GOD SEES THE BLOOD!
Ex. 12:3-13; 1 Cor. 5:7
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: “4 worms in Church"
1. A minister decided to add a visual demonstration about the evil habits of modern society.
2. Four worms were placed into four separate jars.
a. 1st - put into a container of alcohol.
b. 2nd - put into a container of cigarette smoke.
c. 3rd - put into a container of chocolate syrup.
d. 4th - put into a container of good clean soil.
2. At the conclusion of the sermon on evil habits, the Minister reported the following results:
a. 1st worm in alcohol . . . . . .. Dead.
b. 2nd worm in cigarette smoke . . Dead!
c. 3rd worm in chocolate syrup . . . Dead!.
d. 4th worm in good clean soil . .Alive!
3. So the Minister asked the congregation, "So, my friends? What did you learn from this demonstration?"
4. Maxine, sitting in the back, quickly raised her hand and said, "As long as you drink, smoke and eat chocolate, you won't have worms!"
5. That pretty much ended the service!
B. TEXT
3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover. 12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. Ex. 12:3,5-8,11-13. “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” 1 Cor. 5:7B.
C. THESIS
1. It was a terrible time for the land of Egypt. God had risen up against the land with horrible plagues – which destroyed all of the land, the animals, and the waters of Egypt.
2. The Nile turned to blood, the frogs, the lice, the flies; cattle died of disease; Boils, Hail, locusts, and darkness.
3. Imagine yourself there that night. The tenth plague was more frightening than all the others: Jehovah Himself has loosed Death in the streets!
a. Death would strike all the firstborn in Egypt; none would survive the night. Every house would have a dead person in it!
b. No bolted door, or barred window, could keep Death out. “Tremble, all inhabitants of the land! You will all lose someone tonight!”
c. Wait! The voice of God’s Mercy spoke: “There is a reprieve, an exception: all who take refuge under the blood of God’s substitutionary sacrifice will be spared!”
I. HOW IMPORTANCE WAS THE BLOOD THAT NIGHT? The Most Important thing in the world!
A. WAS MADE AS CONSPICUOUS AS POSSIBLE
1. It became the distinguishing Mark. You could tell an Israelite from an Egyptian – NOT by clothing or by language, but by the Blood on the doorway.
2. There were no “secret believers” that day! What you believed was emblazoned in red on the front of your house.
3. You had to disregard your friend’s opinions, your social standing, your sophistication, your wealth.
4. Both rich and poor had to disfigure the fronts of their houses with grotesque swaths of blood.
5. There was NO COMPROMISE POSITION: Either you had the Blood on your house, or you didn’t! There wasn’t a nice, polite way to do it.
6. The Lord’s people couldn’t be ashamed of Jesus that day and live! They had to choose.
B. THE BLOOD WAS THE SAVING TOKEN
1. Every house in Egypt had a dead person in it.
2. Only the blood separated the living from the dead.
3. When the walls of Jericho fell, only one house (in the wall) was left standing – the one with the Scarlet Cord in the window!
C. THEY TRUSTED IN IT COMPLETELY
1. They put the Blood on the door, then they shut it and didn’t open it until morning.
2. For God commanded, “None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning” Ex. 12:22.
3. They were busy inside – roasting, preparing, and eating the Lamb. They prayed and sang hymns.
4. Outside, they could hear the shrieks and cries getting closer and closer. “Will death come to our house?” the children might ask.
5. The parents answered, “Don’t be afraid. The Blood will keep us safe!” They trusted in that blood!
D. ILLUS.: NECESSITY OF THE BLOOD
1. In “The Last Memorable Days of France’s Liberation,” (about WW2), a soldier wrote home;
2. “We have seen many strange sights. We have met great crowds of Germans along the way to Berlin, jumping and shouting for joy at the thought of being taken prisoner!
3. Then one day I saw a staunch German S.S. officer brought into a hospital. He was one of their (brainwashed) fanatics, but was very badly wounded. His condition required an immediate blood transfusion, so the doctors quickly told him he must receive blood.
4. He said, “Will it be British blood?” The Doctor said, “Yes, it will be good British blood. If you refuse it you will die!” “Then,” answered the proud Nazi curtly, “I would rather die!” A short time later, his body was carried out for burial. If that man were alive today and could look back on that scene, he’d see what a fool he was.
5. In the same way, many today are blind to their need for the Blood of God’s Son. They foolishly reject.
E. IT BROKE THE HOLD OF EGYPT
1. Until that night, Pharaoh had steadfastly refused to let them go. But with this final judgment, the Blood broke the hold of Egypt over God’s people. Pharaoh commanded them to leave.
2. HUMOR: OUR DEBT OF GRACE
a. Western on TV. Two groups of men in a saloon having a gun fight. The saloon doors burst open and in marched a little man, seemingly unafraid. He walked through the middle of the gunfight, which momentarily paused, then took his place at the bar.
b. The man sitting next to him looked at him with amazement; “Partner, it took real courage to walk thru the middle of that gun battle!”
c. “Not really”, he replied, “I owe money to everyone in this place. Nobody would want to lose their money!” How many of you know WE owe a great debt of gratitude today?
II. WHERE DID THE BLOOD GET ITS POWER?
A. DERIVED FROM THE SACRIFICE HIMSELF
1. The Blood of the lambs represented GOD’S CHOSEN SUBSTITUTE, Jesus. No other substitute would be accepted.
2. HE WAS SPOTLESS – WITHOUT SIN. If there had been any sin in Jesus, He would not have been eligible to be our Substitute/ Savior.
3. Because CHRIST HIMSELF WAS GOD, His blood could atone for an infinite number of people. Because He was a man, He could represent us & take our place.
4. PROOF: HE SACRIFICE WAS ACCEPTED BY FATHER. Peter and Paul pointed out that Christ’s resurrection was proof-positive that His sacrifice for our sins had been received by the Father.
5. God the Father judged that His sacrifice was so valuable/perfect that it atoned for all sin – past, present, and future!
B. IT WAS UNIQUE, UNEQUALED
1. Nothing but Blood can ever save the soul. If a foolish Israelite said, “I will sprinkle my doorposts with diamonds, gold & silver…” he would have perished. Only the Blood can save (Acts 4:12).
2. You can’t add anything to it. Good works, education, ordinances, human moral perfection, etc. – nothing else can save.
C. IT AVERTS GOD’S GAZE FROM OUR SIN
1. “When I see the Blood, I will pass over you,”
2. Someone says, “But I can’t see it. How do I know it will save me?” It doesn’t matter whether YOU see it or not; it’s whether GOD sees it! And He does!
3. Think of the Eye of God passing over the world in judgment. When He sees you & Christ’s blood, He no longer sees your sin, but the righteousness of His precious Son, who takes away the sin of the world!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Jesus said; “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man [Jesus] must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Jn. 3:14-16.
2. MODERN PARALLEL: Origin of Yellow Fever Vaccine
a. In West Africa, in 1927, a blood specimen was taken from the native named Asibi, who was sick with Yellow Fever. Asibi recovered.
b. All the vaccine manufactured since 1927 derives from that original blood sample taken from this humble native, even carried down to today.
c. By enormous multiplication, it has offered immunity to Yellow Fever to countless millions of people in many countries.
d. The blood of one man in West Africa has been made to save the whole human race from Yellow Fever.
B. THE CALL
1. There’s only one thing that can get you or I into heaven; that’s repentance and faith in Jesus and His blood shed on the cross.
2. Let’s bow our heads. How many here this morning would like God to save and forgive you for your sins? Join me in the Sinner’s Prayer.
3. LORD’S SUPPER
