I did choose thee. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nybert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. Tomorrow is Christmas Day, the
day that we think of the Lord's birth. Of course, it's impossible
to know what day He was born, but He was born. God was manifested
in the flesh. And what I want to consider is
why He came. And we're going to look at an
Old Testament passage of scripture to see why He came and what He
did In 1 Corinthians 15, verse 3, we read
these words, that the gospel is how that Christ died for our
sins according to the scripture. Now, when Paul made that statement,
we did not yet have the New Testament canon. He was speaking of the
Old Testament scriptures. The gospel is how that Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures. In this same
epistle to 1 Corinthians, he said, Christ, our Passover, is
sacrificed for us. So what I want us to consider
is the Passover. There's not a passage in the
Old Testament that identifies more clearly to us as to what
Christ was doing, why he came and what he accomplished. Now,
Egypt, is in shambles. God has sent nine plagues that
have completely devastated the land. They are in shambles. No nation can stand before the
God of Israel. But Pharaoh, God hardened his
heart. even after the land of Egypt
was destroyed under the plagues, the heavy hand of God in judgment. Pharaoh's heart was hardened
by the Lord himself. Scripture does speak that way.
That's why he acted so insanely after these nine plagues. We
read in Exodus chapter 10, verse 27, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh's
heart. Now, if you could get a Bible
and follow along with this, I think it would be helpful. I'm reading
from the last of Exodus chapter 10, verse 27, but the Lord hardened
Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go. And Pharaoh
said unto him, get thee from me, he's speaking to Moses. He
says, get thee from me, take heed to thyself to see my face
no more, for in the day thou seest my face, thou shalt die.
And Moses said, thou has spoken well. I'll see thy face again
no more. You see, Moses knew the living
God and he knew Pharaoh was God's pawn performing God's will. Do you remember that scripture
where God said, with regard to Pharaoh, even for this same purpose,
have I raised you up that I might show my power in you and my name
might be declared throughout all the earth. Chapter 11, and
the Lord said unto Moses, yet will I bring one more plague
upon Pharaoh, this is after the nine, and upon Egypt, afterward
he'll let you go hence. And when he shall let you go,
he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether. He's going
to want you out of here. He's going to do everything he
can to get you out of here because he's going to be so devastated
over what's taken place. 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. Now, no doubt,
many of the children of Israel had perhaps become friends with
some of the Egyptians. He said, go get their gold, go
get their silver, go get their jewels. And you there gave them
to him willingly. And the Lord gave the people
favor in the sight of the Egyptians. They handed over their silver
and their gold and their jewels. You see, this is gonna be used
to make the tabernacle in the wilderness. Moreover, the man
Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's
servants and the sight of the people. And Moses said, and this
is when he's speaking to Pharaoh, thus saith the Lord, about midnight
will I go out into the midst of the Egypt and all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt shall die from the firstborn of Pharaoh
that sits upon the throne. Even unto the firstborn of the
maidservant that's behind the mill, and all the firstborn of
the beasts. I mean, I don't care if it's
Pharaoh, or the most insignificant slave, or an animal. All the
firstborn are gonna die in Egypt. This is the 10th plague. And
there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as
there was none like it, nor shall any 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. God said tonight a dog is going
to bark against any of the children of Israel. So you're going to
know that the difference between the children of Israel and Egypt
is the Lord making a difference. Sovereign, distinguishing, discriminating
grace. Now discrimination is a horrible
thing. but not when it comes to grace.
The only way you and I will be saved is if God makes a difference. And he says against the children
of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue. 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'll 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
the land. After all of this devastation, he still wouldn't do it. God
hardened his heart. Now we're going to read about
the Passover. And the Lord spake unto Moses
and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month, shall be
unto you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of
the year to you. Now here's the significance of
the Passover. The calendar was changed. Now at this time would have been
about the seventh month, roughly our September, and God says,
I'm changing it. This is the beginning of months. Now here's the significance.
This is when spiritual life begins. Now understand, we're born dead
in trespasses and sins. And if we're saved, we're given
life. And this is when life begins, when we understand the Passover. That's faith in Christ. Understanding the Passover and
faith in Christ. Now there's so much debate about
when life begins. At what point does a fetus become
a person? Let me give you this scripture.
God said in Jeremiah 1, before I formed thee in the belly, I
knew thee. That answers that question. Before
I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. Now, spiritual life, insofar
as our experience goes, is when we keep the Passover by faith
in Christ. That is why the calendar was
changed. Now, one could say that life
begins in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. It is called the Book of Life.
And God said, Behold, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. God's people
have always had life in Christ. They're eternally united to Him. But we, as a result of Adam's
fall, are born into this world dead in trespasses and sins.
Dead. That's what the scripture says.
What can a dead man do? Can a dead man believe? Can a
dead man repent? Can a dead man love? Can a dead
man see? No. He's dead in sins. Our life begins when God the
Holy Spirit gives us life. That's what the new birth is.
And here's what takes place when you have life. You believe the
Passover. You understand the Passover.
You find your hope in the Passover. That's how that Christ died for
our sins according to the scripture. Now, verse three of Exodus chapter
12. Speak ye into 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. A very specific time, you're
gonna take this lamb, every house is to have a lamb. And if the
household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor
next into his house, take it according to the number of the
souls, every man according to his eating shall make your account
for the lamb. This lamb was for every individual,
Christ died for every single one of his people. Now he describes this lamb in
verse five, your lamb shall be without blemish. This speaks
of the holy sinless life of Jesus Christ. He never committed a
sin. He kept God's law perfectly in
thought, in word, in deed, in motive. He never sinned. Your lamb shall be without blemish,
a male out of the first year. You shall take it out from the
sheep and from the goats, and you shall keep it into the 14th
day of the same month. You're to look at that lamb for
14 days. Now, why 14? What's the significance
of that? There's always a significance
to everything in the scripture. 14 is two times seven. Seven, perfection. Two refers
to the two natures of the Lord Jesus Christ, perfect deity and
perfect humanity. That's our lamb, perfect deity
and perfect humanity. And what were they to do with
this lamb? It says, and the whole assembly
of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. What good would the perfect obedience
of Christ do me if he didn't die? If he didn't die, there
would be no resurrection from the dead. If He didn't die, there
would be no putting away of sin. If He didn't die, there would
be no transfer of His righteousness to me. You see, in His death,
my sin became His, and His righteousness becomes mine. Oh, the death of
the Lord Jesus Christ, that's the only hope I have, that Jesus
Christ died for me. I love what Paul said when he
said, who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather
that's risen again who's even at the right hand of God. His
perfect life would be of no avail to you and I if he did not die. Isaiah said he was wounded for
our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep
have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all. Kill it that evening. Now, we read in verse seven,
And thou shalt take of the blood of that lamb without blemish
that's killed. Remember, this is how the Christ
died for our sins, according to the scriptures. And they shall
take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and
on the upper door posts of the houses, whereinto they shall
eat it. You are to go in this house with the blood over the
door to eat the Passover lamb. And eating the Passover lamb
teaches us so much about faith. Look in verse eight. It says, and they shall eat the
flesh in that night, roast with fire. You see, that represents
Christ being roasted under the wrath of God as the sinner substitute. It's Christ crucified, roasted
under the wrath of God. And with unleavened bread. You
know, Paul said in the New Testament, a little leaven, leaven's the
whole lump. If you have any leaven, Any works, one work in your salvation
that you did, you make the whole thing of works. No, there can't
be any leaven at all, unleavened bread. And with bitter herbs,
they shall eat it. The bitterness of bondage, the
bitterness of salvation by works. When you look to Christ, you
understand something of the bitterness of how you can't be saved by
your works. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden
it all with water. Don't let it be watered down,
but roast with fire his head with his legs and with the pertinence
thereof, and you shall let nothing of it remain into the morning.
You are to eat all of it. Believe every doctrine of Christ,
all the doctrine of God. You're to eat all of it, and
that which remaineth of it into the morning, you shall burn it
with fire, and thus shall you eat it. with your loins girded
and your shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand. That's
a traveling posture. You know, when you believe the
gospel, this world is not your home. You're just traveling through
it, waiting for that time of eternal glory in the presence
of Christ. That's when you're truly home.
But this world is not your home. You're simply traveling through
it, and he says, eat it in haste. Don't wait for something to happen.
Don't wait till you understand more. Don't wait till you become
better. Don't wait till you gain more knowledge. Don't wait until
you can stop some particular sin and start doing some good
thing. Don't wait on anything. Eat it in haste. Look to the
Lord Jesus Christ right now. Don't wait. Look right now. Eat it in haste for it's the
Lord's Passover. This is what the Lord has provided.
It's the Lord's Passover. Now we read in verse 12 where
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. You know everyone in Egypt had
the firstborn die. You say, what about the children
of Israel? Well, that lamb died. That firstborn lamb died. But
in every home there was death, without exception. There was
screaming and yelling in the homes of the Egyptians where
their firstborn died. What grief that must have been.
And the children of Israel? The lamb died. The blood was
over the door. If I was in one of those houses
with the blood over the door, I know what I wouldn't do. I
wouldn't want to go outside of it. I would want to stay in the
house. That's the only place of safety. Now God says, for I'll pass through
the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, against all the gods
of Egypt. I will execute judgment. I am
the Lord." Now understand the gospel is a thing of God executing
judgment. You see, when Jesus Christ died,
God made the way. for Him to be just, absolutely
just, inflexibly just, perfectly just, and yet justify the ungodly. He made a way for me in my sin
to stand before God without sin, perfectly just in His sight. Isn't that glorious? That's why
Christ came. We're talking about His coming
when He was born into this world. He came to make a way for God
to be just and justify the ungodly. Now here, the gospel promise. God says in verse 13, and the
blood, that blood of the lamb without blemish and without spot,
which pictures the perfect, precious blood of Christ, that one who
never sinned. And the blood shall be to you
for a token upon the houses where you are. And when I see the blood,
this is God's promise. 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. God's promise. when I see the
blood. He did not say when I see your
faith. He did not say when I see your
repentance. He did not say when I see your
love. He did not say when I see your
sincerity. He did not say when I see your
battling against sin and stopping sinning and giving up a sinful
life. He didn't say when I see your
efforts. He didn't say when I see your
doctrinal understanding and your doctrinal position. He didn't
say when I see the denomination you're in. He said when I see
the blood. That's all God was looking for. when I see the blood." Now, what
if that very day, now remember there were probably at least
two million Israelites at that time observing this Passover. What if on that day One of the
children of Israel committed, let's say, the sin of murder.
Maybe in anger, they murdered somebody. That's a horrible thing. It's a great sin. What if some
other of the children of Israel committed some kind of sexual
sin. Maybe they were put in a time
of temptation and it just came upon them and it happened. And
there they were, they committed this great sin. Name any sin
you can think of. What if they committed some horrible
sin? If they were in the house with
the blood over the door, were they punished anyway? Now you
answer that honestly. If they were in a house with
the blood over the door, what did God say? He said, when I
see the blood, I will pass over you. Your security was in the
house with the blood. Well, what if I was the most
sinful Israelite of all the two million Israelites? God still
said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And the fact of
the matter is they were all equally sinful. Maybe somebody did something
outwardly worse than somebody else, but they were all equally
sinful and all equally in need of the grace of God. But God
said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And that's what
God says to every believer. When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. Who had to see the blood? God didn't say, when you see
the blood. He said, when I see the blood. Now, once again, let's
think about this house with the blood over the door. I have no
doubt that Moses, when he was in that house with the blood
over the door, he didn't have any doubts. He was secure. He believed God's promise. God
said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. I'm in the house
with the blood, he'll pass over me. But I feel quite sure that
there were also many people who were scared to death. Perhaps
they were thinking of sins they'd committed and they were afraid,
what if he punishes me anyway? I can see why I would, not really
thinking about the promise. God said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. Not when you see the blood, but
when I see the blood. We have some people who were
very confident and we had some people who were trembling in
insecurity and fear when that when the Lord passed through
in judgment. Now here, let me ask you a question. Was Moses
any more secure than a very faint-hearted, weak-hearted Israelite who was
scared to death? Was Moses more secure than they
were? Were they less secure than he was? No, because the security
was in the blood. When I see the blood, this is
God speaking, that's all he was looking for, not when you see
it. When I see the blood, not when I see your works, not when
I see your efforts, when I see the blood, that's all God was
looking for, I will pass over you and you were safe. If you're in the house with the
blood over the door. If you're in Christ, Christ is the house with the
blood over the door. If you're in Christ, according
as he has chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world,
of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made into us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption in Christ. If
you're in Christ, accepted in the beloved, in whom we have
redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.
If you're in Christ. That's all God sees. He didn't
see your sinfulness. All he sees is Jesus Christ. All he sees is the powerful,
precious blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all sin. That's all God had to see. Now
this is the gospel promise. This is why Christ came. Christ
came as a representative man. He came to keep the law perfectly. And that is exactly what He did. He never sinned. He said, He
said, the Prince of this world has come and found nothing in
me. He looked for something and He couldn't find anything He
could take hold of. If He comes to look for something
in me or you, He's got plenty He can take hold of. But not
in the Son of God. Christ Jesus kept the law perfectly. And what did He do after that?
He was nailed to a cross. Now, the reason when he was nailed
to a cross was not because he was a victim, not because he
was a martyr, not because he couldn't do anything about it.
Remember, he's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
He came to die. And that's exactly what he did.
He shed his precious blood on Calvary's tree. And what happened
as a result of his precious blood? This is why he came. This is
why he came that night in Bethlehem and was born. He came to shed
His precious blood. And what was accomplished in
the shedding of His precious blood? Listen to the scripture. Romans chapter 4 verse 25, He
was delivered for our offenses. That's why He died. He was delivered
for our offenses. And He was raised again for our
justification. When He was raised from the dead,
everyone He represented was justified. That's why He came. He came to
make a way for God to be just and justify the ungodly. And
when He was raised from the dead, every believer, without exception,
was justified. Now, if I'm justified, that means
I have no guilt. That means I have no sin. That
means I've never committed sin. Because the perfect righteousness
of Christ is my righteousness before God. That perfect life.
that He worked out. The righteousness of God is mine. That is why the Lord Jesus came
as our Passover. Christ, our Passover. A sacrifice
for us. And I do not know of any scripture
that's more comforting to this sinner than this. When God says,
and this is His promise, when I see the blood the blood of
His Son. I will pass over you. You are not going to be judged
for your sins, but you're going to be justified by the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a glorious gospel we have. Now, we have this message on
DVD and CD, or if you look at the church website, you can get
the message. This is Todd Nyberg praying that
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's our prayer.
Amen. To receive a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to todd.neiber at gmail.com
or you may write or call the church at the information provided
on the screen.