Okay, let's turn to Exodus chapter
12. Exodus chapter 12. You've probably noticed in the
10 o'clock hour we've been jumping around a little bit,
but the theme that we've been staying with in every lesson
are types of Christ. We're looking at various places
in the Old Testament where our Lord Jesus Christ is typified.
Exodus 12 describes the very last night that the children
of Israel were in bondage in the land of Egypt. Now, the children
of Israel are a figure of God's true spiritual Israel. And they
were in bondage. elect child of God is by nature,
he's in bondage. Their life was bitter, it was
hard, they were slaves, there was no way for them to free themselves
out of bondage. But God had made a covenant long
before this with Abraham that he would deliver these children
out of bondage. And that in itself is an illustration
of how God the Father and God the Son entered into covenant
before the world began to deliver a people. And we have here an
illustration of how, a type of how, God delivers His people. Now we begin reading in verse
1. And we'll just take this verse by verse. And the Lord spake
unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month
shall be unto you the beginning of months. It shall be the first
month of the year to you." Now this would be the new beginning
for the children of Israel. This is going to be the date
they're going to mark their calendars by as the very beginning for
them. Whenever the Spirit of our God
enters into a sinner and creates him anew, It's the beginning. It's the day He's truly born. It's the first day. If any man
be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. Verse 3, He says, Speak ye unto
all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this
month they shall take to them every man a lamb. according to
the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house. Now the Lord Jesus
Christ is set before us throughout the scriptures as the lamb of
God. Christ, our Passover Lamb, is
sacrificed for us. That's what Paul told the Corinthians. This is a type of Christ in this
Lamb. In Revelation, He's called the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Abraham and Isaac
were going up that mountain, and Isaac said, Father, here's
the wood, here's the fire, where's the lamb? And Abraham prophesied
of Christ Jesus the Lord, and he said, My son, God will provide
Himself a lamb. And when John saw the Lord Jesus
Christ for the first time, When He came in human flesh and He
was walking this earth, John saw Him and he said, Behold the
Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world. So we
see here in this Lamb is a type, a picture of Christ Jesus, the
Lamb of God. Verse 4. And if the household
be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto
his house take it according to the number of the souls. Every
man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.
Every chosen child of God is in the family of God. We're brothers
and sisters in Christ Jesus. God is our Father. Christ Jesus
is the everlasting Father. And we all live by this same
spiritual meat. Christ the Lamb. He's our life. Verse 5. Your lamb shall be without
blemish, a male of the first year. You shall take it out from
the sheep or from the goats. The lamb had to be without blemish. It couldn't have any spot on
him, couldn't have any deformity about him, no blemish at all. The Lord Jesus Christ was born
of a virgin so that he was not contaminated by the seed of Adam. And he had to be so. He had to
become that holy thing. He had to come forth as he was
made of a woman, made under the law, and live righteously without
sin, without spot, without blemish before the law of God in order
for him to be a fit sacrifice for sin. A fit sacrifice to God. Peter said, For as much as you
know that you 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
without blemish and without spot. Now the lamb we see here was
a male. The head of the bride is the
man. The head of the woman is the
man. Christ, Adam, was a male. Adam was the federal head and
representative of all mankind. He's the first man, Adam. The last Adam is Christ, and
he's a male. Christ is the head of the bride.
He's the head of the church. He's the federal head and representative
of his people. Now, the Lamb was a male of the
first year. Christ was slain in the prime
of His life. And I think the significance
of that is that He willingly laid down His life. He willingly
went to the cross in the prime of His life, 30 some odd years
old, and laid down His life Himself. And this lamb could be taken
from the sheep or from the goats. Some of the commentaries made
this observation that the lamb, when we consider the lamb, we're
considering Christ and His spotless, sinless perfection. And when
we consider the goats, it could be taken from the goats. We consider
Christ as He was made sin for His people. For he hath made
him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. Now verse 6 says, And ye shall
keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month, and the
whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the
evening. Now the lamb was kept up until the fourteenth day of
that same month, until an appointed time. The time was appointed
of God when this lamb was to be slain. You know, our Lord
walked amongst sinners who had hatred in their hearts for God,
who had murder in their hearts against Him. And the scripture
says repeatedly, they continually sought to lay hands on Him. They
continually sought to take Him and kill Him. But no man could
do it because His hour was not yet come. the hour God had appointed
had not yet come. And when that time had come,
and it was time for Him to lay down His life, Jesus said, the
hour is come. The hour is come, that the Son
of Man should be glorified. At no point ever, ever, ever
since the creation of this world has God been out of control or
things have gone awry out of his purpose and out of his direct
control. Even the hour that he foreordained
and foreappointed that his son would lay down his life was in
his control. God's the controller of time.
God's the controller of men. God is the sovereign God of heaven
and earth. Now the whole assembly should
kill this lamb in the evening. The crucifixion of Christ is
attributed to the whole nation of Israel throughout the Scriptures. There's something else here for
God's true Israel, for His people. It's because of our sin that
Christ was put on the cross. When I sin, as I see myself rebelling
against God, when I see myself sin against God, this is what
I must always remember. This is sin that Christ died
for. Not to excuse my sin, not to
excuse my rebellion, but to cause bitterness, to cause me to mourn
that this very thing right here that I hate is what put my Savior
on the cross. Now verse 7 says, And they shall
take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts, and
on the upper door posts of the houses wherein they shall eat
it. Now Christ's blood had to be shed for His people. Turn
with me to Hebrews 9. Hebrews 9. Hold your place there
and look at Hebrews 9. Christ's blood had to be shed
for His people, and in the shedding of His blood, He justified us. He obtained eternal redemption,
Scripture said. But this blood has got to be
applied, brethren, to each one for whom he died. And only God
can apply this blood. Only God can make a sinner alive,
and only God can apply this blood. It has to be join to us for us
to rejoice in what great things God has done for us. Look at
Hebrews 9 verse 14. How much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God? Look down at verse 19. For when
Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to
the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats with water
and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and
all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament
which God hath enjoined unto you. By the application of this
blood, by the Spirit of God sprinkling us and purging our conscience
from dead works to serve the living God, we receive the atonement
with open, empty hands and we have peace with God. This is
how we enter into these great things that Christ has done for
us. Now back there in our text, Exodus
12, verse 8. And they shall eat the flesh
in that night, roast with fire and unleavened bread, and with
bitter herbs they shall eat it." Now here we have a good picture
of faith. A good picture of faith. Jesus
said, except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His
blood, you have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last
day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and
I in him. As the living Father has sent
me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he
shall live by me." When you eat something, it becomes
a part of you. And Christ Jesus, through faith,
believing on Christ Jesus, it's like eating. We become one with
Him. He in us and us in Him. One with
Him. This lamb here was roasted with
fire. It was roasted with fire. We're
going to say something else about this in a moment as it pertains
to faith. But here, let me just say this, that Christ Jesus endured
the holy fire of God's wrath for His people in the room instead
of His people. And as we behold this lamb that
was crucified at Calvary, we behold the substitute. We behold
one who bore God's wrath in my room instead, who laid down His
life that I might go free. And that's what faith perceives
and beholds and rejoices in. And then they ate this lamb with
unleavened bread. Leaven is a type of evil. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
5. 1 Corinthians 5. Leaven is a type of evil. As we believe on Christ, lay
hold of Christ, we add nothing. of our flesh with these sacrifices. We add no works of our hands,
we add no No justifying work of our hands. We had no sanctifying
work of our hands. We come to Christ. Being separated,
being truly sanctified is to be brought out from that lie,
that falsehood of thinking you by the work of your hand can
perfect yourself. It is to be perfected in the
Spirit of God. To be continually coming to Christ,
continually separated from this world to trust in Christ Jesus
alone. He's our separation. He's our
holiness. But look here with me, and we
partake of Christ in sincerity and truth. 1 Corinthians 5, 7.
Purge out, therefore, the old leaven, that ye may be a new
lump, as ye are unleavened. That's what you are. In spirit,
that's what you are. Paul says, now purge out that
old leaven, for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast,
not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and
wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
That's what we see here as they eat this sacrifice with unleavened
bread. It's in sincerity and truth.
Now, they also ate it with bitter herbs. When they ate it, they
ate it with bitter herbs. Accompanying faith is repentance. Repentance is a sorrowing, and
I'll tell you what, it is a sorrow over the most. It's a sorrow
over what our Savior had to bear and endure because of us, our
rebellion and our sin and our unbelief. It's Zechariah, he
said, by the Spirit of God's grace. When the Spirit enters
in, he said, the believer is going to look upon Christ, whom
we have pierced, and we're going to mourn for Him as one mourneth
for his only son. We're going to be in bitterness
for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Alright, verse 9, back in our
text. Exodus 12, verse 9. He says, eat not of it raw, nor
sodden it all with water, that is, not boiled in water, but
roast with fire his head with his legs, and with the pertinence
thereof. And you shall let nothing of
it remain until the morning, and that which remaineth of it
until the morning you shall burn with fire. The lamb was not to
be eaten raw. The lamb was not to be boiled
in water, but it was to be thoroughly roasted with fire, and all of
this lamb was to be eaten, and nothing was to be left over.
Believers receive Christ through faith, and we receive Him not
half-heartedly. That's what Paul was talking
about when he said, in sincerity and truth. Not half-heartedly,
not lukewarm in our commitment to God, in our service to God,
not partaking of some truth and passing by other truth. Do you
remember? This would be good for us to
read. Turn to Revelation 3. Revelation 3. Look down at verse 15. This is what
the Lord said to the church at Laodicea. He said, I know thy
works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would that thou wert cold or
hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm
and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because
thou sayest, I'm rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. And knowest not that thou art
wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I counsel
thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest
be rich, in white raiment that thou mayest be clothed, that
the shame of thy nakedness do not appear, and anoint thine
eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see. As many as I love,
I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. We are to receive all of Christ. We are to be committed wholeheartedly
to Christ Jesus the Lord, to this Gospel, to this work in
this place, to our brethren in this place, to eat all, to eat
all of Christ. And here is zeal in the next
part of our text. The next part of our text, verse
11, this is the zeal we're talking about. Exodus 12, 11. And thus
shall you eat it. Here's how you partake of this
lamb. With your loins girded, with your shoes on your feet,
and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste.
It is the Lord's Passover. This is how the believers to
partake of Christ. With your loins girded about
with truth. with the truth of this gospel,
desiring to hear this gospel preached. God has promised to
bless His people through the preaching of the gospel. He's
gone to great lengths to ensure that His people have the gospel
preached to them, brethren. And He doesn't take it lightly
when we take it lightly. is to be wholeheartedly with
our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. This
is how we're going to know how to walk. This is how we're going
to know how to take our steps in this world and journey on
this pilgrimage through this world. with the staff of faith
in our hands. And he says, and partaking of
him in haste, hasting to that day that we shall depart. Every
opportunity you have to eat, eat. And he said, eat this. Don't
tarry, eat him. Redeem the time. This is the
time you have to eat right now. You know when you're hungry and
you sit down at a table to eat, you don't have to be talked into
this. You don't have to be talked into eating. You eat. And sometimes
people have to tell you, slow down a little bit. Yes, He said,
eat this lamb. While you have this time, partake
of this lamb. Partake of this lamb. Eat of
this feast. Be wholeheartedly partaking of
this feast. and be eagerly anticipating leaving
this place. You see, we're not here, brethren,
to try to put our name on this world. Men like to put their
names on everything as if they're trying to convince somebody they
own it. We don't own anything here. We're not of this world.
We're pilgrims in this world. We're passing out of this world.
Don't put roots down in this world. Don't get tied down in
this world to things that you can't walk away from. Christ
is all. We're leaving this place. In
a very short time, we're leaving this place. And here's our motivation. This is the motivation. And if
this is not our motivation, we will not do this. And if this
motivation doesn't motivate you, nothing else will. It is the
Lord's Passover. It's the Lord's Passover. Christ
is the Lord's Passover. He chose the Lamb. He chose His
Son. He said, Behold mine elect whom
I uphold and whom my soul delighteth. He chose the Lamb. He chose who
would partake of this Lamb. Nobody in Egypt got a part of
this, but just the children of Israel. He sent forth this Lamb. He provided the Lamb. He sent
forth His only begotten Son to be the propitiation, the satisfaction,
the atonement for our sins. He slew the Lamb. God poured
out His own justice on His own Son, and He slew the Lamb. He satisfied His own justice,
because you and I couldn't do it. We couldn't do it. And He
applies the blood. He quickens and gives life through
the Spirit, and He gives the gift of faith, and He grants
repentance, and He draws us to Himself, and all the glory belongs
to Him. It's the Lord's Passover. Why
should I even worry about going and hearing the Gospel preached?
It's the Lord's Passover. If that's not motivation enough,
nothing will be. I've got nothing else to give
you. Verse 12. For I will pass through
the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And against all the
gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment. I am the Lord, and
the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where
you are. And when I see the blood, I will
pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy
you when I smite the land of Egypt." Everybody, all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt were smitten that night. All the firstborn
in the land of Egypt died that night, in the houses of Egypt
and in the houses of the Israelites. Every firstborn died that night
in Israel. The difference was Christ the
Lamb. This Passover Lamb died in the
place of the firstborn in the houses of Israel. Christ the
Lamb died in place of a multitude that no man can number, and because
the plague fell upon Him, The plague won't be upon his children
to destroy us. Those who are brought by God
to believe on Christ live and they go out free. They go out
free. There is therefore now no condemnation. No condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after
the spirit. to the praise of the glory of His grace, He hath
made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of His grace wherein He's abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence.
And He's made us to understand the mystery of His will according
to His good pleasure which He's purposed in Himself. Verse 14. And this day shall be unto you
for a memorial, and you shall keep it a feast to the Lord,
a feast to the Lord. Here's you some more motivation.
This is a feast to the Lord. We're here celebrating what the
Lord has done today. We're here rejoicing in what
the Lord has done. He's the guest of honor here
today. We shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations.
You shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. We don't
keep this feast. the temporal feast, the carnal
feast, but we keep it. We keep it. We keep it through
faith in His Son. Paul said, let us keep the feast
with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. We keep this feast.
We persevere, delighting in what our Father has done through His
Son. Now brethren, listen to me. God's
going to pass through again very soon. And He's going to smite
this Egypt we live in, this whole world, in judgment. Only those
that are under the blood, only those that are under the blood
of the Lamb through faith in Christ will God pass over. Where will you be found? Where
will you be when He comes again? Where will you be? This is what He says. He says, when I see the blood,
not when I see you, not when I look at your works. You know
where the children of Israel were? They were inside and the
door was shut. And the blood was over the doorposts
on the outside. And the Lord passed through and
He didn't look at them. He looked for the blood. He's
looking for His Son. And whomever His Son represents,
whoever's laid hold of His Son by faith, He says, when I see
the blood, I'll pass over you. And the judgment won't touch
you. It won't come near you. Because it's already passed.
It's already been satisfied in Christ Jesus. If you don't know
Christ, if you've never believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, flee
to Him today. Don't let your head lay down
on the pillow tonight without thinking on this long and hard. You need Christ. If you've never
trusted Him, if you've never believed on Him, you need the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. You need to be found under
the blood. I pray He'll give you grace to
seek Him. Just think, when I see the blood, I will pass over you."
Oh, that He might speak those words into your heart this morning
and make you understand this. When He says, when I see the
blood of my Son, I'll pass over you. There's great reason to
rejoice in that. Great reason to rejoice in that.
I pray He'll give you grace to believe on Him.