My text this evening will be
found in Exodus chapter 12, verses 25, 26, and 27. Let's begin with
that. Exodus chapter 12, verse 25. And it shall come to pass, when
ye be come to the land which the Lord will give you, according
as he hath promised. that you shall keep this service,
and it shall come to pass when your children shall say unto
you, What mean ye by this service? That ye shall say it is the sacrifice
of the Lord's Passover. He passed over the houses of
the children of Israel in Egypt when he smote the Egyptians and
delivered our houses, and the people bowed their heads Now, when I went to bed last
night, I had my message well prepared and everything worked
out in detail in these three verses. And I had something very
unusual happen all night long, or it seemed all night long.
I realized dreams last just a few seconds or a few minutes, but
I kept dreaming or thinking, I don't know which it was, about
this 12th chapter of Exodus. pressing heavily on my heart.
I woke up early this morning and so I spent a good bit of
the morning before services this morning and this afternoon preparing
this message. So I want you to give me your
attention. You're familiar with the context that's found here.
Moses has just conveyed to the children of Israel the instructions
which God gave him concerning the observance of the Passover
feast throughout the generations of the children of Israel in
the Old Testament. He tells them both God's promise
of deliverance, that he was that night going to pass through the
land and destroy the firstborn of all the Egyptians and compel
Pharaoh and the Egyptians to thrust Israel out of the land. And he gives Moses instructions
concerning how they were to observe the ordinance of the Passover,
that is, this memorial feast by which they commemorated their
redemption and deliverance by the hand of God and the blood
of the Lamb every year throughout their generations. Now, the whole
affair, by God's design and purpose, was a type and picture of Christ
our Passover who was sacrificed for us, and of the redemption
of our souls and deliverance of our souls from the bondage
of sin and the curse of God's law by the blood of Christ and
by the grace of God in Christ. The Apostle Paul tells us that
plainly in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7. We read purge out
therefore the old leaven that you may be a new lot as you are
unleavened for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. We are unleavened that is without
uncleanness before God. We who believe are unleavened
without uncleanness before God. That does not mean, James, we
have no uncleanness. My soul, we acknowledge the abundance
and the horridness of our uncleanness, but before God we have not, because
Christ, who is our Passover, is sacrificed for us. Got that? All right, now let me show you
a few delightful highlights here in Exodus chapter 12. Hold your
Bibles open. Here in this corrupt chapter
of Exodus, and I want you to see some things that I'm sure
you picked up and they're as obvious to you as they can possibly
be, but I believe it will be profitable for our souls to go
over them again. As this was the beginning of
months for the children of Israel, the changing of their when they
were redeemed, when they were brought out of the land of Egypt,
when they were delivered by the power of God and the blood of
the sacrificed lamb, so the experience of redemption and the experience
of grace in Jesus Christ is the beginning of an altogether new
life for the believer. Look here in verse 2, this month
shall be to you the beginning of the month. God said, now listen,
everything up to now is over. Everything up to now is over. This is the beginning of months
to you. It shall be the first month of
the year to you. Therefore, Paul says, if any
man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed
away. Behold, all things are become
new. What would you give? What would
you give to have a totally new record with Old God? Start all
over. Start all over. Not only start
all over, but start all over with a clean record and no possibility
of it ever being defiled. That's what it is. to experience
the grace of God. We, this day, are new creatures
in God. And everything past is over. It's done. It's a new beginning. Now this new record and this
new standing before God is not something that we obtain by believing. It is something that we experience
and enter into and enjoy by believing that it was obtained by the sacrifice
of Christ our Passover. He washed away our sins. He brought
in for us everlasting righteousness. All right, second. Every man
in Israel had to have a lamb for sacrifice. Every one of them. Look in verses two through six.
Every man in Israel Had to have a lamb, no exception. If he didn't
have a sacrifice, didn't have a lamb, he was going to perish
under the wrath of God. The judgment of God would fall
on him as well as upon the Egyptians. Look at verse 2. This month shall
be unto you the beginning of month. This shall be the first
month of the new year to you. Speak ye to all the congregation
of Israel. Now that's important. The Lord
didn't say speak to everybody. He didn't intend it for everybody.
He didn't say speak to Pharaoh in his house and to Israel in
the houses of Israel. He said speak ye to all the congregation
of Israel because God's purpose here was the deliverance of Israel. And God's purpose of grace and
redemption is the deliverance of his Israel, the Israel of
God. Read on. 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 us. 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 the souls. Every
man according to his eating shall make your account for the lamb.
Your lamb shall be without blemish a male of the first year. You
shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall
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. As every man in Israel had to
have a lamb, even so we, if we would stand accepting before
God, must have a lamb sacrifice. We must have Christ, the Lamb
of God, who alone takes away the sins of the world. And look
at these verses, they just burst in with meaning. The one of whom
this passage speaks, is Jesus Christ our Lord. This is one
of those passages where you don't even have to look for him, you
have to turn away to miss him. He's just here, look at him now. The lamb was selected and provided
by the father of the house. The father was commanded to go
out and get the lamb and provide it for his household. And our
heavenly father Before the world began, selected, provided, and
gave his own dear son to be the lamb of sacrifice there. The
lamb had to be a male of the first year. Now that's important.
Had to be a male of the first year because a lamb who is a
male of the first year is in the prime and vigor of his life.
And our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, was sacrificed for
us as the Lamb of God, as a man in the prime and vigor of his
life, having fulfilled the full age of a man in righteous obedience,
and yet not growing weak yet. He was just 33 years old at the
very peak of manhood. In the prime and vigor of his
life, he was stricken by the rod of God. The Lamb had to be
without spot. without blemish, without any
weakness, without any scar, without any defilement of any kind. Now
that lamb was to be shut up from the 10th day of the month to
the 14th day of the month so that for four days he is watched
and inspected and watched and inspected and watched and inspected
to see if there's any blemish, any defilement, any secret weakness
in him. Even so, our Lord Jesus Christ
was tried and examined. tried and examined by the courts
of men, tried and examined by the eye of God himself, and declared
to be holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. If
he wasn't, Bobby, couldn't put away your sin. But since he's
the Holy Lamb of God, since he is himself God, the Lamb, and
holy in everything, he is that one who is acceptable to God
as the sacrifice for sinners. The Lamb had to be slain. It had to be slaughtered of violence. It had to be slaughtered by the
father's hand. Because the Lamb of God could not be put to death by
the hand of a man. for the satisfying of divine
justice, where he had been put to death by his father, so that
his father made him to be sin for us. His father drew forth
the sword of justice and plunged it into his holy soul. His father
cried, a wakeful sword against one that is my fellow, smite
and slay the And so he was slain by the hand of God according
to the will of God. Thirdly, the blood of the Paschal
Lamb had to be applied to every house in Israel. Now we won't
read all the chapter, but this is where most people misinterpret
the passage and miss the beauty and glory of it. They say, now
the blood was shed. The father provided the sacrifice
and the father provided the lamb and the father shed the blood.
But now the blood's got to be applied. You've got to take it
and apply it to yourself. Listen to me carefully. The same
hand that shed the blood applied the blood. The same hand that
provided the blood applied the blood. The same hand that demanded
the blood applied the blood. It was the father who takes a
bowl of blood and a bunch of hyssop and he dips the hyssop
in the blood and strikes the doorpost and the lintel and thereby
preserved his household. Listen to me. Lord God Almighty,
our Heavenly Father, sends forth his Holy Spirit. and applies
the blood of his dear son effectually to the hearts of his children
so that they are both justified by his grace and in the time
of his mercy at the appointed time of his love he applies that
blood to the hearts of chosen sinners and causes them to believe
on the Son of God. The blood of Christ was applied
to chosen sinners by God himself by the power and grace of the
Holy Spirit applied through a bunch of hyssop. Now, I don't really
know exactly what hyssop was, but it was just an instrument.
I suspect it was something like we would use one of those big
brushes that you'd use to do a little whitewashing. You know,
you don't pay too much attention to what the brush looks like.
It's just insignificant. And God Almighty, in His sovereign
mercy and grace, takes a useless, ugly bunch of history, and puts
his word in the lips of a man, and causes his word to go forth
in the lips of a man, and thereby by the power of his spirit, sprinkles
the blood on the hearts of chosen saints. The blood was applied,
however, to none but the children of Israel, and to all the children
of Israel. applied to them effectually,
securing their deliverance, so that all for whom the blood was
shed were those to whom the blood was applied, and there were none
of those for whom the lamb died that were perishing at last under
the wrath of God. Fourthly, look at verses 7 to
11. The paschal lamb also had to
be eaten. Now then, this is our act of
faith. Ron, we've got to eat the sacrifice.
Our Lord Jesus said, except you eat my flesh and drink my blood,
you have no part with me. You have no life in you. And
he wasn't talking about cannibalism, he was talking about faith. He's
talking about taking the merit of his righteousness and the
merit of his blood, taking his person and his work and receiving
him so that everything there is in him is yours. Everything,
everything. Read it now, verse 7. They shall
take the blood and strike it on the two side posts of the houses wherein they shall
eat it. And they shall eat the flesh
in that night, eat it roast with fire and with unleavened bread
and with bitter herbs. They shall eat it. Eat not of
it raw, nor soften it all with water, but roast with fire his
head with his legs, and all the pertinence thereof. And you shall
let nothing of it remain until the morning, and that which remaineth
of it until the morning you shall burn with fire. And thus shall
you eat it, with your loins girted, your shoes on your feet, your
staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's
Passover. Now, this is a picture of faith.
And yet, even the faith by which we receive Christ, the faith
by which we eat of him, is the gift of God, the operation of
God, the Holy Spirit within us, as Paul plainly tells us in Ephesians
and in Colossians. But that's another sermon. For
now, I simply want you to see this blessed picture of faith
in our Savior. It was to be eaten roasted with
fire. What on earth does that refer
to? We eat the lamb burned up with the fire of hell. being convinced of sin, righteousness
and judgment. We eat the sacrifice of the Son
of God. We eat this lamb by faith believing
that Jesus Christ by his sacrifice has satisfied the justice of
God for sin. That he has brought in everlasting
righteousness for sinners. That justice now, judgment is
over. How do you know? Behold the burnt
land. You see? The burnt land? It's
he has been burned under the wrath of God for us. And that
one who was burned under the wrath of God for us in the fire
of God's wrath has himself quenched the fire of God's wrath. We're
to eat the sacrifice with unleavened bread. That means more. The only way we can believe on
the Son of God with a sincere, honest, open heart. Faith in
Christ of necessity involves sincerity, honesty, openness. Not a pretentious, hypocritical
game we're playing. We believe on the Son of God.
Our Lord said, if any man, if we confess our sins, He's faithful
and just to forgive us our sins, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Now, some of us were raised in a religious atmosphere and came
through things so that what that means is, you know, every time
you get in trouble, you come up to the front and you start
to confess your sin, tell folks bad stuff you did. The bad stuff
you've done, is utterly insignificant compared to the bad stuff you
are. You can spend the rest of your
life with a list and catalog of sins and never get it all
said. But what does it mean to confess
your sin? To stand before God and look to Jesus Christ alone
before God alone. It doesn't matter what this preacher
sees. It doesn't matter what mom and dad see. It doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter how things look to anybody else right where
you are before God right now. You say God be merciful to me. Be propitious. Be propitious
to me through the blood atonement of your darling son. causing
your mercy to float on to me because justice has been satisfied
for me. That's all I am. That's my name, that's my nature,
that's what I am. That's all I am. And the believer
is a man, a woman, who honestly, sincerely acknowledges his Savior,
the Lord God. with bitter herbs. And the sweetest, most bitter
thing on this earth is the bittersweet experience
of repentance. I don't much like bitter things,
but this one bitter thing I do like. And that repentance is
just what I've been talking about. It's the acknowledgement of our
sin, the loathing of our sin. It's turning from ourselves and
our sin and our corruption to Christ and his righteousness
and his blood. And notice here, God told Moses
to eat it all. Eat it all. What's that mean? That means you take Christ just
exactly as he is revealed in this book. Now that means in
all of his person, in all of his work, in all of his offices,
in all of his character. You can't receive what you want
of him and throw away the rest. It won't work. With Don Fortner,
that works pretty good. I'm so happy to have you be my
friend. You just, you take whatever you want to, whatever you can
stand, take it, throw the rest away, but not with the Son of
God. You come to him, You've got to
come to Him first. You bow to Him as your Lord.
You trust Him as your righteousness. You trust Him as your wisdom.
You trust Him as your redemption. You trust Him for justification,
sanctification, preservation, everlasting glory. You trust
Him in providence. You just commit everything to
Him. Eat it all. And look at this. Eat it with expectation. Did you see that? With your loins
girded, your shoes on your feet, your staff in your hand. This
is the kind of expectation I'm talking about. I can but perish if I go. I'm going to die anyhow. And
it's better to die there than die here. I can but perish if
I go. I am resolved to try. For if
I stay away, I know I must forever die. But there's more to it than
that. It's not just eating it with
a sense of frustration and despair. He's the only hope I've got.
But it's eating it with a sense of frustration and despair in
ourselves and expectation for more. For if I die with mercy sought,
When I, the King, have tried, this were to die, delightful
thought, as sinner never dies. Preacher, will He take me? Right
now He'll take you. Right now. Will He receive me? Right now He'll receive you.
Can I have Him? Right now you can have Him. Believe
on the Son of God. Believe on Him. And eat it in
haste. Don't dilly-dally about this
stuff. Today, if you will hear his voice,
harden not your heart. Behold, today is the day of salvation. Brother Todd Nival was preaching
along this line up at Dean this other day. about man coming to
Christ, he says it's a pretty short period. Do it in haste. Do it in haste. This is not something
that you just, you play games with. We're talking about the
Son of God. You're perishing under the wrath of God. God's judgment's on you. You're
condemned and you're about to breathe your last breath. You
be smart and come to the Savior more. Judgment's coming. God told Moses in verse 12. He
said, I'm going to pass through the land of Egypt this night. And I'm going to kill all the
firstborn of the land, both man and beast. And against all the
gods of Egypt, I execute judgment. I am the Lord. Oh my God! How can I leave you to yourself?
God passes through right now. And He passes through in judgment. If He finds you are cursed, you're
going to be damned forever. this Passover in Hades. You can
play games with this preacher. You can play games with your
husband. You can play games with your wife. You can play games
with mom and dad. You can play games with the whole
church and everybody in this world. You don't dare play games
with God. You dare play games with God. Fifthly, the most important aspect
of this whole affair was the blood. the precious, precious
blood, the precious lifeblood of the Paschal Lamb. Look at
verse 13. 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 shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the
hand of Egypt. You all know how highly I regard
and respect Scott Richardson. He and I were preaching together
several years ago. He said, I'm so thankful God said, when
I see the blood, I'll pass over you. But he didn't say, when
you see the blood, I'll pass over you. He said, God saw the
blood a long time before I saw it. And he saw the blood when I saw
it. I see the blood now, and he sees it. He said, but time
may come when old Scott Richardson gets, he said, old-timers disease. He said, time may come when I
lose my mouth. He said, I've got a brother in
sanatorium. This time may come, I'll be right
there with you. Be right there with you. But
God didn't say, when Scott Richardson sees blood, I'll pass over you.
He said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. And the blood shall be to you
for a token. I have this wedding band on my
hand. It's a token. Special person's love. Special,
special love. It ain't worth much. I know what
you gave for it. It ain't worth much. But it's
worth everything. Understand that? Everything.
Because it's a token of her love. A token of her heart's attachment
to me. The blood of Jesus Christ represented
in that cup of wine we're going to receive this morning is a
token of God's everlasting love, the commitment of his being to
us, and of our everlasting salvation by his hand. Now this was an ordinance to
be kept by the children of Israel perpetually throughout their
generations in remembrance and celebration of their redemption
and deliverance out of the land of Egypt. This day shall be to you, verse
14, 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. Seven days shall you eat unleavened
bread. Even the first day you shall
put away leaven out of your houses. For whosoever eateth leavened
bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall
be cut off from Israel. And in the first day there shall
be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be
an 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 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 ordinance forever." The Passover was to be to the
children of Israel a memorial feast. God said, now, every year, every year, you come
and make a holy convocation and remember, That night, when I
brought you out of Egypt, with a mighty hand that stretched
that arm, by blood and by power, I brought you out of Egypt. We
come together as this bread and this wine. Oh, God help us to get that man.
He said, as often as you eat this bread and drink this wine,
get that man. good in remembrance of that.
It was a hopeful feast in anticipation of the true Passover. They were
eating this lamb that was slain. And they ate this lamb with their
lungs burning and stamping their hands and shoes on their feet.
What do you mean? Well, they were getting ready
to go out of that place. God said, we're going out of
here. God said, the time has come now. I'm bringing you out
of Egypt. And they stood there eating that
lamb. waiting, expecting deliverance. We eat this feast in hopeful
anticipation. One of these days, we're going
out of here. The Lord said, you do this and
remember me till I come. But he comes. that we eat the
bread, we ought to remember what he does, and we ought to expect him to
come. I try my best every time I take
the bread with wine, to set my heart and mind focusing upon
Christ's blessing sacrament, and his glory day. There was a cup in the field, These folks celebrated redemption,
accomplished by God, and accomplished by God at exactly God's appointed
time. Look in verse 40. Now, the soul journey of the
children of Israel who dwell in Egypt was 430 years. What has God done Abraham? He
hasn't sent your children down to Egypt for 400 years. And we
won't debate about 30 years, you want to talk about it later,
I'll show you what the calculations are. And it came to pass, at
the end of 430 years, even the self-same day, it came to pass,
that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land It is
a night to be much observed unto the Lord, for bringing him out
from the land of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord
to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations. Remember now, this came to pass
exactly as God had ordained, exactly as God had promised. God in his infinite wisdom, mercy
and grace had purposed from eternity that Israel should sojourn in
bondage and affliction and trouble 400 years. And then at the end
of 400 years he would bring them out and it came to pass on the
same day he brought them out. No accidents, nothing that was
out of order. Everything moving exactly according
to God's will. And God from eternity, purpose,
in his wisdom, love, and grace, that each of his elect should make them all soldiers. A man of dark, hard power, until they may see themselves
as prisoners without hope. And that's the appointed time
of life on the seventh day of the month, the break of dawn. It was also a Sabbath feast.
Look at verse 16. The Lord said, No manner of work
shall be done. How come? How come it was that
in the worship of God, the Lord God always required no work on
our part? He said, you come to me, you
come to be on altar stone. Not of you, He said. You come
to me and you would worship me and build a house for me. Don't
let there be the sound of a saw or a hammer be heard in the temple.
What you doing? You come to me. Don't you, don't
you let a man put his hand and touch that arch if you're a killer.
Kill him. If so much as the hand of a beast
should touch the mountain, you'll die right there. How come? You make this holy convocation
and do no work. Not one speck. How come? Because we're talking about God's
salvation, and God's sacrifice, and God's love. and you put your
hand to it, I don't care where you put your hand to it. You try to do something, I've
got this to do. It doesn't matter what it is.
It doesn't matter where you put your hand in it. If you put your
hand in it, God's going to kill you. The only way you can come
to God is without working. The only way you can come to
God is in a holy Sabbath keeping, resting entirely on his beloved
side. More than that, it was a faggoty
feast. Look at this. In verse 43, the Lord said, there
shall no stranger eat thereof. We're about to receive the Lord's
table. Don't any of y'all eat it? We're strangers, with the
grace of God. Alien, coming up in this world. But who can eat it? Look at verse
47. All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. Everyone else. The Lord did not say examine
yourselves and decide whether or not you're going to eat. The
Lord said by me examine yourselves and let every man examine himself
and so let him eat. Now that doesn't mean that the pastor and deacons and elders
examine you and decide whether or not you can eat. That's self
righteous Pharisees. That doesn't mean let the discipline
committee examine you and see whether or not you knew. That
doesn't mean examine yourself and see whether or not you've
read your Bible enough and prayed enough and you've worked up enough
and you're holy enough so that you come and you look at yourself
and say, now I'm worthy. When you do that, then you're
not 15. You're not 15. Well, what's our worthiness then? Our worthiness is Christ. You
understand that? Our only worthiness for anything
is Jesus Christ. Don't play these fake humility
games with God. Folks, you know, I would do this,
I would do that, I'd confess the Lord, I'd receive the Lord's
table, but I don't do that. Think you deserve where
you are. You ain't worthy. You ain't worth it. If you're
looking to your feelings for worthiness, you've missed it.
If you're looking for your works for worthiness, you've missed
it. The only worthiness I have to call God's name is to call
God's name through Christ. The only worthiness I have to
proclaim His grace is to proclaim His grace through Christ. The
only worthiness I have to pray for His mercy is to pray for
His mercy through Christ. And the only worthiness I have
to eat this bread and drink this wine is the perfect worthiness
of complete redemption and perfect righteousness in Jesus Christ
the Lord. That's it. But he that eats and drinks unworthily
does not deserve the Lord's blessing. That means he doesn't understand
what it's all about. He doesn't know his need of a
substitute. He doesn't know his need of a savior. Then in verse
26 we read, and it shall come to pass when
all your children, when your children shall say to you, what
mean ye by this service? Oh, I wish I could get some folks
to Pay attention now. Would you God, our children had
enough interest in the things of God to ask, Daddy, what's
going on there? What are you saying? Now, there's a reason why this
question is posed here and answered. In spiritual worship, everything
must be understood. Everything must be understood.
To try to come to God through a mere form of godliness. Try
to approach God just keeping a ritual. Now, I want to be baptized. If you don't have any idea what
baptism means, don't do it. I want to take to the Lord's
table. Don't have any idea what it means? Don't you dare do it.
To do so is to simply make the ordinance of God a piece of idolatry. Don't you do it. Become the God
of understanding. This is the symbol of our Lord's Sanatonic sacrifice. This is the picture of redemption
accomplished. This is the token, the blood
of the New Testament, the New Covenant. by which was shed for
the remission of the sins of many by the Son of God. This, this is that which testifies
to us continually that he who came, risen again, seemed the
right hand of God. This, this is the blessed reminder
that he who now represents us in glory is soon coming to take
us to God. I eat the bread, I drink the
wine, and remember the Lord. I'll tell you one more thing,
this is. It's such a blessed and clear picture of faith. You watch me. When I say watch me, I wish I could
get folks to quit watching each other in the house of God. Look
around and see what who's doing. I make it a point I've been watching
myself. Watch me. Watch me. I'm going to show you. You who are yet without life
and faith in Christ, I'm going to show you what faith is. In
just a minute, I'm going to eat that piece of bread. And when I eat that piece of bread,
everything of substance can die to me. I'll take it in my hand,
put it in my mouth, and digest it. Larry, it's mindful of that. All hell can give us that power.
It's mine. I'm gonna drink that cup of wine. And when I take that cup of wine
in my hand, put it in my mouth, swallow it. Drinks everything
of substance and value. Everything worth anything in
that wine is mine. Right now, I eat the flesh and
drink the blood of the Son of God. If I am to fail, I take Him and I receive His blood and His
righteousness and everything He All right, you men, as Benjamins
and him, you come sit in the first table before us.