Exodus chapter 12 verse 12 and 13. On that same night, I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn, both men and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

Today we're going to be talking about the blood of the Passover. Before we do that, let's pray.

Our Father, We come to you, Lord, that you'll do for us this morning what we cannot do for ourselves. Help us to clear our minds of the outside world. And there is so much to be cleared. Our thoughts, our worries. For each of us, that list is different. Whether it's internal strife, or external strife, or difficulties in this world, we all have them. And they are guaranteed to us. But we ask, Lord, that during this time, together, this morning, you'll wipe that clean. And give us a true mind to be able to worship you. To be able to hear about you. And to not be distracted or taken away from. We want to hear about you, Lord. You are what matters to us. And that simply is a gift that you've given us, that we even care. But we ask, Lord, that you'll bless us this morning, not only the ability to take away the world, but also, Lord, we pray that this time is filled with your word. That the only thing presented and heard is the gospel of Christ. and the redemption that his people has through the blood spilt on the cross. That's all we want to hear, Lord, and we pray to you that that would be the case this morning. We pray this for all of your churches, all of your preachers, and all of your people. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

After miles last week, I thought I would try this thing. Is it being distracting? I hear a noise. So my S's are popping. Can you hear me? Now you can't hear me. How about now? S's? I have to be careful with my S's. I'll soften my S's the best I can. Talking about Passover, has a lot of S's.

So growing up in this church, and we'll be back in Exodus, and then we'll be switching around throughout the morning, but growing up in this church, I remember as a child, I've been here for 37 years, which, what a blessing. I count that as such a blessing, especially since Joe has gone home. It's become clearer what a blessing it was to be able to hear the gospel preached, the truth of Christ. every week for the majority of my life. That is unheard of when you compare that to the rest of the world. What a blessing. What a blessing we have to be able to go anywhere and hear the truth of Christ.

And we not only had that, we had it over and over and over from someone who I'm pretty convinced may have been the best gospel preacher ever. I know he was just a man, but he was blessed. And I was thinking about that a lot this week. And I was thinking about, I remember as a kid, when Joe would preach about the blood, how shocking it was. Because he didn't hold back when he talked about the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus. I'm not going to go into describing it today. I don't particularly like to. I don't feel like I can ever do it justice. But I remember Joe not necessarily getting to the point where it was gory, but he would tell you the truth. He wouldn't hold back any of the truth of what our Lord went through. He talked about it a lot over the years for good reason. He wasn't needlessly gory, but he went to lengths to make it clear how horrific the events of the cross were. And as a child, I remember being taken back by it. Like, kind of shocked. Like, what are we talking about? The brutality of what happened to our Lord.

Some churches think this is too much for children to hear. Some churches think this is too much for anyone to hear. For fear of turning someone off. or making someone uncomfortable. The truth is not comfortable. And it's not meant to be. It's meant to be shocking. That is why you don't see gigantic churches preaching the gospel of Christ. Because it's offensive to man. It is offensive to our very bones that this is what was needed to make us someone that could be loved by Christ. Or loved by God.

I had a conversation with Joe on this topic and I remember he would simply say, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. How can we tell anyone to seek forgiveness if we do not tell them how that forgiveness was obtained? What it took. We heard thousands of sermons from Joe over those 30 some odd years. and one consistent message was there the entire time, redemption by the blood of Jesus Christ. Every time we heard the gospel, it was about the redemption of God's people through the spilt blood of our Lord. That is the gospel, that is the good news, and that is the only truth we should be concerned with.

In Mark 16, 15, he tells his disciples to go out into the world. This is after he was risen from the dead and shortly before he ascends into heaven. This is one of the last things he says to his disciples, go out into the world. And he doesn't say go out into the world and make sure everyone becomes as moral and upstanding and as good as possible. doesn't say make sure that everyone knows how to be a good husband and a good father and be in a good relationship or a good wife, how to honor people and how to treat people. Christ never says anything like that. It is a very simple statement. It's the last one he makes to his disciples. So it must be pretty important. He says, go into the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

What is the gospel? The blood of Christ. Go tell them the gospel. Tell them that redemption can be found, but only in the spilled blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Blood is one of the most common themes in scripture. It is everywhere in the Bible. At the very first promise of the gospel in Genesis 3, there is bloodshed as God kills animals to make garments for Adam and Eve. The very first picture of the gospel, blood shed to cover sin. Already in the Garden of Eden, it was pointing to our Lord Jesus Christ. One of the earliest pictures of the gospel

A time later in Genesis 4, Cain and Abel bring their offerings to the Lord. The reason that Abel's offering was accepted and Cain's was not is because Abel, by faith, offered a sacrifice that included blood. While Cain was an unbeliever, offered a bloodless sacrifice created by his own works. And this controversy actually resulted in the first shedding of blood of man. In Genesis 7, God told Noah to build an ark, gather two of every unclean kind of animal. But he said, gather seven pairs of clean animals. Why is this? so that there would be sufficient animals to sacrifice once the blood was passed. And indeed, one of the first things Noah did when he left the ark was build an altar and worship God by the means of a blood sacrifice.

When God entered into the covenant with the nation of Israel and established the worship of the tabernacle, that place was as bloody as you can imagine. Every piece of that tabernacle and the people who would serve in it were installed in their places by the application of blood. And so much blood. In Chronicles 30, in Hezekiah's day, it records that Hezekiah contributed 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep. And that was at one festival. 19,000 animals. at one festival. Can you imagine the blood? Solomon, in Kings 8, 63, it says Solomon offered 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. And the officials added another 1,000 and 10,000. And that's 142,000 animals likely slaughtered over the span of several days. Like it's a shocking thought. It's gross. Right? Like why so much blood? Massive amounts of blood spilt and not one sin atoned for. They were told in the Old Testament these sacrifices were necessary, but they were only truly necessary because they were pointing to the eventual blood that mattered. None of this blood mattered. 142,000 animals in a span of a couple days, not one sin covered. What can the blood of animals do for the sin of man? Of course it was a picture. Of course it was pointing. All of that blood pointing to the only true, clean blood that would ever exist. The perfect blood of Christ.

When Christ was first introduced to the world by John the Baptist, he said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. What does Lamb of God mean? Go back thousands of years, 2,000 years to where Abraham and Isaac were climbing this mountain to go worship and perform a sacrifice. Isaac noted, we've got the wood, we've got the fire, but dad, where is the sheep? Isaac knew that God could not be approached apart from the shedding of blood. Young Isaac knew that. Abraham answered that God would provide himself a lamb for the offering. And 2,000 years later, John the Baptist said, behold, the lamb of God. John the Baptist was telling his hearers that Jesus Christ is the provided Lamb of God and would take away the sins of the world by the shedding of his perfect, spotless, clean blood.

The scriptures tell us consistently about the power of the blood of Christ. In 1 John 7, John writes, the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin. That can't be misconstrued. That can't be misunderstood. What purifies us from sin? The blood of Christ. That is it. That is the only thing that can and the only thing that will. In Galatians 6.14 Paul writes, which is obviously a symbol of the place where the blood was spilled. The book of Revelations, in 13, it tells us of the mark of the beast and the awful things that will come with him. Many tremble at the thought of what is said in these scary parts of Revelation. But it also tells us that neither the beast nor his mark, it says, are any danger to those whose names have been written in the book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the earth. From the very beginning of the Bible to the very end of the Bible, it is the lamb and his blood. That's what this book is about, because that's all that can do anyone good. In Revelations 12, a little bit earlier than what we were just reading, it says, Satan, that accuser of the brethren, is cast out of heaven, calls him a dragon. And it is because of the blood of the Lamb. It says, The great dragon was hurled down, the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the world astray. He was hurled to the earth and his angels with him.

When I heard a loud voice in heaven say, Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of God and the authority of the Messiah, for the accuser of our brothers and sisters who accuses them before our God day and night has been hurled down, they triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb. Everything points back to the blood of the Lamb.

So with so much scriptural space devoted to the blood, and such great things accomplished by the blood, it only makes sense that it is obviously, vitally important. And we should probably pay attention to it.

One of the more prominent stories is where we began. One of the more prominent stories of the shedding of the blood is the Passover. After about 400 years in Egypt, Israel had been in slavery and cruel bondage in the land of Egypt. These are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh and said, we demand that you let God's people go. Pharaoh's response was, who is this Jehovah that I should let his people go? God's response was to send the ten plagues. We're all familiar with this. Ten plagues, which he used to humiliate the gods of Egypt.

The last of these was the plague of the firstborn, in which God declared that he was going to go through Egypt and destroy the firstborn of every house in Egypt. However, God told the Jews something he did not tell the Egyptians. Each household was to take a lamb, kill it, and put its blood on the door and wait inside their homes. This is what we read earlier, and I'm gonna read it again. On that same night, I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals. I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.

We know this Passover blood is an illustration of the blood of Christ. For Paul actually writes that in 1 Corinthians 5.7. He says, for Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.

Let's answer several important questions about the blood of the Passover and what it means to us. What does the blood tell us about God the Father? It tells us that God is simply not this doting, bearded, grandfather-like figure that modern Christianity likes to make him out to be. Think of what he's saying here. I am coming through Egypt and I'm going to kill every firstborn in every home unless there is blood spilt before I get there. That is not a doting, grandfatherly God. That is a God who is just. He is a God of wrath and vengeance. It says in Deuteronomy, and Paul later quotes it in Romans, says, vengeance is mine says the Lord, I will repay. He is even-handed in his justice, sparing no one. He says, every house in Egypt. He doesn't say, I'm just coming to get the Egyptians. Every house.

Note that the blood was to be found on the doors of the Jewish houses. Why is that? The blood was on their houses to protect them from the wrath of God. For God, the just, had pronounced judgment on the entire land of Egypt, not just the Egyptians. It mattered not whether you were Egyptian or Jewish. God was coming to Egypt to kill the firstborn in every household.

Think about this, the Jews. the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They were the chosen people. He had purposed them to enter into covenant with them. They were going to be brought into the promised land. There were some of them who were very faithful to Him for their entire lives. And yet, all of that, who they were, where they came from, The fact that they even believed in him at the time and were faithful to him, none of that could save them from God's judgment. It had nothing to do with who they were or where they came from. You didn't even look in the houses. The Spirit of God did not show up that night to only go through Egyptian neighborhoods. It was all of Egypt. And he didn't go from house to house looking in the windows going, there's a Jew, I'm gonna keep moving. Oh, Egyptian, I better stop here. The only thing that mattered to God that night was the blood. He only looked for the blood.

The wrath of God, just and perfect, can only be deterred by one thing. the blood of Christ. Nothing else can change its course. Men attempt to find peace about eternity by believing that God is such a God of love that he would never really punish people, certainly not with everlasting torment. This blood gives us a very different story. In the blood of Christ, if the blood of Christ tells us nothing else, it tells us that God is unwaveringly just. For on Calvary, He poured out the fullness of His wrath on His beloved Son, even though the sins He bore were not His own. That is not a fluffy God who just wants everyone to love Him. He is just to the point where He punishes the sinless for the sinful.

Neither God's love for His Son, nor the fact that His Son did never sin, nor the fact that deceit was never found in His mouth or His heart, He was perfect. None of that moved God to withhold the least amount of wrath that was due to the sins that were on His Son.

The blood of Christ is our Passover shows us that God is absolutely just and bent on vengeance against all sins to its fullest measure. He will let nothing slide. At the same time, the blood of Christ affirms that God is just. The blood of the Passover tells us that God is unimaginably gracious. He is both.

The blood of Egypt's dead firstborns says much about the judgment of God, but it says nothing about the grace of God. The blood of the Passover on those doors tells us that God is just and gracious.

The amazing part of the grace that He shows us, now think about this. There has to be blood. So He provided His own. That's something that's very hard for me to understand or even just to put in my head. He demands blood for sin and he used his own to save his people.

In justice, God demanded blood. In grace, he provides his own blood in satisfaction of his own demand. Paul told the elders of Ephesus, take heed, therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers to feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood.

So God in heaven can't bleed, but God on earth can. God and human flesh can bleed. On the one hand, we say that the blood of the Passover is the blood of God's Son. However, seeing that God's Son is simply God and human flesh, and they are one, the blood of the Passover is the blood of God.

In unwavering justice, He demanded blood. In unspeakable grace, He provided His own blood to fulfill that demand.

The blood also shows us what regard God has for the work of His Son. God says, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. He did not say, when I see your faith, when I see your fear, when I see how carefully you apply the blood, or when I see the zeal you have when you observe the Passover, the only thing God was looking for when he passed through Egypt that night was blood.

There would be bloodshed at every home in Egypt that night. Where there was blood, there was no further punishment needed. No more blood needed. When there was no blood, punishment fell in full force. God's provision of the blood shows his great grace. His acceptance and regard for the blood further demonstrates his justice and his regard for the finished work of his son.

For wherever the blood is found, no judgment shall fall. The simple truth of the gospel. Wherever the blood of Christ is found, no judgment shall fall.

What does the blood say about us? Well, it testifies of the only aspect we have to involve us in salvation. We are the sinful ones. We bring nothing but what needs to be forgiven. It testifies of our great sinfulness. For what it says that nothing less than the merciless slaughter of the Lord Jesus Christ could put away our sins.

This is one reason that the world and natural people hate the gospel of Christ. It tells them how horrible they are. Joe often said, the seriousness of a disease may be determined by the strength of the medicine needed to cure it. What a great disease we must have. That such a powerful medicine as the blood of Christ is the only remedy.

What does the blood of the Passover say about Christ? What manner of man he is that his blood could satisfy the demands of a just God against the sins of all of his people. A multitude no man can number. That is how great he is.

Even if we had no sin, one of us, say one of us somehow miraculously did not have sin, we could only die for one other person. Christ could die for all of his people and defeat death and rise again as the ruler of the world at the right hand of God. That's the worth of Christ, a person that his singular death satisfied the wrath of God for all of his people.

In Revelations 5-9 it says, and they sang a new song saying, you are worthy. to take the scroll and open its seals because you were slain. And with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe, language, and people, and nation. You are worthy, they sing in heaven. That's what they're singing in heaven right now. You are worthy for you have redeemed us by your blood.

Indeed, none but a worthy one could have accomplished what he did by the shedding of his blood.

Now let's make a few more observations regarding the blood of Christ. First, our safety does not come from our seeing the blood, but from God seeing the blood. It is not when you see the blood, I will pass over you. It is when I see the blood. We who believe are on the inside of the house. The blood is on the outside. On Passover night, each of the Jewish houses was a representation of Christ. So the Jews were pictured as in Christ. And we who are in Christ have never seen his blood poured out in the presence of God. We have heard of it, but we have never seen it.

Some might say, well surely they saw the blood when they applied it to the door and see it by faith and we apply to the doors of our hearts. But it is not our hearts to which the Passover blood is applied and nor are we the ones who apply it. The blood was not applied to those firstborn children, it was applied to the house. And the children didn't apply it, their father did. Fathers were the ones who carried out the religious business of the home. And it was the firstborn son who was saved by the action.

So in truth, it is not as though the blood was applied as some magic potion to ward off death. It symbolized the lamb slain. It was the father who killed the son. It was the judge of all the earth who killed our substitute. God provided the substitute, killed the substitute, has honored the blood of the substitute by justifying everyone for whom it was shed.

We can imagine some firstborn in the house at midnight draws near and says, Father, I'm afraid. Don't worry, son, the blood is on the door. How do you know it's there? Because I put it there. And so our Heavenly Father assures us of the safety that we have in Christ. Unshakable safety. In the day of judgment, by His testimony of His Son, whom He set forth as the sacrifice. He applied the blood. Our Father.

However, while our safety comes from God seeing the blood, our comfort arises from us hearing about the blood. In Exodus 12, 13, it says, the blood will be a sign or a token for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. It shall be a token upon your doors. We are in Christ, but it's not just being in Christ that saves us, it's being in Christ as the bloody, crucified substitute for us. Our soul's comfort comes from constant testimonies of the blood through the preaching of the gospel.

Like I said earlier, 30 some years with Joe, and every day we came here, there would be a different title. But we talked about the blood of Christ. If we are not diligent to hear the gospel, we should not be surprised to find our confidence waver. We sing this song all the time, and we're gonna sing it a little bit later. We're gonna do the Lord's Table in just a minute. But I just wanted to read the words. We sing it a lot. We have a lot over the years. But the words to this song are amazing.

Under the blood of Jesus. Under the blood of Jesus, safe in the shepherd's fold. Under the blood of Jesus, safe while the ages roll. All time can pass, and we are safe. Safe though the worlds may crumble, and that can mean so much. That could mean the end of times. That could mean today it might feel like your world is crumbling. You are safe. Your father has applied the blood of your savior himself for you. How much safer can you be when everything that has been done for your salvation has been done by the God of the universe and his perfect son? You are safe if you are in Christ. Under the blood of Jesus, I am secure in Him.

May God give each of us His testimony of the blood of His Son. May each of us find shelter and safety in the blood of Jesus Christ.

Dear Lord, we thank You so much for the blood of our dear Savior. It is so important. It is everything for us that it is hard to justifiably describe it or to justifiably thank you for it. But we do our best. And as best as we can, Lord, we thank you for the blood of our Savior. You demanded blood, and ours was simply no good. So instead, you gave us your own, and it was perfect. And now your people are perfect as well. The grace is just incredible in the gospel, and we are so grateful for it, Lord. And we pray this in Jesus' name.