Exodus. Go to the book of Exodus.
Go to chapter 2 first. Exodus 2, where this story
begins, actually. You know, in Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy
is the rehearsal. Going back over everything the
Lord did for the children of Israel for 40 years. That's what
Deuteronomy is. right before Joshua. And the Lord said in chapter
8 of Deuteronomy, He said, I fed you with manna for 40 years in
the wilderness. I said to humble you and to prove
you. The children of Israel were proved
by this manna. Who's really hungry? Because
some people got tired of that light bread, didn't they? And
they didn't go in. And they complained. They wanted
to go back to the slime pits, leeks and onions. So he proved
who really remembered the pit from which they were digged,
and who was really thankful that God had brought them out of bondage,
from under hard task management. Lots of them forgot that. And
who was really hungry, and who appreciated this free bread from
heaven. When they first tasted it, every
one of them said it's like wafers dipped in honey. They thought
it was the sweetest thing they'd ever tasted. They were so grateful.
They just couldn't get enough of it. And then after a while,
some people got tired of it. And the Lord tired of them. And
the Lord proved them by that. And He proved Israel by a lamb. By a lamb. begins all the way back in Genesis. We believe the Lord slew a lamb in the garden and
covered the first sinners with it. And from then on, lambs were
being shed, killed, their blood shed. And all the way we saw
to Revelation, to the last chapter, the lamb, the lamb, the lamb,
the lamb. And everybody in glory knows why they're there, and
everybody's there because of the lamb. And they're singing
unto the lamb. And we know that lamb is crying.
And we never tire of hearing or talking about the Lamb. He is our salvation. And we haven't heard this too
much. We haven't heard it enough. Man, our Lord, and I learned
things. I personally preached to you
this over 30 times from Exodus 12. Not to mention all the preachers
you've heard preaching. The half hasn't been told. Our Lord said of scribes, He
said, they bring out of their treasure, your heart, and this
is a treasure, chest, things new. The Gospel's new. We're going to learn something
new. Yeah, I did. And old. Tell me the old, old story of
the Lamb, the blood of the Lamb. This was about Israel, Exodus,
and I thought about what our Lord must have preached to those
disciples. That's how this all started.
I'm certain that he preached on the Passover lamb, aren't
you? He himself held the Passover
with his disciples, didn't he? They observed the Passover together,
and you know he told them what that Passover meant. This was
for, and the book of Exodus means going out. Going out. In chapter 2, look at this, verse
23. No, verse 24. I love this. And verse 23. The children of
Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and
their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God
heard their groaning. And God remembered His covenant.
And verse 25, And God looked upon the children of Israel,
the children of Israel, the sons of Jacob, and God had, look at
this, God had respect unto them. Did you look at the margin? Since
he knew them. It's the same exact word as when
Adam knew his wife Eve. God knew them. For whom he did
foreknow, he did predestinate. These were his people. Chapter
3, don't you love this? Verse 7, the Lord said, I have
surely seen the affliction of my people with your nation, and
have heard their cry by reason of their testaments. I know their
sorrow. He said, I've seen, I've heard,
I know. Verse 8, and I've come down. I'm coming down to deliver them
out of the hand of Egyptian, to bring them up into the promised
land. My, my. Who was this for? Go to our text
now, Exodus 12. I want you to read Exodus 6. If you get a chance, read Exodus
6 where he said, I have, I have, I have, I will, I shall, because
of his covenant. In Exodus 12, this is God's word
to Israel through his preachers. Verses 1 Two, three, the Lord
spake unto Moses and Aaron, and God in sundry time in a diverse
manner spake unto the fathers by the prophets. Who did He speak
to? Israel. They were in the land
of Egypt. They were in bondage, weren't
they? This is going to bring them out of bondage. This is
their salvation. This story. This good news. This proclamation. is going to
bring them out of bondage. This month, he said, verse 2,
shall be the beginning of months. Life is going to begin, he said,
right now. Right now. By the death of a
substitute, your life begins. You remember the story of Abraham
offering Isaac on the mountain? While he was doing that, Rebekah
was being born. Isaac's bride was being born
at the very time that Isaac was being offered in that manner.
And when Christ travailed on that cross, out of His side came
His bride. Life began, born again by the
travail of our Lord. Verse 3, Speak unto all the congregation
of Israel, all Israel, every Jew. This is to everyone who
is a true Jew. This word, God's truth, God's
gospel, is sent to the sons of Jacob, whom he loved, whom he
chose, he's elect. I started to read with you 1
Peter 1, and it sounds just like Exodus 12. Peter talks about
strangers. These people were strangers in
Egypt. They didn't belong here. They
had a land waiting on them. They were strangers. He said,
we're elect, according to the foreknowledge of God, kept by
the power of God. And he went on to say, you know
we're not redeemed with a corruptible thing, but with silver and gold,
but by the precious blood of the Lamb. That's 1 Peter 1. He said, we've got an inheritance
waiting on us. Just like Exodus 12. Because it's the same story. It's to God's people, true Jew.
Oh my, listen to this. I usually mark all these scriptures
for time's sake. Psalm 147 says this, God showeth
his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.
He hath not dealt so with any nation. And as for his judgments,
they have not known them. Praise the Lord. Do you know
them? You know, Israel of old, I said
they were tried by the Lamb. They quit. In Daniel, it said
the abomination of desolation is going to take place in the
temple. And the sacrifices are going to cease. They had quit sacrificing the
Lamb, hadn't they? You don't hear of any scribes
and Pharisees and all those hypocrites. You don't hear of them sacrificing
the Lamb. Never. You can't approach God without
the blind. Can you? All of God's people know that.
Isaac knew that, didn't he? Our children, our young people
know that, at least in their heads. Isaac said what we need
to say. Here's the fire and here's the
wood. Where's the lamb? You can't worship God without the lamb.
Isn't that a wonderful statement? God will provide Himself a lamb. He has not dealt so with any
nation, but He has with all of His people, His elect. All His
people, all Israel know these things. They're taught of God. And they're bought by Christ.
All right, look at verses 3 and 4 in our text. It says, speak
unto all the congregation of Israel. Tell them all this one
thing, this one story. They'll take to them every man
a lamb according to the house of their father. A lamb for a
house. Everybody that's going to be redeemed. Every single
person that's going to be brought out of bondage, every single
person that's going to live and not die is going to have a lamb. A lamb. Life is by the lamb,
isn't it? Our life, His life for ours. He died that we might live. That's
the gospel. Substitution and satisfaction. He said, every man a lamb. And
verse 4 says, the household be too little. Let him and his neighbor
next unto him take it according to the number of their soul.
Every man according to his eating shall make your count for the
lamb. In other words, there's got to be a lamb for every single
person. Count them, number them. And
this lamb is going to be numbered with these transgressions. This is particular redemption
is what this is. The Lord knew how many there
were, and it tells us, so for numbers, exactly how many there
are. How many people that blood was shed for. This is particular
redemption. God has a particular people,
an elect, according to the foreknowledge of God. And they are saved by
the blood of the Lamb. And He has them numbered. Though
there is the stars of the sky and the sand of the seashore.
And they all received their life from the death of the Lamb. Verse
5 says this, Your Lamb shall be without blemish. I like that. Is He your Lamb? Ask yourself that. Every person
in here. Is He my Lamb? You must have
a Lamb. And you must know, I need a lamb. And you must believe he is the
only hope of your salvation. And you must say from your heart,
he is my lamb, my substitute, my salvation, my hope, my righteousness,
my peace, my all, my prophet, my priest, my king, my substitute. He is my lamb. Is he your lamb? Is he? Your lamb must be without blemish,
virgin-born, without the seed of man in him. You know why,
don't you, brothers and sisters? You know that. How many people?
I wrote, where is it? It's in my sermon notebook. But
they did a study and they polled a thousand clergymen, Protestant
preachers so-called. And this was 30 years ago. And
they asked questions like, do you believe the Bible's inspired
word of God in Aaron? Do you believe this? Do you believe
that? Do you believe Christ actually rose from the grave? You can't
believe how many of those. did not actually believe any
of those things. In the virgin birth, it was something
like 33% of Baptist preachers did not really believe in the
virgin birth of Jesus Christ. Something like 70% of Episcopalians
didn't. That was 30 years ago. What is
it like now? Worse. You know why he had to
be virgin-born. He has to be spotless. Without
sin. He took upon him the likeness
of sinful flesh, but he didn't have sinful flesh. Now, your
land. You know why your lamb must be
perfect. Leviticus 22, 21 says it shall be perfect to be accepted. See, God really is that holy. The world doesn't care about
that. God does. Holy, holy, holy. Worship the Lord in beauty of
holiness. How's that? Covered in the blood
of the lamb. wrapped in His righteousness.
You know that. Your Lamb is perfect. Spotless. Without blemish. Because
it must be. He must be. We're not. And He's
our substitute. And He is. And God is well pleased
for His righteousness sake. And He accepts us in Him. You know that, don't you? A doctrine? That's our hope. It's only hope
for sin. You're lame. You'll be without
spot. I'm male, not a female. Catholicism believes that Mary
is the co-redemptress. That's what they say. They say
that Mary prays to Christ for us. No, she doesn't. There's
one mediator between God and men. Not all men, but men. The man, Christ Jesus. And there's
one Redeemer. Mary was a sinner saved by grace,
chosen of God like all other of God's people. And she was
saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. She said that. My soul rejoiceth
in God my Savior. He's the only Redeemer. A male
of the first year in his prime. You take it out from the sheep,
from the goats. Our Lord was a man chosen from
among the people, wasn't He? He was born in Bethlehem, grew
up in Nazareth, and lived in Galilee from among the people.
Sheep and goats. But He came to save His sheep. And someday he's going to separate
sheep from goats. He was taken out from among them.
And it says in verse 6, keep it up, the lamb, keep it up to
the fourteenth day of the month. Why is that? Why did they do
that? They needed to observe very clearly. Everyone needed to see that this
lamb was without spot and without blemish. It needed to be observed
by everyone that this lamb is perfect. God will accept this
lamb. And our Lord was observed for
33 years to be without spot, without sin. God said so from
heaven. The devil came to find something,
couldn't find anything. They had to make up things about
him because he had no thoughts, spotless. Don't you love that
about him? God did. And that's why we accept it in
him. So he was observed by all to be without sin, our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Lamb. The whole assembly of the congregation
of Israel shall kill it in the evening. Yes. Peter said, You
with wicked hands have taken and crucified the Lord of glory,
but you did what God determined before to be done. Right here
is where it said, right here, where it prophesied that the
whole congregation would kill it in the evening. And the one
that they killed, they were saved by the very blood that they shed.
Our Lord, being gracious and merciful and kind as He is, full
of compassion, while hanging on the cross that they hung Him
on, prayed for them, said, Father, forgive them. And 3,000 souls were saved by
that prayer. My, my. And it says in verse 7, they
shall take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts on the
upper door post of the house wherein they shall eat it. Who's
that? Go down to verse 21. Call for all the elders. It said
unto them, draw out and take your lamb according to your families.
Kill the Passover and take a bunch of hyssop. Now this is what David
meant in Psalm 51 when he said, purge me with hyssop. Dip it
in the blood of my substitute and cleanse me from my sin. But
the elders did this. And this is all typical. It's
just not a perfect type, mind you. All the people, the people
didn't put the blood on their own houses. Right? That's what
that said. And these elders are a picture
of the preacher of the gospel, the preachers of the gospel who
declare, who tell this story of the gospel. The gospel is
the power of God unto salvation. And God the Holy Spirit takes
this gospel of the blood of Jesus Christ and applies it. We don't
apply it. We don't apply it to our own
houses, our own doors, our own hearts and minds and souls. And
the preacher can't either. But he tells it, he declares
it, and when God is pleased, he applies it to them. That blood, the blood
of the lamb, the spotless lamb, was to be applied to the two
side posts and upper door posts of the houses wherein they shall
eat it. All right? It's the blood. You
all know this, don't you? The life of the flesh is in the
blood. Well, the life of our souls is in the blood of the
Lamb. The life of the flesh is in the blood. This is Leviticus
17 in it. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission of sin. And this world thinks it's barbaric,
it's old-fashioned. Yes, it's as old as God. And it's salvation. And it's
never going to change. The blood is ever before the
Lord. It's the blood. God said, when I see the blood,
not your works, the blood, the substitution of Christ. And Peter, I quoted it to you,
he said, you know we're not redeemed with corruptible things, but
with the precious blood of the Lamb. All the children of Israel
knew that. They at least knew it in their
heads that the only reason they were going out, the only reason
they didn't die, down in verse 30 it says in Egypt there was
not one house there was not one dead. Every house in Egypt somebody
died. Why? They didn't have a substitute. They didn't have the lamb. Their blood was shed. But not
one house where the blood was, was there one dead. Not one. In history. Not one. Every single house that had the
blood on it, every single soul in that house under the blood
was saved. A saved. Every one of God's people know
that. It's the blood, it's the blood, it's the blood. It was
on the door. Why the door? Well, who is the door? Didn't
Christ say, I am the door? Our blood was literally on Him. He's the door, the doorpost,
the lintel, we call it, us carpenters, remember Tom, whoever's a carpenter,
we call, what we call the lintel, we call the header, On the head of the door was blood
on the two side posts. His hands, his feet, literally. Christ is the door, He is the
way, and He is the entrance into heaven by His own blood. We enter
in, He entered in, not without blood. What did He do? He obtained
eternal redemption for us by His own blood. Of the houses,
the door of the houses, Look at verse 13. It says, The blood shall be to
you for a token upon the houses where you are. Verse 15. Seven
days eat unleavened bread. The first day shall put away
leaven out of your houses. Verse 22. Take a bunch of hyssop,
and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until
the morning. This blood was on the houses
where the people of Israel dwelled." What is that? That's the church
houses. Every one of God's church houses,
that's where the blood is. That's where Christ is preached
in. That's where God's people are, in those houses. The Lord
loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob,
doesn't He? It's His house. It's God's house.
The church is His house. I was glad when they said unto
me, let us go into the house of the Lord. Listen to this.
Let me find this. This is good. In Isaiah 2, it
says, Many people shall go and say, before that it says, It
shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the
Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountain. And
many people shall go and say, Come ye, let us go to the mountain
of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He'll teach
us His ways." This is where we find out about
the blood. This is where Christ is. He's
in the house with his people. And he said, don't go out of
that house. Don't leave that place where the gospel is. Why
would you? Is the gospel there? Is the blood being prayed? Then
why leave? You need the blood? Don't do
it. Leave. Stay there in that house. Not one dead where the blood
is. Not happening. And look at verse, back in our
text. He said, verse 8, they shall eat the flesh, roast with
fire and unleavened bread of bitter herb. Every single person
in that house was to eat it. It was to eat it, didn't our
Lord say? He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath life. Didn't he say that? Let me read
it. Let me not misquote it. It's John chapter 6. This is
vital. He said, Verily, verily, truly,
truly, 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 will
raise him up at the last day." What does that mean? Well, if
you're alive, you eat. If you're not alive, you don't
eat. Right? If you have no taste, no desire,
no hunger, no thirst for Christ, you're dead in sin. If you're
alive, you eat. And you eat to live. to keep
alive. It's just a fact, isn't it? If
you're alive, you eat. And you eat to live. And you
eat for the taste of it. You love it, don't you? This
is what it means to partake of Christ. He's our food. You know, Jews ate... mostly
Jews eat lamb. Most Gentiles don't like the
taste of it. That's a good illustration. And it's not an acquired taste.
The blood of Jesus Christ is not an acquired taste. It's given. Given to you. He said, My flesh
is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth
my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him. Are you still hungry? You love
good food? Well, that's a silly question.
Look at you. All of you. Not a gaunt person in here. You're alive, aren't you? Does
this still taste good to you? Do you need Christ? You still
need Christ. Everyone, eat it. Roast with fire. And they ate
it at night time. This is the eleventh hour. Christ
is at the door. When you see all these things,
you say, no, He's at the door. We're not in darkness. We're
in a day of darkness, but we're not in darkness as others. There was light in all the dwellings
in Israel. What was the light? The Lamb
is the light there. He's who they eat and He's who
they see things clearly. And the night, roast with fire,
why fire? Elijah stood on that Mount Carmel
against all those false prophets, 450 prophets, and they were dancing
and shouting just like some Pentecostal meeting, hollering, shouting
and all that, cutting themselves, rolling and hollering and all
that. And Elijah said, give me an altar. And he said, it's the
God who answers by fire. That's who's God. Our God is
a consuming fire. And that says that in the New
Testament. Hebrews 12, 29. Our God is a
consuming fire. What did it say all before that
in Hebrews 12? You must have a Lamb. John read that, didn't
you? Hebrews 9 to 9. And all the way
through Hebrews is a rehearsal of the Old Testament of Christ
the Lamb, the high priest, the tabernacle, the altar, the mercy
seat. Oh, aren't you thankful we know
these things? Roast with fire, that Christ went through hell
for us on Calvary's tree. Unleavened bread. Let us eat,
Paul said, Christ our Passover was sacrificed for. 1 Corinthians 5. He said, let
us eat this with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Sincerely
needing Christ. Sincerely thankful for the bread
and his body. And bitter herbs. Bitter herbs. If you've ever stuffed chicken
or some kind of meat. You stuff it, don't you? You
don't just sprinkle it over. You stuff it. I want you to turn
with me. This is Lamentations 3. I want you to turn here. Lamentations
3. Bitter herbs. Lamentations right
after Jeremiah. Lamentations chapter 3. And many
of you know that this is a chapter that deals with our Lord who
is the man. I saw affliction by the rod of God's wrath. This
is all about Christ, isn't it? Lamentation 3, you have it? Alright? Lamentation 3, verse 12, he said,
He hath sentenced, bent his bow, and set me as a mark. His arrow
went into my reins. Verse 14, I was a derision to
all my people, and their song all the day long. Verse 15, He
hath filled me with bitterness. Like that lamb, the bitter herb. The bitterness of sin. God made
Him to be sin for us. Now, listen to this. In Zechariah,
if you want to turn there, you'll get a blessing. If not, listen. In Zechariah 12, look at this. Our Lord was filled with the
bitterness of sin, wasn't He? Like that lamb, the bitter herb.
And He makes us to taste it too. Look at Zechariah 12, verse 10. It said, I will pour upon the
house of David, upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace
and of supplications. And they shall look upon me whom
they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth
for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him. as one that is in bitterness
for his firstborn. We've got to taste. We will taste.
The only way we will taste the bitterness of sin is when we
see what Christ had to do because of our sin. And that's what He
said in Ezekiel 36. He said, You're going to loathe
yourself. You're going to hate yourself
thinking about what Christ had to do because of your sin. Bitterness. Bitterness. And sin ought to
leave a bitter taste in our mouth. Oh, eat it with bitter herb.
Read on. Back in our text. Not raw or
sodden with water. Don't water this thing down.
You know, when you put meat in a crock pot, it falls apart. It falls apart. No. This body of this lamb is
going to be roast with fire. It's going to stay together complete. Not a bone broken. Not one thing
going to be separated. You're going to see very clearly,
this is a lamb. A whole lamb. And it was burnt
as a substitute, as a sacrifice. Our Lord's image was marred more
than any man. But we saw clearly, that's a
man hanging on that cross, bearing the wrath and the punishment
of God. Though marred, though burnt,
beyond recognition. And we'll see, God killed a man
on Calvary's tree. And all this was to be together
in verse 9, head and the legs and the pertinence thereof. We're
saved by every part of our Lord Jesus Christ. We're saved by
everything He did, every thought He thought, every deed He did,
every act He acted. His works. And you know what? You're complete in Him. He's the complete, perfect, whole
sacrifice. Verse 10, let nothing remain
of it till the morning. Nope. There's no more sacrifice
for sin. Hebrews 7. Eat it. Verse 11,
with your loins girt. Read this with me. Verse 11.
Eat it. You see how many times He says
it? With your loins girt and shoes on your feet, staff in
your hand. Why? You're leaving. You're leaving this place. And he said, eat it in haste.
Verse 11, eat it in haste. What does that mean? Now, don't
put it off. Why? It's the Lord's Passover.
Number one, he said to him, and this was the day of salvation.
Oh, I'll wait till tomorrow when it's more convicting. There is
no tomorrow. Today is the day of salvation. Only God can impress that on
someone. Would that He would. Some that don't know it. You
need to eat this lamb. It's the Lord's Passover. It's
our only hope. He is. He said, I will pass through
the land of Egypt. I will smite Egypt. I am going
to destroy this world. This is not a fairytale. This
is not cunningly devised fable, Peter said. They saw it. We heard him. John said, we beheld
him. We handled him. We heard words
of life. Christ is life. He that hath
the Son hath life. If you don't have life, if you
don't have Christ, you don't have life. He said, I will pastor
it. I will smite this lamb. Everybody
and everything in it that doesn't have lamb. Isn't that right? You're too serious, preacher. There wasn't a house in Egypt.
There wasn't one dead. It is life or death. This was
life or death. It's not just a good sermon,
this is life or death. You must have a Lamb. Ask the
Lord to reveal Christ the Lamb to you. Ask the Lord to give
you a hunger for Christ the Lamb, a thirst for Him. I will pass
through. I will execute judgment. I will,
God said. I will execute. I am the Lord. I will, for I am. And he said
in the blood, verse 13, the blood shall be to you for a token upon
the houses where you are. Do you remember Rahab? Those
two spies came into her house. She feared God and feared Joshua. She knew he's coming to destroy
Jericho. And she pleaded with them. She
pleaded with them for mercy upon her and her house, didn't she?
And they said, okay. Our life or your life? She said,
here's the token. And they said, take that scarlet
line right there. She said, what scarlet? Right
there. It's right there. It's hidden. Oh! That scarlet line was in her
house all the time. She didn't know it. Yeah, take
that scarlet line that's been in your house all this time,
that you didn't know, and tie it tight. Lay hold tight to the
window and hang out there. That's your line, your hope,
your way out, your salvation, your life. That's the token. And we come back and see that
scarlet line. But we'll bring you and everybody
in your house out the window, out of Jericho, down that scarlet
line. We're all going to hang on that
line. Salvation hangs on the blood. It's a token. It's a token. And God said, and here's where
the word Passover came from, when I see the blood, I will
pass over you. Who? You who need a lamb. Is that you? God said. And we're
all worried. We're all sinners. Aren't we? I'm the chief and I'm the preacher.
What's my hope? One thing. the blood of the Lamb. And God said, when I see the
blood, I will pass over you, whoever you are that needs a
Lamb. Is that you? And the plague, this is significant. The plague shall not be upon
you to destroy you. You might get sick, but it's
not unto death. It's life! Why? The death of another. You understand that when death
comes our way, it's not death, it's life. Why? Because Christ
died. Didn't he say that? He that liveth
and believeth in me shall never die. And whatever God sends,
it ushers us into eternal life where we're going to stand around
and sing about the Lamb. And say, why was I worried? God
said it. When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. I won't smite you. And the plague,
whatever plague that may be, is not going to destroy you. Why? Christ died. That's why. And we never will. Never will. In fact, death is
better than birth. Let's get that to our, not our
heads, but our hearts, okay? And this will be a memorial for
all generations. You're going to remember. You're
going to do this in remembrance of the Lamb all your days, forever. on this earth. And then, it won't
end there. Oh, we're going to go to glory. And we're going to pick it up
right where it started. With the lamb. Do you have a
lamb? Stand with me.