Let's open our Bibles together
to Psalm 105. While you're turning there, I
had a chance to talk to our pastor yesterday morning and making some progress. He said
that the therapist was able to get him laying flat on the table. So for the first time in a long
time, he was completely straightened out. And he said it was kind
of short-lived, but he said he was encouraged by the fact that
they could get him straightened out. But he sends his love to
the congregation. It was his desire to be here
this evening. Just the trip and the movement,
it's a lot. So as the Lord lays it on your
heart, let's continue to keep Frank and Janet in our prayers.
And, you know, if a phone call or a card, just any kind of encouragement,
I think he would really appreciate, really enjoy right now. Psalm
105. O give thanks unto the Lord.
Call upon his name. Make known his deeds among the
people. Sing unto him. Sing psalms unto
him. Talk ye of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name. Let the heart of them rejoice
that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord. and his strength. Seek his face forevermore. Remember his marvelous works
that he had done, his wonders and the judgments of his mouth.
O ye seed of Abraham, his servant, ye children of Jacob, his chosen. He is the Lord our God. His judgments
are in all the earth. He hath remembered his covenant
forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations." We'll
end our reading there. Let's go to our Lord in prayer. Our God and Father in heaven,
we thank you for this day or for this opportunity to once
again gather together Lord, to worship Thee. Lord, to hear more
of our Savior. Lord, bless us with your presence
here this morning. Lord, cause our hearts to rejoice
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, grant it that we might
know Him and rest in Him alone. Lord, we thank you for your grace,
for your mercy, for your goodness. Lord, we thank thee that thou
art sovereign in all things. Lord, cause us to bow to thee
and rest in thee. Lord, for those of our number
who are in a time of trouble and difficulty, Lord, we pray
you'd comfort and strengthen your people. Lord, encourage us through Thy
Word, we pray Thee. Lord, we pray especially for
our pastor, Lord, that you might be pleased to heal his body. Lord, return him here to us to
once again proclaim the truth of Thy Word. And Lord, all those
people, Lord, who are in a time of difficulty, Lord, those who
grieve, those with heavy hearts, Lord, you know the burdens of
your people. Strengthen them, Lord. Cause
us always to rest in thee. Again, we thank you for this
day. We pray again that you would be pleased to be among your people
here this morning and in all places where thy gospel is preached. Bless the preaching. in hearing
of Thy Word. This we ask in Christ's name,
amen. What a fellowship, what a joy
divine Leaning on the everlasting arms What a blessedness, what
a peace is mine Leaning on the everlasting arms Leaning, leaning
Safe and secure from all alarms Leaning, leaning Leaning on the
edge In this pilgrim way Leaning on
the everlasting arms Oh, how bright the path grows from day
to day Leaning on the everlasting arms Leaning, leaning Safe and
secure from all alarms Leaning, leaning Leaning on the everlasting
arms What have I to dread? What have I to fear? Leaning on the everlasting arms,
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near. Leaning on the
everlasting arms, leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all Let's open our Bibles to Exodus chapter
12. Exodus 12, verse 14. And this day shall be unto you
for a memorial. And you shall keep it a feast
to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it a feast by
an ordinance forever. Now, the word memorial in this
verse of Scripture, it means a reminder. It means remembrance,
to call something to remembrance. Every year, the last Monday of
May, we observe Memorial Day. You know, we enjoy picnics and
parades and family gatherings on that particular day. But the true purpose of it is
to recognize and to honor those soldiers that have died serving
our country. We remember those. who served,
again, specifically those who have died fighting to defend
the freedoms we enjoy and the freedoms we often take for granted. I'm thankful. I'm thankful we
have a day of remembrance. I think that's very important. But then I often think, why do
we need to have a day? of remembrance. Why don't we
just do that all the time? Shouldn't that? That's pretty
important, isn't it? Why isn't that something we just remember
on our own? And the truth is, we're quick
to forget, aren't we? We need to be reminded to remember
things. We're so quick to forget. Do
you still have the book of Exodus open? We just read verse 14 about
a memorial. The children of Israel had been
told to remember something. They were given a reminder here
to remember something. So what's this memorial that
we read of here in Exodus? Well, look beginning with verse
1 again of Exodus 12. And the Lord spake unto Moses
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 every man 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 souls. Every man, according
to his eating, shall make your account for the lamb. And your
lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You'll take it out from the sheep
or from the goats, and you'll keep it up until the 14th day
of the same month. whole assembly of the congregation
of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take
of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and on the
upper door post of the house wherein they shall eat. And they
shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire and unleavened
bread, and with bitter herbs shall they 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 you shall
let nothing of it remain until the morning and that which remains
until the morning you shall burn with fire. And thus shall you
eat it with your loins girded and your shoes on your feet and
your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. It
is the Lord's Passover. For I God said, 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 against all the gods
of Egypt. I will execute judgment. I am
the Lord. And the blood. 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. Plagues
shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of
Egypt." The Lord had sent plague after
plague upon the Egyptians. He had turned the water to blood. He had sent those frogs and lice
and flies and that disease, that muraine that killed the cattle,
boils. hail, locust, darkness, darkness
that could be felt, all these mighty works he sent. And each
time, Pharaoh's heart was hardened. And he refused to let the Egyptians
leave. I'll not let him go. And back
in Exodus 11, God told Moses, he said, I'm going to bring one
more plague upon Egypt. And he said afterwards, he'll
surely, he'll surely thrust the children of Israel. He won't
be able to get them out of there quick enough. God's going to
send judgment. And in our text, we read of this
Passover lamb, this which pictures our Lord Jesus Christ. Throughout
the Scriptures, Almighty God has used the Passover lamb to
preach the whole doctrine of the Gospel. God chose that Lamb. We read that in John 1, 29. The next day, John sees Jesus
coming unto him, and he said, Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world. The choice of the sacrifice.
We see the characteristics of the Lamb. In 1 Peter 2.22 we
read, he did no sin. He did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth. He is the perfect sacrifice. That's been a topic of discussion
here lately. He's the perfect, he's the perfect
sacrifice. That's what the Scriptures declare.
And that lamb, that lamb had to die. The blood had to be shed. Turn to Hebrews 9. Hebrews 9, beginning with verse
11. being coming high priest of good
things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not
made with hands, that's to say not of this building, neither
by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood. He entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. For at the blood of bulls and
goats and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctified
to the purifying of the flesh, How much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without
spot unto God, urge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God?" That lamb had to die. That lamb was to be eaten,
eaten. And the men were to, by faith,
to rest, to rest. believing, believing Almighty
God. In John chapter 6, we read, except
you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you
have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood hath eternal life. And he says, I'll raise him up.
Our Lord said, I'll raise him up at the last day. And the grand
result of that sacrifice The people, the people were delivered. The people were delivered and
God was glorified. Back there in Exodus chapter
12 again, look at verse 26. Exodus 12 verse 26, it shall
come to pass when your children shall say unto you, what mean
you by this service? that ye shall say, it is the
sacrifice of the Lord's Passover who passed over the houses of
the children of Israel and Egypt when he smote the Egyptians and
delivered our houses. And look what the people did.
They bowed their head and they worshiped. They bowed their head
and they worshiped him. Paul writing to the Ephesians,
he said, unto him be glory in the church by Jesus Christ throughout
all ages, world without end. Amen. So quickly this morning,
let's look at this Passover lamb. Let's look at what the people
were called to remember. More importantly, let us look
at Christ, our Passover. First, that lamb was to be without
blemish. That lamb was to be absolutely
Perfect. We read in the Scriptures that
He was in all points tested, like we, yet without sin. He's the sinless Savior. In 2
Corinthians chapter 5, we read, For He hath made Him. Almighty
God, we read that often, don't we? We should read that often.
We need to be reminded of that often. For He hath made Him to
be sin. for us, he who knew no sin, that
we might be made the very righteousness of God in him, made righteous. He must live a perfect life to
atone for our sin. He can have no sin of his own. Leviticus 22, 21 says it, this
is what's said of the sacrifice, it must be perfect to be accepted. Back in our text in Exodus 12,
look at verse 5. That lamb was to be taken out
from among the sheep, taken from the fold. And in the same manner,
our Lord Jesus Christ was taken from among men. He was made to
be a man. In Deuteronomy, turn over to
Deuteronomy 18. Let's read and begin with verse
15 of Deuteronomy 18. The Lord thy God will raise up
unto thee a prophet. From where? From the midst of
thee. From among thy brethren, like unto me, and to him ye shall
hearken. According to all that thou desires
the Lord thy God and horrible the day of this simply saying
let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God neither let
me see this great fire anymore that I die not the Lord said
to me They have well spoken they which have spoken for I will
raise up a prophet From among their brother. He tells us again.
I'm gonna raise up a prophet from among their brethren, like
unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak
unto them all that I command, and it shall come to pass that
whoever will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak
in my name, I will require it of him." He raised up the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ, consider
this, he's the seed of woman, he's the seed of Abraham, and
he was made the seed of David according to the flesh. He must
be a man. He's the God-man. Now turn back
to Exodus 12. Look at verse 5 and 6. This lamb, it was a male of the
first year. It had to be killed. The Lord
Jesus Christ, in the full strength of His life, was put to death. He was made an offering for sin. That lamb had to be roasted with
fire. Think about how the Lord Jesus
Christ died. We can't even begin to enter
into that. But Paul writes in the Corinthians,
he said, I delivered unto you first of all that which I also
received. How? How that Christ died for
our sins according to the Scriptures. the manner of his death. He was crucified. Not only did
he bear the humiliation of man saying all those things and treating
him the way they did and doubting him and casting all those insults
in their mouth, he bore the wrath of the Father
for the sins of his people. The fire of God's wrath was poured
out on him. We see people suffer, and we
hate to see people suffer, don't we? Even we hate to see people
suffer. But think of what the Lord Jesus
Christ suffered, the wrath of God for the sins of His people. That lamb was to be roasted whole.
The Scriptures declare that not a bone would be broken. And then look at verse 7 of Exodus
12. The blood of the lamb was sprinkled upon the lentils and
the side post. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission. That blood, there has to be a
blood sacrifice. His blood had to be poured out.
That blood has to be applied by faith. There is no salvation,
there is no deliverance apart from faith. The Scriptures declare
that without faith, it is impossible to please Him. He that believeth on me, he that
believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting life. God didn't
put the blood on the door. He gave them the lamb. And that
blood was precious blood. But by faith, they went out and
they put that blood on the door. Why? Because it was some great
work? No. Because they believed God.
God told them, take that blood and apply it to the door. And
I don't know, in my mind, I imagine us and our pride, if we were
back there, we'd probably be comparing, imagine neighbors. Boy, look how I put that blood
on the door. I use this kind of brush. That's us. But what happened here? That
blood was applied. He said, when I see the blood, when I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. They applied the blood to the
door because they believed God. And that blood on the door is
an outward confession. When you drove, when you went
by those houses, you knew where the children of Israel lived.
That blood was on the door. Evidence. Evidence of faith. That's what baptism is. Isn't
that what baptism is? We confess the Lord Jesus Christ
in baptism. It's an outward confession. Baptism's
not what saves us, it's not the putting away of flesh, but it's
an outward confession of who we believe, who we rest, who
we rest in. And then we read next that the
Israelites were to eat the flesh of that lamb. By faith, we feed
on Christ, believe in Christ, receive in Christ. That's called
eating His flesh and drinking His blood. We read that in the
scriptures. When we eat something, it's because our body can't live
without food. When we drink, we cannot live
without water. Eating His flesh and drinking
His blood, we rely completely on Him. Without His flesh and
His blood, we have no life. We must have Christ. Well, back
in our text, Exodus 12, verse 8, Eat that lamb, he said, eat
that lamb with unleavened bread. Now we're taught that leaven
is a type of evil, a type of sin. And those who come to Christ,
the true Passover, we come in truth, we come in sincerity,
hating evil, hating hypocrisy. And they would eat that lamb
also with bitter herbs. We come to Christ in sorrow for
our sin. David said, have mercy on me,
oh God. Christ, we come to him in sorrow
for our sin. David said this, he said, my
sin is ever before me. We come to him with repentance.
What did David say? Against thee and thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. We read that lamb was to be eaten
raw. Not sodden at all with water.
Not to be eaten raw, not sodden with water, not boiled with wine,
not boiled with water. There's no gravy. You know, we
fix things at home and we make a little gravy to make it taste
a little better. Well, that's not the case here. It's Christ and Christ alone. Nothing's to be added to make
it better. Nothing can be added to make
it better. Salvation is in Christ and Christ
alone. He alone endured the wrath of
God. He alone endured the judgment
of God. Why? To justify his people. To take away our sin. And nothing
can be added or mixed to it or joined together to it. He alone,
you know what the scripture, he alone is my rock and my salvation. Verse 10, nothing was to remain. We need Christ and Christ, and
we need him in every portion of his work, we need him as prophet,
priest and king. I need him in all his person
and work. And he instructed them to eat that Passover, dressed
and ready to go, ready to leave Egypt. He said, with your loins
girded, your shoes in your feet, and your staff in your hand,
eat it in haste. This is the Lord's Passover.
Egypt wasn't going to be their home for much longer. The Lord
was going to bring them out. And this world, it's a temporary
dwelling place. We're not going to be here. We're
not going to be here forever. We're pilgrims, soldiers here
for just a little while. And then one more verse, look
at Exodus 12, 13. When I see the blood, I see the blood, I will pass
over you. That's why it's called the Passover,
isn't it? The Lord, when He seized the blood of that Lamb, He passed
over the people and they were delivered. And in the same manner,
His judgment and wrath passed over us. How can that be? By the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. There is therefore now, right
now, no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. We read
the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. You'd think that would be easy
to remember, wouldn't you? You would think we wouldn't have
to be reminded too often of that. But the truth is, we do, don't
we? How quickly, how quickly we forget. You know, we don't like being
reminded either sometimes. I don't. I think of our young
ones when they get their driver's license and they take that first
trip out of the driveway and we say things like, well, be
careful. Drive safe. Watch that speed limit. As kids we get in the car and
we say, why do they keep telling us that? And then you're driving
down the road and every so often there's a sign up that says 55
mile an hour, just constant reminder. Why do I have to be reminded?
And then what do we do? We look down there at the speedometer
and it's 70. We need to be reminded over and
over again. Think about this. Consider this. God saved the children of Israel. That Passover. Can you imagine
all the events leading up to that? That blood's applied to
the door out there. And they went back in the house.
They rested. Can you imagine when they woke
up that next morning? Just, here I am. What God said
was true. He delivered us. And you heard
that wailing over there in Egypt. He parted the Red Sea. And not
only did He part it, they walked through, that's just beyond imagination. They walked through on dry ground,
a wall on each side. He delivered them. And look at
Look at Exodus 15. After all this happened, after
they seen this, listen to this song they sang. Look at verse
1 of Exodus 15. Then sang Moses and the children
of Israel this song, and the Lord spake, saying, I sing unto
the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously. The horse and his
rider hath been thrown in the sea. The Lord is my strength
and my song. He has become my salvation. He's
my God. I'll prepare him in habitation.
My father's God, I'll exalt him. The Lord is a man of war. The
Lord is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his host
hath he cast into the sea. His chosen captains also were
drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them.
They sank into the bottoms of stone. The right hand of the
Lord has become glorious in power. Thy right hand, O Lord, hath
dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of thine
excellency, thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee.
Thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.
And with the blast of thy nostrils, the waters were gathered together.
The flood stood upright as in a heap. And the depths were congealed
in the heart of the sea. And the enemy said, I'll pursue.
I'll overtake. I'll divide the spoils. My lust
shall be satisfied upon them. I'll draw my sword. My hand shall
destroy him. Thou didst blow with thy wind,
and the sea covered them. They sank as lead in the mighty
waters. Who is like unto thee, O God? Who is like unto Thee, O Lord,
among the gods? Who is like Thee, glorious in
holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Thou stretched
out Thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. Thou in Thy mercy
hast led forth the people which Thou hast redeemed. Thou hast
guided them in Thy strength unto Thy holy habitation." What they
had seen, and they sang that song together, and then just
in a short amount of time, in just a short amount of time.
Look at the very next chapter. Look at Exodus 16. They'd seen all those plagues.
And not only had they seen those plagues in Goshen, when there
was darkness throughout the land, they had light in their house.
They had seen how God had separated them. from the Egyptians, had
delivered them from the Egyptians. They sang that song, Rejoice,
and then look at Exodus 16, verse 1 through 3. They took their
journey from Elam. All the congregation of the children
of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elam
and Sinai, on the 15th day of the second month after the departing
out of the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation, all
of them, murmured against Moses and Aaron
in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said
unto them, Listen to this. Would to God. We died by the
hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt. When we sat by the
flesh parts and we did eat bread to the full. For you brought
us forth into the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with
hunger. One minute they were talking
about His mercy, His redemption, His strength, His deliverance. In the next, the very next breath,
He should have just killed us in Egypt. At least we had bread
to eat there. Isn't that, isn't that us? Isn't
that every one of us by nature? Deuteronomy 6 verse 12. I won't
have you read it. We looked at this Wednesday night,
but the Lord had said that. He said, be careful. When I bring you into that land,
you're going to have houses that you didn't build. You're going
to have cisterns that you didn't dig. You're going to have gardens
that you didn't plant. Beware. Beware lest you forget
what I've done, what I've done for you. And oh, may He be pleased
to remind us the pit from which we've been digged, to cause us
to remember that God determined to save a people. God chose a lamb. He sacrificed
that lamb, a perfect sacrifice. And that lamb died, and that
blood was shed, and we're completely dependent on that land. What
can wash away my sin? Nothing. Nothing but the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the grand result of it? We're
delivered. God is to be exalted. He said
this day, this day shall be a memorial. And listen, despite this fact,
that we will forget. We'll continue to forget. And
we must be reminded, He doesn't forget. He doesn't
forget. Psalm 103 verse 14 says this,
He remembers that we've done. He knows how we're made. And
he should. He made us, didn't he? We're
his people. He knows everything about us.
He knows our down-sitting and our uprising. He knows... David said, you know my thought?
Far off. You know it before I even think
it. He remembers his people. He will not forget his people. Turn with me to just a few more
scriptures here. Look at Isaiah chapter 49. Isaiah
49, beginning with verse 13. Sing, O heavens, and be joyful,
O earth. Break forth into singing, O mountains,
for the Lord hath comforted his people and will have mercy upon
his afflicted." But Zion said, this was Zion's answer, the Lord
hath forsaken me. My Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman Can a woman forget
her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son
of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will
I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon
the palms of my hands, thy walls are continually before me." Is
there anything more tender than to imagine a mother holding that
little infant child in her arms. I just, I can't think of anything
more tender than that. That infant, the love of that
mother, and that infant is completely dependent on the mother. Can
do nothing. The mother feeds that child,
the mother holds that child, keeps it warm, all these things. And he says, he uses that illustration,
and he said, could a mother Could a mother forget that child? And she may. She may. Over in Ezekiel, we read about
that little infant cast out into the open field. It's possible.
It's as hard as it is to imagine that a mother could forget her
little infant child. It is possible. And we've seen
that happen. But listen. Look at verse 15. He says, Yea, they may forget. any number of circumstances,
but he says this, yet I won't forget. I will not forget. Zion said the Lord hath forsaken
me. My Lord hath forgotten me. And the Lord replies, I will
not forget thee. Behold, I've graven thee upon
the palms of my hands. His hands. His hands. the very hand which those nails
were driven. Our names are written in His
hands. We're bound up in His hands. He said, I'll not forget today. Boy, that's a promise we can
hang on to, isn't it? David said, when my mother and
my father forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. He will
not forget His people. And listen, He will not forget
His covenant, His promise. Deuteronomy 4 verse 31. For the Lord thy God is a merciful
God. He will not forsake thee, neither
destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of his Father, which
he sware unto them." Consider this promise. God who cannot
lie, he will not forget his covenant. Over in Romans 11, We read, and so all Israel shall
be saved. God's elect shall be saved. As
it's written, they'll come out of Zion and the deliverer shall
turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant. He said,
I'll not forget my covenant. This is my covenant. This is
my promise. I'll take away their sins. I'll
save them. And listen, he says, I'll not
forget my people. I'll not forget my covenant. We're told to remember. We see what the scriptures declare
about our Savior, who he is, what he did, why he did it, where
he is now. He remembers his covenant. And though we forget, we're prone
to forget, we're prone to wonder, he remembers his covenant and
he remembers his people. And then just one last thing,
how thankful we are, there is one thing he will not remember. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. We'll
finish here. Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews 10 verse 16, this is
the covenant that I'll make with them after those days. I'll put
my law into their hearts and their minds, I'll write them.
Verse 17, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no
more. Because of the sacrifice of our
Redeemer, all the sins of His people are
taken away, they're put away, they're forgiven, they're remembered,
no more. You know, those Old Testament
sacrifices, there was a remembrance of sin with every sacrifice.
But now, He hath appeared to put away our sin. He said, I'll
remember, I'll remember no more. All right. May God be pleased
to bless His Word. Yes, ma'am.