This week we discussed how we can truly be set free in Christ and no longer remain a slave to our sin. In the book of Exodus, God sent the first 9 plagues to punish Egypt for their disobedience to Him. After the Pharoah and Egypt refused to repent God sent the tenth plague which was the death of the first-born in every home. In order to protect Israel God prescribed the blood of a lamb to be applied on the doorposts of every home. This blood would cause the angel of death to “pass over” that home and spare the life of the first-born. Not only did God use this plague to show His power, but it was also the final plague that caused Pharoah and Egypt to beg the nation of Israel to leave. In this text we see God’s power and protection of Israel as well as His strong hand to deliver. This story not only reminds us of the necessity of the body and blood of Christ, but also His desire to deliver us completely from our sin. May this week’s message and these questions help you to grow in taking steps of faith towards true freedom in Christ.
Sermon Transcript
Pastor Jeff:
Lord Jesus, we give you all the glory, honor, and praise. And we do tell you that you are King of kings and Lord of lords, and that we bow our knee to you, that we serve you, and that we know that you're not only in charge of our great nation, but the entire world. And we surrender our hearts afresh you this morning because our desire is to hear your living and your active word among us. Lord, we've come because we believe that every time that your word is faithfully and accurately proclaimed that you have a message for us. So Lord, speak for we are ready to hear. And now for all those who have gathered who desire to hear the Lord speak directly to you, who will believe what he says, and who will by faith put into practice what he shows you, will you agree with me very loudly this morning by saying the word, amen?
Audience:
Amen.
Pastor Jeff:
Amen. During Abraham Lincoln's presidency, he issued what was called the Emancipation Proclamation, which led to the freeing of slavery in our nation. And just because slaves were declared free, it didn't mean that plantation owners were excited about it, nor did it mean that the slaves who were slaves at the time understood what it meant to be free. And seemingly slave owners could have said, "We're going to try to protect them from hearing the truth because we don't want to lose our laborers." Or worse yet, what if they find out the truth that they're actually free? Then they might actually believe that they can go free. And so potentially some of the slave owners would lie to them and say, "Well, look at you. You're working for me. You're acting like a slave. You're living like a slave. You know what that makes you? It makes you a slave."
So just because the declaration was made and just because the laws were changed didn't cause someone to be free until they took ownership of the freedom that they actually had. The same thing is true for us spiritually. Jesus said, "If you abide in my word, then you are truly my disciples, then you will know the truth and the truth shall set you free." That there's freedom that comes in our salvation. But just because Jesus declares that truth and just because it's available to you doesn't necessarily mean that you're walking into freedom that is rightfully yours. For many people who have come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, who have said, "I've been saved. I've been set free." They might have been set free from the penalty of sin, but still aren't delivered from the power of sin. And yet I have great news for you this morning. If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, He not only set you free from the penalty of sin, but the sin no longer has mastery over you. That you can be completely set free from the power of sin in your life.
God uses the Old Testament in Israel to show us in the New Testament who we are in Christ and who God wants us to be and what that looks like. And today we're in Exodus Chapter 12 and we're going to take a look at what it means to experience freedom. In other words, we're not just going to talk about it. In other words, we're not just going to say, "Hey, you're free if you're in the Lord. And where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." We're going to take a look at how can I actually live free and what does it look like to live the life that God requires? We want you to experience ongoing freedom as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I want to encourage you to open up your Bible to Exodus Chapter 12. We're going to take a look at all the verses in that chapter. That's a lot of verses. We're going to take a look at all 51 of them today and really we're going to highlight five different areas of what freedom looks like for us as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and what we need in order to be free. And the first thing you must believe is that you must believe that you have a need for the body and blood of the lamb. You must believe you have a need for the body and blood of the lamb. As we get into chapter 12, we see that Moses has just ended his conversations with Pharaoh. God raised up Moses as a deliverer to go get His people. To not only show them that there was a God in heaven, but to deliver them to the land that God had promised them. To show them that the God that they had heard about was truly faithful. And so He raised up Moses and Moses went to Pharaoh. And we see time after time, after time, after time, Pharaoh's message to the Pharaoh was what? "Let my people go. Let my people go that they may worship me." And then Pharaoh never relent. So God sends nine different plagues on Pharaoh.
There were times where his heart softened because the plague was so strong where he said, "Okay. You can go worship but you can only take the men." Or, "You can go worship but you can't take your animals." And Moses said, "That's not it. We're taking the whole nation out for a journey into the wilderness to worship and you're going to let all of us go." And God had told Moses, "It's not going to go the way you think. As a matter of fact, it's going to take time, but when I send the final plague, the 10th plague, he will drive you out of Egypt." And that's where we are today. We took a look at nine of the different plagues that God was showing that He was God over the nation of not only Israel but he was the God of Egypt as well. And we saw nine different plagues. And when Pharaoh wouldn't listen, Moses got so hot with anger. He told him, "I'm going to go out in the middle of your nation at midnight and I'm going to proclaim the final plague and it's going to go down and it's not going to be good." And Moses stormed out of his presence and this is where our story picks up. Notice verse one in chapter 12.
Now, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, "This month shall be the beginning of months for you. It is to be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel saying on the 10th of this month, they are each to take a lamb for themselves, according to their father's household, a lamb for each household. Now, if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them according to what each man should eat, you are to divide the lamb. Your lamb shall be an unblemished male, a year old. You may take it from the sheep or the goats. You shall keep it until the 14th day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight.
Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the doorpost and on the lentil of the houses in which they are to eat it. They shall eat the flesh that same night roasted with fire and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled it all with water, but rather roasted with fire both its head and its legs along with its entrails. And you shall not leave any of it over until the morning. But whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire. Now you shall eat it in this manner. With your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover for I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and I will strike down all the firstborn in that land, both man and beast. And against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgements. I am the Lord. The blood shall be assigned for you on the houses where you live. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt."
In order to be free, you need to believe you. You must have faith to believe that you have a need for the body and blood of the lamb. You have to get to that place. And God tells them what's going to happen. That very night, they're going to be delivered. As a matter of fact, even before He delivers them, He tells them your whole calendar as Israel is going to be renumerated. The beginning of the year is going to start this very night. Everything in your calendar is going to happen based upon this. He tells them on that 10th day of this month they're to take a lamb and they're going to renew this covenant forever. And on the 14th day of the month at Twilight, here's what they're going to do. They're going to slaughter the lamb. And then they're going to take the blood of this lamb and they're going to apply it to the door post and the beam going across the lentil so that they will be spared because the angel of death is going to go through the land at midnight and everywhere where there's blood, he'll pass over. And every house where there's not, the first born is going to die.
The firstborn in every house in Egypt, someone is going to die. That's the plague. That's the final plague. Why? Because God is the giver of life. God is the one who gives, God is the one who takes. God is in control of all life. And so He lets them know, at the very beginning of this, that this month shall be the beginning of months for you. What's he telling them? If we were to fast forward to the New Testament, here's what we would see. That all of this foreshadowing that we're seeing in the Old Testament, Israel, as they would continue to keep this supper, which they still do to this very day called the Passover, which they still keep the feast of the unleavened bread, which is the feast of seven days following the Passover and they still do it, it was all foreshadowing to the Lord Jesus Christ who is our body, who is our blood.
Do you remember when Jesus was going into the waters to be baptized and John the Baptist, as he was baptizing everybody, what did he say when he saw Jesus come? He said, "Behold." What? "The lamb of God." Who does what? "Who takes away the sin of the world." Friends, in the same way that Israel begin a new walk with God the night they were delivered, when you get saved, you begin a new walk with God too. And everything in your life should be marked differently from that day forward. If you are truly born again, when you are born again, that marks a newness in your life. The Bible says, "Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have been made new." And there's a date on the calendar when Jesus Christ becomes your Lord and savior. And guess what? You begin to walk in a new way based upon that change that happened in your life. That's what He's telling Israel too. "What I'm about ready to do when I deliver you is going to change everything. It's going to reorient your calendar, reorient your life. Everything is going to be reoriented around the fact that I'm the one who delivered you.
And then everything we see in this passage is the foreshadowing of Jesus. What do we see? We see an unblemished lamb. That's one that doesn't have any spot, it's one that doesn't have any stain. What was Jesus? He was the unblemished lamb. Jesus had no sin in his life. He's the way, He's the truth. He's the life. It's interesting that this lamb was to be slaughtered at twilight. That would be between the hours of 3:00 and 5:00 in the afternoon. To refresh your history, when did Jesus Christ die on a cross? Right at the Passover at 3:00 in the afternoon. So right as all the lambs were being slaughtered, the lamb of God was giving his blood on a cross once and for all. You see what's going on here. That God is changing the nation to show how powerful He is. They've been enslaved for 430 years and this very night they are coming out of slavery. They are no longer slaves anymore to Pharaoh, they are no longer slaves anymore to Egypt. They are servants of the most high God. Amen. And you must get to a place where you have a need for the body and blood of the lamb. There's no other way by which you must be saved. There is no other name given unto heaven by which men must be saved. It's the Lord Jesus Christ.
You can call yourself spiritual, you can call yourself religious, you can pick any denominational name you want to put on yourself. You can be Roman, Catholic, Jewish, Presbyterian, Baptist. You can be whatever you call yourself, but apart from the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, you do not have a relationship with the Father. Jesus said it. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the Father except through me." Meaning Jesus is the only way. So in your life you must have a need. You have a need and you must recognize the need you have for the body and blood of the lamb. So why does he keep getting referred to as the lamb? That's how he's referred to oftentimes. You read the book of Revelation, he's referred to as the lamb 31 times. A lamb standing as if slain, a lamb that takes the title deed to the universe, a lamb who's being worshiped by all his people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Friends, Jesus Christ is the only way that you can ever be saved and delivered from your sin. He is the only way you can have relationship with the Father. And He beckons you to recognize your need and come to Him. Amen. That's what he's telling Israel. He's telling them, "I'm going to deliver you. I'm the one who can do this. You've not been able to do it for 430 years. You've been more and more entrenched in slavery and tonight is the night that you're coming out. And that will be a sign." What will be a sign? The blood, the blood, the blood. When they apply the blood on the doorpost, that is what the angel of death will see and he will pass over those houses. It's the blood that protects.
Do you know the same is true today? It's the blood of Christ that protects because the reality is when every single person dies, they stand before the Lord to give an account for their life. And it's only the blood that counts. It's the blood of Jesus that makes you new. If you've trusted in his shed blood for the forgiveness of your sin and you stand in front of him in all of his glory, here's what you're going to hear. "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Welcome home." And you'll be presented faultless before the Father with exceedingly great joy. But if on this side of heaven you've said, "I want nothing to do with the blood of Jesus. Putting that off for a later date. I don't want anything to do with Christianity or passively, I'm just not ready for that." And you die in your sin, here's what you will hear. "Depart from me, you evil doer, for I never knew you." And there are scores of people that die every day and a majority of people hear the latter. And it's devastating. Why? Because God made a way for all men and women and boys and girls to be saved. And it is salvation that comes through no other name except the Lord Jesus Christ.
So He says, "You need to develop a need. You need to be aware of your need. You need to have faith to believe. You must believe you have a need for the body and blood of the lamb." Second is this, you must believe that you have a need to grow in holiness and obedience. You must recognize you have a need to grow in holiness and obedience. Now I know what most church people say when I start talking like this, "Ah, this is the drag stuff, man. This is the religious stuff. This is where you're going to tell me to be good. This is where you're going to tell me to get rid of all the fun stuff in my life."
Notice what God says. He says, "Now ..." verse 14. "Now, this will be a memorial to you and you shall celebrate as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance. This needs to be something you remember over, and over, and over again." Now, why is God doing that? Because what he's about ready to do in power, Israel is going to have a tendency to forget. In the same way what God does in your life, the enemy has a way to get you to forget what God has done.
Here's what He says. Verse 15, "Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. But on the first day, you shall remove leaven from your houses for whoever eats anything leaven from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day, you shall have a holy assembly and another holy assembly on the seventh day. No work at all shall be done on them except what must be eaten by each person that alone may be prepared by you. You shall also observe the feast of unleavened bread from this very day. I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore, you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance."
Verse 18, "In the first month, on the 14th day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the 21st day of the month at evening. Seven days, there shall be no leaven found in your home. For whoever eats what is leaven, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land. You shall not eat anything leaven in all your dwellings. You shall eat unleavened bread." What kind of bread does God want him to eat? Have you heard it? How many times does God need to repeat himself? "Don't eat leavened bread. Eat unleavened bread." What's leaven? Leaven is the yeast that you put in the dough that makes it rise. Leaven is what you work on that makes it greater. Leaven in the New Testament is symbolic of our sin. The more you work on your sin after you're saved, the more you keep sin around and try to work on, the greater the sin is going to become. So God is having them celebrate a feast. They celebrate the Passover and then they have seven days from the 14th to the 21st called the Feast of Unleavened Bread where they don't put any yeast in their bread, as a reminder of what? That God wants them to be holy. That God wants them to be set apart from the things of the world.
What's the application for us as New Testament Christians? It means after you come to Christ, get rid of sin in your life. It means stop walking in sin patterns. It means run away from it. It means let the unleavened part of your life. Just the truth of God's word be what builds you up. And yet for so many of us, after we're born again, what do we do? We forget that we're new creations, we forget that God made us totally different, we forget that we're on a new trajectory. And so we take all the sin that we had before we were Christians and we kind of bring it along with us and here's what we say, "These are some things I need to work on. I'm really struggling with this. I need to work on this. I need to get a plan for this."
Have you ever noticed that the more you work on your sin, the greater the sin becomes? Some of you have been working on your porn for a long time. How's it going for you? Some of you have been working on your eating disorder for a long time. How's it working for you? Some of you have been working on your marriage for a long time. How's it going for you? Some of you have been working on your singleness for a long time. How's it going for you? Some of you have been working on your immorality for a long time. How's it going for you? Some of you have been working on your finances for a long time. How's it going for you? If you have a sin problem in an area of your life and you try to work on it, it only gets exacerbated and gets worse. You can't fix what's broken. If you could, Jesus Christ wouldn't have needed to die for your sin on the cross. He came to demonstrate to you that you're incapable of fixing the sin problems in your life. Not just getting out of hell and getting a new life in Christ, but every sin that continues in your life, it's not to be fixed. It's to be confessed and forsaken, letting God fix it. Amen.
So we have to ask the question, what's the purpose of holiness? Because isn't it true as New Testament believers that when we trust Christ, we're declared holy? Isn't it true that's part of my identity as a blood bought saint? I am holy. For those of you that trusted, you are holy. Positionally, we already are holy. But even though we're positionally holy, what does God want us to do? He wants to work out in and through us what He already declares that we are. So there's this practical growth in holiness. That's why He says, "Be holy because I am holy." What does that mean? It means if you've trusted Christ, you're holy. But then let him work that holiness out of your life so that your behavior will align with the holiness that your identity says that you already are. That's called the process of sanctification. That's a big word for growth in Christ. And all of us are growing in Christ. All of us are called to work it out. And that's what's going on here. And what's the purpose of holiness? Holiness and obedience to me are preparation for deliverance and blessing. God hasn't delivered him yet. God just telling him, "Now that you belong to me, start walking in holiness because you're not at the place where I'm about ready to take you."
Some of us, when we become Christians, we hear the lie like this. Some of you haven't become Christians because you've heard this lie. If you give your life to Christ, your life is going to be a bunch of rules and regulations and God's going to take away all your fun. Some of you who have come to Christ continue to hear that lie. God will convict you of a sin, but you'll say, "No. I'm not going to confess and forsake that because then I'll lose friends, then I'll lose a relationship. I'm not going to have the influence I used to. I can't let go of this thing."
Friends, when God shows you something to let go of, it's because He's taking you to a place that if you were holding onto this, He can't get you to. If Israel was eaten leaven in their bread, they wouldn't have left that night. They would've let it rise over a period of days. They would've been late leaving, they wouldn't have made it to the Red Sea, God wouldn't have destroyed the enemies, and they would've never made it to the promised land. When God is showing you sin in your life, He knows what he's talking about. He's telling you this not because he hates you, not because He is trying to make your life boring, or bitter, or hard. He's taking you to a place where you can't get to holding onto the sin that you have and you nee. You must believe that you have a need to grow in holiness and to grow in obedience. Not so that you can come to church and be presented like a statue, as a wax museum. "Look at their holiness. Oh, look at them. They're so good." That's not what it's about.
Holiness is a process of sanctification where you are being set apart so the Lord can work things in and through your life that He couldn't otherwise work in and through your life. So He is telling them over and over and over again, "Hey, don't eat leaven. Don't have leaven. Eat unleaven bread because you don't want leaven because you want unleavened bread because you don't want any lemon in your bread for those seven days. No leaven in the bread. Just unleavened bread. And you're saying, "Why repeat yourself?" Because we love our sin. We love holding onto it. We love having it there. We like playing with it. We're embarrassed about it, but at least as long as nobody else knows, it's okay and I'll just keep working on it and I'm going to get better. And then we make church self-help groups that never help anybody. They just keep you more steeped in your sin. The gospel is not about you becoming a better person. The gospel is about Jesus Christ delivering you from your sin so you can be free to enjoy the full blessings that He has for your life.
That's the gospel. That's what He's teaching Israel. That's what he's teaching us. He's telling us that we must believe we have a need to grow in holiness and obedience. And you say, "Well, where do you see obedience?" I'm glad you asked. Verses 21 and 22. Not only are they called to live holy, they're called to live obediently. Notice verses 21 and 22. Then Moses called for the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families and slay the Passover lamb. You should take a bunch of hyssop, which are branches and dip it in blood, which is in the basin and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lentil, that's the door post overhead, and to the two door posts on the side. And none of you should go outside the door of his house until morning."
He's saying, "Here's the problem. I'm coming through and I'm bringing my angel of death. And my angel of death is going to destroy the firstborn cattle and the firstborn child in every home that doesn't have blood on the doorpost. That's what's going to happen. And here's how the angel of death will recognize that you're being obedient, that you apply blood to the doorpost, to the beam cross, and to the doorpost on the side. When the angel of death sees that blood, the angel of death will pass over." Now, have you ever thought about that? What is the demonstration of obedience? The demonstration of obedience is not, "Man. Moses, that's a great message, brother. Preach it, man. That blood thing, that's good." The obedience came from taking the blood, slaying the lamb and painting it on the doorpost. It was the application of the blood that made the difference. Do you see that there's nothing in the text that talks about how you feel about the blood on the door post. Presumably, somebody in Israel had just painted their house and was excited about what they were showing off to their neighbors. And you don't get the feeling, "Hey, if you feel like putting blood up. Unless you painted your house in the last three months and it's going to look ugly, then don't worry."
God doesn't tend to care about our feelings. He cares about our obedience to what he shows us. So you had to apply the blood. Did it mean that you had to really, really, really, really believe or you had to kind of believe? It didn't matter. You were believing when you painted the blood on. "God said to do this, I'm going to do it. I don't know if it's true or not, but that's what God says. I'm going to do it." And there were people that were saying, "I know God is going to do this, so I'm painting it." It didn't matter how you felt. It mattered that you did. The same is true in our life. When God asks us to be obedient, oftentimes He doesn't say, "Hey, how do you feel about that? Is that okay?" In your marriage, do you feel good about that? In your singleness, do you feel good about that? Is everybody happy about it? You want to get together in your small group and say everybody feels about it. I find that God doesn't do that. I find that when he shows us something in the word and he shows us truth and He says, "This is what you must do." What is He looking for? Do it.
Why does God repeat himself so much in this text and all throughout the Bible? Because we don't often listen to what he says. Parents, have you ever had to repeat yourself more than once with your children? Why? Because they have the same sin condition you had because you passed it along to them. So God is painstakingly showing us so that when we meet him we're all without excuse. We all know what to do if we've been in church for a little while or we've been reading the word. The challenge is actually what? Doing it. You must get to a place where you believe you have a need to grow in holiness and obedience. Not because the pastor is making you, or your mom and dad are making you, or your teacher says you have to. But there's something on the inside that says, "I want God's best for my life. And if this is what God says is my best, that's what I want."
Think about the New Testament. This is just one example of many where you think about faith without works being dead. But think about when Jesus met that woman that was caught in adultery and people were bringing the law to Jesus and basically say, "Your word says this. We should stone one such as this. This is wrong. She needs to die." What does Jesus say? He doesn't disagree. He just says, "Okay. Whoever is without sin, you go ahead and cast the first stone." And then from the oldest to the youngest, there's this rock drop. Boom, boom, boom, boom. And when all the rocks have been dropped, he looks at the woman, he says, "Woman, Where are your accusers?" She says, "They're all gone." What does Jesus say to her? Does he say My grace is sufficient? Does he say, "Go sin all you want and I'll still cover it." You can live immoral for the rest of your life and I look forward to seeing you in heaven." That's not what he says. What does he say. "Then I don't accuse you either. Go and sin no more."
God's grace has the ability to cleanse us from sin, but it also has the ability to give us power over sin. Titus 2:11, "The same grace that we're saved by so that it's by grace through faith. It's not our own doing. It's a gift of God." Ephesians 2:9, what's he also say? He also says in Titus 2:11 that this same grace has the ability to teach us how to say no to ungodliness and live self-controlled upright lives in this present age. Grace teaches us that we're not only safe from the penalty of sin but gives us power over sin presently. "Well, Pastor Jeff, why are you talking to Christians like this?" Because there's many of you who are Christians who are still stuck in a sin pattern that God wants to deliver you from. And the reason you're there is you continue to bring this leaven into your life and then you continue to work on it or you're not really working on it's just over here down to the side and it's not that big of a deal. It's kind of like if I was passing your house and I saw that your bedroom was on fire and gave you a call and said, "Hey, are you home? I see your bedroom on fire." And you're like, "Yeah. Don't worry about it. It's just the bedroom upstairs. We're fine. We're down in the living room."
Some of you live your Christian lives just like that. There's an area of your life where God continues to speak to you over, and over, and over, and every sermon you hear and every time you open the Bible, God says that. It's this. Forgive, give, serve, get involved, stop holding a grudge, let go of your immorality, whatever it is. And we're like, "Yeah. Everybody struggles with something." And we wonder why we're not growing in the full measure of Christ. God loves you enough to point things out, not so that you're aware. He loves to point things out because He's the only one that can fix what is broken and He wants to fix it. He wants to heal you. That's exactly what was going on with Israel. He told him, "Apply the blood, apply the blood, apply the blood." Sometimes we think, "Well, this meal is bitter. It's unleavened. It's not exciting." Friends, that's how a slave thinks.
If you were going to stay where you're at, then yeah, maybe holiness doesn't have that much joy to it, but God is asking you to live that way so he can take you to a place that your heart's desires are at. Might I just say that some of you that have had dreams and vision from God for where he wants to take you and you still haven't seen it realized in your life, perhaps, just perhaps it's not because God is not willing to take you there, it's because your lack of obedience and your lack of desire for holiness keeps Him from taking you to where He wants you to go.
Some of you singles, I love you. That's why I'm going to tell you this because I love you. Because it breaks my heart when I see godly singles, they're like, "Hey, who can I meet and where can I get married? God knows who's going to bring them to you and you're going to be okay." But I'm talking to the ones of you that are out shacking up, sleeping around, cohabitating, getting drunk that say stupid things like this based on the lie you hear in your head, "As soon as I meet my spouse, I'm going to clean things up." You'll never meet your spouse. Clean it up now. Live for God now. Pursue him now and then see where he takes you. He will. The enemy is like, "Hey, you've been living holy for seven years. He hasn't given you anything." "Oh, just wait. It's coming. Our God is good. No good thing will He withhold from those who walk up rightly." He cares about you, He loves you. He wants to give you the best things for your life, but you can't live in on holiness and disobedience and expect God to show you his mercy and favor. It doesn't work that way, and that's what He was teaching Israel that very night.
Thirdly is this, not only must you believe you have a need for the body and blood of the lamb and to grow in holiness, but you need to believe that you have a need to remember God's power in salvation. God's power in salvation. Notice this, Verse 23. He's going to tell him what he's going to do. "For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians. And when he sees the blood on the lentil and on the two door posts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you. And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children." For how long? Forever. When you enter the land which the Lord will give you as He has promised, you shall observe this right. And when your children say to you, "What does this mean to you?" You shall say it is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel and Egypt when he smote the Egyptians but spared our homes and the people bowed low in worship." What's He telling him? "Here's what's going to happen tonight." When the Lord passes through, He's going to kill every firstborn that's in a house and every firstborn cattle in every house unless that He sees blood on the doorpost. So please apply the blood.
By the way, you're going to contain this ordinance for as long as y'all shall live. And even when you get to the promised land, you're going to continue this ordinance. If you read through the book of Joshua, it's amazing because by the time it's time to go in, it's the first month of the year and it's the 10th where they get a lamb and then they slaughter on the 14th and they renew the covenant before they enter. Isn't it just like God to know when to bring people in? This is an ordinance that God is going to keep over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. But why? Because He wants you to remember his power in salvation. He wants you to remember his power.
See, salvation is not just believing a creed. It's not just saying, "I believe the apostles' creed." Or, "I believe the Nicene Creed." Or, "I believe the Lord's prayer. I believe the Bible." It's not just an academic exercise in your head because even the demons believe that in shutter. There's a life change that happens when you trust Christ. And here's the life change that happens for everybody. You are dead in your transgressions and sins, you're an agent of wrath for God to pour out his wrath on you. You're dying, you're dead already, and you're on your way to hell. And because Jesus died the cross and rose from the dead through repentance and faith, here's what God does. He redeems your life from the pit. He places you into the family of God. You're in the kingdom of God's beloved son. He and dwells you with His holy spirit to be with you forever. He says that you're fearfully and wonderfully made. He gives you a new identity, He removes your past, He gives you a perfect future. And that's just the beginning. That's who you are. And then he wants you to go live that out with him forever and ever and continue to renew that covenant with him because that's what he wants you to do. But he wants you to remember His power.
Now, think about this. If God had the power to deliver you from sin and from death, what does God not have the power to deliver you from? Here's why I'm asking because there's some Christians that would say, "Pastor Jeff, we totally believe. Theologically, we're in the same camp." Biblically, we know. God saved us from hell. He gave us new life. Okay great, We agree. What else is too hard for God? "Well, He can't heal me from my porn or my immorality. He can't heal my marriage, He can't help with my kids. He can't help with my finances. I don't know if He can really help my health even though he created me. Hey, I don't know." We say stuff like this all the time. What is the celebration of the Lord's Supper a commemoration of? The power of God and salvation in our life that the same God that delivered us from sin and the penalty of sin is the same God that still delivers us from the power of sin, is the same God that's going to bring us into his presence one day forever and ever. And he said, "When your kids ask you, Hey dad, hey mom, why are we having this mule again?
Why do we have to spend seven days and eating unloving bread? Why do you talk about unloving bread so much because of this? Because our God delivered us with power and I notice this. Has God delivered them yet? Nope. What's going on here? God's telling him what he's about to do and every time God says what he's going to do, He always delivers on His promise. Do you know there's things in the God's word that he says he's going to do that He hasn't done yet? Do you know that Jesus Christ is coming back fully bodily and physically to reign on this planet and to judge both the living and the dead? Do you know that day is coming? He says it is. I believe Him with my whole heart. Sooner than I've ever thought before, he's coming. Are you ready? That's what he was telling them.
So when you celebrate, you're telling your kids about, "Well, here's what you need to believe, and here's what we believe at our church, and here's the creed you need to recite. And if you do this, then God ..." I tell my kids that God delivered me by the power of His son from all the sin I had in my life. And God is still working to deliver me through His power today from sin that creeps in so that I can live free for him. Can you give that testimony? Were you delivered from sin? I'm I'm here to tell you He's able. All things are possible for him who believes. Many Christians say that God can't do that because they stop taking steps of faith. So when it comes to sexual sin, impurity, or vulgarity, or evil thoughts or self-centeredness, you say, "Well, He can't really do that."
Friends, I've had about 32 years of reflecting on what it's meant to be a Christian in my life. And I don't know. I don't like playing hypothetical games and tell you, "Here's where I'd be without Christ." I don't know. I came up with three words this week that I know for sure would be markers of my life had I not trusted Jesus Christ and went into the full with him. You want to hear what they are? Empty, empty, empty. I know that's true. I don't know if it would've been because I pursued wealth, or pursued riches, or pursued fame or pursued success, or pursued women or pursued influence, or what all the other things that were going on in my life before I trusted Christ. I don't know. I know I don't want to see the video of where I would've ended up. I know where I was going. And over time, as I spent time with the Lord, He's shown me things that He continues to cleanse me from, redeem me from. And I'm telling you, I wouldn't want to trade my life with anybody. I don't want to be anybody else. I like who He made me because I like who I am in Christ. And that's the joy and benefit from anybody that goes all in with Jesus.
If you live holy, if you're depending upon His blood and His body, if you trust his power, He can deliver you out of anything to help you live to the full for Him. And that's where there's joy and righteousness that's found. It's not in this world. The world will promise you everything and deliver on nothing and it will take a long time to show you that you got nothing because it kind of, "Well, just a little more. You can hang in there just a little. It's going to get better."
I feel like I'm being prophetic this morning. Some of you that are dating that keeps saying that it's not getting any better. So just kind of break it off. If you're not living for the Lord in your dating relationships, break it off. Well, break it off because you're not good enough for him then I'm serious. God wants you to live holy and trust His power in your life. God wants you to grow in such a way where you have testimony for what He's delivered you from other than hell. He can deliver you from anything. That's what our God does and that's what He was telling him. They bow down and worship. When we worship, do you know that's what we're doing? When He told them what they were going to do, they worshiped.
When we worship, we're worshiping the power of God in our salvation. When we worship, we're not coming to a church saying, "Well, I don't know that I like hymns, or I like contemporary, or like guitar. I don't like guitar. I prefer an organ. I prefer acapella." That's not what we're saying. We're saying whatever it is, whether I'm singing to the Lord, raising my hands, praising him, here's what I'm telling him, "God, you had the power to deliver me from hell. And I belong to you for always. And I'm singing to you because you and you alone are worthy and I'm raising my hands to you because you and you alone are worthy. You get all my honor and you get all my praise. I'll work hard during the week, but none of the things I'm working for matter as much to me as you do." That's what worship is. That's why they were worshiping Him. He was telling them, "I'm going to deliver you by my powerful hand." And they worshiped. Then the sons of Israel in Verse 28 went and did so just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. That means they're going to be obedient in everything they said.
Now look at this. Now, it came about at midnight just like the Lord had said that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon and all the firstborn of cattle. Can you imagine what that was like? When God says he's going to do something, He's going to do something. When God says He's going to judge every single person and it's appoint unto man to die once and after that face judgment. It means you will meet the Lord in face judgment for this life. You'll answer for this life and what you did with the body and blood of Jesus. God told him what He was going to do. God keeps telling us what He's going to do.
Now, check this out. Verse 30, "Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians and there was a great cry in Egypt." Now, before I read the back half of Verse 30, picture this. You hear the cries. At midnight, the death of every firstborn where there wasn't blood on the door is being heard by families that have just lost their firstborn. Notice this next verse. It's one of the most sobering little phrases in all the Old Testament. Verse 30 at the end. "For there was no home where there was not someone dead." I was thinking about the street I live on this week. What if at midnight my street could say there was no home in which there was someone dead? What about my neighborhood? What about your neighborhood? What it be like in your neighborhood if when you woke up to come to church this morning, there wasn't a home in your neighborhood where there wasn't someone dead and people are wailing so loud. You can hear it while they're inside their house. You can hear the wailing from outside. Can you see how sobering that was?
Now, why did it get to that point? Because God kept telling them over, and over, and over, and over and pain is taking the over. "I'm God. I'm the giver of life. I'm the one who will take it away. Worship me. Please worship me. Give me your life." And what did they say? "We're not doing that. You can send frogs, you can send blood, you can send any kind of plague you want. We're living our life for us." How tragic that would be. It's hard for me to imagine a house in Denver where there was nobody dead. I woke up this morning, 95% of the house is in Denver there's somebody dead. Make the national news. But then when you told people why, it's because you dishonor the Lord. Now, we haven't seen that, probably never see it. But think about this. Those who are apart from Christ are already dead. They're already dead. If you knew that was going to happen to somebody, you would tell them, "Hey, midnight tonight, get right because God is coming and He's going to kill the firstborn." You would tell people that. Here's the truth, people that are apart from Christ are already dead and there's scores of them all over the place. Probably 90% of our population that would be the case. And if they were to die today in their sins, they would go directly to hell.
What are we doing about it? That's why we're called to proclaim the gospel. That's why you should have a compassion for the lost, not that you deserve this. Because even though Israel deserve this, you don't see Israel gloating because when you see someone die, it's still a perversion on what God created because God is the author of life. It's sobering, isn't it? As I read this text this weekend and just kind of pondered on that little phrase, there was not a home where there was not someone dead in it and it's crazy. So guess what happened? Then he called. This is the Pharaoh. He called for Moses and Aaron at night. He didn't even wait till the morning. He calls him in the middle of the night, "Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel, and go. Worship the Lord as you have said, take both your flocks and your herds as you have said and go and bless me also."
What's he saying? "Okay. No more games. Get out. Take everybody with you, take the flocks. I want you gone." Why? Because he's experiencing the pain from the death of his son. He's crying. "Get out." But then he is also saying, "I do see a tinge that maybe your God is who he says He is. So bless me. If you can give me some blessing that I can receive without having to honor your God, give me that." That's where his heart is. We have a lot of people in our culture like that. "I want all the blessings of God. I just don't want your God friends." The blessings of God come from God. He's the giver of every good and perfect gift. If you don't want God, you don't get God's blessings. Don't pursue his hand, pursue his face. You want God. Right?
So He tells him to go. "Get out. Now, how long have they been waiting to go? 430 years. God tells him, "Hey, tonight you're going to eat in your sandals. You're going to gird up your loins. You're going to get ready to go because when this happens, they're going to kick you out tonight. Get out now." You got to believe in the power of God for salvation. Friends, he's delivered you from the penalty of sin. He will deliver you from any powerful sin in your life that has a grip on you.
Fourth is this. You must believe that you have a need for complete deliverance presently. You have a need for complete deliverance presently. What does that mean? Friends, it's not enough just to say you're saved. It could be enough to get you into heaven, but it's not enough to live the life that God required of you.
It's not about just getting saved. If it was about just getting saved, we'd send everybody an email. We'd just claim the gospel. Once you got saved, we'd be like, "You're in. There's nothing else for you to do. Just get other lost people." No. God wants to see you delivered completely from everything that you once were. You're a new creation, He put His Holy Spirit in you, He's gifted you. He wants to use you. He wants you to grow in your love for him and your intimacy with him. He wants to see her complete deliverance when presently. Not only did Pharaoh kick them out, notice Verse 33, then the Egyptians urged the people to send them out of the land in haste for they said, "We will all be dead." So Pharaoh is like, "Get out." All the people of Egypt are like, "Get out. We're all going to die if you guys don't leave. You brought nothing but problems to us." God and Egypt wanted them out.
So the people took their dough before it was 11 like that. We're still talking about leaven dough in Verse 34. Uneven dough. They're still being obedient with their needing bowls bound up in their clothes, up on their shoulders. Now, check this out. We already read this, but the sons of Israel had done, according to the word of Moses, for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold and clothing. And the Lord had given the people favor in the side of the Egyptians so that they let them have their request, thus they plundered the Egyptians. God had told them before, "Hey, ask the Egyptians for all their silver and gold and all their stuff and they'll be favorable to you." "Okay. We'll ask." "Okay, here you go. You can have it all." They plundered them when God brings you out of slavery and what you were, because the Bible says you are slaves to the one that you obey. You're either a slave to your sin or you're free as a slave to the Lord Jesus Christ, but you can't be both. And when He brought them out of their sin or brought them out of slavery and he's bringing them out, what's He doing? He's like, "Hey, you're being obedient, you're being holy. I'm going to deliver you and I'm going to favor you as you come out. I'm going to bless you."
God is a favoring blessing God. That's who he is. Don't forget that. And notice what happens next. It says now the sons of Israel, journeyed from Ramsey to suck off about 600,000 men on foot aside from children. This verse is another one that's startling to me. It takes my family of five a while to get out of the house when we were going on vacation. You have two million people here all in one night, all dressed to go, and they're all gone in an instant. They're moving.
Notice Verse 38. "A mixed multitude also went up with them along with the flock, and herds, and a very large number of livestock." A mixed multitude. What's that mean? It means there were some people, although a small remnant in Egypt, that when they were watching the plagues and saw that Israel wasn't getting plagued, came over to Israel's camp and like, "Hey, what do we got to do to be part of y'all because our Pharaoh is destroying. We want your God." So there's always a remnant even of those who don't believe that want to come in and believe because they see the power of God, and this mixed multitude is going with Israel too. So they're all going up. The people that believed that the God of the Bible was the God of Israel and they wanted to serve Him. So they go up and it says they baked the dough, which they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread for had not become leavened since they were driven out of Egypt and cannot delay nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves. They're going now because it's the time. They're going presently for the time. Here's my question to you. What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for to be completely delivered that? That's the question to the New Testament believer.
See, because here's what goes on in the church. There's a thing that goes off in your heart sometimes when a message is going, and worship is taking place, and God is speaking directly to you. Let me just show you by show of hands. If you come to Brave more than three times, raise your hand if God has ever spoken to you during a service, during worship, during the preaching. Has He's ever talked to you? Okay. Here's what happens though. When God shows you something that you're going to do and that he wants to do through you, we kind of end the service and we go back to our car. And by the time we're to our car, we forget the very thing that God was going to do and we're like, "Oh, that was good today. Good sermon, Pastor Jeff. We really enjoyed the worship." But the transformation that God wanted to do didn't take place. You would think that God would've given him at least a week say, "Hey, in a week I'm going to deliver you. You need to cancel AANA plans, basketball, all that because on Thursday we're out." No, no, no. He said tonight. This is the time. Today, if you hear the Lord's voice, don't harden your heart. Sometimes God shows you something in the moment because what? He wants to do something in the moment. He wants to deliver you in the moment.
Now, here's the problem that you have in church. You have some people who are born again that are still living as slaves to their sin because they haven't given it to God and they're not growing in holiness, righteousness, and truth. They're not being obedient. And when God speaks to your heart about how He wants to deliver you from something and you'll get excited about it and then you talk to one of those people, here's what they'll tell you, "God doesn't do stuff like that anymore. You're just getting too excited brother. Hey, sister. He can't do that. It's going to be a long journey for you." Quit listening to them. God can deliver you in the moment from anything. What I don't mean is that when God delivers you, everything's completely fine. From that moment on. Even if you're completely healed, guess what? You're going to die. Even if God sets your finances in order, it doesn't mean that the world's going to be perfect for you. Even if God restores relationship, it doesn't mean it's going to be perfect. There's still sin in this broken world of ours. But for heaven's sakes and for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, could you please believe that the same God that could deliver you from the penalty of sin can deliver you from the power of sin and can deliver you right now from all of it? Amen.
I didn't count this week. I'm kind of counting as I'm going, but how many times has He mentioned leaven? Leaven, leaven, leaven. Leaven. All the time. Why? Because he's saying to the people, you can't bring sin back into your life and experience the fullness of what I have for you. You got to make the move. When the Lord says now make the move. Now the reason we have people that pray after service because we believe that God's moving on the hearts of people and we want to have people available so that if you have the obedience to say, "Here's what God spoke to me. I want to get right." That you can get right in a moment. And yet for many of us, especially in North America, we're too embarrassed about what other people will think. And here's what we think. "Oh, that was a good word." I'll go home and work on it. I'd hope you know today now if you go home and work on your sin that you have, it's only going to get bigger, and bigger, and bigger and worse and worse and worse and it will never get fixed.
God shows you the things He shows you in His house because He wants to completely deliver you. He wants you to live free filled with joy. It is for freedom that Christ set us free. Therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery. There's some here who would still prefer to live in bondage. You've come out of Egypt, but the Egypt hadn't come out of you yet. You've been delivered from sin, but sin hadn't come out of you because you like having some of it there. Some of you still want to live in. You still swear, you still drink, you still get angry, you still smoke, you still live with immorality, you still do all these behaviors and you know they're wrong. But check this out. You're more ashamed of your sin than you are sick of it. Did you hear what I said? Some of you're more ashamed of your sin than you are sick of it. You don't want other people to know, but you're not sick of it. When you're sick and tired of it, you'll be done with it. You get to the point that you're like, "I hate the sin in my life. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. I don't want it here anymore. I need to be over here, but I can't fix it. Would you change me?" That's when God goes to work.
I've walked with Him for 32 years. That's the only way I've ever seen God change my life. I watched him change my language, I watched him change my party habits, I watched him change my morality. I've watched him change the way I view people, I've watched him change my love, I've watched him change my marriage, I've watched him change my parenting, and He's still in the process of changing me. But the way I've changed in 32 years has not been a commitment to God. And here's what I'm going to do for you. I've tried all those prayers. I prayed the same prayers you prayed. "Lord, I promise if you get me through this, I promise I will never, ever, ever do this again. Just get me through it. Save me Lord." I prayed that prayer. It's never worked.
But when I pray the prayer, "Lord, I know who you're calling me to be and I'm not that. And I admit to you that this is wrong. And you don't want me to stay here, you want me to get there. I don't even know how to do it. I don't know who to talk to, I don't know what to believe, I don't know how to get there. Would you please help me? Because I want to do what you want. I want to love what you love and hate what you hate. Help me do that every time, every time, every time. Jesus has come through." If I'm trying to partner with Him like, "Lord, you're really good at this deliverance thing and I'll help." It's never worked for me. Just like, "Hey, just let me do all the work. I'm really good at this. I just need your heart to release yourself to me."
It'd be like trusting a doctor. Some of you have been ... you've undergone operations like I have. When I've been under, I've never had a doctor say, "Hey, we're going to put you out for a little bit. But when we really get in there, we're going to wake you back up so you can tell us how you feel about this operation and what you'd like us to do." They put you out because they don't need your input.
When it comes to the things of God, He says, "Let me take over. If you'll just listen, I'll give you the next step, which will give you the next step, which will give you the next step, which will give you the next step. If you really want to get rid of that in your life, I'll take you out of there." Friends, and here's the beauty of it. That's where all the joy and blessing is found. Joy and blessing is not found in your sin. Joy and blessing is found in peace, righteousness, and joy in the Holy Spirit. And here's the lie that you hear. I know it because I hear it too. "Well, I go to church, I go to a good church. Pastor is really good. He is. And I'll confess it to the Lord. I'm in a small group. My small group is going to pray about that all week. We're going to get serious about it." Great, but just stop. Leave it. Run away from it. Get away from it. Be done with it. When you really want it gone, God will take it.
When you hear His voice in a service and God's saying, "Be done with that today." He's willing to take it today if you'll release it to Him. Change may not be immediate, but in your heart it will change immediately. Think about these two New Testament stories. What about the woman that was caught in a bleeding condition? For 14 years, she spent everything she had. Instead of getting better, she got worse. And what'd she say? She said, "I know if I can just touch the hymn of his garment, I'll be what? Healed." She didn't say, "I know if I can get near Jesus. Maybe he's got to pray for me and I can get a little better." She didn't say, "If I get up close and people start yelling unclean at me and telling me to get away, I'll try to fight. She didn't care. "If I can just touch the hem of his garment, I will be healed."
What does she do? She makes her way into the crowd, even though that was going against every social norm, and she grabs the hem of Jesus and he feels power go out from him. And what does he say? "Who touched me?" And there's a woman standing there trembling. He said, "Daughter, your faith has healed you." Well, how healed is healed? It means after 14 years of bleeding, she ain't bleeding anymore. It means she's whole. Or what about blind Bartimaeus and Jericho that's yelling, "Jesus, son of David, that mercy on me, have mercy on me." The disciples, "He's so obnoxious." The disciples go over and say, "Shut up. Quiet down. Nobody wants to hear this." So what did he do? He shouted All the louder. "Son of David, have mercy on me." So much so Jesus couldn't resist. He went over and said, "What do you want me to do?" He said, "I want to see." He restored his sight.
When you care more about pursuing Jesus and want to get rid of your sin, Jesus will become more real to you. He has the ability to deliver you from everything. The God you read about in the Bible is the same God I'm preaching about today. He hasn't changed. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Those little things in your life that are creeping up, that's because God loves you enough to show them to you. Not because you're going to struggle with him for the rest of your life, but He wants to deliver you from them so you can be a living testimony that God still heals. This church is a living testimony of people that have been set free from alcohol, drugs, immorality, eating disorders, unforgiveness, marriage breakups, divorce, abortions. You can go through the whole list of any kind of sin and I guarantee there are people here that would say, "God has redeemed me from all that. And if He can do it in my life, He can do it in yours." That's what we're talking about. But so often we're like, "Nah, I don't want that. I just want to be a good religious person."
Friends, you've been crucified with Christ. It's no longer you who live, but it's Christ who lives in you. Live that life of faith. Let Him grow you out of what you once were. Brave Church is not about bad people that have become good. You don't need to feel embarrassed here that you're less than. BRAVE Church is about sinners who have been saved and who are growing in their redemption to the glory of God. And you're welcome here to experience all the fullness that Jesus has for you. But He says you need this, His final one, not only complete deliverance presently, but a change of heart.
Now, think about this complete deliverance. The Bible says that you were dead in your sins and now you've been made alive. And yet so many of us think the sin is a part of us. It's not a part of you. It's something that you're carrying around. It would be like carrying around a dead body. It's like all of you that play weekend at Bernie's with your dead sin, and your porn addiction, and your bad eating choices. You just carry them around like, "Oh, this is who I am." It's not who you are, it's what you were. And when you trusted Christ, you died to that. You can quit carrying that dead thing around with you anymore because God says, "If you keep carrying around the leaven, that dead body that you were, you can't get to where I'm going to take you. Drop the dead body and live the new life, put off the old, put on the new and have a change of heart." That's what He's saying. That's why He ends this section by talking about the ordinance for the Passover, this change of heart.
He says in Verse 42, "This Passover is to be a night to be observed for the Lord by having brought them up out of the land of Egypt. This night is for the Lord to be observed by all the sons of Israel throughout their generations." The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the ordinance of the Passover. No foreigner is to eat of it, but every man slave purchased with money after you've circumcised him, then he may eat of it. A sojourner or a hired servant may not eat of it. It is to be eaten in a single house. You are not to bring forth any of the flesh outside the house, nor are you to break any bone of it." That's because none of Jesus' bones were broken like it tells us in Psalm 34:20 and John 19:36.
"All the congregation of Israel are to celebrate this, but if a stranger sojourns with you and celebrates the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised and then let him come near and celebrate it and he shall be like a native of the land, but no uncircumcised person may eat of it. The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who sojourns among you. Then all the sons of Israel did so. They did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. And on that same day, the Lord brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their host." He brought everybody out. What was he saying? When it comes to the Lord's Supper that He said this, "Do and remembered to me." Paul gives us the curriculum for that in 1 Corinthians 11. He says, "When you take the body and blood of Christ, don't come in a manner that's cavalier."
It means if you really believe in the power of salvation, you've been forgiven of your sins, then know that. There's one group of people that can eat this, born again people. If you're not born again and you're a foreigner, you're outside the fellowship of God, this meal is not for you. But if you've repented and believed this meal's for you, but if it's for you, then you need to reflect on what God has done to deliver you from sin, death, and the devil. And what sin you're struggling with now, you don't need to struggle with anymore. Communion. The body and blood of Christ is a reminder that we have the power of God that is still ongoing in our life until we meet Jesus Christ face to face.
I've watched pastors do this in any number of ways, done it in church. I had one pastor talk about he would take communion over his computer so he wouldn't look at anything on his computer with his eyes and he would say, "This is the power of God over what I view." Where do you need the power of God in your life? Don't come in a cavalier manner and be like, "Yeah. It's just time to take the Lord's supper." It means this, search yourself. And if there's sin in your life, confess it and forsake it. And then thank God that He delivered you from the penalty of sin and thank God He still has the power to deliver you from your present sin. That's the purpose of communion. There's no way I could teach this text today and not have a celebrate communion and be reminded that when Jesus said, "This is my body and this is my blood. And behold I am the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world." And you need to change your heart. It means this, for those of you that are in here today, some of you need to change your heart. And for some of you that are in here today, your heart has been changed by Christ, but you're still struggling with something.
So I want to end a little different than I usually end. I did this in the first service as well. There's so many that need to give your lives to Jesus Christ today. There's also some of you here today that as I was preaching, God spoke specifically to you about a sin in your life that he wants to deliver you from now. Okay? Now, if you're not falling into either of those two categories, here's what it means. I know I'm a born again believer. And to the extent of any knowledge that I have, there's nothing in me that I haven't confessed, there's nothing in me that's holding me back, there's nothing in me that's sinful. God, I've been confessing at all, and I'm in a real free place with the Lord. But if you fall into any of those first two camps, you need to give your life to the Lord today or God's been speaking to you about a specific sin, would you just stand up? Stand to your feet right now and let the Lord do some business with you.
Again, if you're seated, here's what you're saying. , "I'm a born again believer and there's nothing that's troubling me right now. I have it all under control. God knows." And there are seasons in your life where it's like that. God hasn't spoken to you today, you've given it to him, no problem, no judgment. This is for those who know that God's shown them something in their heart that he wants to deliver you from somebody.
So just let me pray for you. Father in heaven, I pray for all those who are standing as an act of obedience to you, that you've shared something with them in their heart. If you're here today and you're like, "Jesus is not my Lord or my savior, but I need him to be." Then you can pray like this right where you're standing, "Lord Jesus, save my life. I want to turn from my sin and I want to turn to you. Come into my life and be my Lord and Savior right now."
For those of you that are standing say, "I know I'm a believer, I know I'm born again, but the Lord pointed out something to me today." Here's what you can say in the quietness of your own heart. "Lord, I hear you. I know it's this. I've tried so many times to fix it. I've even gotten apathetic and forgotten about it. But today it's surfacing again. So Lord, I'm just telling you I don't know how to change it, but I'm giving it to you. I believe there's power in the blood at the cross. I believe there's power in your resurrection to change me. Father, change me. Glorify your name in and through me. Lord, help me love what you love and help me hate what you hate. And Lord, let me name this sin and trust you to heal it in my life. And God, we give you praise. Lord, as we hear this song sung over us and we prepare our hearts to take the elements with our campus pastors, Lord, minister to us. Whether we stand or whether we sit, Lord, speak to us and show us that today is the day of salvation and deliverance. We give you all the glory, all the honor, and all the praise. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. As you prepare your hearts for the Lord's Supper, hear this song sung over. Let's worship his name.