REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB
Intro:
One of the most enjoyable things I know about being a part of NEW LIFE CHURCH is not having to live by a bunch of church rules and regulations. Church life can be simple or it can become complicated. After pastoring complicated churches, I have decided that I am too simple to let things become complicated.
I firmly believe in living our lives (here at NEW LIFE) by what the Bible tells us in Romans 12:1. That is - we “present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service.”
Ask yourself, “What does that mean (to me)?”
To force you to live holy and acceptable won’t work.
The Holy Word of God has a lot more influence on how you live your life for Jesus… Than I will ever have …
If we follow and live by that passage (Rom 12:1), none of us will have to be told what is acceptable (or, not acceptable) for my life.
Here at NEW LIFE, We have the Good Life, the NEW LIFE, where we sense what the Holy Spirit is telling us, and what the Bible instructs us.
This is illustrated for us with the Nation of Israel in Exodus 12. There we will find the nation of Israel living under the oppressive bondage of the Pharoahs of Egypt.
They were being told by Pharoah what they could and couldn't do. God had better plans for the Nation of Israel than to be told by Pharoah how to live their lives.
The Lord God Jehovah wanted to set His people free.
TEXT: Exodus 12:1-3;5
PRAYER:
In our text, the Nation of Israel were living in the last days before God would set them free and deliver them out of the hands of Pharoah. Likewise, WE are living in the “last days”.. We know this is true for two important reasons:
1. Fulfillment of biblical prophesies
2. Recent world wide events
(In a moment, We will look closely at what the Bible is instructing us.)
But first….
I amazed by a recent world event. I'm talking about what has been reported from all over the world. There have been reports of eerie noises and sounds of explosions that are waking people in middle of the night.
According to these reports, millions of people have become terrified. Credible stories are coming in from all over the world and with no explanation of what these sounds are or where they are coming from.
Many of these reports are happening on the same day and some within the same hour. Frightened people have been seen coming out of their homes and into the streets to see what is going on. Oddly enough, no one can find where these noises are coming from. The most common reports are these noises are coming down out of the sky.
I must admit that I was skeptical at first. I prayed and remembered that Romans 8:22 reports that:
“…the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs…” And that, “we ourselves groan within ourselves …” And that, “the Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered…”
Some of the people who have witnessed these sounds claim that these are angels in heaven …???
Personally, I don’t know about all of this, but if I were not living for God, I would repent and surrender myself to the God of Whom I do know about.. AMEN?
The voice of God and the hand of God is a phenomena that I cannot explain, but I will fear No one but God and obey Him.
Likewise this is similar to what/how the Nation of Israel was living in Egypt. In Exodus 12, the Children of God were faced with a dilemma that had brought tyranny, persecution and hardship. God wanted to set them free!
What the Nation of Israel had to do is similar to what God wants for us (living for today).
God gave to them strict instructions through Moses and Aaron. They would have to listen and obey God:
1) Vs. 3 - Every man shall take for himself a lamb
2) Vs.5 – a lamb without a blemish (perfect)
3) Vs. 6 – they would have to “kill it”
4) Vs. 7 – take some of the blood and put it on the two doorpost and lintel …
5) Vs. 11 – you shall eat it with a belt on your waist, sandals on your feet, and a staff in your hand. You shall eat it in haste.
6) Vs. 13 – when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you…
Thank God that Moses and Aaron were faithful to God and could hear His voice no matter what else was going on around them. The Voice of God made the people ready for the Great Exodus. They did not hesitate with what they had to do.
We must do the same.
As in the days of Moses and Aaron, so are these last days! God is making Himself ready to judge the plague on this Earth. God is ready to destroy sin, sickness and disease.
The Good News is this judgement will not be a judgement on His people. If you have given your life to Jesus Christ with complete surrender and obedience, you are “Redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb!”
God’s final judgement will “pass over” us, but we must be ready. Like the Children of Israel in Exodus 12, we too must put on the “belt on your waist, sandals on your feet, and a staff in your hand.”
One of the beauties of our redemption is what I see in their deliverance from the Pharoah and the bondage of Israel. That is, they had to make haste…
When God quickly delivered them from Egypt all of the Children of Israel made it safely across the Red Sea. No one who was sickly, or elderly, or too young to keep up was left behind.
God’s redemption is all who call upon His name! They all made haste and were freed from the judgement!
CLOSE AND TEXT: Psalm 105:37 – 38
God does not do things halfway! When He Redeems His people, He does it all. He wakes sure His children are healed body, soul and spirit and even their livelyhood.
The Children of God were shown the way to freedom, healing and even abundance!
TEXT: I Peter 1:18 – 20
