Address—G.H. Hayhoe
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I'd like to turn tonight to the 12TH chapter of Exodus.
Exodus chapter 12, beginning at the first verse. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the 10th day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the House of their fathers a lamb or a house.
And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls. Every man, according to his eating, shall make your account for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish a male of the first year. He shall take it out from the sheep or from the goats, and ye shall keep it up until the 14th day of the same month. And the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
And they shall take of the blood.
And strike it on the two side pulse, and on the upper door pulse of the houses wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night. Roast with fire and unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden it all with water, but roast with fire his head with his legs, and with the pertinence thereof.
And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning, and that which remaineth of it until the morning, ye shall burn with fire.
And thus shall you eat it with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and ye shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the first born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord.
And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt.
The next day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. Ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.
Seven days shall he eat unleavened bread. Even the first day shall put away leaven out of your houses. For whosoever eateth leavened bread, from the first day until the 7th day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the 7th day there shall be an holy convocation to you. No matter of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.
And ye shall observe the.
Of unleavened bread. For in this self same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever in the first month and the 14th day of the month, that even he shall eat unleavened bread until the one and 20th day of the month. At even 7 days shall there be no leaven found in your houses. For whosoever eateth that which is leaven, even that soul shall be cut off from.
Congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger or born in the land.
Ye shall eat nothing lavender in all your habitation. Shall ye eat unleavened bread?
Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the Passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lentil in the two side pulse with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.
For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians, and when He seeth the blood upon the lentil, and on the two side pulse, the Lord will Passover the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons forever. And it shall come to pass, when ye become to the land which the Lord will give you, according as He hath promised, that he shall keep this service, and it shall come to pass.
When your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service, that ye shall say? It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, 20 smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshiped. And the children of Israel went away, and did. As the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.
Well, I'm sure most of us are well acquainted with this very precious chapter in God's Word. And we can see how very important it is when we think that when the Lord Jesus was here about 1500 years after this night in the land of Egypt, He said to the disciples with desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
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Just think 1500 years had passed by since that.
Night in Egypt and the remembrance of it was still precious, so that he desired that his disciples would still be observing the remembrance of that night. And surely when we think of what the Lord did for us at Calvary, when we think of that mighty work that he should accomplish, surely we can say, even though many years have passed, how precious it is to the heart of the Lord Jesus.
That we should still be remembering what he did there. That.
Which will be our theme not only for time, for He's asked us to remember Him until he comes, but for all eternity. How marvelous then. Well, I think we can learn perhaps some precious things from this familiar passage. And perhaps even if we do know some of these precious things, we can enjoy them again, just like the children of Israel.
And there was a fresh enjoyment of this each time.
They observed it, And the things of the Lord ought to always be fresh with us too. Isn't always that if there are new things? The apostle Peter said that he would put the brethren in remembrance of the things, though they knew them, and were established in the present truth. And the Lord said, If ye know these things, happy are ye, if ye do them.
Some of this was a night, as the Scripture says, much to be remembered. The children of Israel were slaves in the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh is a picture to us of Satan, who is the God and Prince of this world. And Egypt is a picture to us in the Bible of the world in all its progress and glory, because at this time the nation of Egypt was, perhaps we might say, the most advanced civilization at that time.
And yet we think of that.
Land with all its advancement, and the children of Israel were engaged in making treasure cities for Pharaoh. And many too of God's children even today are engaged in helping to make this world a very progressive and beautiful place. But the one thing that was very sad about that land was it was under the judgment of God.
With all its progress, with all its glory, it was under the judgment of God, and its ruler was a cruel man who kept the people of God in *******. And so Satan indeed is a cruel taskmaster. How he keeps those who are under his influence and power. He keeps them so engaged by the things of this world that they have no time to think about those things that really matter.
So Pharaoh's attempt was to keep the children of Israel so busy.
But now the time has come, and the Lord is going to deliver his people out of the land of Egypt. And it says here this month shall be unto you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you.
Everything in connection with the first creation has failed because anything and everything that depended upon the first man is bound to failure because the first man is Adam and he was the head of a foreign race. And everything that's ever been committed to man, whether it's government, whether it was Israel with all their privileges, whether it was the king or the priest or the prophets, we see.
Everything committed to man breaks down, but all how good it is that there is a man of God's counsels.
There is one who is going to fulfill all the purposes and counsels of God, and that is the second man and last Adam.
Well, God always had that man in view, because as soon as sin entered, He said that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head. He always had that in view. And that's why here it says, This month shall be unto you, the beginning of months. But it wasn't until the 10th day of the month that the Lamb was taken. Now why is this? Well, although God had told away back in the Garden of Eden about the One.
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Was going to bruise the serpent's head. And although this was mentioned very often through the Old Testament prophecies, man had to be placed under test. And so we find him tested in different ways, innocence and he felt we find him under law and he failed, couldn't keep God's holy requirements. We find him in the period, perhaps we might say of conscience, and he filled the world with violence and corruption.
They see then that man tested, he always fails. But as I say, as soon as sin entered, God made the promise of a Redeemer. So God changed their calendar around and then for 10 days there was a period before that lamb was taken. And so it is, we look over the Old Testament and we see the prophets foretelling of the coming of that one.
But then we read in Galatians and when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his son and 10 in the Bible is a figure of man and responsibility because, you know, there were 10 commandments. That was what God placed before man as his responsibility to God. And that's why there were 10 days, so that if it had been possible for man to have regained what he had lost by his sin, he.
Was given every opportunity.
And as I say in innocence, he failed when tested without law or government. He failed when tested under the law. He failed when Christ was presented. He rejected him. What a history man could not in his own responsibility ever, ever regain what he had lost. But I say again, when the fullness of the time was come, God.
Sent forth his Son. And So what a moment it was when the Lord Jesus was born into this world and the angels announced, we bring you glad tidings of great joy which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And John pointed out that person, he said there's the lamb.
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. He pointed to that one and said, At last the Lamb has come.
And so here, just as on the 10th day, why, when man had failed?
The God sent forth his Son. Well, that lamb was kept from the 10th day until the 14th day, four days.
That is, man was given every opportunity to see, for it tells us that the lamb was to be without blemish, without blemish.
And they had an opportunity as the Lord Jesus walked up and down through this world to see a perfect life.
That God's Lamb was truly without blemish when they came to take him. They said never, man.
Like this man, Pilate said, I find no fault in him. And another occasion they had to say He doeth all things well. No one could find the blemish on this land. But dear friends, it isn't his perfect life that saves us, it's his death.
The perfect life of Christ has showed indeed that He was the Lamb without blemish, but His perfect life could only condemn us. It could only show how far short we had come. When we look at that one that was perfect in everything, in every tone of His voice, in every situation, why it only condemns us and so.
This lamb was kept from the 10th day to the 14th day, and 4 is.
Universal are four points to the compass. And so we find Jew and Gentile, we find, we might say, wherever we want to look, whether any part where there were those called those in authority.
Those who had seen him as he walked up and down amongst men, the religious leaders, all had to agree and that there was no fault in this one. He was truly the Lamb of the blemish. But then on the 14th day he was slain. On the 14th day he was slain. And so we come to this when we see that it's his death.
And that was necessary to shelter them.
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Because only through the shed blood could they be sheltered from the judgment that was to fall upon Egypt. And so I just mentioned this to show why the Spirit of God brings this before us, the changing of their calendar. For everything must begin all over again. That is, the Lord Jesus is spoken out as the beginning of the creation of God. That does not mean that the Lord Jesus ever had a beginning. He never did.
But when it says He's the beginning of the creation of God, it just simply means the first creation was ruined and God begins all over again with his own beloved Son, His eternal Son. He's the beginning of something entirely new. He's the beginning, if we can speak in this way, of new creation. If any man be in Christ, there is a new creation.
All things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new.
Well, we noticed too about this lamb, it says.
In the end of the third verse.
According to the House of their fathers, a lamb or an house at the household, be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house, take it according to the number of the souls. Every man according to his eating, shall make your count for the lamb.
Here we see that it was in the purposes of God to bless the household. We can find this right through the Scripture. We find that when God was going to bring the flood, he said to Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark. We see Him making provision even here, that when their children asked them that, they would tell them what had happened.
We find that when the jail keeper asked what?
Must I do to be saved and let the reply was believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved and thy house. Sometimes I've heard people say, well, there's big families in the meeting. That is not the way God has always worked and I'm glad he does because he delights the blessing families. He delights when one gets saved to extend the blessing into the family. It wouldn't be a sad thing if he saved.
Person. And then there was no further blessing in that family. Oh, how wonderful are the ways of God. Of course, it must be an individual acceptance of the Lord Jesus. But I only speak of the way God works. He delights to work in families. He delights to bless. And so every man according to the House of their fathers, a land from house.
Oh, how gracious the provision of God.
And what a responsibility as well as a privilege for those of us who are parents.
And then it says that the household be too little for the land.
No suggestion that the land would be too little for the household, but if the household was too little for the lamb, then he could share this with his neighbor. Well, you know, sometimes in a family it takes up a great deal of the time of father and mother to look after the family, to seek to bring the word before the family, to seek to teach the family the things of God. That's their first.
Responsibility.
Here, if they if they had looked after their own family, then they could share it with the neighbor, but their first responsibility was to see that there was enough for those in the family. Well, this speaks to us too, as parents of our privilege and responsibility in connection with the household. For as I say, God delights to bless in this way.
But he also gives us a sense of responsibility.
In connection with the household and so the father in the household.
It says every man according to his eating, shall make your account for the lamb. Now that is in the household. Why there was to be a provision made for each one according to his eating. I like to think of this, you know, perhaps when the families all grown up and we have a little Bible reading, well, we can speak of things that are a little bit deeper because.
Because the ones that are older they understand, but if there are children there, we have to remember that the word is to be spoken according to their eating. And you notice the Lord Jesus did this. It says he spoke the word to them as they were able to bear it, as they were able to bear it. Isn't it lovely to see how the Lord Jesus went here, took him to account the needs of people and their.
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Saw as he spoke to them. And so, you know, sometimes as parents, even in a natural way, we used to like our children to eat up what was put on their plate. But if we put on too much, it was unwise because we put on too much. But sometimes if we just took into account that it's just a small child, it only needs a small serving.
And then the child could eat what was set before it. Well, isn't this so in spiritual thing too?
Now that there is that which a child, which a young person, which a mature believer can take in, while every man according to his aid, shall make your account for the Lamb, how, how detailed was the instruction that was given? And it shows how God has an interest and understanding of every situation and of every need. He knows the need of each one here tonight.
We don't all have the same needs in the family of God. There are babes and young men and fathers and each one needs a different portion and God delights to supply that need, just as He instructed the the man here to make provision for the household each according to their eating.
That tells us about this lamb we mentioned before the 5th verse. The lamb shall be without blemish and if you read in first Peter chapter 1 and verse 18 it says.
We are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with a precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
Oh, it's so important that we realize that the Lord Jesus was the one who was without blemish and without spy. He not only did not sin, but he could not sin. He had a holy nature.
It tells us about that new nature in the believer. Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin, and his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. That new life that God has given to the believer is a life that cannot sin. It's the very nature of God himself. And the new man, we're told in Ephesians, is created in righteousness and true holiness.
I mentioned this because.
Because we find people today who deny the sinless humanity of the Lord Jesus, who say that he, he didn't sin, but he could have sinned. Oh dear friends, we have a holy, spotless Redeemer, and let us never, never give up this blessed and important truth that this One in whom we trusted was none other than God Himself.
So it goes on here to tell us.
In the sixth verse And ye shall keep it up until the 14th day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. This is rather remarkable. Doesn't say shall kill them, although I've no doubt there were literally thousands of lambs that were slain that night. Why does it say shall kill it all? Because God always had the 1 lamb and bill he.
Had in view the One who was the true Lamb of God.
The one who alone could be a sacrifice for sin.
And now it tells us here in the seventh verse. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts, and on the upper doorposts of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
And then?
May 22nd Verse. And he shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lentil, and the two side pulse with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go to the door of his house until the morning.
I'd like to notice particularly three things in connection with this night, that which gave them safety on that night of judgment and that which gave them assurance, and then to the feast that was provided for them inside the home.
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Let us know first of all what it was that made their home safe. What made their homes safe was the blood sprinkled on the lentil and the two side pulse.
What made them sure was God's word. But if the blood was there, even if the people inside had some doubts, still God didn't look at their feelings that night, he said. When I see the blood.
I will Passover you now I certainly we shouldn't allow doubts because they come from the enemy who would rob us for the assurance of salvation. But what I want to emphasize is the fact that quite apart from all their feelings, what made their homes safe was the fact that the blood was there. And when you have taken shelter under the blood of Christ.
The devil may try to bring doubts into your mind.
He may try to get you questioning and wondering if you believed in the right way and all kinds of things, but what made those homes safe, I say again was the blood that was sprinkled there upon the door on the lentil on the two side pulse and your friends. Let us never lose sight of that. It's the value that God.
Places upon the black.
Some people have faith in their feelings, some people are always looking in. But you know, it's so important that we see that.
That it's a question of doing what God has said. And that is if you have just told the Lord Jesus that you're a Sinner and you have received him as your Savior, now that God sees you as under the shelter of that precious blood because.
Because the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.
Perhaps someone says, well, I'm not sure whether I believe in my head or in my heart.
Well, let us put it this way. There's many things that we have learned historically, and I was going to school, we learned about how Christopher Columbus came over and discovered this continent in the year 1492. And I believe that.
I I don't question it.
But it doesn't mean anything to me. It's history. And there are many people that believe in the same way that the Lord Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem. Very shortly they're going to be singing what they call Christmas carols. They're going to be celebrating his birth. A few months later, they're going to celebrate his death at what they call Easter.
But it's just a matter of history to them. That's something that they've all.
Been taught to observe since there were children, but that's that's not personal faith at all. But when you see that the Lord Jesus came for you, that he left his home on high and came into this world and was born in Bethlehem's Manger to save you from your sins, When you see that when he died there on Calvary's cross, it was God who placed your sins.
Upon the Lord Jesus, then it becomes a personal matter to you and your heart goes out in thankfulness and appreciation to the Lord Jesus. Let me use a very simple illustration. And supposing there was a swimming pool here in Vancouver and there's a lifeguard there and he has a great reputation.
And through the summer.
He's saved a number of people from drowning.
There's a little write up in the paper and you read it and it's very interesting and you say that Lifeguard deserves a lot of credit for saving those people. It still doesn't mean anything to you personally, but supposing you were one of the ones who was going down.
And he jumped in and saved you. As soon as someone mentions about that lifeguard, your face brightens up. You say I was one of the people he saved. I would have drowned if it hadn't been for him. And dear friends, that's the difference. When you believe in your heart, when you know the Lord Jesus died for you, that's what it means to take shelter under the blood. That's what it means to have him as your own.
Personal savior and when I.
Look at that, that Manger in Bethlehem, I say he left the brightness of his home for sinners such as I. When I look at the cross of Calvary, I say the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. And so I just used this illustration to show that if you have really put your trust in him as your Savior, don't get concerned about how much faith you have. That's just looking.
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Just think of the Lord Jesus and what He did for you. Is it a question of how much faith I had in that man that rescued me? I don't even think of that. I just think of what He did and that's what means something to me. And friend, I want you to think of what the Lord Jesus did on the cross of Calvary for you. So I say again, what made the home safe? Was that blood upon the door?
But now supposing that you meet one of these people and he has doubts in his mind, he says, I've sprinkled the blood, but I'll be very glad when the midnight hours pass and my home has been passed over. Oh, you say to him, but didn't the Lord say, when I see the blood, I will pass over you?
Why? But why do you allow those doubts in your mind? Can't you trust the word?
Jehovah, your God, He has said that when he sees the blood, he will pass over you.
You need another one and you say to him, well, you have the blood upon your door. How do you feel?
Oh, my mind's at peace now.
My mind's at peace. His home isn't any safer than the other one, but he's certainly in a lot happier position, isn't he? Why? Well, he's just resting upon what the Lord has said, and if there's any doubt comes into his mind. For the devil does try to put doubts in the minds of believers. If there's any doubt comes into his mind, perhaps he would do.
Something like this, he would just say to himself.
It must be enough because the Lord said when I see the blood that I will pass over you. So if there's anyone here and Satan is trying to bother you with doubts, the only way to answer him is the way the Lord Jesus met the tempter when he came to him. He answered him by a verse out of the scripture every time.
Every time Satan made a suggestion, the Lord answered by a verse.
Out of the Word of God, He said it is written. And so that's the only way. If you try to chase away doubts, they'll just come back. Maybe some have tried it. I have, and they just come back. But you know, when you just make the temperature with the Word of God and the Bible says resist the devil, how do you resist them? You resist them with the Word the same way the Lord did resist the devil and he will flee from you. He can't stand the Word of God.
He can outwit you in reasoning.
He can always answer every argument you can ever raise, but he can't answer the word of God. So just answer him by the word. That's all an Israelite could do was to say, well, the word of Jehovah is when I see the blood, I will pass over you. So what made their home safe was the blood, what gave them assurance?
Was just simply resting upon the word of the Lord.
And now there was something more. It says in the eighth verse. And they shall eat the flesh, and that night roast with fire, and unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Now here we see that God made provision for them to have a feast inside of their homes.
We've spoken of their safety.
Because they were under the blood, we've spoken about their assurance.
Because they rushed upon the word of the Lord.
But now he also wanted them to have a feast inside of their homes. You know, all Christians are not happy.
Some, even though they know they're saved.
They're not enjoying the Lord. They're not happy in their souls. I've even said that a Christian can be the happiest person on earth, or he can actually be one of the most miserable. Yes, because as Christians, if we allow things in our lives that rob us of fellowship with the Lord, we will be very unhappy because an unsaved man.
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Come enjoy the world. But a Christian, a Christian, a true Christian, I mean, can never really enjoy the world in the same way after he's saved. An older brother said to a young brother one time. He said, well, I hear you've been saved. He said, you've been spoiled for this world. You might as well enjoy what you have in Christ. That's your portion. And dear friends, that's what happens when we're saved. We're snatching.
Out of this world is it where we're no longer part of it. The Lord Jesus died that he might deliver us from this present evil world. For your saved, you're part of it. But when you're saved, the Lord says they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. And So what does the devil do? But he knows you're spoiled for the world. So he tries to spoil the feast that God wants you to have as a Christian, and he does everything he can.
To rob you of the enjoyment of what you have in Christ.
Our very own A nice meal may be set before you like it was tonight.
But only way it did us any good was for us to take it and eat it. And in eating it we made it our own. Looking at it was nice, but didn't do us any good until we ate it and made it our own. And so it is the scripture uses the expression about it says.
He that eateth me, even he shall live by me. That is, we make these things our very own. Just as by eating food you make it your own. So here it tells us that they would eat the flesh, and that night roast with fire.
Well, I believe this brings before us the remembrance of what the Lord Jesus suffered for us upon the cross, and as we think of what the Lord Jesus suffered for us when the judgment of God fell upon Him for our sins. Oh, what? What joy it gives us to think that He loved us that much, and that He was willing to take our place and bear our judgment.
You know how often you find happy, rejoicing Christians?
And they're talking about what the Lord has done for him. Now they're feeding upon the roast lamb. They they think of him as the one who bore all the judgments. So they say there's no judgment left for me because Jesus bore it all.
So the lamb was to be roast with fire.
And then I'll just pass on. I'll go back to the eighth verse. But notice the 9 eaten out of it raw or sodden at all with water, but roast with fire. Now that is when it was sodden. That means we would say in our language today, boiled. You know when something is boiled, why it never gets the full heat of the fire.
When you boil something, the water never goes above 212°F, and that's the boiling point. But you can put it in an oven and set the oven at 500, and if you do, it'll get the full heat of the fire. Whatever you said of that, it'll get the full heat of it. And so the Lord Jesus didn't just bear part of the judgment, He bore it all. He bore the full heat of God's judgment against sin.
So they were to have it were all swast with fire.
Well, how lovely it is, the reason it's brought in here, because I know some Christians might believe the real Christians too, and they think that the Lord did part of the work, but they also have to do their part. And so they're greatly concerned about the part that they do to keep saved. Well, to me, they're just like feeding on the the boiled lamb, not the roast lamb, as if the Lord bore part of the judgment and they have to.
Do their part to all know. Dear friends, the Lord exhausted the judgment. He bore it all. He said it is finished. How good to know this and this is This is really a feast when you get hold of it, because I'm not Christian. I met a poor lady who thought you could be lost again. Oh, how unhappy she was. I believe she was a real child of God, but she wasn't feeding on the roast lamb. I believe she was under the blood, but I don't believe she was feeding.
She wasn't enjoying her portion like she should have been.
And then going back to this, it says an unleavened bread.
Well, we turn over to 1St Corinthians 5I won't take time to turn to it, but in First Corinthians 5 it says, therefore let us keep the feast, not with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
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So you can see from that scripture that leaven is used in the Bible as a figure of two things, malice and wickedness. What is malice?
Well, malice is bad feeling, you know, if you have malice in your heart towards somebody, you have bad feeling.
You think you can enjoy the Lord and have a bad feeling toward someone else?
Oh no, they had to keep this feast with unleavened bread. They even had to put it out of their houses. And not just while they kept the feast, but for the whole week, 7 days. And Janella, if we don't watch this, we can actually rob ourselves of the enjoyment of the Lord by allowing some feeling to get nursed in our hearts if someone does something mean or unkind to us. And so.
The sort of nerves that.
And we build up sort of a feeling of malice, and we lose the enjoyment of the Lord. We don't lose the place of shelter under the blood, or we lose the enjoyment of the Lord and our souls. And so they were to eat it with unleavened bread. And then it says for wickedness.
Some Christians allow secret sins in their lives. They go on with things in their lives. Maybe nobody else knows about it, but they know about it, and they're not happy. They may succeed in hiding it from their brother, but they can't hide it from the Lord, nor can they actually hide it from their own consciences. And so they're not happy because they're trying to keep the feast with malice and wickedness.
While perhaps one or the other.
Allowed in their hearts so it was with unleavened bread all if there's anything that any of us have allowed in our hearts or lives. May the Lord give us grace to seek to put this thing out of our lives out of our houses because it's been a spoil the enjoyment of the Lord it's so I believe it's so important because as I said a Christian can be very unhappy because.
There are things that are allowed in his life that.
Not of salvation, but of the enjoyment of the Lord.
And then another thing here it says with bitter herbs. Well, I believe this simply brings before us that we are never never to forget that it was our sins that caused the Lord Jesus that suffering so that while they enjoy that tasty roast lamb. It was with bitter herbs. And so as we gather, there's a little hymn puts it nicely with joy.
And sorrow mingling, we do remember the joy that we.
Loved us enough to die in our place, but sorrow, it was our sins that caused him to suffer.
With bitter herbs.
Serves in the end of the ninth verse, his head with his legs, and with the pertinence thereof. That is, I believe, when it says He's had, it means the Lord Jesus every thought was to do his Father's will, and his feet. Every action of his life was carrying out that desire. Oh, how blessed to think of that One who went on as the little hymn says, Thy path uncheered by earthly smiles.
Laid only to the cross.
Then it says in the 10th verse, And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning, and that which remaineth of it until the morning, ye shall burn with fire.
That is, it was to be a fresh thing.
And I think this speaks to our hearts too.
We all know how nice, how nice lamb is when it's fresh, when it's just been cooked and it's served fresh, it never tastes quite as nice the next day, does it? It just isn't exactly the same the next day. But when it's just freshly cooked, it's it's at its best. And you know the Lord wants us to be in the fresh enjoyment of Christ in our souls. And never forget what a dear old brother said many years ago when he stood up.
Speak to us in Ottawa, he said. He said. I don't think I'm going to say anything new tonight, but he said I hope it'll be fresh.
Will be fresh and so it is. There are many things we've heard many times, but you know, we can still enjoy them when they're fresh. I always enjoy freshly roasted lamb even though I've had it many times. It's fresh, it's good. And so business night is the Lord wanted them to have it at its best and he wants us to have our the very best that he has to give for us. People say at this time of the year, we wish you the best.
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Well, God gives the best.
And He wants us to enjoy it when it's at its best too. Let's maintain in our souls the fresh enjoyment of Christ. And if we neglect the reading of God's Word and prayer, if we neglect the meetings in our lives, we're very likely to lose the fresh enjoyment of the Lord. We may be able to sing the same hymns and repeat the same phrases, but perhaps the freshness is gone from it. So here we see it was to be fresh.
And then it says 11TH verse thus shall eat it with your loins girded the loins girded well, you know there's so many things in this world to create temptation. It seems there's more and more everything you read the magazine racks everything is calculated to create lust and temptation. A conversation of people is just terrible. What things are like in the world today and we have to have.
Lawrence Kurta We have to be careful now that we don't give rain to those things that the world is indulging in as we see morals and everything breaking down in the world. We have to be careful that we have our loins girded that we don't give in to this kind of thing that's going on so freely in the world all about us.
And that says your shoes on your feet.
Well, I've often said it doesn't matter how muddy a road is, if you have shoes on your feet, you can cross the road and your feet still are clean the the dirt get on your shoes, but it didn't get on your feet. And I've always enjoyed that little verse in the Song of Solomon where the bridegroom looked at the feet of the bride and he said, how beautiful.
Are thy feet with shoes, Paul Princess daughter, now this.
This is a defiling world. There's not one person in this room that has to go to work tomorrow that doesn't know that, and you're just walking in the mud almost. It seems sometimes it's a defiling world where you have to go. But isn't this beautiful? The Lord looks down to see if we've got shoes on our feet. That was what the father said about the prodigal when he came home, put shoes on his feet. He was no longer to pick up all the defilements of the world. He was now in a place.
Privilege. And he was to walk in the liberty and dignity of sonship. How may the Lord help us as we go through this defining world, not to pick up all the defiance, but rather to seek to walk through it with shoes on our feet and the dignity of children of God, so that when we come home at night we can put off our shoes and our feet haven't been defiled. What a privilege it is. So they were to have shoes on their feet and then it says.
In their hand. You know, this has always been a marvel to me because you would think it was just talking about old people. Sometimes old people carry a staff. They, they have a, a staff in their hand because they feel a little unsteady on their feet. But there's no mention of age here. It just simply says a staff in their hand. Why is this? Well, it seems to me that whether we're young or old, we need to learn.
Dependence on the Lord.
A staff is something you lean on outside of yourself. You see, my balance is not very good. Brother said to me, how long are my balance is not very good. So I like to carry a stick. Well, sometimes our balance isn't very good either. We we sort of get sort of the topsy turvy and the things that we do and we need a staff to lean on them. I don't care whether we're young or old, we need, we need to lean on the Lord.
It says preserve me, O God.
For in thee do I put my trust. So let us remember we need the staff in our hand, and then you shall eat it in haste. That is, they were expecting the marching orders out of Egypt at any time.
And so that's what we're waiting for. We're waiting for the marching orders. The Lord's going to say one of these moments come upon and we want to be just like here. We want to be going on. First of all, the important thing was to be under the blood. The second thing was that they should that they should have the assurance of it in their souls. And a third thing was that they would be enjoying the feast while they waited for this.
Quarters that were taken out of Egypt take them on their way to the promised land, and so how good for us to be waiting for the home call.
And so here now we find.
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That the 14th verse says on this day shall be unto you for a memorial. As I mentioned at the beginning, 1500 years later, the Lord still said with desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. And you know he's given us the privilege too. I remember in him in his death until it comes.
Could you imagine?
An Israelite who really appreciated what the Lord had done in delivering them when the time came around for the Passover to be observed, that he said, I don't think I'll, I don't think I'll observe it. Wouldn't you say that you wondered how much he appreciated what that deliverance out of Egypt actually meant to him? Well, so it is. This was to be kept throughout their generations. It was something that they were to remember.
And we noticed that every godly king in Israel, he wanted to restore the Passover. You were just noticing on Lord's Day how when they came back from the captivity, why they set the altar upon its base. So it is when we, when we realize what the Lord has done for us, it's our privilege to remember Him as he has requested.
Until he comes.
So he gives instruction about this and again mentions this about the unleavened bread. It seems to be mentioned so often between the 14 verse and the end of the 20th verse that we can't help but feel its importance because there's so many things that come in to rob us of the enjoyment of these things.
And all, may the Lord help us to be watchful so that we would go on.
In the enjoyment of what we have in Christ, as we wait, the Lords return.
Well, I'm going on to the.
25th verse.
It says, And it shall come to pass, when you become to the land which the Lord will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. Then it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service, that ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, and he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses, and that.
Again, we see the interest that God had in the family, and that while this was observed, that the children would ask, well, why do you do this? What does it mean? And then the parents would reply and tell them what it meant to them, and how the Lord had delivered them out of the House of ******* how He had brought them from that place of slavery.
And so surely when we gather.
This is our privilege too, and we delight to see our children interested in this too, because the 1:00 the children of Israel were to share in His blessing from generation to generation. And so how good it is that this is our privilege.
So what goes on here? And it says in the end of this 27th verse. And the people bowed the head and worshipped, and the children of Israel went away and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.
So did they. It was a nice ending.
We read about in the prophet Jeremiah that when Jeremiah talked to them, it says they came and sat before him as the people set. And then it says, thy words were unto them as a very lovely song, and the one that can play well upon an instrument.
For they hear thy words, but they will not do them.
That is, Jeremiah talked to them and when they had listened, they said, Jeremiah, you're a nice person to listen to, but they went away and they didn't do anything that he had brought before them. But that wasn't the way here, was it? When they listened to what the Lord had commanded, it says their heads went down, they bowed their head, they worshiped. God had provided a way of deliverance for them. He had undertaken for them in their slavery and their hearts.
Full of gratitude to him.
And they worship. And then they went away. And they did.
According as Moses commanded, they weren't like those in Jeremiah's time who said that, well, it was nice, Jeremiah, but we don't intend to do it. No, they their heads went down and they went away and did it. Well, may the Lord grant that as we meditate upon these wonderful things in God's Word, that we too may bow our heads in His presence and thank Him. Something to us far more meaningful on the Passover, the precious, the work of Christ.
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Upon the cross, the remembrance of Him and all that He has brought to us through that blessed, glorious word, well may it cause our hearts too, to respond more to His love, that we might bow our heads in worship. That we might do now that was just pleasing to Him in our lives. And if we do, I'm sure we'll share something in the feast too. There is a peace. There is a joy.
In doing his well, it's the happy path.
The scripture says her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her powers of peace.