It is indeed an honor and a privilege
to be here with you. I've been associated with this
congregation for a long time. I love your pastor. He has absolutely been a dear,
dear friend to me. And I thank the Lord for this
place, that God would raise up and maintain a place where the
gospel of God's grace is preached, preached faithfully. A year or so ago, I was in Mexico
with, you can take your Bibles and turn with me. back to Exodus
12. In Mexico, all last year sometime,
I guess, we were at the preacher's school, Brother Walter Grover,
Cody, and Brother Walter said this
to me. He said, I tell all the men at
the preacher's school, he said, preach, preach to the heart.
preach to the heart. And you know, that's, that's
scriptural. Isaiah 40, you know, speak comfortably
to Israel, speak to her heart. I pray this morning that God
bless this service to me, to you, that the Lord Jesus Christ
be honored He's honored. All is well. If he's not honored, nothing's
well. This morning, this precious passage
of scripture concerning the Passover. Oh, what a glorious passage. Now, let me, let me just go ahead
and just tell you up front. I told Larry a few minutes ago.
I was going over my notes this morning and as I was going over
my notes, I realized I'd like to get through this passage of
scripture. And there is so much, there's so many truth truths
set forth. If I, if I try to look at all. There's certain things that I'm
going to, I'm just going to say, pray the Lord, bless them and
set forth the glory of him who is worthy. I'm going to be in Exodus 12,
but I'll start. I'm going to, I'm going to read
something. Hold your place right there. Turn to Genesis 15. The
Lord revealed to Abraham. that the people of God were going
to be in bondage. They were going to be in bondage
for 400 years and then they were going to be delivered. That's
what the Lord told. Genesis 15 verses 13, 14. He said unto Abram,
know of a surety. Now that, there's some comfort
right there. You absolutely know for a surety
that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that's not theirs.
shall serve them, they shall afflict them 400 years, and also
that nation whom they shall serve will I judge, and afterward shall
they come out with great substance. Now according to the purpose
of him who worketh all things, after the counsel of his own
will, we find now in Exodus chapter 12, that very thing being brought
to pass. Israel has been in Egypt now
400 years. The Lord has raised up
Moses and he told Moses to go to Egypt and tell Pharaoh this
in Exodus 5, Exodus 5 and verse 1. This is Moses Afterward, Moses
and Aaron, Exodus 5-1, went in and told Pharaoh, Thus saith
the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold
a feast unto me in the wilderness. And then Pharaoh responds in
the next verse. This is what he says, Who is
the Lord? That I should obey his voice
to let Israel go. I know not the Lord. Neither
will I let Israel go." Man, by nature, is arrogant. He's rebellious. He will, in
the very face of Almighty God who holds that soul in His very
hand, all souls are mine. The Lord in judgment, because
of that, sent nine plagues. Egypt, all of those plagues. Pharaoh resisted. God left him
to himself. Scripture says the Lord hardened
his heart, left him alone. Almighty God, leave a man alone.
And I'm telling you, that man's going to perish. The Lord then
told Moses, Exodus 11, verse one, he said, The Lord said unto
Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, upon Egypt. And afterwards he will let you go. Hence, when he shall
let you go, he shall surely thrust you out. Hence, all together. The Lord told Moses what he was
going to do and what was going to come to pass. And then Moses
told Pharaoh what the Lord had said. conversation, Exodus 11,
4-8. Now this is Moses telling Pharaoh
what God said. Moses said, Thus saith the Lord
God, About midnight will I 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
to the firstborn of the maid servant that is behind the mill,
all the firstborn of the beast, There shall be a great cry throughout
all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall
it 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 shall know how that the Lord doth put a difference. between
the Egyptians and Israel and all these thy servants. He's
telling Pharaoh, these people, all your servants, 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 afterward that I will go out. And he went out from
Pharaoh in great anger. He said, now this is what the
Lord has got to say. Pharaoh surely thought. I've
heard this before. We've gone through nine of these
little bumps in the road. And we've weathered them all.
That's what he's thinking. We've come through all these
other calamities. Look at 2 Peter 3. 2 Peter chapter
3. We've gone through these things
before and now here you are coming again. in telling me, okay, another
one's coming. 2 Peter 3, 3, knowing this first, that there
shall come in the last day scoffers walking after their own lust
and saying, where's the promise of his coming? For since the
fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the
beginning of the creation. For this, they willingly are
ignorant of that by the word of God the heavens were of old
and the earth standing out of the water and in the water whereby
the world that then was being overflowed with water perished. Let no rebel against God ever
say Almighty God has not been just. Almighty God has told us,
man without Christ, he that hath the son hath life. He that hath not the son hath
not life. Moses told Pharaoh, this is what
God's going to do. And then afterwards, back in
Exodus chapter 11, after he told Pharaoh what God had said, this
is what the Lord said in verse 9, that Pharaoh was going to
do. The Lord said, Exodus 11, 9 said,
unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that my wonders
may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. He's not going to listen
to what you've got to say. And then that wicked king did
that which he did. because he was a rebel against
God. That's exactly right. He did
what he did because he wanted to do what he did. I'm telling
you, God left him to himself. Look at verse 10. 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 the land. God left him alone. I pray this
morning, Lord don't leave me alone. I'm going to just be honest
with you. I know what I'll do. I don't
know the depth to which I'll do it, but I know what I'll do.
I'll quit. I'll leave. I will not stay. You know how I know that? There's
no record of anyone ever staying that God didn't keep by His power
and grace. God's got to keep a man. May
the Lord have mercy on us. If God Almighty justly leaves
us to do that which our carnal heart dictates, we're going to
die in our rebellion and we're going to suffer the just reward
of our iniquity. We're going to be cast out. Cast
them out, find them, hand them over. But on the other hand,
and this is what I know so If the Lord is pleased to show mercy
and compassion unto me, if God almighty gives, grants salvation
to me, it's going to be to the praise of the glory of his grace. Romans chapter nine. I'll just
read this. If you want to turn, I've, I've
got quite a few places I'll read from, but Romans nine in verse
18 says this, therefore hath the mercy on whom He will have
mercy and whom He will, He hardeneth. Does God have the right to do
that? Absolutely. Does He have the
right out of the same lump to make one vessel under honor and
another under dishonor? Does He have the right to do
that? Yes, He does. God Almighty does as he will. Who said that?
Nebuchadnezzar said that. He doeth as he will in the army
of heaven among the inhabitants of the earth. And no one, no
one has a right to question him. No one has a right to doubt.
I ask you, why do you do what you do? He doesn't owe anyone
an explanation. If he would give me a heart to
bow for that, I am so thankful. Well, now in chapter 12, Here
we have the account of that 10th plague. The Lord said, I'm going
to send one more plague. God Almighty has told Moses,
he said, I'm going to, I'm going to pass through. I'm going to
pass through. And he said, I'm going to, I'm
going to destroy the Egyptians. But he said, I'm going to have
mercy. Here we behold in God's judgment,
we also behold the glorious mercy to Israel. I'm telling you, God's
got a people in this world and he's calling them out. He's calling
them out under the sound of the gospel. Brother Lindsay, that's
what you just said. We're preaching the gospel. We
throw the net. Who are God's elect? I don't
know, but I know how they're going to be brought. I know they're
going to hear the sound of the gospel. They're going to hear
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. They're going to hear how God
saves sinners, how God's honored, how Christ himself has suffered
the just for the unjust. And God's going to have all that
he's ever loved, ever chosen in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well,
here's what I know. We must set forth our precious
Savior. Truly, Moses, right here, according
to the Lord's Word, he wrote of me. That's what Christ said.
He wrote of me. Now here, we're going to see
what does God demand that he might justly show mercy. God is a just God. He said, I'm
a Savior. God shows mercy, but not at the
expense of His justice. Now, chapter 12, Exodus, verses
1 to 4, 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 to them every man a lamb. According to
the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house, If the household
be too little for the Lamb, let him his neighbor next to his
house take it according to the number of the souls. Every man
according to his eating shall make your count for the Lamb. Now here's what I know. For God
Almighty to pass over me. You can say this for yourself.
You that know Him do say this for yourself. for God Almighty
to pass over me, this is what it's going to take. It's going
to take a lamb. You know, think to yourself just for a
moment. If you knew nothing at all concerning
redemption, salvation, and someone were to ask you, What is it going
to take for God to show mercy to you? I'll tell you the first
thing you're going to think. I'm going to have to clean up
my act. I'm going to have to turn over a new leaf. I'm going
to have to straighten up and fly right. I'm going to have
to... I had neighbors in Franklin when
I lived there. They'd tell me, they'd say, we think we're going
to do church this weekend. You know. Take a lamb. Take a lamb. God Almighty has
been pleased to show mercy to whomsoever He will. And this
is what He says. I'm going to reveal to you what
I demand. Take a lamb. telling Moses, by the Lord telling
Moses, you take a lamb. Let me tell you what he's saying.
You're guilty. I'm going to pass over. I'm going
to judge Egypt. I'm going to pass over you. You
take a lamb. Israel was just as guilty as
Egypt. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. There's none righteous. No, not
one. Egypt was not told to take a
lamb. He told Moses, you tell the people
you take a lamb. God is going to show mercy to
Israel, but not at the expense of his justice. Israel needed
a lamb. And the Lord would supply the
lamb. What God demands, God supplies. I love this passage. Let me read
this. Genesis 22, 7, 8. You know this. You know this.
Let's just bask in the glory of it. Isaac spake unto Abraham
his father and says, My father. And he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire
and the wood. But where's the lamb for a burnt
offering? And Abraham said, my son, God
will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went
up both of them together, went up both of them together. God
will supply himself. God almighty will provide himself. God is just. Either the firstborn
is going to die or an innocent substitute must die. There must be a redeemer. There must be a substitute. There
must be a sacrifice. Where sin's found, God's wrath is too. But it couldn't be just any lamb. I don't want you to go out there
and find that one that's been hobbling around, spotty, got
that stuff on its ears and stuff. I demand the best. The best. I want the best. Verse 5. Your lamb shall be without
blemish. a male of the first year, he
shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats. This lamb was to be without blemish,
a beautiful and fit type of the immaculate holiness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I can say that. I can say that. Perfect. Holy. And my understanding
just... I don't even want to try to explain
it. What am I going to explain about
the holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ? I believe it. Lord, help my unbelief. I believe
it. 1 Peter 1 18-19, For as much
as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things,
as silver and gold from your vain conversation, received by
tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of
Christ as a Lamb, without blemish, without spot, the Lord Jesus
Christ was without sin. Without sin. He made flesh and
had all of the characteristics that we have. We age, he aged. We age because of sin. We suffer, we hunger, we thirst,
we feel pain. We're fallen creatures. He was
made like unto his brethren, yet without sin. We quote these scriptures and
we're quoting things that are so far above us. I know this
concern. We were redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ as a lamb. The precious blood of Christ
as a lamb without blemish, without spot. He knew no sin. And I'll tell you this, Spirit
of God, was very, very particular to continually remind us of that. Peter just wrote of it. Peter
was one of his apostles, taught by the Spirit of God. And Peter
wrote that he was without spot, precious blood, no blemish. What did Pilate say? He was just
a Roman official. What did the Spirit of God move
on Pilate? What did the Spirit of God move Pilate's mouth to
say? I find no fault in him. A centurion soldier there at
the crucifixion, what did he say? Luke 23, 47, certainly this
was a righteous man. That was a righteous man. I thought
to myself as I read that, how did he know? How did he know
that? Here was a man beaten beyond recognition. How did he know? How did he know to say that?
The Spirit of God moved on him. All scripture given by inspiration
of God. And the Holy Spirit said, you
say that. You say that. You give witness to his glory.
That's a righteous man. The Lord Jesus Christ said, John
8, 46, Which of you convinced me of sin? The father said at
his baptism, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. The mount of transfiguration,
this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Hear ye, you
hear ye. There must be a lamb. It's going
to have to be a lamb that's precious, without blemish, without spot.
Thirdly, that lamb is going to have to suffer. That lamb will
suffer as an offering. Exodus 12, verse 6, you shall
keep it up until the 14th day of the same month. The whole
assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the
evening. That lamb suffered as a Beautiful
fit picture and type of our Lord and Savior. God's Lamb. God who provided Himself a Lamb. Peter said in 1 Peter 3.18, For
Christ also hath once suffered for sins. The just for the unjust
that He might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh,
but quickened by the Spirit. The Lamb of God laid down His life for His people. John 10, 15, I lay down my life
for the sheep. Moses was told by God, you take
that lamb and you kill it. Kill it. Second Corinthians 5 21, for
he hath made him sin to be, as in italics, he hath made him
sin for us. Here's what the scripture says. He was made sin. He was made sin. I've told you this before. I'll
tell you again. I asked Brother Scott one day.
I'll never forget this. I can still see him there. He
was sitting at my desk. He's sitting right here in this
rocking chair that we bought him. I said, Brother Scott, I read
this and I said, I know what it's saying. And I said, I even
hold my breath every time. But I said, according to that
scripture, I said, the Lord Jesus Christ hanging on that cross. He who was without sin on that cross was hanging sin for us. He had made him sin for
us who knew no sin. And I said, Brother Scott, I
just said, he said, Marvin, I know you desperately want to be respectful. And he said, I know that. And
he took his finger and pointed at me and he said, don't you
ever Don't you ever try to play down or water down or take away
in any way, in any wise, the glory of the substitute who laid down
his life for us. He said scriptures say exactly
what they mean. By the grace of God, I'll remember
that the day I die. I know this. And he finished
this by saying, he said, if he was not made what I am, if he
did not suffer as what I am, he said, I don't have any hope.
He said, God put away my sin in a substitute. Hebrews 9.22, and almost all
things are by the law purged with blood, and without shedding
of blood is no remission, no forgiveness. Take a lamb, precious
lamb, and kill it. But fourthly, without the application
of that shed blood, there's no passing over. He died, but that blood's got
to be applied to me. Exodus 12 verse 7 says 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. Here we behold a beautiful glorious picture
of God-given faith. It's given unto you to believe. You take the blood and you take
that hyssop, Brother Lindsey, red orange, you take it and you
put it on the door. They put that blood on that door
and this is what they knew. God told us to do this. We believe
God. You put the blood. God's people
must have his blood personally applied to them. For justification,
Romans 5, Romans 5 verses 8 and 9 says this. But God commendeth his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us much
more than being now justified by his blood. We shall be saved from wrath
through him. the blood. Oh, that precious
blood sprinkled. That's what Hebrews 10.22 says. That precious blood sprinkled. Apply. I can't apply the blood. God Almighty who chose Christ
who redeemed God himself must apply the blood. Hebrews 10.22. says this, let us draw near with
a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. The precious, glorious blood
of Christ. A lamb, precious, slain and blood
applied. But not only was that blood applied
to the doorpost, that lamb was going to have to be eaten. And
here's how it was to be eaten. This is how a believer eats by
faith. This is how we believe. This
is what we believe. We eat of Christ. We eat of Him. Exodus, back in Exodus 12 verses
8 to 10. They shall eat the flesh in that
night, roast with fire and unleavened bread, bitter herbs they'll eat
it, eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast
it with fire. His head, his legs, with the
pertinence thereof, you shall let nothing of it remain until
the morning, and that which remaineth of it until the morning you shall
burn with fire. It had to be roasted with fire. Speaking, I am convinced, I believe,
setting forth the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ. He bore the brunt of God's wrath. The wrath of Him of whom it is
said is a consuming fire. Men speak so flippantly. of God Almighty. Realizing that we're all going
to stand before God, the books are going to be open. I read that the books will be
open and the book will be open. All that was found in the book,
that book of the Lamb, that book of life, that book of Christ,
written from before the foundation of the world. They have life. But all that were not found in
that book, written from before the foundation of the world,
they're going to be judged out of the books according to their
works. Lord, have mercy on me. Oh, may
I find my hope in Him. You eat of that lamb, you're
going to eat it as it is roasted with fire. By faith, a needy
sinner trusts Christ Himself, the Lamb, who truly suffered. I think about what I just said
about 2 Corinthians 5.21, being made sin and God Almighty in
absolute justice forsook his son. Listen to this, roasted with
fire, when the Lord Jesus Christ cried, my God, my God, why has
thou forsaken You eat that lamb roasted with
fire. Truly, by faith, we eat of Him. He's the bread. He that eateth
my flesh drinketh my blood. We eat by faith of Him who suffered
and died under the judgment of God Almighty in our place. And He said, you'll eat that
lamb And he said, you'll eat that lamb with bitter herbs. I'm sorry, with unleavened bread
and bitter herbs, they shall eat it. Unleavened bread. Let me turn with me to 1 Corinthians
5. Unleavened bread. 1 Corinthians
5, 7 and 8. This scripture here gives great
light on that. 1 Corinthians 5, 7 and 8. 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. Therefore, let us 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 do we eat? of the lamb by
faith. How do we eat of the lamb by
faith? Well, back in Exodus chapter 12, verse 8, it said we're to
eat it with unleavened bread. We eat of him sincerely. We eat of him in truth as he
is revealed to us by the Spirit of God. I sincerely believe he's
my only hope. with the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth. Who do men say that I am? Here
again, Brother Lindsey, you just said that. All this one, that,
who do you say? Peter said, you're the Christ.
I believe that. I believe that. You're the Christ.
You're God almighty. And I'll tell you another thing.
in sincerity. Eat it not only with unleavened
bread, but eat it with bitter herbs. As they ate that, and that bitter
herb they tasted, they were eating that roasted lamb. And they knew
all the while, this is a picture. This is beautiful. This is our
hope. This is Christ, a picture of Him. This is the lamb. God's
going to provide Himself a lamb. And they ate those bitter herbs,
and they tasted it. And I said, all the while, I
see why I must eat of Him, because I know what I am in myself. Paul says, O wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? You that
know Him, that trust Him, that love Him, that love Him, and
find all your hope in Him. You don't have any confidence
in your flesh. You that know Him, you don't. You don't trust
in your free will. But I'll tell you what else you
don't forget either. You don't remember who you are.
You know who you are. Two men went up to the temple
to pray. One was a Pharisee and one was a publican. And the Pharisee
started bragging, I'll just jump right over here to the publican.
God, be merciful to me. sinner. I'm a sinner. Christ Jesus came to this world
to save sinners. Paul said, of whom I'm chief.
You eat that lamb. You take it in. You eat it. You swallow it. It becomes you,
part of you. You eat it with unleavened bread. Sincere, sincere. It's my hope
right here, right here. And all the while, I remember
what I am by the grace of God. And they ate it. He said in verse
nine, he said, eat not of it raw nor sodden at all with water,
roasted with fire, his head, his legs with the pertinence
thereof. It takes all of Christ. Let me tell you what it's going
to take for God Almighty to pass over me. It's going to take the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. That's what it's going to take.
It's going to take the fullness of the Godhead in human flesh
to satisfy God's justice, to show me mercy. He said, don't
you eat it raw. You roast it with fire, his head,
his legs, pertinence, all of it, all of it, all. And then he said, verse 11, thus
shall he eat it with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet,
your staff in your hand, eat it in haste. It's the Lord's
Passover. We eat of Him daily, ready to be delivered. This was last night. They were
leaving. They've been here 400 years. And we're leaving tomorrow. We're leaving tomorrow. The next
day, God Almighty delivered Israel out of Egypt. They left. He said,
you eat this tonight and you'd be ready to go. We're just pilgrims,
sojourners. But I tell you, knowing that
this world is not our home, we like Abraham, we look, you know,
for a city that has foundations. This place doesn't. The Lord Jesus Christ prayed,
Father, I will. that those that you've given
me be with me where I am. I've thought about those, even
from Katie, that have gone on to be with the Lord and Brother
Scott and Martha and many others. I've preached 10 funerals since
I've been there. And I'll think to myself, oh,
those that know him, what they know now. Be ready. Now, again, I'll admit there's
so much in that one. Loins girded up. But in closing, look at verse
12 and 13. For I will pass through the land
of Egypt this night and shall 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 oh,
these precious words. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you and the
plague shall not be upon you to destroy you. when I smite
the land of Egypt. The Lord who supplied the lamb. The Lord who gave the demand
of the preciousness of the lamb of his son. The Lord himself
who made him to be seen. The Lord himself who gave the
faith to believe on him, to trust him. The Lord himself, who said,
you take the blood of the lamb that I supply and you put it
on the lentil side post. The Lord who supplied all and
gave him faith to believe said this. Now, when I see the blood. I'll pass over you." What did
they have to glory in save Jesus Christ and Him crucified? Jonah made this glorious statement,
salvations of the Lord. Lord bless these words to our
heart for Christ's sake.