I'm so glad that you all were
at the Crawfish Bowl yesterday. I'm glad we had our friends from
down south were able to be here with us. I was called here to
minister to you, to serve you, and I truly enjoy serving you. Melinda and I both enjoy serving
you. I like to see you happy, and
I like to see you enjoying yourselves, and so that is a joy to me. I enjoy that crawfish boil very
much. I'm getting older, and I think
I'm going to have to depend on some of the younger fellows a
little more, but I do enjoy doing it, so. All right, Exodus 12. Exodus 12 and verse 29. Our text begins with the words,
and it came to pass. It came to pass. Everything that
God promised Moses that he would do, God brought it to pass. Everything God promised Abraham
over 400 years before, everything God promised Abraham, God brought
it to pass. It came to pass. What was it?
What did God promise and what was it God brought to pass? God
promised that He would redeem the children of Israel out of
Egyptian bondage. And when the time came, God did
just that. He redeemed the children of Israel
out of Egyptian bondage. God always brings His promises
to pass. Every time God makes a promise,
God brings it to pass. And it's because God is absolutely
sovereign. If you don't know what that means,
that means the scripture tells us, He worketh all things after
the counsel of His own will. What you see coming to pass on
a daily basis in this world is God working His own will. That's what's coming to pass.
If it was not God's will, it would not be coming to pass.
It's coming to pass because it serves God's purpose. God being
absolutely sovereign means that no man can get in God's way. No man can prevent God from bringing
to pass what God has determined to bring to pass. A man can make
all the promises he wants. If God hasn't commanded it, it's
not coming to pass. The scripture says, who is he
that saith, and it cometh to pass when the Lord commandeth
it not? We can say all we want to, but
if the Lord hadn't commanded it, it's not coming to pass.
And this sovereignty of God is one of the things that separates
God from all the other little man-made gods that are being
preached in churches all over the land. God said that. God
said, I am God and there's none like me. How? Declaring the end
from the beginning. God's absolutely sovereign. He
declares from ancient times the things that are not yet done,
saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. Yea, I've spoken it, I will also
bring it to pass. I've purposed it, I will also
do it. Now that's not the God being preached in most pulpits
today. The God being preached in most
pulpits today can only do what man allows Him to do. That's
not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible does as
He pleases. The comforting thing for God's
people in our text is that the things that are shown here in
God bringing Israel out of bondage and bringing them to worship
Him in this Passover feast, all of this is a picture of God delivering
His elect Israel out of bondage and bringing us to worship the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's a beautiful picture we have
here. How do you know this is a picture of that? Because the
Scripture says, Romans 15 verse 4 says, Whatsoever things were
written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through
patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. And then Paul
was speaking of Moses in Israel, and all the things that happened
to Moses right here in our text in Israel as they went through
the wilderness. And Paul said, all these things happened unto
them for examples, and they're written for our admonition, upon
whom the ends of the world are come. All of these things are
a beautiful picture. Paul even went so far as to say,
of His people, purge out the old leaven, for you are leaven,
because you're a new lump, you are leaven. Because Christ, our
Passover, is sacrificed for us. That's pointing directly to our
passage, telling us everything here is picturing Christ and
the redemption He accomplished for His people. So that's what
I want to show you. In our text, the Holy Spirit
is going to use Moses and Israel to teach us several specific
things. about the deliverance Christ
accomplished for His people. And this is what I want us to
see. Now first of all, Christ delivered His elect justly. He delivered His elect justly. Look at verse 29. It came to
pass that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the
land of Egypt. Get that word there, the Lord
smote 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, for
there was not a house where there was not one dead. Now catch that
phrase, there was not a house where there was not one dead. That means God slew the firstborn
in every house in Egypt. There was not a house where there
was not one dead. God slew all the firstborn in
the houses of the Egyptians. And God slew all the firstborn
in the houses of Israel. All the firstborn died that night
in all the houses in Egypt. God had to slay all the firstborn
because they were all guilty and God is just. That's why He
did it. We're all guilty. We all sinned
in Adam. And all men shall go under the
justice of God and be slain in justice. We all shall. God is
just and therefore all the guilty must die. They all must die. And they were guilty and so God
poured out justice on the firstborn. The difference was this. Remember
God said that you may know that I put a difference between the
Egyptians and Israel. The difference is this. God provided
a lamb to die in the place of all the firstborn in Israel.
He didn't provide that lamb for the firstborn in Egypt. He provided
it for the firstborn in Israel. And so that lamb died for them. And when God saw the blood upon
the houses, the doorposts of the houses, God passed over that
house. And He passed over that firstborn
because justice had already in type been carried out on that
firstborn. They had already died ceremonially
in that lamb who took their place. And so God passed them over.
And that's how God had mercy on the firstborn and how God
was just. Now, the reason he did this,
and here's what's being taught, God is a savior and God is just. Scripture says, when he saw Moses
put him in the cleft of the rock, that's a picture of being in
Christ, and that's where we see this glory of God. And here's
the glory he showed Moses. He said that he keeps mercy for
thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. And,
that will by no means clear the guilty. As a Savior, He keeps
mercy for thousands and forgives their iniquity and their transgression
and their sins. But as a just God, He does not
clear anyone. He does not clear anyone because
we are all guilty. We all sinned in our father Adam,
in that first representative head. And we are all guilty.
And since every person in this world is guilty, those for whom
God keeps mercy, those that God is going to forgive, iniquity
and transgression and sin, God also will by no means clear those
people. The same people He is going to
save, God has got to kill them in divine justice. He's got to
slay them in divine justice because God's justice demands it. In
order for God to remain a just God and His law to be honored,
God said, if the soul that sinneth, it shall surely die. And so for
God to remain just, He has to pour out justice on every guilty
sinner. Are you a guilty sinner? Whether we admit it or not, we
are. And God will pour out justice on us. He will pour out justice
on us. But how can He kill me in justice
and save me in mercy? How can He kill me in justice
and save me in mercy? There's only one way. And that's
what we see in our text. God can be a just God and slay
His guilty people. And a Savior keeping the mercy
and forgiving His people by God providing the lamb. His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, Christ our Passover. He provided the
lamb. And Christ went to the cross
for God's Israel, the particular people God chose and gave to
Christ. And He went to that cross and
He bore their sin and He made sin for them, made a curse for
them, and bore the justice of God for them. Just like He provided
that lamb just for the folks in Israel, just for the firstborn
in Israel. He didn't provide it for Egypt. God didn't provide
Christ for everybody. He provided Him. He knew who
He was dying for. He sent Him to die for a particular
people and accomplish their justification. And that's what God did in Christ.
He justified His people in Christ and He saved His people in Christ.
That's why scripture says, tell ye and bring them near ye, let
them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
time? Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I the Lord? And there's no God else besides
me, a just God and a Savior. A just God and a Savior. There's
none beside me. You see, why does God say there's
no other gods like me that does this? Because this is not what
men are declaring about their gods anywhere. I don't care if
they go under the banner of Christianity or if they go under the banner
of Buddhism. They're not a just God and a Savior. Their redemption
is not God remaining just by satisfying His own justice and
at the same time saving a people. It's only the Lord Jesus Christ,
God, the true and living God, sending His own Son that this
is accomplished. This sets Him apart from all
others. He said He came to declare His righteousness that He might
be just and the justifier of him that believes in Jesus. Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that
justifieth. Who shall condemn? It's Christ
that died. Now let me ask you a question.
Do you see yourself and own yourself to be a guilty sinner? In the
end, in the end, every sinner will have died under the justice
of God because God is just. The difference will be God by
His sovereign choice chose whom He would and sent His Son to
die as their substitute in their place honoring His justice and
saving His people from our sin. And I'll tell you how you'd know
if you're one of God's elect. We believe this. We believe on
Christ. That's the only way you know.
Those that are not God's elect says, I will not have that God
reign over me. He's going to reign over you.
He's going to reign over you. This is the true and living God.
I pray the day He come and give you a new heart and make you
willing, willing, cast it all in His hand. He's a merciful
God. He's a loving God. But He's going
to do it justly. He's going to do it justly. Now
secondly, by His death, Christ spoiled all our enemies. He spoiled all our enemies. Look
here in Exodus 12, 31. Pharaoh called for Moses and
Aaron by night and said, Rise up, get you forth from among
my people, both ye and the children. Go, serve the Lord as you said. Take your flocks and your herds
if you said. Be gone. and bless me also."
It's too late for that. He sent his word to Pharaoh over
and over and over and Pharaoh rejected it over and over. It's
too late for blessing now. Judgment's come. Now he tells
them, go, verse 33, and the Egyptians were urging upon the people that
they might send them out of the land in haste, for they said,
we be all dead men. Look down at verse 35. And the children of Israel did
according to the word of Moses. This is what Moses spoke way
back there. He said, they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver,
jewels of gold, and raiment. And the Lord gave the people
favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such
things as they required, and they spoiled the Egyptians."
You've got to understand, we're talking about slaves here. These
are men that have been slaves for over 400 years in Egypt. And they walk up to these Egyptians
and say, we want your gold and your silver. We're going to need
it. We're going to go out here and
God's going to have some things he's going to make us build to
build his tabernacle. We're going to need a lot of
gold and silver. And would you give me that gold and silver?"
And the Egyptians said, sure. And they gave it to him. Why? It says God gave them favor in
the eyes of the Egyptians. So they spoiled the Egyptians.
You know what it is to spoil somebody? The king who goes and
conquers his foe, He takes his most valuable possessions from
him. That's the spoils. The spoils
of the victory. To the victor go the spoils.
He takes all the spoils, the valuable possessions. And so
that's what you have here. You have a picture of God's people,
by God's grace, getting all the spoils from their enemy as they
go forth. The Lord took these spoils from
the Egyptians, took all their valuable silver and gold, and
by giving Israel favor in the eyes of the Egyptians, He spoiled
them and gave those spoils to His people. He gave those spoils
to his people. And that pictures Christ taking
the spoils from his enemy and giving those spoils to his people.
That's what it's a picture of. This came to pass, it says, because
they did what Moses said would happen. Way back in chapter 11,
Moses, the Lord told Moses he was going to bring this to pass.
And then it came to pass. Well, God promised beforehand
through the prophets that Christ is going to spoil all his enemies.
Look at Jeremiah 30 and verse 16. He said he's going to do
this for his people. Jeremiah 30 verse 16. This is a picture of Christ right
here doing this for his people. Jeremiah 30 verse 16. He says,
Therefore, all they that devour thee shall be devoured. And all
thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity.
And they that spoil thee shall be a spoil. And all that pray
upon thee will I give for prey, God said. Look at Isaiah 53,
verse 11. Who's going to do this? How's
God going to do this? Who's He going to do it in? He's
going to do it in Christ. Look at Isaiah 53, verse 11. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore will I divide with him a portion with the great,
and he shall divide the spoiled with the strong. Because he poured
out his soul unto death, he was numbered with the transgressors,
and he bared the sin of many, and he made intercession for
the transgressors. Go over to Colossians 2 now.
it came to pass. God said it beforehand through
his prophets and just like in our text, God brought it to pass. Colossians 2. And look at verse 14. It says
here, Christ came and He blotted out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out
of the way, nailing it to His cross. He came and He fulfilled
the law for His people. Look, and having spoiled principalities
and powers, He made a show of them openly triumphing over them
in it, in that work He did. He spoiled all His enemies. Now go over to Matthew 12. In
regeneration, Christ comes and He binds the devil. When He comes
and regenerates His child, Christ comes and you right now sitting
here that don't know the Lord, you're under the power of the
Prince of the air. That means you're under the power
of the devil. Not only do you not have a will to believe on
the Lord, you can't do it because the devil's got his power upon
you and you can't. Even if there was some willingness
in you, you still couldn't get out from under his power. But
Christ came to deliver us from him, who through fear of death
were all our lifetime subject to bondage. He through death
delivers us. And so what does he say here?
Verse Matthew 12, 28. If I cast out devils by the Spirit
of God, then the kingdom of God has come unto you. He would cast
devils out of a man. And he says, and if I do this
by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.
In other words, I'm the Christ, I've come. Look, or else how
can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except
he first bind the strong man and then he will spoil his house.
It's just like Isaiah said. Our Lord Jesus Christ come and
because He fulfilled the whole law, He took all the sin of His
people and put it away. He fulfilled all the laws so
that the law can't charge us with anything. There's no sin
that God sees in His people anymore. And so the devil has no more
power over his people because that's all he had to accuse us
with was blaming us with the law and blaming us because of
our sin before the Father. He can't do that now because
Christ has put it all away. But then Christ comes in regeneration
and gives a new heart to His people. And what He's doing is
He's entering the devil's house, the strong man's house, and binding
the devil. And then He spoils the devil. He takes his most prized possession.
That's God's elect child that the devil had in his grip. He
takes that most valued possession from the devil and spoils him
and takes him out of his house. And as Isaiah said, and he's
going to divide those spoils with the strong. When he's called
out one of his elect out of the devil's power and he spoiled
that child of God from him, then he gives that newborn child of
God to his people, to his church that he's made strong by his
grace to be brothers and sisters with us in the Lord. That's how
He spoils His people. There will not be, in the end,
there will be not one person for whom Christ died that will
remain under the power of the strong man. Our Lord Jesus Christ
will spoil every last redeemed child from under His power. Every
one of them. And then here's the next thing
we see. Christ delivers all His people. He delivers all His people. Exodus 12, 37. The children of
Israel journeyed from Ramses to Sukkoth, about 600,000 on
foot that were men beside children, and a mixed multitude went up
also with them, and flocks and herds, even very much cattle.
Now we don't know exactly how many Israelites were delivered
that night, but he tells us here there were 600,000 men. That's
men 20 years old and above. There were 600,000 men. That's
not counting the women and the children under 20 years old. So it was a host of people that
he delivered. And we see here that he delivered
a mixed multitude. There were some Gentiles he brought
out that were not of Israel. And what we're seeing here, the
picture is, Christ shall save a multitude that no man can number. And they're going to be from
among Jew and Gentile. See, Israel thought only, only,
Children of Israel, only the natural sons of Abraham were
the elect. That's why Christ came to Nicodemus
and he said, he said, God so loved the world that he sent
his only begotten son. He was saying to him, God doesn't
only have an elect people among Israel, among the Jews, he's
got an elect people among the Gentiles also. And Scripture
always declared this. Go to Genesis 15, 15. And I want
you to hold your place here in Genesis 15. I'm going to come
back here in just a moment. But I want you to look at what
God told Abraham at the very beginning. This was God's covenant.
Genesis 15, 5. He brought him forth abroad and
he said, Look now toward heaven and tell the stars if thou be
able to number them. And he said unto him, So shall
thy seed be. You're going to have more children
than can be numbered. More children than can be numbered.
And in addition to that, this multitude that he's talking about
here was among Jew and Gentile. He told Abraham, all the nations
of the earth are going to be blessed through Christ that's
coming through your lineage. That means he had an elect people
among Jew and Gentile. Go to Revelation 7 and look at verse 9. It says here, after this I beheld,
Revelation 7, 9, after this I beheld and lo, a great multitude, which
no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and
tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed
with white robes and palms in their hands, and cried with a
loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon
the throne, and unto the Lamb. You see that? He brought out,
not just Israel, He brought out a mixed multitude. And Christ
right now is calling out, not only elect from among, He not
only has elect from among the Jews, but He has His elect scattered
among this world, among the Gentiles. Aren't you thankful for that,
brethren? Most of us sitting right here, if I'm not mistaken,
all of us, are Gentiles. And I'm glad He's got elect among
the Gentiles. See, it's not natural, it's not
your natural birth that determines anything. It doesn't matter who
your mother or your father is. Abraham had more sons than just
Isaac. He had Ishmael. But God said,
send Ishmael away. He was a son of the flesh. He
was a son of the work of his hands. Isaac was that son God
promised and He brought him forth. And Isaac had more than two sons. He had Jacob and Esau. They were
twins, conceived at the same time, of the same mother, the
same father, in the same womb. And before they had done any
good or evil that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, God said, the elder shall serve the younger. God
said, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. See, God's people
are determined by who God says are His people. God chooses whom
He will by His grace, not based on anything good or evil in us. It's by grace. And Scripture
says if it's by grace, then it's no more of works. They can't
go together. If it's of grace, it's not of
works, or grace is not grace. If it's of works, it can't be
of grace, or works are not works. They don't go together. They're
like oil and water. You can't mix them. Grace is
how God saves. Grace. Men don't like that because
men don't think they're sinners. But when God makes you know you're
a sinner and what you really deserve, you'll be so glad God
chose you simply because He would. Because then you'll know if He
hadn't done it that way, if He'd looked for something in me, He'd
have never chosen me. Never. All right, fourthly, in
all of this, Christ fulfilled God's everlasting covenant. In
all this we see the covenant fulfilled and that's how Christ
saves his people. Fulfilling the covenant of God. Exodus 12, 40. It says, Now the
sojourning of the children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was
four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end
of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day
it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from
the land of Egypt. Now listen to this statement.
The children of Israel went to Egypt, became slaves, were multiplied,
gained wealth, and were delivered all according to God's covenant
that He made with Abraham over 400 years before. Everything
from their fall and their bondage to their multiplying, to their
being enriched, to their being brought out. All of it was given
to Abraham in a covenant. God said it was all going to
come to pass. He promised it would. Go with me to Genesis
15 again. Genesis 15 verse 5. We read verse 5, he brought it
forth, showed him, you're not going to be able to number your
children, there's going to be so many of them. And then he
says in verse 6, And Abraham believed in the Lord, and he
counted it to him for righteousness. He imputed righteousness to him,
he believed God. Now watch this, verse 7. And
he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of the
ur of the Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit it. That
was, now be sure to get this, that was 30 years before, 30
years before this time that they're standing there right now, God
had brought Abraham out of an idolatrous land. and brought
him out. Now watch this, verse 9. And
he said unto him, Take me a heifer of three years old, and a she
goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and
a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these,
and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against
another. But the birds divided he not. Now God is making a covenant
here, but he makes this covenant in the blood of a sacrifice.
That's what we just saw there. All these animals were slain
and the blood spilled and he made this covenant in the blood
of a sacrifice. Look at verse 13. And he said unto Abram, know
of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that
is not theirs and shall serve them. See, their fall into Egyptian
bondage was part of God's covenant to Abraham. And look at this,
and they shall afflict them 400 years. That says 400 years. Our
text says it's 430 years. But if you add those 30 years
back there from when God brought Abraham out of Ur, and you add
400 years of God's promises here that they're going to be embodied,
you have 430 years. And it was 430 years to the day
God brought him out. He promised it to Abraham right
here. Now look at verse 14. And also that nation whom they
shall serve will I judge. and afterwards shall they come
out with great substance." That's what we saw in our text. God
judged them, He judged the Egyptians, the night the Lamb died. And
Christ said when He went to the cross, now is the judgment of
this world. When Christ died at Calvary,
all His people were judged because they died in Him and all the
rest of the world was judged too because judgment was settled
at Calvary's cross. for all for whom Christ died.
God said, I'm going to judge that nation, and then I'm going
to bring them out with great substance. And He brought them
out rich, with all the riches of the Egyptians. And He says
this in verse 18, In the same day the Lord made a covenant
with Abram, and saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land,
from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
That means back there 400 years before. From the beginning, God
had already given the children of Israel the land of promise
in covenant to Abraham. They already possessed it. They
hadn't even been born yet. That nation hadn't even been
sprung up yet and they possessed it already. What does all that
mean? Go back to Exodus 12.41. Exodus
12.41. It says in Exodus 12, verse 41,
And it came to pass, at the end of four hundred and thirty years,
even the selfsame day, it came to pass, as soon as that blood
of the lamb was shed, all the hosts of the Lord, including
the mixed multitude, went out from the land of Egypt. And they
went out with great substance, just like the Lord said they
would. Everything God said, He brought it to pass. This picture
is God's covenant of grace to deliver His people in and by
Christ. before the world was made. Just
like before Abraham, before Israel was, God made this covenant with
Abraham. And before this world was, before
any of His people were made, God made a covenant with Christ,
God the Father, and Christ His Son in eternity. And Christ fulfilled
everything to bring it all to pass. Our fall into bondage in
Adam was part of God's covenant in Christ. It was all determined
beforehand. Just as the Lord protected Israel
whenever they went into Egypt and Pharaoh started throwing
the firstborn in the river and trying to kill them off and destroy
the name of Israel, God protected them. When the devil entered
the garden and Adam was brought to sin against God and plunged
the whole world into sin and death, God preserved His elect
in Christ through that fall because He promised to save us in Christ. Just like the Lord's covenant
with Abraham was made sure in the blood of a sacrifice, God's
covenant towards His people was made sure in the lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. Before as yet God ever made the
world or made a grain of sand, Christ was slain in the mind
and purpose of God when He struck hands with God and said, I'll
be surety for them. Whatever they owe you, you put
it to my charge. And He went forth and He did
what He said. He's surety from the foundation
of the world. His blood was shed from before
the world was made because it could not be changed. God cannot
lie. He's got to fulfill His covenant.
And just like God's covenant guaranteed Israel would come
out of Egypt with great riches, God's covenant of grace in Christ
made us come out of bondage with the unsearchable riches of Christ. They came out decked in all these
different jewels of the Egyptians. We come out decked in the riches
of Christ Jesus the Lord, robed in His righteousness, made holy
by Christ in you, the hope of glory being our sanctification.
Redemption accomplished. Justification accomplished. Full
acceptance with God. Unsearchable riches of Christ
that He's robed us with. All because it was promised in
a covenant before the world was made. Just like it was God's
covenant to Israel that they would get this promised land
and it was already theirs. It already belonged to them.
Before as yet they even came into existence. Before as yet
they'd even been in bondage. Much less before they were redeemed.
It was theirs. And brethren, I'm telling you,
before God made time and He made you and me, God had already given
us heaven's glory in His Son. And when time is no more, we're
going to see we're right where we've been from the very beginning.
That's eternal talk and I can't go beyond that. It's just time
is a bubble and that's what we're in. And when time's no more,
we're going to see that God determined this thing from the beginning.
And we've been in that promised land with Him from the beginning.
He gave it to us from the beginning. And He settled the exact time.
He told Abraham the exact time they'd be in bondage, the exact
time they'd be delivered. And He brought them out even
the selfsame day. And our Lord, He determined the
exact time Christ would come into this world in the In the
fullness of the time, the scripture says. That's the wording. In
the fullness of the time. Christ came, born of a woman.
And He went through this life and people tried to lay their
hands on Him and kill Him, but they could not because His hour
had not come. It was in the fullness of time.
When the hour that was determined before the world was made, when
that hour came, then Christ said, now it's your hour. And I'll
let you nail me to a cross now. And He went to the cross because
that was the exact hour it was determined He would justify His
people, bring us out. And then the hour was determined
when He's going to send this gospel to everyone that He redeemed
and He's going to quicken them and give them a brand new heart
and bring them to faith in Christ and deliver them out of the bondage
of sin and death. The hour was determined. That
makes me so thrilled to know that I can preach this gospel
and I don't have to water it down. I don't have to resort
to the tactics that vain religion resorts to. I can just stand
on my hind legs and preach the gospel in truth and I know God's
going to call out His people. Right on time. Right on time.
And concerning God's covenant with Abraham, we read, and it
came to pass. Everything came to pass. And
concerning God's covenant, you can be sure all the promises
of God in Christ are yes and in Christ amen unto the glory
of God by us. That means there's not one promise
that he's not going to fulfill. Isn't that good? Isn't that much
better to have a covenant God that told you beforehand how
He's going to do it and then bring it all to pass just like
He said He would? That makes me see God as all-powerful,
all-wise, all-glorious. Doesn't it to you? All right,
fifthly, Christ shall make this covenant in the hearts of each
of his saints in regeneration. He's going to make this covenant
in their hearts, Exodus 12, 47. He said this feast, concerning
this feast of the Passover, all the congregation of Israel shall
keep it. And what I preached to you not long ago showed you
that Passover feast is not only a picture of us observing the
Lord's table, it's a picture of us observing this gospel feast. Every time we come and partake
of the gospel, we're partaking of the feast of Christ our Passover. And he says, all Israel is going
to partake of it, verse 48, and when a stranger shall sojourn
with thee, a Gentile, and he wants to keep the Passover to
the Lord, let all his males be circumcised and then let him
come near and keep the feast. And he shall be as one that's
born in the land. And no uncircumcised person shall
eat thereof. There's one law to him that's
home born and unto the stranger. And so they did that that the
Lord said. What does that circumcision mean?
Under the old covenant, circumcision was an operation performed on
a newborn boy, each newborn boy in Israel, when they were eight
days old, by which unclean flesh was removed. And what that pictured
is, it pictured regeneration. It pictured circumcision of the
heart. where that's performed by the
Holy Spirit upon a sinner who is as helpless as an eight-day-old
infant. He's as helpless to resist it
as an eight-day-old infant. That's why it was done at eight
days old. The regeneration of the heart by the Holy Spirit
is irresistible. And then that sinful flesh, that
old corrupt flesh is put away, is put down, is put off, and
a new man is put on in regeneration. Let me show you that. I'm running
out of time, but let me show you this real quick. Romans 2.28.
He is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision
which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew which is one
inwardly. Circumcision is that of the heart
in the Spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but
of God. You see that? God does this work
in the heart. That's what circumcision pictured.
given a new heart where we're able to worship God. And by circumcision,
the children of Israel were separated and distinguished from all other
people. No other people had circumcision but the children of Israel. It
set them apart, it distinguished them, it made them different
than all other people. Well, when God gives us a new
heart, circumcising the heart, and brings you to faith in Christ,
that distinguishes you from all other people in the world. You
know why? We're the only people, Paul said, we are the circumcision,
which worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
have no confidence in the flesh. Nobody else under the banner
of Christianity that's not been born of God can say that. Because
they all have confidence in their flesh in some regard. And that
means they don't only rejoice in Christ. And they don't only
rejoice by the Spirit of God. But you that are circumcised
in the heart, we worship God in the Spirit, rejoice only in
Christ and have no confidence in the flesh. That's the distinguishing
mark. That's the distinguishing mark. And by circumcision, all
the promises and blessings of the old covenant were sealed
to the Israelite for life. And when God brings us to faith
in Christ through this circumcision of the heart, it says, in Christ
you also trusted after you heard the word of the truth, the gospel
of your salvation, and whom also after that you believed, you
were sealed. with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest
of our inheritance, and to the redemption of the purchased possession,
to the praise of His glory. He sealed to you, in your heart,
all the covenant promises of God. And just like Israel and
that mixed multitude, when we're circumcised in the heart, there's
just one law for Jew and Gentile. There's just one law no matter
who you are. And it's the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It
is faith which worketh by love. That's the rule we're under.
The just shall live by faith. We believe on Christ and believing
on Christ we fulfill the whole law of God because Christ has
fulfilled the whole law of God for us. We've honored it better
than you and I could have ever honored it even if we could have
kept it. He did it. And now we do everything we do
constrained, not by Moses, not by the law, we're constrained
by the love of Christ for us and showing us so great love
and in our love for Him and our brethren with faith which worketh
by love. That's the rule believers are
under. And now, I want you to make sure hearing all that, be
sure to understand New Testament circumcision is not baptism. It's not infant baptism. It's
circumcision of the heart. Circumcision didn't even picture
baptism. It pictured circumcision of the heart. Alright, sixthly,
I believe this is the last thing. By Christ, through this work
of the Spirit, we now are delivered to worship God our Father and
our Lord Jesus Christ for bringing this great salvation to us. We
can now worship Him. Look here at Exodus 12, 51. 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. And He told them there, He said,
this is a day to be much observed. It's a day to be much observed.
Look at verse 42. It's 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 so the Lord, after He brought
them out, then they started observing this great deliverance and worshiping
the Lord by partaking of this Passover feast. And when He's
done all this work for us and given us a new heart and brought
us to faith in Christ, now we're delivered from the bondage we're
in so that we can begin to worship God, thanking Him and constantly
observing This great deliverance. This is a deliverance to be much
observed. Christ and Him crucified. Christ
and the free justification He's accomplished for His people.
Every time we gather, this is the message we're gathering to
hear. This is what Paul meant when he said, Purge out therefore
the old leaven that you may be a new lump as ye are leavened. That means right now you have
no sin. You that Christ died for, you
that Christ abides in, before God who sees all things, you
have no sin. You are unleavened. So purge
out all the old leaven of works and these vain ideals that there's
something we need to add. Purge all that out. Because you
are leaven, because Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep this feast.
Let us observe Christ and His great sacrifice every time we
gather together, hearing Christ exalted, hearing God our Father
exalted, hearing God the Holy Spirit exalted, hearing our triune
God being praised for salvation is of the Lord. Every time we
come together, this is the feast we're keeping. This is a deliverance
to be much observed. Don't you agree? Don't you agree? I pray God will bless that. Amen.