Sunday Morning March 22, 2009 Bel Aire Baptist Church
Series: “Moving With God (Exodus)” [#12]
TIME IS UP
Exodus 12
Introduction:
There are times in life that you get one last chance. These times are always pressured filled because you know you can’t try again. I realized this week, that this could be your last time to hear a sermon or my last time to preach a sermon. We never know when our time up.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
We must all go through different seasons in life.
1. Seasons of preparation.
God was pouring out these different plagues upon Egypt so that the Pharaoh would let His people go and that Pharaoh would see that God is the only God. God continued to warn Pharaoh over and over again. God was not only preparing Egypt for judgment but He was also preparing Israel for salvation.
> God turned the water to blood, Pharaoh said no.
> God flooded the land and houses with frogs; Pharaoh said yes and then changed his mind when the frogs were gone.
> God filled the land with gnats, Pharaoh said no.
> God sent swarms of flies, Pharaoh said yes and then changed his mind when the flies were gone.
> God sent a terrible plague upon the Egyptian livestock and the livestock died, Pharaoh said no.
> God put boils on all the Egyptians, Pharaoh said no.
> God sent a terrible hailstorm that destroyed the land and killed workers in the field, Pharaoh said yes and then changed his mind after the storm was over.
> God plagued the land with locusts, Pharaoh said yes and when the locusts were gone he changed his mind.
> God placed 3 days of complete darkness on them, Pharaoh got really mad and threatened to kill Moses if he ever came back.
This covers the first 9 plagues. There is 1 plague left. Understand all of these plagues were placed upon the Egyptians and did not touch the Israelites. Notice how Pharaoh refused to believe. At times he even acted like he was going to believe but when things went back to normal he said, “Never mind” to God. You may be doing the same thing to God this morning. You may be telling Him by your words and actions, “O.K., I’ll follow you as long as you play by my rules.”
In Exodus 11 we find God telling Moses what the last plague would be and that Pharaoh would give in this time. In chapter 12 we see a new season in the life of the Israelites beginning.
2. Seasons of actions.
Exodus 12:1-2
God was getting ready to deliver them by blood and power and He wanted them to understand that this was a new start for them. This was a day of new birth.
Exodus 12:3-14
Notice that the responsibility was now being placed upon individuals.
In order for the firstborn son to be saved, each household had to…
> Slaughter a lamb without defect at twilight.
> Place the blood from this lamb over the doorpost.
> Eat the roasted meat.
> Eat bitter herbs.
> Eat bread without yeast.
> Eat it with their cloak tucked in their belt, their sandals on their feet, and their staff in their hand.
> Eat it in haste.
This was what the people had to do. Notice they were not asked their opinion. God told them how it had to be.
Many years later we find Jesus and the 12 Disciples partaking of the Passover Feast. We also know this as the Last Supper. There at the Last Supper Jesus explained to them that this was to be the Last Passover and that a “New day” was coming.
Luke 22:15-20
This is where we must pay close attention. Jesus was telling them that He was going to become our Sacrifice, but not just for a year. Jesus became our eternal Sacrifice.
Please notice that God takes care of preparing the Sacrifice.
I want us to look at the components of the Feast of Passover again and notice how this relates to this Last Passover.
In order to be saved, we need…
> A lamb without defect that will be killed. Jesus Christ was the Perfect Lamb of God that was brutally crucified on a cross.
> To place blood over the doorpost. Blood is needed for the cleansing of sin and the only way to be saved is to have the blood of Jesus Christ over the doorpost of your heart. When death invades your life it doesn’t matter how rich, or nice, or “religious” you are. The only thing that matters is if the blood of the Lamb covers your life.
> Eat the roasted meat. Fire represents judgment and sin must be judged.
> Eat bread without yeast. Yeast represents sin and we must be cleansed of our sin.
> Eat it prepared to have to leave quickly. No one in this room knows when the time of their death will come. Be prepared!
Does the blood of the Lamb cover your life? If not, you are taking a big chance.
3. Seasons of death and new life.
Now that we have seen the instructions, I want us to see what happened. The death angel was going to pass through the land. Any doorpost that had blood over it would be passed, but any doorpost that did not would be visited by death upon the firstborn son.
Please notice that there was no way to avoid death except by the blood. It did not matter how nice they were, it did not matter how rich or important they were, it did not matter how “religious” they were. All that mattered was that blood was over the door. Can you imagine if you were the first-born? I am the first-born and I will promise you this, I would have asked my dad over and over again if he had done just exactly like he was told. There was no room for error. For many this was their last chance and they “messed it up”. I would not have wanted my dad to have “messed it up”, because I then would have had to die.
If we were to read further we would find that Israel was delivered from their bondage and they celebrated Passover each year as a reminder of how God had delivered them.
Everything that we base our Christian faith on is based on Jesus Christ being our perfect Lamb that was crucified for us and resurrected on the 3rd day.
Conclusion:
Today is the day of salvation! Tomorrow may never come. This may be your last chance- Decide.
