Title: Communion and Passover – Get Ready
Theme: To show the tie in between communion and Passover and how we need to get ready for the great things that God is doing.
Text: Exodus 12:1 – 22; 1 Corinthians 11:22 - 23
Note: Part of studies are done on sermon central. May see notes from other messages.
Introduction
“In a few moments, we will be partaking of the elements of Communion, which signifies the Blood and Body of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Whose own body was broken, and whose blood was shed, as He laid down His life for the sins of all mankind. The act of Communion is not foreign to most believers, and it should never, never get old. It should never be done in a ritualistic manner. It can become, as many things, a "Spiritual habit," just like singing, or receiving an offering.
We recognize Communion because of the significance of the Crucifixion of Christ, and the relevance of the last supper He had with His disciples before His death. And though that particular instance took on greater meaning, there was really nothing unusual about the meal itself. It was the time for all Jews to observe Passover, which God had commanded them to do.
The Passover was merely a type and shadow of this last supper, and also of the Crucifixion and death of Christ, but was first initiated on a night of judgment, back in the land of Egypt. And there are, even for us, some very relevant and meaningful truths from that passage that I want to explore with you.”
First Day of the Month (New Beginning)
1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, (2) "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.
The Lord spoke by Moses and Aaron, and said, "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months..." Now I like that. Right in the middle of the year, God gives them a new beginning. The relevance of course, has to do with our SALVATION. Because, it doesn’t matter whether it’s June, October, or March, when you ask the Lord’s forgiveness for your sins, and the blood of Jesus touches your heart, it is right then the first moment of a brand new life for you! I thank God for a new beginning!
New Creatures
2Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Lamentations 3:22-23 Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. (23) They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
Preparation
(3) Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: 'On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.
You got to make preparation. Today that means to open up your heart to the Lord.
Do not do this Alone
(4) And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man's need you shall make your count for the lamb.
Illustration: Can you imagine the knock on the door that came from the neighbor. “Hey are you in there. I got this lamb, and it is too big for me to handle alone”. “Can you come and share with me”
Our world would be different if we learn to “bear one another’s burdens”
Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
Not Just Any Lamb will Do
(5) Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. (6) Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.
1. THEY WERE TO KILL THE LAMB. This was prophetic of the death of Christ. This, as far as it relates to us, has already been done. The Lamb of God has been slain, crucified for the sins of the whole world. The sacrifice has been made, and the blood shed.
The Old Testament sacrificial system was a brutal bloody religion. It was constantly filled with sacrifices. It is incredible to read the number of sacrifices made by David and 2
King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep, which is how the king and all of the people dedicated God's Temple. – 2 Chronicles 7:5
One Sacrifice and that is Christ Jesus
1 Peter 1:18-19 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, (19) but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
Apply to the Door Posts
(7) And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.
Exo 12:13 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; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
2. THEY WERE TO APPLY THE BLOOD TO THE DOORPOSTS. For man, this happens when they truly repent and ask forgiveness of their sins. At that very moment, the blood of Jesus Christ, however it may happen, cleanses their hearts by faith, and we are set free from the judgment and wrath of God which is to come upon the world. The blood, therefore, must be on the door of your heart for you to escape.
Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
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Stay in the House
Repeat of vs. 7 but added to with “stay in the house”
Exodus 12:22 And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning.
3. THEY WERE TO STAY IN THE HOUSE. Verse 22 says, "And none of you shall go out of you house until morning." I believe that we are to stay in the house of God. We are to stay in fellowship with God and with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are to remain in the house. We all need the house of God, for it’s a place of sustaining substance, of power and prayer, of exhortation and encouragement. We need to stay in the house!
All in - Consume
(8) Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. (9) Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire--its head with its legs and its entrails. (10) You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire.
4. THEY WERE TO EAT THE LAMB. This is extremely important, especially as it relates to Christ and the Church. We are not only to get saved, to ask forgive-ness, and have the blood applied, but we are to continue to partake of the Lamb. It is also very interesting to me, that, none of the lamb was to be wasted. Nothing was to be kept until morning. We, then, must consume Christ, eat and partake of His substance daily, and not let any of Him go to waste! I want more of Him! I want ALL of Him!
Luke 9:62 But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
Get Ready, Get Ready, Get Ready
(11) And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. (12) For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.
Luke 5:36-39 Then He spoke a parable to them: "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. (37) And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. (38) But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. (39) And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.' "
God is up to something and we need to get ready for it. When we take of what God has commanded us to do we need to get ready for what He has in store.
Ephesians 1:20-22 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, (21) far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. (22) And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
Conclusion
One final note, that speaks great volumes of truth out of the text (KJV). In v. 3 it’s "A lamb," in v. 4 it’s "THE lamb," but in v. 5 it’s "YOUR lamb." That’s the progression of Passover. "A" Lamb, must become "THE" Lamb, but then He must become "YOUR" Lamb.
And when A Lamb, becomes THE Lamb, that has now become YOUR Lamb, Communion will become more significant, and you will have a new PERSPECTIVE ON PASSOVER.
“a lamb” with out blemish or spot
“The Lamb” now significance. This is a symbol but also a recognition.
“Your Lam” this is not yours. It is more than what others observe but real to you.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; (24) and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me." (25) In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." (26) For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.
