The Destroyer Barred Access by Blood

Q: What does the Bible say about the significance of the Passover?

The Passover signifies God's provision for salvation through the sacrificial lamb, pointing to Christ as our ultimate sacrifice. The Passover, as instituted in Exodus, represents God's deliverance of His people from judgment and bondage. Each household was to select a spotless lamb, sacrifice it, and apply its blood to their doorposts. This act signified God's judgment passing over those households, which is a clear foreshadowing of Christ, our Passover, who was sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7). The blood of the lamb protected them from death, just as the blood of Christ protects believers from eternal condemnation.

Q: How do we know that Christ is our Passover lamb?

Christ is identified as our Passover lamb through His sacrificial death, fulfilling the Old Testament types and shadows. Throughout Scripture, the lamb is a consistent symbol of sacrifice for sin. In Exodus, the Passover lamb’s blood served as a protection against death, culminating in the full revelation of Christ as the ultimate lamb (John 1:29). The Apostle Paul explicitly states, 'For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us' (1 Corinthians 5:7), indicating that His death satisfies the requirements of divine justice for the sins of His people. In this way, He fulfills the Passover typology, making Him the definitive lamb that rescues from wrath.

Q: Why is the concept of justification important for Christians?

Justification is vital as it declares believers righteous before God based on faith in Christ, not on works. Justification is a foundational doctrine in Christian theology, emphasizing that believers are declared righteous by God through faith alone in Jesus Christ. This reflects the core of the gospel – that Christ took upon Himself the sins of His people, satisfying divine justice (Romans 5:1). Thus, through faith, we receive Christ’s righteousness, not our own, making justification a gracious act of God that assures us of our acceptance as His children, freeing us from condemnation (Romans 8:1). This understanding enhances the believer's assurance and motivates holy living.

Q: What does the difference between the Egyptians and Israel signify?

The difference highlights God's sovereign choice and grace towards His people, illustrating the concept of election. The distinction made by God between Egypt and Israel (Exodus 11:7) symbolizes His sovereign election and grace towards a particular people whom He has set apart for Himself. This difference is pivotal in understanding God's redemptive purposes, as it illustrates that salvation is not by human merit but through God's grace alone. Those in Israel, while still sinners, were covered by the blood of the lamb, indicating that their salvation ultimately depended on God’s mercy rather than their own works. This teaches us about the nature of salvation and the assurance it brings to those who are God's chosen people.

Q: How does the blood of the lamb protect believers?

The blood of the lamb protects believers by satisfying God's justice and covering their sins. The blood of the lamb is pivotal in the Passover narrative, signifying protection from divine judgment. As expressed in Exodus 12:13, God promised to pass over the households marked by the blood, sparing them from death. This concept is deeply tied to the work of Christ, whose sacrificial death serves as the ultimate substitute for believers. When God sees the blood of Christ applied to a believer's life through faith, He does not see their sins but rather the righteousness of Christ (Romans 3:25). This divine assurance gives believers confidence that they are shielded from the condemnation they justly deserve.

Q: What does it mean that Christ's sacrifice is once for all?

Christ's sacrifice is once for all, meaning it is sufficient and effective for the redemption of all His people. The phrase 'once for all' highlights the totality and sufficiency of Christ's atoning work. Unlike the annual sacrifices of the Old Testament, which had to be repeated, Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is final and effective for the redemption of His people (Hebrews 10:14). This underscores the complete nature of His atonement, which not only saves but also perfectly sanctifies those He has set apart for Himself. This doctrine provides profound security for believers, affirming that their sins are fully atoned for in Christ and that they have been perfected forever in His view.

Well, we come back to Exodus again, continuing this series, and this week we're looking at the institution of the Passover, the final plague upon Egypt. I've called this message, The Destroyer Barred Access by Blood. The Destroyer Barred Access by Blood.

We live in a world of sin. We're living in a time, I am very strongly persuaded, that we're living in what is called in Revelation 20, Satan's little season. You see, he deceived the Old Testament nations with unbelief of God and the great empires rose up and none of them knew God apart from that one little country, little Israel, the descendants of Abraham. And then when Christ died, he was bound for a symbolical thousand years, turned out to be nearer to 2,000 years in literal terms, but he was bound where he deceived the nations no more. And it's true, isn't it, that throughout that time, We don't know exactly what things were like, but there was not unbelief on the scale that there is today. You look, it's hard, very hard, anywhere, to find anybody that believes the truth of God.

But it says in Revelation that towards the end of time, When Christ comes again, Satan will be released from his captivity to deceive the nations once more. And that's the world of sin and unbelief that we're living in. It's a world which is under condemnation, just condemnation from God who is holy, who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. And people live as if this world that we look around on today, that everything that they need for a fulfilled and happy life is here.

Oh, how short-sighted. How incredibly short-sighted that is. Do you not know how fragile it is? How soon it will end in a blink of an eye as you get older? If you're anything like me, you're constantly amazed. You think back. You think back what seemed like only yesterday, and it was 20, 25, 50 years ago. Time just goes. We're a vapor. It's here today and gone tomorrow. We flower like the flowers in the gardens in July in England. And then, in no time, they're gone, and they're faded, and they're dead.

This perfect creation, as God created it, he said, he created all the things and God looked and he saw that they were good, but it's marred by sin. And we see it all around. Look at the conflict that there is in this world, the wars that there are all around, always wars, always conflict. Look at the economic fragility of this world. Look at the wide polarization between the stupendously rich and the incredibly impoverished. and how the economics of this world, what we see is the tiny tip of an enormous great iceberg of fragile economics, which are all going to come crashing down in the purposes of God, because of the sin of this world. We look at our own bodies of physical frailty, and we grow older, and just by virtue of old age, we become frail. But by virtue of illness, sicknesses, diseases, people become ill.

And then, what's the end of it all? For the very best of us, what's the end of it all? It's death. It's death. And all the while, the environment of this world in which we live is deteriorating gradually, but we know from God's Word that deterioration is going to accelerate rapidly. towards the very end. This world is going to be uninhabitable as a place for comfortable life. Here we have, as the scripture says, believers say, here we have no continuing city. All you need for life and happiness here? No, here we have no continuing city. But here's the message of God.

Out of all humanity, out of all humanity, God separated a people. He chose a multitude whom he would qualify to be the citizens of his paradise. He loved this people before the beginning of time. He chose them in the Lord Jesus Christ and united them with him. He covenanted in the persons, the three persons of the one Godhead to redeem them from the law's curse, from the curse of sin, to buy them, to pay their price. He undertook, God the Holy Spirit undertook to quicken them, to make them alive with the life of God, the spiritual life, to give them faith and to keep them all the way on the road that they have in this world to eternal glory.

That's the Bible's message and it's pictured throughout the Bible, but it's pictured here in Exodus. In Exodus, We see Israel, the descendants of Abraham. 400 years and more after the time of Abraham, they're in Egypt, exactly as God told Abraham they would be. I forget which chapter of Genesis, about chapter 15 or thereabouts. In cruel bondage, the people have become a nation. Seventy souls that went down with Jacob have become a great nation in 400 years, but they're in cruel bondage of the Egyptians, which represents the world. But God hadn't forgotten them.

Look back at Exodus chapter 3 and verses 7 and 8. Exodus chapter 3, verses 7 and 8. The Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land into a good land, and a large, into a land flowing with milk and honey, and into the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Look in chapter 6, in chapter 6 and verses, let me see, 3, 3 to 8, there He appeared, God says, I appeared to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob by the name of God Almighty.

And by my name, Jehovah, was I not known to them. And I have also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage. And I have remembered my covenant. Wherefore say to the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm and with great judgments.

You see, God hadn't forgotten, and he intervened. He intervened miraculously. in history, with signs, with great power, divine power, to give assurance that he was God on the throne, and to implement justice on those that rebelled against him. And he gave ten plagues, ten plagues, a complete number of plagues, like the complete number of commandments. He gave ten plagues, which were judgments on Egypt and on Pharaoh. And some of those judgments actually afflicted Israel as well. Do you know why? because those Israelites, though living in cruel bondage, they were themselves fallen into the errors of the Egyptians.

Let me just read you something from Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 20 and verse six. In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands, then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord your God, but they rebelled against me and would not hearken unto me.

And they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. And then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. You see, although he had a people there, this people of Israel, nevertheless, they were subjected to some of the plagues. Not all of them, but they were subjected to some of the plagues. God said that he would turn the things that the Egyptians and the the wayward Israelites, he would turn their idols into curses.

The Egyptians idolized the River Nile. It was their god. It was that which brought them life, the water of life. And he cursed it into the blood of death. They idolized frogs, which they saw symbolizing a sort of a spontaneous generation of life. This is where their life came from, frogs.

So he cursed them with frogs in everything. The dust of the ground in which their crops grew, he cursed it and it became lice crawling on their bodies. He gave them swarms, it says. It doesn't actually say flies, flies is in italics, but it means swarms of insects. to afflict them.

He destroyed their agricultural economy by giving a disease upon all the cattle, a disease that killed their cattle. There was a furnace, it would appear, where they sacrificed children to their idolatrous gods. And one of the plagues was for Moses to take the ashes of that furnace and scatter it in the air and it became boils on all the Egyptians, painful, excruciating boils on them. The rain which normally would fall from heaven, though not very much in Egypt, but the rain that would normally fall from heaven, bringing life to the crops, came down as killing. deadly hail, enormous great hailstones. He sent locusts into them to strip the land of all of its vegetation.

And then he cast upon them that which their souls desired, which was the darkness of life without the true God. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light, says Isaiah. But man by nature is in darkness. There was darkness over all the earth when Jesus died on the cross in those three hours, a great darkness. He afflicted them with darkness so that they could not see one another.

And finally, the final plague, the tenth plague, was the plague of death upon the firstborn of the land. Why? because the wages of sin is death. Romans chapter 6. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. So then, the death of the firstborn. What's the significance of it being the death of the firstborn? Well, there are various scriptures that tell us, but I'll read just one. Psalm 78 and verse 51. God smote all the firstborn in Egypt. What was the firstborn?

It was the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham. Ham was that son of Noah, one of the three sons of Noah, and he was the one that clearly had no interest in the gospel of God. Even though he'd been saved from the flood by the ark, he had no interest in the gospel of God. And from him, the unbelieving nations of the world came. the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham.

It symbolized Egypt's strength, the firstborn. It symbolized Pharaoh's strength. He was the king of this nation which represented the world. it mirrors Satan's strength in this fallen world. But you know, whilst the firstborn symbolizes the strength of Satan who has this world in his clutches, did you know that God has his firstborn? God has his firstborn.

Turn back to Exodus chapter 4. Exodus chapter 4, let me show you a verse there. We read it a few weeks ago, but Exodus chapter 4, and verses 22 and 23. Exodus 4, this is God telling Moses what to say to Pharaoh. And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn.

And I say unto thee, let my son go, that he may serve me. And if thou refuse to let him go, Behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn. See, it's right back there. That God told Moses to tell Pharaoh, his people were his firstborn. If you don't let them go, I'm gonna kill your firstborn. Release them, Pharaoh, or I will slay all the firstborn of your land. But who is this Israel of God that is his firstborn? Who is it?

Well, you notice I said it that way round. the Israel of God. The Israel of God we know now because of New Testament light. We know from Paul's epistle to the Galatians, Galatians 6, 16. The Israel of God is the people of God throughout all generations. In Galatians chapter 3, look, if there's any doubt, you see, the world of politics around us today, so much revolves around conflicts between Arabs and Jews in the Middle East, Palestine and Israel.

It revolves all around that. Do you know... Whilst the significance of it goes on, there is zero spiritual significance to it, other than the fact that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But if you want to know who are the people of God, who are the true people of God, you see, so many people that call themselves Christians, especially in North America, think that the true people of God is that nation of Israel in the Middle East. And that's why so much military help goes towards that.

But look, Look at the scriptures. Galatians 3 verse 7, Know ye therefore that they which are of faith the same are the children of Abraham. If you've got the same faith of Abraham in the Lamb of God, which he showed to Abraham, then you are a child of Abraham. You are a member of that Israel of God. Look in Galatians 3 verse 28. There is neither Jew nor Greek. Right? Well, there is, isn't there? People are saying, oh, there is. Look, look, look at them in the Middle East. No, there is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither bond nor free. There is neither male nor female.

As far as the salvation of God is concerned, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ's, Then are ye Abraham's seed. You're members of the Israel of God and heirs according to the promise. And so he ends his epistle in verse 16 of chapter six.

As many as walk according to this rule, peace beyond them and mercy and upon the Israel of God. The Israel of God is the people chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. They're pictured in the Old Testament by Israel the nation, the sons of Jacob, Jacob was Israel. Jacob was the cheat, was the scoundrel, was the deceiver. But Jacob was made Israel, which is a prince with God.

And when John, the apostle, sees in that vision in Revelation, in chapter 7 of Revelation, the tribes are counted out, but then in verse 9, he sees an innumerable multitude. an innumerable multitude, and it's multi-ethnic. There's a verse I pointed out to you some time ago, but I'll remind you. It's in Isaiah. It's chapter 19, and it's verse 25. Who are the people of God? People would say Israel. That's the people of God. Listen to this. Isaiah 29, verse 25. This is God speaking. Blessed be Egypt, my people. What? Shock. What did he say?

Blessed be Egypt, my people, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel, mine inheritance. You see, every tribe and tongue and kindred is a member of that Israel of God, because they were all elect from before the beginning of time. As Paul writes to the Ephesians, just as he chose us, in Christ before the foundation of the world. We're saved and called with a holy calling, not according to our works, he says to Timothy, but according to his grace and his purpose, which he gave us in Christ. When? When I decided to choose him? No, before the beginning of time.

But now, We live, if we're amongst those people, if we're in that Israel of God, we live by nature and by birth as sinners, as idolaters, like Israel captive in Egypt, captive to Satan's delusion of godlessness. It says that in 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 26, that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by him at his will. By nature, we're captives of Satan. We're taken captive by the delusion of Satan. Israel in Egypt had become captives to Satan's delusion and the idols of Egypt and the idols of their godlessness.

You know, there was, He still exists, but Richard Dawkins was Professor of Godlessness at Oxford University. I can't put it any nicer than that. He was Professor of Unbelief at Oxford University, and he wrote a book called The God Delusion, and it was advertised on London buses. The delusion that you need to be aware of is Satan's delusion of godlessness.

He's the one that keeps this world in slavery to himself, Well, what makes the difference then between the world of Egypt and the Israel of God? Verse 7 of Exodus 11, Stephen read it to us earlier. Verse 7, that you may know, second half of it, that you may know that the Lord does put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.

What makes the difference for you and me? Is it down to me accepting God's universal offer of eternal life? Does the success of God's kingdom, seen by John in Revelation 7, that kingdom, they're all there, does it depend on the decision of people to choose? The onus is not on you or me to decide, the onus is on us to ask God to show us that we're among the Israel of God, from eternity to eternity. to come to Him, believing, to come to Him, repenting of our sin.

Do you know something? You say, well, what if I'm not amongst His elect? He's promised that you can only come if you're amongst His elect, that He'll draw you, He'll make you willing in the day of His power, and He's promised that He will not turn you away. He said, In John chapter 6, no one can come to me except the Father draws him. But he that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Your citizenship of God's Israel is manifest by your belief of God's gospel. I'll say that again. Your citizenship of God's Israel is made known by your belief of God's gospel.

There were some scowling Pharisees criticizing the Lord Jesus in John chapter 10, and they didn't believe on him. And he said this, you believe not because you are not of my sheep. He didn't say to them, you're not of my sheep because you haven't yet believed. He said, you believe not because you are not of my sheep. Should I put it a bit more bluntly, and yet still scripturally, you believe not because your names were not written in the Lamb's book of life from before the beginning of time.

Okay, but why would God kill all the firstborn in Egypt? Answer, the soul that sins, it shall die. Egypt, as with all the world, had sinned by godless idolatry, but so had Israel. We read it in Ezekiel before. They were defiled with the idols of Egypt, and all of we are by nature.

And even so, the best of men are are vile in the eyes of God. As Job said, Job, the one who had this testimony from God himself to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him in all the earth. He is the most upright man of all in the earth. And when Job really sees what he's like before a holy God, in Job 40 and verse 4, all he can say is this, I am vile. What opinion do you have of yourself? of your prowess, of your goodness, of your worth. If God really teaches you, you'll agree with Job, I am vile.

All have sinned, says Romans 3.23. All have sinned. All the people that God chose and saves, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It's all, including the beloved Israel of God. All deserve eternal separation from God, which is hell.

But God says, I will have my Israel released from Satan's captivity. I will have my Israel released, so Pharaoh, release my firstborn, or I will slay your son, your firstborn. And I'm going to do it tonight, in chapter 12 of Exodus. I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, I will pass through.

And all the firstborn will come under the execution of just judgment. That which is reserved for the day of judgment, finally, will fall tonight. on all the firstborn in the land of Egypt is what was said to Pharaoh, including Israel as well, including the firstborn of all the Israelites. Did you realize that? That judgment was not just on the Egyptians, it was all in the land of Egypt, including Israel.

But God had made a difference. The Israel of God has a lamb, symbolized then by lots of lambs, a lamb for each household. How would the judgment of God not fall on Israel? How would the destroyer be barred access to the houses of the Israel by blood? How would it happen? It must fall. That judgment must fall on a fitting substitute. Fall it must, either on you yourself or on the one who is your substitute. So the Exodus Passover. In chapter 11, verses 4 to 9, we read this.

Moses said, thus saith the Lord, about midnight, I will go out. He's saying this to the people of Israel. I will 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, and all the firstborn of the beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be any more. but against the children of Israel, not a dog shall move his tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a difference, puts a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. And all these thy servants shall come down to me and bow down thyselves to me, saying, get thee out and let the people that follow thee, let all the people that follow thee. And after that I will go out.

And he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger. And the Lord said to Moses, even so, Pharaoh is not going to listen to you. that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. Moses told Pharaoh of this final plague, now prepare Israel. So now he goes, sorry, he speaks to the Israelites in chapter 12, and in verses 3 to 13, which we won't read again for the sake of time, but he tells them, each and every house, take A lamb, either from the goats or from the sheep, but it's got to be a male of the first year, a one-year-old male. And it's got to be examined for 14 days. It's got to be without blemish. It's got to be perfect, because it's got to picture the Lamb of God, who is God, come in the flesh, sinless, perfect.

And then in verse 6, you shall keep it till the 14th day, and then you'll kill it. in the evening. Each house you shall kill your lamb in the evening and you shall take of its blood and you'll paint it on the doorposts and on the lintel above the door.

You don't paint it on the floor of the doorway. Why not? Because the blood of the lamb must not be trampled underfoot. The blood of the lamb mustn't be trampled there. And what will you do with it? You'll butcher it and you will roast it with fire. Roast it. You won't boil it. You'll roast it with fire because that speaks of the holy anger of God against sin. And all of you, each of you, individually, must eat of it. All of you must eat of it. You must eat. He that doesn't eat of my flesh, said the Lord Jesus Christ, has no part with me. You must eat of it, all of you.

And you must stay in the house because if you venture out through the door, the slaying angel, the destroyer, will kill you. None of you will escape. Verse 12, none of you will escape. except those covered by the blood. Look at verse 12. 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 my judgment. All of it. None will escape. It will be by the lamb's blood. You see verse 13. The blood of the lamb, the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are.

And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. and the plague shall not be upon you. God says, Not, when I see your faith. He doesn't say, when I see your good works. He says, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, you will escape the condemnation which is your due as sinners.

In verse 23, it's repeated. The Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians. And when he seeth the blood upon the lintel and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not, suffer the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you. You see, that's what bars the destroyer access to the houses of Israel, is the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and the lintel.

That's what does it. Verse 29, 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 the throne to the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 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 and Aaron by night and said, rise up and get you forth from among my people. both ye and the children of Israel and go and serve the Lord as you have said and take your flocks and your herds and be gone and bless me also what does it mean what does it mean what does it mean he says in verse 26 You must remember this, you must keep it as a feast, because in years to come your children will say unto you, what mean ye by this Passover feast?

What does it mean? Is it just a Jewish Passover feast? Is it just a Jewish ceremony? You know, even now, Those that call themselves Jews celebrate it every year, Easter time. They celebrate it yearly, but they completely miss the reality that it pointed to.

Because what does Jesus say about these scriptures? These are they which speak of me. These scriptures concern him. What does it point to? It points to Christ, our Passover. 1 Corinthians chapter 5. 1 Corinthians chapter 5, verses 7 and 8. Purge out, Paul, writing to the Corinthians, 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. Let us therefore keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. How is Christ the Passover of his people? How is Christ the Passover for his people. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Christians, believers in this day in which we live today, Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

We're all under the curse of sin. We're all under just condemnation. We're all destined to die and to go to a godless hell. Unless someone pays our debt, unless someone pays the ransom to release us from that situation, we're all destined to die and go to hell. Almighty God says he's the husband of his people, united with them in Christ the Son. Christ the Son is our Jehovah Jesus.

In the covenant of grace, he undertook to legally represent all of his people. He undertook to be made the sin that would condemn them, that that sin would be transferred to him. He undertook to bear that sin in his own body on the cursed tree, as Peter tells us. He undertook to pay its legal debt to divine justice, that it might be paid for, that the law might be satisfied, that that which requires death has been done, for he has died in the place of his people. He undertook that having done that, he would make them the righteousness that God requires.

He is that lamb to which all the animal lambs in the history of the Bible pointed. From Abel's lamb right at the beginning, you know, Abel brought a lamb and Cain brought the works of his hands. But Abel was accepted because he brought a lamb, because that's what God had told them when he guarded the way to the tree of life. There's only one way to come, and that's with the lamb, with the blood of the lamb. From Abel's lamb to Isaac's lamb.

You know, Abraham was told to go and sacrifice Isaac, his son, on the mountain, which I'm sure was the same mountain where Calvary ended up being. And he said to his father, we've got the wood, we've got the fire, where is the lamb for a sacrifice? And Abraham says to him, God will provide himself a lamb for a sacrifice. And as he's about to kill Isaac, his son, in obedience to God, the angel of the Lord says, hold back your hand, don't do it, don't do it, there is a lamb in the thicket. There was a ram caught in a thorn bush next to them. is the substitute for Isaac. So that lamb symbolized this Lamb of God. And all the lambs down the ages, to these Passover lambs in the land of Egypt, they all pointed to Him.

He is the Lamb, as it says in Revelation 8 and verse 13. He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, in the justice of God, to accomplish the salvation of His people. He is the lion of the tribe of Judah, who alone is able to implement God's kingdom plan and take his people there. But how does he do it? Not appearing as a lion in his strength, but as appearing, as we saw in Revelation chapter 5, as a lamb slain, as it had been slain in the midst of the throne.

The Lamb of God walked this earth, and John the Baptist, when Jesus started his ministry, And John's there with two of his disciples, and he says to them, look, behold, the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. Not the sin of the world without exception, but the sin of the world of his people, of every tribe and tongue and kindred. He is the sin-bearing substitute who bled to death so that divine justice was satisfied for the sins of his people. And he is able to release guilty sinners like you and me, if you're amongst them.

And so, again, referring back to Job, the oldest book in the Bible, we think, in chapter 33 and verse 24, Job gives us there the words which God is able to say because redemption has been accomplished. God says concerning the sinner about to go down to the pit of eternal hell, he says, deliver him from going down to the pit. Why? Why can you deliver him? Does your justice not demand that he go down to the pit? Deliver him from going down to the pit. I have found a ransom. I have found a ransom that pays for him to be released.

And when the slaying destroyer, back in Exodus, back in Exodus chapter 12, the slaying destroyer, let's turn to it in chapter 12. When the slaying destroyer comes through the land, verse 23 of Exodus 12, I will pass through the land to smite the Egyptians.

And when he seeth the blood on the lintel and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses. to smite you, when he saw the fact that, yes, in every house, including the Israelites, that night, there was death. There was death. Where there wasn't the death of a firstborn, the son of Pharaoh and all the Egyptians, in the Israelites' houses, there was the death of the Lamb who was the substitute. When he saw that Lamb's blood, he was satisfied that justice had already been satisfied in the death of the Lamb for the sins of the people inside. Old Testament Israel was to keep it annually until it was fulfilled, but now we look back. Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed, not was, is sacrificed for us. It's as valid today as it was 2,000 years ago when he died. For it says in Hebrews 10, 14, by one offering he has perfected forever them he has sanctified, those he has set apart.

Did you hear that? Does religion hear that? That which calls itself Christian, does it hear this? That by one offering, he, our Lord Jesus Christ, God in human flesh, the Lamb of God, he has perfected, made perfect forever, them he has set apart. So now we don't keep the picture, the type, in an annual Passover feast, looking forward to what might come because we know it was fulfilled successfully, triumphantly for us. once. It was done once. God's chosen people alone he had promised to redeem.

You shall call his name Jesus, said the angel to Joseph, the betrothed husband of Mary. You shall call his name Jesus. You shall call his name Joshua. You shall call his name God saves. Joshua, for he shall save... Who? his people from their sins. His people is the Israel of God. His people is the elect of God from every tribe and tongue and kindred. Who was it that he redeemed? For his church. He loved his church and gave himself for it, Ephesians 5, 25 to 27. He loved his church and gave himself for it, that he might present it to himself, a perfect, spotless bride for his kingdom. It's his sheep who he has redeemed. He laid down his life, he says, for the sheep. I lay down, it couldn't be clearer, could it? I lay down my life for the sheep.

Therefore, 1 Corinthians 5 verse 8, therefore, let us keep the feast. At the last true Passover feast, which was the one on the night in which Jesus was betrayed in Jerusalem, that was the last Passover feast, truly, the Lord instituted there communion remembrance in unleavened bread.

Why unleavened bread? Because leaven speaks of sin, corrupting, spreading sin. But the bread was to be unleavened. It was to be without corruption. Unleavened bread to speak of his perfect spotless body. That body that was examined with the lamb's 14 days but with Christ throughout his 33 years.

That perfect body. and in wine, wine which speaks of blood, which speaks of the price of sin. That's the feast we keep by faith as we spiritually, spiritually, I stress spiritually, eat his flesh and drink his blood. How do we do it? Discerning that his broken body and his shed blood satisfied divine justice for us. If that broken body and that shed blood of which these symbols, bread, unleavened bread and wine, are just symbols, just remembrance tokens, reminders, physical things that remind us, if that broken body and shed blood satisfied divine justice for us, what's the result?

Romans 8 verse 1, there is therefore now No condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Oh, do you know, justly, as sinners, we deserve condemnation. And it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. For our God is a consuming fire. But if that precious blood of the Lamb, without blemish and without spot, was shed on Calvary, pay my sin debt, I have full assurance of faith that I am accepted in the beloved Son of God.

And I rest in that. I rest contented. Whatever my state, whatever my condition of health, whatever my condition of prosperity or poverty, whatever it is, I rest I sabbath in that fact, knowing, as Paul says, I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him. What's that? That's the state of my immortal soul, to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day of judgment, and to know that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

The Destroyer Barred Access by Blood

What does the Bible say about the significance of the Passover?

How do we know that Christ is our Passover lamb?

Why is the concept of justification important for Christians?

What does the difference between the Egyptians and Israel signify?

How does the blood of the lamb protect believers?

What does it mean that Christ's sacrifice is once for all?

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