Well, it's good to see you out
tonight. Remember those who requested prayer. Fred had his second six-hour
chemo today, infusion, so remember him. Melvin has been having some
kind of stomach troubles and high blood pressure, and they
still haven't figured out what it is yet, so continue to remember
him in your prayers. Loretta goes for her report on
her operation on Monday, so remember her in your prayer. in the prayers. I continue to remember Dee Parks
and the others who have requested prayers. Folks who have lost
loved ones. Let's seek the Lord for them. Let's begin our worship service
tonight with hymn number 291. Come thou, guide me O thou great Jehovah. Guide me O ? Thou great Jehovah
? ? Pilgrim through this barren land ? ? I am weak but thou art
mighty ? ? Hold me with thy powerful hand ? ? Bread of heaven, bread
of heaven ? ? Feed me till I want no more ? ? Feed me till I want
no more ? ? Open now the crystal fountain ? ? Which the healing
stream doth flow ? ? Let the fire and cloudy pillar ? Be all
my journey through. Strong believer, strong believer,
be thou still my strength and shield. When I tread the verge of Jordan,
bid my anxious fears subside. Bear me through. the swelling
current, land me safe on Canaan's side. Songs of praises, songs
of praises, I will ever give to thee. I will ever give to thee. Hymn number 125. ? I hear the Savior say ? Thy strength
indeed is small ? Child of weakness watch and pray ? Mine in me,
thine all in all ? Jesus paid it all ? All the debt I owe ?
Sin had left a crimson stain ? He washed it white as snow
? Lord, now indeed I find My power and thine alone can change
the leper's spots and melt the heart of stone. Jesus paid it
all, all the debt I owe. ? Washed in white as snow ? For
nothing good have I ? Whereby thy grace to claim ? I'll wash
my garments white ? In the blood of Calvary's lamb ? Jesus paid
it all All the debt I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. And when before the throne I
stand in incomplete lips shall still repeat. Jesus paid it all, all the debt
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. Turn in your Bibles, please,
to the 13th chapter of Exodus. I'm going to read the first 10
verses. The title of my message tonight
is, Why We Do This. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Sanctify unto me all the firstborn. Whatsoever openeth
a womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast. It is mine. Moses said unto the
people, Remember this day in which ye came out from Egypt
out of the house of bondage, for by the strength of the hand
of the Lord brought you out from this place. There shall no leavened
bread be eaten. This day came ye out in the month
of Abib. It shall be when the Lord shall
bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites,
and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware
unto thy fathers to give thee a land flowing with milk and
honey. Thou shalt keep this service in this month seven days. Thou
shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a
feast to the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten
seven days. There shall be no leaven bread
be seen with thee, neither shall be leaven seen with thee in all
thy quarters. Now shall show thy son in this
day, saying, This is done because of that which the Lord did unto
me when I came forth out of Egypt. And it shall be for a sign unto
thee upon thy hand for a memorial between thine eyes, and the Lord's
law may be in thy mouth. For with a strong hand hath the
Lord brought thee out of Egypt. Thou shalt therefore keep this
ordinance in his season from year to year. Let us pray. Our
Father in heaven, we thank you for mercy and grace through Jesus
Christ the Lord. We thank you, Father, for the
shed blood of Christ that put away the sin of your people.
We thank you that he was made to be under them wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. We thank you that we stand before
you, Father, fully accepted in him, all because of what he has
done for us. Father, we praise you for your
kindness and mercy. We don't deserve anything from
you but hellfire, but we know that you have saved us by your
grace, showing us that wonderful unmerited favor that we could
never merit, that we could never even ask for. You have been gracious
to us and we thank you. Pray for those who are sick.
Pray, continue to pray for Fred as he's had his second chemotherapy
treatment. Pray you'd be with him, give
him his strength back. Pray for Loretta, she waits news
on her operation. Pray for Melvin as they're still
trying to find out what his problem is. We pray for the others who
requested prayer. Pray for those who've lost loved
ones. We pray for little Aniah, she's regained this cancer. We
ask Lord you'd be with her and her family. Father, we pray for
Dee Parks that you'd be with him and be with Moose and Sandy
and Christina. We pray that you would be merciful
to him and give him peace. We thank you for his testimony
in Christ. Father, we pray that you would
continue to bless him, strengthen him and his family. We pray for
ourselves tonight as we gather here, that you might be pleased
to open up your word to us. Give us understanding. Give us
a sense and an appreciation of what you've done for us. We pray
in Christ's name. Amen. Children have been delivered
from Egypt. Here called the House of Bondage or the House of Slavery.
And they made a journey of about eight miles to a place called
Sukkoth. And Sukkoth means tabernacle or tent. And it's the area where
Jacob pitched his tents near Jabok after he wrestled all night
with the Lord and came out and called the place, Jabok called
it Penuel, I've seen the face of God. And it is here that our
Lord again speaks to Moses and tells him to instruct Israel
concerning the firstborn of man and beast, in verses one and
two. And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, sanctify unto me
all the firstborn. whatsoever opened the womb among
the children of Israel, both of man and of beast, it is mine."
Now the Israelites were to sanctify all the firstborn of man and
beast unto the Lord. The Lord's laid sovereign claim
to them. He says they are mine. They are mine. Being male of
man and beast are to be set apart. That's what the word sanctified
means here. Set apart for God, for His use.
Now the human males will stand as future patriarchs and heads
of families in the service of God when they reach Canaan, because
He has redeemed them. The male of beasts were to be
either clean or unclean. They could be clean beasts or
unclean beasts. The clean were those fit for
sacrifice. The unclean were to be redeemed
by the blood of sacrifice or they were to be destroyed, one
or the other. And that picture of our salvation
or the salvation of all God's elect. If you're not redeemed,
you're going to have to die. It's that simple. You're going
to have to perish in eternal flames. This sets forth a ruling
principle in the Word of God Over in Psalm 24 in verse 1 it
says this, The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, the
world, and all that dwell therein. He said all that opens the matrix,
all that comes forth in the womb, the firstborn is mine. Some may
feel that since they do not acknowledge God, they are outside the realm
of His influence and power over them. Generally they are referring
to the rejection of religion But whether they are redeemed
by blood or they perish in eternal fires, the fact is they are His. They belong to God, to do with
according to what seems good in His sight. Our Lord said that
in that prayer He prayed to the Father in Matthew chapter 11
when He said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for
Thou hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent and
revealed them unto babes, for it seemed good in Your sight.
It was good for Him to hide the gospel it was good for him to
reveal the gospel. Both those categories of people,
the wise and the prudent and the babes, belong to him. They
are his. Now in verses 3 through 7, the
Lord instructs Moses concerning the remembrance and observance
of the Passover. This is the fourth or the fifth
time he's done this. in these early days is to be
done in the month of Abib, and that is the beginning of the
months of the Israelites. It would match up with our March
and April somewhere in there. It would be a nice time to travel
as far as the heat wouldn't be too bad, and it wasn't a rainy
season, which came in October over there called Moshavan. But
it was in the month of Abib, and we've already seen it's a
seven-day feast, and it was to be held with consuming the lamb
with unleavened bread. They are again reminded that
no leaven was to be found in their houses. Our Lord made a
big deal of this and he does also in the New Testament. Paul's
words to the Corinthians illuminated the meaning of this. Salvation
was by the blood of the lamb alone. Our Passover slain for
us is the way he describes it. The lamb and unleavened bread
was to be the sustenance of the people and leaven, which was
a symbol of personal merit and self-righteousness, called sometimes
in scripture the leaven of the Pharisee, was to be utterly disallowed. There was to be no leaven in
the bread. There was to be no leaven in the quarters of the
houses of the people. The theme and song of the redeemed
is Christ alone for the righteousness that God accepts. He alone is
our righteousness. And that's the theme. There is
no personal righteousness or personal unmerit that we can
present to God. We come to God in Jesus Christ.
Over in Jeremiah chapter 23, Jeremiah chapter 23 and verse
5 says, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise
unto David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper,
and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. We know
that is Jesus Christ. In his days Judah shall be saved,
and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is the name whereby
he shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. What is our
righteousness? It is the Lord. He says that
more plainly concerning the church in Jeremiah chapter 33, saying
exactly the same words but changing one pronoun. In Jeremiah 33 and
verse 15 it says, In those days, and at that time, will I cause
the branch of righteousness to grow out of David, and he shall
execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall
Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this
is the name wherewith she shall be called. the Lord our righteousness
that's our name too why how did that come to pass well we took
his name when he married his bride the Lord our righteousness
is his name that's our name too the Lord our righteousness we
know that Paul said to the Corinthian church that we of God are we
in Jesus Christ that's how we got there God put us in Christ
of God are we in Jesus Christ who of God is made of dust wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Now the reason
for this Feast of Remembrance is stated in verse 3. It says,
And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day in which ye
came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, or slavery.
For by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place.
There shall be no leavened bread therein, but it is His strength
and not your strength that brought you out. It's a day of remembrance. As in the case of all gospel
preaching and believing, the glory of the Lord in salvation
is entirely attributed to Him and to no one else. It is the
Lord that is our salvation. Isaiah chapter 52 and verse 10,
after it says that how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet
of them that preach the gospel, that bring good tidings of good
things, that publish salvation, saying to Israel, thy God reigneth.
He says this in Isaiah chapter 52 and verse 10, the Lord hath
made bare his holy arm. These may bear His holy arm in
the eyes of all nations, and all the ends of the earth shall
see the salvation of our God." How did He do it? By the strength
of His hand, by His holy arm. The memorial feast was to go
on in perpetuity, repeated again and again, and so it is with
the preaching of the gospel. Every time it is rehearsed, it
is a memorial feast. It is a memorial feast of remembering
redundantly that great and momentous day when the Lamb of God by Himself
delivered His people out of the bondage of sin and out of the
slavery of sin. Then in verses 8 through 10,
the speaker switches from God speaking to Moses to an Israelite
father speaking to his son, a dad telling his son something, explaining
why this feast is to be observed. Verse 8, it says, And thou shalt
show thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that
which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of the land
of Egypt. What a grand and glorious truth
this is! Though the spiritual man discerns
all things, he is discerned of none. But what he does is strange
to the world. his penchant for worship, his
love and adherence to a thirty five hundred year old book, the
piece that he exhibits in A World Gone Mad is foolishness to the
world. Why does he do that? Why do believers
do what they do? He does it because he remembers
this is done because of that which the Lord did unto me when
I came forth out of Egypt. Why do we do what we do? That
verse struck and stuck in my mind. I just mulled it over in
my head over and over again. All week long I've been thinking
about that verse. Why do we do what we do? We do
what we do because of what the Lord has done. You remember this
day because of what the Lord did to us, he tells his son. This is the impetus, the stimulus,
the motivation for the believer doing as he does. The Lord has
done it. The Lord has done it. The Holy
Spirit, when He teaches us the gospel and shows us things that
man hath not seen nor heard, He shows us what the Lord has
freely given us in Jesus Christ when we preach the gospel. It
is what the Lord has done. This is the language of the gospel.
This is the message of the gospel. Why do we forgive? We do so because of what the
Lord has done for us. He has forgiven us. You look
at the language that the Lord used in Matthew 18 when he talked
to Peter about forgiving. Peter said, well how many times
am I supposed to forgive a guy? Seventy times seven? Or he said
seven times? The Lord said seventy times seven
times. And he gave the illustration of a man who owed money to a
rich man. He had borrowed five hundred
dollars. And he couldn't pay. So the rich man put him in prison.
Although the rich man forgave him all. And then this other
man went away, the man who had been forgiven all this great
debt, went away and a man owed him a dollar. And he put the
man who owed him a dollar in prison. He says, you've been
forgiven $500 and you won't forgive a dollar. So what does he say? If God has forgiven you $500
worth, you better be forgiving your brothers and sisters who
only owe you a buck. That's what he's saying. Why
do we forgive? We forgive because we've been
forgiven. He who has forgiven much, loveth much, saith the
scripture. Why do we love? Why does a believer
love? We do so because of what God
has done for us. He has loved us with an everlasting
love, and because He has loved us with that love, He has drawn
us to Himself. Why do we give? We give because
of what the Lord has done. He has given us all things in
Jesus Christ. It says we are joined heirs of
God and joined heirs of Christ. We are called heirs according
to promise. We are in that great will and
testament of God that Christ ratified by His blood and His
death. We are in that will and everything that is in that will
for us we have received in Jesus Christ because He has died and
the will is in force because of it. Why do we give? Because we've been given all
things. We'll have need of nothing. We are complete in Jesus Christ.
Why do we pray? We do so because of the Lord,
of what the Lord has done. He prayed for us. He said this,
I pray not for the world. I pray for them that thou hast
given me. The word intercede. It's the same word as precious.
notion is prayer. Our Lord's intercession for us
is praying for us. Why do we pray? What He's done
for us. That's why we do it. Why do we
gather in worship? We do so because of what the
Lord has done. There's a reason for worship.
It's not just to get people worked up into a frenzy. Oh, we saw
something last night that was on the internet I mean, it's
a great big mega church. I mean, they had a movie screen
all the way across the church. They had a guy in the back, had
a computer set up, a big, big set up, bigger than what I had
when I was a disc jockey and ready, a whole bunch of buttons
and switches and stuff. And they had these guys on rails
in that church, and they were on wires, and they were rehearsing
the Christmas play. And they were coming across in
the sky playing drums. It was a big entertainment thing.
Is that worship? Now, we worship God because of
what He's done. What He's done for us causes
us to bow down in thanksgiving. He has saved our souls, though
we deserve to be eternally punished. He has shed His blood and put
our sin away by the sacrifice of Himself, and what He has done
is conducive to the child of God to come and worship Him. Worship Him. Why do we believe? We do so because of what God
has done. He has given us faith by grace
to believe His Word. That's why we have faith. I hear
men, I heard a preacher on TV, he's talking about if you just
use your faith. You know, he's talking about what Christ has
done. Just use your faith to believe on Him. What faith? You
don't have faith. All men have not faith. Now men
have natural faith. They believe in all sorts of
things. A lady told me one time when I went to visit a friend
in the hospital, she said, well you can believe anything and
be alright. I said, you believe God's a goat? That be okay? She
said, well no. I said, well that's one thing
that ain't alright anyway, at least that. Why do we believe? We believe because God has given
us this gift. And it is a gift if you have
it. And when you use the word gift, it presupposes that it's
been given and received. Elsewise it's not a gift, it's
an offer. But this is a gift. It's been given. And it's faith
to believe. Why do we believe? Because of
what God's done. It says it all, really, doesn't it? Why do we
repent? We do so because of what God
has done. He has granted us repentance and faith. He has granted that
to us. Why do we preach the gospel?
Why do we tell folks about Christ? We do so because what God has
done. If He hasn't done it, then there's no use telling anybody
about it. Jesus paid it all, all the debt I owe. That's something
to tell. That's a story to tell. My sins
are forgiven, they're put away by the sacrifice of Himself,
and I've been made righteous before God because He is my righteousness. We do so because of what God
has done. The Gospel is a RECOLLECTION, if you will, a MEMORIAL and a
REHEARSAL of what God has done over and over again. and it's
Israelite fathers to tell his son when he takes the Passover
feast and doesn't eat any unleavened bread. He eats that and completely
consumes that lamb in his house. He told his son, the reason you
do this, your reason d'etre, your reason
to exist, this is done because of that which the Lord did unto
me when I came forth out of Egypt. This is why we do what we do.
This is why. Father, bless us to understand
and pray in Christ's name. Amen.