Sugar Land Bible Church

Dr. Andy Woods: As the children are being dismissed for junior church, I want to invite your attention this morning to the book of Exodus, the 12th chapter. The title of our message this morning is Christ Our Memorial. And I have to tell you, since we teach chapter by chapter, book by book, verse by verse, I really don't pick my sermons, I just teach on what's coming.

And I was just thrilled that the Lord would have us in this chapter on this day where we commemorate the blood that was spilled to give us freedom. And we're going to see that concept today in the Passover lamb. Jesus said in John chapter 15 and verse 13, greater love has no one than this, than the one who lay down his life for his friends.

What a great thing to think about on Memorial Day, what a great thing to think about on this particular Sunday as we see now the implementation of something in Israel's system that God wanted set up called the Passover. I want to thank Pastor Gabe for preaching and teaching last weekend, I'm trusting you enjoyed him and I also would encourage you to participate in the election here in Texas, we got a big one coming up this Tuesday. I invite you to participate and just a way to extend common grace into the culture.

We continue our study in the book of Exodus where God is redeeming a nation. He's doing it through a human instrument, of course, Moses and also Aaron, but through them have come 10 plagues on Egypt. God is demonstrating his superiority, his sovereignty over the Egyptian pantheon under Pharaoh that's holding Egypt in bondage. And here we are at the end of that set, the death of the firstborn.

We've seen the Nile turn to blood, we've seen frogs, gnats, flies, death of livestock, boil, hail, locusts, darkness. There's only one thing left for God to do is to take out the firstborn all over the land of Egypt. And why is God doing that? Well, earlier in the book of Exodus, I think it's chapter 4, Israel is called God's firstborn son. And God is saying to Egypt, you mess with my firstborn son, I'm coming after yours.

And that's an outworking of the Abrahamic promises, I'll bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. As you study the Bible these are very real in-kind blessings and curses. So, you get into chapter 12 and there's just a lot of information here as you can see and obviously we're not going to cover all of that today. But we're just going to read God's instructions to Moses.

And before this plague of death of the firstborn hits Egypt, God gives some instructions to Moses about how to commemorate this event once it transpires. He gives him instructions about Passover and then he gives him some instructions related to a second feast on Israel's calendar, Unleavened Bread. The two, as we'll see, are highly related. And yet today we're focused on Passover, verses 1 through 13. It all begins with some instructions.

Chapter 12 and verse 1, it says, "Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt." So here come a new set of instructions. And since God is God, he is entitled to do just that. Jesus did that in the upper room, you might remember. John 13, verses 34 and 35, he says, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

And when Jesus says a new commandment I give to you, it's like well, who do you think you are Jesus, God or something? The fact that he's giving new commandments shows that he's God. And here God is God and something very severe is about to hit Egypt, and God's nation, the nation of Israel, is to memorialize this event in something called Passover.

And it starts with a new calendar, verse 2. "This month shall be the beginning of months for you, it is to be the first month of the year." So Israel is now given a new calendar system as they're about to leave Egypt. And over the course of time, seven feasts are going to be given to the nation of Israel, four in the spring, three in the fall.

The first four pointing, as we'll see today, to the first coming of Christ, the last three pointing to the second coming of Christ, a large gap of time in between the spring and fall feasts. And you know what that large gap of time is? It's you, it's me, in the age of the church, which has gone on for 2,000 years separating first coming from second coming. And these feasts, and we're only going to look at the first of the seven today, is Passover and it is to take place in the first month of this new year that has been given.

This month in the Mosaic time period was called Abib. It was a Canaanite name and the name of the month was later changed to Nisan following the Babylonian captivity much later. And so this is what the calendar of Israel looks like and we're now reading about the first feast that was to be celebrated on this calendar system, what later would be called Nisan.

Here's another chart showing you the calendar of Israel, how it kind of overlaps with our Gregorian calendar system that we know today and when the different feasts of Israel would transpire during the different months. So God says new instructions, new calendar and one of the things that's interesting about God is he's into new things, did you know that?

He's into starting over. I mean the world was flooded and he started over with eight people. The nation tried to enter the promised land and they fell into unbelief and so God started over with the second generation in the book of Numbers chapters 13 and 14. And one of these days there's going to be a brand new, new heavens and new earth, Revelation 21 and verse 1.

And one of the things he tells us when we trust in his son for salvation is we are a new creature in Christ Jesus. Second Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17, the old is gone and the new has come. God is into newness, we even read the commandment of Jesus in the upper room, a new commandment I give to you. And so here is something fresh, here is something new that the nation of Israel didn't know anything about.

It's a new festival feast system that is now coming into existence. And it is to center around a lamb, verses 3 through 11. Notice and by the way, before I move on too far related to this calendar, I notice that the enemies of God do the same thing. You think of the antithesis of God, which is Communism or Marxism, they kind of have a statement that history begins today.

They're starting new history. I noticed that in the French Revolution, which was a very bloody revolution that took place across the pond so to speak around the same time as the American Revolution, that they got rid of BC and AD in the calendar system because that reminded us of Jesus. They changed the calendar system from seven days to ten days and that was a total disaster.

Every negative social indicator increased, divorce, spousal abuse, you name it, when they changed the calendar system like that because they're tampering, I believe, with a design of God. And they pretended like this year is year zero or year one. And so I notice that Satan frequently imitates the things that God does. But here God is starting a brand new calendar system, rightfully so because he is God and it's to involve various feasts of Israel.

And the first on the list is Passover, the first of the spring feasts, and it revolves around a lamb, verses 3 through 11. And the first thing we understand about this lamb is it's to be one per household. So notice verse 3, it says, "Speak to all the congregation of Israel saying on the tenth of this month." So this is the first month and when it hits day ten of this month, here's something you shall do.

They are each one to take a lamb for themselves according to their father's household, a lamb for each house. So one lamb per household. And the reason this is given is the entire lamb was to be consumed in one evening. And so we can't have too much lamb, we need one lamb. Now there's an exception made in verse 4 of Exodus 12.

It says, "Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them, according to what each man should eat you are to divide the lamb." So if you're in a family that's too small to consume an entire lamb by yourself or by themselves, then they were to join with a neighboring household. So God's instructions here are very specific.

And then he starts to lay out the qualifications for the lamb. It's not one of these things where hey just grab a lamb, any lamb will do. This lamb has to be qualified. And you see that there in verse 5. It says, "Your lamb, Exodus 12 verse 5, shall be an unblemished male a year old, you may take it from the sheep and the goats." So you'll notice that one of the characteristics of this lamb is it's got to be unblemished.

Now as we study this, I hope you're seeing Jesus, because all of this points to him. Jesus our Passover lamb was unblemished, he was without sin. First Peter chapter 1, verse 19, it says, "But with the precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ." Peter is saying Jesus was this spotless, unblemished lamb. He was completely and totally without sin.

And where would Peter get this idea that a lamb has to be unblemished? Well obviously it comes from Passover because this is typology which points to Jesus Christ. This is why God is so meticulous on how this event is to be carried out. Start of the month, here's what to do on day 10, in a second he'll show us what to do on day 14.

Don't mess with the recipe because these things are prefigurations, they're shadows of Jesus coming into our world and shedding his blood, his untarnished blood without sin for the sins of the entire world. You'll notice we have someone running for Senate that thinks God is non-binary. And I don't want to get too far into that kind of thing talking about it.

But you'll notice that in the Bible there's genders, there's two. It's not multiple choice. Your gender doesn't come from how you feel, it comes from facts about you biologically. Can I get an amen on that in the great state of Texas? You notice your lamb shall be an unblemished male. That doesn't look non-binary to me. A male a year old, you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.

So this lamb that is to be featured on this first feast or celebration or memorial device on the calendar is to be an unblemished male. And of course all of this points to Jesus Christ because John the Baptist, who was the greatest prophet of the Old Testament dispensation or age, he's the final prophet of that time period, the age of law, he made this statement in John chapter 1, verse 29.

It says, the next day John the Baptist, going to work every day, baptizing people, meaning that they were identifying with his message that a Messiah is coming. Well he's out doing his job and suddenly the lamb he's been talking about shows up. I mean put yourself in John the Baptist's shoes. You're baptizing, you're talking about a coming Messiah and then the very one you're predicting shows up to be baptized by you.

And that's when John the Baptist says I don't need to be baptized, I don't need to baptize you, it needs to be the other way around. But Jesus permitted it to fulfill all righteousness. But in that whole sequence of events, it says in John chapter 1, verse 29, the next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

Why would John the Baptist refer to Jesus as the lamb of God? It's imagery that goes back to Passover. First Corinthians chapter 5, verse 7, says, "Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened, for Christ our Passover has also been sacrificed." So it's not just Peter, it's not just John the Baptist, but it's also the Apostle Paul understanding that Jesus is the perfect male lamb of God that takes away the sin of the entire world and it's obviously pregnant with meaning stemming from the pages of the Old Testament.

See the New Testament, and this is a key hint in terms of how to study the Bible, the New Testament is not going to come along and re-explain everything to you. It assumes that you know what Passover is because you've become a student of the Old Testament. If you're a student of the Old Testament, you'll understand the meaning of the New Testament.

And we have a pastor today of one of the largest evangelical churches in the United States, if not the world, saying we need to unhitch from the Old Testament. That is absolute insanity because without the Old Testament, you can't understand the prefigurations, the typology that are given in the New Testament. It's like being in your house and saying you know I really like the wallpaper and I really like the color of the carpet and I really like the way the furniture is set up, but the foundation, ah we can just get rid of that, who needs the foundation?

I mean that's the insanity of telling people publicly we need to unhitch from the Old Testament. No, we don't need to unhitch from the Old Testament, we need to understand the New Testament in light of the Old Testament. Because the New Testament is not going to re-explain everything to us. It's just going to give us terminology and verbiage that we're supposed to already know and understand.

So Paul, Peter, and John the Baptist use this Passover imagery to identify Jesus. He is the perfect lamb, he is the male, he is unblemished. Now what are you supposed to do with this lamb? You're supposed to kill it. And notice what it says there in verse 6, Exodus chapter 12 and verse 6. It says, "You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the month."

Now why would they do that? Here's the new month, get the lamb, select a lamb based on the criteria that's given on day 10, but don't kill it until four days later, day 14. Well why the delay? Well, you have to determine if that lamb is qualified. I mean, is it going to grow a stray hair? Have you looked at it? Have you inspected it carefully to make sure it meets the requirements?

So that's what that four-day increment is there for, I believe. But once it is qualified on day 14 of that month, take the lamb and kill it. Now that also points to Jesus Christ, does it not? Jesus was born into this world to die. He was born into this world with a sentence, this sword of Damocles, we might call it, hanging over his head.

He made this statement in John chapter 12, verse 24, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit." In other words, what I, Jesus speaking, am going to accomplish for the human race cannot be accomplished without my death. Now we might ask ourselves the question, well if they're going to kill a lamb, what did the lamb do that was wrong?

I mean what did the lamb do that was deserving of death? Absolutely nothing, the lamb was innocent. And God is demonstrating that this is how he will forgive sins. This is how he will forgive the sin debt of humanity is this the only way his holiness and righteousness can be satisfied and placated in something we call propitiation. Which means the satisfaction of divine wrath.

In the mind of God and in the thinking of God there's only one way this can be fulfilled and that is an innocent substitute must be killed in the place of the guilty. And what you're seeing developing here and I don't think it's developed for the very first time because I think you see it in Eden. When Adam and Eve sinned, God took garments of skin and used them to clothe Adam and Eve.

You'll see that in Genesis 3, verse 21. Well obviously what happened is an animal was killed on the spot and God took the garments and the skin and he used the garments and the skin to clothe Adam and Eve. And you say well what did the animal do that was wrong? Nothing. God is showing that this is how my holiness is satisfied.

I can't wink at sin, I can't say boys will be boys, no big deal. Someone's got to pay here. And this is the beginning of what we would call the vicarious meaning in the place of another, penal meaning punishment, substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ. You see when Jesus died on that cross there was a lot more going on than him just teaching us good leadership principles or good principles about being a servant.

I've heard pastors preach messages on Jesus CEO. You know Jesus came into the world to give us some good CEO tips and I'm not disputing the fact that you can't learn leadership principles from Jesus, but that is such a trivialization of what Jesus came into the world to do. Jesus came into the world with a death sentence hanging over his head and his destiny was to die in my place.

And if that doesn't happen, my sin debt, which I've spent a lifetime accumulating, has to be paid. And someone's got to pay. And the issue with Christianity and Jesus is well, is he going to pay for you or are you going to pay yourself? Now as for me and my house, we are a path of least resistance family. I want Jesus to pay for me rather than the other way around.

And that's what was happening outside the city gates of Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. One member of the Trinity, God the Father, was pouring out his wrath on another member of the Trinity, God the Son, for sins that God the Son never committed. I mean this is the whole meaning of the animal being unblemished and a male and had to die.

And one of the things to understand about Jesus Christ is he was absolutely innocent. It was a perversion, a miscarriage of justice that happened to him, but that was the only way the wrath of a holy God against sin could be satisfied. Isaiah 53, verse 9, of Jesus says he had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth. First Peter 2:22 of Jesus says he committed no sin.

First John 2, verse 1, calls Jesus Jesus Christ the righteous. Even Pilate himself wanted really nothing to do with the crucifixion of Christ because he knew Jesus was innocent. Pilate said in Matthew chapter 27, verse 24, "I am innocent of this man's blood." I mean Pilate himself recognized that Jesus was innocent of the charges that were brought against him.

And then Jesus says this in John 8, verse 46, to his enemies, "Which one of you convicts me of sin?" Remember that politician that ran back in the 1980s for presidency and he got in front of the media and he said, "You know you guys go ahead and dig through my past, find a skeleton in the closet if you can," and the media found it in about a week.

I mean, could you imagine standing in front of your enemies and saying which of you can convict me of sin? And that's what Jesus did in John chapter 8 and verse 46. So just as the lamb was completely and totally innocent, so was this man Jesus Christ. But the blood that came from this transaction is the most expensive commodity known to the human race because once that commodity is applied to you, the wrath of God is satisfied.

And when it comes time for the wrath of God to be poured out on this planet, and believe me folks, it's coming and it's coming quick. God looks at you and his wrath passes right over you because your sin debt has been paid in full. And so this is the meaning that's pregnant in this whole Passover sacrifice that God is giving to the nation of Israel related to meticulous and specific instructions.

Now you'll notice that it mentions the blood of this lamb. The blood is very important. Notice if you will Exodus chapter 12, notice if you will verse 7. Actually back to verse 6, "You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month." In other words, make sure it's qualified, you've got four days to do that. And then it says in verse 6, "when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight."

And then verse 7, "Moreover they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they shall eat it." So take that blood and apply it to the doorposts in your house because that's your ticket of not experiencing God's wrath as it's going to come inevitably and take out all of the firstborn throughout Egypt.

I found this very interesting observation in the commentary by Edward Hindson on the book of Exodus. He writes of verse 7, "The blood of the sacrifice lamb was to be stained on the two side posts and upper doorposts of the home in which the lamb would be eaten that evening. At either corner where the sideposts met the lintel, the bloody stain would have formed a cross." Isn't that amazing?

This is 1,500 years before the time of Christ and the crucifixion itself is being prefigured if his citation here is accurate, it looks accurate to me, is in fact true. This is how John the Baptist knew exactly who Jesus was, how Peter knew, how Paul knew, why they kept referring to him as the perfect lamb and the Passover lamb and behold the lamb that takes away the sin of the world.

The world doesn't start with the New Testament. The New Testament is simply a manifestation of what the Old already teaches. If you want to understand the Bible, you know who the whole Bible is about? It's about Jesus. Old Testament, the preparation for Jesus. The Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, that's the manifestation of Jesus. And then you get into the epistles.

The letters. Paul wrote 13 and then we've got eight general letters. What are they? That's the explanation. And what is the book of Acts? That's the propagation of the message. And what is the book of Revelation? It's the consummation of the ages. Old Testament, preparation. Gospels, manifestation. Book of Acts, propagation, Epistles, explanation, Book of Revelation, consummation.

And yet what is it all about? It's about this man Jesus Christ. The hope of humanity. The hope of the world. So take that blood and apply it. And if it's applied to the doorposts the way it's supposed to be, and it kind of looks like a cross when you do this, you don't have to fear the tenth plague. Can I ask you the most fundamental question that could be asked of a human being? Has his blood been applied to you?

Because the only way that can happen is by faith alone in what he's done for you. First Peter chapter 1, verse 2, says according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by the sanctifying work of the Spirit to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood. May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure. There's a lot of privileges I've had in my life, there's a lot of things that I've owned, there's a lot of benefits that I've had, but I tell you one thing, the most precious thing I have is the blood of Jesus that has been sprinkled upon me.

Because when that day of judgment comes it spares me from the wrath of a holy God. There's a lot more going on here than Jesus being a good leader and a good servant. He's our substitute. I mean when he died on that cross it should have been me on that cross being killed because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So take that blood by faith from this sacrifice and apply it exactly like I told you.

And then what are you to do with this lamb that has been killed? It's to be consumed. And you see a description of that in verses 8 through 11. Notice what Exodus chapter 12 and verse 8 says. "They shall eat the flesh that same night roasted with fire, they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs." Now you'll notice this expression unleavened bread.

The reason it mentions unleavened bread is because this feast day as we'll call it is connected with the intimately connected with the next feast day on the calendar, the second spring feast called Unleavened Bread. Now we're not going to get an explanation of the feast of Unleavened Bread today, we'll Lord willing try to cover that next week in verses 14 through 20.

But you'll notice that as this consumption is to take place, it says they shall eat the flesh that same night with roasted fire, they shall eat it with unleavened bread. Watch this very carefully, "and bitter herbs." Why bitter herbs? Because it's a reminder that through this God took them out of the bitterness of slavery. It's a tangible reminder of that bitterness.

And when the nation of Israel was involved in being subjugated by Egypt, the enslavement that these people were put through and we've seen evidence of this as we've worked our way through the book of Exodus was bitter. Exodus chapter 1 and verses 13 and 14 says the Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously and they made their lives bitter with hard labor, bricks and all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously opposed on them.

That's what mixing the bitter into this Passover meal was designed to do. It's a reminder that God took you out of bitterness, took you out of slavery. Exodus 5, verse 14 says the foremen of the sons of Israel who Pharaoh's taskmasters set over them, this is what Pharaoh's people did to the Israelis, the Israelis were beaten and were asked why have you not completed your required amount either yesterday or today in making the bricks as previously?

So you're dealing with people that for 400 years were under the bitter hand of slavery, were regularly beaten, were told to complete physical tasks which were impossible for them. And so you are to mix bitter herbs with the consumption of the Passover lamb in every household because I want you to remember God says on the first feast of your calendar that I took you out of this 400 years of bitter cruel enslavement.

Now all of that is a type if you will of sin. Sin makes us slaves. Sin makes us bitter. Proverbs 13 and verse 15 says the way of the transgressor is hard. We are born under the cruel taskmaster of original sin. Sin always markets itself as pleasure of some kind or we would never sin.

But when we move into sin we discover that that window of pleasure quickly closes and we're enslaved to something that we wish we had made a different choice about earlier so we wouldn't be a slave. That's the nature of sin. This enslavement that the Hebrews were under for 400 years is a type if you will of life without our Passover lamb Jesus who came to set us free.

Here's a famous saying that's rolling around out there, I'm not sure who said it but it's a great saying, quote "sin will take you farther than you want to go. It will keep you longer than you want to stay. And it will cost you more than you want to pay." Isn't that amazing? Let me read it to you again. Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you are willing to pay.

That's the nature of sin, although it's so good at marketing itself as emancipation and freedom and enjoying the good life. And then you have that moment of pleasure and you go back into sin and the moment of pleasure gets shorter and the bondage gets greater and that becomes the habitual pattern of our lives. We find ourselves enslaved to something much bigger than ourselves. Let me tell you something about sin folks, you cannot negotiate with it.

You can't outthink it, you can't even contain it. I mean if sin is something that we could control, then why did Jesus have to come into this world to get rid of the sin problem? I mean if it was something I could contain or handle on my own, then what was the point of Jesus coming into this world to produce? He came into the world to release us from the bondage of sin.

And that's why these bitter herbs are mixed in with the consumption in these households of the Passover lamb. There's some interesting instructions continuing there in verse 9. It says, "Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails." Don't eat it raw in other words.

And I would say to myself no problem there, I'm a well done kind of guy. And then you go down to verse 10 and it says whatever is left over burn it. So this is why houses had to join together if they were a small household because nothing was was to be left over, everything was to be eaten. You see that there in verse 10, it says, "And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left in it until morning you shall burn with fire."

And then there's an interesting statement about haste. You see this here in verse 11, it says, "Now you shall eat it in this manner with your loins girded, your sandals on your bed, and your staff with your hand. And you shall eat it in haste, it is the Lord's Passover." Now first time I read that I said why haste? Are they in a hurry? I mean is this like a drive-through kind of thing?

Ed Hindson in his commentary on Exodus writes this, "Eat it in haste. This is by no means a divine command or a sanction for the Hebrews to rapidly wolf down their food. The term translated as haste simply means with an attitude of trembling expectancy or trepidation." In other words, you come to this ceremony with the right heart because this is holy. This is sacred.

This is something that is going to get you out of a world of hurt that's coming on all over Egypt. This is the provision of God. Don't change the formula, don't change the recipe, don't change the instruction. Do exactly what I've told you to do, but do it reverently and with respect because this points to Jesus. Doesn't that remind you of communion?

We take the Lord's communion, the Lord's table, the first Sunday of every month here. How do you come to the communion table? With just another thing to kind of check off your spiritual to-do list? Is it just going through the motions? Or do you come with an attitude of respect for the holiness of God? Because this communion service memorializes what our ultimate Passover lamb did for us 2,000 years ago.

Doesn't Paul talk about our attitude as we approach the Lord's table? First Corinthians chapter 11, verses 27 through 32. "Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner..." Very important to understand this. In an unworthy manner, it's an adverb. It's not unworthy because we're all unworthy. It's unworthily. And there's a big difference between the two.

A lot of people think they've got to come to the Lord's table and they've got to confess every sin they've ever committed in their whole life and they're always worried God is going to strike them dead because what about some sin that they committed some Saturday night seven years ago that I can't remember? And that's not what this is saying at all. What this is saying is not you don't come unworthy and get in trouble with God because we're all unworthy, but don't come unworthily.

It's an adverb which modifies a verb, describing a verb. Typically in English adverbs end with -ly. Monitor your attitude as you're partaking of the Lord's table. It's not that you're afraid of God because you're unworthy, it's you're doing it unworthily. And boy, the Corinthians, they had turned it into something that God had never intended. If you had resources, you could participate.

If you didn't have resources, you were excluded, which put an artificial division in the body of Christ between the rich and the poor. The haves and the have-nots. And they had turned this into just a common meal. That's why Paul says don't you have homes to have your common meals in? This is something different here. This is a Lord's table.

And they were excluding certain brethren, wanting to be served first, and some of them, and this is sort of shocking to think about, they were coming to the Lord's table in an inebriated state. And that's why God moved into discipline into the church at Corinth. It's not because they were unworthy, it's they were behaving unworthily at something that is supposed to be holy and sacred.

And they turned it into something profane and common. This is Jesus' whole anger when he looks into the temple, which is supposed to be a house of prayer, my Father's house, and they had turned it into a place of commerce, just run-of-the-mill business and marketing and money-making. And it explains his anger in overturning the tables of the money changers.

It's a dangerous thing to take something that God says is holy and to treat it in a very casual, cavalier manner. Paul says, "Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing, he is to eat the bread and drink the cup. For he who eats and drinks, drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly."

"For this reason many among you are sick and a number are asleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world." People take this and say well they lost their salvation, utter nonsense. This isn't dealing with loss of salvation, this is dealing with the reality of divine discipline.

The fact that they're under discipline proves they're God's children, whom the Lord loveth, the Lord chasteneth. And Paul is saying it's not that you're coming to the communion table unworthy, but you're acting unworthily. You're taking what is sacred and turning it into something common. You're taking something holy and turning it into something profane. And you know what God did in Corinth? He moved in with divine discipline.

And sometimes that divine discipline is severe enough where God can say you know what, I'm going to take your life and you're going to come to heaven and be with me early because you're such an embarrassment to my table. Which points back to Jesus Christ. And that is the meaning here of Passover. It's not rush through and get it done.

It's don't do it in haste, and haste here simply means make sure that you do this with an attitude of trembling or expectation. Actually do it in haste, but haste here has to be rightly understood. I think we have a long way to grow as Christians folks in treating the things of God with the respect that they deserve.

Nebuchadnezzar and his descendant, his successor, Belshazzar, got himself into a lot of trouble in the book of Daniel chapter 5. The handwriting on the wall chapter. 539 BC when the Persians overthrew the Babylonians. He went into the temple and took the sacred vessels of the temple and used them for an alcohol party. A bash so to speak. And the only one that got bashed is Belshazzar.

Because the handwriting on the wall appeared and it basically meant numbered, numbered, your kingdom is divided, this very day you're going to lose your kingdom because you took something that's sacred and turned it into something that is profane. Which is exactly what the Hebrews are told not to do here. And we're not to do it either with the things God has given us, like communion and so forth.

You know, what we're talking about here in church are things of eternity. I understand that people have lunch plans, we got to get together with the family, the baseball game is coming on, but isn't there a point in the Christian life where we say what we're doing in church is more important than all those other things? I have a pastor friend, I couldn't believe it, I had to ask him this if this really happened.

There's a guy in his church that when he would preach too long, he would hold out the keys to his car and shake them. Like wrap it up pastor, I've got places to go. And I'm thinking to myself did that really happen? He said yeah, happens regularly. I thought that is just total disrespect. I mean not forget disrespect for the pastor, it's disrespect for God. It's disrespect for his word. It's disrespect for the church.

I mean if you're dealing with the word of God which is eternal, is it too much to ask for people to pay attention, even if the pastor violates the cardinal rule in Texas and goes past the noon hour, which I do every Sunday and worse. We even do it on Super Bowl Sunday, I would probably be stoned to death in most churches. So you have this lamb and then what it begins to talk about now is the plague that the Israelis will be exempted from, verses 12 and 13.

The plague is described verse 12 and what's going to protect them is something called Passover verse 13. Notice Exodus chapter 12 and notice if you will verse 12. "For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike down all of the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and all the goods of Egypt. I will execute judgments, I am the Lord."

Look at verse 13. "The blood shall be a sign for you and on the house where you live when I see the blood I will pass over you and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt." The reason I keep emphasizing I, I, I is for the longest time I was led to believe that who brought this plague was the Angel of Death. Folks, there is no Angel of Death.

That's Christian mythology. Even later on in this chapter, a reference to the Destroyer is a reference to Jesus himself, the pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. I mean for the longest time, I'd watched the movie, right? I thought that it was an angel I read all the outlines, people outlining the book of Exodus, they always said the Angel of Death comes in the tenth plague. It wasn't until I was sitting in a seminary class with Dr. Ronald Allen who I felt was a very brilliant Old Testament scholar.

And he made this statement, he says "You know in the book of Exodus there is no Angel of Death. The Angel of Death does not come in plague number ten." And it was like you just turned my world upside down. I mean haven't you seen the movie Dr. Allen? And he said read it for yourself. There is no Angel of Death, it's God coming with wrath. Now I don't quibble with you, certainly God at times, this is how God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

He can assign the task to an angel. This is what's going to happen in the tribulation period is the angels are going to sound the various trumpets and the bowls. But not here. God is coming with wrath. That's why it keeps repeating I, I, I. More on this when we hit the Destroyer a little later on in the chapter, which I also think is a reference to God himself. And here comes God in plague number ten.

And every single plague as we have studied is designed to mock different members of the Egyptian polytheistic pantheon. And if you look at the very end there, number ten, you see the four Egyptian gods, little G, that God is mocking. They worship the firstborn, God says I'll take care of that, I'll kill all the firstborn all over Egypt. I don't know everything there is to know about God but I do know this much: he hates idols.

An idol is really could be a statue as was most likely the case in the days of Egypt, but it could be something in your heart. It's anything you elevate over God in terms of importance. Anything that you're looking to for security, fulfillment, meaning other than God is an idol. I've had many idols in my life and I'm here to tell you folks that when you walk with God he will make sure that those things stop because he hates it.

You want to worship a relationship over me, I'll take care of that. The relationship goes south. You want to worship a career over me or money over me, I'll take care of that, the money dries up. You want to worship a retirement account over me? Are you looking to a retirement account for your future and not me? I'll take care of that. I'll turn your 401(k) into a 201(k). Isaiah 42 verse 8 says "I am the Lord, that is my name, I will not give my glory to another nor my praise to graven images."

And here comes this severe judgment. The firstborn all over the land of Egypt are about to die. Is there any hope for God's people? I'm glad you asked. And verse 13 is a great way to conclude, isn't it? "The blood." What blood? Well the blood from the lamb that I told you to kill. Applied to the doorposts. That looks like a cross. "The blood shall be a sign for you on the house where you live, and when I see the blood I will what? Pass over you."

Well where does the name Passover come from? Right here. To my knowledge this is the first time it's used. This is why the holiday that's to be the beginning of the Jewish calendar has the name that it has. "The blood shall be a sign for you on the house where you live, and when I see the blood I will pass over you and no plague." And the plague looks pretty bad.

"Will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt." Not if I strike the land of Egypt, when I strike the land of Egypt. The judgment is coming. But where the blood is applied through the ritual that I explained, my wrath passes over you. Why would it pass over me? Because it's been satisfied. Because the way a holy God forgives sin is he punishes the innocent, an innocent scapegoat in the place of the guilty.

The penal, substitutionary, vicarious, atoning death of Jesus Christ. And I can't tell you folks how it grieves me to turn on so-called Christian radio, so-called Christian television, and hear spiritual leaders talking about everything and anything other than this. When this is the definitive issue. He's our substitute. I mean he died in my place. He's my savior. His blood as an innocent scapegoat has been shed in my place and applied to me.

Ed Hindson writes this on verse 13, "The origin of the term Passover is a stark reminder that the Hebrews were not automatically exempt from the Lord's judgment simply because of their racial status." Although the Lord had chosen to automatically discriminate between the Egyptians and the Hebrews in plagues four through nine, he changed that pattern here. This judgment is coming and you can't get out of it just because you're Jewish.

I mean if you're Jewish and you haven't applied the blood to the doorpost in the specific way I told you to do it, then you're not going to be spared. And folks, you're not right with God because you're an American. You're not right with God because of your denomination. Well I'm a Baptist, I'm a Presbyterian, I'm a Methodist. Do you think that's going to stand when the judgment of God comes? Not if, but when it comes.

John the Baptist talked about that. He said don't to the Jews of his day, don't say to yourselves we're the children of Abraham. I mean God is able to raise up children of Abraham out of these stones. That's not what's pleasing to God, it's not just being Jewish or American or whatever, it's being in faith. You either believe or you don't. You've either trusted in this provision or you haven't. Because the issue isn't is judgment coming? The issue is will it pass over you? That's the only issue.

And the only way for that judgment to pass over you is for you to do exactly what God told you to do. Which is to apply that blood to the doorposts by way of faith that looks like a cross and in the New Testament sense of the word what that means is trusting what Jesus did for you 2,000 years ago as a free gift. Yeah, but my grandma and my grandpa they started this church. That has nothing to do with anything.

Yeah, but I'm related to this person and they were a Bible study teacher. So? Who cares? Judgment's coming. The only issue is is it going to be applied to you? And the only issue when that hits, and it will hit, is has the blood been applied to you or not? That's it. Not just blood, but the blood of the ultimate innocent scapegoat who died in our place 2,000 years ago. Wow.

We don't get preaching like this today in the 21st century, do we? And yet this is the definitive issue. Sometimes when I give a message it's a struggle to work in the gospel. Not today. This is about as clear as it can get. I hope many people within the sound of my voice will be applying the blood to their doorposts in the New Testament sense of the word by trusting in what Christ has done, which means to believe.

You place your belief, which is more than just intellectual assent, but your trust into what he's done for us 2,000 years ago on the cross. If that blood had not been shed, the freedom that we have today wouldn't exist. What a Memorial Day message, huh? Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. The gates of salvation are open, it's up to you to receive it.

I invite you now in the quietness of your own mind and heart to receive what Jesus has done as a free gift by trusting what he did for us on the cross 2,000 years ago. Shall we pray? Lord, we're grateful for the book of Exodus and this typology and prefigurement. Help us to be clear-minded people about these things as we walk with you in these last days. Help us to keep the main thing the main thing, which is the substitutionary, vicarious, penal, atoning death of our perfect male Passover lamb, this man Jesus Christ. We'll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory. We ask these things in Jesus' name. And God's people said, "Amen."