of this verse, for
even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. The whole context here
with the Apostle is he is reproving the Corinthian church for walking
in open sin and he is exhorting them to put away that evil or
that leaven that is amongst them that shall infect the whole church
purge out, the verse 7 begins, therefore the old leaven that
ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened, even Christ our Passover
is sacrificed for us. And what we have in this verse
is a very clear associating our Lord Jesus Christ with the Passover,
in fact, clearly declaring Christ our Passover. And it is this
evening I desire again to look at the Old Testament types, and
this time the Passover as pointing to our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ and truly it must be the delight of the people of God
as they read the Scriptures to find the Saviour there and to
see Him and to believe on Him And we can, in looking back from
the light of the New Testament, see more clearly what is being
taught in these types that were the gospel to the Israelites
in their day. and which affected deliverances
for them in their day. And so I want to look at this
and that's why we read together Exodus chapter 12 and which covers
the institution of the Passover and covered that first Passover
night when the children of Israel were brought out of Egypt and
then on their way and also it points to that ongoing observance
of the Passover and the aspects of this first Passover that just
belong to that were very practical aspects in delivering them out
of Egypt which wouldn't again be observed in subsequent Passover's. Now I want to just notice a few
things by means of introduction here and I want to show how that God,
when He is going to do something that is great, something that
points to the work of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, is
pleased to show beforehand how useless are other means of deliverance,
that He makes it very clear that the sacrifice of Christ, the
work of Christ is a unique work of which there is no other parallel
and there is no other deliverance without that and before even
looking at the details of the Passover we can get a real contrast
in this way and We have the children of Israel in Egypt. Now they
were in bondage there and Pharaoh was making their task very hard
and their bondage very grievous. But it wasn't so evident when
Moses first went to deliver them that they were not only under
bondage but they were really captives. they couldn't just
decide well as a nation we are going to relocate we are going
to just leave Egypt they might have thought that at the beginning
but as time went on then it was very clear that they were being
held as captives they were in bondage there and we think of
how the Lord was pleased to bring nine other plagues before this
tenth came that was a means of delivering them with a high hand,
but all the others had no effect. They did have the effect of bringing
Egypt to be destroyed, and Pharaoh's own men said to him, Knowest
thou not that Egypt is destroyed? And the signs were the river
first was turned into blood, so they couldn't drink of it.
They had to dig around the river to try and get water. And then they had the frogs that
came up into their houses and into their beds and right through
their land. Then there was the lice that
was everywhere. And then after the lice the flies
came. And then after that, the moraine,
the cattle plague that killed much of their cattle. Then there
was the boils that came upon man and upon beast. Then following on that was the
hail and the lightning, the fire that ran along the ground. It
must have been a very, very fearful, fearful sight. Remember, my mother
once mentioning of being in the school at Birkenhead and during
a thunderstorm there was a lightning bolt that came through the window
and ran along the floor, a burning fire and what a terrible thing
that that must be to witness and to see that and then the
eighth plague was the locust that came ate everything that
was left from the hail and then lastly there was the darkness
that was over the land and these last ones were just over Egypt
not over the Goshen where the Israelites were and it was a
darkness that could be felt for three days but none of those
things however great they were made any effect whatsoever it
didn't loose their bondage, it didn't set them free, it magnified
the Lord over Pharaoh, but it did not affect the release of
the children of Israel. And it is the Lord's design and
purpose that these other things are shown to be of no value at
all, to then magnify this last great sign and great work in
the Passover, the work of the Lord that points to Christ. And there's other places in Scripture
where the Lord has used similar methods, similar ways. We think
when our Lord was upon earth, a woman with the issue of blood,
she'd had that 12 years and no amount of physicians could ever
heal her but one touch of the hem of his garment. and she was
healed. The man that was 38 years at
the pool of Bethesda, again, all of that length of time, but
the Lord can effect a cure instantly. The mad Gadarene was the same.
We have again, going back to the Old Testament, with David,
before he was anointed king, when the children of Israel were
fighting with the Philistines, and he'd returned from Saul to
looking after his father's sheep and Goliath came and Goliath
challenged Israel those 40 days 40 is a time of testing, like
our Lord was 40 days in the wilderness tempted of the devil 40 days,
was there anyone in all of Israel that was able to stand and go
against Goliath? No, there was none at all Why
did not the Lord send David after the first day? Why did he wait
40 days? It was because it had to be clearly
shown there was no other deliverer in Israel and no, not King Saul
was not able to go out against Goliath. But when David comes
and he's sent by his father and he goes and he goes in the name
of the Lord, the God that delivered me out of the paw of the bear
and the paw of the lion, he shall deliver me from this Philistine. And the Lord wonderfully then
used David, and in that way he is a beautiful type of Christ. The conditions were, whichever
one of them prevailed, then all of his people prevailed with
him. David prevailed in all of Israel. gained the benefit and
blessing, Christ prevailed on Calvary against Satan and all
of his people are delivered through him. But there's this need first
of proving there is no help, no deliverance. Now dear friends,
that may be your experience tonight. You're in bondage, you're in
darkness, you have trials, you have those things that nothing
seems to deliver you from it, you still remain just the same.
Judgements nor mercies, they don't seem to make any difference
with your heart. And they don't seem to lift up
above those things that hold you down, a real burden and trial. Sin is too strong for you. Sin
is too strong for your resolutions, your efforts, your designs at
keeping the law. your means of obtaining a righteousness
of your own, you cannot attain to. Well, think of this, think
of what the Lord does before He reveals His beloved Son. He brings to utter despair. One of the hymns says, Could
the creatures help or ease us? Seldom should we think of prayer.
We think of Psalm 107. Again and again they came into
places, they fell down, there was none to help then they called
upon the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them out of
their distresses and it isn't necessary falling down with no
help in any other way but in Christ alone and that's a lesson
every one of us needs to be taught we need to have it and it will
be taught right the way through our lives as well that we truly
value him I without him says the hymn writer perish must I
could from all things parted be but never never Lord from
thee so here with this type here with the Passover it was prefaced
by these nine great signs that did not affect the release of
the children of Israel but the Passover did. And there we have
it pointing to our Lord Jesus Christ. Now I want to look then
with the Lord's help this evening at three points. Firstly, a Passover
lamb prepared, the preparing of that lamb. And then secondly,
the lamb slain. And thirdly, the blessings of
the lamb slain. Firstly, a Passover lamb prepared. We read in this 12th chapter
of Exodus how that the children of Israel had to seek out a lamb
and it was specifically to be a lamb that was without blemish. It was verse five, your lamb
shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. In the types
that the Lord instituted for the children of Israel, he emphasized
aspects of our Lord that were absolutely vital. And right at
the beginning in the preparation of this lamb, in the provision
of it, He'd had to be spotless, without blemish. And our Lord
Jesus Christ must be truly God, without sin, without spot, be
a perfect sacrifice. Otherwise His sacrifice would
not be meritorious in any way. If there is but one sin upon
Him, then instead of a willing sacrifice, it was a necessary
thing. All of us, we must die as sinners. We can never in one sense voluntarily
lay down our lives. We may lay them down before their
due time, if you like, to save another or stand in another's
place. But all of us must at some time
die. Our Lord said, no man taketh
my life from me. There is no cause of death in
him. And this is what Pilate declared.
And we think of the type of, and we spoke of Isaac some time
ago and on Mount Moriah, and the provision that was made instead
of Isaac was of a ram caught by his horns in the thicket.
And if he'd been caught by his fleece, there would have been
a blemish, he would have been torn. But caught by his horns,
it made it that there was no blemish. Again, it is emphasised
what is here. It had to be perfect and spotless. And so we have the type of our
Lord there. It's one thing that the Old Testament
saints really wrestled with, because Job, he says that how
can a clean thing come out of an unclean? He knew the need
of a clean offering. And yet the promise was, the
seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head. How could
the seed of woman be clean? He that is born of a woman is
of few days, he cometh forth from the womb, and is born unto
trouble as the sparks fly upward, shabern in sin and iniquity. But our Lord was from above,
the man from heaven, The Holy Ghost shall overshadow thee,
therefore that holy thing shall be called the Son of God. And
it is said, As was supposed the son of Joseph, but by bloodline
he wasn't. And at twelve years of age, when
he stayed behind in the temple, and his parents came seeking
him, his mother said, I am your father have sought thee sorrowing. He said, how is it that you sought
me? Wist ye not that I must be about
my father's business? Well, it wasn't Joseph's business. It was his heavenly father. And
so we have in the preparation there, as they looked out a lamb
that was to be for their households. To be this Paschal Passover Lamb,
it had to be spotless. So may we view the Lord Jesus
Christ as this spotless, pure, holy Lamb of God. Dear John Baptist,
when our Lord began His ministry, He says, Behold the Lamb of God. The Israelites would have known
exactly what He was meaning and pointing out. Then we are told
that in verse 3 that on the 10th day this lamb was to be taken,
speaking unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the 10th
day of this month they shall take to every man a lamb according
to the house of their fathers. and it had to be laid up until
the 14th day of the month, and then it was to be slain in the
evening. Verse 6, And ye shall keep it
up until the 14th day of the same month, the whole assembly
of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
There's a preparation here, instead of just a rush at the last minute
to The Lamb had to be already set aside, already prepared for
that sacrifice. And of course, our Lord is the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. For this cause,
He said, came I into the world. But at the very end, we read
in John 12, that six days before the Passover, He comes to Bethany. And from that place in Bethany,
then in the days before the Passover he was going into Jerusalem and
certainly the four days before he was found in Jerusalem coming
and going back to Bethany but there he is already in position
in place he doesn't come from a far off position and suddenly
in Jerusalem he is there awaiting and our Lord speaks very much
in that 12th chapter of John, of His coming death, He prepares
the disciples that He is to lay down His life, that the Son of
Man goeth as it was told of Him. And this laying up as what was
in the institution of the Passover was fulfilled in our Lord being
there, being right ready, willing, expecting that His time was come
when he should be slain and with this lamb that was set aside
here it was set aside and they looked upon that lamb and they
looked upon it as to be slain in that four days time and so
we have the preparation the preparation for the Passover the preparation
for our Lord's suffering and right through the scriptures
He is that one that is prepared. We may also look at this in that
way. We said the contrast between
all of the other sacrifices and this sacrifice. And the Lord
does prepare. He is a preparing God. The ark
was prepared by Noah. John the Baptist was sent before
to repair the way before the Lord. and the people were being
prepared before this great antitype our Lord offered his sacrifice
at Calvary. He was telling them, before it
come to pass I tell you that when it come to pass ye may know
that I am he. He spoke so clearly that Peter
at one time had said, this shall not be unto thee. And our Lord
said, Get thee behind me, Satan, thou savest not the things that
be of God, but things that be of men. Peter was so certain
he would lay down his life for the Lord, but Peter was to learn
that no, it was the Lord that was to lay down his life for
him. May we know something, are the
preparations of the heart in man to view a crucified Saviour
and the Lord going before that He is that Lamb that is reserved
for this reserved and kept up and so it is the first point
that I want to consider then is that Passover Lamb that was
prepared But secondly, the lamb slain, the actual killing of
it, we read in verse 22, we read that it was slain, also in verse
6, killed in the evening or slain in the evening, but we have it in verse 22 as
well with the lamb that was slain and the blood was to be then
put upon the doorposts of the houses wherein they shall eat
it. Our Lord Jesus Christ would lay
down his life in the evening as well and it is the blood that
was so emphasised the blood that flowed from his scourged back,
the blood from his feet and hands, the blood from his thorns in
his brow, but before that even In the garden of Gethsemane he
sweat, as it were, great drops of blood falling down onto the
ground, as the weight of his people's sins was laid upon him. And then, when he had died and
laid down his life, they pierced his side, and there forth came
out water and blood. And the hemorrhoider says, Let
the water and the blood from thy riven side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure and cleanse me from its guilt and
power. And this then had to be put upon
the side doorposts and the lintel, not upon the threshold that was
to be walked upon, but surrounding the door where they were to go
in. What a beautiful type, you know, entering into that door,
the blood that was put there. And the Lord says, I am the door. and here is the door and it is
with blood right round it and the Israelite to then go through
that door and be in the house where that blood was so when
the lamb was slain it is the blood and we're told this it
is the blood that makes atonement for the soul without the shedding
of blood there is no remission and we have the contrast between
the two sacrifices, the sacrifice that Abel made, the sacrifice
that Cain made. Cain was a bloodless sacrifice,
not accepted of the Lord, and Abel's was. While the blood of
our Lord speaketh better things than that of Abel, it is that
atoning blood, and this here is the type of that blood is
pointing to that blood that redeems, the blood that must be shared
for there to be remission. But as well, the lamb slain was
then to be roast with fire. In verse 8 we read of that, that
they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire. And we
have a picture of our Lord and the fire of the wrath of God
to fall upon him. This was with all of the burnt
offerings of Israel. It was of that which was on Mount
Carmel in Elijah's day. The fire, it descended from heaven,
it consumed the sacrifice, it consumed the wood, the stones,
the water, it licked up the dust. It consumed everything and we
get a little type there of the wrath of God against sin and
what really fell upon our Lord on Calvary. And so with this
Passover time, it was not to be water, not to be sodden, but
everything was to be in verse 10, nothing was to remain until
the morning. If there was anything left over,
it was all to be burnt with fire. And we are pointed there to a
complete Savior, that everything, His whole person, It endured
that fire, you might say in body and in soul, a real man. Thou
shalt see the travail of his soul and shalt be satisfied. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? And the hyssop that was used
to put the blood upon the lintel and the doorposts, that was used
by The Jews then to the Romans to give him on a sponge the vinegar,
bitter vinegar, and we have these types that are pointing and fulfilled. in our Lord upon Calvary. We have also that which is in
verse 46 where we have a bone of him shall not be broken in
one house shall it be eaten there shall not carry forth water the
flesh abroad out of the house neither shall he break a bone
thereof. It is put here at the end of
this chapter rather than the beginning part but We have in
Psalm 22, it speaks so much of the sufferings of our Lord. That
Psalm begins, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And
the very words of our Lord upon the cross. And in that Psalm
we read, I may tell all my bones. And answering to this type here,
And we read when our Lord laid down his life and the Romans
came and they break the legs of the two thieves each side
of our Lord to hasten their death, cause that they then couldn't
support themselves and would fall and not be able then to
breathe. And yet when they came to our
Lord, they found that he was dead already. And so then a soldier
with a spear pierced his side, and there came out the blood
and the water. And so it was fulfilled that
a bone of him shall not be broken. And that which was instituted
here in this Passover was fulfilled there at Calvary. The Lord's Word is fulfilled,
and it was fulfilled again and again in the sacrifice that our
Lord made there at Calvary. And so we have the type in the
lamb that was slain and the blood that was shed applied to the
door. And now I want to look at the
benefits, the blessings that flow forth from this. And there
are several that is of course associated directly with the
children of Israel, but in the great Antitype, and for all the
people of God, the blessings that flow from it. We have them
sheltering beneath that blood. Now beautiful verse 13, And the
blood shall be to you, for a token upon the houses where ye are. And when I see the blood, I'll
pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy
you when I smite the land of Egypt." Now we noticed when we
mentioned about the blood being put upon the doorposts, it was
specifically said that it should be on the houses wherein they
should eat it. And we look at that in a spiritual
way. that those that shall be a partakers
of Christ's blood that is where the type is that is where Christ
is that is where the benefits the blessings shall be and we'll
see that in this this last type here in a gospel day we look
back to calvary and we know that Christ died for the sheep he
died for his people and he laid down his life for them, and for
none other. But we know that by calling his
people are known, and it is then to look back and to realize that
the houses where they shall eat the paschal lamb was where the
blood was on the doorposts and lintel, and where the destroying
angel went not. I want to join these things together
later on here and to see how it is that those that eat or
partake of this sacrifice it is clearly saying that they are
those that are safe beneath the blood and so this was the principal
thing with the children of Israel the blood was put on the lintel
and doorposts and they couldn't see it throughout the night They
needed to believe it was done. How many of us have left our
homes and you've got down the road a bit and you thought, did
I lock the door? And you turn around and you go
back and check whether you've actually locked the house. And
you think what it must have been with that. You know, the promise
was when I see the blood, the thought in that house, will the
destroying angel see the blood? Did we put it on enough? is it
clearly seen they had to trust at that time that it was and
they had to trust in that promise and so they were sheltering beneath
that blood they were sheltering beneath the promise when I see
the blood not when you see it when I see it and it's important
for us to remember that many of the Lord's dear people very
tried because they cannot see the blood in a sense they cannot
see that it was shed for them they cannot see that they've
got that protection and that they truly are saved from the
destroyer but it was a place of shelter
and it was a place where the destroying angel did not come
the Lord did honour his promise so the first blessing, the benefit
It was a shelter. May your plea, my plea, always
be to plead the precious blood of Christ. I think it was Luther
that spoke of being tempted by Satan. Satan brought the long
list of all of his sins and said, there, these are all your sins. And Luther, he said, yes, they
are. But right on the bottom of it,
the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth from all sin. And it is that blood that makes
atonement and blood that blots out as a thick cloud the sins
of the people of God. And so the second benefit was
that this sacrifice was to be made for those that offered that
sacrifice. It was so for the Levites after
this time they were to feed and be sustained by what was offered
up the meat of that sacrifice was food for them and this is
where it's so important to say if the Lord has made it that
his death his sufferings his blood is our meat and drink it's
food for us it's our only hope You know, the Apostle Paul, he
says, I determined to know nothing among you, and this is through
the Corinthians where our text is, save Jesus Christ and him
crucified. And the Lord in speaking in John
6, he said, except you eat the flesh and drink the blood of
the Son of Man, you have no life in you. And he wasn't speaking
in a literal way. They thought he was. But that
which the Lord accomplished in laying down His life, His broken
body, His shed blood, is the whole life of the people of God. That's where their whole hope
is, their whole expectation is that Christ has died for us. In Isaiah 53 we read that He
is a root out of dry ground, there's no form nor comeliness
that they should desire Him. But that will be different when
the Lord calls a sinner. Then we read in Hebrews, unto
you which believe, he is precious, he is precious. Well, in here
we had nine, nine wonders that never affected any deliverance,
but one that did. If that is so with you and I,
Christ will be precious when we realize there is a difference
between life and between death. It is only where Christ sacrifices
meat and drink, and we think of how it is put in verse 8.
It was to be roast meat. It was to be that which Christ
endured under the wrath of God. It was to be eaten with unleavened
bread, and we're told that in our text. It was to be in sincerity
and in truth. This church, the Corinthian church,
couldn't go on in open sin and in wickedness, it was that they
should be sincerely looking for deliverance from sin, and so
they should keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with
the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread
of sincerity and truth. And there is the secret with
sincerity and truth. And he goes on and applies it,
I wrote unto you in an epistle, not to keep company with fornicators,
and yet now I have written unto you, not to keep company with
any man that is called a brother, be a fornicator or covetous.
It comes close that those who really, if we really seek salvation,
Then there's to be the mortifying of sin. There's to be going out
unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. You know, we'll
never overcome sin ourselves. We'll never be delivered from
its power, its dominion, its guilt. But the Lord will make
a willingness that we be free. You know, it's one thing with
the children of Israel, By the time that they got to be brought
out of Egypt, they wanted to be free. They wanted to be brought
out. And so, also it was with bitter
herbs. How bitter was the sufferings
of our Lord. Our Lord's sin was laid upon
Him, the sins and iniquities of us all. But that bitterness
for sin, Oh, how sorrowful, how pained, what a weight it was
upon him! But for the people of God too,
they shall look upon him whom they have pierced, they shall
mourn for him, they shall be in bitterness for him. And so
this was what was going on, sheltering beneath the blood. We may say
in that, if we are sheltering beneath the blood, what is going
on as we shelter? Do we partake of Christ? Is He our mate? Is it that we
desire to be free of sin and to cast out that leaven which
so festers and rises up in our hearts? And is it that we have
that sorrow for sin? If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us.
from all unrighteousness, don't put it the other way round and
say well if I'm forgiven I need to cleanse myself from all unrighteousness
first and then the Lord will forgive me. No, confession of
sin, that is what is said before us there. Well with the children
of Israel then, it was another benefit that they were going
to be that very night delivered from bondage. Not only were they
delivered from death of the firstborn, but they were delivered from
their Egyptian bondage. Of all those years, immediately
set free, thrust out, separated, brought out by a high hand. If
the Son shall make you free, our Lord said, you shall be free
indeed. It is the Lord, it is the Gospel
that releases sinners from sin, not the law. not the law, the
law can only condemn, the law only binds burdens upon men,
but the precious Son of God, the Lamb of God, He sets free. And when the blood is shed, how
soon they were thrust out, they left in no doubt as to what was
the effectual method and way, and I believe that will be so
with us as well, that our blessings come from Christ, Our blessings
come from Calvary. Our blessings come from the Paschal
Lamb. The full benefit was that they
had a lasting memorial in the Passover ordinance. Our Lord,
before He suffered, He said to His dear disciples with desire,
I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. The well-known words as we conduct
the ordinance of the Lord's Supper in our churches, we read the
portions there in Matthew or Luke, or in Corinthians, where
we have it in that as they partook, as they were eating, that is
eating of the Passover, Jesus took bread and blessed. He instituted
the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. The Passover looked to Christ's
death. The Passover was a memorial for
the children of Israel. They were to remember what the
Lord had done and it pointed forward. The ordinance of the
Lord's Supper is observed now but it looks back. This do ye
in remembrance of me and do ye now until he come. It is a looking
forward to the Lord's second coming. He do show forth the
Lord's death till he come. The ordinance of the Lord's Supper,
it shows forth the Lord's death to the church as that which is
done in the clear light of the New Testament, and he replaces
the sacrifices of the Old Testament especially in the Passover. The
Lord was with his dear disciples that last Passover, and he, the
true Paschal Lamb, then fulfilled that. And in that last one he
instituted how his church were to remember it the same as the
children of Israel were to remember. The children of Israel were told
that when their children asked the meaning of it, they would
tell them. How many times, those of us who
observe the Lord's Supper, who know what it means, maybe have
been asked by children or grandchildren, what does that mean? Why do you
do it? Why do you observe it? Are we
able clearly to point to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ,
and what He hath accomplished at Calvary, and how that we shelter
beneath that precious blood, that that is our only plea, our
only hope, in the Lord Jesus Christ. We see so much in the
types, in the type of the Passover that is so strengthening to faith,
so strengthening to a poor sinner who has nothing to trust in or
shelter but in Christ alone. We read the whole account there
in Exodus 12, because how nice it is to see here is this instituted
and it all came to pass. The children of Israel, their
lives spared, the bondage taken away, the release, the sent out,
the benefits, the blessings that flow. May we know those same
sacred blessings to flow into our soul, and to know then that
that blood was shed for us, we truly are sheltering beneath
it, and therefore feed upon the Lord's death by faith. May the
Lord add his blessing. Amen.