All right, Exodus chapter 11.
And the Lord said unto Moses, yet will I bring one more plague
upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterwards, he will let you go
hence. When he shall let you go, he
shall surely thrust you out hence altogether. Speak now in the
ears of the people and let every man borrow of his neighbor and
every woman of her neighbor jewels of silver and jewels of gold.
And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians.
Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in
the sight of Pharaoh's servants, in the sight of the people. And
Moses said, thus saith the Lord about midnight, while I go out
in the midst of Egypt and all the firstborn in the land of
Egypt shall die from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sit upon his
throne, even under the firstborn of the maid servant that's behind
the mill and all the firstborn of beasts. And there should be
a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt. such as there
was none like it, nor shall be like it anymore. But against
any of the children of Israel, shall not a dog move his tongue
against man or beast, that ye may know how that the Lord doth
put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. And all
these thy servants shall come down unto me and bow down themselves
unto me saying, get thee out and 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 unto Moses, Pharaoh
shall not hearken unto you that my wonders may be multiplied
in the land of Egypt. And Moses and Aaron did all these
wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart
so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of
his land. Here in a few moments, we'll
pick up reading again there in Exodus chapter 12. Let's stand and sing in our bulletin,
page two. Hail, ye followers of the Lamb,
ye who love the Savior's name. Canaan's land we have in view,
while we on our way pursue. March with joy this blessed road,
go with us, the way is good. Come, ye sinners, sick and sore,
Jesus is the only door. Leave the world and seek the
Lord. and listen to His word. Christ for sinners shed His blood. Go with us, the way is good. Come ye aged, come ye young,
every sinner learn this song. Doubting souls, dismiss your
fears, Christ for sin. Dry up your tears, Christ for
sinners, shed His blood. Go with us, the way is good. Thank you, be seated. Well, I probably don't have to
turn to this, but it's 236. 236, one of our favorites. Amazing grace. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now
I'm found. Once blind, but now I see. was grace that taught my heart
to fear, and grace my fear How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed. Toils and snares I have already
come, Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, And grace will
lead me home. When we've been there, Ten thousand
years bright shining as the sun We've no less days to sing God's
praise Than when we'd first begun Pick up our reading here in Exodus
chapter 12. Verse 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses
and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month should be
unto you the beginning of months. It should 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 should take
to them every man of lamb, according to the house of their fathers,
a lamb for an house. And if the household be too little
for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house, take
it according to the number of the souls. Every man, according
to his eating, should make your count for the lamb. Your lamb
should be without blemish, a male of the first year. You should
take it out from the sheep or from the goats, and you should
keep it up until the 14th day of the same month. And the whole
assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the
evening. And they should take of the blood
and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post
of the houses wherein they shall eat it. And they should eat the
flesh in that night, roast with fire and unleavened bread and
with bitter herbs. They should eat it, eat not of
it raw, nor sodden it all with water, but roast with fire his
head with his legs and with the pertinence thereof. And you should
let nothing of it remain until the morning and that which remaineth
of it until the morning, you should burn with fire. And thus
shall you eat it with your loins girded, 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 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 you are. And
when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And the plague
should not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of
Egypt. And this day should be unto you for a memorial. And
you should keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You should keep it a feast by
an ordinance forever. Seven days should you eat unleavened
bread. Even the first day, you should put away leaven out of
your houses. For whosoever eateth leavened
bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul should
be cut off from Israel. And in the first day, there should
be in holy convocation. And in the seventh day, there
should be in holy convocation to you. No manner of work shall
be done in them, save that which every man must eat. That only
may be done of you. And you shall observe the feast
of unleavened bread. For in this self same day, have
I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore,
shall you observe this day in your generations by an ordinance
forever. In the first month, on the 14th
day of the month and even, You should eat unleavened bread until
the one and 20th day of the month. And even seven days. So there'll
be no leaven found in your houses for whosoever eat at that, which
is leavened. Even that soul should be cut off from the congregation
of Israel, whether he be a stranger or born in the lane, you should
eat nothing leavened in all your habitations. So you eat unleavened
bread. Then Moses called for all the
elders of Israel and said unto them, draw out. Take you a lamb
according to your families and kill the Passover. And you should
take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the
basin and strike it on the lintel and the two side posts with the
blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out
of the door of his house until the morning, or 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 in unto
your houses to smite you. And you shall observe this thing
for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons forever. And it shall
come to pass when you become to the land, which the Lord will
give you, according as he hath promised, that you should keep
this surface. And it shall come to pass when
your children shall say unto you, what mean ye by this surface? 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 the people bowed the head and worshiped. We'll end our reading there.
All right, Luke, you come lead us in prayer if you would. We will bow your head. Our heavenly father, what a privilege
and an honor it is to be gathered at the house of the Lord. Lord,
we're so thankful that you've raised up a man here and other
men around the world to preach your gospel. Lord, we pray that
you would never let them to stand up on their own, that you give
them a message, that you give them the words and the heart
to preach it boldly, yet meekly about salvation completely in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we take it so for granted
as we wake up on Sunday mornings, and we finish work on Wednesday
evening, that we'll have a place to worship a person that's prepared
a message. And Lord, may all our days on
this earth, as long as you tarry, may that be something that we
can take for granted. Lord, we don't think often about
how fortunate we are that you have shown us the truth. But
Lord, we don't ever want to be in a place in a time where we
can't hear Your Word. And Lord, we also are so thankful
that You've put so many young people and children in places
to hear Your Word, hear Your Gospel. Lord, we're thankful
for that and we pray that it be Your will that You would save
their souls. Lord, we find so much pleasure
and so much life in our children and our young people Lord, that's
so true, but the true life comes from thee. Lord, how wonderful
it would be every time we see one of them have a heart and
a mind that you've given them to love the gospel. Lord, we
pray that you would continue to watch over this place and
this group. Lord, we are so thankful that
we're not alone in worshiping you. It's so wonderful to have
brothers, sisters, friends, family, that not only can worship together,
but can lean upon one another, support one another, help one
another, guide one another. And Lord, make us to all be voices
of truth, of reason, of a conscious that all comes from your word
and your truth. Make us to have the right mindset when we talk
to one another. Lord, let us be encouraging to
each other, helpful to each other and not be judgmental. Lord, we pray for the pastor
here that he has a message for us that we can hear from you.
Lord, we're excited. We pray that just for a few moments,
we might have our hearts and our minds focused on you and
on this message. Lord, we thank you and praise
your name. In Christ's name we say these things. Amen. so Looking down through the ages,
God beheld the dying soul. Sin had brought separation, nevermore
could man be whole. There must come a Lamb, one whose
blood alone redeems, bringing gifts to the Father of the souls
made white and clean. And when he sees me, he sees
the blood of the Lamb. He sees me as worthy and not
as I am. He views me in garments as white
as the snow, for the Lamb of God is worthy, and He washed
me white as snow. So he left that holy city Traveling
on to the cross Just to bridge the gulf to glory and to rescue
all the lost. By His blood He entered into
the throne of our God. On the mercy seat He placed Him,
salvation for his own. Sing it with us. And when he
sees me, he sees the blood of the lamb. He sees me as worthy
and not as a He views me in garments as white
as the snow, For the Lamb of God is worthy, and He washed
me white as snow. For the Lamb of God is worthy,
and He washed me, this I know. Alright, now if you're holding
your place in Exodus, continue holding that place, but turn
in your Bibles with me for just a moment to Hebrews chapter 11.
I titled the message this morning, Faith's Eating. Hebrews 11 verse
28 says, Through faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling
of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. The writer is telling us here
the Passover was more than just a religious ceremony to Moses,
to those who had faith. Moses didn't just kill a lamb
and roast his body and put the blood on the doorpost as a religious
ceremony to differentiate him from the Egyptians. He didn't
even do all that so that his firstborn would not die. The
writer tells us Moses did all of this in faith. Now this is
not faith saying, oh, everything's going to be okay. That's not
faith. Faith is belief in Christ. Moses
went through this ceremony of the Passover in faith in Christ. Moses saw Christ the Savior in
the Passover. So here's my question. What did
Moses, what does faith see in the Passover? How is it that
the Passover revealed Christ the Savior to Moses. When I look
back at Exodus chapter 11, let's look at that very first Passover
and see if God might be pleased to show you and me the same thing
he showed Abraham by faith, faith in Christ. By faith, we see Christ
the deliverer. Exodus chapter 11, verse 1. And
the Lord said unto Moses, yet will I bring one plague more
upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterwards, He will let you go
hence. When He shall let you go, He
shall surely thrust you out hence altogether. And you know this
story. Israel went free from Egypt that
night because of the Passover. And this is all a picture of
Christ. This is what faith sees. The only way you and I can be
delivered from bondage to sin is by the Lord Jesus Christ.
We can't be delivered from the bondage of sin because we've
got some ability to start sinning less because that power does
not exist in us. Freedom from the bondage of sin,
freedom from the law comes through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's how we're set free. Christ
is the one who broke the power of sin over his people and set
them free when he sacrificed himself for their sin. Next,
by faith, we see that God is the one who must punish sin. Verse four of Exodus chapter
11. And Moses 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. For the firstborn of Pharaoh
that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the
maidservant that's behind the mill, and all the firstborn of
the beasts. Now God is holy. God must punish
every sin of every son of Adam without exception. He must. And
God's the one who's going to do it. There was death in every
home in Egypt this night, that night of the first Passover,
because God must punish the sin of every son of Adam with death. That was true of the high and
mighty Pharaoh. And it was true of the maidservant,
hiding behind the mill, trying to ground out a little bit of
corn for her and her baby. There's got to be death of the
firstborn in every home in Egypt that night. Because God's holy. God must punish sin. Well, thankfully,
the next thing by faith we see is this. God's going to spare
somebody. That's good news, isn't it? God's going to spare somebody.
He's going to save his people spiritually. It's true. But against
any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue.
Dogs are not even going to bark at them, against man or beast,
that you may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between
the Egyptians and Israel. Now here's God's electing love.
Almighty God chose a people to save, not because they did anything
to deserve it, just because he would choose sinners to save.
And God didn't choose a random number of people. He didn't say,
well, I'm going to choose to save sinners, and as many people
as might decide to accept me, I'll save them. God didn't do
that. He knew better than that. Now, if He left that up to you
and me to decide if we're going to accept them or not, nobody
would be saved, would they? No, God knew better than that. He
determined to save a people. So you know what He did? He chose
an exact people. He chose them individually by
name. He set his love upon those people,
and he chose to save them. And we're going to see in just
a minute how he did it. But the next thing by faith we see is
this, that Christ is the beginning of life for his people. Chapter
12, verse 1, And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land
of Egypt, saying, This month should be unto you the beginning
of months. This should be the first month of the year to you.
Now, before this, they had a different New Year, but now the Passover
became the new New Year for them. The calendar changed completely.
And that's what happens to God's people when they're born again.
Behold, all things are made new. You get a new calendar. You get
a new way of keeping time. You start looking at eternal
things, not the things that are here present, but the invisible
things, the things that are eternal. You get a new life. You're born
again. Spiritual life, born from above.
You get a new master. You're going to get a new life.
You get a new father, don't you? Somebody's got to father you.
Somebody's got to cause you to be born. You get new life. You get
a new father. You get a new master. You get
a new understanding. Now suddenly you understand the
scriptures. You get a new way of worship.
No longer is God to be worshipped in the form and the ceremony
and all the things we do in religion. But God is worshipped in spirit
and in truth. You get that? That's brand new.
And you get new freedom from the law too, don't you? You're
set free from that. And all of that comes the very moment we
believe Christ. The very moment we see Him. Everything
is made new. He is the beginning of life.
and he'll become all of your life. He is all of your life.
We have all that in Christ by faith. But then next we see this,
that if we would be saved, I know this, I've got to have a lamb. Verse three, speak ye unto all
the congregation of Israel saying, in the 10th day of this month,
they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the
house of their fathers, a lamb for an house. And if the household
be too little for the lamb, Let him and his neighbor next to
his house take it according to the number of the souls. Every
man according to his eating should make your count for the lamb.
Everybody there had to have a lamb. They had to have a lamb that
would be killed for them, that would be roasted for them, that
would be sacrificed for them, and that they would eat. Everybody
had to have a lamb. Well, this is the picture now.
I've got to have a lamb. There's got to be a lamb for
me. There's got to be a lamb sacrificed for me. There's got
to be a lamb whose blood is shed for me. It can't be somebody
else's lamb. It can't be my neighbor's lamb.
There's got to be a sacrifice for my sin. In all of God's elect
having, God provided him. God provided for himself a lamb. And John the Baptist removed
all doubt about who he is. And John the Baptist saw the
Lord Jesus, what did he cry? Now you look, there He is, the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the only man who ever lived who could be this
Lamb, the only one. Christ is the only Savior who's
great enough to save all of His people from their sin by His
one sacrifice. He's the only one. He's the only
one great enough to save a number that no man could number. By
faith we see that. By faith, we see that the Lord
Jesus Christ is the only perfect lamb. He's the only perfect sacrifice. Verse five, your lamb should
be without blemish, a male of the first year. You should take
it out from the sheep or from the goats. Now the lamb is going
to be sacrificed Had to be perfect. You couldn't have a lamb that
was bruised or born with three legs or something. It's not worth
anything anyway. We'll sacrifice this lamb. You
can't have a lamb that's old and he'd be all grizzled and
you know, the meat would be tough. He's about to die anyway. No,
it's got to be a perfect lamb. Because this lamb is a picture
of the lamb of God. The only man who ever lived who
had no blemish, who had no spot of sin, who had no weakness,
no sin at all, is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Son of God came to
this earth as a man. A real baby boy was born of Mary. And that boy, that baby grew
into a man. And all his life long, he lived
a perfect life. Because he wasn't born from Adam's
sinful seed. Born from the Spirit. Since he's
not born of Adam's sinful seed, he didn't take part in Adam's
He wasn't conceived in sin and iniquity like you and I are.
No, from the womb, he was perfect. And as a man, he was perfect. He obeyed God's law perfectly. Now, why did he do that? He didn't
do it for himself, did he? He's already holy. He's already
righteous. He didn't have to do anything
to make himself holy. That's his nature. He became a man and
obeyed God's law perfectly and established a righteousness Not
for himself, but as the representative of his people, so he could make
them righteous through his obedience to the law for them. He was perfect. And everybody knew it. I mean,
even those who hated him, they knew he was perfect. They watched
him, they examined him, just like that lawyer we read about
in the lesson this morning. They tried to trick him and trap
him and tempt him. They never could. never find any sin in him because
the Lord Jesus Christ is the spotless lamb. Just like the
Passover lamb was watched for 14 days to be sure it was spotless.
That's what happened to our Lord Jesus. Everybody had to say,
this man is perfect. Pilate didn't know nothing and
Pilate knew it. He said, I find no fault in this
man. The scribes and the Pharisees knew it. They had to find witnesses
who would lie so they could condemn him. They knew he's Judas knew
it, didn't he? He came back and gave that money
back. I betrayed innocent blood, he said. That Roman guard overseeing
the whole procedure there at the cross, he knew it. He said,
surely this man was a son of God. He knew, he was perfect.
Well, you know, most people wouldn't, you wouldn't get too much argument
about this fact. That the Lord Jesus was perfect. Wouldn't get
too much, too much argument about that. But here's the next thing
by faith I see. That Christ, that perfect lamb
had to die for my sin. Verse six says, you should keep
it up until the 14th day of the same month and all assembly of
the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. Now the
lamb they selected was a male and the first year of life is
prime of life. Well, that's the Lord Jesus.
The Lamb of God died in the prime of his life. A little over 33
years old. But again, just like saying Jesus
was perfect. You're not going to find much
argument with that. You won't find any argument if you say
Jesus died for sin. Jesus died for sinners. You won't
find any argument with that almost anywhere. But faith sees a whole
lot more than that Christ died for sinners. Faith sees why Christ
died. Christ died because He was made
sin. Now, that's as real as you can possibly
imagine it to be, that Christ was made sin. Remember, the Father
is holy. He must punish every sin. Well,
the fact that the Father is holy and just also means this. He
can't punish holiness. He can't punish righteousness.
There can't be death where there is no sin. The holy God cannot
put an innocent man to death. So the father made his son sin
for his people and then he punished him fully for every one of those
sins. This is both the wisdom of God
and the grace of God. God found a way to be holy, to
stay holy. and to punish every sin and at
the same time show mercy and grace and save his sinful people.
He did it by making his son sin. He put all of the sin of his
people on Christ our substitute and in the evening he killed
him. In the evening of the Passover, he killed him for it in justice. Now since justice is satisfied
in the death of Christ on Calvary's tree, You know what justice also
demands? It demands God's elect live. Because their sins are being
punished in their substitute. See, that's how God saves His
people. It's by substitution. Substitution
and satisfaction. And on this night of the Passover,
there was no doubt about it. Why did the firstborn live? In
any home, why did the firstborn live? Only one reason the lamb
was killed in his place. Substitution. You see, Christ
is the lamb who must die. Christ's blood must be shed as
a payment for sin. If anybody is going to be saved,
it's Christ who must die. If I'm going to be saved, Christ
must die. In Romans chapter 8, the apostle
tells us the assurance of salvation. What is your assurance there
is no condemnation? It's Christ that died, Paul said.
It's Christ who died. If anybody's going to be saved,
it's Christ's blood who must be shed because no other blood
will do. The blood of bulls and goats
won't do, would they? No, God's not pleased with that. And I
tell you what, God's equally unimpressed with my blood. He's
equally unimpressed with my sacrifices, the things I give up, you know,
to try to make God happy with me. God's not impressed. It's
the blood of Christ that must be shed. It's the blood that
makes an atonement for the soul. And not just any blood. It's
the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanses us from all sin. By faith, we see Christ died
for my sin, my sin. But you know, that's not all
there is to salvation. The next thing faith sees is
this. The blood has got to be applied. Verse 7. And they shall
take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts, on
the upper door post of the houses wherein they shall eat it. Now,
the blood of Christ must be applied to our hearts. I want you to
listen to me. Are you listening? That's not
a work you have to do. I'm not suddenly giving you a
work that you have to do. You know, preaching grace and
suddenly giving you a work you have to do. No. In our picture,
the picture of the Passover, the father, the head of the home,
went out and put the door, put the blood on the door. It's like
door post on linen, isn't it? The father, the head of the home,
did that for his family. Well, God is the one who applies
the blood to the hearts of his people. He applies the blood
to the hearts of his people in the new birth and they get a
new heart. God, the Holy Spirit, graciously applies the blood
of Christ to the hearts of his people so they'll live and not
die. And he won't miss one home. He won't miss one home we're
going to God's sheep farm. He'll apply the blood every time.
See, it's God who's got to apply the blood because the blood was
offered to God. The blood wasn't offered to men,
was it? No, God was on the outside of the house. We're on the inside
of the house. The people on the inside of the house? I'm a firstborn.
I don't think about this. I don't think about sitting in
that house, you know. I can't see the blood. But that don't matter. God sees the blood. The blood
was offered to God. God said, when I see the blood,
not when you see it, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you.
What's that a picture of? It's the death of Christ. Christ
did not die and shed his blood and offer it to you to see if
you'll accept it. Christ died before the Lord, before the Father,
all through scripture that talks about the blood before the Lord,
the blood before the Lord, the blood before the Lord. Christ
died to do something for God. Christ died to satisfy God and
enable God to do something for sinful men and women. Christ
died to enable God to maintain his integrity, to be just when
he justifies the ungodly. Verse 12 tells us, God says,
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 should be to you
for a token upon the houses where you are. And when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. And the plague should not be
upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt." See,
the blood was on the door. And the firstborn wasn't saved
because he saw the blood, was he? No, he was saved when God
saw the blood. The firstborn didn't sit in that
house that night, calm, without any fear whatsoever, because
he saw the blood. Because from where he sat at
the table, eating that Passover lamb, he couldn't see the blood.
The door was closed. The firstborn was calm by faith. By faith. Because he believed
that God would do what he said he'd do. Pass over that house
and spare his life because the lamb had died. His place and
the blood has been applied. How is it God's children have
no fear of death, no fear of facing the judgment? Because
I believe God. The blood of Christ has been
shed. His blood has been applied. God will be true to His word
and accept everybody in Christ. That's by faith. But you know,
salvation involves even more than that. And that's why I entitled
the message this morning, Faith's Eating. Because the next thing
faith sees is the lamb has got to be eaten. Verse 8 of Exodus
chapter 12. For they shall eat the flesh,
and that night roast with fire, and unleavened bread, and with
bitter herbs they shall eat it. Now eating. Eating shows union
with Christ. You know, we have union with
the food that we eat. Eventually, after we eat food,
it becomes part of our body. It becomes our blood and our
cells and our bones and our skin and our air. It just becomes
part of our body. We're one with it. Well, salvation
is union with Christ. It's being joined to Christ,
our federal head, so that I was in Him. I did what He did. Well,
what did Christ do? He obeyed the law. So did I. I am righteous because I kept
the law. That's gonna sound like a shocking
statement to somebody, but that's so. I kept it in Christ. You
think, no, no, that's not so. You're not right. No, wait a
minute. Wait a minute. Adam was my first federal head, wasn't
he? Was I there when Adam sinned? I was in him. Is there any question
whatsoever I'm a sinner? Anybody that knows me will tell
you. Yeah, he was a sinner. How'd I get that way? I sinned in Adam. I did that.
Well, same thing is true. Christ, my federal head, when
he kept the law, so did I. And I don't have to fear death
for my sin. You know why? I already died
in Christ. So justice is satisfied in Christ,
my federal head. Eating shows union with Christ.
But eating is also an act of faith. Faith reaches out and
receives Christ for myself. Now there is no salvation without
this faith that reaches out and eats Christ, receives Him, becomes
one with Him. We can understand something about
that when we look at our physical body. Our physical body cannot
live without eating. We've got to eat. Well, our spiritual
man can't live without eating too. He must eat Christ or he
cannot live. I can't live by somebody else's
faith. I must believe Christ. I must take him and eat him.
My physical body cannot live because Janet eats all the wonderful
meals that she prepares. I can't live because she eats
those meals. If I'm going to live, I've got
to eat them. See what I'm saying? Now look
at John chapter 6. This seems like a very confusing
thing to talk about. I've got to eat Christ. I mean,
does this mean I've got to be a cannibal or what does this
mean? It seems so confusing. Well, our Lord tells us, makes
this so crystal clear. Eating Christ means to believe
him. In John chapter six, verse 47, he says, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in
the wilderness, and they're dead. Now that manna didn't do anything
for them, did it? No, it was just a picture. But this is the
bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof
and not die. I am the living bread which came
down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread,
he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give
is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world." The Jews
therefore strove among themselves, saying, how can this man give
us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus saith unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son
of Man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you. See,
this eating, you've got to eat this. You've got to lay hold
on him by faith or you have no life in you. Whoso eateth my
flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I'll raise
him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed,
and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and
drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living father has sent
me and I live by the father, so he that eateth me, even he
shall live by me." See that? Eating is believing. All this
he talks about eating, but he began saying, he that believeth
on me hath everlasting life. Eating, to eat Christ is to believe
him. I must believe Christ if I would
be saved. Now this thing of eating Christ
and believing It's not something that I do just because I have
to, just because I'm forced to do it and I got to do it against
my will or I'm going to die. That's that's not just thing
of faith at all. Believers enjoy it, they enjoy
believing Christ, they enjoy eating him. I find it very easy
to entertain myself with food. I mean, it's very easy for me
to do. I mean, I just every evening
when Jan and I are sitting down, you know, and to watch our shows
or sit down at the end of the day, we were just up in Amish
country and I'm every night, buddy, I'm cutting up that cheese
and I'm eating me some cheese and crackers and just, oh, I'm
not hungry. She just, she fed me a great
dinner. I'm not hungry. I just want it. I just love to
eat. A cookie brings me an in ordinate
amount of pleasure. I love to eat. We went over to
John and Stacey's last night before the recital. They had
some pie there. He said, you want a piece of
pie? I said, John, you just ate it. I said, I'm so full. He said,
what's that got to do with anything? We love to eat. That's the believer. Eating Christ. I don't come here
on Sundays and Wednesdays because I have to. God's going to kill
my children if I don't. It's not something I got to do
or God's gonna be mad at me. I love it. I love to hear of
Christ. Don't you? Oh, I love to hear
of him. I just cannot get tired of it. The believer comes and feasts
on the gospel with such pleasure. Now, I have to eat or I'll have
no life. But can you think of anything
that gives you more pleasure than believing Christ and feasting
on him? That's faith. And here's how
the believer eats Christ. Here's how, these are the things
we believe about the sacrifice of Christ. By faith we eat Christ
roast with fire. We believe that the Lord Jesus
Christ suffered all of the wrath of God against my sin and there's
none left for me to suffer because Christ was roasted, roasted under
the fire of God's wrath against sin. Now what is it to eat Christ
raw? It's to say his sacrifice means
nothing. He didn't have to suffer. If Christ died for everybody
and it's up to you to accept him, why did Christ have to die? We don't have to talk about the
death of Christ because it doesn't matter. All that matters is what
you decide to do. That's eating Christ raw. That's
saying he didn't have to suffer. Christ suffered. for sin. Faith
sees he suffered, roasted for my sin. And, you know, normally
the fire would consume the sacrifice, wouldn't it? The fire would go
out once the sacrifice, the fat of it and everything was consumed
because there's no fuel left. But when Christ was sacrificed,
the sacrifice consumed the fire. The fire of God's wrath went
out because the sin of God's elect was gone. But Christ, our
sacrifice was still there. So he gave up the ghost and he
died. He didn't die because the fire
consumed him and took his life from him. He gave up the ghost
when there was no more fire of God's wrath left to consume.
That's the Savior faith trust. He suffered all the wrath of
God for my sin. And by faith we eat Christ the
sinless sacrifice. You know, leaven or yeast in
scripture represents sin. Well, Christ is the sinless sacrifice. This is something the human mind
cannot comprehend. You just believe this by faith.
We just believe it because God said it. Even when Christ was
made sin, he was the sinless sacrifice. He was made sin and
he did no sin. He was guilty of sin, but he
did no sin. He never became a sinner, but he was made sin. We drink
wine at the Lord's table. There are a couple of reasons
for that. Number one is the Lord said so. The Lord took wine and
passed it on among his disciples. He said, this do in remembrance
of me. That's all I got to know. But this thing of leaven enters
into this too. You know the difference between
wine and grape juice? The process of fermentation took the yeast
out of the grape juice and it became wine. Well, now that wine
can be a picture of Christ's sinless blood. There's no yeast
in it. Just like the unleavened bread pictures the sinless body
of Christ. He had no sin. There's no yeast
in this bread. There's no yeast in the wine
either. The process of fermentation took it out. And we read this
to open the scripture at the Passover. The Jews had to search
and get all the leaven out of their houses. Now, they had to
do that, not because God's making it hard on them. They had to
do that because this is a picture of Christ. The Passover is a
picture of Christ who made his people sinless. Not only is he
sinless, he made his people sinless. He was made sin for his people
and in exchange. He made his people sinless. He
made them the righteousness of God in him. They're sinless because
he took all their sin away from them. And he gave them his righteousness. You know, you ladies put yeast
in your rolls. I don't know how many people
make rolls a day. Maybe you buy them frozen or
buy them down at Texas Roadhouse. I don't know. But I tell you
what they do at Texas Roadhouse. They put yeast in those rolls
and they put them on those racks and they wait. You know what
they're waiting on? For that yeast to take effect and make
those rolls rise. That's yeast in us. It puffs
us up and makes us think we're something that we're not. Christ
got to take that out of us. He took all the sin out of his
people by his sacrifice. That's what this unleavened bread
means. And then by faith, we eat Christ
with bitter herbs. Now, what are these bitter herbs
a picture of? Well, they're all the truths of the gospel that
are bitter to the flesh. Now it's bitter to hear that
we're dead in sin. We're stinking, we're rotten,
we're offensive. That bothers the flesh. That's bitter to the flesh. But
I want to tell you what, there's no salvation unless you believe
that. It's bitter to hear we can't do anything but sin. So we can't do anything to please
God. We're totally dependent on God to do something for us,
to save us from our sin. Now that, I know that's bitter
to the flesh, but there's not salvation unless you believe
that. That you can't do anything to please God. Christ had to
do it all for you. It's bitter to hear that we can't
decide to be saved. I can't just decide to get saved.
You know why we can't? Because our will is dead. It
can't do anything. It can't do anything but sin.
What's the one thing a dead man can do? Stink. That's all we
can do. Now, we are totally dependent
on God to save us by his will, not ours. That's all there are
to it. And if you don't believe that,
you're not saved. That's the bitter herbs that we must eat.
These bitter truths are necessary. They're necessary. We're not
preaching the gospel unless we offend the flesh. And the only
way we can eat Christ and believe on him by taking and receiving
him, believing him with all these bitter herbs, the truth about
ourselves. Then by faith, we eat the whole Christ. Verse nine
of Exodus chapter 12. He says, eat not of it raw, nor
sodden at all with water, but roast with fire, his head with
his legs and the pertinence thereof. Now the lamb, like we talked
about a minute ago, couldn't be eaten raw. It had to be roast
with fire because it's a picture of Christ. who would suffer the
fire of God's wrath for his people. And the lamb couldn't be boiled
in water. You know why? It can't be watered down. Now
faith will not eat, will not, it'll just refuse to eat it.
A watered down gospel. If we take the edge off of the
truth to make the gospel sound better to the natural man, we've
watered it down. And faith can't eat it. I'll
give you an example. Now we cannot say, you know,
there's a sense in which Christ died for everybody. Let's just,
you know, me and Eric will get together and say, you know, let's
just take the edge off this election business. More people will come. We won't run so many people off.
Now that might sound like a good idea to the flesh. And that might
let us get along with false religion. Matter of fact, it probably will.
But here's the problem with doing that. It's a lie. And God will
never use a lie to say anybody. God's never going to use a lie
to entice somebody in and then do the fast switch and start
telling them the truth. False religion does that. False religion's
got to entice you in. God don't. He just says declare
the gospel. I'll call. I'll give them an
ear to hear. I'll call my sheep. They'll come.
See, faith can't can't eat Christ any other way. But the whole
Christ, He can't be watered down. The whole lamb had to be eaten. Now why is that? Because faith
believes the whole Christ. I need all of Him to be my Savior. I need Him to do all the work
of salvation for me. And some of you might say, well,
what do I have to believe about Christ in order to be saved?
Just tell me and I'll believe that. Well, I can tell you. You want
to know? You gotta believe everything the Bible says about him. Now
you don't have to know everything the Bible says about him. You
don't have to understand everything the Bible says about Christ,
but you do have to believe it when you hear it. Faith eats
the whole Christ, spits none of it out. Then faith knows this,
none of Christ's sacrifice is wasted, verse 10. And you shall
let nothing of it remain until the morning. And that which remaineth
of it until the morning, you should burn with fire. Now Christ
did not die for anybody who ends up in hell. Not one drop of his
precious blood was shed in vain. He saved everyone for whom he
died. His blood cleansed them from
all of their sin. And faith says, Amen. I wouldn't
have it any other way. No doubt about it. And then faith
in the heart affects our walk. Faith in the heart will affect
how we conduct ourselves. Verse 11. And thus ye eat it,
with your loins girded. Your shoes on your feet, your
staff in your hand, ye shall eat it in haste. It's the Lord's
Passover. Now they ate the Passover with
their loins girded. Now what does it mean their loins
are girded? Well, that's what they did when
they got ready to work. You know, they wore those robes and pick
those robes up and gird around their waist so they could move
around and work. That's how they ate the Passover. This is how
we eat Christ. This is how we believe Christ.
We believe salvations of the Lord. Now, he did it all. He
did it all. I do none of the work. But faith,
I rest in Christ. But this is also true. Faith
wants to be used in God's service. Hear my Lord, send me. I have
my loins girded because I want to do whatever I can. I'm ready
to do whatever it is the Lord gives me to do in the furtherance
of the gospel. Everybody who has faith thinks
that. And faith eats Christ with the shoes on our feet. The children
of Israel were getting ready to walk a long way. So they sat
down at the table to eat. They had their shoes on their
feet because this is what they knew. That journey is starting
tonight. It's starting right now. Well, as a believer, we
got shoes on our feet. We're ready for a long journey
home to be with the Lord. And we're going to need good
shoes for the trip, aren't we? Well, that's why scripture says
our feet have to be shod with the preparation of the gospel.
Our shoes are the gospel. that protect our feet and direct
our walk. The believer's not directed by
the law. You don't have to look to the law to see how you're
going to conduct yourself. You look to the gospel. You look
to Christ. The gospel affects your walk.
It's on your feet. And they ate with their staff
in their hand. As they took this long journey across the desert,
as they walked, they're going to lean on their staff. They're
going to walk and use that thing like a walking stick. When they
stop, they're going to lean, resting on that stick. They go
through some rough places. They're going to have to use
that walking stick, you know, get across those rough places.
And yesterday, I was doing some yard work. I was finishing up
the mulching. I didn't have you do it. I was sorry. Isaac was
over one day, so I'm going to put this mulch out for him. There
was a few bags left. I said, I'll forget it. I'll
just forget it. I'll put it out later. We used to put out a couple
bags of that mulch and I would lean in on my rake, resting,
thinking, man, why didn't I let that guy do this mulch, you know?
When they got tired, oh, they got so tired. You're going to
get, believer, you're going to get tired. Oh, you're going to
get tired. On this journey, you're going
to think, I can't take another step. I'm going to fall down
and die right here. What are you going to do? You're
going to lean. The staff is the word of God.
His rod and his staff that comfort me. You're going to lean on the
word of God. You're going to lean on the whole
Christ revealed in the word of God. The word of God is going
to hold them up straight. And then they ate it in haste.
They ate it with urgency. The Lord's coming. The Lord's
coming. Faith believes Christ today. right now with urgency. I've
been believing Christ a pretty long time. I'm not looking back
at that. This is what I'm interested in.
Do I believe him right now? I got to have him. It's urgent. This matter of believing Christ
is urgent. There's no time to waste. The
Lord's at hand. And they were to observe this
ceremony every year and they were supposed to teach what it
meant. Look at verse 26. And it shall come to pass when,
not if, but when your children shall say unto you, what mean
ye by this service? That ye shall say, it's 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 here's the result of faith
when we preach that message. The people bowed the head and
worshiped. Now somebody might wonder, why don't we observe
Lord's Passover today? We read several times in here,
the Lord says, you observe this forever, forever. Why don't we
observe it? Why are we in a few moments gonna
use unleavened bread and wine? Why didn't Wayne this morning
go out and kill us a lamb? Roast its body, I bet he knows
how to do it. I bet you know how to kill a lamb, skin it,
roast it by fire. Why did he do that? Why is he
gonna come up here in a few minutes and break up this bread before
we distribute it? Because now the picture's over. We've got
the person. But you know what? We're still
observing the Passover. In Christ our Passover slain
for us. But these elements are the elements
the Lord told us to use in remembering Him. And when we eat the Lord's
table, we're confessing everything that faith saw in the Passover.
We're confessing that Christ is my only hope of salvation
because he is the sinless one pictured in this unleavened bread.
We take that wine. We're confessing the only way
I could be cleansed of my sin. The only way my sin can be paid
for is in the precious blood. That's what faith sees in the
Passover. So we're going to observe the Lord's table now. Wayne,
if you would, you may come and distribute the bread. There's a few of you that haven't
been here, I don't think, before. We observed the Lord's Table.
We started doing this some time ago. We break up this bread before
we distribute. It comes in sheets. And you just
listen as this bread is broken.