Would you turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 5? While you're turning there, the
DVDs of Brother Mahan are now done, and if you ordered any,
you can pick them up in the church fellowship hall. 1 Corinthians chapter 5. I want to read verses 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." If somebody wants to understand
the gospel, I don't believe there is a better place that they could
study than the Passover. If you want to understand Truly
understand what the scripture has to say, what the scripture
teaches regarding the gospel. You do well to study the Passover. There's not a clearer or more
simple setting forth of the gospel of God than the Passover. Paul
says, Christ, our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore,
let us keep the feast. Now, what is the Passover? Christ,
our Passover, is sacrifice for us. Well, I looked the word up
in the Hebrew dictionary. Would you turn with me to Exodus
12? We're going to spend most of our time in Exodus 11 and
12. I looked the word up in the Hebrew
dictionary, and the first word it gave for the meaning of the
Passover is predermission. Anybody know what that means?
Predermission? I've never heard that word in
my life. So I got Mr. Webster out. To find out what
preterm mission means, and it means Passover. So, oh, well,
good. It is literally a passing over,
and the next word it gave was exemption. Exemption. Well, let's look at how it's
first used in the scripture in Exodus chapter 12, beginning
in verse 11. And thus shall ye eat it, speaking
of the Passover meal, with your loins girded, your shoes on your
feet, and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in
haste. It's 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. Nobody's going to get out of
this. 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
shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of
Egypt." Now, you'll notice when the Lord uses this word, the
Passover, He says He is going to execute judgment. And let me say this right off
the bat. In the Passover, absolute, impartial,
perfect justice. is taking place. Absolute, impartial,
the execution of absolute, impartial justice. And God says, when I
see the blood, I will pass over you. And this is the setting
is the last of the ten plagues. You know that God has already
sent nine plagues into Egypt. And he's hardened Pharaoh's heart.
Pharaoh hardened his own heart. He would not let the people of
Israel go. And this is the last of the ten
plagues. God is going to pass through
the land of Egypt and destroy all the firstborn. Now look in
Exodus chapter 11, beginning in verse 4. Now Moses is speaking to Pharaoh
at this time. Verse 4, And Moses said, Thus
saith the Lord, About midnight, will I go out into the midst
of Egypt?" Not some angel. He said, I'm
going out in 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 unto the firstborn of the
maidservant that is behind the mill, and all the firstborn of
beasts. 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 more. He was going to pass through
the land and kill the firstborn in every family, man and beast. But look what he says about the
children of Israel in verse seven. 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 made a difference between His
people, the Israelites, and the Egyptians. He discriminated.
That's what the word means. He discriminated. He made a choice
of His people. And he did something for them
that he did not do for the other people. He said, I want you to
know this. I want you to know how that it's the Lord who puts
this difference between the Egyptians and Israel. Now, here's what
took place. He told the children of Israel to select a lamb. And that lamb was to be without
spot. And without blemish, a perfect
lamb. They were to watch it for two
weeks to make sure no blemishes came up. This had to be a perfect
lamb. And this represents the perfect
life of the Lord Jesus Christ. There was no spot or blemish
in his life. He never sinned. He, in the flesh,
flesh just like me and you, in the flesh, he obeyed God perfectly. No blemish in him at all. And what were they to do with
that lamb? They were to kill it. Shed its
blood. You see, the life of Christ,
as precious as the life of Christ is, the life of Christ will not
save anybody by itself. What had to take place before
any salvation could come? The death of that lamb. the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're thankful for his life,
but his life by itself will not save anybody. He had to die. I've just read that passage of
scripture at the opening of his service. Without the shedding
of blood, there is no remission of sins. Now, why is that? Why does God demand the shedding
of blood? I mean, that sounds Horrible,
doesn't it? Why can't you just forgive people?
Why can't you just sweep our sins under the carpet? When somebody
sins against you, you forgive them. You forget not to forgive
them. And if you're unwilling to forgive them, that shows an
unrenewed heart. We're to forgive people. But
God says without the shedding of blood, there'll be no remission
of sins. Why is that? Because God is holy. You cannot... What would you
think of a judge who, when the defendant is brought
before the judge and he's guilty, and the judge says, I'm just
going to forgive him? We'd get rid of that judge, wouldn't
we? Justice. Well, I want impartial justice
to be served. What we need is absolute justice. In that sense, well, God is just.
He's not going to let sin just go unpunished. Christ Jesus,
as God's Lamb, the sins of God's people actually became His. God killed Him. Justice was served. God's law was honored. God's
justice is satisfied. We couldn't really have any respect
for God without the shedding of blood. This tells us that
God is just. He must be just. He's not going
to just let sin go unpunished. He's the judge of the earth.
He must punish sin. And that's why blood had to be
shed. The land, that perfect land with that blemish, had to
die. Christ Jesus, God's land, His perfect life, the sins of
His people were placed upon Him, and He had to die. Now, what were they to do with
that land? They were to kill it, and then
they were to take the blood of that lamb and strike it on the
doorposts and the lintel of the door. And then that lamb was
to be roasted and eaten inside the house, which typifies faith
in Christ. And so here we have the eating
of the lamb in verse 11, which we've already read, and thus
shall you eat it with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet,
your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. It's
the Lord's Passover, for I will pass through the land of Egypt
this night. This is God speaking. I'm the one who's going to pass
through the land of Egypt. And I will smite all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. Nobody's exempt from
this. And against all the gods of Egypt, I'll execute judgment.
I am the Lord, and the blood, and the blood shall be to you
for a token upon the houses where you are." Remember, they were
to take the blood and strike it over the doorposts. And the blood
will be a token to you over 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 land of Egypt. Thus, we have the Passover. God says, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. Now, I want to ask a couple of
very simple questions. I want you to think about it.
First, who had to see the blood? Now, God didn't say, when you
see the blood, I'll pass over you. As a matter of fact, if
you were inside the house, could you even see the blood? Not if
you were inside the house, you couldn't actually see the blood.
Who had to see the blood? God said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. What is it that God had to see?
Did he say, when I see your faith, I'll pass over you. Or when I
see your repentance, I'll pass over you. Or when I see your
love for me, I'll pass over you. Or when I see your sorrow over
sin, I'll pass over you. He didn't say anything like that,
did he? Not a word was mentioned about anything he had to see
in me or you. He said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. Now, here's another question.
No doubt. In those houses that night, there
were some very fine people, wonderful people that everybody esteemed
very highly and just thought a whole lot of. I'm sure of that.
But I'm also sure of this. There were some people in those
houses that were absolutely worthless. Sinful, wicked people. They were just worthless. And
I bet there were people that thought, is there any way God's
going to let them get by with what they are? I guarantee there
were people thinking that. I would have been one of them.
I would have been one of the ones that I thought I was probably
better than somebody. I know myself enough to know the way
I think. But I guarantee there were some people in those houses
that people thought, man, they're not going to get by. Now, here's
my question. Wherever God saw blood, Did he
ever go ahead and smite anyway? Not once. He said, when I see
the blood, I will pass over you. The plague is not going to come
to you when I see the blood. Now, that's God's promise. Who
had to see the blood? God had to see the blood. What
was he looking for? Blood. And he said, when I see
the blood, I will pass over you. And the plague is not going to
come your way. The blood of Christ secures the
Passover. Now, was the blood over everybody's
door? Now, be honest. In the land of
Egypt, was the blood over everybody's door? No, it wasn't. It was just
over the door of the Israelites. Did Jesus Christ, the Lord, shed
his precious blood for every human being to ever live? Not
on your life. Not on your life. He shed his
blood for his people, for those who believe, for those the Father
gave him before time began. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. Now, before God can pass over, there must be death. Justice must be satisfied. God's
law must be honored. And that's what the death of
Christ did. The sins of God's people became
his. He died under the wrath of God as their substitute, and
now God can pass them by in mercy without any infringement whatsoever
on his justice. In other words, God can pass over your sins,
your sin. He can pass over you in mercy. in a way that honors His holy
law and His holy justice. All sin is going to be punished.
You see, your sin is punished. It's either punished in you or
in the Passover, in the sacrifice, in the substitute. God says,
when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Now, in 1 Corinthians
chapter 5, verse 8, we've already read that. Paul said, let us
keep the feast. He says, Christ, our Passover,
we see what the Passover is. God says, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. That's that's such a precious
verse of scripture. I'm so thankful for that. It
reminds me what God's looking for. And I tell you what, I did. Was God satisfied with the blood
of Christ? You know, he was. Well, how about
you? Are you satisfied with the blood of Christ? Are you satisfied
to be saved by Jesus Christ and his precious blood? We find satisfaction
in the precise same one that God finds satisfaction in. The
Lord Jesus Christ. That's where my confidence is.
That's where my peace is. That's where my assurance is.
The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love this. I love this. When
I see the blood, I'll pass over you. Now, that's the Passover.
And Paul then went on to say, let us keep the feast. And he
is referring to eating the Paschal lamb when he says, let us keep
the feast. He's not advocating continuing to observe that ceremony,
but what that ceremony represents, which is faith in Christ. Now, if you and I would understand
faith in Christ, we should understand what it means to keep the feast. What is involved in keeping the
feast? Whatever is involved in keeping
the feast is what faith in Christ is all about. Now, whenever you
had blood on the outside of the door, you know what else you
had? What you had on the inside. You
had people who were eating that lamb. You didn't have any place
where there was blood on the outside of the door where people
were not eating that lamb. Everybody in those houses where
the blood was ate. the land. They ate the Passover. They kept the feast. Now, what is this thing of keeping
the feast all about? Well, look in verse 8 of Exodus
chapter 12. Let's read verse 7 first. And they shall take of the blood
and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door posts
of the house, when they shall eat it. The blood covers the
outside of the house. This is what God is looking for.
And now they talk about eating the feast. God gives us instruction
regarding eating this lamb. And this is what faith in Christ
is all about. And they shall eat the flesh in that night,
roast with fire. Now, this lamb was to be roasted. It wasn't to be baked. It wasn't
to be boiled. It was to be roasted. That's
the only way you could eat that lamb. And what that represents
is Christ. And when we have faith in Christ,
we have some understanding that he was roasted under the wrath
of God. There's some understanding of
that. He suffered all the wrath of God. All that hell is, whatever
hell is, he was made to suffer it. He roasted under the wrath
of God. We don't eat this lamb raw, he
goes on to say that, separated from the person of Christ, separated
from the work of Christ. You could never separate the
two. They were to eat this lamb roasted. There's some understanding
of what he suffered and why he suffered. And notice, he says
in verse eight, that's to eat the flesh of that night and roast
with fire and unleavened bread. And, you know, we're not given
room to speculate as to what that represents, because I've
already read from First Corinthians, Chapter five. He said, let us
keep the feast, not with the leaven of malice and wickedness,
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity. and truth. Now, this unleavened bread is
sincerity and truth. We're to keep the feast, not
roast with fire and eat it with unleavened bread. Sincerity and truth. Now, what's
that about? I know what you think of and
what I think of when I think of a sincere person. I love to be around a
sincere person. You don't like being around a phony, do you? You don't
like being around a fake. You don't like being around somebody
who is It says one thing, but they mean something else. They've
got some kind of agenda hidden underneath. You don't like being
around folks like that. You like people who are sincere. People
who mean what they say. You know what? They're transparent.
They're sincere. Now, the word sincerity here,
it carries with it that idea, but what it means more than anything
else is unmixed. No alloys in this. It's totally,
absolutely pure. There's no mixture. Now, what
that means is, is when I eat this flesh roasted with fire,
when I believe on Christ through the salvation of my soul, that
one who suffered the wrath of God, I look to Him alone. Nothing more, nothing less, and
nothing else. And anything short of that, looking
to Christ alone, is insincere. It's not real. You're not looking
to Him at all. It's just talk. It's just talk. It's not sincere. The sincere
person looks to the Lord Jesus Christ alone. They are completely
relying on Him only with no mixture of anything else. Can you do
that? Can you trust the Lord Jesus
Christ alone? Well, I could trust Christ if
I felt more, if I experienced more, if I knew more, if I understood
more, if I became better. I could trust Christ a lot easier
that way. I wouldn't be trusting Christ at all. I'd be trusting
yourself. You trust Christ alone. Nothing else. Nothing in my hands
I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling. You trust Christ alone, Christ
only. I'll tell you what. If I was in one of those houses, I'd be scared to look out. I'd
only want God to see the blood and nothing else. That is sincerity. We look to the Word of God alone. Anything else is insincere. It's
hypocrisy. We believe grace alone. Not grace
and anything. You introduce an into the equation
and it's no longer alone. It's no longer real. It's no
longer sincere. It's no longer truth. We look to Christ alone. His Word alone. His grace alone. Now, we eat the feast. with the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth. You know what that means? Truth.
You know, faith doesn't believe error. You know, that's real
simple, isn't it? Faith does not believe that which
is not true. It just doesn't do it. Faith
only believes the truth. The absolute truth concerning
who we are, who God is, who Christ is, what Christ accomplished
on the cross, how God saved sinners. Faith believes the truth. It
really is that simple. You know, God doesn't have to
use error. Why should He? He's God. He doesn't need error. And faith does not feed on error.
Faith only feeds on the truth. It believes the truth. We read
in verse 8 of Exodus 12, they shall eat that flesh in the night,
roast with fire and unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs
they shall eat it, which reminds us of the bitter bondage of salvation
by works that's spoken of in Exodus 1.14, where he says the
Egyptians made them serve with rigor and bitter bondage. It's
a bitter thing. It's a horrible thing. There's
no rest. There's no joy in the bitterness
of thinking there's something you need to do to be saved. There's
some kind of work you need to perform or complete. When have
you ever done enough? It's bitter bondage. So, you
know, whenever I look to Christ, It makes me remember the bitterness
of looking anywhere else. It's bitter bondage. Verse 9. Eat not of it raw. It must be
roasted. The person of Christ cannot be
separated from the work of Christ. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden
at all with water. It wasn't to be boiled. It wasn't
to be watered down. It wasn't to be boiled away to
where there's no nutrients left. It wasn't to be watered down.
Now listen to this real carefully. Do you know a watered down gospel
does not save? Nobody's ever been saved by a
watered down gospel. Boiled away to where the truth
is not even in it anymore. What is a watered down gospel?
He says, don't have it sodden with water. Don't water it down.
Don't have it boiled up and everything. No, it's to be roast with fire
and nothing else. Not this watered down variety.
What is a watered down gospel? I was trying to think of what
does it mean to water down the gospel. And there's so many things
you can say. But what it is, you have something
called the gospel. But it doesn't mean the same
thing the Bible means. Now that's a watered-down gospel.
You have all the same terms. You have all the same phrases.
Well, I believe in election. I believe God chose the people
before time began. Of course, I believe election.
The Bible talks about it. I believe that God foresaw who
would believe, and so He based His choice upon seeing them believe,
and He chose them. That's not election at all. That's foolishness. That's a
watered-down version. There's no truth to that. Watering
down redemption. Oh, I believe in redemption.
I believe in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe
the blood put away all our sins. But I also believe that Christ
can shed his precious blood for you and you might end up in hell
anyway if you don't do something to make it work. That's a watered
down gospel. There's no saving power or benefit
in that. Water down the work of the Holy
Spirit. Oh, I believe in regeneration. I believe in the new birth. I
believe the Holy Spirit enables us to do these. It's not an enablement. It's life from the dead. You
were dead and he gave you life. You see, there's a watering down
that takes place. And he said, don't you take this
gospel watered down, not sodden with water, but it's to be roast
with fire, his head with his legs and with the curtains thereof,
and you shall let nothing of it remain unto the morning. I
love this part. You know how much you're supposed
to eat of that Passover lamb? Every bit of it. All of it. If it wasn't any part that was
okay to leave out, you were to eat all of it. The whole The whole was to be
roasted with fire and nothing left. You repeat the whole thing. You know, quite often people
ask the question, how little does a man have to believe to
be saved? Or how much does a man have to believe to be saved?
That's the wrong question. Altogether, that's the wrong question. How
little or how much does a man need to believe to be saved?
You've got to believe everything Christ says. You've got to believe every
word that comes out of the mouth of God. You've got to believe
all that God says. What part is okay to not believe?
If God said it, it's absolutely essential. You believe everything
God says. And anything that God says that
I don't believe, you know what that makes me? An unbeliever. What do believers do? They believe. They believe all that God says,
and they don't leave any out. There's nothing left. Now the
gospel is made of many truths, all which combine to make the
one truth. And if you leave out any of them,
you no longer have the truth. If you've got three links in
a chain, or five links, or ten, doesn't matter, or however many
links you talk about, if one link is broken, you know what's
broken? the whole chain. Well, at least only one link
broke. Well, you're still dead. You know, if you're whole, that
won't do you any good, will it? No, you're to eat the whole thing. And notice what it says next.
Verse 10. 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 ye 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's the Lord's Passover."
Now, what I notice about eating... You know, when you and we eat
a meal, we like to sit down and kind of settle down and get comfortable. And I certainly don't like the
thought of eating ready to move the whole time. But here, we're
to eat this Passover in a traveling posture. Ready to move. Ready to walk. What this reminds
me of, as I eat this Passover, is that this world is not my
home. I'm just traveling through, journeying
through, sojourning through. This world is not my home. And the only thing that makes
someone really feel this way about this world is seeing the
world become the Lord Jesus Christ and His glory. That makes you
think, this world really isn't my home. I'm just passing through
temporarily. And here's how I eat it with
my loins girded. And Paul tells us that your loins
girded with truth, your shoes on your feet, the preparation
of the gospel of peace. He tells us in Ephesians 6, your
staff in your hand, we lean on the word of God. You shall eat
it in haste. You eat in a hurry. This is not
a slow meal. Eat it right now and eat it quick.
You know what that's a reference to? Don't wait for anything to
believe on Christ. Don't wait till you get better.
Don't wait till you understand more. Don't wait till you...
Have a better experience. Don't wait till you feel something.
Don't wait for anything. Believe on Christ right now. Eat it in haste. It is the Lord's
Passover. Now, Paul said in that text in
1 Corinthians 5, he said, let us keep the feast. Let us keep
the feast. Not with the unleavened bread
of malice and wickedness, or the leavened bread of malice
and wickedness, or the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Let us keep the feast. Now, who's the us? Who's the us? Let us keep the feast. Well,
who is invited to keep that feast? Or who is commanded, is a better
way to put it. Who's commanded to keep this feast? And we've
got to ask this question, because if you read Exodus chapter 12,
there are four different types of people who were forbidden
to eat the feast. Now I want to see where I fall
in here. I want to see if I'm somebody
who's allowed to eat the feast, because four different types
of people were forbidden to eat the feast. Look over next to
us, chapter 12, verse 43. And the Lord said unto Moses
and Aaron, this is the ordinance of the Passover. There shall
no stranger eat thereof. No stranger was allowed to eat
this feast. Now, this word stranger is a very interesting word. Do
you remember where it was said of Joseph when he saw his brethren? He knew who they were, but they
didn't know who he was. And the scripture actually says
he made himself strange to them. You remember that? He made himself
strange to them. He acted in a certain way. He pretended to be what he was
not. This word carries with it the
idea of being an actor. An actor, you're strange, you're
not the real thing, you are an actor. It means literally to
dissemble, to feign oneself to be another. You know what the
New Testament word is? What is it? Hypocrite. Hypocrite. Actor. You know, when you talked about
actors back then, you can call them actors and actresses, you
can call them hypocrites and hypocriticists, I guess, you
know, but hypocrites, that's an actor. No actor is allowed
to eat the Passover. Now, if you have any honesty
at all, you're saying, well, I wonder if that means I can't
eat it. Is there anybody here that doesn't
put on an act? Anybody here that's not hypocritical? I'm no hypocrite. You exposed yourself, you are
too. Just saying that proves you. What is this person who
truly hears the A real sinner. This is what I'm
trying to get at. Here's who can eat the Passover.
Not a sham sinner. Not a play, pretend sinner. A
real sinner. He's the real thing. He has no
righteousness at all. He has nothing to commend himself
to God. He really believes he's a sinner.
He doesn't just take the title and act and put on sale. He really
believes he's a sinner. Now that is the person. who's
allowed to take the Passover. If you're not a real sinner,
and everything the Bible means by that, say, well, that's not
me, William, you can't take the Passover. Only a real sinner
can eat the Passover. Let's go on reading. Can't be
a stranger, can't be an actor, gotta be the real thing. No stranger
shall eat thereof. The foreigner was not
allowed to eat thereof. Look in verse 45, a foreigner
And a hired servant shall not eat thereof. A foreigner was
a resident alien, one who lived in the land, but he was not an
Israelite, one who wanted the privileges of being an Israelite,
but he wasn't interested in the nature of an Israelite, one who
wanted exemption. I don't want to go to hell. I
want to go to heaven. He wants all those blessings,
but he's not interested in the nature of the Israelite holiness. likeness to the Lord Jesus Christ,
conformity to his image. Oh, nobody wants to go to hell.
But you know, not everybody wants to be exactly like Christ, do
they? Not everybody wants to be saved just as God says salvation
is. But God's people do. They're
not resident aliens. They're the real thing. Look
what it says next in verse 45. A foreigner and a hired servant
shall not eat thereof. Somebody who worked for pay.
A hired servant. Somebody who... What's a hired
servant? What's somebody who... I do this
and you pay me for it. If I do this, you respond by
giving me this. And what is that but salvation by works? If I
do this, God will do that for me. God's going to respond to
what I do. That's a hired servant. That hired servant was forbidden
to eat the Passover. He believes in salvation by works.
What verse 48 says? And when a stranger shall sojourn
with thee and will keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males
be circumcised and then let him come near and keep it. He shall
be as one that's born in the land, for no uncircumcised person
shall eat thereof. Someone who was not circumcised
was not allowed to eat the Passover. Now, you know what circumcision
represents, according to the New Testament. It's the new birth. It's regeneration. Paul said
in Philippians chapter 3, verse 3, we are the circumcision. We're
the true circumcision which worship God in the Spirit. We worship God in the Holy Spirit. You know, you can't worship God
without the Holy Spirit. I said this recently, you know,
I can't invite people, come worship with us. I hope the Lord enables
you to, but the only way you can worship is if God, the Holy
Spirit, enables you to worship. Worship is outside of the ability
of the natural man. We worship God in the Spirit. We rejoice. Here's the true circumcision.
We rejoice. We glory and we rest in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And we have no confidence. I love this. No confidence in
the flesh. I don't have any confidence in
my flesh. I don't have any confidence in your flesh. All we have confidence
in is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. So these people were
forbidden to eat the Passover. The actor, the foreign foreigner
who is a resident alien, the hired servant, the uncircumcised
person. Well, who can eat the Passover? Well, look at verse
44. Every man's servant that's bought for money, he's paid for.
He's redeemed. He's redeemed by the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's been bought. He's been paid
for. He can eat the Passover. Who else? Well, let's go on reading
verse 44. But every man servant that hath been bought for money,
when thou hast circumcised him, he shall eat thereof. Who could
eat the Passover? A circumcised person. Someone
whose heart's been circumcised by the Spirit of God. Someone
who's been given a new nature. Let me make good on this. Hold
your finger there and turn to Romans 2. Verse 28, For he is not a Jew which is
one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward
in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision
is that of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter, whose
praise is not of men, but of God. That's just to eat the Passover,
that person who's been given a new heart to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. Look in verse 47. All the congregation of Israel
shall keep it. This is Exodus 12, verse 47.
All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. Who is to eat
the Passover? Every believer. Everybody who believes on Christ.
You're eating the Passover and believing on Christ. Who is the
true Israelite? It's the person who believes
the gospel. All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. And
when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the
Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and
then let him come near and keep it. And he shall be as one that
is born in the land, for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. One
law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth
among you." It's the same law for everybody, wherever you're
from. same rules regarding eating the Passover. So who could eat
the Passover? Can I eat the Passover? Do you believe the Gospel? Do you believe the Gospel of
God, the good news of God, what Christ accomplished on Calvary's
tree? Do you believe that He actually
put away sin, that sins are remitted by what he did, and you trust
him alone. You say, well, can I eat the
Passover? You're eating it while you do that. That's what eating
the Passover is. It's believing the gospel. May
God give everybody in this room the grace to truly eat of the
Passover. Let's pray.