My subject this evening is the
token, the token. In this passage of scripture,
and I'm gonna take you to four different references, in this
passage I just read to you, the word token is used three times,
and I try to emphasize each time it's used, verse 12, verse 13,
and verse 17. As you know, God sent a universal
flood that wiped away the millions of people and the animals that
were alive on the earth. All of the animals and mankind
who were not in the ark, that place of safety, were washed
away in the judgment of God. I would be remiss if I didn't
say that ark's a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. There's safety
in him. He is indeed the one who saves
us from the wrath of God, from the judgment that is going to
fall upon this sin-cursed earth. God sent the flood. But those
in the ark were spared. They went through the storm,
but they had an ark of salvation. And the waters of God's judgment,
the rain from above and the waters from beneath floated the ark. It wasn't a boat, it was an ark. It wasn't made to navigate, it
was made for safety. And all within the ark were safe,
just like all who are in the ark, Christ Jesus, are safe forevermore. And the Lord gave to Noah various
instructions, and I've read to you the things that Noah had
to say to his sons. And then the Lord said in verse
12, regarding this covenant, He says this is the token of
the covenant. What does the word token mean?
This is the sign of the covenant. This is the distinguishing mark
of the covenant. This is a constant remembrance
of the covenant. All those are definitions of
token now. And I'm going to take you through
four or five passages of scripture that use this word, so remember
the definition. A token is a sign, it's a distinguishing
mark, it is a remembrance. And this is the very first time
the word token is used in the Bible. The rainbow that we enjoy
seeing, in fact, we saw one just the other day. I was out, I walked
in the afternoon, I stepped out of the office and I was going
to the van and I looked up in the sky and there's a rainbow. And the fellas were working across
the street on this coffee shop that seems never to be ready
to be opened, but they were out there working, and I saw this
beautiful rainbow. And I just, it captured my attention,
and then after I was looking at it for a little bit, I got
to thinking, those guys over there are probably wondering
what I'm looking at, because one of them went and said, you
know, like, what's he looking at? Well, I was looking at that
sign That token of the covenant of God. And it reminded me, the
Lord's never gonna destroy the world with water again. There's never gonna be a flood,
it's gonna be a fire. That's how God's gonna renovate
the earth. But this was a token that God
gave. The rainbow, and of course the
rainbow is the sign, a token, that which is used to remind
us of the covenant of grace that God made within the Trinity with
Himself for the everlasting salvation of a covenant people, of a chosen
people. We see the rainbow down here,
and it reminds us of a heavenly work. That is, that covenant,
that council of peace between Father, Son, and Spirit in eternity
past that had to do with the salvation of a multitude of sinners
which no man could number. The Father in choosing, the Son
in promising to redeem, and the Spirit of God promising to call,
quicken, regenerate, grant repentance and faith to all of those the
Father chose unto salvation and the Son of God redeemed by His
precious blood. You know, John saw a rainbow
in the book of Revelation chapter 4, and you know where it was?
It was surrounding the throne of God. Later on in Revelation chapter
10, he saw a rainbow as though it were a garland upon the head
of the Son of God, He who reigns over all things. His reward for
doing the work, finishing the work that God gave him to do
was universal reign and authority. And John saw a rainbow upon his
brow. And the rainbow that John saw
around the throne of God and the rainbow that John saw upon
the brow of the Son of God is a constant reminder as we read
of them in the Word of God, a constant sign that God's people will never
be punished for our sins because in covenant grace Christ came
and was punished in our stead. The covenant is a reminder, it's
a token, it's a God's sign to us that he'll never destroy us
because the wrath that ought to have fallen upon us fell upon
our substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, God is ever
mindful of his covenant. And he doesn't need, well, I
read this passage of scripture, but we know that God doesn't
need a covenant to put him in memory. He doesn't need a rainbow
to put him in memory of the covenant that he made. It's not a necessary
sign to God. It is a necessary sign to us
because we're the ones who are in danger of forgetting. The very Lord's Supper that we
will partake of the last Sunday morning of this month is a time
of remembrance. Our Lord said when He instituted
that supper, He said, this do in remembrance of me, in memory
of me. It's a memorial supper. It's
a time of remembering. And in that sense, the Lord's
Supper is a token. It's a sign. It puts us in memory. It's a distinguishing mark that
only the people of God have a right to partake of. What do we see in the rainbow?
Of course, there's a lot I could say here. I want to move on,
but we see beauty and great glory, all the glory of the covenant
of God. Isn't it wonderful that every
aspect of our salvation was worked out and established before the
world ever began? And nothing was left out? Nothing
was required of us? It was an unconditional covenant
made by God. It required nothing of us. And
it's a good thing because we could make no contribution anyway,
which the Lord, of course, knew. And that rainbow, it's a reminder
that the justice and vengeance of God have been satisfied. No more wrath. And you notice
a rainbow. It isn't a bow pointing down. It's a bow pointing up. And it's
a bow without an arrow. There's no threat there. There's
no judgment there. There's no condemnation there. The arrows of God's justice found
the heart of the Son of God. He was the target. And there
is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. And I'll tell you the rainbow,
that token of the covenant, I'll just say this, it's a banner
of delight. It's spread across the sky. Like
a giant, what do they call it? Streamer, that's what word I'm
trying to think of, streamer. that God puts across the sky. And really the ones who can truly
rejoice in that rainbow, that token of the covenant, are those
who know the God of the covenant through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, I must move on. Turn to Genesis chapter 17. Genesis chapter 17, and here
we run into a covenant again. And here's what you'll discover. When God gives a token, it always
has reference to a covenant. When God gives a token, it always
has reference to a covenant. Genesis chapter 17, verses 1
and 2. And when Abram was 90 years old
and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am
the almighty God, walk before me and be thou perfect. And I
will make my covenant between me and thee and will multiply
thee exceedingly. Now, for the sake of time, let
me drop down to verse nine. And God said unto Abraham, Thou
shalt keep my covenant therefore thou and thy seed after thee
in their generations. This is my covenant which ye
shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee. Every
man child among you shall be circumcised and ye shall circumcise
the flesh of your foreskin and it shall be a token. It shall
be a sign. It shall be a remembrance of
the covenant that I'm making, God says, between me and thee. And you see, circumcision was
the sign of the covenant. It was the remembrance of the
covenant that he made. It was the distinguishing mark
upon the males. A male baby at eight days old
had to be circumcised. Our Lord Jesus was. Circumcision was a sign. An evidence of, it put in remembrance
the fact this was a distinguishing mark upon the males of Israel
that they were a descendant of Abraham and involved in the covenant
that God made with Abraham. Now that covenant that God entered
into with Abraham had to do with earthly property. The land of
Canaan, and you can read the verses that I didn't have the
time to read here. But every time a male baby was
circumcised and the people gathered for that celebration, they rejoiced knowing God made
promises to our father Abraham He entered into a covenant, and
we will possess that land. And you read in the book of Joshua
two times, it says that they did possess the land, everything
God promised to them, He gave to them. Now Old Testament circumcision
was a picture of New Testament, not baptism. And I know there's some people
who misinterpret this, and they're absolutely wrong. Old Testament
circumcision was not a type of baptism, not sprinkling or immersion. It was a picture of New Testament
regeneration. New Testament regeneration. Remember
that it was written, and I read from Galatians chapter 3 to begin
with, all who believe the gospel of grace, those who were redeemed
by our Lord Jesus Christ are said to be the children of Abraham. Now, we're not the physical descendants
of Abraham, but we're the spiritual descendants of Abraham. In Galatians
chapter 3, verse 29, it says, If ye be Christ, then are ye
Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Well, how can
I know that I'm a spiritual child of Abraham? How do I know that
I am his spiritual seed? If you've been spiritually circumcised. Not the cutting of the flesh,
Read the end of Romans chapter 2, but the cutting of the heart,
wounded in the heart by the Spirit of God, the new birth which results
in faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, regeneration is the
token of the covenant. It's the sign of the covenant. It puts us in memory of the covenant
that God made, a spiritual covenant that God made before the world
began. And we're wounded in the heart,
and we grieve our sins, and we come to faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ. You see, only God can wound the
heart, and He wounds over sin. And then the oil and wine of
the gospel are poured in to heal us. The scripture says faith
is the evidence of things not seen. What's not seen? Regeneration isn't seen. That
takes place within. And faith in the Lord Jesus is
the evidence, the evidence, of regeneration. Well, quickly,
now look at Exodus chapter 3, Exodus chapter 3. We're talking about token, talking
about the token, a sign, putting in remembrance Exodus chapter 3, you'll recognize
this passage because we studied it not too long ago. Moses is
at the bush that burned and wasn't consumed, and our Lord Jesus,
the Son of God, later he identified himself as the Great I Am, he
speaks to Moses out of the bush. And he tells Moses that he's
going to use him, the Son of God is going to use him to deliver
Israel from their bondage to the Egyptians. And so speaking
to Moses, he says in verse number 9 of chapter 3 of Exodus, Now
therefore behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come
unto me, God says. I've also seen the oppression
wherewith the Egyptians oppressed them. Come now, therefore, and
I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth
my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.' And Moses said
unto God, Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should
bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, certainly
I will be with thee, and this shall be a token. It's going
to be a sign. It's going to be some evidence
to put him in remembrance that this is all the truth, that he'll
remember this later on. This shall be a token unto thee
that I have sent thee. When thou hast brought forth
the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. The sign will follow. The evidence
will follow. you'll be brought to remembrance
after Israel is delivered out of their Egyptian bondage. And in this very mountain, Mount
Horeb, of which Mount Sinai is one of the peaks. In this very
mountain, God says, I'll make sure that you worship
me here. And that's the token that everything
I've said is true. And now go to Exodus chapter
12. I've kind of just been leading you along to get to this passage
of scripture here in Exodus chapter 12. And you know the story. Take
the lamb, catch it in a basin, take a bunch of hyssop, dip it
in the blood, go outside the door, sprinkle the doorposts
and sprinkle over top of the doorposts and Then we read in
chapter 12, in verse 12, for I will pass through the land
of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the
land of Egypt, both man and beast. And against all the gods of Egypt,
I will execute judgment. I am the Lord and the blood shall
be to you for a token, for a remembrance, for a sign. upon the houses where
you are." And he says, 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. Now, notice this first of all. In verse 9, God says, I will
pass through the land of Egypt. And he did. He passed through
the land of Egypt as it were with a sword in his hand. And
He's killing people on the right hand and on the left hand. He
passed through Egypt. But when He passed through Egypt,
when He got to the houses marked with blood, He passed over. He passed over. To the Egyptians, He was the
God of wrath and vengeance, an angry God. He passed through
Egypt. But when he got to his people's
houses, houses marked by the token of blood, he passed over. He passed over. Oh, God, pass
over us. See the blood. See the blood. The blood had been sprinkled
on the doorposts by the father of the household. Unfortunately,
preachers take that out of context and they say, sprinkle yourself
with the blood of Christ. And even in the song that we
sang last week, when I see the blood, sprinkle your souls with
the blood of the lamb. You don't sprinkle your soul.
The Lord sprinkles the soul. You don't sprinkle your heart.
He sprinkles the heart. You don't sprinkle your conscience.
He sprinkles your conscience. And he sprinkles with the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's a token. That blood is
a token, it's a reminder, it's a distinguishing mark. A distinguishing
mark. And it's a reminder not to God, God doesn't need a reminder.
We need the reminder. We need the token. We need this
evidence. We need the sign. What is the
sign? Of the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what the picture is of.
The Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world. This is
the distinguishing mark. the blood mark. And it's the
very thing that modern religion ignores and really despises. It's what modern day so-called
Christian music leaves out. What's missing? What's missing?
What is the token that is missing so often in preaching today and
in the music today? It's the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's the blood of the Lamb. And
yet the Bible says without the shedding of blood there is no
remission of sins. The Lord tells Moses and Moses
tells the people. God's gonna deal in judgment
with the Egyptians, but whereas He will deal in judgment with
the Egyptians, He will deal in mercy with the Israelites. And the question is, why? And once again, on account of
a covenant, The token is an association with
the covenant. Though God will deal with the
non-elect, the Egyptians in this case, in judgment and in wrath,
He will always deal with His people, the elect of God, upon
the basis of an everlasting covenant made within the Godhead. You see, in Christ our Savior,
the wrath of God has already been vented. It's already been
poured out. Behold the sufferings and the
death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Behold the token, the token of
the covenant. Let this put you in mind of the
covenant of grace by which God ordained your salvation. What
is that token of the covenant? The blood of the Son of God. And just as the blood of the
Passover lamb was applied by the Father, with that blood being
the proof, the sign, the evidence that the sacrifice God demanded
had been offered, the blood that God required had been shed. Caught in a basin, a bunch of
hyssop was taken and the dad goes outside and he sprinkles
the doorposts and over the doorposts, there's your token, there's your
sign right there. Let the substitutionary sacrifice
of our Lord Jesus Christ always remind us of the covenant of
grace. His blood is the token, it's
the sign, it's the distinguishing mark. And I'll tell you, it's
the distinguishing mark of several things. I'll give them to you
quickly. Number one, you know what the blood's a distinguishing
mark of? You know what it's a token of? Number one, the love of God. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that He loved us. Sent His Son to be propitiation
for our sins. The best evidence, the best proof,
the best sign, the best token, the best distinguishing mark
of that love of God toward His elect is the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. It's the best of all evidences. You see, the world speaks of
the love of God, and I mention this like what an evangelist
would say, the world speaks of the love of God in generalities. But if you're going to talk about
the love of God, you've got to talk about the people he loved. His elect, and you've got to
talk about the token of His love, the proof of His love, the evidence
of His love, the sign of His love. Behold the Savior, wounded,
bruised, beaten, dying, dead upon the cross of Calvary. That's
the sign. That's the token. God said the blood shall be to
you for a token, for a sign. It's a sign of God's everlasting
love for you. Secondly, it's a sign of the
blessedness of the covenant of grace. It's the blood of the
covenant. Read at your leisure 2 Samuel
chapter 23 and verse 5. David rejoiced in that covenant. He said, this is all my salvation. All my salvation is wrapped up
in that covenant and yet you don't hardly hear anybody talking
about that covenant anymore except gospel preachers. They're glad to talk about a
covenant of law. but they don't know anything
about the covenant of grace. But if anybody is saved by the
grace of God, it's all because of the covenant. Thirdly, it's a distinguishing
mark, it's a token, it's a sign of the satisfaction of divine
justice. That blood on the outside of
the doorposts and over the doorposts at the houses of the Israelites.
God demanded that blood, and the blood on the door was a sign that the death of an appointed
victim and a divinely approved victim had taken place. And if you could have walked
through Goshen and seen all these houses marked
with blood, it would say to you, it would
declare to you, God's justice has been satisfied. There's been
a death at this house. But it was the death of a substitute. not the death of the firstborn. Justice had been satisfied, and
when a substitute has died, the result is life for those for
whom they had a substitute. I know why the firstborn in that
house lived. I know why justice didn't get
him. Because justice already got a lamb in his stead, and
that's the reason you live. It's because justice already
got your substitute. Augusta's top lady wrote, complete
atonement thou hast made unto the utmost farthing paid, whate'er
thy people owed. Nor can his wrath on me take
place, if sheltered in thy righteousness and sprinkled with thy blood.
Justice not gonna touch me because blood was shed for me. And was
the blood of the substitute ordained in that covenant. And this blood is a distinguishing
mark that there's full and complete forgiveness of sin. Ephesians 1.7 says, in whom we
have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of his grace. You see that blood, it's a sign,
it's an indication. It's a distinguishing mark. Let
it be known All for whom the blood was shed, their sins have
been washed away. The blood, that's the token of
the covenant. And here's the reality of substitution. A vital truth was set forth. A suitable victim died in the
stead of the firstborn of that household. And when our Lord Jesus Christ
died, he died for specific people. There's nothing general about
the atonement of Christ. We do not subscribe to that foolish
and anti-biblical theology which teaches that Jesus Christ did
something or other, in some way or other, to some degree or other,
that's connected with the salvation of sinners. We hold it as a vital
truth. Christ Jesus stood in the place
of his beloved people. He answered every demand of offended
justice. and he answered it for the sins
of his people. He endured a death that honored
the justice of God and satisfied God's righteous laws. We firmly
believe, I firmly believe, I say we, I hope that you believe this,
but I firmly believe that when Christ died on the cross of Calvary,
he died for me and the issue was settled with his death. And it was all because of a covenant
and the shedding of his blood. The blood is the token of the
covenant. And it was necessary that the
blood be applied to the doorposts, no question about that. Unapplied blood wouldn't have
done the firstborn any good. And I'll tell you what God the
Spirit does. He makes an application of the
blood of Christ to us. To us. And there's the token. There's the evidence of the covenant
that God the Father, Son, and Spirit made in eternity past
for the salvation of the people he loved, and chose and redeemed
and called by his grace. Thank God for the Lord Jesus
Christ, the mediator and the surety of the covenant. Our last
song tonight is 63. Take the name of Jesus with you.