Adrian Rogers - Let's Celebrate Passover
Be finding First Corinthians chapter 5, First Corinthians chapter 5. Let me tell you what I'm going to do today. I'm going to call you today to a celebration. Let's celebrate. You know sometimes we have the idea that salvation is a funeral. It is not a funeral, it is a feast and we're called to a celebration. And don't get the idea that Jesus was some sort of a drab, pail, religious recluse. He was not, is not; think of Jesus at the wedding of Cana. As a matter of fact, one of the reasons that they crucified the Lord Jesus was that he enjoyed life and these smug, sanctimonious Pharisees could not stand that. But the Bible says of the Lord Jesus in Hebrews 1 verse 9, "Thou hast anointed Him with the oil of gladness above His fellows".
And by the way, one of the best witnesses we can ever be for the Lord Jesus Christ is to have joy and gladness. Most of the people that you meet tomorrow morning are not all that interested in Heaven or Hell. They want to know how to hack it on Monday, isn't that right? And you come with a big black Bible under your arm, you look like an advanced agent for the undertaker. "Don't you want to be a Christian so you can be as miserable as I am"? No! Listen. We're called to celebrate, and what I'm calling you to celebrate today is the Passover. Have you ever thought about a Christian celebrating Passover? This week is Passover. And it's also Palm Sunday. Did you know that Easter and Passover are inextricably interwoven? Did you know that Christians are called on to keep Passover?
You say, that's Jewish. Well, look if you will here in First Corinthians chapter 5 and verses 7 and 8, "Purge out therefore the old leaven". Now ladies, that means yeast, that's what you put in bread to cause it rise. "Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump," he's talking about a lump of dough here, "For as ye are unleavened," now watch it, "for even Christ our," watch it, "Passover, Christ our Passover, is sacrificed for us. Therefore," verse 8, "therefore let us keep the feast," he's talking to Christians. He's saying, "Christians, keep the feast of Passover. Not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the und, unleavened bread of sincerity and truth"..
So we are to celebrate and Passover is a celebration and Christians are told to keep Passover and Jews are told to keep Passover. And what is Passover all about? Well, it is about a lamb. Now let me give you the background, historical background. Most of you may know it, but some may not. The Jews were in bondage in the land of Egypt. Egypt in the Bible is symbolic of sin; it represents the world, the flesh, and the devil. Pharaoh represents the Devil himself, the king of Egypt. The bondage that they were in represents the flesh that keeps us in bondage and then, of course, the land of Egypt itself represented the world. And they were in bondage to the world, the flesh, and the devil. But God said, "You're my people, you are chosen people. I'm going to bring you out of Egypt. I'm going to bring you into Canaan and the night that He brought them out of Egypt and headed them toward Canaan was the night that we call Passover".
And God had been sending plagues upon the land of Egypt and this great final plague was the plague when the Death Angel would pass over the land of Egypt and the first-born in every family would be slain unless there was on the doorpost of that house the blood of the lamb. If they had taken the little lamb and put the blood of the lamb on the doorpost of that house, when the Death Angel came through the land of Egypt, God said, "When I see the blood, I will," what? "Pass over you". That's where we get the term Passover and it is all wrapped up in a lamb, a little lamb called the Passover lamb.
Now friend, think about it. A lamb; is there anything more gentle than a lamb, anything weaker than a lamb? Anything more defenseless than a lamb? No fangs, no claws, cannot run, no strength. A lamb's so gentle, a lamb's so meek. A lamb just seems to present itself for slaughter, as lambs to the slaughter. Never fights back. A lamb seems to say, "Are you hungry? Kill me and eat me. Are you cold? Shear me, take my wool, make a coat for yourself". A little lamb! Now the symbol of Egypt was not a lamb. The symbol of Egypt was a serpent, a serpent. Look at some of the Hollywood movies, there's Pharaoh and up there on Pharaoh's crown is what; a serpent, a snake. Look at Pharaoh's scepter, at the end of Pharaoh's scepter. What is there? A coiled serpent, a snake. Venomous, powerful, poisonous, ominous. What's Passover all about? The lamb is going to decimate the serpent. A little lamb is going to lead them out and that we call Passover.
Now take your Bibles and go backward to Exodus chapter 12. We're going to find out the story of Passover and then we're going to find out why, folks, we have reason to celebrate. Why we are going to keep and celebrate Passover! First of all, I want you to notice in Exodus chapter 12 what I'm going to call our redemption prophesied, our redemption prophesied. Now the Old Testament is the book of prophecy. The Old Testament says somebody is coming; it speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look if you will in chapter 12 the first six verses, "And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 'This month shall be unto you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you.'" That is, "I am going to give you a brand new start".
Would you like a new start? Would you like a brand new start, would you? This day can be the first day of the rest of your spiritual life. I am telling you, today you can have a brand new start. This can be the first day of your new life. Verse 3, "Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel saying, 'In the tenth day of this month they shall take of them every man a lamb according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house, and if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls. Every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.'"
Now notice in verse 5 how the lamb is delineated and described. "Your lamb should be without blemish," very important, "a male of the first year," very important. "Ye shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats and ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening," that is, in the afternoon. And then look if you will in chapter 12 and verse 11, fast forward, "And thus shall you eat it, with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand, you shall eat it in haste. It is, it is the Lord's Passover".
May I tell you four things about that lamb, and I pray God'll write them upon your heart. First of all, the Passover lamb was a spotless lamb, a spotless lamb. Exodus 12 verse 5, look at it again, "Your lamb shall be without blemish". Not a scab, not a scar, not a wound, not an extra part, no part diminished, here is a perfect lamb, a little male lamb without blemish. Now, any blemish, any spot, any blur would have disqualified that lamb. So the Passover lamb was a spotless lamb and the priest would examine that lamb later on in the Temple sacrifices to make certain that it was without spot or blemish.
Number two, not only was the lamb a spotless lamb, it was to be a sacrificial lamb. Notice Exodus 12 verse 6, "And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening". On the fourteenth of April, about 3 p.m. in the afternoon, the father in that home would take the chin of that little lamb and stretch the neck and take a sharp, razor-sharp knife and draw it across the throat. The jugular would be cut; the red blood would spurt out and be caught in a basin. What is the lesson that God was teaching his people so long ago? It is one of the great fundamental truths in the Word of God; "Without shedding of blood there is no remission, without shedding of blood there is no remission".
Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 22. Why? Because in the blood is the life and the wages of sin is death and so there must be an atonement for sin and that is the taking of innocent life. Now, we need to learn a lesson right here before we go on. That the lamb had to be slain, and friend, salvation is not learning lessons from the life of Christ. People think, "Oh, I just want to see Jesus, learn about Jesus and follow Jesus". Well, learn all you can and follow him, but that's not salvation. Salvation is not learning lessons from the life of Christ, salvation, listen, is receiving life from the death of Christ.
Here was a lamb, a spotless lamb. Here was a lamb, a slain lamb. And thirdly, here was a lamb, the Passover lamb was a saving lamb. Look now in verse 7 of Exodus chapter 12, "And they shall take of the blood and strike it on the two sideposts and on the upper doorposts of the houses wherein they shall eat it". And then look if you will in Exodus 12 verse 22, "And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin and strike the lentil and the two sideposts with blood that is in the basin, and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning".
Now, God says to the father of the house, when you slay that little lamb, put the blood in a basin, then go get some hyssop, I've seen it many times in the Holy Land, it's a weed, it just grows out of the wall, little white flowers that come in a bunch. Get a handful of hyssop, it's like a paintbrush, dip that hyssop in the blood, then go to the door of your house and put some blood on the sides, on this side and this side and then on the lentil. And then the people are to come in the house through the blood, stay in the house till the morning, while the death angel is passing through the land. And so everybody that came into that house had to walk in through the blood.
Now, very important you understand this, God said in Exodus 12 verse 13, "When I see the blood, I'll pass over you". Now suppose they said, "Well, the blood, that's a little too gory. I'll tell you what we'll do. Rather than blood, let's put some poetry on the doorposts, some beautiful poetry. You know, there are people who've taken the blood out of the hymnals today and they've substituted that with some lovely poetry. The blood, that's slaughterhouse religion to them". Oh, well, somebody says, "No, not poetry, I'll tell you what, let's do something even better. Let's encrust it with jewels, rubies, diamonds, gold and emerald. Let's put them all over the door. Surely that ought to satisfy God". But God didn't say, "When I see the jewelry I'll pass over you". Oh, yes, it's the lamb. I'll tell you what let's do, let's take a little live lamb and let's just tie a little live lamb there at the door. No need to kill a precious lamb. But God said, "When I see," what, "the blood, I will pass over you".
This lamb, a spotless lamb. This lamb, a sacrificial lamb. This lamb was a saving lamb. And then this lamb, the Passover lamb, was a shared lamb. Look in Exodus 12 verses 8 and 9, "And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire and unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden it all with water," that is, don't boil it, "but roast with fire his head with this legs and with the pertinents thereof". Now, think of what happened to this little lamb. This little innocent lamb. First of all, it was roasted, the fire began to burn this little lamb. Our Lord Jesus, as we're going to see, felt the fire of God's wrath, the fires of God's wrath burned themselves out on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And by the way, can you imagine what it must've smelled like that night in Egypt, that afternoon, when a quarter of a million lambs are being roasted there, what must the Egyptians have thought. Here they are, they are becoming now, not a bunch of slaves, they are becoming one people, they are becoming one nation, a new people with a new day and they're fellowshipping over a lamb. It was to be roasted and they were to eat it. They were to eat all of the lamb, not to leave anything. Why? Because when we receive Jesus, we don't receive Him in partiality, do we?
As I've said before, some people say, "Well, now, I've taken Him as my Savior, I now make Him my Lord". No, you take Him as Savior and Lord. He is the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord means master, Jesus means mediator, Christ means Messiah. He is master, mediator, Messiah, you eat all of the lamb. You receive the Lord Jesus Christ. Is He your Lord? Have you received Him as Lord? Friend, if you've not trusted Him as Lord, it's my duty to inform you He is not your Savior. It's not a little cafeteria line where you say, "I'll have some Saviorhood today, no Lordship, thank you". Oh, no, no, no. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." Acts 16:31.
They were to eat the lamb, they were to eat all of the lamb. They were to eat the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The bitter herbs spoke of repentance and remorse. That is, they were broken over their sins. The unleavened bread stands for sin. Not only were they broken over their sin but they were broken from their sin. Bitterness, unleavened bread, speaking of genuine repentance. Jesus said in Luke 13:3, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish". And now, this roasted lamb, this lamb that is consumed, all of it, this lamb with bitter herbs and unleavened bread, this lamb, listen, is now inside of them, giving them strength, power, nourishment, and when they walked out of Egypt, a lamb walked out inside of them.
Colossians chapter 1 verse 27, "Christ in you, the hope of glory". And then God said, "When you do this, now there's no work to be done this day when you keep the feast, you're to rest this day". Why is this? Because it is the finished work of our Lord. I cannot work my soul to save, that work my Lord has done. Have you stopped struggling to be saved? Have you now said, "Lord, I can't do it, You never said I could, You will, You always said You would and I'm going to trust You now". No work in the very act of eating the Passover, but watch it. He said, "When you eat it, you eat it with your loins gird, you eat it with your shoes on, you eat it with your staff in your hand, ready to move out".
Now, we're not saved by works, we're saved to do good works. And salvation is not the end, it is the beginning, Amen? I told you about a boy one time, I performed a wedding for him, he was as nervous as a cat with a long tail in a room full of rocking chairs and after the ceremony he said to me, "Preacher, is it all over"? I said, "No, son, it's just beginning". Friend, when you come to the Lord Jesus and trust Him as your personal Savior and Lord, then, your staff in your hand, your shoes on your feet, your loins gird, ready to serve the Lord. This lamb, a spotless lamb, a sacrificial lamb, a saving lamb, a shared lamb; that's our redemption prophesied.
Now, let's look at our redemption provided, our redemption provided. I think by now you've already gotten the picture of that Old Testament ceremony. That Old Testament feast was a picture, a prophecy, a portrayal of Jesus who is going to come. I hope you've gotten that connection. Now take your Bibles and find Jeremiah chapter 31. Key verse, begin in verse 31, Jeremiah the prophet, now, he looks back toward Passover and he looks forward toward Calvary. And here's what Jeremiah the prophet said and I would to God every son and daughter of Abraham could understand this passage. Jeremiah chapter 31 verses 31 to 34, "'Behold the days come,' saith the Lord, 'that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel.'" Underscore the phrase new covenant.
Do you know what the word new covenant means? New testament. I will make a new testament. I asked you to turn this morning to a New Testament. There is the Old Testament, there is the New Testament. God says, "I'm going to make a new testament with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah," now watch this, "Not according to the testament, the covenant that I made with their fathers in that day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt". What day is he talking about? The Passover! "'Which My covenant they break although I was a husband unto them', saith the Lord. 'But this shall be the covenant," the new covenant, "that I make with the house of Israel after those days,' saith the Lord". Now watch this, "I will put my law in their inward parts and write it upon their hearts and will be their God and they shall be My people and they shall teach no more every man to his neighbor and every man his brother saying, 'Know the Lord, for they shall all know Me from the least unto the greatest of them,' saith the Lord. 'For I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.'"
God now is prophesying that New Testament, where God's law will be in their heart, they'll have an intimate knowledge of God, their sin is remembered no more. God has a Lamb, a different Passover Lamb. Put in your margin John 1 verse 29. Old John the Baptist who ate honey, but brother he didn't preach it. Old John the Baptist saw Jesus coming, John 1 verse 29, and what did he say? Now you have to remember all of this in the light of Exodus chapter 12. Remember all of this in the light of the Passover lamb, when John saw Jesus coming he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world". He was talking about you there. We're in this world, our redemption is prophesied.
Let me give you four things, now watch it. Number one, Jesus is a spotless Lamb. Do you agree with that? I hope you do. Put in your margin First Peter 1 verses 18 and 19, "Forasmuch as ye know ye were not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold from your vain conversation, received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb, as a lamb, as a lamb without spot or blemish". Jesus is the spotless lamb. By the time of Christ, the priests had begun to raise Passover lambs down in Bethlehem, you know Jesus was born in Bethlehem, about five miles from Jerusalem. These lambs were born to die and they were very special lambs. Brother Jim talked about Jesus coming into the city there on that Palm Sunday when the Lord Jesus Christ was coming down on that donkey, down the Mount of Olives and up past the Kidron Valley and up into Jerusalem to the Temple Mount, the same time the Lamb, God's Lamb was coming into the city and the people were saying, "Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna"!
Read that in Matthew 21 verse 9. The priests were bringing those lambs from the field of Bethlehem and they were coming into the sheep gate, all of them up to the temple mount at the same time. And the priests up there on the temple mount would be examining those Passover lambs to make certain there's no flaw, no failure, nothing missing, nothing additional. They had to be perfect lambs. The same time that those lambs were being examined, God's Lamb was being examined. Have you ever wondered why so much time is given to the last week in the Gospels, the last week of Jesus' life? More than a third just given to that last week. Why? Because He's being examined. The Sadducees examined Him, the Pharisees examined Him, the Herodians examined Him, the priests examined Him, Pilate examined Him, and every honest one of them said, "No man ever spake like this man".
In Luke chapter 23 and verse 4, Pilate had to say, "I find no fault in Him," and neither could you. I'm telling you, Jesus could face His enemies and Jesus could look them straight in the eye and Jesus could say, "Which of you can convict Me of sin"? I wouldn't say that to my friends, much less my enemies. But Jesus is a spotless lamb. They nit-picked Him, they questioned Him, they queried Him, but He's God's spotless Lamb, a Lamb without a spot or a blemish. What were Jesus' strong points? He didn't have any strong points. To say He had strong points implied that He had some weak points. Jesus was perfectly balanced. Every point was a strong point. There were no weak points. He was perfectly balanced.
Jesus, a spotless lamb. Jesus, a sacrificial lamb. Now remember our text that we began with, First Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7. It says, "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us". Christ our Passover, Jesus is our Passover, He is sacrificed for us. Now, the Jewish day begins at sundown, 6 p.m. the night before the crucifixion. Jesus said to His disciples, "I want to have this Passover with you. Go and prepare a place, we must eat the Passover tonight". That Passover that Jesus ate with His disciples was to be the last of the old ones and the first of the new ones. And so they are there at the table, having the Passover and by this time a tradition had evolved. The Jews began to have a bag that they called a matzah tash, a bag.
Matzah, you know what that is, it's unleavened bread. And they'd put the bread in this bag for the Seder, the Passover meal, and they made the bag in three divisions. And they put a piece of bread in the middle part of that bag and at a certain time in the meal the father is to take that middle piece of bread, break it, and pass it around and everybody's to eat a piece of it. About the size of an olive, the rabbis would tell us. And He takes this middle piece of bread and passes it around. Now he breaks it in half and of one half is broken in smaller pieces and given to them, but the other half is wrapped in a linen napkin and hidden away. Somebody takes it and hides it. The children will go look for that other half that is hidden away, wrapped in linen, buried somewhere. Oh, friend, I hope you're getting this.
Now, the night, that last night, that Passover that Jesus is having with His disciples, put down Luke chapter 22 verses 19 and 20. "And He took bread and gave thanks and brake it". Now if this was Passover according to the tradition of the day, and certainly it was, He reached into that middle section of that matzah tash and He took a piece of bread and He broke it and He said, "This is My body which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me," now watch this, verse 20, "Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new testament in My blood which is shed for you.'" Remember Jeremiah said, "There's coming a new testament, there's coming a new testament". This blood is the new testament, "This cup is the new testament in My blood".
Now, let's go back to that piece of matzah, that unleavened bread. If you take matzah today, it will look very much the same. It's striped, speaking of the lashes that were laid on the Lord Jesus on His body. It is pierced, speaking of the nails and the spear that went into His side. It is taken from that middle part of that compartment, for centuries the Jews have held an emblem of the Trinity in their hand, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. And they take that out of that middle section and even at this time Jesus is not only prophesying His crucifixion, Luke 22:19, "This is My body which is broken for you," but He's also prophesying His resurrection. Put Matthew 26 verse 26, "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it and brake it, gave to His disciples and said, 'Take, eat,'" now watch this, "'this is My body.'"
But what was the blessing that Jesus gave? The Bible says He blessed it. Well even today I'll tell you what blessing every Jew will give at this moment in the Seder. He'll say this, "Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who bringeth forth bread out of the earth". Jesus said, "This is My body," then He said, "Blessed be you, Lord God, King of the universe, who brings bread out of the earth". Jesus now is talking about His resurrection. Jesus said, "This is My body which is broken," his crucifixion, "Blessed are you, O God, that brings bread up out of the earth," and He gave it to these people there. Then by 9 a.m. He's on His way after dark Gethsemane, He's on His way to Calvary and where is Calvary? Well Calvary's Mount Moriah, Calvary's where the temple was built. There's that rock ridge there.
It's that land where, in Genesis chapter 22, God said to Abraham, "Abraham, take your son Isaac, your only begotten son, the son of promise, the son of prophesy. Take him there to a place that I will show you and sacrifice him there". Mount Moriah, where Abraham was about to take the life of his own dear son when God said, "Abraham, don't do that. It's not Isaac that I want, Abraham, it's you. I know that you love Me," and there's a ram caught in the thicket, a ram crowned with thorns there on top of Mount Calvary, and God says, "Take that ram and sacrifice him". What a picture, what a picture of the substitutionary death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Isaac had said to his father Abraham, "Father, here's the wood, here's the fire, where is the sacrifice"? And Abraham said, "God will provide Himself a lamb," and He did that day. Mary had a little Lamb, His fleece was white as snow.
God's Lamb, a spotless Lamb, a sacrificial Lamb. Up He goes, up Mount Moriah, up to the place to fulfill the prophecy. The Lord Jesus is a saving Lamb. Oh, friend, there's no other way to be saved apart from the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what were they to do in the Old Testament? They were to take hyssop and put blood on the doorpost. What are we to do? What is our hyssop? It is faith, it is faith. Romans 10:9, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved". Don't put the blood on the doorpost.
Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 32:33, "I'll put my law upon their hearts". "There's a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins. And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains". Thank you, Lord. There's power, power, wonder-working power in the precious blood of the Lamb. Jesus is on that cross. Three p.m. in the afternoon, those priests have taken those perfect lambs. They're pulling back their necks, they're drawing their knife across that throat. At the same time, John chapter 19 and verse 30, God's Lamb is bowing His head and He's saying, "It is finished". It's paid in full. It's done. 'Tis over. Priest, you can go home now. Passover shepherds, we don't need you anymore. Little lambs, set them free. God's Lamb has done it all, praise God.
Jesus, a spotless Lamb. Jesus, a sacrificial Lamb. Jesus, a saving Lamb. And now let's come back to our text. Jesus, a shared Lamb. Remember what we've said there in First Corinthians chapter 5 verses 7 and 8, "Purge out, therefore, the old leaven," remember leaven stands for sin, purge out the sin, "that you may be a new lump," a new loaf of dough, "as ye are unleavened, for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread". You want some unleavened bread, what is it? Not anything you can hold in your hand, "The unleavened bread of sincerity and truth". And when Jesus had that feast, that last Passover feast, it was not a mournful experience, it was a celebration. And friend, that's the reason I've said we need to celebrate Passover.
You see, when we come to the Lord's table, we don't come to mourn a corpse, we come to hail a conqueror. And how are you to keep the feast? Are you a child of God today? Do you want to celebrate Jesus? Well I'll tell you how to keep the feast. Keep it with unleavened bread, unleavened bread. What is leaven a symbol of? Leaven is a symbol, an emblem of sin. Do you know how a Jewish family, orthodox Jews will keep Passover today? The father in that family will get some bread crumbs, some cookie crumbs, some crackers, anything that has leaven in it and he'll take little pieces and hide them all around the house.
And then he'll call the children in, this is where we get the idea of spring cleaning. The house has to be absolutely clean, no leaven anywhere. And the children will go and they'll look and they'll see on a windowsill a crumb. "Daddy"! Daddy runs in. "Look, look, there's some leaven". He has a wooden spoon, he has a feather. He takes that, carries it to the fireplace and burns it, purging out that old leaven. Why don't you do that? Why don't you say, "Oh God, search me, know my heart, see if there be some wickedness in me. Lord Jesus, Lamb of God, if You so died for me". Paul says, "Let us keep the feast, purge out the leaven". I'll tell you if Jesus so loved me, I want to live for Him, I want to love Him, and I don't want to keep any leaven in my heart that nailed Him to the tree, do you? I hope not. That's the reason God calls us to absolute, total holiness. That's how we keep Passover today. Holiness to the Lord.
I'm finished, but I want you to go back with me to that night in Egypt, that terrible night. I want you to imagine three boys. First boy is Pharaoh's first-born son. Pharaoh the king of Egypt has a son. The son says to Pharaoh, "Daddy, you know that Moses who's been causing so much trouble? Daddy, I have heard, the talk is on the streets, that there's a death angel coming and the first-born in every family is going to be killed here in Egypt. Now Dad, I think we'd better get us a lamb and put some blood on the doorposts". Pharaoh says, "Son, son, son, son, don't you know that I'm Pharaoh? Don't you know that we have the very best priests in the whole world? Don't you know, son, that we have our religion, we have our magicians, we have our soothsayers, we have our priests, we have all of the gods of Egypt? Son, don't worry. Forget that blood of the lamb stuff". And so he says, "All right, Father".
That night that boy dies, "For without shedding of blood there is no remission". But another boy comes and he says, this boy is a Jewish boy. He says, "Father, I've heard that the death angel is coming through the land. Father, I'm your first-born. Father, can we put some blood on the doorposts"? "Of course, my son, we'll get a spotless lamb and we'll put the blood on the doorposts". That boy says, "Dad, have you done it right? Are you sure you've done it, both sides, the top, was it a spotless lamb"? "Yes, son, yes, yes, yes. Dad, this is a fearful night. Thank you for doing that". But that boy stays up all night long till the morning comes up. "Oh, God, please, dear Lord, help me, Lord. Please! The blood is there, he's perfectly safe, but he doesn't sleep hardly at all if at all".
Then there's a third boy. That third boy says, "Dad, have you heard about the Passover lamb"? "Yes, son". "Dad, will you put the blood on the doorpost"? "Yes, son". "Dad, have you done it"? "Yes, my son". "Thank you, Dad. Good night, Daddy. I'm going to sleep, see you in the morning and in the morning he awakes refreshed". Now of the last two boys, which one was the safest? Well, they were both just as safe because the blood was on the door. Friend, it's the blood that makes us safe. It's the Word that makes us sure. Now listen. Just rest in Jesus. If you've put your faith in Him, then you can say, "Hallelujah, what a Savior, what a Savior". And so, friend, I'm calling you to celebrate Passover.
Would you bow your heads in prayer? Every head bowed and every eye closed and if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, let me lead you in a prayer and Jesus can become your Passover right now. Right now the blood can be applied to your heart and God's death angel of judgment will never visit your house if you'll receive Him. Pray a prayer like this:
Oh God, I thank You for the spotless lamb of Jesus. Thank You, Jesus that You died for me. And now, Lord Jesus, by faith, by faith I receive You. I apply the blood to my own heart. Forgive my sin, cleanse me. The blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin. Now, Lord Jesus, help me never to be ashamed of You. If an Old Testament Jew had to put the blood on the very front door, how could I ever be ashamed of You? Give me the courage to make it public. In Your name I pray, Amen.