Another message in the Christ
is series. Had a little break since I went
to Colorado, but we'll continue that tonight. The message tonight
is Christ is our Passover. Christ is our Passover. 1 Corinthians
5 verses 6 to 8. Your glorying is not good. Know
ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out, therefore,
the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. Here's our text. For even Christ
our Passover is sacrificed for us. For even Christ our Passover
is sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast,
not with old leaven, neither the leaven of malice and wickedness,
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. And the
feast there is the Lord's Supper. But let us look at these marvelous
words, which we find here in verse 7. And this is written
to believers on the Lord Jesus Christ. And look what it says. For even Christ our Passover
is sacrificed Sacrificed. The King of glory. Sacrificed. For us. What beautiful doctrine we have
here set before us, beloved. The sweetness of this wonderful
doctrine, this wonderful truth that is set before us in these
few words. For even Christ, our Passover,
is sacrificed for us. Here before us, beloved, we have
the sweetness of the gospel. The sweetness of the good news
that Christ died for sinners. The sweetness of the whole gospel
for even Christ, our Passover is sacrificed for us. Let's take note of three wonderful
truths just in this this portion right here. Number one, Christ
is our Passover. What a wonderful truth. What
a wonderful truth set set forth here before his people, Christ
is our Passover. Number two, Christ our Passover
is sacrificed. And number three, Christ our
Passover is sacrificed for us. Marvelous truth right here set
before us. Let's look at the first point.
Christ is our Passover. Turn if you would to Exodus chapter
12 and we'll do a quick overview of the history of the Passover.
The Passover was a yearly feast among the Jews. It was appointed
by God in remembrance of the destroying angel passing over
the houses of the Israelites when the firstborn were slain
in the house of the Egyptians. Now in the feast they were to
take a lamb which was called the Paschal Lamb and his blood
was to be put in a basin. In this portion we're going to
see here, put in a basin and sprinkled on the doorposts. Look
at this in Exodus chapter 12. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
verse 1, and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month
shall be unto you the beginning of months. It shall be the first
month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation
of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall
take to them every man a lamb." Every man a lamb. Every one of
them was to take a lamb. According to the house of their
fathers, a lamb for a house. And if the household be too little
for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house
take it according to the number of the souls. Every man, according
to his eating, shall make your count for the lamb. Verse five,
your lamb shall be without blemish. Perfect. Oh, what a picture. Perfect. a male of the first year, ye
shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats, and ye shall
keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month, and the
whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the
evening. And they shall take the blood
and strike it on the two door posts, on the two side posts,
and on the upper door posts of the houses wherein they shall
eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast
with fire in unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs they shall
eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but
roast with fire." Think of what the wrath of God
fallen upon our great Lamb. with his head, with his legs,
and with the pertinence thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it
remain until the morning. And that which remaineth of it
until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye
eat it with your loins girded, and shoes on your feet, and your
staff in your hand. And ye shall eat it in haste.
It is the Lord's Passover. 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, all the false gods of Egypt,
I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you
for a token. For a token upon the houses where
you are and when I see the blood. I'll pass over you. I'll pass
over you and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you
when I smite the land of Egypt. All this lamb. is a type of Christ,
a picture of Christ. Look at verses 8 to 10. And they
shall eat the flesh in the night, roast with fire and unleavened
bread, and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of
it raw nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire his
head, with his legs, and with the pertinence thereof. And ye
shall let nothing of it remain until the morning. That which
remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. Passover
lamb was not slain to be looked at or to be laid somewhere where
everyone could see it. It was not to be merely the subject
of conversation, but it was to be slain and it
was to be fed upon. We are to do our daily business,
beloved, in this world, we who believe, feeding upon Christ,
feeding upon our precious Passover lamb. The whole lamb was intended to
be eaten. In God's people, we are to feed
on the whole of Christ, all the doctrines of Christ, all of who
he is. Someone asked me this week what
I preached on last week. for Mother's Day. And I said,
well, I preached on the death of Christ. Why did Christ die? And they said, well, I would
have thought you got the subject covered already. And I just shook
my head. And I thought, oh my gosh. And
then I looked at the man and said, I preached the unsearchable
riches of Christ. You need to look up the word
unsearchable. It means unfathomable. It means we cannot even come
close to understanding. Who Christ is. Who he is. What he's done. Turn, if you
would, to John. What does John write? Brother
Tim and I were talking about this. What does John write? At the latter part of John 21. Look at this. We preachers, we're just scratching
the surface, beloved, of who Christ is. Brother Donnie told
me that one time. He said, Wayne, I've preached
for 40 years. I'm just scratching. Brother Scott Richardson said,
after he preached for 45 years, one of these days I'm going to
learn how to preach. Look at this in John 21, verse 25. And there are also many other
things which Jesus did, that which if they should be written
every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain
the books that should be written." Oh my. Christ is a subject that
we will never exhaust, beloved. And Paul, think of Paul, he said,
we preach Christ and Him crucified. That's who we preach. That's
who we declare. That's who we, we, we love to
give him all the glory because he's worthy of all the glory,
all of it, all of it. So God's people are to feed upon
the whole of Christ. All the things of Christ, what
he's done and no part is, is to be denied for denied us. We
feast on the truth of his humiliation, right? That God became a man.
that God became a man. We feast on the truth of his
glory, that he deserves all glory, because he's the king of the
universe. He has all majesty. We feast on the fact of his absolute
sovereignty, and that he's in full control. We can rest our
souls in him. Oh, beloved, we feast on the
truth of his kingship, that he is king of king, and that he
is lord of lords. We feast on the truth of his
priesthood, of his priesthood, we feast on the truth again of
his Godhood. Of his Godhood, the Father, Son,
and the Holy Spirit. We feast on these precious truths. And what a picture we have of
our Lord Jesus Christ as a lamb, sacrificing himself for the people,
for his people, the innocent one dying in the place of others.
And the lamb Lamb here in our text was a picture of Christ
dying as the substitute of his people. Think of it. The lamb
had done no wrong. And they were to sacrifice the
lamb. And its blood was to be sprinkled upon the doorposts,
lentil. It had done no wrong. The innocent
one. The innocent one dying for the
guilt. It's a picture of Christ, beloved. It points right to Christ
Jesus, our Lord. Isaiah 57, 53, seven says this. He was oppressed and he was afflicted.
Yet he opened not his mouth. He's bought as a lamb to the
slaughter as a sheep before her shears is dumb. So he opened
it, not it, not his mouth. One might ask what kind of lamb
is referred to. It was a male lamb, beloved. And note the vigor and the strength.
It was a lamb without blemish, signifying His absolute purity
and perfection, which points us right to Christ. Right to
Christ. But with the precious blood of
Christ is of a lamb without blemish and without spot. We're redeemed
by Christ, by His precious blood. In Christ there's no defect or
distortion, no spot or deformity. To be a lamb of a year old, in
the Hebrew it was the son of a year, a lamb in its prime.
Our Lord Jesus Christ died in His prime, between 30 and 40. What it may be inquired was to
be done to the lamb. It was to be separated from the
rest of the flock and kept apart four days before. So Christ was
chosen out of the people. and set apart from eternity in
a decree and counsel of God to be a prince and a savior. It was to be killed. So was Christ. He must die, not a natural, but
a violent death, not in His bed, but upon a tree by the hand of
violence. He must die. And let us remember
this. His death is our life. His death is our life, beloved. Without His death, we have no
life. Only condemnation, but praise be to God. There's therefore
now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus. And let us consider
the Passover lamb again. Its blood was to be put in a
basin, and they went with a bunch of hyssop sprinkled on the doorposts. And when the destroying angel
came to destroy where the blood was, it passed over. And Scripture
declares in Exodus, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you.
Think of that. The blood of the innocent one
died for we who are guilty. And the blood of Jesus Christ
is sprinkled on the lentils of our and the doorposts of our
souls. And God says, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. Why? Because
of the death of the innocent. The death of the lamb as our
substitute in our place. And remember, he's the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ, God, the
son is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. My, what a grand gospel statement
when I see the blood of Passover. Passover. And when the sinner sees the
blood, it's for our comfort. But God's side of the blood,
it's a grand thing. And when he sees it, he passes
over the sinner, because all has been paid for. It's not without cost, is it?
When God sees the blood of Christ, all the sins of that person's
been paid for. Past, present, future. It's a full pardon, beloved.
When I see the blood, I'll pass over you. What a wonderful picture
when God looks upon us and we are covered in the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ, clothed in His perfect spotless righteousness.
And the blood shall be to you for a token. Unto the houses
where ye are, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. Beloved of God, look in wonder
at the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The scripture here declares
it a token in Exodus, a token. You know, it's a token of divine
love. It's a token of divine love. God giving his well-beloved
to die for us. Who's Christ sacrificed for?
Us, his people, his elect. And the blood shall be to you
for a token upon the houses where you are. When I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. The blood is a token that justice
has had its due. Think of that. Think of that,
you who are redeemed. Think of that. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you, because justice has had its due. Justice of God has
had its due in Christ Jesus, our Lord, our substitute. Oh
my, what a Savior. What a salvation we have in Christ
Jesus, our Lord. God's justices had its due for
the sins of his people in Christ, and he was sacrificed for us,
for us. This is a token, again, that
we are perfectly secure in Christ. Now let that sink into your souls.
Perfectly secure forever. in Christ. Because when God sees
the blood, I'll pass over. Justice is satisfied. The laws
demands have been fulfilled. My, what a Savior we have. And
the death, the death our Savior died was a bloody death. It was
a bloody death because without, without blood there could be
no remission for sin. The doorposts of our souls have
been sprinkled with the blood of Christ, and now we believe
and trust and rest in Christ alone, believing that He is willing
and able to save our souls and to keep us and to one day present
us to the Father, blameless, clothed in His perfect, spotless
righteousness. And think on this, you who are
redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, Again, the justice
of God, the curse of the law, the divine threatenings, the
divine executioners, the avengers of blood have nothing to do with
the believer in Christ. As His blood atones and pacifies,
satisfies them all in the place of His people. And this is mercy
beyond words, beloved. Mercy beyond words. This is a
place for the believer to dwell. A place for us to dwell, just
to rest in the finished work of Christ and what He's done
for us. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
32, verse 1 and 2. This is a place for the believer
to dwell amidst all the storms of this life, because it is Christ
in Him alone who is our hiding place. It is Christ in Him alone
who died and was sacrificed for our sins. And He is a hiding
place, beloved. He is a hiding place. Isaiah 32 verses 1 and 2. Behold, a king shall reign in
righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man,
that's Christ, shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert
from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as a shadow
of a great rock in a weary land. That's our King. That's our King. So who was sacrificed for us? For even Christ, our Passover,
is sacrificed for us. Exodus 12, 12. Again, it says this, 12 and 13. For I will pass through the land
of Egypt this night. And look at this, think on this.
The blood of the Passover lamb was not for the Egyptians. It was not for the Egyptians,
beloved, but it was for God's people. It was for God's people. Exodus 12 and 13, look at this. 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 upon the houses where ye are. And when
I see the blood, I'll pass over you and the plague shall not
be upon you to destroy you. When I smite the land of Egypt,
turn, if you would, to John chapter 10. Oh, what a picture. What a picture of Christ dying
for his sheep, his elect and beloved on the Calvary's cross.
The Lord Jesus Christ redeemed his people. He died for his people. It was a specific atonement and
he atoned for the sins of his people. He laid down His life. Now religion tells you He laid
down His life for everyone. That's a lie. That's a total
lie. Because if He did that, everybody would be saved. But
Scripture plainly declares here, and we who are the children of
God, oh, let us rejoice as we read this Scripture. John 10,
14 and 15. I am the good shepherd and know
my sheep. He's the good shepherd. He watches
over His sheep. And look, He says, I know them.
Now think of that. He knew us far before we knew
Him. All the days of our rebellion,
all the days of our shaking our fists at God, and yet His eye
is upon His sheep, His people. Remember what He said about Samaria?
I must need to go to Samaria. Why? Because there's some sheep
over there. And it's their appointed time for me to reveal myself
to them. And He does it to His people.
When God's appointed time, He reveals Himself to His people.
Look at this, so I am the good shepherd and know my sheep. And
I'm no one of mine, he he gives us the knowledge he reveals himself
to us, otherwise we'd never know him. But. But his people know
him. Oh, my. As the father knoweth
me, look at that. So he knows I know my sheep and
I'm no one of mine as the father knoweth me. Even so, no, I, the
father and I lay down, look at this, my life for who? The sheep, just the same as in
Exodus, that night, that night, right? That blood, that blood
covered the lentils in the doorposts of the Israelites, God's people.
What a picture of His elect, right? And God passed by. And the only difference between
them and the Egyptians was the blood. They were his people. But that
blood, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. What's the
only difference? Brother Roy and I are talking
about this before service tonight. What's the only difference between
all of us here who believe in our family members and friends?
The grace of God in Christ. That's it. That's it. It's amazing. And it leaves us
in absolute awe. Absolutely. But note this scripture
here. These are the words of the master.
I lay down my life. Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed
for us. For who? For the sheep. And that's
what Paul's writing. Remember, Paul's writing to believers. I lay down my life for the sheep.
Think of this. There is sheep by his making. and His elect are His sheep.
By His purchase, by His purchase, He bought us, beloved. He bought
us with His own precious blood. And Scripture declares in 1 Corinthians
5, that He was sacrificed for us. 1 Corinthians 5, 7. For even Christ, our Passover,
is sacrificed for us. I lay down my life for the sheep. For the sheep. And we don't know
who God's sheep are. Therefore, we preach the gospel
to all. And God does the same. He does the same. He's the only
one who can save your soul. Think of this. Before the world
began, God chose a people for himself whom he determined to
save. And these are the ones whom Christ
is sacrificed for. Every one of those elect sinners
will, in God's time and by God's power, right? Because it's only
by His power, be bought to Christ in saving faith. They will be
regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God. And they will be given
the gifts of faith and repentance to trust and believe and rest
in Christ Jesus in Him alone. In Him alone. And then after
the Lord saves us, He keeps us. And after He keeps us, He glorifies
us. Oh my beloved. Turn over to Acts
chapter 8. Acts chapter 8. We have an example. We have an example of one who
is regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God and given the gifts of
faith. The gift of faith to trust and believe and rest in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Look at this in Acts chapter
8. And the angel of the Lord, verse
26, Acts 8, 26. We'll read the 39. And the angel
of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go into the
south, unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza,
which is a desert. And he arose, and went, and behold,
a man of Ethiopia, and eunuch of great authority, under Candace,
queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure,
and had come to Jerusalem for to worship. was returning and
sitting in his chariot, read Isaiah the prophet. Then the
Spirit said unto Philip, Go near and join thyself to this chariot.
So this man's riding in his chariot and he's reading the book of
Isaiah. And Philip ran thither to him
and heard him read the prophet Isaiah and said, Understandest
thou what thou readest? And he said, how can I except
some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he
would come up and sit with him. Now, Philip's a gospel preacher. The place of the scripture which
he read was this. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. He's reading Isaiah 53. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter,
and like a lamb done before his shears, so opened he not his
mouth. In his humiliation, his judgment
was taken away. And who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken from the
earth. And the eunuch answered Philip and said, I pray thee,
of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself or of some other
man? Look at this. Look at verse 35.
This is what gospel preachers do. Then Philip opened his mouth
and began at the same scripture and preached unto him. Jesus. Anybody who says Christ isn't
all through the Old Testament, they don't know what the scriptures
say. Because that's all Peter had. That's all Paul had. Our master preached out of the
Old Testament. The scripture was not complete
at this time. They're preaching Christ from the Old Testament.
He preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way,
they came unto a certain water. And Enoch said, See, here is
water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said,
If thou believest... Now this man's regenerated by
the power of the Holy Spirit. Because look what he... If thou
believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered
and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And
he commanded the chariot to stand still. And they went down both
into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
You must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. God had granted this man faith. Faith in Christ Jesus. And it's
obvious there's no works involved. He disbelieved. I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. That's the believer's cry. I
believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Do you believe? Do you believe? Oh, rejoice if
you do. Oh, rejoice. And he commanded
the chariot to stand still, and they went down both into the
water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when
they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught
away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more. But look at
this. but went on his way rejoicing. Oh, rejoicing. Rejoicing in the
Passover lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who was sacrificed
for us. Now, our Lord did not die to
be an example, as some say. for us to fall, beloved, but
he died to save his people from their sins, to save sinners,
to save sinners by birth, nature, and choice, to save them from
their sins and praise his holy name. He did it. He did it. Do you know we're all Isaacs?
And he's the ram. We're all Isaacs and he's the
ram. He's our substitute. what love
Christ has for His people. He was sacrificed for us, the
perfect, spotless Lamb of God. So let these precious truths
sink into our souls. Let these precious truths sink
into our souls. Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed
for us. God's wrath passes over from
His people who deserve it, and His full vengeance and justice
falls upon Christ, the sinner's substitute, who is sacrificed
for us. Sacrificed for us. This is a bottomless sea of mercy,
beloved. This is mercy that you could
never get to the bottom of it. He gave himself for his people. And no new victim is expected
or required. I'll give you something to chew
on. In religion they're always talking
about rebuilding the temple in Israel. And supposedly starting all the
sacrifices again. That would be an abomination
in God's eyes. That would be an absolute abomination
in God's eyes because Christ, our Passover, sacrificed for
us. There's no need for any more
sacrifices. None at all. Oh, what a God we
have. What a savior we have. Let others
offer what they will. Ours is the lamb once slain,
and there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. And what a completeness. What a completeness we have before
us. And let us close with the words
of Paul. O believer, let this sink into
your soul. Meditate upon it this week. And
ye are complete in Him. and ye are complete in Him. Praise His mighty name, beloved. Gracious Heavenly Father, oh,
we come before Your throne, we who have been redeemed by the
precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that as we read
the scriptures, when I see the blood, when you said, I see the
blood, I'll pass over you, knowing that the only reason you pass
over our sins is because you see the blood and righteousness
of Christ. the blood of Christ sprinkled
upon our souls. We are undeserving sinners, but
we stand in awe at your mercy that's been shown to us. Oh,
Lord, may we rejoice this week. We who believe, may we rejoice
that Christ, our Passover, sacrificed for us, the sinless one dying
for sinners. Oh, Lord, may this leave us in
awe. We love you because you first love us. In Jesus' name,
amen.