Open, if you'd like, to Exodus
12. We just read in Psalm 96, declare
His glory among the heathen, His wonders among all the people. And that's my prayer for today,
is that I might be enabled to do that. I'm thankful to be here with
you. for many, many years, wanted
to come up and visit. Not to be standing here, though. I really wanted to hear Tom. But I'm very thankful to be able
to be here and be able to be a help when it was needed. Exodus 12, as I got the call,
and I'm actually preaching in Kingsport next Sunday, and was
studying this passage because Easter is upon us. And next Sunday
is Easter, and I thought, well, that'd be a good Thing to look
at, Easter. So I looked it up in the concordance
and the word Easter occurs one time in the book of Acts. And
as I got there, I looked up that word Easter in the concordance
and what's it mean? And the first definition I found
was the paschal sacrifice. And the next one was the paschal
lamb. And To be honest, I've heard
Paschal all my life and thought I knew what it meant, but not
sure, so I got the dictionary out and it points to the Passover. Paschal points to the Passover.
So that led me to Exodus 12. And let's read it together. Exodus 12, starting in verse
1. 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. 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 an house. 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 count 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. And they shall take of the blood
and strike it on the two side post and on the upper door post
of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the
flesh in that night, roast with fire and unleavened bread, and
with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor
sodden at all with water, but roast with fire, his head with
his legs and with 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
ye eat it, with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and
your staff in your hand, and ye shall eat it in haste. It
is 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, 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 ye 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. And this day shall be unto you
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 in this selfsame day have I brought your
armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore shall ye observe this
day in your generations by an ordinance forever. In the first
month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall
eat unleavened bread until the one and twentieth day of the
month at even. Seven days shall there be no
leaven found in your houses. For whosoever eateth that which
is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation
of Israel, whether he be a stranger or born in the land. Ye shall
eat nothing leavened. In all your habitations shall
ye eat unleavened bread.' Then Moses called for all the elders
of Israel and said unto them, draw out and take you a lamb
according to your families, and kill the Passover. And ye shall
take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the
basin, and strike the lentil in the two side posts with the
blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out
at the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will
pass through to smite the Egyptians, And when he seeth the blood upon
the lintel and the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door
and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to
smite you. And ye shall observe this thing
for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons forever. 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 ye 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, who passed over the houses of
the children of Israel in Egypt when he smote the Egyptians and
delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head
and worshipped. And the children of Israel went
away and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. So did they. And it came to pass
that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land
of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne,
unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon, and
all the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night,
he and all his servants, and all the Egyptians, And there
was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there
was not one dead. This chapter and this story is
generally familiar to most all of us. We've read it many times. And as I was reading through
it, this particular time there were a few verses that stood
out to me, that just caught my attention. And I pray this morning
that the Lord will enable us to look at just these few things. There is much in this account. It's been preached many times. And I pray that the Lord will
give us just a few moments in which Christ will be glorified,
And us poor sinners who need reminding so very often because
we forget so very quickly just how great things the Lord has
done for us. The first verse that really caught
my attention as I read through this was verse 30. And Pharaoh rose up in the night
He, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians, and there
was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there
was not one dead." This statement hit close to home
for me. Just the past few months we've
been dealing with a grave illness in our family. And how many of
us have had loved ones recently who have been in critical medical
condition? We hear it. If it's not in our
congregation, it's in someone else's. Someone is sick. Someone is gravely ill. Please
remember us. There was not a house where there
was not one dead. For me, I was a young child when
my great grandmother passed away. Death came to our house. I've
lived with it for many, many years. What is it that causes
us to live with this sentence of death hanging over us? We
read in Romans 5.12, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into
the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned. Every house this body in which
the soul dwells. Every house here this morning,
we are all under the same condemnation. We have all sinned. We have all
transgressed God's command. We are all guilty. But by nature, we like to think
this way. We think to ourselves, I see
that commandment that you made there, God. I understand why
you said it. But you see, you just don't understand. I can't keep that commandment
because I'm justified in breaking it. In our sin, in our pride, we
believe God is altogether one like unto ourselves. That's how
we come into this world. But thank God, He is nothing
like us. He is holy. He is good. He is just. And He is sovereign. He alone does according to His
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth. We are all His subjects and we have all rebelled and
we are all under His just condemnation. What can we do? Well, I know
what I'll do. I'll straighten up and fly right. What about yesterday? I'm guilty. If I kept the law perfectly from
this point forward, I'm guilty. We make this promise to ourselves. There is one law I can keep. I'll not kill anybody today.
I can keep that one. I'll grab that one. I'll hold
on to that one. By nature, we run to God's law
thinking we can prove ourselves acceptable before Him if we can
just keep one. Hold here and turn to Galatians
3. as we sinners by nature, sinners
by choice, sinners by practice, run to justify ourselves before
the law. Galatians 3 verse 10. Those of us who do
all we can to run to the law and hold on to it, to be acceptable
before God, Listen to Galatians 3.10, For as many as are of the works
of the law, all of us working to justify ourselves by the law,
we are under the curse. Why are we under the curse? For
it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth every moment
of every day, waking or sleeping. Cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all, not just some, but in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. You can go back to Exodus. God is holy. His law is holy. We are sinners. We are opposed
by nature. We neither can nor will keep
His law. Just as the people of Israel
so long ago were held captive in Egypt, this is 400 years, thereabouts,
since Israel left Canaan and went down into Egypt. Not one
of these people had gone down themselves. They were born into
their bondage and into their captivity because of what their father
had done. It reminds me of me. In Adam, I rebelled, I sinned,
and I died. I gathered what He has. Just as those people of Israel
were held captive in Egypt, so too am I born captive in sin
and shame. Is there any hope for such a
one who has rebelled against God, who is under just condemnation
and wrath? Back to Exodus 12. Exodus 12,
verse 5. 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
fourteenth day of the same month. And the whole assembly of the
congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they
shall take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and
on the upper door posts of the houses wherein they shall eat
it. Skip down to verse 12. 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, and against all the gods of Egypt
I will 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. 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." Is there any hope for
one condemned? One bound in sin and shame? A
sinner against God and under the curse? Israel found hope. Verse 13. The blood, all the
precious blood, shall be to you for a token upon the houses where
ye are. And when I see the blood, I will
pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you." Israel
took a lamb. They separated that lamb out
from all the others. They observed it. to ensure that
it was indeed a lamb without spot and without blemish. And then they killed that lamb.
That lamb had to die. It couldn't just be injured.
It had to die. And then they hid behind that
lamb's blood a blood to their house. Every house in Egypt had
death within it that night. Either the plague and curse killed
the firstborn, or the lamb, appointed by God, died for those for whom
he would redeem. There are a few things I want
to consider concerning this physical Lamb before we turn to behold
our Lamb, our Lord Jesus Christ. First, this Lamb was appointed
by God as the substitute for those that He would redeem before
the curse came. For the curse fell upon them
The lamb was provided. He was set apart. Secondly, this
lamb was a valuable lamb. I grew up in an area surrounded
by dairy farms. And my dad was a friend to many
of the farmers. And I remember going to their
houses. And the farmers, particularly
one I remember in general, he talked about his cows. And sometimes
at the dinner table, sometimes we'd be out looking at the cows
with him. And he'd point to a cow, and
he'd say, that cow there, she's a good milker. She produces a
lot of milk. And that cow came from her. That was her calf. She's a good
milker. And that one came from her. She's
a good milker. There was a lineage of good milkers
that started this. This farmer knew the value of
that cow that gave good milk. You'll hear talked in race horse
circles. about the racehorse, and it came
from, especially if it came from another racehorse that was a
successful racehorse. The lineage followed. This lamb
that was taken from the flock, a male of the first year, a male
ram in his prime, without spot, without blemish. This was a valuable
lamb. A shepherd would look at that
ram and say, that's a good one. I want to breed that one because
that's going to increase my foal. That's going to give me a better
flock of sheep. It's going to provide for longevity
and enrich my flock. It was a valuable lamb. The final thing I want to consider
concerning this sacrificed lamb is that it did not die the standard
death of a sheep. The blood of a lamb slaughtered
for its meat had no value. The blood had to
be shed so that we can get the meat from the sheep. If we're
just going to eat a lamb, have no need of the blood. But this
lamb, being slaughtered, the blood was captured in a basin. As much as possible was gathered
of this blood. for that blood must be placed
on the door that my house might escape the curse. We came to this topic with the
question, how can a sinner against God under the curse and under
the just condemnation of death be spared? The answer from God
Almighty when I see the blood." Is this any blood? Or is God
looking for particular blood? On the night of the Passover,
it was the blood of the Lamb without spot or blemish which
God looked for. Only because it represented and
pictured the blood shed of our Lord Jesus Christ, the appointed
of God, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Only
the sinner under the blood of Christ shall be set free from
the curse. Why is it that it is His blood
alone that is our salvation? Let's turn over to 1 Peter 1. We'll come back to Exodus. 1 Peter 1. Why is it the blood of Christ
alone? For as much as you know that
you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold from
your vain conversations received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot. While the blood of the lamb offered
on the Passover night was valuable, It was valuable in the eyes of
shepherds. It was valuable in the eyes of
those who hid behind it that night. Its value in God's eyes
is only because it pointed to His Son. Lord Jesus Christ's blood is
precious because of who He is. It is the blood of God manifest
in the flesh. It is the blood of the only begotten
of the Father. It is the blood of the seed of
woman, holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. His blood,
this is the blood of the only man who stands righteous before
the law. A man came into this world and
lived under the law and kept it perfectly. Therein is the reason that it
must be Christ's blood alone to atone for sin. His blood is
the only blood without the disease of sin. everything about me,
everything in my nature I inherited from my father, dead in trespasses
and sin. He is the man. Being man, and yet being oh so
much more, He is the man in whom dwelleth the fullness of the
Godhead bodily. Jesus Christ is God the Son. His blood is precious to His
Father. And it is precious to those of
us for whom He shed it. Just as the Lamb slain for the
Passover died an unusual death, so did our Lord. He lived sinless. The wages of sin is death. Not the wages of righteousness.
The wages of sin. He went about doing good. I don't think we can even grasp
what that means. He did. Good, good as in he did
God. One day maybe we'll know what
that means. Go to Calvary's mount, to the
cross upon which our Lord hangs. There we see how God can be just
and the justifier of sinful men. Upon that cross, the Lord Jesus,
God the Son, was made sin. There is a payment that must
be paid for our sins. They can't be swept under a rug. It must be paid. There our Lord
took our sin and bore them in His body upon that tree. He hangs
suffering the just punishment for the sin I am, the sin that
I commit. He became my substitute and bore
it. Just as the Passover lamb was
slain and died so that the curse, the plague would not come to
Israel that night, Turn the page over to 1 Peter 3.18. We read, 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. A man who knew no sin took upon
him a sin that was not his and paid the price in full." Return in your mind's eye once
again to the day on which Israel slew their Lamb. The lamb was slain. The blood
was caught in a basin. Think of the horror. Those men killing this lamb and capturing
the blood. The horror they must have realized. The Almighty God, Jehovah, I
am would come through Egypt that night in vengeance and in justice. Any house without the blood placed
upon the door would endure the curse. The man slaying that lamb had
the thought of the preciousness of the blood that he was capturing
that day. And having captured that blood,
he takes hyssop and he soaks it in that blood to apply it
to the door. Is it simply that he just kind of slaps it up there
and says, OK, I've done it, walks away? I doubt it. He wants there to
be no doubt that that blood had been shed for that house. He wants it prominently displayed. So he takes and he puts a heavy
coat of blood on the lentil and the side post. I imagine there
wasn't a grain of wood left showing through that wasn't covered by
the blood. We sinners have one promise. When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. Do we not cry out, Lord forbid
that I should trust in any other than Christ Jesus alone? Cover me, cover me throughly. Cover me completely in His blood
so that there is nothing of me to be seen. Let me bring nothing
else but the blood of Christ and plead Him alone." Return to Exodus 12. As I mentioned, there were a
few verses that called my attention. Verse 30, And Pharaoh rose up
in the night, he and all his servants, and all the Egyptians.
And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house
where there was not one dead. The curse is upon us. Verse 13, And the blood shall
be to you for a token upon the houses where ye 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."
We read in 1 John 1.7, the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses
us from all sin. And the final verse that really
caught my attention was verse 1. Exodus 12 verse 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses
and Aaron in the land of Egypt. What condescending grace that
God was pleased to speak to men men in a vile land, men who are
the children of a rebellious father, men who are rebels themselves. Yet it pleased the Lord to speak
to them, to make known to them that salvation was accomplished,
that judgment was coming, but that the Lamb had been provided
for their redemption. Thanks be to God that he has
not stopped speaking to sinful men. We have the sure word of
God and he is still revealing himself
through the preaching of Christ Jesus crucified. Is the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ precious to you? It is if God has ever been pleased
to reveal Himself to you, to reveal who He is, to reveal His
nature, to reveal that you're a sinner against the true and
living God. And you need a refuge because
the curse is upon you. When He reveals that Christ Jesus
is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world, His
blood shall be precious to you." And oh, may God be pleased to
make it all the more precious to us. I don't esteem Him highly enough. His blood is precious. He is
precious. I pray the Lord makes that a
blessing to you. Thank you very much.