Finding Christ In Exodus

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Transcript

Let’s open in our Bibles to the second book of the Bible, the Book of Exodus. Why are we in Exodus? Revelation finishes what Genesis starts. Remember, you have the Garden of Eden, you have paradise restored. You have the serpent entering, you have the serpent put into the Pit in the Lake of Fire. You have men and women falling into sin, you have men and women redeemed and liberated forever. You have the decline and fall of the human race; you have God bringing us back. And you have the tree of life taken away, the tree of life given back. It’s just amazing. It’s God’s conclusion to the whole book.

Exodus, however, is so important because when you get to the 15th chapter of Revelation it says that in Heaven we’re singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. And that really hurts the people that don’t like the Old Testament because what are they doing in there singing about Moses? They don’t need that Old Testament stuff. But the Old Testament is so important because God doesn’t change. And what really is important to Him stays important to Him. Now, He does alter what He requires of people. We don’t have to watch out for snails and shellfish, and there are no dietary laws, but there are certainly a lot of other things that we need to glean from the Old Testament.

And so, we’re starting tonight and we’re going to start in Exodus and just draw in some of the background that we won’t be able to do in Revelation. Especially, when you get to the eighth chapter of Revelation you find the whole temple, and formerly the Tabernacle, ritual going on. You find those angels and they’re carrying out these bowls and sensors and incense, and they’re pouring them out over the edge of Heaven on to the Earth. And it’s a little, people don’t understand what’s going on unless you understand they’re just following the worship procedure that God established in the tabernacle. Do you remember when Moses made the tabernacle, before he made it? Where did he go? Up in the mountain and God showed him the heavenly sanctuary for him to copy on Earth. This is so important that God has an eternal sanctuary where ministry is going on and we just copied it down here on Earth. It’s the most amazing. We, most people, don’t even think about that. They think, oh, that Jewish stuff’s all gone, it’s passed. We’re not supposed to become Jews. We’re not supposed to start Messianic congregations and be called Rabbi Ben Somebody, that’s not, we’re not supposed to build the wall between Jews and Gentiles, but the more we understand about the Old Testament, the more the New Testament just flies open to us. You just all of a sudden say that’s, oh, that’s why they’re doing that. They didn’t dream it up. They’re expounding and bringing light upon all the misunderstood parts of the Old Testament, the Jews that we never understood.

So, Exodus 1, I’ll catch up with you in just a minute. The first book of God’s Word, Genesis. Within its pages God tells of our creation, after He had made all the rest of the cosmos, through Christ. Humans were the crown of creation made in the Creator’s image. Then man embraced sin instead of obedience to God and the long line of ravaged, ruined, and buried bodies testifies to sins destroying power. But all along the way there are clues to how to come back to God. The shed blood of animals to clothe Adam and Eve. The altar of sacrifice that was offered to Cain and Abel. The grace that was bestowed before the flood on Noah and his family. God’s calling of Abraham, or Abram, from the idolatry of Ur. The many altars of meetings that cover the pages of Genesis all speak of God’s desire for restoring His fallen creatures back into fellowship with Him. Then the offering of an only son on an altar of sacrifice culminates the story. As Isaac is saved by the substitution of a lamb provided by God, the story is complete. God’s plan is substitutionary atonement. God’s picture is a bloody sacrifice brought by a heart prompted to obedience.

Then we get to the second book of the Bible. The second book of God’s Word is our study tonight. The Book of Exodus continues the incredible story of God’s desire for us, His creatures. Please look through the pages of this wonderful book with me as we uncover within these pages the wonders of Jesus Christ as He has revealed in Exodus to be perfectly all we need. Now, let me survey the book. The first 18 chapters of this book are all about salvation. And what we see, and I’m going to walk through them one at a time with you, but in these 18 chapters God portrays for these people His perfect salvation. And what God says is this, I reveal My way of salvation. My way is divine redemption. And divine redemption always has had and always will have Jesus as its perfect Redeemer. God was not pushing animals, God was not pushing birds, God was not pushing incense and meal and candles and all that. All of those things were just pictures to point to Jesus Christ.

It would be like, a couple years ago, we went to Yellowstone Park and we saw all these signs pointing us to Yellowstone. It would be amazing if we would’ve been content to just look at the signs and just take pictures. We did take pictures. One of the signs coming in and out of Montana is huge, and it’s historic, it’s just massive. And I had to keep backing the car up to get it all on my camera. But if I never had gone into the park, it would’ve been foolish. Why look at the signs when you can see the real thing? The Old Testament book of Exodus is just an entire book filled with signs pointing at Jesus Christ. And some people are examining the screws in the sign and trying to figure out how it’s put together instead of looking what it’s pointing at. Tonight, God says, number one, salvation is through divine redemption. That’s the first 18 chapters of this book. And divine redemption is perfectly revealed in Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.

Secondly, and if you want to turn to chapter 19, the second division, just go to Exodus 19. We find Israel at Mount Sinai. And secondly, God who has already talked about salvation… And by the way, salvation is from the world. God had to take his people out of Egypt. Egypt is always a picture of sin, the flesh, the world, lostness. Remember the Egyptian peoples portray hardened hearts and multiplicity of gods. In fact, much about the occult, one of the most powerful occultic books is called the sixth book of Moses. Remember, Moses wrote five. The occults have the sixth book, which is all the incantations of Egypt because Satan was so powerful in Egypt. And so, salvation is from the world.

But starting in chapter 19, God starts talking about sanctification. And what sanctification is, you can get the children of Israel out of Egypt, but you’ve got to get Egypt out of the children of Israel because it was steeped in them. They were soaked in it. They were thinking it. They were talking it. They were living it. And so, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 are all about sanctification and getting God’s people under the Word. Now, a lot of people who say, oh, I build my life on the firm foundation of the Word of God. They’re talking about, Christ talking about, no other foundation can anyone lay. But you know what? I prefer to not build my life on the Word of God because you can go anywhere you want with it. I like to stay under the Word. I don’t want to go any further than God goes. I don’t want to go any wider than God goes. I don’t want to go any anywhere that God doesn’t go. And so, what He is trying to do in sanctification is to get them to build their lives under His Word, under the authority of His Word, and to live their daily lives under His Word prompted with a heart of obedience to God.

So, chapters 1 through 18 are all about salvation, getting out of the world, and chapters 19 to 23 are all about sanctification, getting under the Word of God. And what God says is the sanctification is God, as He reveals His perfect way of sanctification, His divine morality has Jesus as its perfect example. He says, I want to show you the way out of ignorance. I want to show you the way into God’s law, into God’s program. I want you to see I’m holy. So, He takes them there. In chapter 19 there at Mount Sinai and it’s quaking. And it’s just got fire coming out of it. And there’s the sound, like the sound of a real high pitched trumpet sound. And it gets so loud that the people are scared and they’re afraid they’re going to die. And that’s how we feel when we see the awesomeness of God’s holiness. And most people today are not exposed to the true awesome holiness of God. That’s why people can come forward and get saved like this, they go… hey, I got saved. That’s not salvation. Salvation is realizing as one of those songs they were singing this morning, remember that one about the thief? Where everybody was waiting breathlessly to see what God would say about the thief on the cross. And He said that you are a sinner and wicked and undone, but I accept you anyway. That’s how all of us are. Just, some of us hide it better than others, but we’re all guilty, vile, and helpless before the sight of God.

If you want something to really rev up your Christian life, get close enough to God that you quit comparing yourself with other people. It’s really nice when you compare yourself with others, you can always find someone that is worse, more wicked. You say, I’m not that bad Lord. Like the Pharisee. Remember the Pharisee and Publican? I’m not like those people. Sanctification is when we start comparing ourself to God and we see His utter unapproachable dwelling and unapproachable holiness. And we see how utterly sinful we are. And that’s what 19 to 23 is. And what God does is, He gives him His law and He says, you can’t keep it no matter how hard you try.

And that’s the whole purpose of law, for us to realize you can’t be good enough for God. And that’s why we need to hear the law of God. We need to hear that we are sinful, that we are falling short of it. So, then we throw ourselves on His grace because we can’t do anything to please Him. And I’m not talking about the ceremonial law of God. There is no dietary regulation. There is no stay away from pork and seafood stuff. And anybody that says that is quietly bringing back the Mosaic Law, and it shouldn’t be quietly brought back. It should be loudly pushed away.

But there’s everything about realizing we offend the holiness of God. And that’s why, when Paul shared the Gospel, even with great leaders, do you remember Festus was afraid? And he, it scared him and it shook him up when Paul talked about judgment and about coming before God. He didn’t like it because he saw himself helpless before an infinite God. That’s why when Jonathan Edwards read his sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, the people were so transported by the power of the Holy Spirit that they could feel the floor opening beneath them. Like Cora’s rebellion and like Dathan in the Old Testament, when the fire of God came out and when the Earth split open and swallowed all those rebels. They were afraid they were going to fall into the Pit on the spot because they saw how Holy God was and how unholy they were.

Sanctification. Is chapters 19 through 23. And it’s God revealing His way of sanctification, it’s Jesus Christ as the perfect example. He’s the only one that ever fully kept the law. He’s the only one that ever would be able to keep the law because He was the only one that was sinless and perfect. And He is our example.

And then finally, what we’ll see is worship. And that’s starting in chapter 24. If you want to turn over to 24, Israel affirms the covenant and then Moses, in verse 9 of chapter 24, goes up in the mountain with God and he meets God face to face. And God there shows him… and I love if you look at verse 9 it says, Moses went up also with Aaron and Nadab, and Abihu, and 70 of the elders of Israel and they saw the God of Israel. And that’s what worship is all about.

In fact, I was sharing… I’ll give you a little foretaste. I was sharing with the elders, and I think we’re pretty much agreed on this so I can share it with you, but I’m really looking forward to dedicating this building. I told them, I said, do you know how God instructed His people to dedicate things in the Old Testament? It’s really exciting. They put the choirs out front. And the choirs were with trumpets and musicians going, and they were all singing, and the people were shouting about how great God was. And they all marched around and that’s how they did it. And there was none of this putting booze bottles and bursting them against things, and cutting ribbons, and all that stuff. They’re praising God. They’re shouting. I have a really good friend; we served as elders together. Dear, dear friend and man of God in another state. He’s come to the conclusion that there’s no place for musical instruments or anything like that in the church. He thinks it’s wrong. And I thought if God, who doesn’t change, is so excited about music that He has trumpets, and He has 4,000 musicians and singers going before, and at the sound of music they’re splitting. And when they got to the crescendo, it says the glory of God came down and filled the house and it became so powerfully full of God’s glory that nobody could get near it. And it scared them because… and then as they just fell down. They said, the Lord is great. Do you think all of a sudden He changed His mind? He doesn’t like musical instruments now? It’s just, it’s amazing how much vicissitude there is in Christendom nowadays.

But look at verse 10. They saw the God of Israel. If you worship, you see God. If you haven’t seen God lately, you haven’t been worshiping lately. I met someone this morning that was visiting our church from another church and they were talking to me afterward. And they’re all enamored with a book that’s come out by a mythologist. It says we only have missions today because the Church is missing its job of leading people in worship because everyone’s supposed to be worshiping God, but we haven’t gone to all the nations and taught them how to worship God and so, we have to have missionaries go out there and do it. And what this person contends is that the more we worship and the more we, look at verse 10, see the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were, a paved work of sapphire and it was like the very heavens in its clarity.

Now, what does it say in Revelation 4? I saw a sea of glass. Have you ever been in the South Pacific and seen a sunset, or anywhere and seen a sunset over the ocean? Especially when you’re out in the water. What happens is, when the sun comes down the water looks like it’s on fire because it’s just glittering like this and it’s like a sea of fire. And that’s how it describes the throne of God, that it’s like a crystal sea with fire underneath it. It’s just glistening. And the throne… and it’s surrounded. And can you imagine instead of having blue carpet, which is wonderful, can you imagine having crystal clear like glass with fire radiating upward and have no ceiling, no roof, and have no borders. And just to have an endless sea glittering up the fiery [throne] and have the throne of God. That’s what they saw. What an amazing thing to see, and the very heavens and its clarity. They were worshiping God.

You know what God was saying? How would you like to experience that all the time? Come on down to My tent and I’ll let you experience that. That’s what the tabernacle was. It was bringing them into the presence of God, worshiping a holy God, seeing God in all of His glory all the time. You didn’t have to climb the mountain, just had to come to the tent. Let me ask you, when you got up this morning and knew it was going to rain, is that what you thought about when you came here? Were you all excited to see, look back at verse 10, to see God? If you didn’t see Him, you didn’t worship. See, that’s what it’s all about.

We fall short so often in our lives. And I don’t mean you personally or me personally, I mean us collectively as Christians. We’re content to do everything except what we were created to do and to be. Remember what the scriptures described salvation as? It says in Philippians 3:3 for we are the circumcision. See, we don’t have the ceremonial law. We don’t surgically mark people anymore, men, for being in the covenant. God’s circumcised everyone’s heart. By the way, He always has. He just did the outside circumcision as a reminder that they’re supposed to have a circumcised heart. That’s what the new birth, that’s what regeneration is. Getting a new heart, a new spirit. He says, for we are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit.

Do you know what the first evidence of a born again person is? Not their baptismal certificate. Not them saying, oh, it was 1956 at the crusade. No, no.

Do you worship God in your spirit? Do you see God? Do you see Him in His Word? Do you sometimes get so overwhelmed with God that it just moves you entirely? Oh, no… I’m not one of those kind. I’m real prim and proper. I don’t get emotional. You should, you really should. And one thing we’re going to see is, Old Testament worship was loud, everyone was involved, and it was wholehearted. And that’s what God carries through to eternity. Can you imagine hundreds of millions, billions of voices all together [would] be pretty loud, be louder than these guys were this morning. Second service was louder than first service. They thought you guys liked this, and they kept turning it up. It was great. But can you imagine? Hundreds of millions and all of us together? Not in a hurry. Not looking at our watch to say oh boy, don’t want to miss that. We don’t have anywhere else to go. We’re there.

The book of Exodus. Number one is about salvation, how to get out of the world. Number two is about sanctification, how to get under the Word. Finally, it’s about worship. How to get our lives focused unto worship.

I want to just stop tonight in chapter 12 for a moment. Now, we’re going to march through next time but I want you to go to chapter 12 to Passover. And I want to just share with you something that the Lord very clearly said on this topic of salvation. And actually, I want to, before we go into our little dedication of the team, I want to read to you from a Sunday School book from 1930, from an old Presbyterian church on Hollywood Avenue in Los Angeles. This is what they used to have in Sunday School. Isn’t this amazing? I want to read it to you. It’s beautiful. Exodus 12. I can just hear the Sunday School teacher reading this.

Exodus 12 gives us the thrilling story of the Passover. The clearest sole testament picture of our individual salvation through faith in the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. In this chapter is the basis for calling Christ the Lamb of God and Christ our Passover. And the many tender references to His crucifixion as the death of our Passover lamb. And then it quotes 1 Corinthians 5:7. Let me read to you 1 Corinthians 5:7, when Paul is talking about our salvation and about the Lord’s table. You know what he says? Listen, 1 Corinthians 5:7; for even Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us. Paul said that Jesus Christ was the ultimate Passover. It’s amazing. The Sunday school book continues, as the Passover chapter is the heart of the book, so is the whole book the pattern of our salvation. The Passover is the prominent feature of Exodus chapter 12, where we are right now, where you’re looking. Perhaps the children of Israel did not know the significance of the feast the night before they left Egypt, but they believe God anyway and obeyed. And how often is that the case with us? We don’t fully understand what God wants, we just say we’ll do it.

Okay, let’s go through chapter 12 of Exodus. It says there in Exodus 12, Now the Lord, let me read it to you, spoke to Moses. Look at verse 1. And Aaron in the land of Egypt said, this month shall be your beginning of months. Isn’t it interesting? Sunday’s the first day of the week, it’s not the last day. You get these business planners and they put Sunday at the end. I can always tell a secular calendar, Sundays at the end. Play day till we start the real week on Monday. No. Today you’re starting your week. You’re giving the first to the Lord. That’s the idea. We’re supposed to give the first of our income to the Lord. We’re supposed to give the first of our time. We’re supposed to give the first of our treasures and talents. That’s why the first day is God’s and what a wonder to celebrate it together. Every week is a celebration of God and of His Son. But He says, it’s going to be the first, the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. Why? Because of all the meaning of it, the Passover.

Speak to all the congregation of Israel. Say, on the 10th of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb. Number one, the first element of the Passover. And if you’re of the clan of Bible markers you ought to pull out your pen wherever it is and mark, circle, take a lamb. You know what? That’s important. Let me read to you from the Sunday School primer. It’s not the spotlessness of the living lamb that saved them. It was not Christ’s sinless life that saves us. They had to kill the lamb. Christ had to die for us. These people, it wasn’t enough for them just to get the lamb. It’s not just enough to know that Jesus was sinless and spotless and that He was virgin born and all that. Satan knows all that. It’s taking a lamb who dies in our place. Number one, take a lamb.

Continue reading. And according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him get a neighbor next to his house to take it according to the number of the persons. According to each man’s need you shall make the count for the lamb. And your lamb will be without blemish. A male of the first year you will take from the sheep or from the goats. Now, you shall keep it until the 14th day of the same month, and then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.

Now, why is, what on Earth do we need all this detail for? Oh, just for this. Did you know it was 3:00 PM in the afternoon when the priest took the blood and the High Priest walked with it into the temple, in this big bowl. And he took the blood on behalf of the whole nation and all the priests accompanied him till he got to the veil that divided the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. And at 3:00 PM he was supposed to walk in, the High Priest, once a year and sprinkle that blood on the mercy seat. Once a year, to cover the collective sins of the nation. What time did Christ say it is finished and die? 3:00 PM. What time did God render the veil? At 3:00 PM. God didn’t want the veil of the temple rent with no one watching. Christ sacrifice as the Lamb of God was perfectly kind in order to show that no longer did one person, a priest, have to represent us to God. That Jesus shed His blood and split the veil, and we can all come in. That’s why it gives us all these details, for them to follow.

But keeping on going, at the end of verse 6. Then the whole assembly of the congregation shall kill it at twilight and they shall take some of the blood and put it or sprinkle it on the two doorposts, on the lintel of the house where they’re going to eat it. What’s that? That’s the second thing about the Passover. Sprinkle the blood. It’s not enough for the lamb to be slain. The blood was sufficient, but not efficient unless it was applied. See, that’s why we have such an amazing conundrum in our Church today. We have so many people that know so much about God and they’re living powerless lives. It’s because they know all the facts, it’s never been applied to them. And we’re going to see when we go through this next time, when God teaches about salvation, He says it’s not enough to want or have a Savior if you don’t have a Lord. Do you know He destroyed all the people He saved out of Egypt because they never bowed to Him? And He says it’s not sufficient to want a Savior without wanting Him as Lord that you vow to. And that’s the message. The Lordship controversy didn’t start in the 70s in the United States. It was clearly presented in the Book of Exodus, the first 18 chapters.

But every Israelite individually had to apply the blood to his own household. Notice it’s over the doorway, not under it. What have you done with the blood of the Passover lamb who died on Calvary? The hyssop, a common weed was obtainable to everyone. It was typical of faith. I’m still reading the Sunday School book. The blood on the lintel is that which saved them. Not what they thought about it but what they did with it is what counted. It says, and look at verse 13, now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I’ll pass over you. Isn’t that exciting? When I see the blood, I’ll pass over you. Not the blood in the basin but the blood applied saves the soul. Not all the blood shed on Calvary’s cross can save a soul from death unless it’s applied. And then when it’s applied to us, when I see the blood, I’ll pass over you. Not feelings, not personal worthiness, but one thing saved them, the blood. And one thing saves us, the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin.

And then if you keep reading, it says, eat the lamb. And it says, so with us we’re saved first, and then we feed, and we fellowship, and we worship, and we walk with Him. And then they were supposed to remove the leaven. And that was always a type of sin. Leven or unrighteousness must be removed from our lives if we’re to eat with God. There were the bitter herbs as Christ suffered for us. And then it says, be ready to go. Get ready to go. Be girded up and ready to go.

What was the message of Passover? It was specific. Only those who obeyed the Lord’s specific instructions were spared.

It was sacrificial. Put blood of an innocent, spotless lamb, poured out, caught in a bowl, and applied to the doorway.

It was substitutionary. Painted on the doorpost as a reminder that a lamb was identified with that family and was slain. And this was true of all the homes that wish to be spared the horrors of God’s wrath.

But finally, it was sufficient. Everybody that was inside that house with that blood didn’t get killed, their firstborn that night. Isn’t that’s something? All the modern denominational differences, and one of them in particular that divides Christendom is the security of the saint. God says, if you hide beneath the shadow of Christ’s blood, you will be spared My wrath. And God says it’s not you, it’s Me that made the promise and I promise by Myself because I can’t promise by anybody else… they might fail you, but I’ll never fail you.

And God says, if you’re trusting and hiding beneath the shadow of Christ’s blood, My wrath will eternally pass over you. Now, therefore, no condemnation to those who are in Christ. Not here. Not in the future because God, when He sees the blood, passes over us.

The 1^st Book of God’s Word is Genesis. Within it’s pages God tells of our creation after God made all the rest of the Cosmos through Christ. Humans were the crown of creation, made in the Creator’s image. Then man embraced sin instead of obedience and the long line of ravaged, ruined and buried bodies testified to sin’s destroying power.

But all along the way are clues to coming back to God. The shed blood of animals to clothe Adam and Eve. The altar of sacrifice offered Cain and Abel. The grace at the Flood for Noah and his family. God’s Calling Abram from the idolatry of Ur. The many altars of meeting in the pages of Genesis all speak of God’s desire for restoring His own to fellowship. Then the offering of an only son on an altar of sacrifice culminates the story. Isaac is saved by the substitution of a Lamb provided by God! And the story is complete. God’s plan is substitutionary atonement, bloody sacrifice and heart prompted obedience.

The 2^nd Book of God’s Word is our study tonight. The Book of Exodus continues the incredible story of God’s desires for us His creations. Please turn there with me as we uncover within these pages the wonders of Jesus Christ. He is perfectly all we need.

• SALVATION: God Reveals His Way Of Salvation. Divine Redemption Has Jesus As Its Perfect Redeemer. God Shows The Way Out… Of Bondage Into Freedom. (Exodus 1-18). God Is Showing He Is Powerful.
• SANCTIFICATION: God Reveals His Way Of Sanctification. Divine Morality Has Jesus As Its Perfect Example (Exodus 19-23) The Way Out… Of Ignorance Into God’s Law And Program. God Is Showing He Is Holy.
• WORSHIP:God Reveals His Way Of Worship. Divine Worship Has Jesus As Its Perfect Focus. (Exodus 24-40) The Way Out…Of The World Into God’s Presence. God Is Showing He Is Knowable.

To really get a hold on this book, think with me what it lets us in on. It is no less than God’s discipleship of an entire nation. Have you ever thought of that? He first offers them salvation (the passover and exodus, chapters 1-12) and then asks them to follow Him in a daily walk (13-23) and of genuine (24-40) worship. Now, we may not stretch the analogy so far as to try to pin point a New Testament application for every action God takes in this process. But, in the overall picture, it is an amazing study.

In the first section (chapters 1-18) the people of Israel never get to know God personally. Instead they experience Him in action against the false gods of Egypt.

But at Sinai (chapters 19-23), God comes down to make Himself known. What is His method? Showing them their individual responsibility for personal sins. This led to an acute awareness (or should have) of their inability to please God on their own merit.

Then, the Sacred Tent (chapters 24-40) was erected and the priesthood given, to offer an incredibly clear and powerful image of Christ their only hope.

Back to those first chapters and SALVATION. As always, it was not the covenant that saved, nor the sacrifices, nor the ceremonies. Not even big events were able to save them like the Passover, Red Sea event or Sinai. It was only by personal faith mixed with obedience (as most clearly shown in the brazen serpent incident). As the atonement was sufficient for all (they all came out of Egypt) it was only efficient or effective for those whose personally took the truth by faith (seemingly a precious few)!

Look at Ex. 12:38 (the same group as Neh. 13:3) who wanted a Savior without a Lord. This brings up a whole concept that troubles some people. It is called – LORDSHIP. I was once called in before a council at DTS to “defend Lordship”. I asked them to base our discussions on just the Bible, no issues or personalities. I shared the following 12 verses and they said they had no further questions.

• Luke 14:33 “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. NKJV
• John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. NKJV
• Acts 5:32 “And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.” NKJV
• Acts 11:18 When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.” NKJV
• Acts 20:32 “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. NKJV
• Acts 26:20 “but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. NKJV
• Colossians 1:23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. NKJV
• 2 Thessalonians 1:8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. NKJV
• Hebrews 12:9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? NKJV
• James 1:21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. NKJV
• 1 Peter 1:2 elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. NKJV
• 1 John 2:17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. NKJV

Note what the writer of Hebrews says about those who saw but never experienced God’s salvation. Hebrews 3:7-19

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. 10 Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’ 11 So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ” 12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,15 while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” 16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses?17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness?18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. NKJV

God reveals his way of salvation. divine REDEMPTION has Jesus as its PERFECT REDEEMER. God shows The WAY OUT… OF BONDAGE INTO FREEDOM. (EXODUS 1-18). God is showing he is powerful.

• God KNOWS and UNDERSTANDS the Bitterness of Life (1)
• God PROVIDES a Deliverer (Exodus 2) Moses’ 1 ^st 40 years in Pharaoh’s palace.
• God SENDS His servants (Exodus 3-6)
• God CHOOSES Moses (3:1-12) Moses’ 2 ^nd 40 years in the desert of Midian.
• God REVEALS His Name of Names in the bush (3:13-22)

SEVEN I AM’S OF CHRIST in JOHN. John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” NKJV This is the ultimate statement of being the only foundation, cause and purpose for life. Now in John’s Gospel, seven times Jesus said I AM THE. These seven can be stated another way:

• BREAD OF LIFE (6:35) – He sustains us, apart from Him is only unsatisfied hunger.
• LIGHT OF WORLD (8:l2) – He illumines us, apart from Him is only impenetrable darkness.
• DOOR OF SHEEP (l0:7,9) – He admits us to life, apart from Him is only hopeless exclusion.
• GOOD SHEPHERD (l0:ll) – He cares for us, apart from Him is only aimless wandering.
• RESURRECTION AND LIFE (ll:25) – He provides us life, apart from Him is only endless dying.
• WAY, TRUTH & LIFE (l4:6) – He guides us, apart from Him is only being endlessly lost.
• TRUE VINE (l5:l) – He makes us productive, apart from Him is only continual withering.

God challenges Moses (3:23-4:26) to start the last 40 years in God’s service.

• Moses offers God’s First Challenge to Pharaoh (4:27-31; 5:1-23; 6:1). God’s plan is to deliver Israel On Eagles’ Wings (6:2-9; see 19:4)
• Moses offers God’s Second Challenge to Pharaoh (6:10-30; 7:1-13)

God DEFEATS HIS ENEMIES (Exodus 7-11)

• River of Blood (Exodus 7)
• The Finger of God (Exodus 8)
• Then the Gods Were Silent (Exodus 9-10)
• An Ordinance Forever (Exodus 11)

God REDEEMS HIS PEOPLE (Exodus 12-14)

• Jesus our Passover Lamb (I Cor. 5:7-8) “Night to be much Observed” (12:29-51; 13:1-2, 11-16)

THE PASSOVER (Exodus 12-19) ⁽¹⁾

Exodus 12 gives us the thrilling story of the Passover, the clearest Old Testament picture of our individual salvation through faith in the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. In this chapter is the basis for calling Christ the Lamb of God, Christ our Passover, and the many tender references to His crucifixion as the death of our own Passover Lamb. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us (I Corinthians 5:7).

As the Passover chapter is the heart of the book, so is the whole book a pattern of our salvation. The Passover is the prominent feature of Exodus. (Chapter 12) Perhaps the children of Israel did not know the significance of this feast the night before they left Egypt, but they believed God and obeyed.

God had sent ten plagues on Egypt in order to make Pharaoh willing to let His people go. Almost a year had passed and with each plague there was a hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. Finally God said that the first-born in all Egypt should die. It would have fallen on the Hebrews, too, had they not killed the paschal lamb and been protected by its blood of redemption (Exodus 12:12,13).

Every person should study the divine order of the Passover as it is given in Exodus 12.

• Take a lamb (Hebrews 9:28; Isaiah 53:6; John 19:14; 1 Cor. 5:7.) It was not the spotlessness of the living lamb saved them (Hebrews 9:22; I John 1:7; Revelation 1:5). It was not Christ’s sinless life that saves us but His death on the cross.
• Sprinkle the blood: It is not enough for the lamb to be slain. The blood was sufficient but not efficient unless applied. Every Israelite individually had to apply it to his own household. Notice over the doorway, not under. What have you done with the blood, the blood of our Passover Lamb who died on Calvary? (Exodus 12:22; John 1:12). The hyssop -a common weed but obtainable by everyone typical of faith. The blood on the lintel is that which saved. Not what they thought about it, but what they did with it counted. When I see the blood, I will pass over you (Exodus 12:13). Not blood in the basin but blood applied saves a soul. Not all the blood shed on Calvary’s cross-can save a soul from death unless it is applied, then-When I see the blood, I will pass over you. Not feelings-not personal worthiness, but one thing saved them-the blood (Hebrews 9:22).
• Eat the lamb: After the blood was shed and sprinkled, then there was direction for nourishment, etc. So with us. Salvation first, then feeding, fellowship, worship, walk and service. Feeding did not save them, but blood first; then nourishment was possible (John 6:54-58). My flesh is meat indeed.
• Remove the leaven: Search me . . . and see if there he any wicked way in me (Psalm 139:23,24). Leaven is always a type of sin. Leaven of the Pharisees (Matthew 16:6). Purge out therefore the old leaven (I Corinthians 5:7). Leaven of unrighteousness must be removed from our lives if we are to eat with God.
• Bitter herbs Christ tasted the bitter cup for us and some bitterness, we, too, must suffer. No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous (Hebrews 12: 11). The lamb was to be feasted upon not raw, not unbaked, but a suffering lamb who passed through fire. Nothing was to be left -eaten in haste and nothing remaining. Not a bone broken. Christ’s body was broken but not His bones (Psalm 34:20; John 19:36).
• Be ready to leave: They ate the food standing-not knowing whither they would go. All provision was made for the journey. What a contrast – peaceful feasting in the houses of Israel; screaming horrors at death in the homes of the Egyptians.

What was the message of the Passover? It is found in Exodus 12:7 & 13.

• SPECIFIC: Only those who obeyed the Lord’s specific instructions would be spared.
• SACRIFICIAL: Put the BLOOD of an innocent, spotless lamb that was poured out, caught in a bowl and applied.
• SUBSTITUTIONARY: Paint it on the door posts as the reminder that a lamb was identifies with that family and it was slain. This was true of all the homes that wish to be spared the horrors of God’s wrath.
• SUFFICIENT: All who hid behind the shadow of that bloody sacrifice were protected from God’s wrath. The bloody cross of Calvary casts a narrow shadow in today’s sinful world. All who step by faith into that place of refuge are eternally saved from God’s wrath upon sin. And, they can begin to enjoy His abundant life forever.
• DOUBT: Way of Wilderness (13)
• DELIVERANCE: Salvation of the Lord (14)

God PREPARES the WAY (Ex. 15 – 18)

• Mighty god of Moses: Twofold Song (Rev. 15:1-4; Exod.15:1-21) The Christian life is not an easy road, but a hard and narrow one.
• Marah: Wells of Bitterness (15:22-26) Only Jesus can make bitter days sweet through His Cross.
• Mannah (16) Jesus Bread of Life (John 6:48-51) Manna is a type of Christ as well as a picture of our daily need of the Word! Note the elements of the Israelites gathering manna:
• Personal effort – gather by work
• Private obedience – not leave, won’t keep
• Priority discipline – melts
• Provision rest – not on the Sabbath; Three truths we can grow by:
• God provides – perfect supply
• God expects – must involve
• God knows – can’t hide lack

Rephidim (17:1-7) Jesus Water of Life (John 4:13-14; I Cor. 10:4 who was smitten for us)

Amalek: (17:8-16) Amalekites (the grandson of Esau) are a picture of the flesh and is our mortal enemy. Only Christ gives us the victory Deuteronomy 25:17-18 “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt,18 “how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. NKJV

Jethro: portrays the wisdom from above (spirit led shared ministry) that triumphs over earthly wisdom (weariness of self-empowered service for God). (18)

God reveals his way of sanctification. DIVINE MORALITY has JESUS as its PERFECT EXAMPLE (EXODUS 19-23) The WAY OUT… OF IGNORANCE INTO GOD’S LAW AND PROGRAM. God is SHOWing he is holy.

• He gives a standard impossible to keep on our own. The Covenant at Sinai (Ex. 19:1-24:14)

• God’s Ten Words (20:1-17) By Christ shortened to two commands, in Christ summed up in one word – LOVE.
• A Mount that Might be Touched (Exodus 20:18-21; Heb. 12:18-22)
• A Call to Worship (20:22-26)
• A list of Individual Rights (21:1-32)
• A list Rights of Property (21:33-36; 22:1-15);
• A list Miscellaneous Laws (22:16-31; 23:1-19)
• A Promised Place and Guide (23:20-33)

God reveals his way of worship. DIVINE WORSHIP has Jesus as its PERFECT FOCUS. (EXODUS 24-40) The WAY OUT…OF THE WORLD INTO GOD’S PRESENCE. God is SHOWing he IS knowable.

Of what possible importance could an old, dusty animal skin tent in the Old Testament be?

What does the worship of a Nomadic, wandering migration of people camping across the Sinai’s trackless desert have in this ultra modern 21st century life in which we live?
Can a tent constructed 35 dim centuries ago give any light to the dark, sin stained path we often must tread?
Join me as we look at the tent and its meaning and find strength in Christ for our lives today.

• Old Testament Worship centered on the Tabernacle and then the Temple. Divinely designed liturgy was carried on for 1,500 nearly unbroken years in the way Moses was told by God to do it on Mt. Sinai.
• The epicenter of that worship was the Holy Place. In the front half of it stood the Altar of Incense, Golden Lampstand and Table of Showbread. A curtain divided the room. This curtain was actually a finely woven rug 4 inches thick, 60 feet high and 40 feet wide. Massive and towering and declaring one clear message STAY OUT. No natural light ever penetrated its dark depths. Even the light of the ever-burning Lampstand never reached behind the veil.
• In better times the Shekinah Glory of the Presence of God made the Holiest of Holies behind the veil brighter than noonday. In all of Israel’s history probably no more than 50 men had ever gone into the holy of Holies. David never went in, Daniel and Jeremiah never went in. Only the High Priest and then only once a year.
• Inside that room was a box covered with gold, containing the stone tablets of the Law, a pot of manna and Aaron’s Rod that budded. Above that Ark of the Covenant stood two golden cherubim with wings shielding the mercy seat. Their faces gazing downward forever focusing upon the blood.
• When that day came for the High Priest to pass behind that veil. He was wearing bells on the hem of his garment to let the other priests know he was still alive as he was inside; garbed carefully in the God directed robes and priestly garments. With trembling hands cradling a basin of blood, veiled by a cloud of smoking incense burning in a pot he carried – the High Priest would enter.
• Sprinkling the blood on that mercy seat on behalf of all the people of God and hastening out. Why? The only purpose of the Veil was to keep people out of the Holy Presence of God. God was saying I AM HOLY. YOU ARE NOT. STAY OUT!
• On the day Christ died can you imagine the scene those officiating priests must have beheld? They came in to trim the lamps, pour a handful of incense over the fire on the altar and change the bread on the Table. Then perhaps at that very moment Christ touched the Veil.

• With an unearthly sound that massive curtain was violently torn from top to bottom. Aghast, as for the first time in nearly 1,500 years common people looked upon the ark and the mercy seat and God’s throne of grace and mercy. As God said ANYONE WHO WISHES MAY COME IN NOW. YOU ARE WELCOME ANYTIME. Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (KJV) Aren’t you glad we live on this side of Calvary?

# 189 Calvary covers it all!

1. Mears, What the Bible is all about, p. 36-37.2. John Davis, Moses and the God’s of Egypt , p. 873. Davis, p. 109.4. Davis, pp. 128-130.

   5. Mears, What the Bible is all about, p. 36-37.

   6. Davis, p. 109.

   7. Davis, pp. 128-130.

   8. Mears, What the Bible is all about, p. 36-37.

   9. A.M. Hodgkins, CHRIST IN ALL THE SCRIPTURES, p. 20-23.