Michael Youssef - Treasure That Lasts - Part 7
Nine times we saw in the last message, nine times God demonstrates his judgment. He demonstrates his power over the false gods of Egypt, again and again, nine times, and, finally, because Pharaoh was so stubborn and he would not surrender, he would not give up, he would not obey the Lord, God comes up with the tenth one that brought everything to an end. Just, again, a reminder that we're in the middle of this series, and we showed how in the very beginning in the book of Hebrews in the New Testament, how they praised Moses as a man of faith, who walked away from the world's gold for God's glory, but the point is, it was a process. He did not do that overnight. And we've been going through this process and see how his life's being transformed, and we're gonna see more in the coming days.
So I trust that you already got Exodus 12 open in front of you. But before I get to the text, I wanted to say what many of you already know, that many in the culture, not everybody, but many find the concept of blood and blood shedding to be squeamish. Some feel that offends their sensibility. Beloved, the truth is this: From the very beginning, God said that, "without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sins". We do not make the rules. God does. And here in chapter 12, of the book of Exodus, we see how God, continuing to lead the people into this act of foreshadowing... what? The cross. God bless you. And from that day on, the Jewish nation practiced this Passover for 1,600 years.
Year after year, they will gather for this Passover celebration. Every time they celebrated the Passover, they were pointing to the cross of Jesus. Every time they talked about God delivering them, they were pointing to Jesus and the coming of Jesus, where he will shed his own blood on the cross. Look with me, verse 5. The lamb is a male, foreshadowing Jesus. The lamb is without blemish, not a sickly one, but perfect, foreshadowing the sinlessness and the perfection of Jesus. Verse 6, they shed the blood of that lamb, and verse 7, the blood is to be sprinkled on the doorposts and the door frames of the outside of the house. And in verse 11, they eat the roasted lamb while dressed up, packed up, and ready to go.
Verse 12, God said, "For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will smite the firstborn, and on all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment". It is against the gods, against Satan for whom these gods are storefront that God was exercising judgment. Verse 13, "But when I see the blood on the doorposts, I will pass over". That's where Passover comes from. "When I see that blood on the doorposts, I am going to pass you by, pass you over. I'm gonna save you".
And from that day on, the feast of the Passover has been established until it found its complete fulfillment, until it's found its total fulfillment, until it found its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. For on the cross, God's Son, the Lamb of God, the Lamb without a blemish, perfect, sinless in every way, tempted like we are but without sin, there he shed his most innocent blood of all. From that moment on, animal sacrifice have ceased. Are you with me? In Yahweh's final determination to liberate his people, who, for 400 years, they were not only knee deep in mud, but they had the whips of the Egyptian slave masters on their backs, slavery for 400 years.
In Yahweh's final determination to liberate his people from the slavery from Egypt, he acted decisively and with finality. By this, the final cataclysmic judgment, Israel was set free. Just as the ultimate Passover, the fulfillment of the Passover, the final Passover, the Lord Jesus Christ, when he hung on that cross and rose again to defeat death, he freed us from sin. He set us free. In the last message, we saw how Yahweh defeated these false gods of Egypt, as I said. Here in the tenth judgment, the final, the final blow, the ultimate god of Egypt, the future god of gods of Egypt, the son, first son of Pharaoh is dead. There's no future.
And so God said on the tenth day of the month of Nisan, or Nisan, or however you pronounce it, this is around September, October, for us. The father of the household is to choose the lamb without spot and blemish, not a sickly one, but absolutely without blemish, and to bring this lamb to the house. Let the children play with it. Let the family be attached to it. Let the whole family get close to that lamb. And after a couple of days, that lamb was slain in front of those precious kids. Listen to me, the blood of the lamb had to be sprinkled on the doorposts of the house on the outside. The lamb should be roasted by fire, not any other way. Why? Because fire represents righteousness and judgment.
That family is to eat the lamb together. And with the shock and the horror on their faces of what they just had seen in the slaying of that innocent lamb, they'll be ready to run. The father then explains to the children that this is a sign that God's judgment will bypass them and their household. Don't miss the picture. This is a beautiful picture. While God's people were getting ready to be set free from the slavery of Egypt, there was an indescribable wailing and weeping that was filling the homes of the Egyptians. While God's people were waiting and ready silently for their deliverance, a wail was coming from a thousand home.
Beloved, listen, listen carefully, because this is a picture of what's gonna happen in the last days, which I think we're in it. Every time I see the signs, I said, "He's coming, he's coming". This is a picture of the believers in the last days. As believers get caught up in the clouds, those who have rejected Jesus will be in fear and horror and judgment. In fact, Jesus said that. He said, "In that day, there'll be two people working in the field. One is lifted up, and the other one is staying to face the judgment. Two people will be threshing in the threshing floor. One will be taken up, and the other one will be facing the judgment of God".
Two college roommates, one will be lifted up and taken and raptured with all the believers in the cloud in the sky, and while the other would stay to face the horrors of the judgment and wrath of God that is coming. It doesn't give me any joy, but I can tell you, this is the primary call of any church that calls itself the Church of Jesus Christ is to call men and women, is to plead with people, "Please, flee. Flee of the judgment that is coming". We can say, "Jesus can give you this," and "Jesus can give you that," and "Jesus can heal you," and "Jesus can give you peace," but, ultimately, Jesus came to save us from the wrath of God that is coming upon the world, and somebody will say, "Michael, you just told us not long ago, in fact, in the last message that said many of these Israelis were knee deep in worshiping Apis, the bull god, just like the Egyptians".
As a matter of fact, as I told you, in the wilderness, when Moses went up to heaven, they said, "Aaron, here's our gold. Make us a bull and so we can bow to him". How come they got saved, but the Egyptians did not? Great question. I'm glad you thought of it. But I'm gonna ask you two questions before I answer. Two questions. If an Egyptian family heard what Moses said and they followed Moses's instruction and they did slay a lamb and the sprinkling of the blood on the doorposts and went home, and they did exactly as Moses said, here's the question: Is that family be saved?
Yeah, God bless you. Another quick question, if a Jewish family, and Israelite family, who heard what Moses said, they heard the instruction, they heard what God commanded them to do, but then one of them would say, "Man, this is ridiculous. How can killing of a lamb and the sprinkling of the blood on the doorpost gonna save anybody? That is ludicrous story. I'm not gonna believe that. I'm not gonna do that". Will that Israelite family be saved? No. The question is not who was in sin, but who obeyed God.
Now, I cannot question the sovereignty of God and the grace of God. That's something above my pay grade. Just because the Israelites would not have been saved had they not obeyed Moses, there will be some people who claim to be Christians but never lived in obedience. Just hearing Moses's instruction would not have saved them, only obedience to that instruction. The Bible makes it very clear. Only the blood of Jesus Christ that was sprinkled on the doorpost of your heart and your soul will save you.
But, again, someone might say, "Michael, do you mean to tell me, if someone like the thief on the cross, who comes to Jesus in repentance in last minute of his or her life, they will not be saved"? If I say that, then I'm replacing God. That's the bottom line, which is the biggest blasphemy. The only thing we know is the criterion by which the Bible tells us how to be saved, namely, that that person who has surrendered his or her life to Jesus Christ, repented of their sins, received his forgiveness and received Jesus as the Savior, the only Savior and Lord of their life will make it to heaven. That's all I know.
God said that, "This is my only way. This is my only way to forgive sins. This is my only way to redeem a life. This is my only", their opinion and the opinion of all the other misguided people notwithstanding or a humanist-centered person might say, "Well, you know, the idea of somebody else paying for my mistakes, somebody else paying for the wages of my sin, somebody else paying my debt, that offends my pride". And I said, "You're right Bubba. It's supposed to. It's supposed to offend your pride". And that's exactly what God did.
Beloved, the cross devastates human pride. The cross devastates human arrogance. The cross devastates human effort. The cross devastates our desire to save ourselves. The cross devastates our wanting to take credit for salvation, and that is why, listen carefully, that's why the Bible, from cover to cover, says, "Without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sins". Nothing but the blood of Jesus. There is power in the blood of Jesus. Say it with me: "There is power in the blood of Jesus".
That's why the cross is central. We will hold high the cross. Forever we'll hold high the cross until we see the resurrected, glorified Jesus. In Revelation chapter 12, verse 11, it tells us that we can only defeat Satan, that we can only defeat sin, that we can only be victorious through the blood of the Lamb and the testimony of our word. That's the Word of God said it. Let me tell you, when you comprehend, when you understand, and when you live minute by minute in the power of the blood of Jesus, you will know that that is the one thing that defeats the devil and all of his cohorts.
When you plead the blood of Jesus in a serious way, when you know how to do that, it will revolutionize your Christian life. Satan knows that he is easily defeated by the blood of Jesus Christ and the word of your testimony. But, beloved, let me tell you, when you place yourself under the blood of Jesus, Satan will flee. Temptation will be defeated. Sin will be conquered. Victory is won. There is power in the blood. Say it again. Again, finally, some of you might be asking, "Why is so much power in the blood of Jesus"?
I wanna answer it as I conclude. I never once dipped that bread in that cup without being thankful for the blood of Jesus and the power that comes from the blood of Jesus. Why so much power in the blood of Jesus? The Bible said, scientists said, medicine said that life is in the blood. You drain the blood from the body, and there's no life. Life is in the blood, and when you totally realize that, when Jesus shed that blood on the cross, he gave up his life. His life was in the blood. He gave that life for you and you and you and you. And when you understand this, then you are totally identifying with the life of Christ that he gave up for you.
When you claim the power of the blood, you are saying, "That same blood that saved me from hell can empower me today to defeat sin and Satan and temptation right now, here and now". But please be careful. Be very careful. I've seen it. This is not a magic formula. This is not something that you just regurgitate as in vain repetition. No, no, no, no, sir, be very careful. Rather, when you claim the blood of Jesus and the power in that blood, it is because you are walking day in and day out, minute by minute, under the power of the blood of Jesus.
Only then will you see power over addiction, power over temptation, power over cleansing and forgiveness, power to serve and to minister. When you walk and you talk and you speak the power of the blood of Jesus, you are joining the multitudes in heaven, and the Bible tells us... what are they saying? "To him who sits on the throne, to him who loved us and washed us from sin by his own blood, to him, glory, power, and dominion, now and forever, amen and amen and amen and amen".