APPROACHING YOUR YEAR-V—Exodus 12:3-13[part-2](:1-13)
Attention: Turkey Hunting:
Last year I had my chance to do the traditional thing of shooting my own turkey for Thanksgiving.
I got all geared-up to bag a turkey. I had so much camouflage on, that nobody could’ve seen me coming! I slung my favorite turkey gun over my shoulder & off I went...
And Man-Oh-Man, you should have seen the people scatter, while I was quietly stalking that perfect turkey...in the grocery store meat department!
It is very easy to go back to our ‘usual ways’ of doing things. Including the way we approach this new year before us.
We can be tempted—God’s people can be tempted—to approach this year in the same way we have approached every year before this one.
We may make a pact with ourselves to do things differently. But ‘different’ is not necessarily best or even ‘better’!
However, ‘Different’ is indeed best, WHEN-&-Only-WHEN it’s brought about by the real power of our LORD in your personal life!
•God’s people must approach their ‘New Year’ within the confines of an exclusively Christian worldview!
Need:
For all that this New Year will hold, God’s people should & can approach it with Confidence!
We can be confident, because every true Christian’s confidence rests in the absolute faithfulness of Almighty God toward His people thru Christ Jesus!
God established a novel way for Israel to approach their calendar year.
God’s people—Christians/The Church— should have a particular approach toward understanding their calendar year.
BUT, ?How are we to approach our new year?
Rom. 14:7-8—“For none of us lives to himself, & no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; & if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”
We’ve found previously that
A proper approach toward your year is found in...
1. Your GOD(:1a)
2. Your SPOKESMEN(:1b)
3. Your EGYPT(:1c)
4. Your PATTERN(:2)
5. Your DELIVERANCE(:3-13)[part-1](:3-9)
5—A proper approach toward your year is also found in...
Your DELIVERANCE(:3-13)[part-2].
Explanation:(:3-13) Faith/Passion
(CONT from Part-1...):9—“‘Roasted in fire,...
:9—“‘Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire--its head with its legs & its entrails.”
:9—“Roasted in fire...”
•The unblemished(:5) sacrifice(:6) was to be “roasted in fire”, fully, completely as is. An unadulterated ‘lamb’ or ‘goat.’
•No spices, additions or special preparation to enhance the flavor. Nothing added nor taken away, but simply as God provides....
You DON’T ADD ‘some Jesus’ to your already anemic fleshly list of little-‘g’ god’s that you already serve!...INSTEAD you must supplant them all with Jesus!
The Israelites are in anticipation of a one-time window of opportunity, to EXCHANGE their current affliction of slavery in Egypt...FOR their own national autonomy, freedom, life, love, direction, happiness, real strength, & God’s power in their lives.
:10—“‘You shall let none of it remain until morning, & what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire.”
*The ‘saving sacrifice’(lamb) is to be completely DEVOURED.
[Again-:8]—Jn. 6:35, 48-57—“And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, & he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”.....“ “I am the bread of life. “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, & are dead. “This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it & not die. “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; & the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”.....“As the living Father sent Me, & I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.”
•Whatever we focus our ministry on—Jesus, or the Christ, or God the Father, or God the Holy Spirit, or Salvation, or Christ’s Lordship, or Our circumstances, etc.—we dare not make anything LESS of them, nor anything MORE of them than they really are, in their God-ordained fullness!
*That’s the difficulty we get into when we don’t know the written word of God—when we don’t read the Bible, & when we don’t engage or immerse ourselves in Bible Study.
•Ignorance is NOT bliss in eternal matters!
*The ‘saving sacrifice’(lamb) is also COMPLETE.
Col. 2:8-15—“Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy & empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, & not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; & you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality & power. In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses & 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 & powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”
Col. 1:15-20—“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven & that are on earth, visible & invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him & for Him. And He is before all things, & in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, & 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.”
Gal. 3:26—“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
Heb. 5:9—“And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,”
It is finished
*The ‘saving sacrifice’(lamb) is also SINGULAR / UNIQUE.
•Those who would have attempted to save the meat, would have made it plain that they distrusted YHWH God’s leading!
Num. 15:30-36—“ ‘But the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one brings reproach on the LORD, & he shall be cut off from among his people. ‘Because he has despised the word of the LORD, & has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall be upon him.’” Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses & Aaron, & to all the congregation. They put him under guard, because it had not been explained what should be done to him. Then the LORD said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” So, as the LORD commanded Moses, all the congregation brought him outside the camp & stoned him with stones, & he died.”
Lk. 9:62—“....“No one, having put his hand to the plow, & looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.””
:11—“‘And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, & your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’S Passover.”
The ‘saving sacrifice’(lamb) is ANTICIPATORY.
The ‘saving sacrifice’(lamb) takes PRIORITY.
“With a belt on your waist”, “Sandals on your feet”, “your Staff in your hand”, “In haste”—
Heb. 3:7-8, 12-13—“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness,”.....“Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”
2 Cor. 6:1-2—“We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
•As God’s people, we must be ready to go immediately, whenever & wherever the Lord leads!
•We must NOT ‘lean’ on our ‘past’, but rather ‘learn’ from it...We learn & remember that God is always faithful! God always meets your need, wherever & whenever He calls! Because: Where God guides, He provides! Where He calls, He equips!
*Don’t make Jesus wait. Don’t put Him off, expecting to partake later. You MAY HAVE NO other opportunity, because you do not know the hour of your death. This here today may be your SOLE window of opportunity to turn to Jesus!
:12—“‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, & will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man & beast; & against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.”
The ‘saving sacrifice’(lamb) is ATONING.
The ‘saving sacrifice’(lamb) is DECISIVE.
“For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, & will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man & beast;...”
The lamb sacrificed in haste(:11), was a substitute for the “firstborn” children among their own.
God would ‘give the lives of the Egyptians’ in exchange for His people Israel!
Isa. 43:1-4—YHWH God to Israel—“But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia & Seba in your place. Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life.”
•Of those who are NOT God’s people, NONE of them would be SPARED from having the “firstborn” among themselves & their livestock, killed!
“& Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment”
“Egypt” was pan- or multi-theistic—believing in many gods. They held that a multiplicity of gods was associated with the workings of the universe.
2Cor. 10:2-6—“But I beg you that when I am present I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments & every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, & being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.””
Eph. 6:10-13—“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord & in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh & blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, & having done all, to stand.”
“I am the LORD.”
A solemn reminder of YHWH God, the ‘I Am’—the One Whom you are intimately immersed & involved with. The One who has chosen you.
:13—‘Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are; And when I see the blood I will pass over you, & the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”
“Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are...”
The sheep’s/goat’s “blood” which the Israelites will place on their doorposts & lintels(:7), will be “a sign” or signal to YHWH, that those within in the “house” are faithful to YHWH.
“And when I see the blood I will pass over you...”
*The ‘saving sacrifice’(lamb) is to be SUBSTITUTIONARY, Providing God’s GRACE THRU FAITH.
•Eph. 2:4-10—“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), & raised us up together, & made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, & that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
•The ‘faith’ of those within the “house” is decisive enough, that given the choice of EITHER remaining in Egypt—the only place & life they know, as slaves—OR to leave by YHWH’s power, is apparent.
Each household’s bold & openly public display(blood on the doorposts & lintels) is a response to their ‘believing’ YHWH. It is a measure of their ‘faith’ toward Him!
Rom. 10:9-13—“that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus & believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, & with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew & Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.””
Eph. 1:7—“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”
Rev. 1:5-6—“...Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, & the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us & washed us from our sins in His own blood, & has made us kings & priests to His God & Father, to Him be glory & dominion forever & ever. Amen.”
“& the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”
The ‘saving sacrifice’(lamb) is SEPARATIONAL / SEGREGATIONAL.
Ex. 12:23—“For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians; & when He sees the blood on the lintel & on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door & not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.”
Ex. 3:19-22—YHWH forewarned Moses before he ever went to Pharaoh—“But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out My hand & strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; & after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; & it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed. But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, & clothing; & you shall put them on your sons & on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.” ”
•Israel’s DELIVERANCE: The fulfillment of YHWH’s forewarning is recorded in Ex. 12:29-36!
?What manner of DELIVERANCE are YOU looking for?
?What is YOUR your overriding passion?
Argumentation:
1Cor. 5:7—“...For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.”
Php. 3:20-21—“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”
Php. 1:20-21—“....according to my earnest expectation & hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, & to die is gain.”
Mat. 6:12, 13—“And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom & the power & the glory forever. Amen.”
Isa. 31:1—“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, And rely on horses, Who trust in chariots because they are many, And in horsemen because they are very strong, But who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, Nor seek the LORD!”
2Peter 2:9—“...the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations & to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,”
•And HOW has He chosen to Deliver?...Thru Jesus Christ alone!
Acts 4:12—““Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.””
Gal. 1:3-5—“Grace to you & peace from God the Father & our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God & Father, to whom be glory forever & ever. Amen.”
Col. 1:13-14—“He has delivered us from the power of darkness & conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
Heb. 2:14-17—of Jesus—“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh & blood, He[Jesus] Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, & release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful & faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”
Mat. 18:7-9—“Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off & cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out & cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.
•We need REAL Deliverance! We need God’s Deliverance!
Illustration:
I’ve always been concerned about my family’s...Morality-Behavior-Future-Citizenship- Education-Relationships, etc.-BECAUSE my ultimate concern, is that they have a ‘working’ personal relationship with Christ! BECAUSE Jesus’ DELIVERANCE supplants all fleshly means!
•?What are you willing to sacrifice, in order to be ‘Delivered’ from the worldly & fleshly ways that enslave you?
?What are you willing to do?...?Who are you willing to become?, in order to experience true ‘spiritual’ ‘Deliverance’ & freedom in Christ Jesus?!
•Jesus said, in Mat. 10:33-39—“But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, & a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; “& ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross & follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, & he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”—that’s DELIVERANCE!
*IF you DENY giving Jesus control of your life, you deny everything that is truly ‘good’ in life!...BECAUSE you’ve placed yourself in a daily process of denying the very One Who rightly determines ‘good’ versus ‘bad’!
Application:
?What means of ‘DELIVERANCE’ will guide Your approach toward the year?
?Does YOUR idea of ‘DELIVERANCE’ focus upon Your life in Christ?!
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
The approach you take toward your year, CAN be like....
‘Turkey Hunting’ in the grocery store....
....It is very easy to go back to our ‘usual ways’ of doing things.....
Action:
But A PROPER approach toward your year is found in...
5. Your DELIVERANCE(:3-13)[part-2]
1. Your GOD(:1)
2. Your SPOKESMEN(:1)
3. Your EGYPT(:1)
4. Your PATTERN(:2)
5. Your DELIVERANCE(:3-13)[part-1]
Pt# 5[part-2] Presented 01/28/2023am to:
Salem Baptist Church
1618 Salem Rd.
Bennettsville, SC 29512
Points. 4 &5 Presented 01/03/2010pm to:
Needmore Baptist Church
1620 Mt. Vernon Rd.
Woodleaf, NC 27054
Presented 01/01/2006pm to:
Richland Baptist Church
40510 Stewart Rd.
Zephyrhills, FL 33540
Presented 12/29/2002am to:
Providence Baptist Church
975 Providence Road
Whigham, GA 39897
