I think as everyone here knows,
the Lord visited the Meyer family and this family and took Brother
Bill home Friday. And I can't think of a better
day than the day we leave this earth and go to be with our Lord. And there's one of the things
that we will learn, and we have learned, is that God's family
takes precedence over our family, our earthly family, our earthly
ties. God's family takes precedence. And when it's time to bring one
of His home, it's time. I thought this morning that death
of every believer is timely. It's always timely. Our times
are in His hands. So you pray, we're gonna have
the, let me give you this. The visitation for Bill is Wednesday,
July the 3rd from 6 to 8 p.m. at Brian Lee Funeral Home, 1200
Benson Road in Garner. And the service Thursday is gonna
be July 24th, 1 p.m. Lord willing, I'm going to conduct
the service. I was thinking this morning,
on the death of a believer, what it is and what it is not. So
you pray and ask the Lord to give me the message for the hour. But the funeral is going to be
at the funeral home, at the Brian Lee Funeral Home, and the burial
is going to follow at the Montlawn Memorial Park, which is very
close, I think, to the funeral home. I'll leave this on the
table if you want to write that information down. That makes, this makes the gospel
of substitution all the more special to me in preaching this
morning out of Exodus 13, 13 and the title of this is Substitution,
a Lamb for an Ass. In this verse we see substitution,
we see the clean being given for the unclean. In the language
of the gospel it is the just for the unjust. That's what it
says in the scriptures that Christ being the just was given for
the unjust that He might bring us to God, present us to God,
and make us accepted of God, and be able to stand in His presence.
There's one thing that's very, very clear throughout the Word
of God There's no coming to God apart from the Lord Jesus Christ,
our substitute. Christ said, I am the way. I
am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father,
but by me. I'm the way to the Father. I'm
the way to God. I am. But there's also something else
we see in verse 13 there. We see sovereignty. We see sovereignty. It was up to the owner whether
to redeem the ass or not. And that just jumped out at me.
He said, if you're going to keep this firstborn, this is the firstborn,
you know, the law of firstborn, even among the clean and the
unclean, it was to both. And he said, if you're going
to keep this ass, which is deemed to be unclean, you're going to
have to redeem it with a lamb. And that's up to that owner,
whether to redeem it or not. He could say, I don't want it.
I don't want it. And it, and his neck was to be
broken. And it was, it was to be put to death. They said his
neck was to be cut off. They say that's what that means.
It was to be cut off. It was not to be, it was not
to be used for anything else because it belongs to God. The
firstborn belong to God, clean and unclean, clean and unclean. And it's just so obvious that
it was up to the master, the owner, to redeem it or not. I want you to listen to some
of these scriptures I'm going to read to you on God's sovereignty.
I know this right here is a very contentious point with unbelievers
is who's going to be the sovereign? Who's going to be sovereign?
Us or God? God is. God is. Ezekiel 18.4 Behold,
all souls are mine, as the soul of the father, so also the soul
of the son is mine. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die, but all souls are mine. In Romans 9.15.16 For he said
to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I
will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then,
so then, it's not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth. It's not by man's will or man's
effort, but of God that showeth mercy. That's sovereignty. Romans 9 21, hath not the potter
power over the clay? of the same lump to make one
vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? Does God not have
that right to do with His own as He will? Absolutely He does. In John 1 verse 12 and 13, But
as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believed on His name, which were born,
not of blood. They kept saying, We are Abraham's
seed. He said, no, those which are born not of blood, nor of
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man. You know, every
parent that claims to be saved would will their children to
be saved, wouldn't they? Every one of them would. But he says
here, it's of the will of God. It's of the will of God. Because God will save people
you and I wouldn't save. We'd be very picky about
it. But everyone whom God saves is
a sinner, an unclean, listen, unclean ass. That's exactly what we are. Because
the firstborn had to be redeemed among men as it did among the
unclean animals. Now we have a problem here, but
we also have a provision that God made. You see, God made a
provision here for that unclean ass to be redeemed. Under the
Mosaic Law, the firstborn belong to the Lord whether it is clean
or unclean. And the ass is declared to be
unclean by God, as well as others, but this one is brought out here
because it just represents the other ones. And they couldn't be offered
they couldn't be offered. But God made a law that allowed
redemption by sacrificing a lamb for an ass. And if redemption
wasn't made, if it wasn't redeemed, it was put to death. It was put
to death. Here's chapter 13, verse 13,
And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with the land.
And if thou wilt not redeem it, if you don't want it, it is up
to his discretion, that thou shalt break his neck. And all
the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem. Both
on the same level, both on the same level, don't miss this.
We're on the same level as an unclean beast. humanity is all
of humanity is all of now there's a four-fold spiritual lesson
in this that i hope by god's help to bring out and first of
all we look at the unclean ash it's a picture of unregenerate
men it's a picture of us it's a picture of us this is what
makes THE GOSPEL, the TRUE GOSPEL. Paul said there is only ONE GOSPEL.
This is what makes it so unpopular. Because it doesn't brag on us,
it puts us in our place. It tells us the truth about human
nature and what it is. Now just as that unclean ass
is unacceptable, UNDER THE LAW, UNREGENERATE MEN ARE UNCLEAN
AND UNACCEPTABLE TO GOD. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU WOULD
DO OR TRY TO DO TO THAT ASS TO MAKE IT BETTER. YOU COULD PUT
A SADDLE ON IT, YOU COULD BREAK IT, YOU COULD WASH IT, YOU COULD
DO WHATEVER, BUT IT'S STILL UNCLEAN. GOD SAID IT'S UNCLEAN, SO THERE'S
NOTHING YOU AND I CAN DO TO MAKE IT CLEAN. THERE'S ABSOLUTELY
NOTHING I CAN DO TO MAKE MYSELF CLEAN. Job said, if I wash myself
never so clean, he said, my own clothes would plunge me in the
ditch. Paraphrasing. There's nothing
I can do. If God deems it unclean, guess
what? It's unclean and nothing can
change that. Nothing can change it. NO MATTER
WHAT I CAN DO, EDUCATION WON'T CLEAN ME UP. QUITTING SOME BAD THINGS THAT
I DO AND QUIT DOING THEM AND START LIVING A VERY OUTWARDLY
MORAL LIFE. NO ONE LIVES ONE INWARDLY. THE
HEART IS A CESSPOOL. IT IS. IT'S A CESSPOOL. AND THAT'S
WHERE GOD DEALS. GOD DEALS WITH THE HEART. GOD
SEES THE HEART. Isaiah 64 6 but we all we are
all you know I don't know what there is hard to understand about
all is there anything hard to understand about that all we
are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses apart
from Jesus Christ are as filthy rags, and we all
do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us
away. Isaiah 1 says, From the sole
of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it,
But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores, they have not been closed,
neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment." I thank God He
made me to know that. I thank God I know that. Because
that runs me to Christ. THAT MAKES ME FLEE TO THE LORD
JESUS CHRIST, AND REST ON HIM AND HIM ONLY, KNOWING THIS."
I know this, and some of you know it. You know it, in your
heart you know it. God's made you to know it. Now,
this unclean animal, this unclean ass, we know it as a, first of
all, as a beast of burden, don't we? That's what it's known as,
a beast of burden. Isn't that us? That's us. But not only that,
it's known to be stubborn. You're stubborn as an ass. Haven't
you heard that before? We're stubborn. What did the
Lord say? You will not come to me that
you might have life. You won't do it. You're stubborn. He called Israel one time stubborn,
stubborn and stiff neck. You will not come to me. If Christ
does not come to me and give me life, I will never come to
Him. We're too stubborn. Boy, you
see that in your children at a very young age, don't you?
I mean, they can get up to be two years old. Man, you can see
that stubbornness come out. It'll come out. Listen, Job 11 and 12. For vain man, empty man, would
be wise. He wants to be thought of as
wise. We don't want to be thought of
as ignorant, nobody like that. We want to be thought of as wise
and intelligent. But listen, though man be born
like a wild ass's colt, stubborn and ignorant. That's what he
says, though man be born as a wild ass's colt. That's a good picture
of us. But only a substitution, a lamb
for an ass, can resolve this problem. There's only one way
for this unclean to be made clean, this unclean to be accepted of
God. There's only one way. A clean
animal, a clean lamb, the Lamb of God, has got to be sacrificed
for me to live. For me to live, it has to be
sacrificed. We have here the Lamb of God
as substitutionary Redeemer. You see, redemption here calls
for a Lamb. And I don't believe anything
else could have been offered, it couldn't have been a bullock
or a goat or anything else, it had to be the Lamb that the Lord
gave here. And there's nothing that can
equal the value of God's Lamb. ALL THE HUMANITY PUT TOGETHER
AND ALL THE ANGELS COMBINED CANNOT BE COMPARED TO THE WORTH OF THE
LAMB OF GOD, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. CHRIST IS THE SPOTLESS LAMB,
HE'S OFFERED IN THE PLACE OF SINNERS. Christ died for sinners,
that's what it said, Christ died for sinners. He died so sinners
might live and be accepted of God. God made this provision
for me and you to live in His presence. Don't ever let this just be mundane. Don't ever hear the gospel substitution
with just mundane type of hearing. Oh, I've heard that before. Oh,
Lord, help me to hear it for the first time again. Because
soon it'll be my turn to leave and stand before God. And you
know, the only really, really, really valuable thing there is
going to be the Lamb of God. standing in my place as my mediator,
as my sacrifice, as my atonement, as my righteousness. That's Him. That's Him. And I know you and
I because of so much sin in us can become dull of hearing. I
know that. I know it by experience and the
Lord keep us from that. Keep us from Christ died that
we might live. Christ our Passover, it is said,
is sacrificed for us. It says that Christ... Look over
in Romans 5, instead of me quoting it. Romans 5, 8. But God commendeth His love toward
us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,
not after we straightened up. I don't tell anybody to straighten
up and come to Christ. Come to Christ as you are. You
can't straighten up. He's the only one who can straighten
me up. This divine substitution is the very heart of the gospel.
That's the reason I had had taught me to read Isaiah 53. This is
the heart of the gospel, it's the marrow, it's the marrow of
the gospel. Redeemed with the precious blood
of Christ, bought with the precious blood of Christ. But now if not
redeemed, guess what? Well, you don't have to guess
what, I just read it to you. Death, destroyed. Not redeemed results in the ass's
neck being broken, put to death. What's the spiritual lesson in
this? Those who are not redeemed by Christ face eternal death,
no substitute, no acceptance before God, none. But what's the effect of being
redeemed? What is it? It's just this, lifted
from death to life, from sin to glory. That's what leads to be redeemed.
REDEEMED SINNERS PASSED FROM UNCLEAN STATUS INTO THE FAMILY
OF GOD. NOW ARE WE THE SONS OF GOD. IT DOES NOT YET APPEAR WHAT WE
SHALL BE, BUT WE KNOW THIS, WHEN HE SHALL APPEAR WE SHALL BE LIKE
HIM. BUT NOW ARE WE THE SONS OF GOD. NOW ARE WE UNCLEAN, CLEAN AND ACCEPTED OF GOD. By redeeming grace through faith,
sinners are raised far above sin's doom into the heavenly
blessings. He could have left me and you
alone, couldn't he? Boy, when you realize that, that's
when grace becomes grace. Grace becomes grace, not when
you made a decision Grace becomes grace when you realize, God makes
you realize He saved you. Salvation is of the Lord. You
didn't help Him. What did that foal of an ass, when it was born, at first born,
what could it do to save itself? Nothing. NOTHING! It's just that when the firstborn
of the Israelites, when they were firstborn, what could they
do to save themselves? NOTHING! They're just babies,
they can't do nothing. But it also shows you that they're
not innocent. They're not innocent. Don't wait
until it becomes of age or of age of accountability, THEN offer
a lamb. No, you do it as soon as it's
born. See, our accountability starts at CONCEPTION. Really,
it starts at CONCEPTION. If not, we wouldn't die. We would
not die if we were not accountable until a certain age. But the Lord redeemed. He redeemed
all His children. Some of them are infants. Some
of them are infants. Some of them died as infants.
And there He is. Faith didn't make me a believer.
Faith didn't cause me to be saved. Faith's a gift of God. Faith
and repentance is a gift of God. You know what caused my salvation?
God did. God did. You're mine. He said all souls are mine and
the firstborn is mine. It's mine. How many times can
you read through the Old Testament? God says about Israel, you're
mine! You're mine! Now what does this mean for us?
Well, by the gospel message of substitution, we learn. We learn of our uncleanness.
I didn't learn that in school. I went all the way through school
and no teacher told me I was unclean. Well, I got paddled
a few times. That's back when they did paddle
you. And I got busted a few times. But not one teacher said, John,
you're unclean. You're a dirty rascal. They never
called me that. But God did. God did. You see, parents, when it comes
to their children, they're always like, my son, my daughter wouldn't
do that. Yours would, but mine wouldn't.
God said all my sons and daughters did it. They did it. But I'm going to redeem them.
I'm going to cleanse them. They're all unclean. I'm going
to cleanse them. And they're going to spend eternity in righteousness
and holiness and joy. We're going to really know what
real holiness is in a little while. It's just a little while. And we're going to know what
that is. To be without sin. Oh, what a day that'll be. To be without sin. To not be
molested by sin. You know, my thoughts They molest us, don't they? Mine
do, yours does. You're like, oh, I wish I could
keep them out of the house. They trouble us. They're just
like flies at a picnic. And one day they'll be gone.
They'll be gone. And all our troubles and all
our sorrows and all our things that trouble us, it's gone. It's gone. We won't be troubled
again. But it's under the gospel of
substitution we learn our uncleanness. We learn we're on the same level
as an unclean ass. There's no difference between
me and that unclean ass. There's no difference. Because the firstborn of man,
he said, of Israel had to be redeemed the same way. He had
to be redeemed. WE RECOGNIZE THAT UNDER THE LAW,
ALL SINFULNESS RENDERS US UNCLEAN IN THE SIGHT OF GOD. AND LEFT TO OURSELVES, WE CANNOT
APPROACH HIS PRESENCE, NOR OFFER ANY ACCEPTABLE WORSHIP. Can't
do it. CHRIST ALONE IS OUR HELP. ONLY CHRIST IS SUFFICIENT TO
PRESENT US BEFORE GOD. ONLY CHRIST IS. CHOSEN BY THE MASTER TO REDEEM. I'm redeeming this one. I'm redeeming
it. His substitutionary atonement
is non-negotiable. It's non-negotiable. Without
Him, no redemption, no remission, no acceptance. Now what's the gospel message
here to sinners? Well it's this, there's hope
for the hopeless. When that first sling of an ass
was born, it was hopeless until that master said, give me that
lamb. And it wasn't going to be a sick
lamb either. It wasn't going to be a blemished
lamb, a sick lamb, a lamb that didn't matter. It's the best
lamb. And he goes out and he gets that lamb that he can get
the wool from for years to come and others. He's going to have
to sacrifice this clean animal. THAT GOD CALLED CLEAN, WHICH
REALLY MEANT SOMETHING TO THEM IN THAT DAY. I'M GOING TO SACRIFICE
THIS CLEAN ANIMAL FOR THIS UNCLEAN ANIMAL. GOD'S GOING TO SACRIFICE HIS
LAMB, HIS CLEAN SPOTLESS LAMB FOR THIS UNCLEAN ANIMAL, THIS
UNCLEAN WRETCHED HUMAN BEING. IS THAT TOO MUCH? THAT'S THE
TRUTH. That's the truth. Here's the gospel message. There's
hope for the hopeless. God said, Look unto Me, and be
ye saved of all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there
is none else. Look unto Me. You know, those who are saved are saved
by the grace of God. Those who perish, perish by their
own will. They do. You will not. You will, see it starts with
the will, you will not come to me that you might have life. It's a responsibility to come
to Christ, you know that? He commanded all men everywhere
to repent and believe the gospel. Not to do it is a direct rebellion
against God. But now listen, my inability
DOES NOT EXCUSE MY RESPONSIBILITY. YOU WRITE THAT DOWN. MY INABILITY
DOES NOT EXCUSE MY RESPONSIBILITY. Turn over to Proverbs chapter God does not, I'm telling you,
God does not keep anyone from coming to Him. No, no one. When He says, whosoever will,
He means by that, whosoever will, let him come. If you're thirsty,
He said, drink of the water of life. But there's not a soul
on this earth that'll come to Him unless He brings them, unless
He just reaches down and lifts you out of the pit. Listen here
and look in verse 20 of the chapter 1. Wisdom cries without. She utters her voice in the street.
She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings
of the gates, in the city. She utters her words. She's in
the city. She's where the people are passing
by and everybody's busy and they're coming and going and she's crying
out to them. HOW LONG, YOU SIMPLE ONES, WILL
YOU LOVE SIMPLICITY, AND THE SCORNERS DELIGHT IN THEIR SCORNING,
AND FOOLS HATE KNOWLEDGE? HOW LONG WILL YOU DO THIS? Listen,
TURN YOU AT MY REPROOF! TURN! Behold, I'll pour out My
Spirit unto you. I will make known My words to
you. Turn to Me and I'll make Myself known to you. Seek the
Lord and He shall be found. He that seeks Me with all his
heart, he will find Me. But now listen, because I've
called and you refused. See, here's responsibility. I
have stretched out My hand and no man regarded. But you have
said it not, all my counsel and would none of my reproof. I also
will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation
and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and
anguish comes upon you." He said, I called and you refused. Inability, because of our human
nature, we will not come to God. We absolutely will not. But that
doesn't excuse responsibility. You know, years ago, years ago, the law, the speed limit law,
was changed to 55. That was back in the 70s, I think,
because of gas shortage, supposedly. But it was changed to 55. And
then there was some group, some rock group, came out with a song,
I Can't Drive 55. They came out with that song
at that time. Said, I can't drive 55. Well,
when the policeman pulls you over for doing 75, and you say,
but I am not able to drive 55. You think he's going to say,
well, OK. Nothing I can do about that.
You can't drive 55. Nothing I can do. No, you're
going to get a ticket. My inability does not excuse
my responsibility to God. He said, come. I called. He said,
you refused. You refused. Wisdom cries in
the street as the crowd rushes by. She cries in the street,
ho! And they won't do it. They won't
listen. They won't listen. God has to save you before you
listen, I promise you. God has to save a man, He has
to give you ears to hear before you can hear, eyes to see. You
know the scripture says the seeing eye is of the Lord, the seeing
eye and hearing ear is of the Lord. That's not only just physically
but it's also spiritually. And then here last of all I'm
going to close, here's a word to the redeemed. Live redeemed. YOU HAVE BEEN BOUGHT WITH A PRICE
BY THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF THE LAMB. In 1 Corinthians 6.20,
FOR YOU ARE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE, THEREFORE GLORIFY GOD IN YOUR
BODY AND IN YOUR SPIRIT, WHICH ARE HIS. YOUR BODY AND SPIRIT,
HE SAID, ARE MINE, AND YOU GLORIFY ME WITH THEM. In 1 Corinthians 7, verse 23,
you are bought with a price, now be not ye the servants of
men. You are the servants of God, you are not the servants
of men. Now cleansed, believers must live as those whose names
are written in heaven. This is how we live, as sons
and daughters of God. Charles Spurgeon said this, Our
position is elevated. Our conduct should reflect transformation. He who was once unclean is now
reckoned among the Lord's sheep, for whom the Good Shepherd laid
down His life. Live as redeemed. And last of all, this typology
of the unclean ass redeemed by the Lamb must drive us to the
Lord Jesus Christ and Christ only, the Lamb of God. Here is an interesting thought.
I'll read it to you, but here's an interesting thought. A lamb
was not allowed, an ass was not allowed in Jerusalem, it was
not allowed to be buried in Jerusalem. It was to be buried outside of
Jerusalem. But what did our Lord write into
Jerusalem on? an ass, the foal of an ass. Listen,
Zechariah 9.9, Zechariah 9.9, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy King cometh unto
thee. He is just, and having salvation, lowly, and riding
upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass. Conquered! Conquered! I was talking to Tom
Artin yesterday, I said he came into Jerusalem riding on the
Gentiles. THAT WHICH WAS UNCLEAN OUR LORD
CAME RIDING INTO TOWN ON, BECAUSE HE THE LAMB OF GOD MADE IT CLEAN."
Isn't that good? That's substitution. That's substitution. All right.