Come with me to the book of Exodus. Exodus. We're going to take the
Lord's table after the message. A fitting way to end the old
year and bring in the new, isn't it? That's what the Lord did
when he instituted the Passover for the children of Israel. It
was all brand new for them, they're going out. That's what Exodus
means, going out. The story of the Lord bringing
his people out. It's the story of the Lord bringing
us, his people, out of this world. We sing the song, Out of my bondage,
sorrow, and night, the Lord Jesus, I come. Into thy freedom, gladness,
and light, Lord Jesus, I come. This is a new year. It's amazing
how fast time flies, isn't it? The older you get, years go by
like months. Months go by like weeks. Weeks
go by like days. Days go by like hours, don't
they? Moments. It's the reason the
Lord calls these years, days. He teaches us to number our days,
not years, days. We don't know what tomorrow will
hold. We may not have another day upon this earth. Today is
the Lord's day, so let's rejoice in it and be glad. What will the Lord do with us
this year? What trials, what tribulations,
what troubles do we face? What joys, what sorrows. Who will the Lord take from us? Someone we are waiting, nearly
a hundred years old, or someone we don't expect? Happens all
the time, doesn't it? When you least expect it. Deuteronomy 32 says this, Oh,
that they were wise and would consider this, that they would
consider their latter end. End. End of all things. That's
what Simon Peter said. He said, See that all these things
shall be dissolved. What manner of people we ought
to be in our holy conversation. That is, looking for the Son
of God to come. Exodus means going out. Go to
Exodus chapter 1. It means going out. And this
whole story is the Lord bringing his people out. Who did he bring
out? Sons of Jacob. Jacob, as I know. His elects. His people. Bringing
them out. So it is with all of God's people. Verse 1 says they came into Egypt. Verse 5, all the souls that came
out of the lawns of Jacob were in Egypt. And all of God's people
are in this world, aren't they? Look at chapter 12. Let's go
over to chapter 12 real quick. So they were all in the world.
Israel was in Egypt. They were not of Egypt. Look
at chapter 12. The last verse says that it came
to pass that selfsame day the Lord did bring the children of
Israel out of the land of Egypt. Many years, perhaps, went by
between chapter 1 and chapter 12. They're all in Egypt. They all came out. They all came
out. The Lord brought all of His people
out, and He brought them to the point where they wanted out. They were in the world, but to
bring them out, He had to get the world out of them. So it
is with us. Now, I think about our young
people, you know, seemingly with their lives ahead of them. Maybe,
maybe not. All of these things in this life
that God gives us richly to enjoy, and they're good. I mean, they're
good while we have them. But oh, that we were wise and
consider this, vanity of vanity. It just doesn't last. It just
doesn't fulfill. You no sooner have them till
they're gone. That's just the way it is. It's
not sad for God's people. We should look at this with great
expectation. That's what Elder Darwin read
in 1 Peter 1. You know, we rejoice, though
if need be we're in heaviness through many sorrows, but we
rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. The former
things are not going to be remembered or even come to mind. For the
glory that shall follow. And we're all going to wonder
why we dreaded and didn't look forward to the greatest thing
that could ever happen to us. Our liberation. Glorious manifestation,
it speaks of, of the children of God. It's going to be something.
We think of it being sad when we leave those that we love.
Well, think of those you love, you're going to see again. Because those you leave, it's
just going to be temporary. I mean, you're going to be in
glory if you know the Lord. You're going to be in glory.
And, you know, time is, there is no time. So they're going
to be with you blink, twinkle of an eye. What's not to look forward to
about that? Hebrews 11, it says this, Hebrews
11 says that all these people died in faith. They received
the promises, not having received the promises, but they were persuaded
of them and they embraced them. And they confess they were strangers
and pilgrims on earth. And all that say these things,
declare plainly, they seek a country. If they'd been mindful, if they
were always thinking about where they came from, they would have
wanted to go back. But no, they seek, desire a better
country, a heavenly country. So God is not ashamed to call
them pilgrims. be called their God. And they're
not ashamed to be called His children either. Father. Father's coming for them. What's
there not to look forward to about that? Well, who are they? Verse 1 of
chapter 1 of Exodus says they're the sons of the household of
Jacob. Jacob have I loved. None of them
would go out if God hadn't chosen them, right? be in the world, be of the world,
and not want to leave the world. Same with us. Jacob have I loved. The world hates that. I love it. If you're a Jacob,
you love that. If you're an Esau, you hate that.
Jacob have I loved. Thank God, we wouldn't love him
unless the person loved him. If he hadn't chosen us, we wouldn't
know him, wouldn't care, wouldn't think about him. Where are they? They're in Egypt. Egypt was the
center of the world then. A metropolitan place, modern,
advanced, rich, and affluent, much like the United States of
America. The center of everything. Politics and what have you. Treasure cities. In chapter,
verse 11, it talks about Pytham and Ramses. You know what those
names mean? Nothing. I looked up the names. They are
meaningless. That's fitting, isn't it? The
richest so-called treasure cities of this world are useless, meaningless,
vanity of vanity. Oh, but the unsearchable riches
and treasures in Christ are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
And that city, New Jerusalem, all the treasures that are in
that city make one rich beyond our imagination. They're in Egypt. They're in Egypt. And the sons
of Jacob, they were. Now, when the Lord brought them to
Egypt, because Joseph was there, wasn't he? That's the Lord Jesus
Christ. But Joseph put them, in mercy
and grace and love to them, put them in the land of Goshen. That's
an old, it's not an old southern saying, it's Bible in it. We
say, we see something glorious and amazing, we say, well, that's
Goshen. That's something. They were in the best place that
could, of all of Egypt. God put them, mercifully and
graciously, fed them and watered them and kept them in the land
of Goshen. They had it all. That's me. That's you. I got it all. There's absolutely nothing I
could even think of that I don't have. It is rich and increasingly
good, but thank God I have need of something, something else.
Him. They were in this land of Goshen,
and in order to start bringing them out, The Lord's going to make them
miserable. You say, the Lord's going to
make them miserable? That's exactly right. That's exactly right. Look at verse 11. He sent hard
taskmasters. Who did? Pharaoh? No, God did. God did. Verse 12, they were
afflicted. They were afflicted. Verse 13,
they served the Egyptians with rigor, hard labor, made their
lives bitter. They were bitter. They were in
hard labor. They were in bondage. They were
in service to the Egyptians. And they started to become miserable. Who did that? God did that. in love, in mercy, and goodness
to these people to bring them out. Our Lord said you must,
through much tribulation, enter the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom
of God. The Lord sends us tribulations,
trials, hard labor, suffering, sorrow, just enough joy, just
enough pleasure to keep us from doing something foolish like
taking our lives. Tribulation. He said you must
through much tribulation enter the kingdom of heaven. If he
didn't, you wouldn't want heaven. He wouldn't want to. So he sent
bitterness. He sent hard bondage. Listen to this. He made them
serve. They were servants of Egypt. You know these verses well. It
says in time past you walked according to the course of this
world. according to the prince, the power of the air, like Pharaoh.
Spirit that now works in the children of disobedience, among
whom also we all had our conversation in time past, fulfilling the
lusts, the desires of the flesh and of the mind, were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others, living in this world,
of this world, living for this world, living in sin, right? But God. But God, who's rich
in mercy, made you miserable. It's mercy to be miserable. It's
mercy to need mercy. It's mercy to find out you're
in bondage. It's mercy for the Lord to give
you a burden called sin. It's mercy for the Lord to make
you afflicted, afflict you. It's mercy. That's what he said
in Titus. He said, Ourselves were foolish
and disobedient and deceived and serving divers lusts and
pleasures, living in malice and envy and hateful and hating one
another. But after the kindness and love
of God, our Savior. Oh, he sent Christ. He sent Christ. All right, look at chapter two
of Exodus. The Lord began to make them miserable.
burdens and sorrows and troubles and bitterness and anguish of
spirit. And you know what that made them
do? Cry. Call on the Lord. Isn't it a
shame that we don't really call on the Lord as we should until
we get in trouble? It's just so. Down in verse 23
of chapter 2, the process of time, the children of Israel
sighed by reason of bondage, and they cried. They cried, and
their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. He heard
it. Listen, look at the proof of that. He heard their groaning,
and he remembered. His covenant. You know, Brother
Darwin, you've read through this. You've studied this. We have
too, many times. And you don't really hear of
the sons of Jacob worshipping God at this point, do you? You
don't really hear of them calling on God much at this point. They're
living in the land of Goshen. They're living it up. But God
began to send these hard trials and they started calling. And
said, God, what they forgot, you see, they forgot. We're the
sons of God. We're not of this Egypt. But
no, they forgot that then, just like Moses warned them. And they
forgot, and so God remembered for them. It reminded them. It reminded
them. Oh, brethren, whom the Lord loves,
He sends afflictions and tribulations and troubles to bring them out,
show them one thing needful. Show them their need of Christ.
In chapter 2, how He's going to bring them out is He sent
a Savior. He sent a man. Look at this. This is amazing.
Verse 2, the woman conceived and bear a son. Does that sound
familiar? We just looked at that last Sunday.
Same story. Same truth, same gospel, isn't
it? Goodly child, oh my. Now I'm not talking about Moses,
I'm talking about Jesus Christ. And she put this goodly child,
the hope of Israel, in an ark and put him in the river where
Pharaoh wanted to cast all the sons of Jacob. He put that son
in the river, in an ark. See, that's all their hope. How
can all the hope of all the sons of Jacob be resting in this babe
in an ark in the river? You just wait. Just hang around and you'll see. Isn't that all our hope? A virgin
shall conceive and bear a son. Call his name Wonderful. Mighty
God, the Everlasting Father, He's our Savior. God our Savior,
Joshua, Jehovah, Jesus Christ, all our hope and salvation are
in the Son of the Most High God, who Himself was in this world,
though not of it, who was cast into the river for us to bring
us out. Well, God's purpose to save,
chapter 3, Oh, how I love these verses. Chapter 3, he sent the
Savior, and the Savior, Moses, was with God on the mountain
in verse 1. He and God were alone on the
mountain. God was giving him his orders. And our Lord Jesus
Christ was with the Father in the beginning. Just he and the
Father and the Holy Spirit. They made this purpose, this
covenant to save his people. And verse 7, here's what the
Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people in
Egypt. I have heard their cry by reason
of their taskmaster. I know their sorrow. And I, look
at it, I am come down to deliver them out of the hand
of the Egyptians, to bring them up out of the land into a good
land, oh, better than the land of Goshen. A land large flowing
with milk and honey. Dispel and disperse all their
enemies. Oh, what a picture this is. Our
God's purpose to save His people. Ordered in all things and sure
and given to the Lord Jesus Christ to fulfill. Down in verse 11,
Moses said, Who am I that I should go? And the Lord said, verse
12, I will be with thee. I am sending you. Moses was the
sent one. Christ is the sent one. Sent by the Father. Sent by the
Father. Listen to this. Well, go with
me to John 6 real quick. John chapter 6. All through the
Gospels, our Lord speaks of being the one the Father sent. And
more so in John than any other Gospel. But John 6, look at verse
38. John 6, verse 38. He said, I have come down from
heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent
me. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me. And of all which He hath given
me, I should lose nothing. You know that there wasn't one
single child of Israel that didn't go out of Egypt. Not one of them. And the Lord didn't even let
a dog bark at her. They all went. There wasn't anyone
feeble. When they left that place going out, there was nobody feeble.
They all walked out. Delivered by a high hand, the
Lord said. Look at verse 40. It says, This
is the will of Him that sent me. And everyone which seeth
the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and
I will raise him up at the last day." Do you believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ? Do you? You're going out. You have His Word on you. You
have His Word. You believe on Him, you have
everlasting life. He will raise you up. When the
Lord comes for His people, He's coming for you. You say, but,
but, but, but what? But God. Yes, and you who are
dead, but God. If you're going to say but, say
that. But God. The Lord purposed to bring them
out and He sent a Savior, Moses. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
our Savior. Moses, you know, represents the
law. He can't bring us in. Joshua did. He was the Lord Jesus
Christ. God's purpose to save. He said
in verse 19 of chapter 3, Exodus, go back there. Verse 19, he said, I'm sure the
king of Egypt will not let you go. He's not going to let you
go. But I will stretch out my hand
and smite Egypt and do wonders. And after that, he will let you
go. You're coming out. No ifs, ands,
and buts, or maybes about it. He's not going to let you go.
I'm going to make him let you go. You know, unless a stronger
than he binds the strong man, our adversary, the devil, unless
the Lord, one stronger than he, binds him and takes his goods,
he's not going to let us go. But we're brought out with a
stronger than him, a mighty hand. And so this is the Lord's purpose
to save his people. Though they're in Egypt, though
they're under the God of this world, he's come to set captivity
free. Captivity captive. The next seven or eight chapters,
what are they full of? Troubles. plague after plague, pestilence,
you name it, diseases, sickness, disaster after disaster, disaster
after pestilence after plague after plague. Who sent it? God
did. Why? It was judgment on Egypt
and mercy on his people. Every single plague. God's people
were right in the middle of all of them. Were they affected by
them? Yes, you know they were. Nobody died from it. Not one. See, it was not a house in Israel
where one was dead from any of those blessings. Our text for
Wednesday night is, He whom thou lovest is sick. And our Lord
said, This sickness is not unto death. They cannot die. Why? Because Christ did. And every plague the Lord sent
was His goodness, His mercy, His praise to bring them out. It was judgment upon Egypt, but
mercy upon Israel. Do you understand that? Then you'd quit being afraid
of these plagues. You'd almost welcome them. That's a fact. All things work together for
one. Is that just a verse to quote at the cemetery? It's a
verse to live by. Every day. In everything give thanks. Everything give thanks. This
is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. And it's
good. God's too good to do anything
other than good to his people. Too wise. We just don't understand.
We will. He will. And we're going to thank
Him to higher heaven for every single thing that happened to us, good
and what we think is evil. Romans 1.18 says this clearly,
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
Were these things the judgments of God and the wrath of God against
Egypt? Absolutely. It's sin, it's unbelief, right? Shockingly, I heard a preacher
say that this past plague the Lord sent was not God's judgment
and not God's wrath. It shocked me to hear that. What was it then? No, it wasn't
His eternal judgment and wrath, but it's judgment and wrath nonetheless.
And so is everything that God sends from heaven, Romans 1.18.
Everything, isn't it? Isn't it? Judgment against the
world, against sin. That's why it happens. Drought,
famine. It's all the judgment of God
and the wrath of God. Not the eternal wrath and judgment. Not
the final wrath and judgment. It's judgment. Nothing to do
with that. What is it for God's people? Mercy. It's all mercy. It's all good. Israel knew that. And they knew that. They saw
this as the hand of God. Moses, they heard this from Richard. Moses told them, God's going
to send, he told them before it happened, didn't he? He told
them, this is what's going to happen. Flies are coming. Get
ready, flies are coming. Get ready, lice are coming. He
told them, didn't he? Hail, angel with fire. Get ready
now. It's coming. Darkness is coming
that can be felt. We're in that right now, aren't
we? that all the children of Israel
had lightened with. They weren't in darkness even
as others were. You know, some people, well all
of mankind, they don't believe that God sends anything like
these disasters and so forth. They don't believe that God would
do that. And they see natural disasters
as just that, natural disasters due to whatever, because you're,
you know, you drive a diesel truck or something. They see natural reprieve from things. I just
saw this recently, I don't know whether it said, Mother Nature's
given us reprieve, send in warm days. Give anybody the glory but God,
huh? Not God's people. You know there is a difference
between God's people and the people of this world. Romans
2 is talking about unregenerate people. Romans 3 goes on to say
there's no difference. That's talking about unregenerate
Gentiles and unregenerate Jews. There's no difference. No difference.
But God puts a difference in His people and the people of
this world. There are many differences. Number one, they fear God. Talk
about the midwives. Remember that? The midwives?
Pharaoh said, kill every son. They said, we ain't going to
do it. They feared God, not Pharaoh.
They were not going to do it. And they were lively and they
feared God. The Lord put a difference. They
feared God, they called on God, they began to call on God, they
had light in their dwellings, but the great difference, what's
the greatest difference? What really set them apart from
the Egyptians? God revealed to them the way
he's going to bring them out. One way, and everyone is going
to understand this and know this from God himself, a lamb. A lamb. A lamb. He didn't reveal this to Egypt.
He didn't manifest this to Egypt. But every single son of Jacob
knew it's the blood that makes the tomb for the soul. We're
going out because we have a substitute. They all knew that. Look at chapter
12. Now we're getting to the heart
of it. Now let's get to the blood. This is the difference, isn't
it? You know, how long did all those
plagues and pestilence last? Probably for years. Probably
for years. As said, surely Israel was affected
by them, but nobody died from them and they all saw it as mercy. But somebody died in every house
in Israel, all right. The soul that sinneth will surely
die. And every one of them were sinners. This is where they did
not differ from Egypt. They were all sinners, just like
Egypt. Chosen sinners, loved sinners,
sinners revealed that the truth revealed to, sinners who called
on God, sinners who feared God. They're sinners, like the Egyptians. Somebody's got to die. The soul
that sinneth will surely die. So God, but God. He said, here's
how I'm going to be just and yet justify you. Here's how
I'm going to judge you and yet spare you. Here's how I'm going
to kill you and yet keep you alive. Substitute. The Lamb. Chapter 12. Oh, how
many times have we looked at this? I always get excited when
I'm going to look at this. This is it. It began in verse
2. This is the beginning. This is where it all began. You
know, life, you know you're born again when you hear Christ crucified. That's when you're born again.
It's not some experience you have. It's a man preaching the
Lamb, the blood of the Lamb, Christ crucified, and you hear
that you need a substitute. And that's when you're born again.
Now the Word of God, and you read it, this is the Word of
God which by the Gospel is preached unto you. Jesus said, Peter said, you know
you're not redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver and gold,
but with the precious blood of a lamb without spot. You know
that, don't you? Why do we always make so much
of the blood? Why? Our life, everything depends
on it. I told these men in that preacher's
class we had, I said, if you don't feel like you're having
any liberty, if you just feel like you're mumbling and fumbling,
just holler, blood! It'd be a good message. You don't
hear any blood today. Like Isaac said to his father,
here's the wood, here's the fire, where's the land? That's what
I say about this generation. Who's talking about the blood?
God's people are. God's church is. God's preachers
are. Every time. Without shedding
your blood, there's no remission of sin. God said, when I see
the, I'm getting ahead of myself, but I can't wait. This won't
wait. He said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you in mercy and grace
and love. I'm going to pass through Egypt.
I'm passing through Egypt and I'm going to smite Egypt. But
when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Blood of the Lamb. Verse 2 says
that speak to the children of Israel. Speak to them. How did
they find out about this plan? How did they find out about this
plan? A preacher. Nobody would have heard about
this, would they, darlin'? Nobody would have heard about this if
God hadn't sent a preacher. So do you have to hear a preacher
to be saved? Yes. You won't find it exactly in
all the Bible. Why? Because God said so. That's why. Our Lord was a preacher. He sent
these preachers that speak to the children of Israel. Tell
them every man needs a lamb. Everyone must have a lamb. Verse
5, Your lamb shall be without spot, without blemish, a male
of the first year, taken out of the sheep and the goats, but
without blemish. Christ, the virgin born, Son
of Man, yes, but no Son of Adam. How can that be? This is the
Son of God, Son of Man, without sin, without spot, without blemish,
the perfect, spotless Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, look at verse 6, all
shall keep it up, observe it, let it be without blemish, observe
it, till the fourteenth day of the month, the whole congregation
of Israel shall kill it in the evening. Simon Peter was preaching at
Pentecost. He said, You with wicked hands
have taken and crucified the Lord of glory, but you did, he
said, what God determined before to be done. Herod and Pontius
Pilate and all the people took him and crucified him, but God's
the one that killed him. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. God killed the lamb. He said, all of you were to kill
the lamb. Verse 7, and take the blood and
strike it on the two side posts, on the upper door posts of the
house, wherein they shall eat it. Take that blood and strike
it on the upper door post and the side post. Someone asked
me this morning about that, and I've always looked at this and
thought about it, and the people didn't do that. The people didn't
do that. Look down at verse 21, Moses called for the elders of
Israel and said unto them, draw out, take a lamb, and you take
a bunch of hyssop and dip it in blood and strike it on the
lid on the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin.
None of you go out of the door now. Don't leave that house.
Wherever the blood is, don't leave that house. But the people
didn't apply that blood to their own houses. It says the elders
did. Who are they? Well, you and I
don't apply the blood of Jesus Christ to our soul. The Spirit
of God does that. You hear me? This is what modern
religion says. They say faith applies the blood.
No, it doesn't. No, it doesn't. Faith believes
in the blood applied. There's a big difference. We don't share God's glory. God chose us, loved us, Christ
died for us, and the Holy Spirit applies the blood to us. Salvation
is of the Lord. We don't help Him out. Our faith
doesn't save us. Our faith is in the Savior. Our
faith is not what applies the blood. We believe in the blood
applied. But the only sense in which we
can say that we apply the blood, you know, almost all things are
purged by blood, Hebrews said. The only sense in which we can
say this is, is whatever we see, whatever we do, whatever we think
about ourselves, our prayers, our worship, our everything,
we apply the blood to that. You understand? My prayers are
so full of sin that if it wasn't for the blood of Christ, God
would damn me. The blood is applied to our consciences,
the blood is applied to our minds, our hearts, our soul, even our
works. We all know the blood must be applied to everything.
That's how. God, the Holy Spirit, puts that
in our minds and heart where we see. You know, there are times
you think, boy, that was a good prayer, wasn't it? Whew, man. He better remind you real quickly.
The Lord better remember for you real quickly. It's blood.
It's not your prayer. It's not your prayer. It's Christ's
prayer. Well, I did a good thing then.
Hold on now. It's not your words. It's Christ's
words. And that's what the Holy Spirit
does. Convinces us of sin, righteousness, and judgment. What is all that
about? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. So, I'm glad that
person asked me that question. He said they'll eat that lamb,
eat it, verse 7. They shall eat it, eat the flesh
that night, eat it. Didn't our Lord say, except you
eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part in me. He that
eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath life. What's that
mean? Well, if you're alive, you eat
and you drink, don't you? If you're alive, you're If you're
blessed with life, you're blessed with hunger. Oh, blessed are
they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. What's that? You
know what? It's food. Oh, if you hunger
and thirst, if you need Christ, you see your need of Christ,
you're so blessed. If you eat this gospel up, you just soak
it up. And eat this gospel up, you say, oh, give me some more
of that. That's life. You're blessed. You eat for need. You eat because you have life.
You eat because you love the food and you love the taste. That's what you eat. You drink
because you're thirsty. What a blessing. Eat it that
night. Roast with fire. Our Lord suffered
hell on that cross. I've told this so many times.
Don't ever say, I'm going through hell. Don't ever say that. People
say that. That's hell on earth. No, it's
not. The only hell on earth was on Calvary. That's where God
put his Son, through hell. Roast with fire. God's a consuming
fire. Our Lord Jesus Christ endured
the fiery wrath of God against us. An unleavened bread. He was without sin. Bitter herbs. They shall eat bitter herbs.
The Lord, like the children of Israel, He had them continually
eat bitter herbs to remind them of the bitterness that they were
in. The bitterness of sin. What makes the gospel sweet is
the bitterness of our sin. Isn't that what makes the gospel
sweet? No one eat it raw. No, no, no. It's our Lord, the salvation
of our Lord. Done. Done. They're siding with water. Don't water it down. Don't water
it down. Though its visage was marred,
that lamb's visage was marred more than any other lamb. It's
roasted with fire. You're going to see a whole lamb.
You're going to see this was a lamb, but it's burnt beyond
recognition. But it's a lamb. And that's our
Lord Jesus Christ. Head, the legs of pertinence
there. Let nothing remain. Today's the day of salvation.
Don't let it remain till the morning. Eat tonight. Today's
the day of salvation. Really. Who may eat of this table
this morning? We're going to have this table.
Who may eat of it? Believers. Those who need Christ. Don't
take this if you really don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Don't take this table. Don't take this table if you
don't understand what you're doing. Don't take it because
you're embarrassed that everybody else is taking it and you're
wrong. Don't take it for that reason.
Don't take it because you need, you believe on, you hunger and
thirst after Christ. I believe baptized believers,
you know, that's how you confess Christ and then you take the
table. But don't take this if you don't
need Christ, if you don't know why Christ came and believe he
did it for you. Don't do it. But if you do, we
don't. This is not my table. This is
not our table. This is the Lord's table. Come,
eat. And thus shall ye eat it, verse
11, I love this, with your loins girded, girded with truth, shoes
on your feet, preparation of the gospel of peace. Why is it
called the preparation of the gospel of peace? Because the
gospel prepares us for glory, doesn't it? Gospel of peace. We walk through this world by
faith. Faith in Christ. Staff in your
hand. You got your staff in your hand?
Now here's your staff. It's what you lean on, isn't
it? You'll stumble and fall without
your staff. Staff in your hand, eat it in haste. Don't wait. It's the Lord's Passover. I will
pass through the land of Egypt this night. It was at nighttime. Brethren, I believe it's the
eleventh hour. I really do. I really do. He will smite, read
it with me now, don't quit on me. I'll pass through the land
of Egypt, verse 12, this night will smite all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt, man and beast. He did, and God's going
to do it again. This time, every single thing
in this earth is going to perish, except God's people, against
the gods of Egypt. I'll execute judgment. The blood
shall be to you a token upon the houses where you are. I believe
this is God's house. You know that? I really do. I
believe that little tabernacle there in Louisville, Arkansas
out in the middle of nowhere and people pass by and don't
even give it a passing glance. I believe that's God's house.
I believe you go inside, you see the Shekinah glory of God
in there. This blood. Don't leave the house. Don't leave the house. It's the
token on the house. How do you know you're in God's
house? This is the token. Blood. And I, verse 13 said, verse 12,
I will execute judgment and the blood shall be a token to you
upon the houses where you are and when. When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. Not when I see that you're resolved
to do better. Not, and we do, and that's a
good resolve, but it fails January 2nd. Not when I see your faith. We do believe, don't we? Oh,
what about our unbelief? What about times we don't act
like we believe a thing? Children of Israel acted like
they didn't believe a thing. It wasn't three days they were
out of there, and they said, oh, they're going to go back to Egypt.
Didn't you hear anything? Yeah? And God, one more time,
remembered. He kept remembering for them.
I ought to kill you, but, Paul, I made a covenant in your mind.
When I see the blood, Brother John, the blood is before the
Lord. The blood of Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ, after
He made that one offering for sin forever, entered into the
Holy of Holies, not without blood, with His own precious blood,
and poured that blood on the mercy seat, and God is satisfied. God says, I see the blood. Who'd
He do it for? Everybody that needs blood. He said, I will pass over you.
The plague shall not destroy you when I smite the land. And he went on to say, and this
is going to be a memorial for you. You're going to keep this
feast throughout your generations. You're going to keep this feast
by an ordinance forever. And that's what we're doing this
morning. We're going to take the Lord's table. This is not
the Passover. You hear me? Christ is the Passover. There's nothing special about
this. I bought this bread at Kroger and the wine at Food Line. It was vice versa. One didn't have the other. It's
just bread. It's just wine. But it represents
the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's all
it does. It represents. It doesn't take
away sin. It doesn't impart anything to us. It's just a remembrance. It's the only thing our Lord
said to do in remembrance of Him. This is the way we're to
confess Him publicly before everybody. I believe Christ. I confess Christ. This is the way we commune with
Him and remember His broken body and shed blood. Okay.