Exodus chapter 12. Before we look at the text, I failed to mention earlier I was so engrossed in both morning messages. I meant
to tell you, announce to you, that Brother Bill Clark is scheduled
to have more surgery on Tuesday, or what they believe might be
more cancer. So you remember him in prayer. Tuesday he's scheduled to go
in. And let's remember him. Also, let's remember Rick and
Jenny's son, Isaac, who's experiencing more of the same difficulty.
All right, let's ask the Lord's blessings right now. Our Heavenly Father, we've had
a good day today. We thank you for the privilege
of gathering here, seated. clothed in the righteousness
of Christ, in our right minds, the mind of Christ. By your grace we are what we
are, we have what we have. And no people have been more
abundantly blessed than we have. No one has seen or experienced
or been shown more grace than this congregation. 1995 and years before, you have blessed
this congregation. Each and every family could echo
these words. What great things the Lord has
done for us. And we do acknowledge the scripture
says, Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and
his wonderful works to the sons of men. And we do praise you.
By your grace, by your grace, we praise you for everything,
every good and perfect gift which comes from thee. We dare not
take these things for granted, nor presume upon thy mercy and
grace. We acknowledge thee in everything
with thanksgiving. And we've been here today under
the Word, and the greatest blessing of all is the revelation of your
glorious Word. Not many are called, or not many
are chosen. Few are chosen. And you have
chosen us, we believe, not because we're great in number, but we're
few. And for thy name's sake, not even for our sake, but for
thy great name's sake, you've put your name here. You've exalted
your son here, yourself here. This is a place where the name
of God is extolled and honored and magnified and lifted up,
where people know the true and living God and worship him in
spirit and in truth. People that you put in their
hearts a love for the truth. Lord, I thank you on behalf of
these people for your manifold blessings, your abundant blessings,
chief of which is a revelation of your Son to us. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. So
we're a needy people. As long as we live on this earth,
we will be helpless, strengthless, totally dependent creatures,
dependent upon your mercy, grace, your providence, your keeping,
sustaining power. We are ignorant of your ways. For the most part, we are truly
ignorant of your ways. We know not. We preach in part. We know in part that your ways,
your thoughts are higher above us than the heavens are above
the earth. And we confess that we are ignorant. We know not
what you do. We know that you are the one
who does all these things, that you are the one who works all
things after the counsel of your own will and purpose. We acknowledge you in all things. You're hanging, and we acknowledge you've done
all things well, and the judge of the earth shall do right.
And how our prayers and make any difference or in
what way they're used, we must confess we don't know. It's a
mystery to us, but you've told us in everything, our prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving, let our requests be made known
unto thee. You've told us. Pray without ceasing. You've
told us to call upon you in the time of trouble. and your very
present help. So we call upon you, O Lord,
collectively as a church, like-minded, of one accord in heart, in mind,
in faith, in love, and all by your grace, that we
are with one accord and one mind as the early church of old that
lifted up their hearts and their voices with one accord. And we call upon our great God
to do what is humanly impossible. Many things, Lord, we could spend
the remainder of our time calling upon you for. Various things
that we would love to see you do. The salvation of our children,
our loved ones, a husband, a wife, mother, father, son or daughter,
friends, other family, we, Lord, honor your word, preaching of
your gospel in this place in such a way that you'd save households. You've done it before, and it's
not a hard thing for you to do it again, not at all. We would
Rejoice if you were to save a whole household. Mother, father, sons
and daughters. In our midst. And other things, Lord, we have
need of. That we especially ask you right
now on behalf of our dear brother and sister. Their sick child. Isaac, Lord, we ask we lift up
our hearts and voices and ask that this would be for the glory
and for the child's salvation and health or we pray that you
might raise him up and make him well in this life. Let him be
a testimony to that healing power. Let him be in days to come a
testimony of that saving grace in our midst. Let him be a preacher
of the gospel. But for thy glory, according
to your will and purpose, we would not pray otherwise, but
we pray that it might be your good will and purpose to raise
him up. We pray the same thing for Brother Bill Clark. And we continue to say what a
mystery these things are to us as missionaries or and difficulties even called
back from the field, we know not. Perhaps it's your certain
and sure sign of your imminent coming. We would rejoice in that. We'd all be most well if you
did. But if it is not, if you are
not coming soon, we pray that you might raise this man up,
heal his body, let him go on with the work you've called him
to do. and bring him into our midst, Stephen. Let us see him
again and rejoice in what you've done for him. Comfort him now
and his family as only you can. This is trying time for the family
as well as for Brother Bill, and we ask that you will comfort
them as only you can. We ask all these things for your
honor and glory, for our spiritual good, for the glory of your son's
name. In Christ's name, amen. All right, Exodus 12. This is outstanding. This is a glorious portion of
scripture. and so pertinent to what we're
about to do, partake of the Lord's table. May the Lord bless this
study. All right, look at verse 1 in
Exodus 12. We'll just go verse by verse down through here. May
the Lord bless it. The Lord spake unto Moses and
Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you
the beginning of months, the first month of the year. Now,
this was when the Lord was bringing children of Israel out of bondage,
and he said, This is the beginning of life for you. When God Almighty
speaks to a poor sinner who's in Egypt, in bondage, under the
law, in sin, when God reveals Christ our Passover to us, it
is the beginning of days. with him or her. They are born
again. They are born again. Day one
of this new creature in Christ. Day one. This is the beginning.
This month shall be unto you the beginning of months. Up until
that point, a sinner has been dead and trespasses in sin. Until
he has Christ revealed to him, he is dead while he liveth. But
when Christ is passed over, he is revealed. It's the beginning,
just the beginning of the life eternal, the life eternal. He is born again. Old things
pass away. Now, this is the story, and this
is how God does it. This is how God gives birth. The preaching of
Christ our Passover. This is it. preaching of the
gospel. All right? Look down at verse
3. God said unto Moses, Speak ye
unto all the congregation of Israel. Speak ye, saying, In
the tenth day of the month they shall take to them every man
a lamb, according to the house of their fathers. A lamb for
a house. They were to take a lamb for
their houses and their people to sacrifice for this Passover. And look over at verse 21. Verse
21, you know who really did this? You know who really was responsible
for taking the lamb and doing this ordinance on behalf of the
people? It was the elders. Not every single member of the
family. Oh, we're not able, but fit men, strong men who ruled
their household did this for them. Look at verse 21. Moses
called for all the elders of Israel and said unto them, draw
out and take you a lamb according to your families and kill the
Passover. That's a picture of how it's
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. who
performs this thing of salvation for us, who takes the lamb, who
sent the lamb. You see, God provided himself
a lamb for his household, his house, which is the church. He is the one who provided it.
He is the one that killed the lamb. He is the one that saved
us, God the Father. There's a sense in which every
single believer, by faith, takes hold on that lamb. Right? Like the scapegoat. All of the
people confessed their sins and laid their hands on the head
of that scapegoat, didn't they? Confessing their sins. But there's
only one that could put them away, wasn't there? There's only
one that could take those sins and do away with them. A fit
man took that scapegoat out in the willows and put those sins
away. It's a picture of Christ in it. But every believer lays
hold on the Lamb. And you men who are the heads
of your household, you believers and men, there's a sense in which,
Brother Charles, Uh, you worship, you offer up prayers for your
household. Right? That's what Job did. You remember the story of Job?
You remember that, Terry? How that Job said, it may be my sons
and daughters aren't, they aren't worshiping you. They're not offering
up a lamb as they should. I'll do it for them. Whether
it availed anything or not, Terry, is a good motive, wasn't it?
I'll pray for them. They might not be praying for
themselves, but I'll pray for them. And that's a good elder over the house, isn't it?
To do that. All right, look at verse four.
It says, well, verse three says, take a lamb for a house. One lamb for the house. One lamb. Dad didn't have a lamb. Mama didn't have a lamb. The
children have a lamb. They all have a different lamb. for the
house. And there's one lamb for God's
house. One lamb. One sacrifice for sin. One sacrifice for God's people. Verse 4. If the household be
too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor take it.
Next, undo his house, take it according to the number of the
souls. Every man according to his eating shall make your count
for the lamb. Make a count. The elder, listen,
the elder was to determine how many people per house Listen
now. The elder was to determine how
many people per house, and gather together those people, everyone,
make sure they're all there. And that lamb was to be used
up, verse 10, it says, and let nothing of it remain. It was
to use that entire lamb for every member. of that house. There
was to be no waste of this precious animal. This was an important
ordinance. Was this important? Or was this
just some kind of ceremony they went through? Buddy, if there
wasn't blood over that household, the firstborn is going to die.
This was a matter of life and death. It was important. The elder of the house knew it.
Without shedding of blood, there'd be no life. And it was all to count. This
thing counted. There was to be no waste of this
precious animal. Well, this is a picture of particular
redemption. A picture of particular redemption. God, listen to me. He said to
these men, He said, You number the people. You make sure that
there's enough people for the blood and enough blood for the
people. Right? Not too much, not too little.
Nothing left over, nothing lacking. And that's particular redemption,
John, isn't it? God, in his absolute wisdom,
numbered his people and provided himself and his household a lamb
according to the number of souls written in his book. He knew
who was in his house, and God knew who was in his household.
Sure he did. And not one drop of his son's
precious blood was to be wasted. But every drop was to be effectual
and used for every single person that God had chosen. Every man. And it says here that, read on,
it says, verse 4, Every man according to his eating shall make your
account for the land. Every man according to his eating.
Everyone that ate it. was counted. They will eat. Whosoever
believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ is counted for the lamb, or in
the lamb. In the lamb, made to be partakers.
Verses five and six. Stay with me, OK? Stay with me. This is holy ground. And what we're doing here is
just no nominal thing, people. OK? Verses five and six. He said, Your lamb shall be without
blemish. Now, this is all a glorious picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Without blemish. A lamb. That's
significant. Why didn't God choose a bear,
or a dog, or a cow, or what? A lamb. Why did he choose a lamb?
It's significant, because a lamb is the The most meek creature
on earth, harmless. Any of you ever held a baby lamb? There's nothing more meek in
all the world. No creature on earth is more
gentle and meek and lowly and dependent, so to speak, as Elaine. That's Christ. That's Christ,
dependent on his Heavenly Father, more trusting, meek, mild, harmless,
submissive, and a lamb is a servant of man. Every part of a lamb
is used, every part, from its coat to warm to cover, to its
meat for sustenance of life, every part, every part. Christ is the Lamb of God without
blemish. without blemish. It couldn't
just be a pretty good lamb, one that, you know, had some faults,
but mostly good. It had to be without blemish. Without blemish. And that's Christ,
a man, a perfect man, a sinless man. It says here, read on, a
male of the first year. It had to be a man. It had to
be a man. They're trying to take away all
references to Christ being a son, being a male. They're calling
him in these new perversions of scripture, the child of God,
not the son of God. Is it significant that he'd be
the son? Yes. The lamb must be a male. Why? The head, the male is the
head of the home, the procreator. the one from whom seed and life
comes from. Right? The male. It's significant,
John. It's significant. The woman is a recipient of life.
The male is the giver. Right? A male of the first year. Of
the first year. What's that? Well, in Jewish,
in the Scripture, a man was not a man until he hit thirty years
old. And that's wisdom on God's part,
because most young men don't, just don't have much wisdom at
all, if any, until they hit about 30 years old. Right, John? You
know, by experience. Well, Christ began his earthly
ministry, so to speak. Began it, 30 years old. First
year. And this could also be talking
about him who is of his eternal first year. Eternal youth, the
youth, the dew of youth on his brow. He's eternal. He's always
in his first year, John. He's without beginning or ending,
really. Without beginning of days or
end of days. First year. Male of the first year. God's
only begotten son. Read on. It says, without blemish,
a male of the first year, take it out from the sheep or from
the goats. In other words, there's a flock. of sheep and was to
go in and find a lamb in the midst of those sheep. The scripture
says in Psalm 89, I have exalted one chosen from among the people. A lamb among lions, if you will. A lamb, God's chosen, God's elect
of all the elect, chosen out of the people. a man, but only
man approved, only one without blemish, only one. And it says, how did they know
he was without blemish, this lamb? Well, verse 6 says he was
to be kept up until the fourteenth day of the same month. They were
to take this lamb, and in order to observe it, in order to observe
it, they were to put it in a pen or a Now you ate too much roast
beef. It will make you get up and walk
around the block. Come on. This lamb was to be kept up for
two weeks in a pen so that they could observe it and make sure
that it was without blemish, that it didn't have a limp or
didn't have some funny twitch or didn't have a spot they couldn't
see. Two weeks. They kept it up, and everybody
observed it. Everybody. Everybody walking
by it. Nice lamb. Really fine lamb. That's the
best lamb I've ever seen. Yeah. There's not another lamb
like that, is there? You know, he's the best. Well,
Christ was observed for thirty-three years by God, by man, by devils. And he stood up one day in the
latter part of his Life here," and he said, somebody, find something
wrong with me. I've lived for thirty-three years.
Find one blemish. Is that significant? If he had
one sin, I'm yet in my sin. Find one blemish. God didn't. God said, I'm well-placed. Men, even men who wanted to find
something wrong with him. Pilate, Pilate wanted just cause
to kill him, didn't he? What did Pilate say? I find no
fault in this man. I find no fault in this lamb.
He's without blemish. And even devils, devils. It says Satan came and found
nothing in him, nothing in him. Will this lamb do? It's the only
one that will. Behold the lamb. Behold the lamb. Keep it up. And read on. It says
in verse 6, keep it up. And the whole assembly, the congregation
of Israel, shall kill it in the evening. We all with wicked hands
have taken and crucified the Lord of glory, haven't we? that old fool Rex Humbard. Is
he still living? I hope not. But he said years
ago, he got to preaching and crying and carrying on talking
about Jesus. And he said, talking about his
crucifixion, feeling real sorry for him and all that. And he
said, if I'd have been there, he said, I'd have stopped it. If I'd have been there, I'd have
stopped it. No, you wouldn't have, Rex. You'd have been the
one driving the nails. Besides, Rex, if you'd have stopped
it, we'd go to hell. And if I'd have been there, John,
I wouldn't have stopped it either. We all, we all did kill him. He was despised and rejected
of men. We did esteem him, stricken and
smitten of God. We! Yet God laid on him the iniquity
of us all. Oh, my. We did. We killed him. We killed him. And you know those
Pharisees and those people, the Jews, didn't know what they were
saying when they said, Let his blood be on us and our children,
didn't they? And they said that in derision,
but I say it now. I say it now. knowing full well
what I say, O Lord, let his blood that I shed be on us and our
children. The whole assembly shall kill
it. Verse 7, they'll take up the blood, strike it on the two
side posts on the upper door post of the house wherein they
shall eat it. Back down to verse 21 and 22, it says, Moses called
the elders of Israel and said unto To the elder, you draw out
and take you a lamb according to your families and kill the
Passover. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that
is in the basin. Strike the lintel and two side folk with the blood
that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the
door at the door of his house until the morning. Take the blood.
These elders were to take the hyssop, dip it in blood, and
put it on the doorpost and the lintel. And there's a sense, listen,
there's a sense in which every believer applies the blood of
Christ by faith. But chiefly, it's God the Holy
Spirit who must give faith in Christ's blood, who applies the
blood to my body, soul, and spirit, my heart, my head, my hands,
my mind. You know, in some of these houses,
In some of these houses, Brother Charles, there were some people
that took too little. There were children, weren't
there? They couldn't reach the lentil. Couldn't they? What if it was up to them to
apply the blood? They couldn't reach the lentil. There were
some invalids in there. There were some old women and
old men that were laying on the bed. They were too sick. They
couldn't. They couldn't get out of the
bed. They were helpless. Hopeless. So an elder had to do it for
them. They didn't do anything. They just laid there and had
the blood applied. That's a good picture, isn't
it? Christ, our elder brother, is
the one who applied the blood to my heart, my doorpost, my
little. Yes, he is. Yes, he is. All right, read on. It says in
verse 8, "...eat the flesh in that night." Eat the flesh. Christ said, "...except you eat."
Christ said, except you believe sovereign
grace, you'll not be saved." That's true. But that's not what's
said. Christ said, except you are a
Calvinist, except you come to a knowledge of the doctrines
of grace, you'll not be saved. Is that what he said? What did
he say? He said, except you eat my flesh
and my blood, you have no part in it. Eat. It's a big difference. It's a big difference. A big
difference. Eat. Not just a believer in doctrine
of Christ, but one who actually believes and knows Christ himself. Committal. When you eat something,
when you eat something and you drink something, you take it
in. It becomes part of you. Right? You commit. You can't eat something
and not commit to it. Some people try that, but you
can't do it. You can't. You need to taste
something. You really haven't eaten or taken
of it. But boy, the thirsty soul or
a hungry soul who really needs Christ, they're not going to
dabble. They're not going to taste. drink,
a full drink. Now that water is me, right? That water is in me. It's starting
already to become a part of me and spread to all of me. And it has to be experienced, really.
But to come to Christ, to commit to Christ, is not to dabble or Eat it that night. See that?
Eat the flesh that night. Scripture says today is the day
of salvation. It doesn't say put it up in the
refrigerator and tomorrow you can have a little sandwich whenever
you get up. Now, there may be no tomorrow. If you don't eat it tonight,
there will be no tomorrow, he said. If you don't eat it tonight,
there will be no tomorrow. Eat it that night. Today is the
day of salvation, the scripture says. Boast not thyself of tomorrow. Well, when I get a more convenient
time, I'm going to get serious about this salvation thing. If you see Christ as your only
hope, then you better take Him now. It says, roast with fire. Eat it and roast with fire. Roast with fire. You see that?
That's Christ who bore the wrath and judgment of God for us. Roast with fire. His head with
His legs and the pertinence thereof, all of it. He was made sin for
us. He bore the fiery wrath and indignation
of Almighty God, holy God against my sin. He went to hell on that
cross for me, for His people. And He'll let nothing, verse
10, let nothing of it remain. I'm sorry, verse 8, I missed
that. Unleavened bread, unleavened bread, that's Christ who's called
the bread of life. Unleavened, there's no leaven
in Him, no leaven of sin in Him. Bitter herbs. Eat it with bitter
herbs. They shall eat it. Bitter herbs. That's Christ. Christ was a man
of sorrows and acquainted with grief on his youth up. Bitter
herbs. And he says this of all of us
who eat and partake of Christ. He said, You ready to take up
your cross? It's going to be bitter. Oh,
it's going to be sweet. John, over there in Revelation,
John, John was given the roll to eat. You remember what it
said, given the roll? He said he ate it and said, oh,
so sweet to his taste. Sweet as honey, he said. Sweet
as honey to his taste. The gospel becomes sweet as honey.
Sweetest thing an old sinner ever heard when he first partakes
of it. Oh, it's glorious. But John went
on to say, but it became bitter in my belly. meaning that in the world you
shall have tribulations. You know, sorrow or knowledge
increases sorrow. The knowledge of God's Word increases
a knowledge of your own sin and leaves you a bitter, bitter taste. Verse 9 and 10, eat, don't eat
it raw. I like that. Don't eat it raw. No half-baked
salvation. Don't eat it raw. Christ, we've
got to have a finished salvation. No. No half-baked salvation. Don't eat it raw. Nor sodden
with water. No watered-down version of the gospel either. Pure Christ. Not any of man's works mixed
in. Pure Christ. Don't eat it with water. Roast
with fire. You need a fiery-tongued preacher
to preach it. Not some intellectual out of the schools, but some
man who's tasted it. And some man who's had a cold
from the altar put on his lips. And he said, I've got to tell
this. Why? Do I need a job? No, because
of what the Lord's done for me. And I want others to. Roast with
fire his head and his legs, he shall let nothing of it remain
until the morning. There remaineth no more sacrifice
for sin. There's no other way. Christ, after he'd offered him
his own blood, once, once, once, there remaineth no more sacrifice.
That's it. Burn it with fire. Verse 11. Read on, and I'll quit with this. It's only been 26 minutes. Verse 11, And thus shall ye eat
it, thus shall ye eat it, with your loins girded, You have to have knowledge. To
believe Christ, you've got to know who you believe, don't you?
The scripture says having your loins girt with truth. A lot
of people claim to believe in Jesus. They don't know anything
about the Lord Jesus. They claim to believe that Christ
died for them. They don't know why. You've got
to be girted with truth, don't you? Got to. Your loins, your mind's girded
with truth concerning Christ, the gospel. And have your shoes
on your feet. That's shod with the gospel,
Christ the way, the path, the walk, your walk. Shoes on your
feet, your staff in your hand. That's the Bible, the Scriptures,
the Word of God, the staff, the staff of life, the Word of God. Eat it in haste. See that? Eat
it in haste. It's the Lord's Passover. The
Lord's coming. Verse 12. He says, I will pass
through. People! 1996 is just in a few hours. Who'd ever thought it? 1996. And if the Lord doesn't come
this year, in a few short years, 2000, this thing is flying by. The Lord is not slack concerning
His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering
usward, not willing that any of us should perish. But He's at the door. Read it
for yourself. Matthew 24. I've been reading
it lately myself. It might be good for us to go
through it again. When our Lord describes the things
that precede His coming, His immediate coming, He said, Can't
you discern the signs of time? Can't you discern the sky? He
said. He said a sailor, when he sees
that the sky is red and glowing, And the sky is clear he knows
the signs of time he knows where it would be smooth sailing or
bad sailing. And he said learn the parable
of the fig tree when the fig tree puts forth its leaves you
know it's springtime is coming and Christ throughout Matthew
24 he said now listen. He said these things are going
to come. And then he said something, he said now, he said this will
sure happen, he said and then the end shall come. And he said this generation shall
not pass away except these things be fulfilled. What's a generation? We didn't find out, no. That's
this generation. He said the Son of Man is near,
nigh even at the door. Believers say, hey, good. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.
He said, I will pass through and it's going to be just like
this right here. It's going to be just like the
Passover. God's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. Things have not changed. God
hasn't changed. It's going to be exactly the
same. He's going to come. He said, I will pass through
the land of Egypt. We're living in Egypt. This land
we live in is just like old Rome, isn't it? Sports, politics, arts, rampant immorality. This is Rome. It's about to fall. He said, I will pass through
the land of Egypt and smite. And he's going to gird on his
sword, John. Doesn't Revelation say that?
He's going to gird on his sword and come through here. What's
our hope? What if Christ comes tonight,
tomorrow? What's our hope? Huh? Look at verse 13. shall be to you for a token upon
the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you." When I see the blood. When the
Son of... And he said this, John. He said
this in one place, and this is chilling. He said, When the Son of Man
comes, Will he find faith on the earth? Didn't he say that? And he gave the parable of the
ten virgins, you know, five of them. They all appeared to be
waiting on the bridegroom. Five didn't have oil. This better mean more than you
and just a little ceremony we're partaking of. Me, better mean
more than me. Because He's coming. Why? I mean, why? Why are we
saved? Because of the blood. Blood. As I say it over and over today,
I hope this doesn't grow tiresome to any of us and we grow not
weary. We need to learn a lesson from the church at Laodicea,
Philippi, Ephesus, those churches. Oh, my. Oh, my. Not lose our first love, nor
grow lukewarm. But Christ is coming. May we
be watching, waiting, looking for Him. Look forward to that
day when I see the blood. May we be found in him, not having
our own righteousness. That's no wedding garment, is
it? I don't want to be found without that wedding garment.
That righteousness is more than a doctor. It's a wedding garment.
And without that blood on my heart by faith. All right. Brother Henry, would you, and
Brother Stan, John, and John, you served the the brain.