Please turn in your Bibles this evening, on this Good Friday 2003, to Exodus chapter 12 as we look at what God instructed the children of Israel to do during the Passover Feast, the killing of a lamb, which was a foreshadowing of what the Lamb of God was to do for us, to take away the sins of the world.  As you are turning there, listen to what Tim LaHaye said in his pamphlet, Bible Prophecy, What You Need To Know. He said:

            In the archives of the United States Supreme Court is the Record of George Wilson, a man sentenced to die by hanging for a crime he had committed. His case came before President Andrew Jackson, who granted Wilson a pardon.  To everyone’s amazement, Wilson tore the pardon to shreds and threw it on the floor of his prison cell. The ensuing legal argument concerned the validity of a pardon that was refused, and the question arose as to whether or not Wilson should be freed or hanged. After great deliberation, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled as follows: “A pardon is a writing, the value of which is dependent upon the acceptance by the individual for whom it is intended.”  It was therefore decreed by the court that George Wilson be hanged until dead – not because a pardon was not offered, but because it was not accepted.

            This is a perfect picture of the sinner who hears the gospel of Jesus Christ, knows that God has written a pardon for him, yet rejects Him and thus forfeits his right to the pardon.  If you are without the Savior today, it is because you choose to be. Your choice to reject Jesus Christ automatically invalidates your pardon and sentences you to the lake of fire.

            Each of us is confronted with a choice. We can admit we are sinners in need of a Savior and invite Christ into our lives, or we can choose to reject Him. In either case we will live in eternity by our choice. Those who have chosen to put their faith in Christ will rule and reign with Him during the millennial kingdom and then go into the eternal ages surrounding His throne.  Those who reject Him will be cast into the lake of fire and separated from Him forever.  As the apostle Paul put it: “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

                                                - Tim LaHaye, Bible Prophecy, What You Need To Know

            Now as we move into Exodus chapter 12 we are going to see the Lord instruct Moses and Aaron on the Passover Feast, what they were to do and as we read through this we will see how it is a picture of what Christ has done for us. So with that said, let’s begin reading in Exodus chapter 12, beginning in verse 1 and let’s see what the Lord has for us on this Good Friday 2003.

            As you read through this I want you to notice the three articles that are used in front of “lamb.”  In verse 3 we see the first article that is used as we read “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.’”  Notice the article “a” that is used here.

            You see, that is how many people approach Jesus today.  They see Him as just “a” lamb, one of the many prophets who have been sent into this world.  In fact, many today, even church leaders, feel we are all on our own path to God only taking different ways to get there.  In other words, Jesus is a lamb, one of the many who have come and will come to show us the way to God.

            Do you really believe that? Do you believe those who followed Jim Jones into the jungles of Guyana and drank the Kool-Aid that was laced with Arsenic and all of them died, were on their way to God?  Do you believe those who are following after Allah and Mohammed, doing homicide bombings, killing people in the name of Allah are on their way to God?  Do you think that those who followed after Hitler, who quoted Scriptures and theologians, were on their way to God?  Do you think those who committed suicide thinking that Jesus was in a space ship behind the Hale-Bop comet were on their way to God?  Do you think that Mormons who believe Jesus was the brother of Lucifer and we are all going to become god’s one day are on their way to God?  Do you think that Jehovah Witnesses who believe that Jesus is “a” god and not Jehovah God are on their way to God?

            Tragically, as sincere as these people were and are, none of them are on their way to the true and living God, all roads don’t lead to God, and it doesn’t matter how sincere you are about it!  Think about it, when I worship the Lord in song and try to clap my hands to the beat, I don’t care how sincere I am; the worship team would never let me lead worship because I have no rhythm.  They ask me what key I sing in and all I can say is “All of them?”  When they ask me what range I can sing in, I usually tell them most people ask me to go into the other room!  I don’t have a clue to what they are saying and I can’t carry a tune if my life dependant upon it. Thank God it doesn’t!  Thus, if what you are putting your faith in is not able to do anything about the condition you are in, you faith is empty!

            I know, today I am called very “narrow minded” by saying Jesus is the only way, but I have good company with me on this one, for Jesus is very narrow minded also!  Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”  You see, it is not a “Have it your own way” salvation. The gate is narrow; it is only through Jesus that we can enter in.  Paul put it this way in I Timothy 2:4-6, “who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”  And yes, it is difficult because there are so many out there waving us to go this way and that way to get to God and Jesus tells us, “No, He is the way!”  So I am going to listen to Jesus instead of the ideas, the philosophies of man, which are mostly wrong and they can be deadly!

            You see, the wide gate, the broad way does not lead to life, but to death, to destruction. Then why are so many people heading down that path?  Because it is easy to travel, there is no difficulty, no accountability, you are like a dead fish just floating down stream, following the path to destruction!  There is a story of a West Indian who rejected Christianity for Islam and his reason for choosing Islam over Christianity was that Islam “is a noble, broad path. There is room for a man and his sins on it. The way of Christ is too narrow.”  He is right, the way of Christ is narrow, and it is only through Him!  And so, by making Jesus “a” lamb, that is not going to save you. He is not one of the many paths to God; He is the path to God!

            In verse 4 of Exodus chapter 12 we see the second article that is used as we read “And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man's need you shall make your count for the lamb.”  Notice the article “the” that is used here.

            There are people who believe that Jesus is God, He is the way, but there is no relationship, only head knowledge, and they miss heaven by 18 inches, the distance between their head and their heart.  You see, what is in their head has not sunk down deep into their heart and become part of their lives.  These are what we might call “religious” people.  They know of Jesus, they know that He is God, they know He died on the cross of Calvary, they know He rose on the third day from the grave and yet, their lives are unchanged, Jesus may be “the” lamb but He is not theirs!

            Now that may be hard for some of you to believe, so let me put it in these terms. Imagine this man who has been married to this woman for some 20 years. He has “the” marriage certificate that says he is married to “the” woman and yet the paperwork is meaningless if there is no relationship!  Imagine him not coming home for weeks at a time. Imagine him sleeping with other women. Then when he comes home do you think his wife is going to embrace him and say “Welcome home honey!” She may embrace him with her hands around his throat, but that is another story!

            The point is this; you can go to church on Easter and Christmas, or even every Sunday. You could be baptized having the piece of paper that states this fact. You can tithe.  You can do all kinds of things, but unless you have made Jesus Christ Lord and Savior of your life, it is meaningless!

            In John 14:6 Jesus said, “. . . ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’”  In the Greek this is emphatic, He is the only way, He is the only source of complete truth, He is the only source of not just life but abundant life and without Him you will never see the Father, that is you will never see Him except in judgment!

            Thus, Jesus is not just “a” lamb, one of the many who are leading us to God. Jesus is not “the” lamb, for knowing the truth doesn’t save you, you need to apply it to your life!

            Now that leads us to the third article that is found in verse 5 of Exodus chapter 12, which says, “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.”  Notice the article “your” that is used in this verse.

            As my son would say, “That’s what I’m talking about!”  You see, Jesus Christ is not just “a” lamb, He is not just “the” lamb, but He must become “your” lamb!  That is hard for many to do, to admit you are a sinner in need of a Savior, as this letter illustrates for us from a Melbourne, Australia daily newspaper. This letter stated:  

            After hearing Dr. Billy Graham on the air, viewing him on television and reading reports and letters concerning him and his mission, I am heartily sick of the type of religion that insists my soul (and everyone else’s) needs saving – whatever that means. I have never felt that I was lost.  Nor do I feel that I daily wallow in the mire of sin, although repetitive preaching insists that I do.

            Give me a practical religion that teaches gentleness and tolerance, that acknowledges no barriers of color or creed, that remembers the aged and teaches children of goodness and no sin.

            If in order to save my soul I must accept such a philosophy as I have recently heard preached, I prefer to remain forever damned.

                                                                        - Melbourne, Australia daily newspaper  

            And so shall he be if he continues down that path.  Now, interestingly enough, many people have no idea why they need a Savior. They feel they are pretty good and God will accept them the way they are. They realize they are not perfect, who is?  But when it all comes down to it, their good deeds outweigh their bad ones and God will let them in. Now let me say this, that is not the way that God looks at things and we must not go by what we feel or what we think, but what God says! 

            In Habakkuk 1:13a we are told “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil,

And cannot look on wickedness.”  In other words, God cannot look with favor upon wickedness, He doesn’t condone it, He can’t accept it because He is holy, He is pure, He is righteous, and there is no darkness in Him at all!

            On the other end of the spectrum from God is man and Isaiah tells us, “Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear.  But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.”  Isaiah 59:1-2.  Also, in Isaiah 64:6-7 we are told, “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.  And there is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us, And have consumed us because of our iniquities.” 

            And if you still are not convinced that God cannot accept you the way you are, in your own righteousness, according to your own good works, your own goodness, Paul tells us in Romans 3:10-12, “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.  They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.’”

            Do you see the point here?  Think of it like this.  On the path to God the bomb of sin has wiped out the bridge and now, by man’s own efforts, that gap cannot be restored, it can’t be fixed, no matter how good we are, we will never be perfect and that is the only righteousness that God will accept, perfection!

            I know that does not sound too encouraging, but God will not leave us hopeless, without a way out.  Look at Exodus 12:21-23 again. We read, “Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb.  And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.’” 

            Notice that it was not only the sacrifice of the lamb but the applying of the blood upon their door that kept the angel of death from coming upon them. They took this lamb’s blood and struck the top of the door and then the two sides of the door and as the blood flowed down from the top it would make the shape of a cross!

            You see, it is all about the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  If you don’t apply His blood to your life, if His blood is not appropriated into your life, you are still dead in your trespasses and sins.

            It is as Paul said in Hebrews 9:11-15, “But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.  Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.  For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” 

            Now if you reject that, if you want to work your way into heaven by doing this or doing that, you too will die in your sins.  It is not about our finished work, but the finished work of Christ on the cross of Calvary. He paid in full the penalty for our sins, and now He is telling us to come to Him and receive the free gift of life that is found in Him, it is not of works, but a gift of God’s grace that He has given to us if we would only receive it into our lives.  Paul put it this way, “For the wages of sin is death, but the [free] gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 6:23.

            In John 19:30, as Jesus hung on the cross of Calvary those 6 hours, as darkness covered the earth for the last 3 hours as the sins of the world were placed on Him, we read “So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.”  Those words, “It is finished” come from the Greek word TETELESTAI, which means “Paid in full” or “It is finished.”   That is so important for us to understand today.  He didn’t say that it is partially paid.  He didn’t put us on an installment plan.  He didn’t tell us that His work was finished and now it is up to us to do the rest, and good luck!  Not at all!  He said TETELESTAI or that all our sins were paid in full, it is truly finished by Him for us!

            Paul expounds on that in Colossians 2:13-15 where he says, “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.  Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” 

            Think of all the sins we have done and will do in our life and God wipes them clean by His blood, the payment for our sin, for Paul said “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.”  Hebrews 9:22.  That means all our sins are cast “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”  Psalm 103:12.  And in Isaiah 43:25 we are told, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.” 

            In other words, God has cast our sins in the depths of the sea of forgetfulness and then He has placed a sign on shore that says “NO FISHING!”  I like that, I can take comfort in that because I know my weakness, I know my failure, but He is strong and He is faithful and what I couldn’t do, bridge that gap between me and God, He has done on the cross of Calvary!  As Colossians 1:19-22 tells us, “For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.  And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.” 

            The thing is this; God has paid in full for your redemption.  He has given you a pardon for all of your sins. What you do with that is your choice.  As the U.S. Supreme Court said in our opening story, “A pardon is a writing, the value of which is dependent upon the acceptance by the individual for whom it is intended.”  Thus, you first must admit you are a sinner in need of a Savior and then you must ask Him to be Lord and Savior of your life, to forgive you of your sins, appropriating the blood of Christ into your life as Isaiah 1:18 tells us, “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ Says the LORD, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.’” 

            As I begin to wrap this up this evening, let me share with you this story that deals with nothing but the blood and mans sin, his separation from God. It goes like this:

            At [the] great parliament of religions, held in Chicago many years ago, practically every known religion was represented.

            During one session, Dr. Joseph Cook of Boston, suddenly rose and said: “Gentlemen, I beg to introduce to you a woman with a great sorrow.  Bloodstains are on her hands, and nothing she has tried will remove them. The blood is that of murder.  She has been driven to desperation in her distress.  Is there anything in your religion that will remove her sin and give her peace?”  A hush fell upon the gathering.  Not one of the company replied.

            Raising his eyes heavenwards, Dr. Cook then cried out, “John can you tell this woman how to get rid of her awful sin?”  The great preacher waited, as if listening for a reply.  Suddenly he cried, “Listen.  John speaks: “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sins’ (I John 1:7).”

            Not a soul broke the silence: the representatives of Eastern religions and Western cults sat dumb. In the face of human need, the Gospel of Jesus Christ alone could meet the need.  The sin of the race demanded the blood of Calvary.

                                                                                                            - Frederick A. Tatford

            Don’t make Jesus just “a” lamb or even “the” lamb but make Him “your” lamb as we celebrate His love for us as He paid in full the penalty for our sins. If Jesus is your lamb, then remember what it cost Him to free you of your sins, His life!  That is how much God loves you!  Be thankful for what He has done and walk worthy of the high calling by which you have been called. You see, it truly is about the blood for each of us, the blood of Christ applied to our lives.

            Let me leave you this evening with these words from Paul the apostle in Romans 3:21-26, “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,  even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” 

            You see, it is all about the blood, the blood of Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, the complete sacrifice for our sins.  The issue for you is what have you done with it?  Won’t you apply it to your life as you make Jesus “your” Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world?  Won’t you let His finished work dispel your anger, your bitterness, you fear, your discouragement, your disappointments?  Come to Him for He is calling to you and rest in His love, His grace, His mercy, His compassion and let His peace fill your life!  All you have to do is receive His pardon for you, as Paul said, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  II Corinthians 5:21.