Where He Leads Me | First Baptist Church: Recent Episodes
None
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
The post The View From Here first appeared on First Baptist Church.
Numbers 13:1-14:38 Twelve Spies, the Cream of the Crop—All named (Numbers 13:1-16) The Report—Goodness and Giants (Numbers 13:27-29) The Decision Process—Appearance vs. Promise—Fear and Comfort win (Numbers 13:30-14:10) Forgetting to Remember—Trusting God’s Faithfulness and Power (Numbers 14:10-11) Presumption and Defeat—‘We’ll do this alone!’ (Numbers 14:39-45) Caleb and Joshua—We remember them, not the others (Numbers 14:38)
The post A Good Land — With Giants first appeared on First Baptist Church.
Intro:
Last week Pastor John gave us an insight into the first 9 plagues. Today we consider the 10th and final plague. This plague is commemorated as the “Passover.” This final plague we will see provides the means for Israel to leave their captors, the Egyptians. In the first 9 plagues, we saw that God was far more powerful to perform miracles than any of the Egyptian magicians. We witnessed a tremendous amount of destruction in these first 9 plagues, proving that the God of Israel was far more powerful than the gods of Egypt. Yet Pharaoh refused to let Israel leave the country to go and worship their God. Today, we see what it will take to overcome the yoke of Egypt. What does it take to convince Pharaoh to let Israel go? We will discover the true cost to set us free from slavery, the bondage of sin, and we will consider how to respond to this newly gained freedom. Our subject today is the Passover as recorded in the book of Exodus, and the Lord’s Supper, which is its modern-day replacement.
I. The Hebrews were saved by God hidden in the sacrifice of a family lamb
A. God overthrows Pharaoh with one final plaque
Israel had been in Egypt for 430 years. When Joseph had led Israel into Egypt, they were welcome for the great contributions. 430 years later, the pharaoh did not remember these good deeds. In an effort to suppress Israel, Pharaoh enslaved them. They were used as cheap labor, making bricks. Pharaoh understood himself not only as king over Egypt, but also as god himself. The chief god of Egypt is the sun, and Pharaoh was assumed to be the literal child of the sun god and a virgin.
YHWH, the God of Israel, will not tolerate other gods over His people. He required Pharaoh to acknowledge His power, and to set God’s people free to worship him alone. Pharaoh however refused, and disregarded the display of God’s power. The 10th plague aimed against the deity of Pharaoh himself. God announced that he would destroy every firstborn from the least to the greatest, including Pharaoh’s own son. Pharoh’s son himself however was considered god himself, the highest god above all other gods. If YHWH could take the son’s life, His power would demonstrate that He is greater than the sun god. This is what we read happens. YHWH attacked the sun god himself:
Ex 12:29-32 It happened at midnight—the Lord attacked all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the prison, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 30 Pharaoh got up in the night, along with all his servants and all Egypt, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no house in which there was not someone dead. 31 Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron in the night and said, “Get up, get out from among my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, serve the Lord as you have requested! 32 Also, take your flocks and your herds, just as you have requested, and leave. But bless me also.”
We see Pharaoh has declared defeat. He realized the true power of YHWH, and acknowledging him, asked Moses to bless him.
B. Blood of a family lamb protected Israel from God passing over
While this sounds like a clean story at first, we must realize there is more at stake. For God to destroy every firstborn of Egypt, and yet to maintain His justice, He cannot simply overlook the Israelites. Every human being is responsible for their actions before God. In Genesis we are told the punishment of sin is death. For God to not kill every firstborn of Israel also, something has to happen. Let’s read the text:
Exo 12:21-23 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel, and told them, “Go and select for yourselves a lamb or young goat for your families, and kill the Passover animals. 22 Take a branch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and apply to the top of the doorframe and the two side posts some of the blood that is in the basin. Not one of you is to go out the door of his house until morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through to strike Egypt, and when he sees the blood on the top of the doorframe and the two side posts, then the Lord will pass over the door, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.
We see that there is one exception made to preserve the life of a first-born: A family must sacrifice a lamb. Earlier in the account we learn that the lamb must be unblemished, 1-year old, that the family needs to have it with them in their home for 4 days leading up to the Passover. Envision a little lamb, cute, and innocent. Your kids love the little lamb. They name it Fritz, or Sammy. They play with the lamb in the living room as their pet. All the sudden Passover comes around and dad says “Ok girls, come outside our house, time for little Sammy to pay for our sins!” As your family gathers around the lamb, dad takes a knife, slits up the throat of Sammy, drains the blood into the ditch right in front of the door. Instead of crayons, the kids pick up a Hyssop branch, dip it in the blood, and smear it on the doorposts. Then they cut up the lamb without breaking any bones, roast it, and eat it.
I think you realize the cruelty of this image. The little pet becomes the family sacrifice. The death of this lamb protects the first born of the family from being killed that night. Every Israelite is required to go inside the house overnight, as God passes through and kills EVERY first born that is not hidden behind a doorpost marked with this sacrifice. Our holy God cannot overlook sin. Sin has to be punished, and in Egypt the punishment is either death of the firstborn, or for a little lamb to be the substitute for the family’s firstborn.
C. The Exodus was terribly necessary to free Israel from Egypt
Imagine the morning of the Passover. Every Egyptian household has lost a son, a father, a grandfather. Imagine the crying, the screaming, the grieving, the terror. This was NOT a pleasant day. This terrible day was necessary because there was no other way out of Egypt. Pharaoh had refused to acknowledge God and let Israel go. Every human being is depraved, and refuses God in their heart. Only utter violence could force Egypt into capitulation. If God had not poured out His wrath in such terrible way, Israel would still be in captivity, and we would be without Jesus or hope.
D. God commanded Israel to remember
The Passover with all its details was to be remembered annually by Israel. Every year they would butcher lambs. They would eat bitter herbs to remind of the yolk of Egypt. For 7 days they eat unleavened bread to recall the urgency of being ready to leave. Like we have an independence day, so Israel started its very own calendar on the day of Passover. Israel left Egypt showered with gold and treasures by Egyptians, like an army leaves a battle field in victory. Yet the memories were mixed: on one hand joy over freedom from enslavement, on the other hand bitterness over the pain and horror of that day. God wants you and I to remember His mighty deeds. Israel was saved by the blood of a sacrifice.
II. We are being saved by God hidden in the sacrifice of God’s lamb
A. Jesus is our substitute
We realize the significance of the Passover when we open the gospels. It was the night before Passover when Jesus and His disciples sat down in the upper room for what we know as the Last Supper. Jesus broke bread and said to his disciples “This is my body, take it and eat.” This was shocking to his audience. He associated himself with the sacrifice, with the Passover lamb. He also held up the Passover cup, the 3rd cup in the cedar meal known as the cup of redemption or blessing and said “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” The next day, when the Passover lambs were butchered in the Jerusalem temple, Jesus was crucified on the cross of Calvary. We see that Jesus himself became the Passover lamb. He took on our sins. As we are covered by His blood, God’s wrath passes us over. Jesus died in our place for the forgiveness of our sins. To receive this forgiveness requires faith in Jesus, faith that Jesus is indeed the Passover lamb.
Jn 1:29: Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world
Jn 19:33-36: Just as in the Passover, none of His bones were broken
1 Jn 2:2, 4:10 Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins
1 Pt 1:19-20: Jesus is the spotless, unblemished lamb, chosen before the foundation of the world
2 Cor 5:21: God made Him, who had no sin, sin for us. God applied Christ’s blood to our account.
How can we respond to this? It is most simple: Trust in Christ alone for your salvation!
B. Jesus is the gate
There is yet another connection of Christ to the Passover lamb. Open with me John chapter 10. Jesus is telling a parable about sheep, a sheep pen, and a true shepherd. He identifies himself with the true shepherd, the one who lays down his life for His sheep. Then He adds the following:
Jn 10:7-9 "I tell you the solemn truth, I am the door for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will come in and go out, and find pasture.” This account has significant similarities with the Passover in Exodus. One must enter THROUGH the gate, the gate covered in the blood of the sacrificial lamb. One must be covered by the blood of Jesus.
Entering through this gate is not without struggle. Luke tells us in Lk 13:24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.” He describes many who are near the door, yet fail to enter at a time when the door is still open. He is warning us that it is not enough to know about Jesus. We must become like Jesus. We must put Him on. We should be totally changed and transformed as we enter the gate called Christ. To escape the wrath of God is to be found in Christ. We receive His righteousness as our own. What a merciful God! Just as Israel was in no way more deserving than Egypt, so we are no more deserving than the world either. Yet God’s grace enables us to put on Christ. The puritan Thomas Watson said it the best “Till sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet.” If we are not disgusted with our own sin, we must wonder if we have truly put on Christ.
C. Jesus commands us to remember
Paul tells us in 1 Cor 11:24-25 to eat the bread and drink the cup in remembrance of Christ. We call this the Lord’s Supper, or the Lord’s Table, or the Eucharist. It has been observed by all generations and Christians. Just as Israel remembered the Passover annually, so we remember Christ often. Here at FBC we do this at the first Sunday of every month. In two weeks, when we celebrate our next Lord’s Supper, remember that the bread and the cup symbolize the death of the innocent Passover lamb for your sins. Just as the Passover started a new calendar for the Hebrews, so did the Passion of Christ usher in a new age, the age of Christianity. We celebrate a new covenant, a covenant that secures our salvation in Christ and our deliverance from sin.
III. We are a living sacrifice; Remember & Expect Suffering!
Finally we must ask “How does Christ’s sacrifice impact us? How do I need to respond?” Based on the text in Exodus and on the passion event of Jesus, I am going to propose 3 distinct ways to respond.
A. Remember!
First as already stated, we are called to remember the Passover regularly through observing the Lord’s Supper. This is a communal event, something that cannot be done normatively at home but must be held within the community of the church.
B. Believe!
Secondly, we must receive the benefits of Christ’s death by faith. This was true for an OT believer as much as it is true today. God’s salvation comes by faith in the living God and His provision through a Passover lamb enabling us to escape His wrath.
You may ask: “What is faith?” Faith is informed by the past, but it is placed in the future! Faith is active. Faith is not merely to intellectually hold something to be true, but it includes acting upon this believe. James says “Faith without works is dead.” Paul in Rm 12:1 calls us “in view of God’s mercy to offer up our bodies as living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.” So in order to make Christ effective on our lives, we need to offer ourselves wholly and completely up to God. Just as Jesus laid down His life, so our proper response is to deny our fleshly urges, to stop worshipping our intellect, to disregard our emotions, and submit our will to the leading of the Holy Spirit in us. To be a living sacrifice means to live for God and His purpose, not our own.
C. Expect suffering!
The third and final application is by far the most difficult to accept. I am almost tempted to close us in prayer and run. The third application is to EXPECT SUFFERING.
Here is why I say this. Israel had to undergo some of the plagues as well. They were not excluded from suffering. In fact the people had lived in Egypt for 400 years. They worked together with Egyptians. They had made friends. When Pharaoh ordered to take away the straw to make bricks, Israel suffered. When the Egyptians lost their firstborns, the Israelites suffered for them. When they left their homes, they suffered. When Moses confronted Pharaoh, he suffered. Ex 11:8 says “Moses left angry.” Remember, Moses was raised in Pharaoh’s house. Now he found himself pronouncing judgment and destruction on his step parent’s home. Moses did not like the thought of killing children, but it was the only way out of Egypt. If our parents and friends reject Christ, we know where they are headed to. They are headed for their own destruction. This causes us to suffer for them! This world is not yet like it ought to be!
Our entire bible has a theme of suffering. There is only one NT book lacking a theme of suffering. That’s the book of Jude, and its so short, that the author didn’t have enough space to mention suffering.
Let’s consider one of the most spiritual and central chapters in scripture, Romans 8. It is all about suffering! In Rm 8:31-32 we read “God is our advocate, BUT He did not spare His own son!” Do you get it? The very God we serve is willing to sacrifice His son. How can you as a child of God avoid suffering then? Heb 5:8 tells us that “even Jesus, the son of God, learned obedience from what he suffered.” Rm 8:28 says “All things work together for good.” If you study it, you will see it refers to suffering! God expects us to TRUST Him in ALL matters of life!
Do you think it is beyond God to ordain suffering for you? I don’t think so. Watch what God did to Job. In Jb 2:3 God suggests to Satan a second time “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on earth, pure, upright, God-fearing, turning away from evil, with integrity” Then God also affirms that He is the one in full control “[Satan], you have incited Me against him to destroy him for no good reason.” It is God himself issuing the destruction!
In Hb 10:31 we read “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” - this is written to believers! The author of Hebrews warns us that those who make light of God are in great danger!
In Rv 13:7 John writes “The beast was permitted to go to war against the saints and conquer them. He was given ruling authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation.” You see God will give the right to Satan to go to war against the saints! He writes further Rv 13:10: “anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.” - Some of us are DESTINED by God to be killed by the sword! This is about the saints! Saints have to undergo these things! Their faith will remain intact because they can serve their God who can kill his children, yet all suffering makes you more like Jesus! God does not only allow suffering, He is actually inflicting it!
We must come to terms that God is not only a God of Peace but also a God of war. Sometimes the only option to bring peace is war. Our God kills babies. In the days of Noah babies died outside the ark! In Egypt every firstborn died. God is the only God there is! We can expect that God will take us into a circumstance that we are utterly unprepared for. We will flounder in our spiritual life and not know what is going on.
You may hold to the pre-trib rapture, but do not mistake that you will escape suffering. The Chinese Church had done such mistake. They had failed to prepare the people for witness under trial. Christians were interrogated and brutalized under the Red Guard. Many fell away from the faith in those times. Today the Chinese church is thriving, because they have learned to suffer. Most recently China’s government has taken 1500 crosses off churches, and people are willing to block this destruction, some even losing their lives as they refuse to deny Christ. Many get their pastoral training in prisons. More Christians are persecuted and killed today than at any other time in history.
I grew up in East Germany. The church was extinguished for all practical purposes, because she chose to compromise with the communist government. In the middle East, God allows for Christian women to be raped for their faith, burned, and be punished. ISIS executes Christians publically for their faith. God has the right at any time to require the life of any human being.
So when Ann Graham Lotz, the daughter of the famous evangelist Billy Graham said recently that Terror attacks such as 9/11 and the mass shooting in San Bernardino were allowed by God because of the gay rights movement and the acceptance of evolution, I think she is mistaken. Ann suggests that God would protect Americans from everything, including terrorists and hurricanes, if they repent and pray. I think Ann is right that prayer moves heaven, but I don’t think that hurricanes and floods strike towns because of a lack of faith. They strike towns, because through suffering God’s people become refined and are made Christ-like.
How do we respond to suffering? We need to know our God!!! We trust Him in matters of Life and Death! He expects us to trust him! We expect to suffer for His sake!
IV. Challenge / Prayer
We have seen that God’s deliverance is very costly. God can only deliver us through a fitting sacrifice, the blood of Jesus Christ. You have been bought with a price. We respond by (1) Remembering the lamb of God at the Lord’s table, by (2) placing our faith into the effectiveness of His sacrifice for us, and finally (3) by expecting our live to be seasoned with suffering in order to bring forth in us the aroma of Christ.
Prayer…
The post The Passover Lamb first appeared on First Baptist Church.
God judges THOROUGHLY but He blesses INCREDIBLY!
The post Of Lice and Men first appeared on First Baptist Church.
"If your thoughts of God leave you comfortably in control, then they might be an accurate depiction of who He is." [Shane Rosty, Sermon on Exodus 3, Apr-24]
The post I Can Because I Am first appeared on First Baptist Church.