The Life is in The Blood - Exodus 12:1-28

[0:00] You can open your Bibles to Exodus 12, where we're going to be today. So we've come as far as chapter 12. If you remember last week, Moses ran out from the presence.

[0:11] Well, I don't know if he ran out, but he went out from the presence of Pharaoh, pretty angry. There's a lot of emotion there. He's very upset. Because of Pharaoh's continued response, his hard heart, the fact that God was going to bring this destruction, this last plague, upon Pharaoh and the nation of Egypt because of their lack of response to the Lord, their lack of repentance to the Lord.

[0:36] Moses had stood in the presence of Pharaoh, what, nine times now? Well, no, because it doubles. He goes in and issues the plague, and then he goes back.

[0:47] But this would be the last time, as Moses leaves the court, that he would come back on his own. It would be the last time he came to warn Pharaoh. It would be the last time to say, hey, you still have time to repent, as he goes out from his presence.

[1:00] And then we saw at the end there of chapter 11, leading into chapter 12, we looked at a couple verses because we wanted to leave it not on that downer of Moses and his hot-tempered emotion there and feeling just the weight of what was coming.

[1:15] But we looked at how God sent his word. That's what we're going to pick up again in verse 1. And what we're going to focus on today, as we go through chapter 12, we're only going to get through verse 28.

[1:26] I'm not going to do the whole thing. It's 51 verses. So we'll finish that next week. As God begins to now speak to Moses and Aaron to prepare the people, to prepare the people for what's coming, to prepare the people for the angel of death, that God is going to bring this last plague upon Egypt.

[1:48] And the life is in the blood. In Leviticus chapter 17, verse 11, we read, For the life of the flesh is in the blood, says the Lord, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.

[2:06] So there's more than meets the eye, right? There's more than just the fact that our blood, the blood that's in our veins is what keeps us physically alive, that there's a spiritual component that God attaches to that.

[2:17] Kind of like when we were in Genesis and we looked at food existing before the fall, food existing before it was needed to keep us alive, there's a spiritual component to that. And God is saying here, The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for a reason.

[2:30] There's a reason that's so, because I've given it to make atonement on the altar for souls. And so as we go into this chapter, we're going to see that, that the life is in the blood.

[2:41] But whose life, right? So let's pick up in verse one. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt. So remember we looked at that last week, how God's word came at the right time.

[2:53] It was a time of trial, of great emotion, of oppression. And in the midst of all that, here comes God's word. We looked at Psalm 119, verse 130, The entrance of your word gives light.

[3:04] A situation where Moses was still in trial, he was still in great emotion, he was still under oppression, and God's word came. I would prefer God take me out of that, and then bring his word.

[3:16] But God brings his word in the midst of all that. Before the deliverance comes, while there's still great emotion, and while we still feel under heavy oppression, God sends his word. Why?

[3:28] Because what would we respond to it? Are we going to respond to God's word in those times when there's oppression, and trials, and emotion? Or will I only respond to God's word when everything's okay? I'll respond to God's word when having a good day.

[3:40] When I'm having a bad day, I reach for the chocolate. He said, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months. So it's going to be their first month. A new beginning, a new season, right?

[3:53] And then a future promise. Because God's not going to say, this is the first month of the year to you, and then be like, oh, oops. By the way, the Egyptians are going to take you out. You're not going to make it to the end of the year.

[4:03] No, it's a future promise. A promise that God will see them through. If this is a new beginning, then they have a future hope, don't they? The beginning of Israel's year, though, what was God anchoring it in?

[4:16] Well, what's he about to do? He's about to redeem them. He's about to rescue them. He's about to bring deliverance. And so their new beginning, the beginning of Israel's year, and their national existence, God's anchoring that in redemption, in deliverance.

[4:31] He says, This is your beginning. It begins with redemption. I was looking this up, the beginning of months. It's funny, because in Esther chapter 3, it says that the first month was the month of Nisan, or Nisan, but however you pronounce that in Hebrew.

[4:47] That's the first month. But when you look over at Exodus chapter 13, a couple chapters later, Moses says to the people, Hey, remember this day. Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage, in which you were delivered.

[5:03] By the strength of the hand of the Lord, you were brought out from this place. This day came you out in the month Abib. And so there's two first months you can look at. There's the religious first month of Abib, where the Lord is saying, and Moses is saying, this is your beginning.

[5:19] But then there's Nisan, which is according to the lunar calendar. So if you ever see like two different months in Israel and it's confusing, it's because one is according to this month that God said, this is the start of your month.

[5:30] And then one is according to a lunar cycle by which they base their year. He says to Moses now in verse 3, he says, Hey, go speak unto the congregation, 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 for a house.

[5:51] So the information to this point that Moses has, if you remember, it's what he told Pharaoh. He said, Hey, about midnight, the Lord will go out in the midst of Egypt and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sits upon his throne, even under the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill and all the firstborn of the beast.

[6:11] He said, there'll be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be any before or nor any since. But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast, that they may know how that the Lord has put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.

[6:29] Well, Moses doesn't have any information yet what that difference is. What's God going to do? Is he just going to like not let the angel of death come? Well, we just read that God said the angel of death is going to pass throughout all the land of Egypt.

[6:42] Goshen is part of the land of Egypt. But he said, Hey, but there's going to be a difference. Well, what is that? Well, now God begins to explain that to Moses. The difference is going to be a lamb. The difference will be blood.

[6:53] Speak unto all the congregation of Israel. This is a first mention. First mention of congregation of Israel. We've had the Hebrews, people of God, but this is the first time we see congregation of Israel.

[7:05] God is seeing them as an entity, as a nation. But there's a choice here. As he says, Speak to them that in the tenth day of the month they shall take to them every man a lamb.

[7:16] There's an option here, a choice in the taking. Every soul and every house must choose whether or not to take to himself a lamb. Nobody could force that on them.

[7:27] You had to choose whether you were going to take the lamb. The lamb didn't just appear. You had to go and receive the lamb. And notice what it says. And this is going to be interesting as we go through this text. It always refers to lamb, singular.

[7:40] Not lambs, but lamb, singular. In Hebrews chapter 9, we read about Jesus that he would offer himself, that he would not offer himself often as the high priest that enters into the holy place every year with the blood of others because they have to go constantly and continually offering the blood of the sacrifice of a lamb, of an animal.

[8:02] But Jesus, he would then often, would have to often have suffered since the foundation of the world. Well, if his blood is going to atone for me in the same way that the old covenant did, well, it would have to be a continual sacrifice.

[8:15] But now once, in the end of the world, has he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this, the judgment.

[8:26] So Christ, just as we die once, Christ died once. He was once offered to bear the sins of many. One lamb, one sacrifice, one time.

[8:37] And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time, without sin or not for the purpose of sin, but unto salvation. So there's a choice that every house must take to himself a lamb.

[8:49] One lamb, one death, one sacrifice. And if, verse four, the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of souls.

[9:00] You know, it's like a co-op. Every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. So you got some big eaters in your house so you don't got too many big eaters. But here you see God doesn't leave anyone out.

[9:10] And I like how he doesn't leave anyone alone. He's like, hey, if it's too small for your house, like you're living next to a neighbor and this neighbor and it's just you and maybe there's a couple people in this house, you know what? Get together with them.

[9:21] The scripture tells us, I think it's in Psalms, that God puts the solitary in families, that God has a family and he wants everyone to be a part of it. But in taking the lamb, there is to be no soul left out.

[9:32] There is to be no soul left alone. And yet each soul is still an individual. Each soul will still have to partake individually of this lamb.

[9:43] For your lamb, verse 5, will be without blemish, a male of the first year. You shall take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall take a kid, a lamb, a firstborn from the beasts.

[9:55] Now we have read that how he had said, on the 10th day of this month shall you take it. And then we're going to read in verse 6 and you shall keep it until the 14th day. So the Lord is giving them instructions for the future because we know that he had said to Moses, who had then said to Pharaoh, hey, this night, about midnight, the angel of death will pass through throughout the land of Egypt.

[10:16] So they couldn't take the lamb on the 10th day and wait until the 14th day. This is future information of how to go about this. My guess is it's the 14th day. This is the 14th day. He said, this is going to be the first month for you.

[10:27] But this isn't the first day because it's the 14th day in which we're going to sacrifice the lamb. So then it would line up perfectly when Jesus, our Passover lamb, was crucified. It was on the same day.

[10:39] But he's giving them future instruction as well as instruction for now. So if it's too little, hey, no problem. Your lamb will be without blemish, a male of the firstborn, a male of the first year.

[10:53] According to God's word, a firstborn would die and a firstborn must die because God's word has spoken it. Thus saith the Lord, about midnight will I go out in the midst of Egypt and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die.

[11:08] Well, God's word spoke it. It now has to happen. A firstborn would die and a firstborn must die because God is not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he should repent.

[11:20] Has he said and shall he not do it? Or has he spoken and shall he not make it good? You know, when God says that the firstborn must die, the firstborn must die. When God says, hey, Israel, this is your first month of your first beginning of your year, well, that means we have the promise that there's a future if God's promised us a beginning.

[11:40] The lamb must be slain and you shall take it from the sheep or from the goats. Again, there must be personal. You shall take it.

[11:50] The lamb must also become your lamb. It wasn't you're going to give the lamb. It was you're going to take the lamb. It had to be personal. And you shall then keep it until the 14th day of the same month.

[12:02] So you would go and you would take a lamb. It would be inspected without spot or blemish. You'd bring it and you would raise it. You'd care for it. You'd have four days with which you would keep that lamb. And on the 14th day, the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it.

[12:16] Notice the singularity there again. Shall kill it. You shall take the lamb and kill it. The whole congregation. One lamb, but every house has a lamb. Yeah. Right? Every one of us has the lamb.

[12:27] Every one of us has a relationship with Jesus full time and yet it's still one lamb. I don't know what it's going to be like in heaven. Right? It's like, man, he has been too long with Jesus.

[12:39] When is it going to be my turn? You know? It's not going to be less of a relationship there than it is here. It's going to be greater. I don't know how that all works, but it's going to be wonderful. Right? I don't know how our interaction is going to work because there's going to be millions and millions of people.

[12:51] It's like, well, yeah, you know what? I'm seeing Paul at 10. Can I schedule you in for next month? I don't know how it works, but fellowship's not going to be worse there. It's going to be better.

[13:03] So it's one lamb. The whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And so they would keep the lamb for four days. Why? Well, for inspection to make sure. Was this lamb spotless?

[13:15] Was this lamb without blemish? And they kept it for a purpose. It wasn't to be kept as a pet. It was to be killed. The purpose of the lamb, he came for death and was kept for deliverance.

[13:28] This singular lamb was all sufficient for each individual and yet he was also all sufficient for all. And Moses then, God is giving Moses this instruction.

[13:41] He said, and the people then they will take the blood from the lamb. They'll slaughter the lamb. They'll collect the blood in a bowl and they will strike it on the two side posts and on the upper doorpost of the house wherein they shall eat.

[13:53] Right? They're going to put it on the doorpost and the upper doorpost what we call the lintel today. It's the cross beam above the door that supports it. And they shall put it upon the upper doorpost of the house. Hebrews chapter 10 beginning in verse 9 we read, Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God, by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

[14:15] And every high priest stands daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices and yet they can never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.

[14:34] One sacrifice, one purpose. Why did he come? To make a sacrifice. For the life of the flesh is in the blood. 1 Corinthians 11, 26, for as often as you eat this bread and drink this blood or drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he come.

[14:52] The life of the flesh is in the blood. This would have been a great week for communion, but next week's better. The chapter ties together really well. So we'll do communion next week. The life of the flesh is in the blood. One sacrifice, one offering.

[15:05] So once you put the blood on the doorpost, what happens then? Well, let's think this through. Okay, you all take the lamb to go and sacrifice it.

[15:16] The whole congregation together, they go and they sacrifice it and then you bring it home and you stand there and you put the blood on the door. How do you get back in that house now? You have to pass through blood.

[15:29] Every soul abiding in the house would come under blood. Every soul must enter by blood. There's no other way to get into the house. In the house, you're what? Covered by blood. In the house, there's life.

[15:39] Outside the house, there's death. In the house, what are they going to do? They're going to eat. They're going to fellowship. They're going to have communion.

[15:51] In the house, fellowship and communion, but only after the lamb has died, only after the blood's applied, and only for those that abide in the house. For those who apply the blood, for those who enter by blood, for those who then abide in that house, well, we have fellowship and communion.

[16:05] Outside death, inside life, every soul would have to enter by blood. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire and unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs shall they eat it.

[16:20] Okay, so you sacrifice the lamb, you put the blood on the door, and you go in, and you have this dinner. Well, what's this about? Well, if you've been in the church for any amount of time, you've probably heard, you know, there's seders, and you've heard the different meanings of the Passover.

[16:33] But if right now, you're the Hebrews in Egypt, and you know, later on, they're going to complain and say, oh, we missed the leeks and the garlics and the onions, right? They're going to miss all of that. So this is different for them.

[16:44] Like, what is all this about? Well, we're told that they shall not eat it raw, in verse 9, so you need to be quick about this, but not too quick, nor sodden it all with water. In other words, you can't stew it.

[16:55] You don't have time for that. But roasted with fire, his head with his legs, and with the pertinence thereof. No time to prepare. No time to settle down. No time to get comfortable.

[17:05] You need to be ready to go. The sacrifice and the blood of the lamb, it was all the lambs, and yet every soul here is meant to partake. You shall eat of it.

[17:15] You shall eat of this lamb. You shall eat of this sacrifice. But they were meant to be ready. They were meant to not be able to settle down on the bitter herbs, right?

[17:26] You know, it's like, I don't know, dandelion greens without any salad dressing. Come on, we don't got time. You know, just roast that thing quick, eat it, and go. And unleavened bread. Well, if it was leavened, it means you have to take time for it to rise.

[17:38] There's no time here to prepare. Every part of this lamb was to partake of the fire. You weren't to parcel it out. You weren't only supposed to roast the haunch.

[17:51] You weren't just gonna have lamb chops. Every part of it was to go into the fire because every part was to be consumed by the fires of judgment. As Jesus, whose own self, bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness.

[18:07] Every part was to partake in judgment. Every part goes into the fire. Just as every part, Jesus, when he hung on that tree, right? Every part of the body. And you shall let nothing of it remain until morning.

[18:21] And that which remains of it until the morning, you shall burn with fire. So the lamb's work was finished in one night. In one night, the lamb was sacrificed.

[18:32] In one night, that work was finished. There was no ability to store this up for later. It wasn't like, well, you know what? Let's take some of it with us. No, God says, in one night, you're to eat this. And whatever's left till morning, you will burn with fire.

[18:45] The chance to partake of the lamb is over after the Passover passes. The lamb's work would be finished in a night. The window for participation was a narrow one, but it was a present one, wasn't it?

[18:58] It was now. Now we have to partake of the lamb. Right now, we're cooking him. Right now, we're going to eat of this. Tomorrow morning, it's too late, guys. Sorry. 2 Corinthians 6, 2, for he says, I have heard thee in a time accepted.

[19:11] And in the day of salvation have I succored thee, strengthened thee, collected thee, held thee. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. And you can't store it up for later.

[19:23] I'm like, well, I got so much to do with my life. I'll put off Jesus till later. As if there's life outside of Jesus. But you can't store it up. Jesus is our perfect lamb.

[19:35] I'm not going to read through all those. We're not going to go in depth in all those. But we can see how Jesus lived with and became bonded to the human family before he was sacrificed for them, wasn't he?

[19:46] 30 years he lived among us. Three years of ministry in which he was examined ruthlessly by the priests and eventually examined by the Romans. They found no fault in him. The sacrifice of Jesus had to be appropriated for each home.

[20:02] Jesus, the Passover lamb, was spotless. It was only the blood of Jesus that atoned for sin. In his death, Jesus was touched with the fire of God's judgment. And in his death, Jesus received the bitter cup of God's judgment.

[20:15] The work of Jesus must be received fully. None left in reserve. You can't just have part of Jesus. Well, I just like the healing part of Jesus. Or I just like the, you know, life is good part of Jesus.

[20:28] I don't want any conviction. I don't want any suffering or sacrifice. The Passover work of Jesus for his people is the dawn and prelude to their freedom. It's the beginning.

[20:38] This is where it all starts. And so, you shall eat it. Verse 11, God is telling Moses to instruct the people, you shall eat it and here's how. That's how you're going to prepare it.

[20:49] Now, here's how I want you to be dressed for dinner. You shall eat it with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover.

[21:00] The Lord's Passover. His event, but our participation. Well, how, what, that's kind of, have you ever tried to eat anything with your staff in your hand? You know, like, hey, I'll hold the fork and you cut.

[21:12] It's not very easy. They were to partake, but they were to partake prepared. They were to be prepared for what was to come. You shall eat it with your loins girded.

[21:24] In other words, your, your long robe up and ready for movement, properly attired for departure, ready for a journey. Your shoes on your feet. You're ready to walk. After you partake of the lamb, you are ready to walk because the shoes are on your feet.

[21:38] Your staff is in your hand. That means ready to go in a moment's notice, right? The staff isn't on the wall, leaning against the wall. Their shoes off and they're kicked back. There's no time for that and no extra baggage and then no lingering, is there?

[21:52] Nobody lingering around. Nobody waiting around. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and I will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beasts and against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment.

[22:06] I am the Lord. And we've looked at that, how every single plague was a judgment against one of the gods of Egypt. God's going to either pass through or he's going to pass over, but he is coming. Judgment is coming.

[22:17] It's one or the other. There would be no question who was the true God after this. Nobody would think, well, those gods of Egypt, maybe the one true God would judge the firstborn son of the false God.

[22:31] Remember we looked at how Pharaoh was believed to be the firstborn son, the son of Ra, the God? And so God is saying, well, I will judge. I will judge. I will show you who the true firstborn is as he judges the false one.

[22:44] And the blood shall be to you for a token or a sign. All of God's signs to this point have pointed to this last and final judgment. All of those other judgments, the blood in the river, the frogs, the lice, the darkness, the hail, everything pointed to this one final judgment.

[23:02] The sign for you, the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are. The sign, this sign was a sign to show that all signs have been finished.

[23:13] Right? There's no other signs. Jesus is the last sign. He's it. Well, maybe there's something more, something more than the cross, something more. There is no other sign. That's it. That was the final sign that all other signs pointed to.

[23:27] God is out for blood, we're told. And when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. And the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt.

[23:39] God is out for blood. But whose blood? It's his blood. He's not out for our blood. God is out for his blood. He's looking for blood. He wants to see it.

[23:49] He said, is it on the house? Is it on the doorposts? You see, there's no double jeopardy with God. Once judged, there's no judgment that remains. 1 Peter 3.18, Peter writes, for Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.

[24:08] So once that one suffering was finished, the just for the unjust, the next step is that he might bring us to God. Being put to death in the flesh, well, there's no more death now. Now he's quickened in the spirit.

[24:19] There's no double jeopardy. There's no, well, we've been judged in Christ, but maybe, maybe God still is reserving a judgment. Maybe if I accidentally slip up too much, I'm not going to do it. God's going to come and get me.

[24:32] Mm-mm. You know, every person that was in the house, every person that came through blood, what allowed them, what caused the angel of death to pass over?

[24:45] Why did death pass over? Well, because that house kept their family devotion time really well. Because that house was worthy. Because they were, they were in prayer the whole time. No.

[24:56] You could have been the biggest jerk in the world sitting in that house, but if there's blood on the door, God is only looking for blood. He's not looking for anything in us, anything that causes us to be worthy, or anything that would cause him to look at us and say, well, okay, I'll pass, well, I'll pass over you, because that's, no, there's nothing there.

[25:13] It's only by the blood. So the plague could not be upon them, because the blood showed they already were partakers of judgment. They'd already come under death. Well, oh, God would look at that blood and go, well, I fulfilled my word.

[25:27] A firstborn has died. For by one offering, he has perfected forever them that are sanctified, them that are set apart in the blood. Forever. It's done. So God has prepared a lamb for blood, and he's prepared this people for blood.

[25:47] And this day, verse 14, shall be unto you for a memorial, and you shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. God is telling Moses, don't ever forget this, Moses.

[25:59] We're never to forget deliverance. Each generation was responsible to keep and pass on a memorial of deliverance. We're responsible to keep that memorial of deliverance.

[26:11] We do it through communion, right? We remember, and we're responsible to pass that truth on, the truth of the lamb and of his blood. Seven days, you shall eat unleavened bread.

[26:23] So now he's telling us, what is that memorial? He said, here's what you're going to do. On the 10th day, you're going to take the lamb. Keep it for four days. All the congregation will sacrifice it. Put the blood on your doorpost. Go back home. This is how you eat it.

[26:33] And then this starts a memorial. This starts the first of these seven days that I want you to keep this memorial, this holiday, this feast. Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread.

[26:45] Even the first day, you shall put away leaven out of your houses. For whosoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. Why?

[26:56] They all gluten intolerant? You know, why not eat leaven? Well, leaven, we know, in scripture, is compared to sin quite a bit. And leaven, like sin, it spreads. You put a little bit and it spreads throughout the entire loaf, throughout the entire, what's that called?

[27:12] Dough. It grows. It doesn't stay the same size that it is. And then, it grows how? By fermentation or by corruption. In the same way, it's very much like sin, how sin grows.

[27:25] Paul, reproving the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians, because they thought, man, we are so loving and tolerant, we will tolerate anything. That's how loving we are. And Paul said, your glorying's not good.

[27:37] Because the issue isn't that you're loving, the issue is that you're tolerating things that will cause your destruction. Do you not know that a little leaven will leaven the whole lump? Purge out, therefore, the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as what?

[27:52] As you are unleavened. You have been made unleavened. For even Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us. One lamb, one Passover, one sacrifice.

[28:03] Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness. Man, you have been made unleavened. Don't bring it back into your life. But with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

[28:18] Leaven represented a people unprepared and unready because their focus was on something else. They were taking time. Well, we need to let the dough rise. So the leaven would just represent that these people, they were not prepared and they were not ready.

[28:29] But it's interesting because only after the blood is applied, only after the sacrifice of the lamb, that the Lord says to Moses, now you shall keep this feast seven days, seven meaning complete, whole, representing the fact that only after the blood is applied, then the leaven's removed.

[28:45] The sin is removed. There's no more leaven after the blood's applied. We know, says John, that he, Jesus, was manifested to take away our sins.

[28:57] He was here to take away the leaven and in him is no sin. And in the first day, there shall be a holy convocation.

[29:08] In other words, it'll be like a holy day. And in the seventh day of this feast of unleavened bread, there will be a holy convocation to you another holy day. No manner of work shall be done in them except that which every man must eat.

[29:19] Well, you can get your food ready. That only may be done, but you're all taken off from work for this week-long holiday. That's great. Let's do it. I mean, we can't eat bread with leaven. I'm good with flat bread. Let's go for it.

[29:30] Seven days off. After the blood's applied, the work ceases and the worship begins. Only after the blood is applied. The leaven's removed, the work ceases, and now there's these holy days.

[29:41] Worship begins. And you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. For in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. You can picture the people being like, armies?

[29:53] Armies. We're slaves. The Lord calls things that are not as though they are. It means congregation, but it can also mean armies. I just like the fact that God's saying to them, yeah, I see what you are.

[30:03] Your armies have been brought forth. You don't know what you're going to accomplish right now. You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. For in this selfsame day have I brought out your armies out of the land of Egypt.

[30:15] Therefore, shall you observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever. Wow. That's pretty, pretty intense. It's just, it's just leaven, Lord.

[30:27] Just leaven. We'll observe this feast of unleavened bread throughout all our generations forever? Remember? It's so small. It seems so small and trivial, and yet something so small and trivial and seemingly insignificant.

[30:41] Man, God takes it real serious, doesn't he? God takes the smallest, most trivial thing very serious because the potential there is so great for it to cause such harm. A little bit of leaven, what's the big deal?

[30:54] Well, it can level in the whole, the whole lump. Something so small as leaven, something so small as a cup, something so small as a little piece of bread.

[31:05] Man, these are so insignificant. What is that? After the same manner, also, he took the cup when he had supped, saying, this cup is the New Testament in my blood. This do you as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

[31:16] So small and trivial, just that little cup, and God takes it so serious. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till you come. God takes those things very serious.

[31:28] And in the first month, on the 14th day of the month, at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the one and 20th day of the month.

[31:39] So, 14th day, seven days later, 21st day. Seven days, there shall be no leaven found in your houses. For whosoever eats that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel.

[31:52] Something so small, so seemingly insignificant. And God looks at that and says, that is so serious that that person will be put out from the congregation of Israel. Whether he be a stranger or born in the land, usually nothing leavened, and all your habitations usually unleavened bread.

[32:08] We talked last week about Moses and his anger and how anger, the problem with it is, that it has great potential to misrepresent God. And Moses just, look how faithful he was to lead God's people.

[32:20] And then one wrong outburst and God held that over his head that he couldn't go into the promised land? So small, so insignificant. So God takes it very serious, very serious, the things that represent and portray him.

[32:35] Moses, you can't go into the promised land because I have to go in by, I have to lead my people in by rest. The work is finished. I can't have you misrepresenting me. Something so seemingly insignificant.

[32:47] Well, God, why leaven? Well, we don't find out until you fast forward a couple thousand years later and here's Jesus being crucified and we find out that, oh, after the lamb, there's no more leaven, there's no more sin. And so that picture has to be here for us.

[33:02] You shall eat nothing leavened in all your habitations. You shall eat unleavened bread. Now, if you're in Egypt at that time, right, and you can, this is very abnormal, abnormal to the world, but very appropriate to those who have come under the blood.

[33:17] Your neighbor comes over, hey, how you doing? Good, good. Would you like a peanut butter and jelly? No, no, no. What do you got against peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? Well, is that bread leavened? That's kind of weird. What do you, it's so small and insignificant. What does it matter if you eat some leaven?

[33:30] What does it matter if I bring this into your house? It's not yours, it's mine. I'm just bringing it in. Who cares? It's so small. What, why did you react when I said that? Everybody uses that language.

[33:41] That's so insignificant. Who doesn't watch that? You want to come over and we'll, you want to go to the bar? You want, this is so, you're acting so abnormal. Well, yeah, for the world, it is abnormal.

[33:52] But you see, I've come under the blood and it's now very appropriate for me to avoid leaven. Very appropriate because of who I am before God. Then Moses now calls for all the elders of Israel.

[34:06] He says, all right, God's given him all these instructions and now he calls for all the elders of Israel. And he says, I'm going to instruct you and then you're going to instruct the people. Draw out and take you a lamb, the lamb that must be received according to your families and kill the Passover.

[34:23] The lamb, the lamb must be chosen. The lamb must be sacrificed and then the lamb, its blood must be applied. As Moses passes this on faithfully to the elders of Israel, what are we passing on faithfully, hopefully to the people around us?

[34:39] You need the lamb. You must choose the lamb. You must accept his sacrifice and you must apply it to your lives. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop. How many people have hyssop in their home?

[34:50] No? Me neither. And dip it in the blood that is in the basin and strike the lintel on the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning.

[35:03] So if you're the elders of Israel, you're hearing this for the first time. What's going to happen? There's another plague coming, guys, and this one will affect all of Egypt. The firstborn will die in every house. No one is exempt.

[35:13] Well, what do we do? Well, God has made a way that that judgment can pass over your house if you apply the blood of another firstborn, the blood of this lamb. And you're going to take this hyssop.

[35:24] I guess they knew what hyssop was. In scripture, hyssop comes up a few different times. In Psalm 51, verse 7, David writes, purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

[35:36] It was used in their sacrifices and their rituals. The priest would have the hyssop. Jesus, our Passover. The hyssop was also involved in his sacrifice.

[35:49] In John 19, we read that there was said a vessel full of vinegar and they filled a sponge with vinegar and they put it upon hyssop and they put it to his mouth. And when Jesus, therefore, had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished.

[36:04] And he bowed his head and he gave up the ghost. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Hyssop looks like that. It's just a long-stemmed plant with some flowers on the end.

[36:18] Usually, it was dried and would look more like that in a bundle. So you can kind of see how if you took that bundle and you dipped it in your basin of blood and you're putting it on the lintel and on the side posts, I mean, it doesn't make the most deft paintbrush.

[36:32] Right? But it'll get the job done. It says that Jesus, they set a vessel full of vinegar and filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon hyssop and put it to his mouth. So whatever this rag or sponge was, found a hyssop, it held it up and they put it up to him.

[36:49] You shall dip a bunch of hyssop in the blood and strike the lintel and none of you shall go out of the door until morning. Yes, elders of Israel, morning will come but it's only going to come after death had passed over.

[37:02] Only after death had passed over can you arise out of your house in a new morning. For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians and when he sees the blood upon the lintel and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not suffer the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you.

[37:22] What if you're really good friends with an Egyptian family and they'd begun to see what God was doing and turn from those false gods? He said, hey, come into my home.

[37:34] Well, no, we can't. We're Egyptians. No, no, no. It doesn't matter who's in the house. Just be in the house. Just get in the house. If you're an Egyptian and you said, you know what? I heard what the Hebrews are doing.

[37:44] It's kind of weird but I looked over there and they're all putting blood on their doors. They're a little strange, those Christians. They're a little strange but you know what? Man, I think they got something and you put blood on your door.

[37:55] You killed a lamb and put blood on your door. The angel of death would pass over. It was not because of their good works, their worthiness, their personal holiness, not because of who they were socially or ethnically.

[38:07] It was because of the blood of another upon their doorpost. I was thinking about this with the hyssop, right? So there's our hyssop. You got your bundle of hyssop. You all go back home and you're standing in front of there with your wife, your kids, or whatever, your family and you got your basin of blood and you're dipping it in and you lift it up and the blood's kind of dripping off, you know?

[38:28] And I think there's some homes that would look like that. Probably if my wife was directing how we put the blood on our doorpost, it would look very neat and like that, you know? But the interesting thing is probably some that would be more like that.

[38:40] Just kind of get it on there, right? And then I bet there is some like this. Hey honey, what you doing out there? You done yet? Yeah, almost. Put it on the doorpost?

[38:50] Man, I'm going to put it on everything. I'm going to do the door. I'm going to cover the house, right? It didn't matter what method the blood went on. It was just get it on the doorpost.

[39:01] Put it where God said. Maybe some of us have come through blood. We've entered the house and it was a kind of a neat process. It was very, it was very, it was very systematic.

[39:14] It was very comfortable. It was very organized. You know, maybe you grew up in the church and you just entered through that way. Maybe some was a little messier. You know, it's kind of just slopped on and it was like, man, you find yourself in the house. And maybe some was like this guy and it was just, it was a bloodbath.

[39:28] But you entered the house. But then I was thinking there might have been one other way too. Because if it was me and I was doing it and I just want to get it done quickly because I'm just goal oriented and it's like, what do we need to do? Let's just make that happen.

[39:40] You know, I'm not going to worry about how artistic it is. You know, it's going to be just dripping. You get it on the top and then you get it on the lintels. And I bet there's a few doors that probably look like that as they swipe the blood to get it.

[39:53] But it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what the blood looks like. Just is it on the door? Are you in a house that's covered with blood? Have you entered through blood? Have you walked beneath the blood?

[40:05] In 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul says, For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

[40:21] I just like that picture of you're in the house, whether you're awake or asleep, or it doesn't matter. You're not going to, it doesn't matter what state you're in, just are you in the house? God has not appointed us unto wrath, but salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.

[40:33] Are you in Christ? It doesn't matter. If you've died, if you're awake, if you're asleep, you're in the house. And you shall observe this thing, says Moses to all of the elders of Israel.

[40:48] You shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee, to thy sons forever. And it shall come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you according as he has promised.

[40:59] You shall keep this service. Hey, there's a future, guys. This is the beginning, but there's a future. There's a land you're going to go into. As God promised. But when you get there, you're to observe this thing. You're to keep this thing.

[41:10] God's deliverance, it's a lasting work. God's deliverance is an eternal work, but it's also an unforgettable work. Ephesians chapter 2, Paul would write, even when we were dead in sins, has he quickened us together with Christ.

[41:25] By grace, you are saved. And he has raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, ages and ages of eternity, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Jesus Christ.

[41:42] That God's work doesn't end. It's a lasting work. It's an eternal work. It's unforgettable work. For all of eternity, that work of that one lamb who we've entered by blood for all of eternity, we are going to experience the riches of his grace and kindness because of Jesus.

[41:57] It's a lasting work. It's not to be forgotten. This shall come to pass, verse 26, when your children say unto you, Dad, how come none of my friends put blood on their doors? How come my friends don't go to church?

[42:10] How come I can't watch that? How come we don't do that? When your children shall say to you, what? Me and you by this service. My kids all talk like that. Father? 1 Peter 3.15 says, But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready, always, to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

[42:32] Always be ready to give an answer. You know what I like about that verse? It doesn't say to come up with an answer. Always be ready to come up with an answer. You better have a good answer. Always be ready to give. Where do we get our answers?

[42:43] Right here. We have the answers. Always be ready to give an answer. Be prepared. Be ready. You know, for those that were in the house, I'm sure it was easy to think, well, nothing's happened yet.

[43:02] I'm going to set my staff down. I'm going to take my shoes off. You know, this belt's a little tight. Do I really have to eat my food with my backpack on? But you never know.

[43:13] You never know when the call's going to come. We knew it was about midnight. The angel of death passes through. Maybe you hear the cries. You hear outside the house there's death. You know there's life inside the house. But you know what you're not going to be doing?

[43:25] You're not going to be sitting there going, you know, let's plan out the next year's budget in Egypt. Nobody's got time for that. Why would you do that? Be foolish. Right? What are you waiting for? I don't know if it would come with a trumpet call.

[43:36] Maybe a shofar. And you know it's time to leave. Or maybe it's just a knock on your door. But man, you're ready and you're waiting for that. You're listening for that. You're not distracted by the things of this world.

[43:50] And when your kids look at you, that's what they should see. When the people around you that see you keeping this memorial to all generations, they should see you're so, it's like, it's like, it's like your hand's always grabbing something else and you're ready to go.

[44:03] You know, you need to, let's two hands grab onto the things of this world. You need to make something of yourself. You need to have a career. You need to leave the world the better. It's like you always got one hand on the doorknob. Like you're always ready to go. And it shall come to pass when your children shall say unto you, what mean you by this service?

[44:18] Service is an office, an ordinance, or a work. Some things in life just are not optional. In Genesis chapter one, verse 14, God has created the light in the heavens and he's created these firmaments.

[44:30] He says that there'll be lights, the sun, moon, and stars in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from night and let them be for signs and seasons and days and years. Some things are not optional. That's an ordinance.

[44:40] That's something that God has set that will not be changed. There's nothing we can do about that. God is saying here, this is an ordinance. When your children ask you and say, why is this thing so unchangeable in our lives?

[44:51] 1 Corinthians 12, 12, For as the body is one, as many members, and all the members of that one body, being many are one body, so also is Christ.

[45:03] All are members of that one body. You don't get a choice. It's not optional. I don't want to be part of the body of Christ. I just want to do my own thing. You don't get an option. John says that I write these things unto you that you may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

[45:19] We are saved for fellowship. We are delivered for fellowship, to have fellowship with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. Understand that Jesus' body is this, is us.

[45:31] Hebrews 10, 24, And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works. How do we do that? We do that in the context of the body. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much more as you see the day approaching.

[45:48] Some things are not optional. Well, I don't want to be part of a body. I don't want to be part of fellowship. You know, we don't get the option to be disciples. I don't want to be a disciple.

[46:00] I don't want that. I don't want to be a follower of Jesus. You don't get that option. When Jesus says that we must lay down our lives and take up our cross daily and follow him, it's not a suggestion.

[46:11] It's not an option. Joshua, in Joshua 24, at the end of his life, years later, he's fulfilled that promise God has by bringing the people into their new land. In Joshua 24, verse 15, he's saying to the people as an old man, he says, if it seems evil unto you to serve the Lord, then choose this day whom you will serve.

[46:30] There's no other option, guys. It's either the Lord or nobody. Whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.

[46:41] Let's see. The gods of Egyptians got whooped and the gods of the Amorites in whose land you just took over. Well, they didn't do anything either. But as for me and my house, this isn't optional. We will serve the Lord.

[46:54] And when your children say unto you, what mean you by this service? Verse 27, you shall say, it is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when he smote the Egyptians and delivered our houses.

[47:10] This is our hope. Why do we do this? Because there is no other option. Because God has delivered us from the Egyptians. Because God has delivered us from the past.

[47:21] God has delivered us from this world. And if it wasn't for his deliverance, we would have ended up just like the Egyptians. There is no other option. It was either the lamb or death.

[47:33] When your children ask you, what is this? Just like when Isaac asked Abraham. Genesis 22, verse 7, Isaac spake unto Abraham and said, my father. He said, here, my son.

[47:45] He said, I see the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for burnt offering? Why do we do this? And Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.

[47:56] And so they went both of them together. And when someone says to us, why? Because of the lamb. We invite them in. And what does it say? They went both of them together. He said, oh, the lamb is sufficient.

[48:07] God provides the lamb. In Acts chapter 16, the Philippian jailer has just had his world rocked, literally, through the earthquake. He's about to kill himself and Paul says, no, no, no, no, no, we're all still here.

[48:19] He said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? He said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You should be saved and your house, your whole house can come under this. what shall you answer them?

[48:34] That this is the Lord who passed over you because of the blood of another and delivered your houses. And the people bowed their head and worshiped. You know, they did this one other time.

[48:45] In Exodus chapter four, Moses and Aaron had just come from the wilderness, just come from Mount Sinai and the burning bush. And they spake to the people all the words that God had told them to speak. And Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses and he did the signs in the sight of the people.

[49:00] What were the signs at that time? He throw down the staff, it becomes a serpent, he puts his hand in his bosom, pulls it out in leprosy, puts it back, it's well, picks up the snake, comes to staff again. He did those signs.

[49:11] And the people believed, it says, when they heard the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that he looked upon their affliction and they bowed their heads and worshiped.

[49:22] The same thing they're doing now, bowing their heads in worship between that time period, that first one and this one, 40 some days, 40 days. And they've seen all that God would do and that he is worthy to worship.

[49:34] But a recipe for worship, we see here that God's recipe for worship, you hear God's word, you believe God's word and that's the recipe for worship. That's it.

[49:46] And the people heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that he had looked on their affliction and they bowed their heads and worshiped. They heard God's word and they believed God's word.

[49:57] They believed, the people believed when they heard. And here again, at the end of the series of plagues, at the end of God's judgment, the people bowed ahead and worshiped when they heard what God was going to do to deliver them and when they believed.

[50:11] And the children of Israel went away and did as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. So did they. Their obedience stemmed from their faith.

[50:21] Worship does not just lead to obedience. We can think, well, worship leads to, well, worship is obedience and obedience is worship. When we obey the Lord and we respond to the Lord, that's worship.

[50:32] It's not just when we sing and praise the Lord. The worship is with our lives. And we also don't obey from a sense of duty. I need to obey because I'm a Christian or whatever. But our sense of duty is a response to our obedience.

[50:46] So we obey, when we hear God's word, we obey in faith. I believe what God says. That's the obedience. From that then stems the sense of duty. I don't have to work up a sense of duty.

[50:57] It comes from the fact that I have believed God. I've received his word and that I want to walk in obedience. That's worship. And the people, they did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.

[51:14] That word there where it says and they went away, it means to go or to walk. Literally, they went and walked in the way that they had heard. And they did so or they did according to the fashion. They walked according to the fashion of what Moses and Aaron had told them.

[51:29] Ephesians 2, verses 1 through 3, And you, has he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins, where in time past you walked according to the course or fashion of this world. There was a time you walked that way.

[51:41] It was appropriate to do so. Why? Because you were dead. You were dead in trespasses and sins. Of course you're going to walk that way. But now, now because we've heard God's word, we believe God's word, we respond to God's word, oh, now we walk in a different fashion.

[51:56] Now we're not conformed to this world. But we're transformed by the renewing of our minds that we may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Notice the order. We're transformed by the renewing of our minds, then comes the outworking of that.

[52:10] Then proving what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Then the will of God is done and outworked in my life. Then the work comes. Then the obedience. Never the other way around. Why did they enter into the house?

[52:24] They had a sense of duty. They were, no, because they believed. They entered the house by blood because they believed. Any house that didn't was very evident. There's no blood on the house and there's no life in the house.

[52:37] So as we close this section today, I guess the questions to ask are, are we in the house? Are you in the house? You know, as I look around, I think all of you are in the house.

[52:50] Are you under the blood? Have you entered by blood? There's no other way. You know, Jesus, when he talks about himself being the good shepherd and leading the sheep, he said, there's no other way to enter in except through the door of the sheepfold.

[53:01] He said, I am the door. If anyone enters any other way, well, he has to climb up and over and he's a thief and a robber. There's only one way to enter in to the house and it's through blood. That's gross. I mean, it's dripping and I walked through and I got, oh, that's just, man, my neighbors, they're making fun of me.

[53:19] They're like, oh, look at, he's put blood on his door now. Oh, man, he's gone crazy. But I think for us, those of us who are in the house, where outside, we recognize there's only death, there's life in the house, there's fellowship in the house, there's communion in the house.

[53:35] I think we got that. We're like, yes, I like that. I like being in God's house. I like being in fellowship. I'm so glad that I don't have to do it alone, that the lamb is sufficient for me, but it's also sufficient for all of us.

[53:47] The life is in the blood. But I think the question for us is, are we ready? Are we ready to go? Have I put my staff down? Have I got comfortable? You know, have I started like finessing the food a little bit?

[54:01] Like, you know, I think we could work on this a little more. Maybe we could make this more palatable. Maybe, it's not supposed to be. We're supposed to be ready to go. It's supposed to be a little uncomfortable. Eating with your staff isn't fun.

[54:12] Are we ready to go? In Mark chapter 13, Jesus speaking of being ready for his return, he says, take you heed, watch and pray, for you do not know when the time is.

[54:30] For the son of man is as a man taking a far journey who left his house and gave authority to his servants to every man his work and commanded the porter to watch. Watch you, therefore, for you know not when the master of the house comes at evening or at midnight or the cock crowing or in the morning, lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.

[54:51] And what I say unto you, I say unto all, watch. Are you ready? Am I ready? Are you ready for whatever that call is? Maybe it's the trumpet. I hope it's the trumpet that we hear that sound and we all are ready and we get to go.

[55:04] Or maybe it's an individual knock on the door. Hey, it's your time to go. Maybe God says, it's your time. I'm taking you home. Are you ready? Are you ready for that? What are you holding on to?

[55:16] Have you laid aside what God's commanded you to hold on to? Have I put down what God said? That's where I want your hand to be. That's where I want you focused. God, this is bitter. I don't even like this. But are you ready to go?

[55:27] But I'd rather put that down and, you know, we had some big plans, Lord. We were going to add on to the house here. Who, what a waste of time your neighbor knocks on the door of the gym. Hey, are you ready for the crocodile bowl?

[55:40] You know, do you know who's playing in the crocodile bowl this year? What's it matter? I'm not going to be here. Doesn't, you know, I've heard that if you invest in papyrus this year, it's going to skyrocket. Well, so am I.

[55:52] I'm out of here. Man, what are you holding on to? What are our priorities? I know for myself, the uncomfortability of being ready sometimes, it's tempting to try and find ways to be more comfortable.

[56:06] It's tempting to compromise. It's tempting to be like, oh, this is awkward. Another awkward conversation. You're like, oh, no, I'm sorry. I don't, I don't know what you're talking about because I don't watch that, do that, or, you know, or, but, you know, when the knock comes, or the trumpet blows, then I get to go.

[56:30] And we'll look at this more next week. I don't know when it came, when the, the knock came, or the, the sign, this, the trumpet came, said, hey, we're out of here.

[56:42] We're going to look at how the Egyptians, after the, the, the angel of death had passed by, and how they just want to get the people out of there. But either way, at one point, the people had left.

[56:54] And those Egyptians, they would get up in the morning, and they would look toward Goshen, and what would they see? They'd see a bunch of empty houses covered in blood. Because they were gone. And there's going to be a day where, there's not going to be any time to be prepared.

[57:09] There's going to be no time to get ready. Because it's going to be time to go. And this world's going to look, and they're going to look, and they're just going to see my empty house, covered in blood. Like, that, that was one of those homes.

[57:20] Do you see a coincidence here? It's like, every home, that claimed to be under the blood of this lamb, the people are now gone. I want to be ready. Father, make us ready, Lord.

[57:32] Make us a ready people, ready for the trumpet to sound, Lord. Lord, ready to go, ready to walk, ready to journey. Lord, help us to live lives free of the leaven of this world, Lord.

[57:45] We've come under blood. After blood, after the lamb, there was no leaven. Lord, as Paul said, don't take the old leaven back into your life, and don't take a new source into your life.

[57:55] We have the capacity to purge it from our lives, Lord. Purged, like David said, purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Lord, this morning, I pray, Lord, that we would let go of whatever it is that our hands holding to the hand that should be on the staff.

[58:12] Lord, what did that staff represent? Lord, I think as you, they sat there and held the staff in their hand and looked at it and thought of the staff of God that was in Moses' hands. All that was accomplished.

[58:22] And then realizing that God had put in their hands the same means and the same power to move forward in obedience and faith just as Moses did. He heard your word.

[58:33] He received your word. He obeyed your word. And Lord, you counted that as worship. I thank you this morning, Lord, for the blood that's upon every home and every heart that's here. I thank you we've entered by blood, Lord.

[58:45] There's no other way. I thank you that we get to be in the house. There's fellowship there. There's life. Sure, it's not the most comfortable place in the world, but it's not supposed to be.

[58:56] We're supposed to be ready to go to a place, Lord, that you've prepared for us. Lord, I pray that here at Calvary Chapel Charlotte, Lord, my brothers and sisters would live lives, Lord, ready to depart.

[59:09] Lord, we thank you, Lord, that we have all of eternity to be with you, to experience your goodness, your grace, to remember, Lord, to worship and to thank you.

[59:21] And then, Lord, beyond that, I think of those Hebrews, Lord, hearing these promises, having so much hope, but so much of it in front of them, they hadn't yet experienced, Lord, the promised land.

[59:33] Lord, I thank you that there's a land of promise ahead of us, Lord, that's out of this world. Pray that you would come and get us, Lord, with a trumpet call. In Jesus' name, amen. It is good because it's finished.

[59:48] We have the benefit and the privilege of an experience that nobody outside that house has. We have life. We have fellowship. We have communion with one another. Don't let the little uncomfortabilities of that life, don't take for granted.

[60:03] Don't let it derail you from where God wants us to be. We've all partaken of the lamb. We all get to partake together. Oh, the Lord bless you and keep you.

[60:15] The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. Lord, lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen. Have a blessed week. Thank you.