Paul writes this to them. You
know, there were several problems in the Corinthian church, several
problems, and here is another one of them in chapter 5. It
is reported commonly that there is fornication among you. And such fornication as is not
so much as named among the Gentile that one should have his father's
wife. And you are puffed up. and have
not rather mourned that he that hath done this deed might be
taken away from among you. But I verily, as absent in body
but present in spirit, have judged already as though I were present
concerning him that hath so done this deed. In the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit,
with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such a one
unto Satan, for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit
may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is
not good, know ye not, that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Purge out, therefore, the old
leaven that ye may be a new lump as ye are unleavened. For even
Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep
the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice
and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity
and truth. I wrote unto you in an epistle
not to company with fornicators, yet not altogether with the fornicators
of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters,
for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have
written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called
a brother be a fornicator, or a covetous, or an idolater, or
a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such and one
know not to eat. For what have I to do to judge
them that are without? Do not ye judge them that are
within, but them that are without. God judgeth, therefore, put away
from among yourself that wicked person. Now, in verse 7 again,
purge out, therefore, the old leaven, that ye may be a new
lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover
is sacrificed for us. Now, I want us to admit and notice
even in the very beginning, that it might be a mystery unto us
why such a great doctrine as that in verse 7, and particularly
in the end, that Christ is our Passover, that he has been sacrificed
for us and in our behalf. He is put to death for us, and
why that great statement is found here in connection with a context
dealing with a great immorality that was tolerated by the Corinthian
congregation. But then upon a closer examination
of the overall context, it becomes, if we are attentive, very clear
unto us that the mention of Christ as our Passover is in order that
he might enforce the admonition that he is giving them against
tolerating that man and his relationship in the congregation. It is to
enforce Paul's admonition and exhortation against the thing
that they were tolerating in their assembly. Stephen Charnock,
a great writer, put it like this in his commentary, that the reason
and the power of the exhortation found in the words for Christ
is sacrifice for us as our Passover, and you can see that by the word
for in verse 7. Since, or because, or in view
of the fact that Christ is sacrificed unto us as our Passover. So let's look again at the mention,
or rather the matter, that Paul is dealing with here in chapter
5. First of all, let's bring a word
to our attention. It is here in the chapter. It
will come before us later in our study. And that word is the
word leaven. And you find it often in the
Old Testament. It is used by Paul four times
in this chapter of God's Word, and we'll have more to say about
Levin later in our study. Now the issue in chapter 5 is
stated back in verse 1, and would you let me read it again. It
is reported, and that commonly, that is, it is common knowledge,
it is known, not only in the city, but also in the church,
that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as
is not even so much found among the Gentiles, and that's this,
that one should have his father's wife. Now that was the sin and
the problem in the assembly. It was actually true. It was
not a rumor and it was not vicious gossip. It was a known fact and
a known matter. There was actually a case of
unnatural incest carried on within the assembly of the church there
at Corinth. And it was commonly known and
acknowledged. And that in the church, the one
called a brother, a man that was in their number and was known
or called himself as a brother. And the sin of this man was of
a particular kind, a particular kind, of incest. And that is, as Paul said, a
man was committing fornication having relation with his father's
wife. That would probably be his stepmother. and depressed the evil of it. And there are two things. Number
one, there is the act itself. Number two, there is their tolerating
it and not having done anything about it and called the man to
account. Now, notice how evil it was in
that Paul expresses that it so exceeds the bounds of decency
that not even the Gentiles commonly practiced this sin. They did
not make it a common practice even among the idolatrous Gentiles. And yet the Corinthian had not
mourned. In fact, they were puffed up,
and they had not moved to execute the, rather, to excommunicate
the offender out of their assembly and congregation. Now here's
the thing. Besides all of that, their scripture
was very clear on this type of conduct. And the word of the
Lord and the law of God forbid such a thing to be done. Let me give you some scripture.
In Leviticus chapter 18 and verse 8, the nakedness of thy father's
wife shall you not uncover, it is thy father's nakedness. In Deuteronomy chapter 22 and
verse 13, A man shall not take his father's
wife nor discover his father's skirt. And again, Leviticus 20
and 11, Deuteronomy 27 and verse 20, and in Genesis chapter 49
and verse 2, we read that Reuben, the elder son of Jacob, had gone
in unto his father's concubine. And such sins are, sad to say,
yet around with us today. We hear about them now and again. But they are a monument to the
depraved, fallen condition of human nature. Sometime I would
that you read Leviticus chapter 18. where all the particular
manner of incest are described and forbidden. But anyway, Paul
calls upon them to excommunicate the man and deliver him unto
Satan. for the destruction of the flesh,
and that we have in verse 5. And then he says to them in verse
6, a little leaven, leaveneth, or permeates the entire lump. It is the nature of sin to diffuse
itself, not to die out naturally, but to diffuse itself unless
and until it is purged away. In verse 7, he exhorts them to
purge out the old leaven. Now that would be that man and
his sin that he was committed while connected to the congregation. Purge it out that you might be
a new lump. And Paul is using Old Testament
terminology. And he says to them, be unleavened. And the ground of Paul's exhortation
is our text and subject today. Because Christ is our Passover
and was sacrificed for us. Now the margin has it slain. The Lord was slain for us. He was put to death. Charnot
wrote from this text that Christ is our Passover, and quote, the
words are the reason for the apostle's exhortation to cast
out the incestuous person, unquote. Now, using the similitude of
Levin, from the practice of the Jews over the years observed
in the Passover, as they observed the Passover. Now, concerning
the Passover, Christ is our Passover and is sacrificed for us. I would like for us to come at
it from three aspects this morning. Number one, from the original
Passover itself, found in Exodus chapter 12. We'll go there a
little bit later on. Number one, the original Passover
as instituted by God, practiced by Israel, and the effect of
it. Number two, I want us to look
at the yearly celebration or memorial as observed by the command
of God by the Jew and the Lord Jesus Christ kept the Passover
during his earthly ministry. And then, of course, number three,
We want to end up with Christ, the true Passover, of which the
first was typical, and Christ is the great Passover. So, let's go. The institution
of the first Passover. If you want to go to Exodus 12,
that's where you'll find it. We're very familiar with that,
so we'll try to sum it up in a few words. It was appointed
by God as a means of delivering the children of Israel out of
their Egyptian bondage after about 200 years of dwelling in
that awful bondage. And it fulfilled the promise
of God made unto Abraham that each Jewish household was to
select from their herd a choice lamb, not a raggedy, sick, crippled
one, but a choice lamb of the first year, and they were to
keep it up and to slay it and to eat it on a set day. Put its blood up on the doorpost,
was the blood of the lamb, and then to eat it in the evening. And God said that he would pass
over, when he saw that blood upon the doorpost, that he would
pass over that house and not smite them with death in that
night. The firstborn of every house
without blood on the doorpost, the firstborn of that house,
was smitten with death." Now, remember that God called Israel,
my firstborn. Israel, my firstborn. And by this, the children of
Israel went out free on that night from their Egyptian bondage. Now, Paul refers to that in our
Corinthian text, the Passover. Number one. There are some things
about it that we want to look at in connecting the one with
the other as type or anti-type. Now, such immorality that they
had there in the church by one that was called a brother and
met with him. And the sin was a particular
kind, incest, a man and his father's wife. Now, probably, be with
his stepmother, as I've already said, and oppress the evil of
it, let us look at the act and their tolerating it in their
assembly. Paul expresses that it exceeds
the bound of decency. And that it does because of that
sin that God had so strictly forbidden for them to ever allow
in their midst. Now, let's be sure we understand
that the lamb, that is the lamb which they slew and which they
ate, taken from their own herd, it was the Passover. Not the day, not the time. The Lamb was the Passover. Christ is our Passover. Though there was a set time and
a set day in which it was to be killed and to be eaten. and the 10th day, which answers,
some say, to our month of March in the calendar. But the lamb
itself, I'll say again, was the Passover, sometimes called what
you'll hear the Paschal Lamb. And in Exodus 12 and verse 11,
eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. and Exodus 12 and 21 kill the
Passover. Then in the Lord's ministry in
Luke chapter 22 and verse 7, quote, then came the day when
the Passover must be killed. Now not the day killed, but the
Passover must be put to death, cooked, and eaten. Even Paul
said, Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us. Again, in
2 Chronicles, chapter 35, verse 11, and they killed the Passover. Not the day, but the Passover
that is the lamb. Now, we can't overstress it. The lamb was the Passover, and
it was to be put to death, and its blood was to be put upon
the doorpost, and its flesh was to be eaten by Israel. And when God saw that blood,
he passed over them in that awful night. The second thing that
we notice, what Paul makes reference to in 1 Corinthians chapter 5
is leaven, and we want to take a look at that. Now the Jews,
as the preparation for the day of the Passover, were to remove
all leaven out of their houses, or their dwelling, or their tent. They were to look in every place
every corner and remove all leaven out of their houses in preparation. In fact, there were the days.
of unleavened bread, as they are called in Genesis chapter
19 and verse 3. Now, this may be the first time
that the word leaven is used in the scripture in Exodus chapter
12. And, of course, it refers to
a yeast cake, I guess we could call it. Grandma used to have
sourdough that she'd mix with her rolls and biscuits and cause
them to ferment and to rise and such. But leaven or that yeast
swelled by a process of fermentation. And bread tasted mighty good,
mighty bad without it, but mighty good with the leaven. And it
took some time for it to ferment and work and get in its full
force. It gave more body, however, and
it gave more taste under the bread. And unleavened bread,
which they were to eat for a while, was flat and tasteless. Now, in the Old Testament, leaven
was not used, I don't think, in a metaphorical sense like
it is in the New Testament. Anyway, the Israelites were commanded
to rid their dwelling of leaven in preparation for the Passover. You'll find that in Exodus 12
verse 15, again in verse 18 through 20 of Exodus 12. And to enforce that command,
the eater of leaven, listen to this now, the eater of leaven
would be cut off out of Israel. Exodus chapter 12 verse 15 and
verse 19. They would be cut off, caught
eating leaven in that period of time. In Exodus 12 and verse
8, they were to eat unleavened bread with the Passover lamb,
and they were to eat it in haste, eat it in a hurry. Now, secondly,
we want to move to the next area, and that is the yearly observance
of the Passover as a memorial of their deliverance from their
Egyptian bondage and how severe it was under them, their bondage,
and 200 years of it. They were to observe the Passover
every year in the corresponding month and day as the first one. The first one that they did in
the land of Egypt. I'd like to turn to Exodus chapter
12. There are a few verses here. They're rather long, but I'd
like to read them and put them in our record. In Exodus 12,
let's read verse 21. through verse 28, if we might,
where it was to become a yearly memorial unto them for what God
had done. Verse 21, Exodus 12. Then 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. And you
shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that
is in the basin and strike the lentil and the two side posts
with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall
go out at the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord
will pass through to smite the Egyptian. And when he seeth the
blood upon the lentil and on the two side posts, the Lord
will pass over the door and will not suffer the destroyer to come
in under your house to smite you. And you shall observe this
thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons forever. and it shall come to pass when
you come into the land which the Lord will give you according
as he promised that ye shall keep this service and it shall
come to pass when your children shall say unto you, what mean
ye by this service? Then you shall say, it is the
sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over the houses of
the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptian and
delivered our houses and the people bowed the head and worshipped,
and the children of Israel went away and did as the Lord had
commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. Every year they commemorated
it with a memorial. Now this was before the institution
of a great high priest among them was set in motion. But it was a perpetual ordinance
to be done even when they were in the land of Canaan and throughout
their generation, and was to continue, we know, up until the
death of the Messiah. There was this difference between
the first and the yearly memorial, this great difference. Perhaps
you noted, in the first, the blood was sprinkled and put upon
the door. There's no mention or requirement
of it after that, because the Passover lamb and deliverer was
but one time, even as Christ will die but one time, and need
never die again. There was this memorial of their
deliverance out of the land of Egypt. and these memorials to
commemorate what God had done in that night. And we just read
in Exodus 12, Moses projects them beyond the first Passover
to following times or later years and would have it to be the occasion
of instructing their children in verse 26 and verse 27. Now, the children are fairly
inquisitive. Why are you doing this? What
is this? What does it mean? And it was an opportunity to
teach them about the great work of God, teach them the meaning
and the significance of the ritual. You can see it again. in Exodus
13, 8, and 14 to teach their children. The same thing was
true of the giving of the law. In Deuteronomy 6.20 and 32.7,
the children would ask, what meaneth this? And you could tell
them about the experience of the giving of the law. They were
to instruct their young in these things, how the Lord delivered
them, How he made such a great difference between them and the
Egyptian. How the Lord passed over their
houses, but smote the firstborn in every Egyptian house without
the blood. Now one more thing about the
Passover, which was still commemorated when the Lord was a minister
on the earth among his people. as a Jew, the Lord, born of a
woman made under the law. We read that our Lord kept the
law and he observed the Passover. From circumcision on the eighth
day to the Passover at the very end of his life, our Lord observed
the law. We read in Luke 2 and verse 41,
how his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the
Passover. And he went as a child. And Luke chapter 2, 45 through
52, has an event that happened when the Lord was at the earthly
age of 12. They went to keep the Passover.
He lingered behind. You remember that. Then he kept
the Passover with his apostles. When he had called them at least
twice, the Lord kept the Passover, and some commentators think it
was three times or three years. He lived as a Jew up to his death,
and he practiced Judaism. He observed the Passover in the
proper way and the proper season. and led his disciples in it. But now the third thing, and
the most important, Christ the true Passover. The first one
was typical. As says our text, Christ our
Passover was sacrificed for us. And if we might, let's spend
a few minutes to show some clear typologies between the Passover
lamb in Egypt, and the death of our Lord upon the cross of
Calvary. There are some likenesses and
some types and similarities. They all point to Christ. I will
number them. Number one, the Lamb was chosen,
the Lamb was appointed, the Lamb was set apart four days prior
unto His death. It was not a last minute choice. He was taken from the herd before
time, separated out from among them. In Exodus 12 and verse
3 through 6, so Christ was slain from the foundation of the world. We read in Revelation 13 and
8. We read in 1 Peter 1 and verse 20 that he was foreordained before
the foundation of the world. Not an accident, but a deliberate
purpose and plan of God. Christ was set apart in the covenant
of grace from eternity. to be the great sacrifice. The second thing that we notice
that is typical of Christ is that the Passover lamb was to
be in the prime of his life and in mint condition. He was to
be a perfect specimen without blemish. Exodus chapter 12 and
verse 5. Your lamb shall be without blemish
a male of the first year. That was the kind of lamb, literally
its kid, for he is young, one year old, in the prime of life. And so, of Jesus Christ we read,
1 Peter chapter 1, And verse 19, the precious blood of Christ
as of a lamb without spot and without blemish. The Lord was
impeccable. Even His humanity was impeccable. And none could charge Him with
sin. What good is a Savior who sinned
or might sin? So the Lord was impeccable. Now the third thing that we notice
in a likeness between the Lamb and our Lord, the Lamb was to
be chosen to fit or suit a set number of eaters. Was to be a
Passover for a fixed number of souls. Not for everyone, but
for a fixed number Also, Exodus 12 and verse 3, they shall take
to them every man a lamb according to the house of their fathers,
a lamb for an house. And in chapter 12 and verse 4,
take it according to the number of souls. Every man, according
to his eating, shall make your count for the lamb. Notice that. Make your count. There are 12 people in this house. Let's have enough for 12. Let's
feel a lamb to supply the 12. And in verse 10, none was to
be left until the morning. None was to be left until the
morning. None was to be left behind. If it was not eaten, it was to
be burned with fire so that it would be spoiled as to being
any good to the Egyptian. John Gill wrote this, and I quote,
the reason for this law was that it might not be converted to
superstitious or treated with contempt, unquote. the lamb,
the flesh of it. And Christ was the Passover. And he was the Passover for a
set number, all given unto him by the Father. all his sheep,
all his people, his church, he will save from their sin. He will see the travail of his
soul and shall be satisfied. For a set number, our Lord died. For a set number, our Lord was
sacrificed. Then there's a fourth thing that
we notice in the likeness, and that is the lambs were all to
be slain at a set time. time there was a time when the
lambs were to be slain by the command of God through Moses
to the people not only a set day that was fixed as well Exodus
12 6 on the 14th day of the month but there was also a set time
or part of that day. And it was not in the morning,
not early, it was not at noon, but in verse 6 and the last part,
at the same time, and the whole assembly of Israel shall kill
it in the evening. And it's interesting, say the
commentator, that the Margin and the Greek had it between
the two evenings. you shall kill it between the
two evening. In the declining. of the day
toward evening. Deuteronomy 16 and verse 4, it
speaks of, quote, flesh which you sacrifice at evening the
first day. That is the first day of unleavened
bread. In Deuteronomy 16 and verse 6,
sacrifice the Passover at evening. at the going down of the sun,
at the season that you came forth out of Egypt. And listen, if
you might, to Luke 22 and verse 7. Then came the day of unleavened
bread when the Passover must be killed. That is, must be slain
and prepared, roasted with fire, and eaten with Unleavened bread
and bitter herbs were in that. You'll find that in Exodus chapter
12 and verse 8. Even so, Christ spoke of his
time to die, of his hour. He spoke of my hour, my time. And the Jews could not take him
before his hour or time. They tried on several occasions. to take the Lord, but it was
not his time. They could not take him before
his time or hour was come, in John 7 and 30, 8 and 20. And he eluded them by a display
of his mighty power, so that they took him not ahead of time. But then came a time when the
Lord said this. in Matthew 26, 45. The hour is at hand, and the
Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Also Mark 14 and 41. Remember John 17 and verse 1,
Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy Son. He stood on
the eve of his death. Now what do we think when we
read the two things? Mine hour is not yet come, John
2 and 4, John 7 and 6. And when he says the hour is
come, the hour or the time is here. Remember something about
the Passover lamb that is applicable as a type of Christ. That is the time down to the
very day, even the part of the day when they were to kill their
Passover lamb, every one of them almost in unison. Remember Christ was crucified
right after eating the Passover supper with his disciples and
instituting a brand new memorial. We know it as the Lord's Supper
when we take the bread and the wine. Now I want to give you
a quote, which I borrowed from Stephen Charnock. And just ahead,
there's a quote. How was answered in Christ the
type of the Passover lamb, and that the Passover lamb was taken
on the 10th day and then killed on the 14th and grilled with
fire and eaten that evening by those in the house. And here's
my point. Sharnock believed, and I found
that some others do as well, he believes that the Lord died
at the corresponding time of the killing of the Passover lamb
in Egypt. And here's that quote from Charnock. In answer to the type, Christ
entered Jerusalem on the 10th day by the same gate through
which the lambs were taken to be sacrificed and slain, that
is, between the two evening in the declining of the sun from
the noon, unquote. Now scripture tells us about
the ninth hour on the cross. About the ninth hour on the cross,
Jesus cried out these words, my God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Matthew 27 and verse 46. And in verse 50 then, right after
that, he yielded up the ghost. He released his spirit. He commended
it to God and into the hands of God. My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me? Now, in Egypt, in Exodus chapter
12, families, if we can go in our mind's eye, we see that families
are slaying their lambs. the ones they've chosen. They're
dressing them, preparing them. They're grilling them to be eaten
later in the evening. But if we look under in Jerusalem,
The Lord has been killed about the same hour or time of the
day. And his body is taken down from
the cross, is prepared for burial, put in a tomb, and sealed up. Now, I agree with those who emphasize
that the manner of preparation of the lamb, that it was roasted
with fire, is significant. They did not eat it raw. They
did not eat it baked. They were not to boil it in water
in a pot. Better prefigure the extensive
suffering of our Lord. Roast with fire signifies a great
burning. and a great exhibition or exposure
under that. Directly subjected to the fire
was the lamb, not in a pot, not boiled in water. Exodus chapter
12, it is said, roast with fire. And it says this, its flesh,
its legs, its head, its pertinence, that is, its entrails are its
inwards. Now Christ suffered the fire
of God's judgment in the cross of Calvary. He suffered in body
and in soul. And Paul puts it this way, Christ,
our Passover, is sacrifice for us. He is slain. He's put to
death. He's our Passover lamb. And he
is exposed to the judgment, or the justice, shall I say, of
the Almighty God. And the main part of his sin,
most people think the main part of his sin, rather the main part
of his suffering, were the nails in his hand, the spear in his
side, the nails in his feet. I submit to you. that the greater
part of the suffering of our Lord was that with which he suffered
at the hands of God. Arise, O sword, and smite, my
shepherd, those inward suffering, those sufferings at the hand
of God. When the Lord put him to grief,
as Isaiah said, when his soul made an offering for sin. His extreme suffering, answer
to the lamb, roast with fire. And in our Lord's death, God
was pacified by the suffering and the punishment that our Lord
endured. And remember, our God is called
a consuming fire. And in answering to the Passover,
Those lay safe from death, safe from death behind the blood upon
the doorposts of their houses. So it is with Christ. Christ
died for his people. He died and will pass over everyone
that our Lord has died for. He put a difference between the
Egyptian and the Israelites, Exodus 11 and verse 7, and that
was manifest in the respective treatment of their firstborn. So God has a spiritual firstborn
as Israel was God's firstborn. Exodus 4 and verse 22, my son,
my firstborn. Now you know the firstborn had
preeminence and he had privileges in the family in Israel. And we read in Hebrews chapter
12 and verse 23 of the church of the firstborn. Those that are consummately gathered
together in Christ. The firstborn God claimed for
himself in Exodus chapter 13 and verse 2. And the children
of God are, in a sense, God's firstborn. Christ is called the
firstborn. Firstborn of Mary, Luke 2 and
7, Romans 8-29. Colossians 1, 15, and 18, he
is the firstborn of every creature. Not because he's the first one
created, because he has always existed. But because of his closeness,
his nearness, and his dearness to God. He's not God's son by
adoption, for he is the eternal son One with God by nature and
essence. Now God put a difference between
Israel and Egypt. So he put a difference between
the elect and the reprobate in that he is the Passover for the
firstborn of grace. And every such one will be brought
from the cruel bondage of their sin. For Christ, our Passover,
is sacrificed for us." Now, very quick application, and we're
done. The sacrifice that Christ made
was both pleasing and acceptable unto God. Therefore, it was effective
to save and deliver the sinful from their bondage of sin. He
will pass over them in eternal damnation, pass over them, not
smite them with eternal and everlasting punishment and misery. And therefore,
this Passover, Paul makes a reason to purge the leaven out of the
church, the unleavened. And also, no leaven was in connection
with a Passover because it was to be without it. So Christ,
our Passover, is sacrificed for us and purges out the leaven
of sin that is in us. Thank God for that. Christ, our
Passover.