Do you attend a church? If so,
is it the true Church, God's Church, the Church of God, the
Church of Jesus Christ, the Church of Christ, which, by the way,
is not a denomination, but the way which Scripture refers to
the people of God, the Church of God, the Church of Christ. Churches, local assemblies throughout
the Bible time were called by their location, a church at Ephesus,
a church at Colossae. The church, God's people, they
all believed the same thing. They weren't the different denominations. There was one Lord, one faith.
The church is not a building. But the church is the people
of God. As someone once said, the people
of God don't go to church, they are the church. Or maybe someone's
listening to this who's looking for a church. I hear people say
that sometimes, I'm looking for a church. Well, let me say this,
the church is not a building, but the church is a people. There is no temple in Jerusalem
as I speak. The Lord had the temple there
torn down and destroyed twice. There is no temple, and that
is according to God's purpose, because the temple is the people
of God. God does not dwell in buildings
made with hands, but He dwells where His people are, in the
hearts of His people, in the midst of His people. When His
people leave the church house, God does too. He goes with them. He is with them. The church house
is a place, a building where the church meets. Alright? What is the church? In Exodus chapter 12, there are
four ways that you may know a church house is where the church of
God meets. In Exodus chapter 12, it's a
story of the people of Israel, the children of Israel who dwelled
in the houses And then there were the Egyptians that had their
houses, the houses of the children of Israel and the houses of the
Egyptians. Well, God was in the houses where
the children of Israel were. You could call them the church
houses, the church house. And the way you knew that God
was in that house, was four ways. And this is how you may distinguish
the true church of God, or a church house, where God is, where God's
people are, where the truth is proclaimed. If you're looking
for a church, this is how you may know the true from the false. Though there are so-called churches
on every street corner in America and throughout the land, there's
only one true church. All right, four ways that you
may know a true church house or where the church of God meets.
In Exodus chapter 12, there are four ways. Number one, who was
in the house? Number two, what was on the house? Number three, what were they
doing? in the house. And number four,
what was not in the house. In Exodus chapter 12, I'll tell
you who was in the house. Who was in the house there and
who is in the house of God, the church of God now. I'll tell
you who it was. It was the children of Israel. Not the Egyptians, but the children
of Israel. They were the sons of Jacob.
They are called God's elect. That's what God called them.
He said, Jacob have I loved. That's who God loved. That's who God chose. That's
who God revealed Himself to. That's who knew the living and
true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He said, I
am the God of Jacob. And so the Lord God revealed
himself to these people whom he had chosen, who is in the
house, the church house today, the true church. It's where God's
elect are, where the chosen of God are. He said this so many
times throughout the scriptures. They're called his elect. This
is not a doctrine. Just a doctrine that is, but
it is an absolute truth. He said in Isaiah 43, this people
have I chosen. These are the people that I have
chosen for myself, that they might know me. that I am the
Lord, there is none else. He says in verse 12, I have declared
and I have saved and I have showed them that I am God and beside
me there is none else that I will work and who shall prevent me.
So it's God's people that's in the true church hat. They know
who chose who. If you ask the true people of
God, they will tell you it is God that does the choosing, not
man. It is God that does the electing,
not man. It is according to God's will,
God's choice, who are His people. They are born of God, begotten
of God, by the Word of God, chosen of God. They are foreknown, that
means foreloved, predestinated, called, justified, and glorified,
salvations of the Lord. Everyone in the houses of Israel
knew that they were chosen by God, and they knew God because
God first knew them, and loved them, and chose them. So it is
in the church today. If any so-called church does
not believe that God does the choosing, that God has intellect
people, it is not God's church. Number two, what was on the house? What was on the house? Well,
in Exodus chapter 12 he said, in verse 7, 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. And down in
verse 13 it says 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." What was on the houses,
on all the houses of the children of Israel? The blood of a lamb.
They all knew it. They knew it then, they know
it now. Every true church house, this is what they know. This
is what God reveals to all of God's people. It is the blood
that maketh atonement for the soul. That without the shedding
of blood, there's no remission of sin. Every true church house,
where God's church is, everyone in that house who is a true child
of God, elect, chosen of God, whom God reveals Himself to,
they know. that it is only the blood of
Jesus Christ that spares them. It is the blood of Jesus Christ
which was shed for the remission of their sin. Not their faith,
not their works, not their decision, not anything they do, but what
Jesus Christ did on Calvary's tree. Jesus Christ and Him crucified
is the Lamb slain for the remission of the sins of all of God's people.
I want you to notice now, if you read this story, that that
blood was not on the houses of any of the Egyptians. Egypt has
always stood for the world. Egypt has always represented
the world. And the blood was not upon any of the houses of
the Egyptians. And the blood was not out there
in the street for anybody to take it if they wanted it. Jesus
Christ did not die for every single human being. He died for
his people. He said, I lay down my life for
my sheep. And that blood was shed for the
remission of many, not all, many. and everyone for whom Jesus Christ
died, they shall be saved. And the Holy Spirit through the
gospel, preaching of the gospel, which I am doing right now, He
comes and reveals to every one of God's chosen, every one of
His church, in the church house where the gospel is preached,
and they know, every one of them, it is the blood of Jesus Christ
that puts away their sin. Nothing more, nothing less. What
was going on in the house? What were they doing in the house?
In verse 8 it says, They shall eat the flesh in that night,
roast with fire. They shall eat the flesh. They
were eating the flesh of that lamb. And Jesus Christ said these
very words, Except you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you
have no part in me. What were they doing in the houses
of Israel? They were eating the lamb. They
were talking about the lamb. They were going out of Egypt.
God had come down to bring them out, Exodus chapter 3 says. And He revealed to them that
the blood was sparing them. And they're coming out. They
would not die because a lamb, a substitute that represents
Jesus Christ who was to come, died in their stead. And so they're
coming out. They won't die. And so they're
eating and remembering the blood that was shed for them. And that's
what Christ said, except you eat my flesh and drink my blood,
you have no part in me. All of God's people, they feast
on the gospel of Christ and Him crucified. They know that it's
the blood, that it's Christ that is their life, that is their
salvation. The mercy of God, the grace of
God, the salvation of God is all in Jesus Christ. And what
you will find in the true church house, wherever God's people
meet, is a preacher standing up declaring the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing else, nothing more, nothing
less. Always, at all times, and every
time they meet, just like the children of Israel in Egypt. They were eating the lamb that
night. That's where you'll find God's
people. If you're looking for a true church, that's what you'll
find them doing. Worshipping God, rejoicing in
Christ Jesus, and doing nothing else but preaching and hearing
the gospel. All right? That's what they were
doing in the house. what was not on the house. It's
equally important as what was not in the house as what was
on the house. All right, look at Exodus chapter
12. It says in verse 15, seven days you should eat unleavened
bread. The first day you shall put away
leaven out of your houses. Put away leaven out of your houses. There should be no leaven in
your houses. The person, he said, that I see
eating leaven shall be cut off. Verse 20 says, you shall eat
nothing leaven in all your habitations, shall you eat unleavened bread. What is leaven? Well, the Lord
told His disciples, beware the leaven of the Pharisees. That's
self-righteousness. They thought their works, they
thought their deeds, they thought what they did for God and made
them accepted. No, it's the blood. There's no
self-righteousness in the church of God. And leaven is insincerity,
hypocrisy. That's what Paul said, to eat
the Passover with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Oh, our Lord warned, He said, well did Isaiah prophesy of this
generation they draw near with their lips and their heart is
far from me. God's people. They worship God
in the Spirit. They truly, sincerely worship
God, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the
flesh. They're not hypocrites. They're not playing a part. So
many do. So many so-called churches, it's
just a show of religion. But God's people, Although at
times they may act hypocritically, but they're not hypocrites. They're
true people of God. They're true worshipers. They're
real sinners with a real need of a real Savior, a real forgiveness
of sin. And God has revealed Himself
to them. And they come to worship God
from the heart for the Lord Jesus Christ who died for their sin.
If you're looking for a church house, that's what you'll find. That's what you'll find in the
true church house of God. The blood on the door, the lamb
inside, the gospel inside, and a people, true people, worshiping
God in the Spirit, and no leaven. Until next Sunday.