Come back to Exodus chapter 12,
the Lord's Passover. The Lord's Passover, he instituted
this. The Lord gave, now to the church, the Lord gave two ordinances,
baptism, Baptism is how we confess Christ. It is how we identify
ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ before the church and
before the world. We confess him first in what
we call believer's baptism. And then he left us this ordinance
of the Lord's table over in the Gospels. He has told us that
this do in remembrance of me. He said, as often as you do this,
you do show forth the Lord's death till he comes. It's the
only two that he gave to the church. And we see this here
in Exodus 12 in the Passover, which is concerning our Lord's
table, what we're doing here this morning, but we see the
beginning of it in Exodus chapter 12. we have before us here in
this chapter, one of the best pictures of the substitutionary
work and character of the Lord Jesus Christ. Like in Isaiah
53, you go back and read that, it is all about Jesus Christ,
the substitute. It's all about substitution,
satisfaction, all about that. So here we have First we have
Israel is in bondage to Egypt. We saw, I believe last week,
when God revealed to Abraham that his seed would go into bondage.
It'd be there for 400 years. And after that, he said, they
will come out with great substance. And then we see as God's starting
to bring them out, he sends them Moses to deliver. And he sends
all these plagues on Egypt. And the last one is God's gonna
kill the firstborn. He's gonna kill the firstborn
in Egypt. But to Israel, he gives a substitute. The first thing that says to
me, you know what that says to me is this? I'm no better than
the one who perishes. It's just that God provided the
substitute. I'm no better. If I were better,
that lamb wouldn't have had to die. If I were better than those
Egyptians, that lamb wouldn't have to die. But see, I am no
better than the ones that the firstborn of Egypt, or even of
the cattle, because he didn't even want to kill the firstborn,
he says, of the beast. A lamb has to die. There's got
to be a substitute in order for me to go free. In order for me
to be set free and not perish under the wrath of God, I've
got to have a substitute. And I got to have a substitute
provided, listen, by God, by God, by God himself. And we have
that in Jesus Christ. Behold the Lamb. That's what
John said. Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. He's called the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. What we have here is the Passover
lamb. It's a very, very clear type
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It sets forth his meekness and
his lowliness. He said, come to me, all you
laboring, heavy laden, and I'll give you rest for I am meek and
lowly of heart. There's nothing that represents
the character of our Lord than a lamb. in his meekness and his
lowliness. And then it sets forth his character
in this. It had to be a spotless lamb.
It had to be without blemish. The scripture tells us that Jesus
Christ knew no sin. He knew no sin by birth. He knew
no sin by thought. He knew no sin by action. He
is the pure, holy lamb of God. He's the lamb of God's provided.
God provided this lamb. Now we have here in verse one
and two, the Passover is instituted. What's sad is over time, it degenerated
into being called the Jewish Passover. If you get the gospel,
it's called the Jewish Passover, but that's not the way it was
started. It started as this, the Lord's Passover. Listen,
this is not a Baptist ordinance. This is not a Methodist ordinance.
It's not a Catholic. This is the Lord's table. This
is not my table. This is the Lord's table. It's
the Lord's table. And then this, the Passover here,
when the Lord instituted it, it changed the Jewish calendar. It marked the first of the year. It marked the first of the year.
He said, this is the beginning of the year here, the Passover.
Is not this our true beginning? This is the beginning of the
believer. When that believer comes to know
Christ by faith, when he brought to Christ by faith, our old beginning
is passing away, our new beginning, you know when my new, my birthday,
you'll see it in a bulletin, is October the 11th. But you
know that day's gonna pass away? You know that day is going, one
day I'm gonna be blotted out. One day, Job said, the place
thereof shall know you no more. That day will be gone. And nobody
will remember. My parents will be gone. They
won't remember as my birthday. But the day I was born of God,
that's my birthday. That's my real birthday. And
that birthday will never be blotted out. That birthday will always
exist. The day I was born of God. And then this Passover ordinance
was given to Israel to observe. It wasn't given to the unbelieving,
God-hating Egyptians. Who's this for? It's for everyone
who believes God. It's for everyone who believes
the gospel. That's who it's for. I'm not
gonna put any hedge around it except this. Do you believe the
gospel? Do you believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ? I preached at a place one time, and I know I've told
you this one, I think. I'll tell you a story over and
over for years to come. But I've preached at a place
one time that's considered me being a pastor. And they had
what they call closed communion. If you were not a member of that
local assembly, you couldn't take it. And they asked me, they said,
if you become pastor, how are you gonna handle this? And my
reply to them was, are you saying to me that if my pastor, Henry
Mahan, whom I've sat under for years, if he comes down here,
I gotta say no? Or any other believer that I
know, that I've known over the years, and I'm gonna tell them
no? This is for the body of Christ. This is for those who, this is
the Lord's table, it's not ours. It's not ours, it's his. And
it's for everyone who believes the gospel. That's who it's for. It wasn't given to the unbelieving
Egyptians, it's given to God's Israel. God gave to Israel the substitute
to die in their stead. We'll see this as we go along.
He left those Egyptians alone to meet him in justice, why?
That's his business. Honestly, that's his business.
I've learned that over the years. He gives no account of any of
his matters. And I know that everything the Lord does is right.
It's right. I'm just glad he shows mercy.
I'm glad God shows mercy. And then he says here in verse
four, if the household is too small, then they were to call
their neighbor to eat the lamb with them. You notice it doesn't
say anything about the lamb being too small. It doesn't say anything
about that lamb being too small. Christ is more than we can eat.
Christ is more than you and I can consume. He's more. And there would be no unnecessary
slaying of lambs. No unnecessary slaying of lambs. It'll be just as God prescribes. And if the household's too small,
then you go to your neighbor's house. And no man was to eat the Passover
alone. He was to call his neighbor next
to him or go to their house. They were not to do this alone.
We do not keep this ordinance at home. It's for the family. It's for the family. It's for
God's family to come together and to take of the Lord's table. We come together as a church
and do this in remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what we're doing. That's what this is about this morning. This
is a remembrance of the death of Christ and how God saves sinners. It's through the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And he says, your lamb shall
be without blemish. It must be, you know, scripture
says it must be perfect to be accepted. I just finished up
reading through Leviticus. When it came to offerings, came
to sacrifices, they couldn't be a blemish. I mean, there could
not be a blemish in that sacrifice. Because that sacrifice represented
Jesus Christ, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from
sinners. That which represents the Lamb of God must represent
Him in every way. never knew a human sin. It never knew a human sin. Jesus
Christ never knew sin. He never knew it. He knew no sin. Perfect. It says in 2 Corinthians 5 21,
for he hath made him to be sin for us. Christ didn't make himself
to be sin. The father God made Him to be
sin, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. It is written in 1 Peter 119,
you were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot. That's how you redeem. Spotless
Lamb of God. That's who Jesus Christ is. Spotless
Lamb of God. And this is extremely important
because if he's not righteous, then we're not righteous. And
if he's not righteous, he's not accepted. And if he's not accepted,
neither are we. So we are accepted. Yes, it says
in Ephesians 1, he hath made us accepted in the beloved. And then it had to be a male
of the first year. Why? By man, sin entered the
world. That's how sin came into this
world, Adam. By a man. By a man, justice was offended.
And therefore, by a man, satisfaction has got to be made. That's why it's got to be a male.
By a man, sin entered the world. And it was to be young, a year
old, full of life and strength. Not something ready to die of
its own, of its own decay. but it had to be young, young,
young, showing Christ eternality and that his death was not out
of weakness. Our Lord said this, no man taketh
my life from me, but I lay it down of myself. I lay it down. I lay my life down. No man takes
my life from me. Man didn't have that kind of
power. But Christ had the power to lay his life down. And then it was to be taken from
the sheep or goats, as Christ was to be taken from among his
brethren. He became bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh.
that he might be taken from among us and crucified and become a
substitute in our place, a place of a multitude of sinners, no
man can number, chosen by God. And this shows that God must
become incarnate for this to happen. For this to happen, God's
gonna have to come into this world and become a man, to have
such a substitute. And that's who Jesus Christ is.
God must become flesh. He must become a real man where
there is no one among us that's without blemish. When he says
it's gotta be without blemish, the scripture says there's not
a just man upon the earth that does good and sins not. Now what
are you gonna do? Where are you gonna find one?
There's not one. So what's gonna happen? God has
to become a man. And God, becoming a man, is the
perfect man. He has no sin, knows no sin. He must die in my place as my
substitute in order for me, a sinner, a sinful man, to go free and
justice be satisfied. God's not going to just wink
at sin. He can't just let it go. God can't even listen. God will not even let a thought
of sin go. That's what the scripture said.
Every thought will be brought out. The secrets of the heart
and judgment will be brought out. The things that's going
on in your heart and my heart that no one sees. God sees it
and it'll be brought out in judgment. And the only way that can be
put away is by Jesus Christ. died on Calvary's tree, in my
place, taking my place. God must become incarnate. The
Word must become flesh. The Word, it says over in John,
which is God, must become flesh. And then it was to be kept up,
it was to be kept up for four days, it was to be kept up for
four days. It was to be observed and inspected During this period
of time, and if there was one flaw or defect in it, it couldn't
be used. It couldn't be used. This is how important perfection
is before God. Jesus Christ lived for 33 years
on this earth. He lived before God and he lived
before men. And at the end of his day, when
he's gonna be crucified, Pilate said, I find no fault in him. He said, I find no fault in him.
God said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. And if God had found one speck
in him, he would not have been pleased. The whole of heaven
and the human race must stamp upon Jesus Christ, no fault,
no blemish, no blemish. We have in Jesus Christ the perfection
that we need and that God requires. And he says here in verse six,
the whole congregation was to kill it in the evening. The whole
church of God are partakers of his death. Listen, the whole
church of God from the first one to the last one. From Genesis to Revelation, the
whole Church of God, that encompasses everyone whom God saved. They
are partakers of the death of Christ and the blessings that
come from His death. And the whole congregation of
believers are to eat His flesh and drink His blood. If you and I are not partakers
of His death, then we'll not be partakers of His life. We will die like those Egyptians.
And he says here in verse seven, they shall take of the blood
and strike it on the two side post and on the upper door post
of the houses, wherein they shall eat it by faith. You see, we get faith, faith
just stands out right here, right here in Genesis, faith stands
out. They, by faith, they applied the blood of the lamb on the
two side posts and upper door post of the house where that
lamb was to be eaten. In that house, there's blood
on that door. There was blood on that door. And they applied
the blood by faith. They applied the blood believing
God, believing what God said. We received the blood by faith.
I can't see the blood. You know, when they were in the
house, they couldn't see it either. They couldn't see the blood in that house.
But God said, when I see it, that's what's important, when
I see it. I'll tell you this, no one could
enter the house where the Passover lamb was without seeing the blood,
without being evident that Christ is in that house. The lamb of
God's in that house. Where the blood is applied, the
lamb is feasted on. Where the blood is, there's faith
in the house where they eat it. The blood was applied only to
the house where he was eaten, feasted on. He wasn't put on
every house. The Egyptians didn't put it on
their house. Pharaoh didn't put it on his place. The blood is only for those who
feast on the lamb by faith. That's who it's for. Christ's blood was not shed,
nor was it applied to every son of Adam. If so, every son of
Adam be saved. They would. Listen to John chapter
six. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
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'll raise him up at the last
day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
And some of them, when they heard that, said, this is a hard saying,
they laughed. They thought, we're not a bunch of cannibals. But
shortly after that, the Lord said, the words I speak to you,
they're spirit. What I'm talking to you about
is spiritual things. It's feeding on me by faith. It's feeding
on Christ crucified by faith. I believe the son of God was
crucified. His body was broken and his blood
was shed and that's my hope, that's my salvation. That's it. And they shall eat the flesh
and that night he's to be received when preached. It's not like,
let me go home and think about it. He's to be received when
preached. The gospel, now's the day of
salvation. Now's the accepted time. And note the suffering here of
the lamb is to be roasted with fire. Christ is to be roasted
under the wrath of God for the sins of his people. And he was. He tasted my hell. He drank,
someone said, damnation dry. He put away God's judgment and
wrath. That was against a multitude
of sinners. Multitude of sinners. He put it away. His soul, it
says, his soul was made an offering for sin in Isaiah 53. His soul was made an offering
for sin. And when God saves a sinner,
That sinner always receives Christ crucified. Christ crucified first. He sees in Jesus Christ, he sees
in the sufferings of Christ, his sufferings. I see that. When
I look at Calvary, I see my sufferings. When I look at Calvary, I see
in the death of Christ, my death, my death. If you'll notice here, it says,
and also it says it is here in Exodus, that it was to be eaten
with bitter herbs. What is that? That's repentance. That's repentance. The bitter
herbs of repentance. Mourning over what I am. You
know, as I've gotten older, I learned more about repentance by experience. And it has more to do with mourning
over what I am than the things I've done. Because, you know,
you can say, well, I quit doing it. I don't do that no more.
I'm pretty good. No, you're not. You're not even better than you
ever was. Not by nature. You're still rotten. Just let
God bring some things along and you'll see. Let him draw his
hand back a little bit and you'll see. I don't want to see. I don't want to see that. Repentance
has to do with a change of thoughts on who God is, who Christ is,
and who you are, what you are. And then we receive Christ crucified
by faith and repentance. Because he says here, the bitter
herbs represent repentance, but it's also the unleavened bread. That has to do with truth. That
has to do with sincerity. You receive Christ sincerely. Someone didn't talk you into
a profession. Someone didn't talk you into coming down an
aisle. But from your heart, it's Lord, save me. Lord, you are
my master. You remember that Syrophoenician
woman? She wanted some help, and the
Lord said, it's not good to give the children bread to the dogs.
And she said, Lord, the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from
the master's table. But you know what she said when
he said that? She said, truth, Lord. That's the truth. I am a dog. I agree with you. But you're my master. You are
the master. You're the master. has to be eaten with those bitter
herbs and unleavened. That's why we have unleavened
bread here that represents his body. It represents his body. Leaven always represented sin.
It represents no sin. There's no sin in Christ. And it says here, don't eat any
of it raw. Don't eat any of it raw. If every truth I want you to
get this. If every truth, every doctrine
that we hold to is not found in the sufferings and death of
Christ, don't eat it. You wind up with spiritual E.
coli. That's what you wind up with,
poison. Don't eat it sodden in water.
Don't mix it. Don't water it down. Don't water
down the gospel in order to fill up the seats. Don't water it
down. You say, well, I don't like it
roasted. I kind of like mine medium rare. Well, God's not. No, it's got to be roasted, burnt,
listen, burnt through and through. Christ was crucified. He dealt
with God's wrath from head to toe. From his body, his soul. My soul, his soul made an offering
for sin. Don't water it down. Don't compromise. Don't compromise. And this is
for me as a preacher, as a pastor. Don't compromise if everybody
leaves. I've got a key, I can lock it
up. I can lock it up. If I have to be the last one
leaving, I can lock it up. But don't compromise. Don't change
the truth. If you put one ounce of something
with it, it's a lie. It's not the truth anymore. We're in roast with fire. The
message of Christ crucified never changes. It never changes. We don't add anything to it.
Don't take anything from it. Don't spice it up. Don't make
it try to taste better. Like a woman asked me, a waitress
asked me one time if I got a steak. She asked me, she said, you only
ate one sauce with it? I said, not if it's any good. You know,
you can give me some sauce if it's not any good. I might have
to add to it so I can eat it. But if it's good, I don't need
anything else on it. Leave the gospel as it is. Let
us not try to juice it up and spice it up. It is what it is. And that's the only way God's
gonna save the sinner, is with a pure gospel. And don't leave
any of it till the morning. The whole Christ is to be eaten.
All of Christ is to be eaten. We don't just take parts of it.
This is what I like about it. I like the Christ that did all
the healing. These guys go on TV and it's
all healing service. That's all it is. They don't heal anybody.
It's just a money scam. I just feel sorry for people
that get sucked into that. That's how gullible we are. We
are absolutely the most gullible. Animals ain't that gullible. I lost my place. Don't leave any of it till the
morning. And what was left was to be burned,
not, listen now, not tossed in the trash. Don't toss it in the
trash. It's to be completely consumed.
Absolutely consumed. burned. And they were to do this
so that the leftovers, now listen, they were also to do this so
that the leftovers wouldn't be used as a form of superstitious
worship. Trying to take a bone of that
lamb there in Egypt and carry it into Canaan and tell their
kids, see this bone right here? It wouldn't be faith no more.
They'd be hanging a necklace, just like now, they hang a necklace,
a cross around her neck, or a picture of what they call Jesus. I think
a Tim James said he looked like Wild Bill Hickok. None of it was to be left. We
worship Christ by faith, not by sight. Not by sight. They would take a bone and save
their children. This is the Passover land that saved us. That's a
type. That was just a type back then.
That's a type. John said in John 6, he said,
your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and they're dead.
They're dead. And we do not take bits and pieces
of Christ and claim salvation by Him. That's important. We don't take bits and pieces
and claim salvation. It's either all of Christ or it's none of
Christ. And here's how we're going to
feast on Christ. He says here in verse 11, with
your loins girded, you're going to have your loins girded and
you're going to listen, sober-minded. That's what that is, sober-minded. You know what you're doing. I
know what I'm doing. In taking this, I know what I'm
doing. In observing the Lord's table here, I know what I'm doing.
You know what you're doing. And our shoes on our feet. Shoes
on our feet. Why? Why keep your shoes on your
feet? Because you're not staying here. You're leaving. You're
leaving Egypt. Keep your shoes on. Don't kick
your shoes off. You're gonna eat this lamb and then you're
heading out of town. You're heading out of Egypt.
We are pilgrims and strangers here on this earth. It says in
Ephesians chapter six. Don't get too comfortable here.
And this is for me too. This is for all of us. Let's
not try to hang on to everything. He's told us we're gonna leave.
So keep your shoes on. Don't get too comfortable. We're
going to leave here in a little bit. We're going to leave here
in a few minutes. Keep your shoes on. You're going to walk out
that door in a few minutes. And one of these days, you're
going to walk out that door and you ain't coming back. You're not coming back here,
except for maybe a funeral. And that's it. And do it with your staff in
your hand. What's that? The word of God.
The word of God. Faith in his work and in his
promises is how we are going to travel this journey. And you're
going to eat it in haste. Don't say I'll eat it later.
No, I'll do it. We'll do it. I don't think so. The Lord said
he's coming through tonight. If you're a firstborn, you ain't
gonna be here tomorrow. It's the Lord's. Listen, it's
the Lord's Passover. It's not the Lord's hanging around.
He's passing through. He's passing through. There will be a day, I believe
this, everywhere the gospel is preached right now, there'll
be a day that it won't be there no more. The Lord's work there
will be done. You just look at history. All
you gotta do is look at history. and I'm gonna pass through the land
of Egypt this night. I'm not, he doesn't say I'm gonna send
the death angel. You know, people talk about a death angel. No,
God said I'm coming through. I'm coming through. I'm gonna
deal with this. Judgment belongs to God. I'll pass through the land of
Egypt this night and I'm gonna smite the firstborn, I'm gonna
kill the firstborn in the land of Egypt. Man, beast, the gods
of Egypt, They're all gonna die. I'm gonna execute judgment. And
judgment was executed on the firstborn of everyone in Egypt
and everyone there in Goshen, except some had a substitute.
Some had a substitute. The Lord Jesus Christ is a substitute
for sinners. And the blood shall be for you
a token upon the houses where you are. What's a token? It's
a sign. It's evidence. It's evidence
of God's love to you. It's evidence of His promise. He said, I'll pass over you where
I see the blood. It's evidence of your election
where I see the blood. It's evidence of God's favor.
I have given it to you for a token. And God says, when I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. Now in closing, what does God
see when he sees the blood? What does God see when he sees
the blood? I'd better see what God sees when I see the blood. I need
to see the same thing God sees. He sees mercy and truth meeting
together, righteousness and peace kissing each other. That's what
God sees. He sees justice satisfied. That's what God sees. He sees
propitiation for the sinner. That's what God sees. He sees the law magnified and
honored. That's what God sees. He sees the perfect obedience
of his son on behalf of his people. That's what God sees. He sees
pardon and cleansing for the worst of men and women. That's
what God sees. He sees wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, redemption. That's what God sees. He sees
a people washed in the blood of the Lamb, purified, no blemish. That's what God sees. He sees
you as he sees Christ. As he is, so are we in this world.
And this day shall be for you a memorial. The Lord said in
the gospels, I believe it's in Luke, this do in remembrance
of me. We do not offer lambs. We don't
do that. The lamb of God has come. He's
fulfilled the time. He's fulfilled the time. Now, who is this for? Who are
to take this? Everyone that believes God. Abraham believed God and it would
count him for righteousness. Everyone whose hope, whose only
hope is Jesus Christ and Christ alone. That's what it's for. All right, Doug, you got some
men to help you. Go ahead and give it out.