Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Well, happy Memorial Day. It's an interesting holiday because we really, we celebrate it every year. We say happy Memorial Day, but the emphasis of this day is on those who have served and given their lives for our country. I'm going to be talking a little bit about that as we get into the message, actually. But I just wanted to take a moment right at the front end and acknowledge that we are blessed with fruit freedoms given to us from people we've never met. And it's really an amazing blessing for us to be able to remember this, at least on this weekend, every single year. And so I'd like to acknowledge those who have lost a loved one, a grandfather, a partner, a son, daughter in active military service. And so if that's you this morning, I'd like to pray a special prayer over you. And, of course, those across our country who are remembering this day a little differently than those who are just, you know, taking the weekend off. And so I'd like to do that this morning. And so if that's you this morning, if you've lost a loved one, somebody in your family, would you just raise your hand this morning with that acknowledgement? I'd like to pray a special prayer for you, for your family, and for those who have suffered under the loss of those that they've loved in military service. So if you just raise your hand this morning. Just raise your hand this morning. Okay. All right. I want to say a prayer for you and the families that you're representing. Father, we are grateful for those who have served. We are.
[00:01:41] It's interesting. We receive the blessings of living in a free country on a regular basis, every single day on a regular basis. And yet we realize that these men and women have given their lives for our freedoms, and many of them will never meet. And we've never met. And we are grateful, Father, that you have given them such a calling and such an honorable service. And so for those families that are remembering this day, they're going on marches. They're going to parades with heavier hearts than others.
[00:02:13] They're taking pilgrimages to, to cemeteries. May you give them a sense of fulfillment this morning, over the weekend. May you give them a sense of satisfaction that this is an honorable thing. And there's many people that probably they'll never meet who are extremely grateful for the sacrifices they've made. I pray, father, for those that are still serving and some of them in very difficult and dangerous places. Would you watch over them, preserve life? There seems to be wars popping up in every corner of the earth. These days. And so, Father, I just pray that your grace would be seen in the middle of the darkness. And as lives are being lost, father, I pray that somehow, through some supernatural way, that your grace and your love and your mercy would be seen. We hear stories of that on a regular basis. People finding you in foxholes, people being ministered to you as their, as they're dealing with loss from others who know you as our savior. May your spirit be strong. And, father, may you call many to yourself, even that are on the battlefields even today. So, Father, we just want to say thank you, and we want to pray a special prayer for all those especially have raised their hands, loved ones that are represented here, families who have lost loved ones. I just pray that you would give them grace over this weekend and let them know they are greatly appreciated from a country that has a grateful heart. I pray this all in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:03:46] We have a tendency to celebrate moments like memorial day with special events, special items, special occasions, mementos.
[00:03:59] So, for instance, birthdays. What is the icon that we have to celebrate that we use to show that this is a birthday celebration? What is the thing that you look for at every birthday celebration? What is it? A cake. Very good. Good. How about retirement? If it's a retirement party, what is given out at retirement parties that you constantly. I don't know if this is old fashioned or not, but I haven't retired, so I've looked for it. I don't think I'm ever going to retire. But apparently when you retire, there's like something that you receive typically at your retirement. What is it? A watch? Yeah, sometimes a watch. How about this? Before you get married, the woman goes to a pre married moment with all of her girlfriends, and that is a party for the wedding. And it's called a shower. Shower. Good, good, good. We're on the same page. When you have a baby, what do you hand out in the maternity ward? Cigars. Cigars. That's right. Not anymore you don't. Yeah. Apparently they're flammable around the oxygen tanks. How about this?
[00:05:09] On New Year's, you watch television and you wait for that moment and you do the big countdown. And what happens when you're counting down? There's something that happens. What is it? The ball drops. That's right. Very good. It's interesting how each one of these special occasions that we have, we don't get them confused because there's an icon, there's a thing that is, there's something that is unique about that celebration. So you know when you're doing a countdown, 5432. Nobody's gonna blow out a birthday cake, right? The ball will drop. It's kind of unique to our culture that we have these things, but in every culture, they have celebrations that are celebrated with specific icons, specific things. In our own family, for instance, we have specific events, specific things that we do that celebrate moments. For instance, Christmas. Now, at Christmas, the last thing my kids always do, if we're lucky enough to have them all home, the thing that they do is they put cookies out for Santa with some eggnog with a little bit of seven up in it, which is how Santa likes it.
[00:06:20] And also they put out some carrots for the reindeer and stuff like that. And then they write Santa a little note, and then they go to bed, and in the morning, Santa writes them a note. And I'll bet you it takes Santa a long time to write those notes, because Santa talks about every single kid and how they are serving the Lord and honoring him with their lives. But that's just a tradition that we have. Thanksgiving. There's another one at thanksgiving. We take a moment before we eat the turkey, and we go around the table and we say one thing, Beth. Just one thing that we're grateful for. Beth always has this list, and it's like, the turkey's getting cold. Beth, it's time to move on.
[00:07:07] What rituals do we have in the church? What things do we have in the church that celebrate us being together as a church? Any communion? Isn't that interesting? That's the first thing that comes to mind. And we do that because Jesus actually said, for as often as you do it, do it in remembrance of me. So when we take communion, it's not just drinking juice and eating bread. There's nothing spiritual or supernatural that happens to the elements that we eat, but it stands for something. It means something.
[00:07:41] It's a reoccurring practice that means something to us deep down. We even have, like, little traditions at our church that we do. We have a pre service run through, and if you're here early enough, you'll hear us. We do the countdown on 3123, and we'll say a key word for the day. You might have heard that this morning, but that's the loud noise in the kitchen that we do. We have these. These practices, these rituals, almost, that we do on a regular basis in a lot of different aspects of our lives.
[00:08:10] Why do we have these? Why are these practices done?
[00:08:15] Well, I gave a lot of thought to this, and I boiled it down to three things. And here they are. To not forget a pinnacle event, to reinforce a truth or value through repetitive actions, and to highlight a future hope. That's why every birthday song goes, happy birthday, dear blah blah, happy birthday to you and many more.
[00:08:38] Right? There's an idea that we're celebrating a pinnacle event. We want to emphasize a truth or value that means something to us. Like, you're important to us enough that we give you a bunch of cake and eggs or sugar and eggs and make it into a cake. And we want to highlight a future hope. We hope you're around for a little bit longer.
[00:08:58] This is actually normal for us. It is the way that we're created. We are created with very short memories. And so if you think about even in the Old Testament, they were constantly building altars. And when they built an altar, it was for all of these reasons they celebrated a pinnacle event. They wanted to reinforce a truth or a value, and they wanted to pass that idea on to the next generation.
[00:09:23] By the time you get to feasts and festivals, you find out that these are also for the same reason. So here's a slide you can take a picture of, because this is where we're going over the next couple of weeks. And here's the emphasis over the next couple of weeks. These feasts and festivals that we're going to be talking about, and I'll get to that in a moment, are to remember a pinnacle event which reinforces core values and truths through repetitive actions that reveal a future hope.
[00:09:53] Over the next six weeks, like I said, we're going to be dealing with feasts in the book of Leviticus. You might think to yourself, Leviticus, oh, so boring. It actually is not. And hopefully I'll kick it off well enough for you to convince you of that this morning. But these feasts and these festivals were given to Israel so that they would do repetitive actions where they would remember a pinnacle event that reinforces core values for them, core truths that they build their lives on and they pass on. They reinforce this. They reveal this as a future hope to generations to come.
[00:10:33] Culture needs more than just words.
[00:10:36] If you're going to build a culture, words are good, but actions must follow or those cultures will not take root. And so for Israel, God gives them feasts and festivals to build a culture that will develop who Israel would become in the future. If you're using your bibles, let's start at Leviticus, chapter 23. We're going to be wrapping up the book of Leviticus. We actually have been on it a little bit last year. We're jumping back on it this year, and we're going to be wrapping it up. Leviticus 23. Starting in verse one, here's what it says.
[00:11:11] The Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the people of Israel and say to them, these are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations.
[00:11:23] They are my appointed feasts. Convocation in the Hebrew is Mekkra, and all it means is assembly. These are my holy assemblies. When you gather together for these feasts, it's like a birthday party. We're all gathering together for one purpose. We're going to celebrate one thing. And for Israel, there were seven different feasts, and each one celebrated a different thing, a different truth, a different value, and each one was done annually. They were to reinforce for the Israelites who they were. It's not enough saying who the Israelites were. They couldn't say it enough to their kids. They had to practice it with these events. And so God would call us people together as one body. They would celebrate. They would engage in these scripted activities to reinforce these values and build their culture. And these feasts became the center of who Israel was.
[00:12:25] They knew to keep the past alive, the people had to remind themselves constantly of the values and truths that they were learning so that they could have a hope for a future.
[00:12:36] All right, they needed to pass this on to generations. So here are the seven feasts of Israel. You ready? I bet you can probably guess some of these, but here they are, Passover.
[00:12:47] And as I talk about each one of these, I want you to listen to how each one of them formed or developed a culture where they observed these feasts and it formed their hearts and their minds better so that they could accept God's truth in the future. These were all done not just to remember the past, but to establish a value or truth about who they were, so that in the future they could be who they needed to be.
[00:13:17] Passover. The value at Passover is simply this. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins.
[00:13:26] That is the value established at Passover. Can you see how that would point to the future for the Israelites and for us? Unleavened bread. This is for next week. This is a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to this one. Unleavened bread. The value for unleavened bread is we are God's people, set apart as holy for God's service.
[00:13:46] First fruits. The festival of first fruits. The value there was, we give God our first and our best for his glory booths, the feast of booths where we want to trust God's provision through every season, no matter if it's a bad season or a good season that was celebrated by the feast of booths. That's a hard one to say. Trumpets, the feast of trumpets festival we confess our sins and we live in the joy of God's forgiveness.
[00:14:18] Weeks, the festival of weeks. We are convinced it is for our best to be rooted and grounded in God's truth, not our own.
[00:14:28] So when we talk about life, we don't say, well, what is your truth? We don't say that. We say, what is God's truth? And we bend to that. It's a foundational truth, a value of our lives. And the last one is Sabbath. And we already talked about Sabbath, if you want to jump on that one. That was last year we actually dealt with Sabbath. But the value at Sabbath was God rested, therefore I should rest.
[00:14:56] And a key to all of these is that they pointed toward a future hope Jesus would come out of the jewish culture. So these people who have done all of these feasts every single year were almost set up like bowling pins, so that when God introduced Jesus and rolled that ball down and knocked the pins down, all the people were be blown away when they saw Jesus because these feasts were supposed to prepare their hearts for his arrival.
[00:15:30] As Christians, we recognize God's entire purpose of all these remembrances were to prepare these people for the Messiah. That's why both, by the way, we love the Old Testament and the New Testament. The new tells about Jesus, but the old lays the groundwork, the foundation for the Messiah's arrival, for Jesus arrival.
[00:15:50] Here it is in a nutshell. God established repeated feasts to prepare a culture for Christ's arrival.
[00:15:59] It's up on the screen. God prepared, God established repeated feasts to prepare a culture for Christ's arrival. Do we have that on the screen? No, I don't have that one.
[00:16:11] There it is. All right, there it is. Good, good, good. All right, here's the value. The first one we're going to deal with is Passover. The value of Passover is, do you remember what it was? Without the shedding of blood, there is no, no remission of sins. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sins. That is the value of Passover. So let's talk about Passover verse five.
[00:16:39] Let's pick up there in the first month, on the 14th day of the month at twilight. It is the Lord's Passover. Now Leviticus points back to the occasion in Exodus where we find out what Passover is, where it came from. You probably know the story of Passover. If you've ever heard the story of Joseph. If you've ever watched Joseph, it's kind of covered in there, basically. Israelite. The Israelites were in bondage in Egypt. Joseph came along, and this is before they were in bondage. Joseph came along, and he ended up being sold by his brothers. You know the story, being beat up by his brothers and sold by his brothers. He ended up in Egypt. He ended up, long story made short. He ended up becoming a friend to Pharaoh because he could tell the future. God gave him this ability, this amazing ability to tell the future. So Joseph became a friend of pharaoh. Joseph told Pharaoh, there are seven years of famine coming. You have to prepare.
[00:17:44] Pharaoh said he believed Joseph, so he said, let's prepare. And so they stored, stored, stored up grain. They stored up food. And while the rest of the region was suffering under famine, Egypt prospered. And all the other people who were suffering under famine came to Egypt and gave Egypt tons of money and tons of gold so that they could have food. Joseph did all that. However, given enough time, people forget their heroes.
[00:18:13] Joseph was forgotten. A pharaoh rose into power that didn't know Joseph and ended up seeing all of these Israelites that now had come with Joseph and his Family living in Egypt and said, no, that's not going to work. They're not Egyptians. We'll make them our slaves. And Egypt took Israel for slaves. They ended up being slaves in Israel. And they cried out to God for a deliverer. And God gave them a deliverer. And his name was Moses. Moses. God said, Moses, I want you to set my people. Go to Egypt. Tell Pharaoh to set my people free. Okay, so Moses gets this instruction at the burning bush. I'm going through hundreds of years here, gets instruction at the burning bush. He goes to Egypt, he says, set my people free. Pharaoh says, no way. That's not going to happen. And so we have the introduction then of ten different plagues. The first plague was what? You remember what happened? The very first plague, the water turned to blood. And it's interesting that blood was the first plague, and blood was the last plague.
[00:19:23] After the first plague, we have Lice and frogs and hail and boils and darkness and all of these nasty things that happen. And the Egyptians were fallen like flies. I don't know. They're fallen over and they're suffering under all of these different plagues. And each time, Moses would go to the pharaoh and he would say, pharaoh, have you had enough? Let my people go. And pharaoh would say, no way.
[00:19:50] I've just started to fight.
[00:19:52] And pharaoh wouldn't let the people go. And over time, Egypt suffered.
[00:19:58] The last plague finally got to pharaoh. The Bible said pharaoh had a hard heart. He refused to let the people go. But the last plague got him. And do you know what the last plague was?
[00:20:11] The death of the firstborn.
[00:20:14] And it was devastating.
[00:20:16] Exodus, chapter eleven. We're going to pick up the story there. If you'd like to turn to your bibles. Exodus eleven four. So Moses said, thus says the lord, about midnight, I will go out into the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die. From the firstborn of the pharaoh who sits on the throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and even the firstborn of the cattle.
[00:20:44] All the firstborn would die.
[00:20:48] This is the last judgment that was to come. Up to now, it's been frogs and darkness and hail and boils. But this one would be different. This one would target the innocent.
[00:21:01] But where God brings judgment, he also brings mercy down. In verse three, God tells Moses to tell all the congregation of Israel that on the 10th day of this month, every man shall take a lamb according to their father's houses. A lamb for a household. One lamb? One household. Your lamb shall be without what church?
[00:21:29] Without blemish. What else? It has to be a male and it has to be a year old. The whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.
[00:21:43] Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintels. That's the top of the door of the houses where they will eat it.
[00:21:55] Verse eleven. It is the Lord's Passover. Blood would be required to escape this judgment.
[00:22:03] If you had a home that was yours, your Firstborn was threatened this evening. Not just your firstborn of your family, but of your cattle as well.
[00:22:16] And if you had a home where judgment was coming and you heard this, your attitude would probably be a lot like theirs. Freak out time.
[00:22:26] A male lamb, however, would save you. If you killed a male lamb at twilight, a male lamb without blemish, the best that you have.
[00:22:37] And you cover the doorposts and the top of your doors with it. Cover that with blood, you and your family will be saved. Your firstborn will survive, and your cattle. Firstborn will survive.
[00:22:52] Now, think about how this must have been received.
[00:22:55] These were slaves in Egypt. You think about it and you think to yourself, slaves don't got a lot right.
[00:23:03] However, God was requiring something from these slaves. He was requiring a lamb. Your first reaction might have been my first reaction, too. That seems a little bit like a waste. Like, how do we know, Moses, that you're telling us the truth? This seems really weird. And keep in mind, you've heard this story in 2024 several times. The Jews have celebrated this for centuries, for thousands of years. These guys are hearing it for the first time. And I have to think it seems really odd to them.
[00:23:38] Brutal, wasteful, barbaric.
[00:23:42] If a home could not afford their own, by the way, God even makes allowances for that. He says, if your home can't afford a lamb, you need to go into the home and have a sleepover with friends in that home, because I have to see blood on the doorposts. If there's no blood on the doorposts, the firstborn in that house will die.
[00:24:06] The blood would be the sign of obedience.
[00:24:10] Without blood, there would be no forgiveness. And by the way, anyone could receive deliverance here. Even the Egyptians were given the same rules.
[00:24:23] And the Bible says that the Egyptians that obeyed God, even their firstborn, were saved.
[00:24:30] Verse twelve.
[00:24:32] For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn of the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And on all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgments. I am the Lord. You can pray to all the gods you want in Egypt, but it will not save your home, because the God who created you, the only one true God, is going to bring judgment, and you must obey him. Because without the shedding of blood, there is no salvation.
[00:25:04] Life would be seen in the blood. This is God's action. There's no angel of death referred to here. This is God, his hand bringing this action.
[00:25:16] Both man and beast were required. Their lives would be required.
[00:25:23] Verse 13. Listen to this. The blood shall be a sign. Would you read the next two words for me, please?
[00:25:31] The blood will be a sign for you.
[00:25:35] Not for God, but for you. I find that very interesting. Each person would be responsible to personally apply the blood on that home, on the houses where you are. You are responsible for listening to God's words and following through.
[00:25:55] It goes on to say in verse 13, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Ever wonder where the word Passover came from? There you have it. When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you. When I strike the land of Egypt, please keep in mind we are no longer just going for Egyptians here. We are no longer going just for those who are the captors of the captives.
[00:26:27] There's an argument that can be made as you read through the plagues, that none of them affected Israel. In fact, in one place, it says that Israel was in the spot in Egypt where, although their darkness and all this stuff fell on Egypt, the Israelites were not affected. But this one, this 10th place, this one would affect everybody. Even the Israelites. Even Israel had to obey or suffer the consequences. With the rest of the Egyptians, everyone was accountable to God. It reminds me of a verse in Romans 13, Romans 319, where it says, every mouth will be stopped and every person will be held accountable to God.
[00:27:12] No longer. If you were just a jew, would you be saved? Now you must be an obedient follower of God.
[00:27:20] Verse 14.
[00:27:22] Here's what I love this day shall be for you. A. What's it say, church?
[00:27:28] A memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. As a statute, forever. You shall keep it as a feast. This is why Passover is celebrated to this day. This is why we celebrate these memorial days every year. We are celebrating these things because we want to remember pinnacle events that reinforce truths and values through repetitive actions that reveal a future hope.
[00:27:57] Memorial Day started in 1868.
[00:28:02] It was started as decoration Day just a few years after the Civil War.
[00:28:08] It was changed to Remembrance Day almost 100 years to the day afterwards, and it officially was recognized in 1971.
[00:28:17] Memorial Day is to remember those who gave their lives for our freedom. And at this point in history, Americans who have died on the battlefield is well over a million, a million soldiers.
[00:28:30] On this day, there is a national moment of silence at 03:00 p.m. i don't know if you know this. And on this day, the president will visit the cemetery, the tomb of the unknown soldier, where he will lay a wreath. This is all done because it is a moment for us to recognize, to remember a pinnacle event.
[00:28:54] These people have given their lives that reinforces values or truths. We are a free nation, and it's because of these people that have given their lives so that we could have a free nation. That's why we have repetitive actions that reveal a future hope. We want to remain free in a beacon of light, as Reagan said to the rest of the world around us, remember the sacrifice of this day. Reinforce our values and reveal a future hope. Why? Because we have forgetfulness in our DNA. We don't have parades because there's nothing to do. We have parades because we don't want to forget.
[00:29:32] As believers who follow God then and now. Listen, church, we should never forget God's faithfulness to us.
[00:29:42] Think about how devastating Covid was. How many of you had a blast during COVID Devastating, right?
[00:29:49] However, you think back on Covid, that only happened a few years ago. And it's real easy to forget how devastating it was. Can you believe we stayed in our homes for a year?
[00:30:00] But we forget because our DNA is prone to forget.
[00:30:08] We even forget the emotions we had and the next generation. This is why history repeats itself, because it's hard enough for us to remember.
[00:30:19] But to pass that on to the next generation is even more difficult.
[00:30:23] We are human, we are sinners, and we are forgetful. So, church, listen. Forgetting what God has done for us will steal our joy and bring sorrow and sadness and even depression. But remembering the experiences we endure, combined with the values that we learn in the process, establishes a deep hope for our future. Psalm 132 says it this way. Bless the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all of his benefits.
[00:30:52] We are to talk about the blessings of God when we rise up and when we sit down, when we walk. By the way, we're supposed to have this on our mouths and on our minds constantly. Because if we don't, we easily forget how many mercies of the God are new. How often are the mercies of God new? Church. The mercies of God are new every single morning, every single day. They're new every day. Why? Because we forget what happened yesterday. We forget how good God is.
[00:31:23] Passover was an uncommon and it was a weird activity, but they had to take it on faith. They had to simply obey, because to reject that lamb was to bring judgment and death.
[00:31:39] And this is why Passover was meant to be set up as a memorial from this day forward.
[00:31:45] It was meant to set up Israel. It was meant to establish core values. We are grateful that we have been rescued, but we are looking toward a future hope. And everything about Passover is supposed to prepare Israel for the arrival of Jesus. God was creating. Look at the screen. God was creating a culture to prepare for the messiah through feasts and festivals. Everyone was meant as a shadow to point toward Jesus. Colossians 216 says it this way. Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a sabbath. Everything we're talking about today, these are a. What's the next word, church?
[00:32:32] These are a shadow of things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. How many of you heard of Plato's cave. I've talked about this before. You like Plato's cave? Like philosophy. Plato, who's supposedly a wise guy. Plato was a philosopher who developed lots of different ideas about republics and democracies and things like that. But one of his most famous illustrations was the illustration of the cave.
[00:33:03] In Plato's cave, there were a bunch of people inside a cave. They live their lives in there. On the shadow of the wall they could see, or on the wall they could see shadows that were cast. And as they grew, they thought the shadows were real. Then one person escapes, comes to the entrance of the cave, and sees the thing that's casting the shadow on the wall, and realizes that they have been just shadows their entire lives. The substance was standing at the face, at the front of the cave when Jesus showed up. God said, here is the substance that has been casting the shadow.
[00:33:47] Passover was a shadow meant to point us to the substance, which is Jesus Christ.
[00:33:54] The problem was, by the time you get to Jesus, we find people who love the shadows more than they loved the substance.
[00:34:03] We find people who fell in love with Passovers and rituals and feasts and festivals. They became a part of their culture, but they became the thing rather than the substance. And so when God introduces Jesus as the messiah, people who loved the shadows refused the Messiah, refused the substance.
[00:34:26] Some even found power and recognition in the repetitive shadows and came to believe that those were real instead of the substance of Jesus.
[00:34:38] So when God revealed Jesus, the obedience said, oh, fantastic, there's the substance. But other people who God revealed Jesus to, who gained power and recognition and prestige from the other people in the cave, who loved the shadows, when they saw Jesus, they rejected him, largely. Pharisees, how does the passover translate to our church today?
[00:35:08] For those who saw Jesus, they recognize all the passovers they've done in their lives, point toward this revelation of Jesus. John the Baptist gives us one of the greatest connections, one to one connections we have ever seen. Here's what John says in John 129. The next day, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold the. What church?
[00:35:35] Oh, can you see it? Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is thinking about Passover.
[00:35:44] He is saying, the lamb that God has brought, the substance, casting the shadow for all the passovers we've done in our lives, has arrived, and that's Jesus Christ.
[00:35:56] And as a jew who obeyed God's authority, he makes a one to one comparison between the Passover lamb and Jesus Christ. Can we?
[00:36:05] Should we?
[00:36:08] First of all. Let's look at how close the connection is. Church. Who brought the lamb to be slain for Passover? And who put the blood on the tops and doorposts? Who was that for every house?
[00:36:27] The dad did. The father did. The father chose the lamb with the help of the kids. This is what it turned into over time. They would choose a lamb and then the father would present this lamb as a lamb for the household.
[00:36:44] Who brought Jesus to us? Church.
[00:36:47] Our heavenly Father.
[00:36:49] Maybe that's too abstract. How about this? What was the purpose of the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and on the tops of each house? What was the purpose of the blood being applied? What would that get you?
[00:37:06] Forgiveness. Without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sins.
[00:37:11] Jesus, when he arrived, he said my blood would forgive the sins of the world. We read it this morning. For God so loved the world that he gave his only beloved son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Here's another one. Do you know how many days this lamb was to be chosen and set aside and made sure that no more, no blemishes would come on it. They need to keep it pure and keep it clean. Do you know how many days it was before it was sacrificed? Four days.
[00:37:42] Do you know when Jesus came through and was introduced to Israel as a sacrifice, officially for the sins of the world? It was done on Palm Sunday. Guess how many days that was before he was sacrificed? Four days.
[00:37:57] What? Requirement for each lamb before they were slaughtered. It had to be a lamb without what? A lamb without blemish. Did that point to Jesus? Yes, because his blood was the only perfect blood. He was fully human and fully God. His blood was the only blood that could forgive sins. I have sinful blood and so do you. He was born without sin, nor did he ever sin a day in his life. That's why we sang the song I wear his righteousness.
[00:38:32] Here's another one. The Passover lamb had to have no broken bones. Did you know that even today they're not allowed to break the bones of the Passover lamb.
[00:38:43] Jesus, when he died, do you know the scripture specifically tells us there was not one bone broken? Do you know why? The Bible tells us that? Because he is our Passover lamb.
[00:38:57] This is spectacular. Because they had to break the bones of those who were hanging on the cross before sundown or else they would be hanging there for Passover. They weren't allowed to do that. So the Romans had to, in order to appease the Jews. Go along and break the bones of all of the people hanging on the cross so they could no longer pull themselves up and get air. They would be hanging there and suffocate, asphyxiate to death.
[00:39:25] When they came to Jesus, though, they found that he was dead already, so they did not break his bones.
[00:39:35] John, 1936 these things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled. Not one of his bones would be broken. Church, I want to just tell you that Jesus is our Passover lamb.
[00:39:49] He is the substance at the face of the cave that cast the shadows for thousands of years of passovers and lambs and goats that had to be killed. Jesus is the one that God brought so that our sins could be forgiven. And God puts the final piece together for us in the church, for us in the New Testament. In one corinthians five, seven. Listen to this. Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump as you are really unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.
[00:40:24] We talk about this at communion. When he took bread and he had given thanks, he broke it and he gave it to them, saying, this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Likewise, the cup after he had eaten, saying, this cup that is poured out for you is a new covenant in my blood church. Every Sunday is a day of remembrance.
[00:40:45] Every Sunday is a day that we worship our savior because he gave his life so that our sins could be forgiven.
[00:40:51] Every person that accepts Jesus obeys God's provision and accepts his Passover lamb so that their sins can be covered and they can be right with God.
[00:41:05] In order to receive forgiveness, you must apply the blood. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins and church. If you're here this morning and you don't know Christ as your savior, you have got to do this before judgment comes, because this world is ending. Everything with a beginning has an ending. Judgment is coming. Sin cannot exist forever. God will bring his wrath. And unlike Egypt, this will. Well, like Egypt, it will apply to the entire world. But unlike Egypt, the only blood that can be applied is not the blood of lambs and goats, but the blood of Jesus Christ, God's lamb.
[00:41:50] Listen, even the way that was applied pointed to Jesus. The blood would be put on the doorposts and on the tops of the houses.
[00:42:01] On the doorposts and on the tops of the doors.
[00:42:06] On the doorposts and on the tops of the doors.
[00:42:13] So what?
[00:42:16] Jesus is a lamb of God, and you must believe in him for salvation. It's about as simple as that.
[00:42:24] He is the one that God has provided so the sins of the world can be covered, forgiven, and we can be right with the father. His blood covers all sins for those who obey him and apply it to cover their own sin. And this has to be your decision.
[00:42:43] This would be forgiveness for you.
[00:42:47] I wish I could get my kids to heaven. I can't do it. They have to make that decision for themselves and you do too.
[00:42:58] Number two, actively build a culture for God in your circles. Whatever you're doing on a regular basis, would you please introduce God into your circles? Israel was building a culture through practices over thousands of years. And listen, whether you want to admit it or not, you are building a culture in your home.
[00:43:19] You are already doing that. You can talk, talk all you want about who you want to be, but people watch what you do.
[00:43:29] Your children already know the culture you are building. They catch it, they watch it, they observe it. Clear boundaries and repeated activities need to be inserted by us into our homes so that we can remind our children what's most important.
[00:43:47] That's why Jesus prays. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We are meant to be doing God's will now, not waiting until then. But now it's up to us to start building a culture of Jesus in our circles. Now listen, I'll give it to you one more time. The purpose of these repeated activities that we insert into our families, praying around the table, doing devotions together, reminding our loved ones and our kids that God is in control when they're stuck in the dark.
[00:44:24] Being a friend to those who have no friends. Being the hands and feet of Jesus to those who are around us. Not accepting glory for ourselves, but pointing it back to Jesus. When we introduce those kinds of activities, those are activities that build a culture.
[00:44:41] They make us more faithful.
[00:44:44] They build a culture so that when people are around us, they know we serve not ourselves. We serve the one who made us.
[00:44:52] Remember, a pinnacle event, the transformation of Jesus in my soul. Remember, a pinnacle event that reinforces core values and truths through repetitive actions that reveal a future hope.
[00:45:08] Here's one verse that I'll give you. Well, Craig, how can I start building a culture of Jesus in my circles? One verse first. Peter, two nine. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. That you may. Would you read the next five words for him? That you may.
[00:45:33] I think that's four. That you may proclaim the excellencies. That's five. Proclaim the excellencies of him church, what are you doing to proclaim the excellences of Jesus Christ on a regular basis?
[00:45:46] What activities do you do around your kids, around your loved ones, around your spouse, around your family, around your mom and dad? What activities do you do around your friends that proclaim the name of Jesus on a regular basis? That you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. It basically comes down to this, because God did this, we will be a family who does this.
[00:46:14] So how are you building your family?
[00:46:16] Number three.
[00:46:18] Final one. If you have been freed by Jesus, you should live like you're free.
[00:46:24] What a great one for Memorial Day, right?
[00:46:27] Don't you want to live free in the US? Don't you want to protect our freedoms in the US? That's great.
[00:46:33] But a greater freedom you have is Jesus blood has set you free from the kingdom of darkness. You are freed by Jesus. You should really live free.
[00:46:45] Everything in salvation is that you are delivered from something to something.
[00:46:50] Christ is God's Passover lamb, voluntarily giving his own blood to transfer us from judgment and death into his own family. Listen to this. Colossians 113. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, we are saved from condemnation. We are transferred into God's family, and we have life eternal as our hope.
[00:47:20] Once Israel was freed from Egypt, they had a few issues.
[00:47:26] They got to the desert.
[00:47:28] They started heading toward the promised land. But it took time.
[00:47:33] Some of them did not remain faithful.
[00:47:37] Some of them got real weary in the journey. It lasted 40 years. It was quite a while. One generation.
[00:47:45] It wasn't long after they were rescued by Moses. They were rescued through the sea. You know, this pharaoh and his army was killed, and they were rescued. And it wasn't long after that before they actually, if you look at the timeline, it was about three or four days, and they started complaining because they were hungry, they were thirsty, and they even started saying, listen to this. We had it so good back in Egypt.
[00:48:14] We weren't in this desert. We weren't walking to this promised land you're telling us about, but we've never seen. Sure, we have a hope that we'll get there someday, but it's really hot today.
[00:48:26] We need water. We need food. And Moses, maybe you're just full of malarkey. Maybe this whole thing is just made up. Maybe the plagues were just flukes and they started believing these really weird things, even though they'd seen the power of God. But it's amazing. We have really short memories.
[00:48:47] They forgot how it was to live like slaves. And some of them even wanted to go back.
[00:48:54] So what did Moses do? He reminded them of what they had in Egypt. And it wasn't fun.
[00:49:01] They needed simple clarity of what they used to be like.
[00:49:05] And then he told them about the promised land that they were going to.
[00:49:09] Moses reminded them of what life would be like. They needed a reminder of what they were traveling toward. They needed hope for the future.
[00:49:20] So the question is what captain obvious would say.
[00:49:24] Why would you ever want to go back to Egypt?
[00:49:27] And, church, I would say it this way for our church today.
[00:49:31] If Jesus has saved you from your sin, why would you ever want to go back?
[00:49:37] Do you remember the captivity?
[00:49:40] Do you remember the shame?
[00:49:43] Do you remember the helplessness and hopelessness?
[00:49:48] Do you remember the vulnerability of it all?
[00:49:52] Do you remember the nights that you couldn't sleep because all you could do was remember how short you were falling of God's righteousness? Listen, church, if Jesus has set you free from your sin, why would you ever go back? He has unlocked the cage.
[00:50:09] He has released you from your bonds. You are set free.
[00:50:15] Why would you ever go back? And shut the door.
[00:50:19] Galatians five one says it this way, church. It is for freedom. I want you to read this with me, if you would, please.
[00:50:25] For freedom, Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
[00:50:39] Sin will lie to you and tell you you will be free and happy.
[00:50:45] And you might feel that way for five minutes, but in the end, it will put the shackles back on. It will shut the gate, and you will be left in a prison to rot, a prison of shame and hopelessness and helplessness. And you will think to yourselves all kinds of lies, like, why would God ever want me? Church, I want to tell you, if Jesus has set you free from your sins, you should live like you're free. I love living like I'm free. It's very liberating.
[00:51:20] It's the idea that my sin no longer has control over me. And I've even heard pastors say, listen, the sin that easily besets you, it just kind of gets you down. But God will learn to live with that, and you're okay. Blah.
[00:51:38] It is for freedom that Christ has set you free.
[00:51:44] Live in your freedom and stop making excuses for your sin. Confess them to Jesus. Believe in your heart that his forgiveness and mercies are new every morning. Because if we confess our sins, he is faithful and he is just, and he will forgive us our sins, and he will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That is the great thing about Jesus. If you're a prodigal and you've run home, it's probably not a one time deal.
[00:52:15] We do this regularly and every time. God stands there with open arms and his forgiveness is constant. So, church, if you've been free, you should live free.
[00:52:25] Do things to remind yourself of the freedom Jesus has bought for you personally. Let repetition reinforce the truth firmly in heart, in your heart of who you are. In Jesus, he loves you more than you can know.
[00:52:39] And let the revelation of that hope, let the revelation of that truth bring hope to you for your future.
[00:52:48] God loves you enough to give his son to die for you. That makes you pretty special.
[00:52:54] If he's freed, you live free. Let's pray.
[00:52:58] Father God, we are grateful for Passover and for all of the truths that it reminds us.
[00:53:06] The blood applied to our lives personally washes our sins away, not our own righteousness, but yours. And we wear your righteousness.
[00:53:20] Passover is the idea that you have passed over our sins so that we could be freed from those sins and move toward the promised land, our hope of eternity with you in the process. Father, in the desert of this life, sometimes we forget. Sometimes we get lured back to the cage.
[00:53:41] Father, may you remind us of what life was like back there and how shameful it was for us, knowing deep down what we're hiding from you, when in reality, vulnerability and confessing our sins is all you ask, so that our sins could be washed away and we can start with a clean slate. Your mercies are new every morning.
[00:54:09] Help us to live like we're free.
[00:54:12] Help us to develop attitudes and character and even habits in our lives, to remind ourselves and others of who we are in you.
[00:54:23] And may that give us hope, fresh hope, that we can pass on to generations of what they can look forward to as well.
[00:54:31] Use our faithfulness to shine a light in this generation so that not only you change our lives, but all those who follow.
[00:54:41] Save our kids. Father Satan is such a weasel. He is after our children in a way so obvious it's ridiculous. In 2024, he is after them to break them, to change them, to lie to them, deceive them, to lure them with sins that in those clutches are very hard to pry out of their lives.
[00:55:08] Protect our kids and help us to do what we can as adults, to remind them of what they can look forward to as well, if they live faithfully for the God who loves them, bring revival in our generation. I pray in Jesus name, amen.
