In Numbers chapter 9, I delight in studying the Scriptures
and reading them when something pops out at me and shows me something
wonderful from the Old Testament that is shrouded in mystery and
only opened up by the understanding and the key of knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ. This is one of those passages
that is wonderful and sweet for it teaches about something that
we as children of God practice once a month here at Sequoia
Baptist Church. The children of Israel at this
time have been in the wilderness for two years. They'll be there
for 38 more years. Now the actual journey from Egypt
to Canaan was only 11 days. That's all it took to walk from
one place to the other. But because of their sin and
their rebellion against God, God turned them into the wilderness.
And they stayed there for 40 years. They could have made it
in 11 days. But because of rebellion, they
stayed there. So this is the second year of
the wilderness with 38 more to go. Until the Lord thins out
the herd here He sends out the flock until but two of the original
that were above 20 years of age when delivered from Egypt will
enter into the promised land. Only two that came out of Egypt
above 20 years of age entered into the promised land. Moses
didn't enter in. Moses couldn't enter in. He was
the law. The law can't take you to the
promised land. So God buried him and hid his grave. and nobody
knows where he's buried. God killed him, took him home. Why? Because the law isn't for
those who are living in Emmanuel's land. The law's not for those
in Canaan. The law's for those in the wilderness.
The law's for those around Sinai. And if you want to go to the
law, you know what you're going to have to do? You're going to
have to leave the Promised Land and see if you can go find Moses
Gray and dig him up. because he's buried. The believer
is dead to the law, and the law is dead to the believer. The two men that entered in were
Joshua and Caleb. Joshua, Greek rendering of the
word Joshua is Jesus. It means Savior. So the Savior
entered the Promised Land, and Caleb means his faithful dog. That's what we are. We're the
faithful dog who sit at the master's table waiting for crumbs to fall
off. Perfectly satisfied with whatever God will give us. We
are that dog. That's who enters the promised
land. The savior, the full runner, enters in for us. And we follow
as faithful dogs unto our master. This is still early in their
journey. They've got a whole lot of rebellion to do for the
next 40 years or the next 38 years. And in this passage, the
Lord directs Moses to command the people to observe the Passover.
And it's important to realize the Passover here is reserved
in the wilderness. It's reserved in the wilderness.
Because that wilderness means something to those who understand
the gospel of Jesus Christ. But there are three distinct
times and occurrences that stand out in the story of the deliverance
of Israel. And they are three places where
the Lord God told His people to observe the Passover feast.
Now do you know what the Passover is? The Passover is when the
Lord came through Egypt and destroyed every firstborn, the firstborn
of every house in Egypt. Every house. Every house. He either got the firstborn of
the Egyptians or the firstborn of those whose blood was on the,
whose lamb, the lamb's blood was on the doorpost. He got his
firstborn, his only begotten son, but he got a firstborn at
every house in Egypt. Nobody survived that night. You
see, we don't, we don't escape judgment. Our savior was judged
for us. So when Christ came through,
he said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And that's where you get the
word Passover. The elements of the Passover are set forth. The elements of the Passover
was what the Lord used to institute the Lord's table. The Lord's
table. He said to them in the gospels,
I've looked forward to this Passover. to eat this Passover with you.
Why? Because he took that wine and gave it to his disciples
and said, this is my blood in the New Testament. This is a
new covenant in my blood. And he took that bread and break
it and handed it to them and said, take it. This is my body
broken for you. Now they knew that it was wine
and bread. Somehow along the way, some so-called Christian
organizations, called churches, have changed that to actually
become the body and the blood of Jesus Christ. When you drink
it, it actually becomes the blood of Christ, and when you eat the
bread, it actually becomes his body. That's not so. That's not
so. It doesn't do it physically,
and it doesn't do it spiritually. Those elements were just to show
me, I'm going in a few days to the cross of Calvary to die in
your room instead. There I will give my body to
be broken for you and I will shed my blood for you for the
remission of sins. That's what that meant. That's
what that meant. So the Passover was very important.
Three times our Lord instituted this feast in the Old Testament.
First of all, the Passover was observed in Egypt. In Egypt. recorded in Exodus 12. The night
of the Passover was the first Passover. They took a lamb, kept
him up for 14 days to see if he had any blemishes on him.
Then they killed him, and they took the blood, poured it in
a basin, and put it on the lamb, the lentils and the doorposts
of their house. They took that lamb and burnt
and baked him over fire. They didn't boil him. They didn't
sod him with water. They baked that lamb and they
ate everything on it. They ate it with bitter urge,
which represents, some people say repentance. But those things
were done, and that was the first Passover in Egypt, that night
when God got blood at every house. When God got judgment at every
house in Egypt. And then it was instituted here
in the wilderness. In Numbers chapter 9, and again
it was instituted in Canaan in Joshua chapter 5. And those things
are important. They teach us a comforting truth.
The history of the elect from salvation to glory is the story
of his people rehearsing what God has done for them. This is
our story. This is why we gather here. God
has redeemed them, he's purchased them by his own blood according
to Acts 20, 28. And it is the redemption by blood
that they are redundantly to recall over and over again. How
will the elect survive in the wilderness? That's where you
are now, in the wilderness. How will you be sustained and
flourish in the barrenness of this world? They will live and
thrive and be sustained because they've been redeemed by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. No other reason. How will they
tread upon the ruins of Jericho? How will they defeat king after
king and take possession of the land flowing with milk and honey?
They will do so upon the singular condition of redemption by the
blood of the Lamb of God. The blood of the Lamb delivered
the people from Egypt The blood of the Lamb went with them in
sustaining power through the wilderness. The blood of the
Lamb planted their feet solidly in Canaan in the promised land.
From ruin, captivity, slavery, and destitution, to living in
a wilderness world that they are not part of, to the glory
of the predestinated possessions that await every one of us. There's
only one thing that stands true of all three. It's all because
They are purchased possessions. They are redeemed by the blood,
and that carries them through and marks their every step. And
that's what we do when we gather. That's why Paul said, I determine
to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We know that Israel in the wilderness
pictures and typifies the church of the world. Our Lord said that
in Hebrews. He says those things happen to
them that you might understand. Those things happen to them,
for example, to us. And he was talking about the
church in the wilderness at that time. We know that the spotless
Paschal Lamb of the Passover is Christ. For in 1 Corinthians
chapter 5 it says Christ is our Passover slain for us. Christ
is our Paschal Lamb slain for us. What is before us in this
passage is the guarantee that first to last every hour and
every minute and every victory and every failure, we are safe
under the blood of the crucified one. Our destination is secure. Our journey, though fraught with
dangers and trials, will be safe and sure. We are immortal until
God is finished with us. Nothing can touch us. The observation
of the Passover is a reminder of that wonderful fact that always
sin has been put away by the blood of Jesus Christ. The wants
and needs, the trials and troubles in the world are no match for
the blood of Jesus Christ. Passover in Egypt, Passover in
the wilderness, Passover in Canaan. The glory that awaits the believer
is secure because the blood of the Lamb is appended. He entered
in once the holy place with his own blood, Hebrews 9, and obtained,
got, obtained eternal redemption for
us. He obtained it. Now this portion of scripture
written so long ago is as relevant today for us as it was in these
sojourners here in the wilderness. As Israel in the wilderness pictures
the church and the world, so the Passover feast commanded
by our Lord represents for us the Lord's table that we take
once a month. That is taken by command or ordination
of God Almighty. We looked and read just a few
moments ago in verses 1 through 5, we see that the people obeyed
the Lord. They took the Passover. says so in verse 5. They obeyed
the Lord and observed the Passover with all its attendant rites
and ceremonies. They did just as they were told. And then somebody
showed up. The rest of the passage deals
with something else, something new, something different and
points to our day. It concerns those who are able to partake of the Passover.
Now this was not addressed in the institution of the Passover
in Exodus chapter 12 and in its addition in the wilderness points
to the fact that this is an example for us today because it represents
the church of the Living God. It points to the Lord's table
in the New Testament. It was not mentioned in all the exact
requirements given to Moses in Exodus 12, but we know that God
has ordained it to be. Why? Because the Lord's table
will, in the future, be taken by redeemed Gentiles. It will
be taken by the unclean and those that are far away. Those that
are far away. The Lord's table will be taken
by Gentiles as well as redeemed Jews. Remember, this was established
in the Passover observed in the wilderness. So it's about the
church. And after the people had observed
the feast, some of the people who did not observe the feast
for reasons of uncleanness, or because they were out of town
on the 14th of the first month, came to Moses and Aaron with
this new thing. They said in verse 6, And there
were certain men who were defiled by a dead body, that they could
not keep the Passover on that day. And they came before Moses
and before Aaron on that day. And those men said, we are defiled
by the body of a dead man. Wherefore are we kept back, that
we may not offer an offering of the Lord in his appointed
season among the children of Israel? Why can't we do the Passover?
Why are we kept back? Why are we kept back? Moses said,
basically, I have no idea. I have no idea. That wasn't in
the original plan, at least what we thought. Because in Exodus,
the Gentiles hadn't been fully revealed as coming in yet. The
church was very shrouded. You couldn't hardly see it. But
now it's becoming more and more open as to its revelation. Moses
said, I don't know. He said, but I'll ask. And so
he sought the Lord, sought the Lord. For the answer, in what
was a dilemma to Moses and Aaron was a wondrous shrouded provision
for the likes of us. Unclean, out of town. That's us. Unclean and out of
town. The dilemma is this. Is a defiled
person, one of God's elect, to be kept from observing the Passover? is a defiled person, one of God's
elect, to be kept from observing the Lord's table. The Lord answers
Moses in verse 11 and 12. He says, the 14th day of the
second month, of the second month. And even they shall keep it and
eat with it leavened bread and bitter herbs. They shall leave
none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it according
to all the ordinance of the feet. Now he's talking about those
that are defiled by dead body and those that were far away.
Those that were far away. That person who is defiled or
is too far away, and that too far away metaphorically could
speak of being out of fellowship. It could be speaking of folks
who are going through troubles and suddenly they decided they
can't attend church. And that happens so many times.
We've seen it so many times. We've seen it here in this assembly.
We've seen it in other places where people get in a fix and
they stop coming to church. It's like almost like they're
embarrassed to come because they know that people are going to
feel for them or maybe take pity on them or want to help them
and they don't want to feel less independent than they are. That's
just self-righteousness, but that's the way we are. It's human
nature. It's human nature. But those
that are defiled and out of fellowship They have an appointed time to
observe the Passover, and that's on the 14th of the second month.
Now it's not spoken that way in the Lord's table in the New
Testament, but the principle still applies. It's important
to note that though the Lord declares this exception as to
when, He makes no exception whatsoever as to the fact that the Passover
itself must be kept. it must be kept. The standards declared by God
in Exodus 12 are to be kept exactly. In fact, those who are allowed
to observe the Passover on the 14th day of the second month
are seemingly given a more minute description of their duties than
those who were to observe it in the first month. There's a
difference between verse 3 and verse 11 and 12. A few things
are added. This teaches us that no matter
what the circumstance, no matter how weak and defiled is the observer. The standards that God has set
are never lowered and never changed. God does not change, nor does
His standards change. When He said you are commanded
to take the Lord's table, you are commanded to take the Lord's
table. When He commands you to be baptized,
you are commanded to be baptized. When you're commanded to come
and hear the gospel, you are commanded to come and hear the
gospel. When you're commanded to repent and to believe, you
are commanded to repent and believe. Those are not options. Those
are commands. Our Lord does not change. The
fact that man can never be worthy, or of his own power ever attained
to these requirements, does not alter to any degree the standards
set by God. For one to stand in God's presence
accepted, he must be without sin and possessed of a perfect
righteousness. That's just the scriptures. None
shall stand before me guilty. I will in no wise pardon the
guilt of the Lord. I will in no wise pardon the
guilt. So if you're going to stand before God, if you're going
to receive the Lord's table, or if you're going to take the
Passover, you've got to stand before Him without guilt. Without guilt. perfectly righteous. And that perfect righteousness
is by the deliverance made by the blood of the Lamb. It follows
then that to observe the Passover as well as the Lord's table,
one must observe them with the knowledge of sin. But not only
that, the knowledge of sin forgiven. Forgiven. And the righteousness
of God imputed to you and counted as yours. He must observe the
table, not to gain, but in remembrance of what he has gained, redemption
accomplished by God. That's what he's gained. It is grace that allowed the
defiled and those who are far away to observe a month later.
But their observance was conditioned upon law and justice being satisfied
by blood. That was the offering that was
made at every Passover, a lamb slain. A lamb slain, feasted
upon. Now the Passover, as well as
the Lord's Table, set forth two foundational truths in Scripture.
They are these, redemption by blood, and unity and communion
of God's people with Him and with each other. Those principles
are set forth. For the people to dwell in unity
and enjoy that communion, all who are delivered by the blood
must partake of the Passover, whether they observe it at the
same time or not. Such provision is also made for
the Lord's table. With these words, our Lord said,
as often as you do this, do it in remembrance of me. You see,
it is grace that allows the partaker of the table to observe it at
a later date. But the command to partake has
never changed, nor is the standard under which it is to be observed
ever lowered. What is this about? What was
the Passover showing? The Passover was showing that
a couple of years before this wilderness Passover was offered,
there was a Passover offered up in Egypt. What was it showing? They were delivered by the blood
of the Lamb. That's what it was shown. What
does the Lord's table show? We do show forth His death until
He comes again. Until He comes again. It is the
same with attending a gospel worship. We gather to worship
the Lord Jesus Christ as the gospel is preached. And what
is the gospel? What is the gospel? It's good news. That means it's
already news, it's already happened, it's already taken place. The
word gospel is spiel, that means to be spoken, go spiel, gospel. Good tidings and good things
published and preached. The gospel is the gospel regardless
of anything but you don't know it and understand it and you
never will until it is preached to you. For God has chosen by
the foolishness of the priest to save them that believe. How
shall they hear without a preacher? How shall they preach except
they be seen? You won't believe, you won't know, you won't come,
you won't trust unless God sends you somebody to tell you good
news. Good news. And that's not honoring
men because men are a dime a dozen. But it's honoring that message
that is absolutely necessary. There's something very interesting
here. In this passage, the defiled one is not said to have cleansed
himself. The Lord didn't say let him cleanse
himself by touching a dead person. That cleansing ceremony for touching
the dead ones did not appear until Numbers 19, 10 chapters
later. So the defiled one, though given
leeway to observe a month later, observed the Passover as he was. as he was. That's very important. Because a lot of people think
you've got to do something to get worthy. You've got to be
something. You've got to have gotten rid of some things or
taken up some things for you to take the Lord's table. I've
heard people say it. I don't take the Lord's table. I just
don't feel worthy. I just don't feel worthy. Well, that's why
you're supposed to take it. That's the reason behind it.
How worthy were the Jews when the Passover was made? How worthy
were they? They liked Egypt, even though they were slaves.
They were eating the leeks and the garlics and they were doing
all right. They were doing all right. Slavery was tough, but
it wasn't tough until Moses showed up and told them the truth. That's
when Pharaoh started getting hard on them. When the truth was told, things
begin to get hard, and that's when you're gonna have problems
too. I can stand up here and lie to you all day long, you're
not gonna go in trouble. I can give you something to do for
salvation, and the rest of the world's gonna embrace you, because
that's what they believe, that they do something for salvation. But if I tell you the truth,
and you believe, troubles will ensue. And if you tell the truth,
troubles will ensue. it will ensue. You all know.
Your own family members, your friends who you told the truth,
you've seen the look on their face. You've seen the, they look
at you like you might be certifiable, you belong in an institution,
or they look at you like you're saying, I'm not saved. They get
upset. Why? There was no problem. The slavery
was fine. Slavery was fine. Sure, we was
making bricks, but we did have some straw to make them out of,
you know, to mix in with the mud, and we was making bricks.
We was all right, and we had a house to live in, and we had
food to eat, you know. Everything was fine. Didn't you
come along and say, God's gonna deliver us? Now wait a minute,
we're okay. They got out of Egypt, and they
got in the wilderness, and they cried, let us, make us a captain
and go back. when they were faced with the
truth that the promised land was over Jordan and there were
some giants that they were going to have to slaughter. They said,
no, we can't do that. Now wait a minute. We can't come
up against giants. If you believe the truth, you
come up against a giant called religion every day. A huge, monstrous
behemoth. Every day. You're standing in
the face of religion every day when you tell the truth. your
troubles will begin. You can count on that. You're
not worthy. So what should you do? Partake
of the Lord's table. That's what this is saying. This
is a wondrous thing. This is a wondrous thing. The
Passover as well as the Lord's table is not for those who make
themselves worthy, Not for those who think they deserve it. Not for those who have made themselves
clean. It's to come as you are. A sinner
saved by grace. A blood-bought sinner saved by
grace. It's not about you getting yourself
right because you can't get yourself right. Or it's not about the
church deciding if you're right by watching you for six weeks
and seeing if you qualify. It's not the church's table.
It's the Lord's table. And the church has nothing to
do with deciding who can and can't take it, because the command
is to the individual. Let each man examine himself,
and so let him eat. And for the church to say to
someone who says they're trusting Christ, though they may be out
of fellowship, though they may be far away, though they may
be unclean, Lord, they'd be hanging around with dead folks. The church
cannot tell a person to disobey God's command, ever. It's not
their business. Not for those who make themselves
worthy. Not for the church to decide. What's it about? It's about remembering that you
have been made righteous. and qualified to partake because
God has delivered you by the blood of Jesus Christ. The old
poet wrote, Jesus bids his saints to meet around his board. Here,
pardoned rebels sit and have communion with their Lord. If
sin and guilt afford a plea and may obtain a place, surely the
Lord will welcome me. and I will see his face. You
see, together, the strong and the weak, the well and the infirm,
the frail and the hearty, the clean and the unclean, come together
in unity to remember that they were all in bondage to sin, and
God has delivered them by the blood of the Lamb. This is our
touchstone, brothers and sisters. This is where we live and move
and have our being. Not that we attend church. Not
that we attend a church that preaches the truth. Not that
we give. Not that we pray. Not that we
read our Bible. This is our touchstone. Christ died in my room instead.
That's where I live. So you ain't much, I know. I'm
only a poor sinner. Nothing at all. But Christ died
for me. I'm washed in the blood. You
don't look like it, you can't see it. It's hidden, it's called
faith. It's a gift God gives that nobody
can see. So I don't see your righteousness. They didn't see Christ's righteousness.
He was perfect. He was perfect. To protect the Passover, the
clean and the unclean, or to protect it. Another thing is
clearly declared. Look at verse 13 of our text.
But the man that is clean and is not in a journey. So he's
been hanging around. He's a very fine religious fellow.
He's not been messing around with dead folks and he's not
been out of fellowship. He's been there all the time.
Kind of like the son that stayed home and took care of business
while the prodigal went off and wasted his life on riotous living. The son that stayed home didn't
get anything. The son that lost it all got
everything. God works in mysterious ways, doesn't he? But that's
how he works. The clean man, and is not on a journey, if he
forbeareth or doesn't keep the Passover, even the same shall
be cut off from among you. from among the people, because
he brought not the offering of the Lord of his appointed season,
that he may bear sin, that man shall bear his sin. If Christ
don't bear it, you're going to have to. You're going to have
to. The observance of the Passover, as well as the Lord's table,
is the command of God. It's not to be neglected for
any reason. You may have been given grace to partake at a month
late or as often as you do, but you have not been given grace
to forgo it. As to the Passover, the person
who did not observe it was cut off from the people. And concerning
the Lord's people, those who take it unworthily, which means
not discerning the body and blood of Jesus Christ, are sick, and
they sleep. That's what the text says in 1 Corinthians 11. They're
sick and they sleep. Know well that our Lord distinguished
this one who is clean, in that he had not defiled himself with
the dead. He thought that he was clean by something he did. Because he didn't need to offer
sacrifice to God. He didn't need to bring the blood
of Christ before God. He thought he was clean. Something
he did or did not do. And this addresses self-righteousness.
One who sees no necessity for confession of sin. He's clean.
He's clean. And it is imperative that one
who has thought himself thus, it's imperative for that person
to take the table. It's imperative for that person
to observe the Passover. Why? Because he needs to be reminded
that it ain't his self-made cleanness that's done anything, it's the
blood of Jesus Christ that saved his soul. So the blood of Christ is not
only the magnet for the ruined, It is also the necessity of those
who think they don't need it. It's a necessity for the self-righteous.
Your self-righteousness has got to go. Your righteousness is
as filthy rags. Well, what does that remind me?
Why did Christ have to die? He died because my death would
not satisfy God. He died because I was a sinner
and could not be accepted by God. He died because I was ruined
and undone. He died because the law had condemned
me and the only answer was death. That's why He died. And if we
can keep that in our forefront, our self-righteousness will take
a hit. It ain't gonna go away. Wish to God it would, but it
ain't gonna go away till we die. It'll be there. It's imperative for one who has
thought himself to be clean to take the table to be reminded
that his salvation has nothing to do with him and everything
to do with Jesus Christ. Both the Passo and the Lord's
Table are a confession of sin. In fact, everything we do as
a child of God is a confession of sin. Do you know that? Why
are you here? There's a lot going on out yonder.
You could be up at the casino, pumping quarters in a machine,
playing at the poker table, having a good time. You could be out
fishing, riding your motorcycle, driving your car, going on the
parkway. You're doing a whole lot of stuff.
Spending time with your family, that's a good thing. Play with
your kids, that's great. Why are you here? You're confessing your sin. Because
all I've got to say to you is the blood of Jesus Christ alone
will cleanse it. You're confessing sin to be here.
You're confessing that you're a sinner in need of a savior. You take the Lord's table. You
confess that his body was broken, his blood was shed for your sin,
and you rejoice in his death that satisfied the lost man for
you. When you're baptized, you're
buried in the water just like Christ was. You give yourself
over to someone else who holds your life in his hands, and you're
raised with him. And you died with him, you were
buried with him, and you were raised with him. You're confessing
sin. When you pray, your confessions in. When you read this book,
your confessions in. There's a whole lot of books.
I like all kinds of books. Heck, I even like some comic
books. I used to be a comic book freak when I was a kid. But I've
got all kinds of books in my house. Got a good preacher's
library over here. Got part of it over here and
part of it over at the house. Got a good library. Got all kinds
of books. I like mysteries. I like all kinds of books. I
like Shakespeare. I got Shakespeare's Complete
Works. and have read them and I like them. Why don't I read this book? Confess My Sin. I need what this book tells me
to make it through today and so I can sleep good tonight to
know that the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed me from all
Transgression, all transgression. The clean and the unclean are
to partake of the ceremony. I'm to partake of the ceremony
because it's not about my moral condition but about what God
has done because of my immoral condition. What God has done
on behalf of me and that's my worthiness alone. Unworthy am
I. We sing, but He made me worthy. And now by His grace, He made
me worthy. It is about the redemption by
blood, accomplished by blood, finished by blood, and in no
way conditioned on me. To refuse the table because you
believe you are unworthy or to refuse the table because you
believe you are worthy is to not understand the reason for
the table at all. To refuse is to fail to declare
the value of the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. Let a man examine
himself on the basis of his discernment of the body of Christ, and so
let him eat. This do. This do. And finally, if a stranger should
sojourn among you and desire to partake, no rule has been
established but one in the Passover. I know it's In church, in ecclesiology,
which is church doctrine, people have all kinds of rules and regulations
about how to handle something like this. What if somebody shows
up, as you know, you serve him. If he's lying, he'll have to
deal with God about that. But you don't figure out whether
he's lying or not. So, well, I saw him out, and
he was a-drinkin'. He was a Jew and he was going
to a movie show. He ought not be allowed in here.
I used to belong to a church, when Schlitz Brewery built a
brewery in Winston-Salem, because they had that stupid church covenant
on the wall, you seen them, everyone's got one, we shall not partake
of alcoholic beverage as a beverage. Because the fellow had a job
there supporting his wife and kids, and Schlitz played good.
Back then, the 70s, they paid a living wage, a good living
wage, good benefits. When they came in, this fella,
he was working at a low-end job, wasn't no future, and he went
down there and got a good job at Schlitz Brewery, and they
threw him out of that church. And he didn't even drink beer, but
he worked at a place that made it. That's hypocrisy. That's self-righteousness. What
about a stranger that comes in and we don't know? Our Lord says,
and if a stranger in verse 14 shall sojourn among you, and
will keep the Passover of the Lord according to the ordinance
of the Passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall
he do. Ye shall have one ordinance,
both for the stranger and for him that is born in the land.
One ordinance. If a stranger shall sojourn among
you and desire to partake, There's no other rule but this. Let him
take. Let him take. I love the Old
Testament. It teaches me so much about the
new. And I love the New Testament
because it teaches me so much about what's in the old. This
is the ordinance. This is our life. This is where
we live and move and have our being. This is the rock upon
which we stand. This is our foundation. sure
and steadfast and immovable. This is where we live. The blood of Jesus Christ has
cleansed me from all transgression. That floats my boat. I hope it
floats yours too. Father, bless us to understanding.
We pray in Christ's name. Amen.