[MUSIC PLAYING] Good morning, on this happy day. Would you please
turn in your Bibles to the Book of
Exodus, chapter 12, as we continue to
follow the bloodline. Exodus, chapter 12. So there was a senior
citizen, an old guy. He was in his 80s-- around 80. I'm sorry if that offends
you, saying that's old. But anyway, he's in his 80s. He decides that he wanted
to get a brand-new Corvette, so he goes to the dealership. He thought, you know, I'm
going to live a little bit. I don't have a whole
lot of time left. So he goes and buys a
brand-new Corvette convertible. He pulls out of the car lot-- 0 to 60 in a couple of seconds. And he likes that, so
he goes from 60 to 70. He likes that-- takes
it up to 80 miles an hour, 90 miles an hour. And he just loves the
feeling of the wind blowing through whatever
gray hair's left on his head. [LAUGHTER] And he takes it to
100 miles an hour. Now, as he's doing
100 miles an hour, he suddenly looks in
his rear-view mirror and he sees police. It's a state trooper. He's got his sirens blaring,
his lights flashing. The old guy floors it. [LAUGHTER] 105, 110-- pushing a
little bit over 110. Then it just dawns on him. He goes, what am I thinking? I'm way too old
for this nonsense. So he slows it down. He pulls over, waits for the
policeman to catch up with him. Pulls his car over. Police walks out of the car,
goes over to the Corvette. Looks down at the older
gentleman and says, sir, my shift ends
in 30 minutes. Today is Friday. If you can give me a good reason
for speeding that I've never heard before, I'll let you go. The old man looks around,
thinks about it a minute. Looks up at the police officer
and he says, years ago, my wife ran off with
a state trooper. [LAUGHTER] I thought you were
bringing her back. [LAUGHTER] [APPLAUSE] The police officer
tilted his hat and said, have a good day, sir. [LAUGHTER] Some people are really good
at making excuses as to why they don't deserve a ticket. But you got to know that old guy
felt so relieved that he was, for whatever reason, passed over
in terms of getting a citation. When I was younger, I didn't
like getting passed over. In school, when the PE
coach divided the class up into two sections and said,
OK, you're the captain. You're the captain. Pick teams. I didn't like that, because
I would get passed over until you're the
last guy standing, and somebody's got to
pick you for their team. I never liked
getting passed over. If my parent would give a
compliment to an older brother but not to me, that's
never a good feeling. We don't like it if we're
passed over by our boss for a raise, or a promotion,
or an advancement. Nobody liked the
feeling, when you were younger, of getting passed
over by a potential boyfriend or girlfriend-- somebody
you like-- because they like somebody else. You don't like that feeling. However, there are other
times we absolutely love being passed over-- like not getting a ticket
when you deserve a citation. Or if you disobey your parents
and they don't spank you, you don't have a
problem with that. You like getting passed over. Or if you ditch class-- or in my case, when
you ditch class-- and the teacher doesn't
dock your grade, or keep you in detention. You don't mind getting
passed over for that. And so as God's people,
we are absolutely thrilled that God passed
over us in judgment. Every believer in Christ
is happy not to go to hell. That's a good feeling. Today, we're going to look
about being passed over as we study the Passover,
in Exodus chapter 12. It's a long chapter, you
can notice by looking at it. Let's read some of the verses,
and then make some comments. Verse 1-- "Now, the Lord
spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
saying, 'This month shall be your
beginning of months. It shall be the first
month of the year to you. Speak to all the
congregation of Israel, saying, "On the tenth
day of this month every man shall take
for himself a lamb, according to the house of his
father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too
small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor
next to his house take it according to the
number of the persons. According to each man's need
you shall make your account for the lamb. Your lamb shall be
without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the
sheep, or from the goats. Now, you shall keep it
until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of
the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take
some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts
and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat
the flesh on that night-- roasted in fire
with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs,
they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw'"-- no problem there-- "'nor
boiled at all with water, but roasted fire-- its head with its
legs, and its entrails. You shall let none of
it remain until morning. And what remains
of it until morning you shall burn with fire. And thus you shall eat it--
with a belt on your waist, with sandals on your feet,
with a staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the
land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the
firstborn of the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And against all the gods of
Egypt I will execute judgment-- I am the Lord. Now, the blood shall be a
sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood
I will pass over you. And the plague
shall not be on you to destroy you when I
strike the land of Egypt. So this day shall be
to you a memorial. You shall keep it as
a feast to the Lord. Throughout your generations
you shall keep it as a feast, by an everlasting ordinance.'" Allow me to give you
a little background, so we can understand
where we are. 70 people follow Jacob
from the land of Canaan into the land of Egypt, a
few-hundred years before this. That small family of 70 has
now grown to a population base of two-million-plus people-- two-to-three-million people. Not only have they
grown in population, they have grown in prosperity-- which made them a
threat to the Egyptians. The Egyptians' response
to the Israelites getting so powerful and so
large is to enslave them. And so God decided, I'm going to
deliver them from the slavery-- give them their own land. So I'll send Moses to do that. Moses comes to the Pharaoh. Pharaoh doesn't budge. So God needs to get
Egypt's attention. He does so with 10 plagues. He gets their attention. This is the last plague--
the final plague-- the death-of-the-first-born
plague. You'll also notice it's
the longest chapter. More space is given to the
death of the firstborn-- the 10th plague-- than
all previous nine. Why is that? It's because the basis for
a relationship with God will be the blood of
an innocent victim. And that sets the tone for
what we're about to study. So this story of the
Passover tells us four things about how we get passed over. It tells us about our sin. It tells us about
our substitute. It tells us about our salvation. And it tells something
about ourselves. Let's begin with the first. This Passover tells
us about our sin. I wonder if you really
know how expensive sin is. I want you to just
notice some of the words. I'm going to read them
to you without going through all of the text. We already read that. In chapter 12, God
speaks of judgment. That's a big word for God to
use, because God can do it. Judgment-- I'm bringing
judgment on you. He uses the term,
destructive plague, as well as the phrase,
death of the firstborn. And he uses the
words, strike down. He says, I will strike down. So this is the final
plague of the God of the Hebrews
against the Egyptians, and the plague is the
death of the firstborn. Why? Because you know the
principle in Romans 3-- the wages of sin is death. Sin is expensive. It costs life. It takes life. It ends life. Now, this judgment that God
brings, this striking down, is for a couple of reasons. Reason number one--
it's a judgment against the gods of
Egypt-- the false gods, the mythical gods that
they had constructed-- the false-worship system. Did you notice that in verse 12? "I will pass through the
land of Egypt on that night. I will strike down all the
firstborn in the land of Egypt both man and beast." Watch it. "And against all the gods of
Egypt I will execute judgment-- I am the Lord." So then this plague is like
the final face off between your Yahweh, the God of the
Hebrews-- the only God-- and all of the false gods of
the pantheon of the Egyptians. I read a little article about
the worship system of Egypt. And the list that I was
reading had 112 different gods of Egypt-- who their names
were, what they did, what their relationship was-- kind of the hierarchy. But that wasn't the end
of it the article went on to say, of those gods that we
enumerated there are many more. There were over 2,000
different gods and goddesses that the Egyptians worshipped. So then for God to
step in and do this, this is like the showdown
at the Not-OK Corral. God shows up. I am the true God. You're trusting in gods who
cannot perform what I am about to do. Back in 1964, there was a
commercial on television. I don't expect a lot of
you to remember this, unless you're my age. But there was a commercial for
a dog food called Ken-L Ration Dog Food. Do any of you remember
Ken-L Ration dog food? You do. So if you were
around in that era, the commercial was a
black-and-white commercial. Little kids picked up their
dogs and they sang the song. Do you remember the song? You do? So (SINGING) my dog's better--
can you sing it? (SINGING) than your dog. My dog's-- oh my goodness, you
sing it like it's an old hymn of the church or something. [LAUGHTER] Shall we stand and sing
the Ken-L Ration song? We won't. So this is kind of
like that, in the sense that it's like the
ultimate commercial-- my god's better than your god. My god is better than yours. My god's better, because
he brings indignation. My god's better than yours. God will do what all
of those Egyptian gods couldn't do, or could
protect them from. So it's a judgment
on the gods of Egypt. Second, it's a judgment
on Pharaoh himself, who hardened his heart
time and time again. Moses came to Pharaoh and
said, let my people go. Thus says the Lord,
let my people go. Pharaoh's response is this-- who is the Lord, that
I should obey him? Well, funny you ask. You're about to find
out who the Lord is. This plague is designed to
get Pharaoh's attention, because he was so hardened time
and time again against God. Now, there's a note about
this you have to know. The Egyptians believed
that their Pharaoh was the embodiment
of the God Horus. He was deity. The God Horus was
the son of Hathor. Hathor was the son of Amun Ra. If you remember back, if
you studied Egyptology, you know that Amun Ra was
the chief supreme deity of the universe. So in effect Pharaoh was
like the physical earthly embodiment, or the
grandson of Amun Ra. So the plagues are designed
to show Pharaoh, as well as the Egyptians, who is boss. Now, most of us have no problem
with God judging the Egyptians, or with Pharaoh. We do have a problem
with the next group that God is judging here-- His own people, the Israelites. Yes, the children of Israel were
also under a death sentence, and only blood could save them. If the children of Israel
said, well, I'm an Israelite, man, I'm chosen, and they
didn't apply the blood or stay inside that house,
they would be a victim. Go down to verse 23. We didn't read it. So I want you to look at it-- without going through
the whole chapter and other chapters around
it-- to get the whole picture. There's enough here to indicate. "For the Lord"-- verse 23--
"will pass through to strike the Egyptians. And when He sees the
blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts the
Lord will pass over the door, and not allow the destroyer
to come into your houses to strike you." Why? Why did they deserve punishment
as much as the Egyptians? I'm glad you asked. First of all, they
were obstinate-- obstinacy. Moses came and
said, I'm your man. You've been praying
for deliverance, I'm the guy God sent. So he goes to the Pharaoh
and says, let my people go. Pharaoh goes, you have too
much time on your hands. And he makes it harder
for the Israelites. The Israelites get so bummed
out that they confront Moses-- reject Moses-- and say, this is
all your fault. May God judge you, Moses. So they rejected
God's messenger. That's number one. Number two, idolatry. Did you know that some
of the children of Israel were worshiping some of
the false gods of Egypt? We don't get it in this chapter. But later on, when
Joshua stands up to speak to the descendants of
this generation in Joshua 24, Joshua says, "Put
away the gods which your fathers served on the other
side of the river and in Egypt. Serve the Lord." He said, look, I know
that your forefathers, while they were in
Egypt, worshiped many of those Egyptian gods. Put them away now, and
serve only the Lord. So God's own people,
the children of Israel, rejected God's word,
rejected God's prophet, rejected God Himself. And they were not
protected by their race. They were not protected
by their nationality. They couldn't say, we're
Jews, we're exempt. You get out of that house,
you don't apply the blood, you are not exempt. Now, I'm bringing all
this to your attention because this paints the picture
of the plight of all humanity. For the Bible says, in Romans
3, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Now, that might be
news to some of you. Because maybe up to this point
you say, no, no, no, I'm OK. I'm good. God and I, we're OK. No big deal. And perhaps you can't
think of any particular sin that puts you in jeopardy. All I can say is that's
because you're misinformed. You're misinformed of
your true condition, and you're misinformed
of what God's solution to fix your true
condition is all about. So if all have sinned it
means you have sinned, and I have sinned. And therefore, in
that condition, we can expect to die. So chapter 12, the Passover,
tells us about our sins. Second, it tells us
about our substitute. And that's all
through the chapter. So as an act of mercy,
God provides an out-- a substitute. He tells each family to take
a lamb, a yearling-- that is, a lamb that's
a year or younger. Have you ever seen a
little lamb that age? It's so cute-- like a pet-- little, fluffy, white,
sweet little thing. It had to be pure. It had to be perfect. It had to be whole. It had to be sound. It was inspected, to
make sure that it was. And that little lamb was the
substitute for the family. It stood in the place
of that family-- took its place. I mentioned it
had to be perfect, as far as humanly possible. Moses later will
instruct, in Leviticus 22, "It must be perfect
to be accepted. There shall be no defect in it. Those that are blind,
or broken, or maimed-- or have an ulcer, or
eczema, or scabs-- God would not accept. So get this picture. They selected the lamb on
the 10th day of the month. They sacrifice it
on the 14th day. So day 10 of the month comes. Dad and the kids go down to
where the lambs are-- picks one little one that's
inspected, that's perfect, brings it home to
live with the family for the next four-or-five days. It becomes part of the family. They feed it. They care for it. They love it. They pet it. They become attached to it. Can you get the picture? So sweet, so cuddly-- and then the 14th day comes. And Dad takes the lamb,
raises its neck and slits its throat, as the blood spills
all over that white wool. It's a shock to anyone. But to a child-- if you were the first-born
child in that family, you would not escape the
significance of somebody standing in your place. But the children would have
cried on this first Passover, Daddy, why? Daddy, why? And the dad would
have to explain, that lamb is your substitute. A lamb is always what
God required-- always what God required. Go back to the Book of Genesis,
at least in your minds. You don't have to turn there. Adam and Eve sinned. They covered themselves
up with fig leaves. Pretty itchy. Not a good fashion statement. God in turn covers them
up with animal skins. For that to happen it
requires death, right? And most scholars
believe it was a lamb. Lamb skin feels really
good, by the way. So in that case it was one
lamb for one person-- one lamb for Adam, one lamb for Eve. Follow? By the time we get to Exodus
chapter 12, the Passover, now it's one lamb for a family. You take the blood and put it
on the lentils and door posts. Later on in Israel,
God will establish what's called Yom Kippur,
the Day of Atonement. A lamb is killed. This time, it's one
lamb for a nation. The blood of that
lamb is sprinkled on the mercy seat
in the Tabernacle, to atone, to cover for sin. So you have one
lamb for one person, one lamb for one family,
one lamb for one nation. But the best is yet to come. When Jesus comes down
to the Jordan River, his cousin John the
Baptist said, look, it's the Lamb of God which
takes away the sin of the world. Now, it's not one person, or
one family, or one nation, it's for everyone. [APPLAUSE] Now, this becomes the
consistent message of the Bible. The consistent message
of the Bible is this-- if you want to meet
God, you must meet God on the basis of a lamb. That's the only way
God will meet with you. Remember, Isaac asked the
question, when Abraham took him on Mount Moriah. They're walking up the
hill-- we covered this-- and he says, well, here's
the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb? That's the only question
God will ask you. If you think you
can stand before God and say, I deserve to
get into your heaven because I was a good
person, God will simply ask, where's the lamb? Well, I'm here because my
parents always went to church. Where's the lamb? Well, I attended semi-regularly. And I think, compared
to other people, I'm OK. Where's the lamb? Jesus is often referred to
in the Bible as the lamb. Isaiah 53-- "As a lamb
before its shearers is silent so He opened not his mouth." 1 Corinthians, chapter 5-- "Even Christ, our Passover lamb,
has been sacrificed for us. And in Revelation
13, Jesus is called the lamb, slain from the
foundation of the world. It's always about a lamb-- a substitute. So it tells us about our sin. It tells us about
our substitute. The third thing it tells
us is about our salvation. Now, I want to drill down
a little bit on this. God didn't just require a lamb. Let's get specific. God required a dead lamb. As you read through
chapter 12 of the Passover, you start understanding the
importance of blood being shed. It grosses a lot of people out. You can't read chapter
12 without being confronted with blood, blood-- it's all over the place. Verse 6 is a command
to slaughter a lamb. Verse 7, the blood
of that lamb applied to lentils and doorposts. Verse 13, the blood that's there
will be a sign on their homes. Blood is everywhere. Why is that? Why blood? Blood represents
life, that's why. It says in Leviticus, "the life
of the flesh is in the blood." So blood represents life. And blood was a sign
that a life ended, in substitute for
your life being ended. Now, I want you to notice
something in verse 13. And if you don't mind, I'm going
to wax a little theological. I think you're up for it. I think you can handle it, and
I think you need to know it. Now, the blood shall be a
sign for you on the houses where you are. In other words, you're
going to put the blood up. You're going to look at it. It's going to signify
something-- be a sign to you about something. You're going to see it. The blood will be a sign
for you on your houses. The same verse, it continues,
"And when I see the blood," God says, "I will pass over you. And the plague
shall not be on you to destroy you when I
strike the land of Egypt." Did you notice
there's two parts? You're going to see it. It'll be a sign to you. I'm going to see it. It's going to be a sign to me. When Israel saw the
blood on their doorways, it was a reminder that
their sin took a life-- that a lamb died in their place. The technical term for
this-- the theological term is expiation. Expiation. They knew they were covered. Their guilt had been removed. When God saw the blood
it was the sign to him that a death had already
occurred in that house, and the penalty against sin
had already been meted out. The technical term for
this is propitiation. That's a New Testament term
you've read about, if you've read the New Testament. It appears a few times. That means the wrath
of God is turned away. God is not against them. So when we look up
at the cross, we see our payment has
been made for sin. When God looks
down at the cross, he sees His punishment
has been made for sin. That is the doctrine of
substitutionary atonement. A substitute allows God to
take death and pass over you. And for you, according to Jesus,
to pass from death into life. And you are safe forever because
of substitutionary atonement. So in the New Testament it's
very specific about this. When it starts explaining
the crucifixion it gets very specific that
the whole crux of the matter is the blood of Jesus Christ. Here's a couple examples. Romans chapter 5 verse 9-- "We have been justified
by His blood." We're not justified
by His birth. We're not justified
by His teachings. We're not justified
by His exemplary life. We're justified by His
blood that was shed. First John chapter 1 verse 7-- "The blood of Jesus
Christ, God's son, cleanses us from all sin"
Ephesians chapter 1, verse 7-- "In Him, we have redemption. Through His blood, the
forgiveness of sins." Hebrews chapter 13, verse 12-- "Jesus also suffered
to make the people holy through His own blood." First Peter chapter 1-- "You are redeemed, not with
corruptible things like silver or gold, but with the precious
blood of Jesus Christ-- a lamb without blemish
and without spot." It's all about blood, isn't it? Not just a substitute-- one who died. Blood. Peter even calls it, the
precious blood of Jesus Christ. Why is it so precious? Easy answer. Because it's the blood of the
only person who never sinned-- never sinned. Of all the people ever
living on the Earth, Jesus was the only sinless
perfect son of God. Pilate said, I find
no fault in him. Jesus said, Which of you
can convict me of sin? He was without spot,
without blemish. This is why Hebrews 9:22 says,
"Without the shedding of blood, there is no
forgiveness for sin." It's one of the most important
versus in your New Testament. Hebrews 9:22-- "Without
the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin." Do you know what that means? It means that God will not
arbitrarily forgive people. God doesn't forgive you because
you have a good intention. God doesn't forgive you
because you really meant well. God forgive you because you
live better than other people, you think, and you hope
God grades on a curve. God only forgives based
upon shed blood of His son, as the substitute. A few years ago the
group Consumer Reports-- you've seen them. They evaluate things that
you're thinking of buying. They say, don't buy this. This is really crummy. But buy this. This is really good. So Consumer Reports-- the good
people of that organization put out a little book called How
to Clean Practically Anything. It's very handy guide and
how to come up with solvents for different stains. So glycerin will remove
ballpoint-pen stains. Boiling water is good
for berry stains. Vinegar will remove
crayon stains. Ammonia takes care
of blood stains. Alcohol will remove
grass stains. Hydrogen peroxide
is what you need to get out magic-marker stains. Bleach will take care
of mildew stains. Lemon juice is how you
get out rust stains. Very handy book. But the book lists nothing
for how to get out sin stains. Humans can't do it. Only God can. Unbelievers look at our faith
with great ignorance, thinking, why are you Christians
always talking about such gory
subjects like blood? It's always the blood of Jesus,
the cross of Jesus-- what a gross, gory worship system. That's because they don't
understand how bad off they are in their natural
condition apart from Christ-- that their sin is
so offensive to God that it took the extreme
measure of the death of His son. If they don't see
how bad off they are, they don't see how good it
is that we get passed over and don't get a ticket,
by God eternally. Joseph Parker was a contemporary
with Charles Spurgeon, in London. He wrote this-- "An extreme condition
demands an extreme remedy. Until you see that you are
doomed apart from Jesus Christ, you will never truly count his
blood precious in your sight." So Passover tells us about
our sin, our substitute, and our salvation. Let me give you the fourth. And we'll close on this. It tells us something
about ourselves. What I mean is it tells us that
our entire self identity must change because of this. So there's a couple
of things that were to change for the
children of Israel. First of all, their
future was to change. Look at verse 2. "This month shall be
your beginning of months. It shall be the first
month of the year to you." It's like God says, OK,
we're doing a new new year. This is a do over. Let's make this month
to month of redemption-- new year. How about you orient your whole
future based upon your past? Why don't you orient
your whole future year based upon being redeemed
and becoming my people. Their whole future
was to change. Passover took place during
the Hebrew month of Abib. Later on it was called Nisan-- not like the car. It took place in the
springtime of the year, as opposed to the
Canaanite religions-- their new year was in the
fall time of the year. So God says, I'm giving
you a new start-- new bearings, new direction. It's not unlike we
in the Western world. What year is it today? 2019. What does that mean? It's been that long
since what happened? Jesus Christ came
and died on a cross. We decided as a
culture a while ago to reorient our calendar
based upon a sacrifice. If we didn't do that, we
would still be in the year-- I think they say
5779 anno mundi. That's the year since creation. That's what the
Jewish people believe. But it's anno domini-- AD. And so every check we write-- every time you put a date on it,
you are attesting to the fact that God sent His son into this
world as a substitute for us. You are reorienting your time. It should reorient everything. If any man is in Christ,
he's a new creation. All things pass away. All things become new. I love it when you get a 30 or
40-year-old Christian saying, hey, celebrate with
me, I'm two years old. An unbeliever doesn't get that. It's a wack hammer over here
saying he's two years old. He's like 30 or 40. We know what they mean, right? It means, two-years ago
I gave my life to Christ. Everything's different. So my physical
life began in 1955. Yes, I'm not ashamed to
say I'm an older person. 1955, I was born
into this world. That's when life began for me. But, really, it
wasn't until 1973 that life began
for Skip Heitzig. Because that was the
summer, in San Jose, California, that I
gave my life to Christ. And everything from
then on changed. Not only was their
future to change, their family should
see a change. Verse 3-- "Speak to all the
congregation of Israel, saying, on the 10th day of this
month every man shall take for himself a lamb according
to the house of his father-- a lamb for a household." Newer translations say, family. The NIV puts it this way-- "Each man shall take a
lamb for his family." This is to be a family meal. And so if you've ever
been to a Jewish Passover, it's a long, leisurely meal. And it's interactive. The kids ask questions. They have games. It's fun. I love that the first
spiritual ordinance in Israel was a family holiday. And I've always believed
that a nation is only as strong as its families. If the families in
a nation are strong, the nation will be strong. If the families are
weak, the nation is weak. Passover was a long family meal. By the way, can I just say-- using this as a model-- as your kids get older,
and they do sports, and they have friends,
and they go off with a lot of
different activities, always bring them back to the
table for at least one family meal a day. Many studies have
been done to show the kids who eat at least one
meal a day with their parents-- without looking at screens,
just with their parents. As boring as it might sound to
a teenager, kids who do that are healthier
physically, emotionally. They become less depressed. They do better in
school, and they are more confident as a result. So then redemption was
to change everything-- their futures, their families. Let me close with a story. The bright noon day sun
cast a common shadow on the Judean countryside. It's the black silhouette
of a shepherd standing near his fat-tailed flock. He stares at the clear
sky searching for clouds. There are none. He looks back at his sheep. They graze lazily
on a rocky hillside. An occasional sycamore
provides shade. He sits on the slope and places
a blade of grass in his mouth, and he looks beyond the
flock at the road below. For the first time in
days the traffic is thin. For over a week a
river of pilgrims has streamed
through this valley, bustling down the road with
animals and loaded carts. For days, he has watched
them from his perch. Though he couldn't
hear them, he knew they were speaking a
dozen different dialects. And though he
didn't talk to them, he knew where they
were going, and why. They were going to Jerusalem. And they were going to
sacrifice lambs in the Temple. The celebration
strikes him as ironic. Streets jammed with people. Marketplaces full of the
sounds of the bleeding of goats, the selling of birds-- endless observances. But the people relish
the festivities. They awaken early
and they retire late. They find a strange
fulfillment in the pageantry. But not him. What kind of God
would be appeased by the death of an animal? Oh, the shepherd's doubts
are never voiced anywhere, except on the hillside. But on this day, they shout. It isn't the slaughter of the
animals that disturbs him, it's the endlessness of it all. How many years has he seen
the people come and go? How many caravans? How many sacrifices? How many bloody carcasses? Memories stalk him. Memories of uncontrolled
anger, uncontrolled desire, uncontrolled anxiety. So many mistakes, so many
stumbles, so much guilt. God seems so far away. Lamb after lamb,
Passover after Passover, yet I still feel the same. He turns his head. He looks again at the sky. And then he asks this question-- will the blood of yet
another lamb really matter? I want to answer that. Nope. A lamb from your
flock, shepherd, or from any flock on these
hillsides, won't matter. It will just be a temporary
fix, a temporary covering. It won't matter. But on the other hand,
I want to say, yes, one lamb will make a difference. And only one. And that's behold the Lamb
of God, who takes away the sin of the world. That one lamb makes
all the difference, and is enough to atone
for your sin and my sin-- and give God permission
to turn away his wrath and welcome you into his
kingdom, as sons and daughters forever and ever. With blessing upon
blessing, forever and ever. And joy upon joy
forever and ever. [APPLAUSE] Expiation, propitiation--
that's why, where's the lamb? If you ever wonder,
well, how bad is my sin, just look at the
cross of Jesus Christ. Your sin put him there. My sin put him there. God had to do that to
bind you to Himself. And get this-- He did it because
he thought you were worth it. For the joy that was set before
him, He endured the cross, the Bible said. He looked at you in relationship
with Him and goes, I'll do it. They're worth it. So when we say God loves you,
we don't say that glibly. We say it based upon
the fact that He would give His only son in
time and space to take our sin. So God's wrath is turned away. Your sins are covered. You come before
him as brand new. All things become new,
because of the lamb. Father, how grateful we are for
the Lamb of God, in your mind slain from the
foundations of the Earth. The blood of Jesus Christ,
that can cleanse us from all stain of sin. It's a big deal to you. It's such a big
deal to you that you made the very epicenter
of all redemptive history that event-- the cross. How thankful we are
for the precious blood of Jesus Christ,
that enables you to be not a judge but a father,
to pass over us in judgment, to accept us as
sons and daughters. I pray for anyone who has
not yet received Christ-- still under the
death sentence, not in the house with
blood-stained doorposts. They're still sort of
relying on their goodness, or their merit, or their
religion, or their background. They haven't personally said,
I need a lamb in my place, and I will let His
blood wash away my sin. If you've never
personally done that, or if you've wandered away from
Him and you need to come back home-- either one-- while our heads are bowed
and eyes are closed, I'm going to leave mine open. I want you to raise
your hand up in the air if you're willing to come
to Jesus as your lamb, or to come back to him
because you've strayed away. Raise your hand up in the air. In raising it you're
saying, Skip, pray for me. Raise it up high and keep it up. Right in the front,
God bless you. Thank you for doing that. Anybody else? A couple of you to my left. Anybody else? Raise that hand up. To my right. Give it just another moment. God's providing a
house with blood on it for you to come into. God bless you. But you have to come in. Father, we want to thank
you for each one who has a raised hand,
because behind that hand is a human being. I don't know what they
have gone through. You do. You love them. You can love all of us, because
of this incredible sacrificial Passover lamb named Jesus. How grateful we are
for that substitution. Thank you for passing over us. Be willing to do that. I pray, Father, for these
who have raised hands. Help them, Lord, to
walk in newness of life, in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's all stand. [APPLAUSE] We're going to
sing a final song. I'm going to ask those of you
who raised your hands to get up from where you're standing. Find the nearest aisle. If you need to come down
the balcony, we'll wait. If you're in the family room,
we'll wait until you get here. If you're up front, you
can just walk a few steps. But find the nearest aisle. Come stand here. In a moment, I'm going to
say a prayer with you-- a prayer leading you
into faith in Christ. [APPLAUSE] We're going to make it public. We're going to do it now. [APPLAUSE] You raise your
hand, and you come. [APPLAUSE] You come on up. Thank you for that enthusiastic
response to their faith. [MUSIC PLAYING] (SINGING) Yes, I am. I'm no longer a slave of fear. I am a child of God. I'm no longer a slave of fear. I am a child of God. I always wait an extra
moment, because God waited many extra moments for me. So He loves you. He wants to enter into
a relationship with you. He's standing at the
door of your heart. He's knocking. Open that door, let him in. Come and make your faith public. Step out of the shadows. Step into the light. Jesus called people publicly. That's why we do it-- not to
embarrass anyone-- to celebrate with anyone who wants to come. Anybody else? Take God up on his offer-- forgiveness. Become a son or daughter
of the living God. [MUSIC PLAYING] (SINGING) A slave
of fear no longer. I am a child of God. No longer. I'm no longer a slave to fear. Oh, I am a child of God. Yes, I am. I am a child of God. [APPLAUSE] Good thinking. Good thinking. Way to go. I'm so happy to see each
and every one of you here. Now, I'm going to
lead you in a prayer. And I'm going to ask you to say
this prayer out loud after me, OK? You're asking God to come in. You're asking Jesus
to come in and occupy the throne of your heart,
to control your life. You're giving your life to Him. But let's pray. Say, Lord, I give you my life. Lord, I give you my life. I know that I am a sinner. I know what I am a sinner. Please forgive me. Please forgive me. I believe Jesus came and died. I believe Jesus came and died. That He shed His blood for me. That He shed His blood for me. That He rose again
from the grave. That He rose again
from the grave. That He is alive right now. That He is alive right now. I turn from my sin. I turn from my sin. I repent of my past. I repent of my past. I turned to Jesus as my Savior. I turn to Jesus as my Savior. Help me to follow
Him as my Lord. Help me to follow
Him as my Lord. In Jesus' name I pray. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. [APPLAUSE] We hope you enjoyed this message
from Skip Heitzig of Calvary Church. How will you put the truths
that you learned into action in your life? Let us know. Email us at
mystory@calvarynm.church. And just a reminder, you can
support this ministry with a financial gift at
calvarynm.church/give. Thank you for joining us for
this teaching from Calvary Church.
