Let me add my welcome to Winston.
It's good to see this good crowd out this morning to hear the
gospel. As you can see, the title of
this message is Showing the Lord's Death. I'm sure you'll understand
that as we get into this a little bit. Let me introduce it this
way. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
is the focal point of everything. It's the focal point of everything
in time. It's the focal point of everything in eternity. Even
before time, God was looking to the cross and what Christ
would accomplish there by his obedience unto death. When God
chose a people, when he chose to bless them, he blessed them
in Christ based on what Christ would do when he went to the
cross. When he justified them, he was looking at the righteousness
Christ would work out by his obedience unto death. in time
at the cross, and even in eternity. That's the eternity future. What
will be the song of the redeemed in the future, in that eternity?
Worthy is the lamb that was slain. So from eternity to eternity,
the focal point of all things is the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ and what he accomplished there. As you can see, we're
planning to observe the Lord's Supper today. And the message
today is about Israel keeping the Passover. And we're going
to see how these two, they're not the same thing. The Passover
was fulfilled by the death of Christ and ended by way of fulfillment. And the Lord's Supper was instituted
the night the Lord was betrayed. They're different things for
different eras of time. But both are occasions for the
people of God and their respective generations to look to the cross,
to remember what Christ did, to show the Lord's death till
he come. The Passover showed the Lord's
death in picture and type until Christ came and went to the cross
and fulfilled all righteousness. It looked forward to the cross,
and it looked forward to Christ's first coming. The Lord's Supper
is an occasion for believers to remember what Christ accomplished
on the cross. It looks back to the cross and
forward to Christ's second coming. Now I took my title from Paul's
first letter to the Corinthians, and this is a passage we usually
quote when we do the Lord's Supper. Look at 1 Corinthians 11, 26.
He said, for as often as you eat this bread and drink this
cup, you do show the Lord's death till he come. As I said, our
lesson is from Joshua and it's about Israel keeping the Passover. Look at Joshua chapter 5 and
verse 10 with me here. And the children of Israel encamped
in Gilgal and kept the Passover on the 14th day of the month
at even in the plains of Jericho. Pacific people, the children
of Israel, encamped in Gilgal. That's inside the promised land.
That's just inside the border. This is their first place of
rest. And they kept the Passover on
the 14th day of the month. That's the day that God prescribed
for this to be done, even way back 40 years earlier when it
was instituted by Moses, at Eva. afternoon, sometime in the afternoon,
past noon, but generally around three o'clock, because that's
when our Lord was crucified, about three o'clock in the afternoon.
And in the plains of Jericho, in the presence of their enemies. God prepared a table for them
in the presence of their enemies. Jericho is the first city they're
going to conquer in their conquest of this Canaan, so that's what
we'll be looking at. The children of Israel kept the
Passover. Why did they keep the Passover?
Well, they were the only ones who rightly could keep the Passover.
There were Amorites in the land of Canaan, but they weren't keeping
the Passover. There were Girgashites and Perizzites
and Hittites. In fact, there were seven nations
in that land of Canaan. None of them were keeping the
Passover. The Israelites were the only ones who kept the Passover.
They were the only ones who had anything to observe. They were
the only ones who had anything to celebrate. They were the only
ones who could be reminded what God had done for them through
the years. Anyone could kill a lamb. Anyone
could roast it. Anyone could eat it. But only
Israel could keep the Passover. Only Israel could remember that
God had delivered them. He delivered them from judgment.
He delivered them from bondage. He delivered them from the wilderness.
and he delivered them from their unbelief. So that's the four
things we're going to look at here. That's why Israel alone
kept the Passover. First, Israel kept the Passover
because Israel was the only nation that God had delivered from judgment. Israel was the only nation that
God had passed over. Remember, God judged Egypt. Israel was in Egypt at that time,
but God delivered Israel from that judgment. I'm speaking here
of those last 10 plagues that God poured out upon that nation,
Egypt, who was holding Israel in bondage. He poured out 10
plagues, and this is the last of those 10 plagues. He smoked
the firstborn of Egypt, but he passed over the firstborn of
Israel. Look at Exodus 11, verses 4 through
6. And Moses said, he's talking
to Pharaoh here, he said, thus saith the Lord, about midnight
will I go out into the midst of Egypt, and all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh
that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the
maidservant that is behind the mill. In other words, every household
is gonna be included here, from the king to the servant, doesn't
matter. And all the firstborn of beasts,
And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt,
such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more."
God's threat here is not against all Egypt. It's against the firstborn
of Egypt. Every household is going to be
affected, like I said, but only the firstborn were under the
threat of death. Only the firstborn were under the threat of God's
judgment here. God smoked the firstborn of Egypt,
but he passed over the firstborn of Israel. I think we got a picture
here. I believe this typifies God passing
over his elect in eternity. The elect are God's firstborn. They're so designated because
they're in Christ. They are the firstborn because
they were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world,
Ephesians 1 and verse 4. And Christ is the firstborn among
many brethren. You see, spiritual Israels are
firstborn because they're in Christ. Who is the firstborn?
God passed over his elect in eternity when he put them, when
he elected them, when he chose them in Christ. There is a multitude
out of every kindred, tribe, and tongue that God has not appointed
unto wrath, but which he has appointed unto salvation. Look
at 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verses 9 and 10. It says, for
God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ. It's an appointment. It's not
based on something sinners do. God appointed this. He chose
some not to suffer the wrath we all deserve and to obtain
the salvation we could never deserve based on anything found
in us. To obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ who died
for us that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together
with him. Some not appointed to wrath,
but to obtain salvation. Now this is a thought God continues
in that Exodus passage we just looked at. If you look with me
further on to Exodus chapter 11 and verse 7, God had already
threatened to smite the firstborn. He said, but against any of the
children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue. There
won't even be a dog barking against the children of Israel. against
man or beast, that you may know how that the Lord doth put a
difference between the Egyptians and Israel." There's a distinction
among the inhabitants of the earth, and this distinction is
not the work of men. It's the work of God, and it's
the work of God from all eternity based on the work Christ would
accomplish by his death on the cross. God passed over. He passed over in judgment. And
that just simply means he did not judge the sins of his elect
until Christ, their appointed surety and substitute, came in
time and put those sins away by his death on the cross. Now
Paul wrote of this in his letter to the Romans. Look with me at
Romans chapter 3 and verse 24 and 25. Being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. Now how
are we justified? How is a sinner justified? Freely,
unconditionally, no condition on the sinner. Freely by his
grace. It doesn't have anything to do
with our works. It's got everything to do with Christ's work through
the redemption that's in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth
to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare
his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through
the forbearance of God. Now that word remission there
you see in verse 25. The proper translation of that
word, the only time it's used in the New Testament, is passing
over. It's not the putting away, the
passing over of sins is what he's talking about right here.
God set forth Christ a propitiation, a sin-bearing, justice-satisfying
sacrifice. That's what propitiation is.
That's what Christ came and did. He satisfied divine justice on
the cross on behalf of his people. And in so doing, God declared
his righteousness, it says, his justice in passing over the sins
of all his elect prior to the coming of Christ. The sins of
all the elect were judged in Christ on the cross. All the
elect, past and future. Now God's elect were just as
deserving of eternal punishment for sin as anyone else in the
world. In other words, Israel and Egypt, they were just as
deserving of having their firstborn taken as Egypt was, but God passed
over them. God passed over the sins of his
elect until Christ came in time and suffered the punishment they
deserved. Christ coming in time and bearing
the sins of his sheep vindicated God's justice in passing over
those sins until that time. In other words, all the time
up to the cross, there were multitudes of elect sinners there. And they
all committed sin. First of all, we all fell in
Adam, but all continue to fall short of the glory of God. We're
all sinners in our own persons. But up to the cross, God passed
over them in judgment. He didn't judge the sins of his
elect because he'd appointed a person and he'd appointed a
time when he would judge the sins of the elect. And that appointed
person was Christ on the cross of Calvary. I want you to see one more thing
right here before we move on to the next point. God passed
over Israel while they were still in bondage. The Passover came
first, and then he delivered them from bondage. That's legal
bondage. A debt of punishment for sin was still owed by God's
elect before Christ went to the cross, and yet he passed over. He didn't demand payment from
his people. until he exacted that payment
or took it at the cross. Why not? Why didn't he demand
payment from his people? Because he was looking at the
blood. When I see the blood, he said, I'll pass over you.
What blood is he talking about? Well, for national Israel, it
was the blood of the Passover lamb. It was the blood they got
when they killed the Passover lamb and put it on the doorpost
and on the lintels of their houses. the one who came taking the lives
of the firstborn, he passed over all those houses where he saw
that blood. So for national Israel, it was the Passover Lamb's blood.
But for spiritual Israel, it's the blood of Christ, the true
Passover, which was shed at Calvary. When did God see the blood by
which he passed over his elect? He saw it in eternity. He saw
it in Christ, the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
You see, he didn't wait till the cross to see the blood. God
doesn't see anything in the future. God sees everything all at one
time. The nation Israel kept the Passover
because they were the only nation that God had passed over in judgment. Now believers in every generation
since the cross observed the Lord's Supper for the very same
reason. We see that the Lord passed over
us in eternity based on the work Christ would accomplish at the
cross. Okay, second, Israel kept the Passover because they were
the only nation God had delivered from bondage. Having passed over
them in judgment, he then delivered them from bondage. The Israelites
were slaves to the Egyptians. And that 10th plague was the
one that finally caused Pharaoh to let the children of Israel
go. In other words, to release them
from the bondage he held them in. Look at Exodus chapter 12
and verse 29. Now this is after God smoked
the firstborn of Egypt. And it came to pass that at midnight
the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the
firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne, unto the firstborn
of the captive that was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn
of cattle." In other words, God executed his threat. He did to
Pharaoh and to Egypt just exactly what Moses told them that he
would do. And Pharaoh finally let Israel
go. Look at Exodus 12, 30 and 32.
And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all
the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there
was not a house where there was not one dead. And he called for
Moses. Pharaoh called for Moses and
Aaron by night and said, rise up and get you forth from among
my people, both you and the children of Israel, and go serve the Lord
as you have said. Also take your flocks and your
herds as you have said and be gone and bless me also. Now,
Israel's release from this bondage here is a picture of spiritual
Israel's release from physical bondage. In Adam, all, all without
exception, owe a debt, a debt to God's law and justice. This
is a twofold debt. First, we all owe a legal debt
of obedience to God's law. Look at Galatians 3.10 and 11. For as many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse, for it is written, cursed is
everyone that continues not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them, but that no man is justified
by the law in the sight of God, it is evident. The just shall
live by faith. The law demands perfect continual
obedience, and it pronounces a curse where it doesn't find
that perfect continual obedience, either in your person or in the
righteousness Christ worked out in his person. And because none
in Adam have kept that law by the law's demand, perfect continual
obedience, the law, the justice of God, demands punishment for
those that have not obeyed. All owe a legal debt of punishment
to God's justice. Look at Romans 6 and verse 23.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Sin earns death. The soul that sins shall surely
die. Christ delivered his people from
this twofold debt to law and justice. He delivered them from
legal bondage by his obedience unto death. Many times in the
scriptures we see God's elect referred to as sheep. Christ
said in John 10, I lay down my life for the sheep. The sheep
are the ones God passed over in judgment in eternity. The
sheep are the ones Christ delivered from legal bondage. The sheep
are the ones whose debt to God's law and justice was paid in full
by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at John 10 in verse
27 through 30. Christ said, my sheep, hear my
voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them
eternal life. I give it to them. They don't
earn it. They don't do anything to have
it. They don't make a contribution. I give them eternal life, and
they shall never perish. They'll be in final glory, Christ
said. Neither shall any pluck them
out of my hand, my Father which gave them me. The Father entrusted
to Christ, the Son. in eternity, all the salvation
of His people. of his sheep. He entrusted that
salvation to Christ. In other words, he laid on the
shoulders of Christ all the responsibility to do everything necessary for
God to be just and to declare his sheep righteous in the sight
of God. He entrusted their salvation
to Christ. And he said, my father which
gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck
them out of my father's hand. I and my father are one. Israel
kept the Passover because they were the only ones that God had
delivered from physical bondage. Now believers in every generation
celebrate the Lord's Supper because they're persuaded that Christ's
obedience unto death paid their twofold debt. the law and justice. Christ fulfilled all that the
law required in the way of obedience and satisfied all that the law
demanded in the way of punishment. He delivered his sheep from legal
bondage. Third, this generation of Israel
kept the Passover because they were the only ones that God had
sustained through the wilderness. This generation, the only ones
that made it to the promised land. Look at Joshua 5 and verse
11. And they, that's the Israel that's
encamped in Gilgal in the promised land. They did eat of the old
corn of the land on the morrow after the Passover, unleavened
cakes and parched corn in the same day. Now this old corn of
the land, this is not corn that Israel planted and toiled over
and sweated over. This is corn that God provided
them in this land. They didn't do one thing to have
this corn. It was given to them. And this
old corn might well typify that which God has provided for his
elect from all eternity. When they entered the promised
land, Israel ate of the old corn of the land, but what sustained
them till then? What were they living on before
this old corn was given? What sustained them throughout
their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness? Just one thing,
manna. God gave them manna. Look at
Joshua 5 and verse 12. And the manna ceased on the morrow
after they had eaten of the old corn of the land. Neither had
the children of Israel manna anymore, but they did eat of
the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. Manna was the food
that God had prepared especially for the children of Israel during
their wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. It was a special
provision for that special time. And it was what kept, it was
what sustained them during that 40-year period. There was no
corn in the wilderness, there were no crops planted in the
wilderness, no fields, no harvest in the wilderness. The wilderness
was only desert and desolation, that's all that was there, just
a big desert that they wandered in. But God provided his chosen
nation bread during that 40-year period. He gave them manna, a
type of Christ, the true bread of heaven. Only Israel could
remember that God had sustained them through the wilderness.
Moses reminded them of that fact. Before Moses died, he reminded
them in Deuteronomy chapter 29 and verse 5. He said, and I have led you.
This is Moses. He led them right up to the promised
land. He said, I've led you 40 years in the wilderness. Your
clothes are not waxing old upon you, and your shoe is not waxing
old upon thy foot. In other words, they were just
like they were brand new, just like they were given. They didn't
age. Their clothing and their shoes
didn't age in 40 years. Now, who can say they've worn
a shirt or a blouse or a pair of shoes 40 years, except Winston. But they were kept. They were
kept for 40 years. Now were these things due to
lack of luck, to luck? Were they due to coincidence
or chance? Or were they due to God's good
providence? They were due to God's sustaining
goodness toward this nation for those 40 years. Israel's wilderness
experience is typical of the rebellion Looking at another
type here. It's typical of the rebellion,
the false religion, and the idolatry of all of God's elect. All that
we are partakers of by nature. Paul described this time, this
wilderness experience in his letter to the Ephesians. Look
at Ephesians 2, verses 1 and 2. And you hath he quickened. He
made you alive. Now he's talking about somebody
here that's been made alive. He said, you hath he quickened,
who were dead in trespasses and sins. He's talking about spiritual
death here. By nature, we're all spiritually dead. Until God
quickens us, that's our state before God. He said, wherein
in time past you walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience. In other words,
we were in league with Satan. We were doing things that were
in rebellion against God. We were in a religion that named
the name of Christ but denied the doctrine of Christ. We were
bowed down to a God of our imagination. I'm talking about myself and
I'm talking about every one of you who's been convinced of these
things. bowed down to a God of our imagination until God brought
us to the gospel. Unless you think that because
he's writing to the Gentiles here, this doesn't include everyone.
We go on to the next verse and you'll see that Paul includes
himself here. Look at Ephesians 2, 3. It says, among whom also
we all. Paul included, had our conversation
in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others, in the lusts of the flesh and fulfilling
those desires. He's talking about spiritual
desires here mostly. He's talking about seeking to be saved, to
be in God's favor based on something found in us and not based on
Christ's work alone. The manna ceased when Israel
got into the Promised Land, but until it did, it was the only
thing sustaining them through that wilderness experience. This
is a picture of Christ being the only one sustaining his sheep
during their rebellion. their false religion and their
idolatry. If Ephesians 2 is speaking of
every one of God's elect before regeneration, and it most certainly
is speaking of every one of God's elect before regeneration, if
it's doing that, who among the elect can rightly claim that
we've contributed anything to our deliverance from that wilderness?
We were in that religion and we'd still be there if God hadn't
brought us out by bringing us to the gospel. National Israel
was sustained through the wilderness because of God's goodness alone,
and spiritual Israel is sustained through the wilderness by God's
mercy and God's grace alone in Christ. Israel kept the Passover
because they were the only ones God had sustained through the
wilderness, and believers in every generation partake of the
Lord's Supper because they've been shown that God's mercy and
grace alone sustained them through their rebellion, their false
religion, and their idolatry. It was Christ. It was always
Christ. If we weren't one with him, we
would have perished in that wilderness like the fathers of these The fourth and last reason Israel
kept the Passover was because they were the only ones that
God delivered. He didn't just sustain them.
He delivered them from the wilderness. He brought them to the promised
land. He delivered them from their unbelief. Israel was encamped in Gilgal.
As I've already told you, that's inside Canaan. That's in the
promised land. God had not only brought them through the wilderness,
He had brought them into that land. and he had given them that
land of rest. Now, thankfully, Israel's wilderness
experience is not the end of this story. See, it didn't end
there, not for this generation of Israel. Although over 600,000
fighting men died there, God delivered some into the Promised
Land. All but two of the fighting men
that were above 20 years of age and older died in the wilderness. You know, those two men were
Joshua and Caleb. They were the two spies that
came back with a good report. Look at Hebrews chapter 3 and
verse 16 and 18, through 18 here. Now he's talking about their
rebellion against God when they came to the border of Canaan
here, the rebellion of the fathers who perished in the wilderness.
He said, for some, for some, when they had heard, did provoke.
How be it not all that came out of Egypt by Moses? But with whom
was he grieved forty years? Was it not with them that had
sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? And then he
goes on to tell you what he's talking about specifically. It's
not just sin, because they all were sinners. They all sinned,
but a specific sin. And to whom swear he that they
should not enter into his rest, but to them that believe not.
The fathers of this generation of Israel, the ones that are
encamped in the promised land, the fathers of this generation
are stark examples of those who would not believe God. They refused
to believe that God had given them this land 400 and some years
earlier in a promise to Abraham. They refused to enter in and
possess this land by God's command and they died under the judgment
of God. They died in unbelief. You can
see their carcasses fell in the wilderness and according to some
commentators, that means they just fell there and stayed there.
They didn't bury them. They just left them for the birds
or whatever to get them. But look back at verse 16, that
little phrase I underlined here. How be it? Not all. They died
there. They died in unbelief, but not
all. Although God did not deliver
their fathers from the wilderness, although He didn't deliver them
from unbelief, yet He did deliver this generation of Israel. He
changed their thinking. He commanded them to follow Joshua,
and they submitted. He commanded their entrance into
this land, and they submitted. He commanded their circumcision,
and they submitted. He commanded that they keep the
Passover, and they submitted. Believers in whatever generation
will be characterized by their submission to God's will, to
God's word. Believers in whatever generation
believe on Him whom God has sent. Believers in whatever generation
will rest their whole salvation in Christ and Christ alone for
all their salvation. And they'll repent of ever resting
their salvation in anything but the righteousness of Christ,
resting their salvation elsewhere. Though all of God's elect start
out our religious lives in the wilderness, in rebellion, false
religion, and idolatry. None of the elect are left there. All are delivered. They're all
delivered, not because they get better. It's not because we've
improved in any way. They're delivered because of
God's abundant mercy and grace in Christ alone. Just like Israel
did not leave his chosen nation in the wilderness because of
the unbelief of some, Some provoke God, but he didn't leave all
of them there because of that provoking. Neither does he leave
his chosen people in the wilderness of false religion and idolatry.
In time, he makes each of them to see what we are in Christ,
what we have in Christ by virtue of his work alone. Look at Ephesians
2 in verse 4. We looked at the first part of
this where he showed us what we are by nature. But that little
phrase, how be it not all, is similar to this, the way this
starts here, but God, but God who's rich in mercy, for his
great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. He's talking about
our position in Christ here. In Christ, the elect are already
risen. In Christ, they're already seated
in glory because our representative is in glory and we're in him.
Even when we were dead in sins has he quickened us together
with Christ by grace are you saved and has raised us up together
and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus
that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace and his kindness toward us through Jesus Christ because
God is rich in mercy. In time God brings some all of
His choosing to understand that we have everything. We have all
of salvation. We have eternal life. We have
the certainty of final glory. We have everything. but it's
not based on anything we did. It's based entirely upon the
work of our Savior. The Passover was a celebration
of God's deliverance. They kept the Passover whom God
had delivered. In Egypt, he delivered his chosen,
the firstborn from the judgment of death. In Canaan, he delivered
his chosen from the judgment of unbelief. They had been delivered
from legal bondage, physical bondage. They had been delivered
from the wilderness. They had been delivered from
their unbelief. Is it not also true that spiritual Israel alone,
the elect of God, who've been called, as Bill was talking about,
called by the gospel, called to Christ alone, is it not true
that spiritual Israel alone has anything to celebrate, and that
because we've been delivered? Though the chosen of God all
fell in Adam, God had already passed over them in judgment,
looking to the cross, the blood of Christ. Although God's elect
owed a debt to God's law and justice, God sent Christ their
surety in time to pay that debt in full. Although the elect are
born in rebellion, Although we begin in false religion, although
by nature we are idolaters, yet Christ sustains all of his elect
through their wilderness experience. And although Christ's sheep start
out in unbelief, Christ seeks us out. He finds us. He brings
us to the rest that his righteousness alone provides us. under a just
God and a Savior. Israel kept the Passover because
God delivered them from judgment, from bondage, from the wilderness,
from unbelief. Spiritual Israel celebrates the
Lord's Supper for the very same reasons. Now, if this is your
testimony, God commands you and I invite you to join with us
of like precious faith in celebrating this Lord's Supper. Join us in
showing the Lord's death till he come. If the men would come,
we'll...