Turn back with me to Exodus 12.
Exodus chapter 12, let's read verses 14 and 15 again. It says, verse 14, And this day, this day shall be unto you for
a memorial, and you shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout
your generations. You shall keep it a feast by
an ordinance forever. Seven days shall you eat unleavened
bread. Even the first day you shall
put away leaven out of your houses for whosoever eateth leavened
bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall
be cut off from Israel. Unleavened bread. Seven days. That's the number of perfection.
It's the number of completeness, fulfillment. Seven days. Seven days shall you eat unleavened
bread. Leaven puffs up. That's what leaven does. It puffs
up. It represents pride and self. That's what it represents. Our
Lord said, completely do away with pride and self. That's what He's saying. completely. Do away with pride and self.
Verse 17 says, And you shall observe the feast of unleavened
bread. For in the selfsame day have
I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore
shall you observe this day in your generations by an ordinance
forever. Observe this day for a particular
reason. The Lord Jesus Christ said, the
reason is because of what I have done. Alright, that's the reason. Not you, me. Now what is this
day? What is the day he's talking
about? I can tell you this, we do observe that day. And the babies are having fun,
aren't they? And that's okay. We do observe that day. We observe it every time we meet
together. Every single time. In our hearts,
in our minds, we observe it every single day. We don't observe a day. You know why I'm on this? You
know what today is? We don't observe a day. We observe
the reason for that day. We don't celebrate a day. Here it comes on the calendar.
Here it comes on the calendar. It's the day. We celebrate what happened on
that day. Now, what day is he talking about?
Turn with me over to Mark 14. Mark 14, verse 1 says, After two days was the feast
of the Passover and of unleavened bread. We just read about it
back in Exodus. Unleavened bread. And the chief
priest and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft
and put him to death. But they said, Not on the feast
day, lest there be an uproar of the people." Not on the day
of celebration that our Lord told us to have. We read about
it in Exodus. What day are they talking about?
Go with me to Acts chapter 12. Acts chapter 12 verse 1 says, Now about that time Herod the
king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church,
and he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because
he saw it please the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter
also. Then were the days of unleavened
bread. The days we just read about in
Exodus 12. unleavened bread. Verse 4 says, And when he had
apprehended him, he put him in prison and delivered him to the
four quaternions of soldiers to keep him, intending after
Easter to bring him forth to the people. After Easter. This day to be remembered Completely
denying self. This day to be celebrated, completely
abasing self, they called in Acts chapter 12, Easter. That's the day that the Lord
said, keep it for a memorial and hold a joyful feast. Why? Well, I can tell you this, it
has absolutely nothing to do with rabbits and eggs. Nothing. I'm not a Scrooge when it comes
to that kind of stuff. We're going to have an Easter
egg hunt today. Kids like to find the eggs. I like to watch
them find the eggs. But none of that stuff has anything
to do with the Lord Jesus Christ. None of that stuff. It's not even worth wasting our
breath over that, have all that started. We're not even going
to go there. We don't have time for that. It's fun and that's fine. We
just leave it at that. But there is a reason that we
keep. There is a reason that we hold
to and we cling to. And we rejoice in this ordinance
that the Lord told us to remember. And again, it has nothing to
do with the day. April 20th, or whatever day it falls on every
year, is no more special than April 19th, yesterday. Nothing to do with the day. The
meaning of the word Easter is what we celebrate. The meaning
of the word. Here's what the word means. It
only has one definition. Sometimes you look up these words
and it's a paragraph full of definitions. It only has one
meaning, one definition. Here's what it is. Passover. That's what it means. Passover. The Passover is what we cling
to. The Passover is what we rejoice
in. The Passover is what we celebrate
every time we come into this building to worship God. Every
single time. Now here's our question for the
morning. What is the Passover? Here we all are on Easter. What is the Passover? Go back
with me to Exodus and we'll find out. Exodus chapter 11 this time. Exodus 11 verse 1 says, And the Lord said unto
Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterwards he will let you go
hence. When he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you
out hence altogether. Verse 4 says, And Moses said,
Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst
of Egypt, 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 beast. 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. Egypt in the scripture
represents this world. And God sent plagues to Egypt
because of its sin. That's the reason. And this world
is still plagued by sin. Still. Death comes by sin. This was not just a problem for
them. The Lord sent these plagues and this Death, it was not just
a problem for them. It was not just God punishing
them. This is a problem for us. It's a big problem for us. It's a big problem. I hope I take it seriously enough. God is punishing sinners in this
world today. You know how we know that? People
are dying. That's how we know that. People
are dying. They're dying because of their
sin. That's the whole reason for death. There's only one reason.
Sin. It is appointed unto man once
to die. And the reason is because of
his sin. That's the whole reason. Until
the Lord Jesus Christ returns, every human being that walks
this planet is going to die a physical death. Every one of them. And
that's because of his sin. But that physical death, here's
what I would love for Kingsport to hear. That physical death
is not the one we need to be worried about. Death is coming,
but that physical death is not the one we need to be worried
about. Turn with me to Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12 verse 1 says, In the meantime, when there were
gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch
that they trod upon one another, he began to say unto his disciples,
first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which
is hypocrisy. Our feast of remembrance must
be without leaven. without pride, without self.
Verse two, for there's nothing covered that shall not be revealed.
Neither hid that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever you
have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light. And that
which you have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed
upon the housetop. And I say unto you, my friends,
be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have
no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom
you shall fear. Fear him which after he hath
killed hath power to cast into hell. Yea, I say unto you, fear
him." Who is he talking about? Satan? The Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. The fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Go with me to Revelation
chapter 1. Revelation 1 verse 1 says, the
revelation of Jesus Christ. Verse 18 says, I am He that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am
alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell
and death. I'm holding the keys of hell
and death. Go to chapter 2 verse 11. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. He that overcometh
shall not be hurt of the second death. What does that mean? Go to Revelation 20. Verse 14 says, And death and hell were
cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Tell
the world, death is coming. That's what God told Moses to
say, isn't it? Tell the world, death is coming. Warn the blind, death is in front
of you. Warn the deaf, Death is on your
heels. Tell the world death is coming.
But, there's the word, but there is
something worth remembering. There is something that's going
to make us want to hold a joyful feast of remembrance. Go back with me to Exodus 11. The Lord said, Tell the world
that death is coming. But Exodus 11 verse 7 says, But against any of the children of
Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast,
that you may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between
the Egyptians and Israel. The Lord said, I have put a difference. I have chosen some people to
be my people and I'm going to spare them from this death that's
coming. I'm going to save their souls.
That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to protect them to
the point that spiritually speaking, a dog is not even going to bark
at them. He said, I'm going to do that
that you may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between
the Egyptians and Israel, between the world and my people. There's
a difference. Well, God actually loves everybody
the same. Christ actually died for everybody. Not according to God's Word. Not according to his own word,
the Lord Jesus Christ said, I pray for them. I pray not for the
world, but for them which thou hast given me, they are thine. Well, in order for God to spare
his own, what has to happen? Because according to the word
of the Lord, death has to come to the firstborn in every house. Every house. Every house in the
land, he said. Every single house in the land.
Death has to come to every single house in the land. How could
he spare his own and still fulfill his word that death is coming
to every house? Don't you rejoice if you know
the answer? Look at chapter 12, verse 3,
it 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. 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." Moses, you
tell them they need a lamb. They gotta have a lamb. Death
is coming. How do you think Moses told all
the children of Israel? Do you think he said, hey, spread
the word if you can. Everybody needs to get a lamb. You must have a lamb. I'm telling you the truth. I'm
telling you the truth. Death is coming. Death is coming. And you must have a lamb. You
got one hope. God said there's one way. There's one truth. There's one life. And it is in
a lamb. It's in a lamb. He said, tell the congregation
of Israel. He didn't say tell the whole
world. He didn't say tell all the Egyptians too. They need
a lamb too. They did. But he told Moses,
you tell my people. Tell my people. Every house must
have a lamb. Verse five says, your lamb shall
be without blemish. A male of the first year, you
shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats. So any animal
will do. No. It's got to be without spot. It's got to be without blemish.
It's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take
away sin. This must be the Lord Jesus Christ, the lamb of God. the lamb without spot, the male
of the first year. Our Lord is the firstborn among
many brethren. He's the firstborn of this house.
This house. He's our elder brother. And in
that house, the oldest son must die. Verse six says, you shall keep
it up until the 14th day of the same month and the whole assembly
of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. What did all the people say as
he stood before them? Crucify him. Crucify him. They meant it for
evil. God meant it for good. Verse 7 says, And they shall
take of the blood and strike it on the two side post and on
the upper door post of the house wherein they shall eat it. Let
it be known, listen to this, death has already come to this
house. Death is coming through. You let it be known, death has
already happened here. You put that blood out and you
show that blood. And when death comes through,
let it be known, death already came to this house. Our firstborn has already died.
Our elder brother already died. Verse 8 says, And they shall
eat the flesh in that night. This is urgent. Death is coming tonight. Today is a day of salvation.
Tomorrow may be too late. You think about how many people,
I wonder how many people heard that and thought, yeah, right. But thanks be to God, somebody
grabbed him and said, you got to get in this house. And that's
what God's Holy Spirit did to us. God's Holy Spirit grabs His
people and He says, you got to get in this house. I need a substitute right now.
Tomorrow is too late. I need a lamb right now. Verse
8 says, they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire. That substitute is going to take
the fiery wrath of God for you. So verse 8 says, eat it with
unleavened bread. There's no room for pride in
this. We are not going to have an Easter pageant after this
message this morning. We're not going to have an Easter
play. There is no room for pride in
this. Your lamb gets all the glory
for this. Your lamb is the one who suffered
all the punishment. Your lamb is the one who endured
all the wrath. Your lamb is the one who gave
himself for his own. So, when you take of that lamb,
take it with unleavened bread. Unleavened bread. I didn't save
myself. He saved me. There's no room
for I. May God continually let me start
exiting out the word I, me, and my. He, him, and his. Verse 8 says, They shall eat
the flesh in that night, roast with fire and unleavened bread,
and with bitter herbs shall they eat it, eat not of it raw, nor
sodden at all with water, but roast with fire, his head with
his legs 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. Don't water down the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't water down your own sins.
Don't water down the wrath and the punishment that was coming
to you. Don't sodden it with water and don't let any of it
remain. There is plenty. There is plenty for all of His
people, but there's going to be none left over. Not one drop of the blood of
Jesus Christ was shed in vain. Not one drop. Every drop was
spoken for. Verse 11 says, And thus shall
you eat it, with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and
your staff in your hand. You shall eat it in haste. It
is the Lord's Passover. This is urgent. 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 wherein you are, and when I see the blood." The God of judgment said, when
I see the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, when I see justice fulfilled,
when I see judgment for sin satisfied, paid in full, When I see His
precious blood, I will pass over you. When I see His blood, I'll
pass over you. That's amazing, isn't it? Verse 13 goes on to say,
And the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite
the land of Egypt. The song says, Christ our Redeemer
died on the cross. died for the sinner and paid
all his due. Sprinkle your soul with the blood
of the Lamb, and I will pass, I will pass over you. It says
judgment is coming. All will be there. Each one receiving
justly his due. Hide in the saving sin-cleansing
blood, and I will pass, I'll pass over you. That makes my
heart glad. That really does. That really does. That's something
I want to celebrate. Christ, my Passover. Christ,
my Passover. Verse 14 says, and this day. This day shall be unto you for
a memorial and you shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout
your generations. You shall keep it a feast by
an ordinance forever. This day today. No different
from any other day. And every day is worthy for us
to remember the Lord Jesus Christ and His beautiful blood. Every
single day. Our beautiful Passover. It's
reason for a feast. That's what it is. It's reason
for a feast. And we're not going to belittle this feast by adding
anything to what God has said to do. And one of these days,
we're going to celebrate this feast perfectly, absolutely perfectly. May the Lord bless His word.
Let's stand together.