I want to bring the message this
morning from Exodus chapter 12. Christ our Passover is the title
of the message. The Passover Lamb was a very
eminent type of the Lord Jesus Christ. It set forth His person
as meek and lowly and the spotless. Jesus Christ was spotless, the
Lamb of God. He's the one the Passover Lamb
represented. He is the true Passover Lamb. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5
Verse 7, Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. The Passover
was instituted by the Lord. It's the Lord's Passover. It
degenerated into being called the Jew's Passover, but it's
the Lord's Passover. And it marked the beginning of
each year. This is the proper way to start each year, is with
Christ, His people gathered around the Lord's table taking the bread
and the wine which represents the broken body and shed blood
of the Passover lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. The wine and the
bread do not turn into his body, they just represent it. And this
is the best way to start the year, not drunk, not out partying,
but giving thanks unto God for his many, many blessings in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And this ordinance was given
to all of Israel to observe. Even so, all who believe on Christ
are to partake of the Lord's table. The only fence around
the Lord's table is faith. Do you believe? If you do believe,
then partake of it. If you do not believe, it's not
for you. Now it says in verse 4, if the household was too small,
then they were to call in their neighbors to eat it with them.
And notice it says, if the household is too small. It doesn't say
anything about the land being too small. We will never have
to worry about running out of something to feast on in Christ.
He's more than we can comprehend. He's more than we can eat. This
also says something about getting the gospel out or getting people
to come and hear the gospel. They were to go out and bring
their neighbors in. Even so we are to get people
to come and hear the gospel or to sing the gospel out as we
are doing right now over the radio. This is good news. We have good news to tell the
sinners. There's forgiveness of sins. There's mercy. There's
pardon. There's justification through
the blood and righteousness of the Lamb of God. And the only
hope any of those first born of Israel had was to be under
the blood, under the blood of that Passover Lamb. And even
in this day and any other day, the only hope a sinner has is
to be under the blood of the Passover lamb, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now they were to count the number of people who would
eat so that there would be nothing left. We are to receive all of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And it says the lamb was to be
without blemish. It had to be sound. It had to
be not blind and not broken and not sick and not bruised. Why? Because this shows the perfection
and innocency of Christ, in whose lips was found no guile. He knew
no sin, the scripture says. He knew no sin by action. When
he was reviled, he reviled not again. He knew no sin by birth. The sin of Adam did not enter
into his birth. The human nature of Christ, the
body of Christ, was begotten by the Holy Spirit. Nothing sinful
entered into him. He was as a lamb without blemish
and without spot. He had to be perfect for God
to accept him as our substitute, as our mediator, as our high
priest. He had to be perfect. God cannot
accept anything or anyone short of perfection. And we have that
perfection in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him, all of God's
children are perfect. In Christ they are. It also had
to be a male. This shows that the Messiah must
be a man. Why must he be a man? Because
by man, Adam, sin entered into this world, and by a man, satisfaction
must be made to God's broken law. And it's not just any old
man or any ordinary man. It has to be a perfect man, the
God-man. And it could only be a year old,
this land that they were to choose for the Passover. It could only
be a year old. Why? Because it shows forth the
youth and vitality of the Lord Jesus Christ. This land could
not be old, which is a sign of decay and death, but young and
full of life. This shows forth Christ's eternality,
that he did not die out of weakness due to old age, but rather he
gave up his life. He laid down his life willingly
for the sheep. He said, no man takes my life
from me, I give it up of myself. And this land, this Passover
land was to be taken from among the sheep or the goats. Showing
that Christ must be taken from among His brethren. This shows
that Christ the Son of the Living God must become incarnate. Because
the Messiah had to come from among His brethren. He had to
be bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh to be a proper representative,
to be a proper mediator. to be a proper substitute. He
had to become bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. And then
this lamb was to be kept up for four days. This was done in order
for them to observe it and see and make sure that there was
no blemish in this lamb that was about to be offered unto
God as the Passover lamb. The Lord Jesus Christ lived for
33 years and he was observed by God and men and neither found
fault in him." God said, this is my beloved son in whom I am
well pleased, hear ye him. And Pilate said, I find no fault
in him. Then it says in verse 6, the
whole congregation was to kill it in the evening. Why the whole
congregation of Israel? Because it was for the whole
congregation. And because they were all partakers
of its death. and of the benefits of his death.
And everyone whom God saves, they are partakers of his death
and the benefits of his death. They enjoy the blessings of his
sacrifice, such as pardon, peace, forgiveness, justification. All of God's elect enjoy those
things through the Passover lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the
killing of the lamb in the evening shows that Christ came and died
in these last days. And after the lamb had been killed,
the blood was to be put on the two-side post on the upper door
of the house wherein they shall eat it, not on the floor to be
walked on. But this shows that the blood of Christ must be received
by faith and that it must be continually before us. No one
could enter that house without seeing the blood. And I can assure
you that where the blood is, there is faith in the house where
it's eaten. Where Christ is feasted on, His blood is sprinkled and
applied. Shed blood must be applied or it will do us no good. It
must be applied by the Holy Spirit and received by faith. And the
flesh was eaten, it says, that night. just as Jesus Christ is
to be received when he's preached. Today is a day of salvation.
Now is the accepted time. There might not be a tomorrow
for you. There was no tomorrow for the firstborn of Egypt. And
note the suffering of the lamb here. It was to be roasted with
fire, showing how that Christ must suffer the fire of God's
wrath against sin. His soul's suffering was far
greater than his physical suffering. He endured the hell of God's
wrath on the cross. His soul was made an offering
for sin. He said, My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? And for someone to say that people
wind up in hell for whom Christ died for It's evident they don't
know what they're talking about. They don't know who He is and
what He did. It also says here, they shall
be eaten roasted with fire, showing that we must receive Christ crucified. We must receive Christ crucified
with sincerity. It says unleavened bread, that's
sincerity. That's what it represents here.
Sincerity. Not hypocrisy. not a pretense,
not a show, but true heart worship and heart faith in Christ. And
it is to be eaten with bitter herbs, showing that Christ is
not only received by faith, but with a repentant heart and sorrow
over sin. No one ever believed on Christ
who was not sorry for his or her sins. Faith and repentance
cannot be separated. And then it says, eat it not
raw or mixed, with water. First of all, don't water down
the gospel to get people to accept it. Leave it as it is. It's God's
gospel. There's nothing wrong with it.
The whole problem is with us, not the gospel. And don't mix
your works with salvation. Salvation is by Jesus Christ
and Jesus Christ alone. Don't add anything to it or take
anything away. It's Christ and Christ alone
is my salvation. And there's no separating of
Christ. We are to receive Him as He is. All of Him. And it was not to be left until
the morning. Probably to keep them from using
it in a superstitious manner. It was only a type. But people
like to worship. People will worship anything.
If you could find the ark that Noah was on, or if you could
find the cross that Christ was nailed to, people would make
an idol out of it. And the best thing you could do if you found
them was burn them. Christ is to be worshipped, and
He is to be worshipped in spirit and truth, not with pictures
on a wall or crosses hanging around your neck. He is worshipped
in spirit and in truth, not with trinkets and religious paraphernalia. We worship Him from the heart.
And they were to eat it with their loins girded, that is sober-minded. We are to be always ready to
give an answer for the hope that we have in Christ, in Christ
alone. And they were to eat it with
their shoes on their feet. Why? Well, this shows that we
are pilgrims and strangers here below. They were about to leave
Egypt. They were not going to stay in Egypt no longer. Don't
get comfortable here. Listen to me. You who truly believe
on Christ, don't get comfortable here. You're about to leave.
This is not home. That's why we are to eat it in
haste. Eat it when we're given, when it's given to us. Eat it
in haste. This is not home. We're about
to go home. He says in verse 12 and 13, the
blood shall be a token for you. This is the good news. God said,
when I see the blood, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Thank God when He sees it. I
don't always see it. There's still too much sin and
flesh in me. But God said, when I see the
blood, I will pass over you. It is His blood that saves us
from the wrath to come. Jesus Christ is the true Passover
Lamb and there's good news to sinners, good news to those who
need mercy, those who need pardon, those who need cleansing, there's
good news in the Lord Jesus Christ. For
under the blood of Christ we have the forgiveness of sins,
pardon, justice, we have all we need to stand before God.
through the Passover Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. Until next
time, may God bless His Word.