Blood Of The Lamb

Automatically transcribed — lightly cleaned for readability. Wording is the preacher’s own.

Heavenly Father, I ask that you would be here in the preaching of your word, Lord, God, that you might open our eyes, our hearts and our minds to hear what it is you have for us today. Lord, that you would be, your Holy Spirit would be in Pastor Cameron's words that you would be leading him and guiding him into truth, that you would be his divine editor, Lord. Lord, we ask that you would be with us in all these things and that it might be glorifying to you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Good morning, Conduit, how are you this morning? Good, it's good to see you all. Yes, Church Picnic, bring your own desserts and drinks. I trust that you all know what drinks to bring and not to bring to the Church Picnic. Maybe it didn't need to be said, but maybe I'll say it anyway. It is a barbecue, but not that kind, all right? We have been in the Book of Exodus now for this is the seventh week of the series and last week Pastor Luke preached on a very short section of the story of Exodus 9, the first nine of the plagues. And so today

We're getting into an equally short section of the Exodus, the last plague, the death of the firstborn, as well as the beginning of Passover, the Passover. What was the Passover and became the Passover celebration for the Jewish people. So we're primarily going to be in Exodus 11 and 12 today. If you have a Bible, you can open them there. We'll have some of the scriptures referenced on the screen as well. But to bring you kind of maybe up to speed as to where we have been in the story of Exodus thus far, is that the people of Israel after having a number of changes in the leadership or the Pharaoh of Egypt became enslaved to the nation of Egypt. And God heard the cries from the people of Israel to be delivered from their slavery and their bondage to the Egyptians. And God showed up and raised up Moses and Aaron despite Moses protest to be the to be the voice of God or the prophet of God to Pharaoh in order to convince Pharaoh or to exhort Pharaoh to let the people of Israel

Go so that they may go to a land that God has promised them in covenant and worship him there. Of course, as we saw last week and we saw the week before, Pharaoh's heart was hardened both as a by his own choice. We talked about how the phrase even of the God hardened Pharaoh's heart is that God came in essentially undergirded or supported a previous decision or disposition of the heart that Pharaoh had already made. Pharaoh had made up in his own mind that he was going to be the God of the Israelites. He was going to be the God of the Egyptians and that no God was going to tell him what to do. And so his heart was hardened towards them and towards Moses requests and pleas to let the people go. And so God in his faithfulness as a measure of him fulfilling his promises to his people began to, I guess you could put it lightly to put it somewhat like this, convince Pharaoh that the people of Israel were to be let set free so that they could worship him. Now the convincing

Was of a very particular manner and the convincing was what we saw, what we heard Pastor Luke preaching on last week. It began with a number of plagues. These plagues were not anything to sneeze at, to use that phrase lightly. You had plagues of the Nile turning to blood. You had frogs and gnats and flies and locusts and darkness and boils and livestock dying and plagues of hail falling. All of these things progressively putting more and more and more and more and more pressure upon the Egyptian nation, upon their people, upon their health, upon the economy. And each and every time Moses kind of doubling down on the hardness of his heart to say, I absolutely, positively will not let the people go. And so after those first nine plagues, we kind of come to where we are going to be this morning, the beginning of chapter 11 in Exodus, which is perhaps the most striking moment in the story so far. And what will become for the Jewish people kind of central to their understanding of who they are as a people and especially who they are in relation to God. This 10th plague,

The plague of the death of the firstborn and then the Passover. But to kind of understand kind of the flow or the sequence here, I want to actually draw attention to one of the sections of scripture that Pastor Luke preached on last week in Exodus chapter 10, just the last few verses there of Exodus chapter 10. At the end of the conversation around the plague of darkness, as was the pattern between Moses and Pharaoh, that the plague would come, whatever it was, and then Pharaoh would call for Moses and he would say, okay, okay, okay, I'm going to let the people go. Stop this plague nonsense. And then as it turns out, Moses would pray and the plague would cease. And then what did Pharaoh do? He changed his mind, right? He's like, actually, I'm not going to do that. Now that the pressure is off, just kidding, you're staying. And that was the, that was the kind of the rhythm or the pattern all the way. And so at verse, if we're in chapter 10, verses 27 through 29, this is at the end of the last plague, the plague of darkness, right before the last plague. He says, but

The Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart and he was not willing to let them go even after he said he would. Pharaoh said to Moses, get out of my sight. Make sure you do not appear before me again. The day you see my face, you will die. Verse 29, just as you said, say, Moses replied, I will never appear before you again. But what happens is fair, you know, Pharaoh tells him, don't ever come before me again. If you do, you will die. And Moses is like, we're good, bro. I don't need to like, it's fine. Will not, you will never see me again. You won't see my face. You won't see my face again. But then if you read out into the start of the next plague, you see that Moses and Pharaoh are again, seemingly having a conversation about what is coming next, just like they had done in previous plagues. They were there standing face to face, having a conversation. Moses warning Pharaoh after the end, like starting in verse four and going through to verse eight about what was going to happen in this next plague. Well, how do we make sense of kind of like this switch in behavior

Between what Pharaoh said he was going to do if he ever saw Moses again, and what he actually did do or what the text shows us? This is one of those moments where the structure of our Bibles makes things a little bit confusing for us. Because if you have a Bible like I have, most of your Bible has a heading before chapter 11 and like a clean chapter break. And it kind of indicates to us that there's a clean break in the narrative or a clean break in the story there. Moses goes about his way. Pharaoh goes about his way. And that somewhere down the line, they come back together and we pick up the story in verse four where they're talking again. But what we believe is actually happening here is that, is that this is not actually what happened. We can, we can read verses 11, chapter 11, verses one, two, and three as kind of like a parenthetical moment in the narrative of Moses speaking to Pharaoh at the end of the ninth plague, but before the tenth plague. If we read it here, it says, so like, if you're, if you, if you take the flow of the argument in chapter

10, verse 29, just as you say, Moses replied, I'll never appear before you again. But now read verses one through four in 11, it says, now the Lord had said to Moses, I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. And after that, he will let you go from here. And when he does, he will drive you out completely. Tell the people that men and women are like are like, are to ask the neighbors for articles of silver and gold. The Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed towards the people. And Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh's officials and by the people. So we can read those three verses kind of like as this internal parenthetical commentary to what is going on in the whole conversation between Pharaoh and Moses in this moment. God himself will show up for our deliverance when we, it's, it's most likely that the conversation at the end of the ninth plague in verse 29 is the same as the conversation that is happening in chapter 11, starting at verse four, going through verse eight, that Moses never actually leaves the presence of Pharaoh in that moment that Pharaoh's like, Hey, I don't ever want to see you again.

If I ever see you again, I'm going to kill you. And Moses is like, it's fine. It's whatever. But before I leave, I want to let you know what is coming next. What the next, what the next step is, as your heart has continually be hardened. You need to know before I leave your presence, I want you to know. And he goes on to say in verses four through eight. So Moses said, this is what the Lord says, Pharaoh, about midnight, I will go throughout Egypt and every firstborn son in Egypt will die from the firstborn of the son of Pharaoh who sits on the throne to the firstborn, firstborn son of the slave girl who is at her hand mill and the first one of the cattle as well. There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt, worse than has ever been or ever will be again. But among the Israelites, not a dog will bark at any man or animal. Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. All these officials of yours will come to me bowing down before me and saying, Go, you and all the people who follow you. After that, I will leave. Then Moses, hot

With anger, left Pharaoh. We see that the section between verses four, four, six or four, five, six, seven, eight and nine sit within kind of like this same narrative section is what happened at the end of the ninth plague. When Moses is like, all right, before I leave, I just want to make sure one thing is clear. Here is what's coming next. If you do not let the people go. Now, this is the first time that this has happened in the whole of all of the sections of the plagues that we see so far in Exodus. Moses actually warns Pharaoh of the next plague that is coming if he does not let the people go. He had never done that before. He had never issued the warning for what will come next, except in this situation. It's almost as if God through Moses was developing or giving one final plea. Hey, I'm even going to warn you about what is to come. Please do not make me do this thing. I want you to know what's happening. All of the firstborn sons of Egypt in Egypt

Will die. All of them and what does it say in eleven eight that Moses hot with anger left Pharaoh. It's an interesting to think about what would have what would have made Moses in that moment. So, so angry that he would leave Pharaoh hot with anger as the writer says. I think I think just about our own human experience about dealing with people who have really very difficult and hardened hearts to what the Lord desires to do and what the Lord wants to do and speak into their life. And I also think about Moses own experience as for a long period of his life, living as a child of Egypt, living as a member of the Egyptian nation, probably in some ways having some sense of national identity or like familial connection to the Egyptian people and watching them over time and time and time and time and time again suffer under the tyrannical and hard rule of Pharaoh when they could have been freed from his own from his own hardness of heart. But because of the hardness of one man a nation suffered and Moses feeling this burden of feeling this burden of pain,

Feeling this burden of empathy, feeling this burden this burden of anger at Pharaoh like that his anger was expressed. How could you be so hard? How could you let what a waste of life Moses walks away likely feeling. So 11 verses 11 or chapter 11 verses one through eight explains Pharaoh Pharaoh gets to hear hey this is what's going to happen if if you do not let the people go he gets an insight into the plague that happens before it even happens unlike he has had in the past. And then in verse 9 the Lord had said to Moses and says the Lord had said to Moses even in his knowledge or even in the request he let the people go please let the people go this is going to happen please let the people go just do it. He walked away from that encounter and in verse 9 the Lord said to Moses Pharaoh's going to refuse. Pharaoh will refuse to listen. Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you in verse 9 chapter 11 so that my so that my wonders may be multiplied in Egypt. What was significant

About this plague from the others what was significant about the way in which all of the first born in Egypt all belong all the first born belonging to the Egyptians would die. The other plagues had some either natural or secondary agency of nature attached to it or like that was the centrality of it right. If you think about the plagues kind of in the way that they were presented to us or the way in which it was laid out you had the plague of blood in the Nile right something something something in nature central to life in Egypt the river was turned to blood and then you have a plague of frogs and then you have a plague of gnats and then you have a plague of flies and then you have a plague on the livestock and then you have a plague of boils and then you have a plague of hail and locusts and then darkness you have all of these things that have at least in some way some connection to the created order or to nature itself. But this plague that was

To come was significant or special in a way that the others were not. This final plague brought the very presence and action of God in the form of judgment upon the Egyptian people. It wasn't some like twisting of the natural order it wasn't just some sending of a whole plague of frogs or so some sending of a whole plague of locusts or gnats the use of nature or secondary forces in order to put pressure on the Egyptians. This was in this instance for this final plague this plague was different than all the others because it was God himself who was going to be the agent that instituted this plague. This is the way that the scripture this is the way that the scripture communicates it to us in chapter 11 verse 4 it says this is what the Lord says about midnight I will go throughout Egypt it's me I am coming I am not sending the locusts I am not sending the frogs I am not sending the gnats I am not sending the hail I am sending me I am coming this is what was significant about this plague it goes on to say in chapter 12 verse 12 he says the

Same thing as he's recounting what had happened on that same night he says I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn both men and animals I will bring judgment on all of the gods of Egypt I am the Lord. And so in this final act of defiance by Pharaoh in this final act of hardness by Pharaoh God was like this plague stands kind of in its own in its own category of no longer being just like the forces of created order and the forces of creation coming against the whole of the nation of Egypt now I am coming it is me it is my presence that will come if there was any confusion as to who it was that was acting on behalf of the Israelites for Pharaoh Pharaoh was about to discover exactly who this God was because the nature of this was going to be so specific and so directed at the Egyptians that there would be no denying that God himself it was that it was God himself who was bringing deliverance to his people in fact Moses's warning to Pharaoh

Said exactly that there is going to be death and destruction of every first born of Egypt and in the Israelite camp not even a dog is gonna bark complete peace complete tranquility that the severity of the plague was meant to demonstrate and show that the God of the Israelites was powerful and sovereign even against and in the face of every God of the Egyptian pantheon this begins a pattern throughout the rest of the story of Exodus it begins the pattern of God's both extraordinary and sometimes terrifying presence both with his people before his people and on behalf of his people that God was like all all of the promises all all of the promises of deliverance all of the promises of faithfulness all of the promises of victory over the enemies all of the promises of leading into the Promised Land they will now all be established through my very presence here it is my presence that will ensure that they are fulfilled God himself will show up this is not this is not a this is not an a fact or an insight about God that should be lost on us as it was in the beginning

So will it continue to be in our life that God himself will show up for our deliverance when we exercise trust in his timing and faith in his promises this is exactly what God did in the sending of his son that Jesus is the New Covenant New Testament example of God himself showing up to both ensure and secure the deliverance of all those who trusted in him and had faith in his promises God showed up him in himself for our deliverance and funny enough all of all of what happens in the coming of Jesus is foreshadowed in these moments here in the in the scriptures and in the narratives of Exodus 11 and 12 in the work of the Passover now when you come to the end of chapter 11 and beginning into verse 12 God God has a promise hey I'm gonna deliver you it's gonna be through it's gonna I am gonna come and deliver you and then in verse 12 in chapter 12 we get into how it actually happens the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt this month is to be for you the first

Month the first month of your year this is on verse 1 of Exodus chapter 12 tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of the month each man is to take a lamb for his family one for each household if any household is too small for the whole lamb they must share one with their nearest neighbor having taken into account the number of people that are there you are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat the animals you choose must be a year old male without defect and you may take them from the sheep or the goats take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door frames of the houses where they eat the lambs that same night they are the eat they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire along with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast do not eat the meat raw or cooked raw or cooked in water but roasted over a fire head legs

And inner parts do not leave any of it until morning if someone's left until morning you must burn it 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 verse 12 on that same night so God gives him God gives Moses to deliver to the people of Israel how they are to prepare for the moment of deliverance how they are to prepare for his coming how they are to prepare their hearts how they are to prepare their homes how they are to prepare their families how they are to prepare in this moment for when he will show up and bring deliverance and then in verse 12 he says on that same night that you have done these preparations I will pass through Egypt and I will strike down every first born both men and animals and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt I am the Lord 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 so God first gives the Israelite people through Moses instructions for the time of preparation you to get a lamb or a goat to be a year old male no defect in them whatsoever no limping leg no weird spots no diseased a perfect lamb a perfect goat make sure you get that goat and then that goat or that lamb and you're going to slaughter it at twilight with the rest of the nation verse 7 of chapter 12 you're going to take the blood of that slaughtering and you're going to grab some hyssop branches we see this later in chapter 12 you're going to dip those in the blood and then you're going to wipe that blood on the door posts and the door frames of the outside of your house additionally you're going to have a meal together you're going to eat the meat that was that you kind of fire roast here of this lamb or this go you're also going to eat bitter herbs bread without yeast this

Is going to be your menu for that night but it's not going to be just about what you eat it's also going to be about how you eat it you're not reclining at your table enjoying your family but you're eating it in a certain posture physical posture mental attitude as well as heart posture in this moment I want your cloak tucked into your belt this is what they did when they needed to run fast right when they needed to move with haste as they would take their long cloaks and they would tuck them into their belt so they wouldn't get they wouldn't trip up on them make sure your sandals are on your feet you're ready to go make sure your staff is in your hand and then he says you are to eat this meal in haste quickly without any without any like without any idea towards relaxing or taking it easy it is the Lord's Passover and then in verses 12 through 13 God gives the explanation to the people of what's going to happen I'm gonna pass through Egypt and pass through

Every area and if I see blood on the doorpost when I see the blood God says I will pass by and not bring destruction to that I will not bring destruction when I see the blood God is bringing judgment upon the gods of Egypt and the blood will be a sign for me on the houses where I where I pass by when I see the blood I will pass over you now it's interesting here that there is there is one thing there is one thing in God's whole instructions to Moses and to Aaron to give to the people that brings about salvation deliverance and protection when the judgment of God comes upon the Egyptian nation and the Egyptian people what's interesting is that God does not say to Moses and Aaron like listen I know who the Israelites are and who they're not I as I'm passing through the area I'm gonna know if the people inside this place are if they're my people or if they're Egyptians or if they're of some other nation or whatever right God made it made it very very very clear that he was about to pass through the whole of the nation the whole of the area including

The place where the Israelites were camped with the land of Goshen and that there was one thing and one thing alone that would stop or prevent or allow his spirit to pass over or to pass by a particular place without bringing judgment and without bringing death upon it was not your national identity is not whether or not your dad was Jewish or your mom was Jewish or your family was Jewish or you lived in a particular neighborhood or you lived among the Egyptians or you lived among the Jewish people had nothing to do with your national identity or where you lived there was one provision and one provision alone for your salvation when the spirit of God came through and judgment was their blood that he could see was the blood of the lamb displayed upon your doorposts was the blood without of the lamb the lamb without defect when God looked at you did he see the blood of the lamb this was the only thing now we're gonna pause here for just a moment I know where you want me to go I'm not gonna go there quite yet we're gonna come we're pausing here all right we're gonna come back to this moment now what is what it what happens going on

Here in the history of the Israelite people is that this moment this Passover moment and this Passover meal and this becomes a central aspect to their national identity as well as the continuation of the nation and how they how they understand themselves in relationship to God the Passover becomes not just this like oh yeah God passed over the doors with the blood on it but Passover became it has become a week long celebration and festival among the Jewish people even to this very day of remembrance of what God has done in fact Passover still like I said still celebrated by the Jewish people today it was April 12th through the 20th of this calendar year and among other things in the Passover festival for the Jewish people a traditional meal is served a meal of roasted lamb or goat bitter herbs unleavened bread four cups of wine are served on this meal a traditional meal is served and it's eaten in a traditional fashion or template called the Seder you may have heard this before the Seder S-E-D-E-R is the meal or the structure that Jewish people still

To this day celebrate the Passover festival or the moment the occurrence of Passover where God delivered their people from bondage in Egypt now the word Seder simply means structure the structure by which we celebrate this festival and this meal which includes the traditional food especially the roasted lamb or goat the bitter herbs and unleavened bread now throughout this meal the Seder meal Jewish people will usually read several stories from the scripture and from their extra biblical texts about the deliverance of the people from the Egyptian nation about the history of deliverance that God has brought for them they will sing songs that bring memory or bring bring back the remembrance of what God has done the whole of the Passover festival is to bring once more and one time per year for an entire week a remembrance of the moment where God brought deliverance for them from out of slavery and out from captivity they did they did not want to ever forget that moment now going into the further into the story in chapter 12 today we see that remembrance of the Passover deliverance was a monumental part of what was commanded by God for the Israelites as the scripture

Was going along let me give you a few examples if you go back to the beginning of chapter 12 where we start talking about Passover God the Lord says this to Moses the Lord said to Moses and Aaron Exodus 12 verse 1 and 2 the Lord said this to Moses and Aaron in Egypt this month is to be for you the first month the first month of your year it was at this moment that the Lord essentially said hey listen this is so significant what is about to happen is so significant in your life and in the history of your people just consider this the new beginning of your year this is now the start of your year this is what orients the rest of your calendar think about this as the beginning of all things like hey when does your start well our year starts at Passover most of us you and I said well when does your year start well my year starts January 1st like everyone else is here at the beginning of the calendar or if you run a business and you have a fiscal year maybe you're like oh

Yeah I think of my year of July to July but for the Jewish people their year starts on the first night of Passover because they want to root everything that they do in that year orient it off of the seminal moment of God's deliverance of them that they want that to be the orienting principle that is the true north that is the compass that drives everything else and I mean in all fairness the Christian church has its own calendar as well you know this that the Christian calendar or the church calendar is different than the Julian calendar or the Gregorian calendar that we follow the January through December we have a graphic up here I think I did it right to get another screen for you but this graphic describes kind of like what the Christian year is and how if we if you were gonna like the Jewish people orient your life or your calendar or your schedule around the Christian calendar like the Jews do with Passover this is what it would look like for us and it looks like it started begins in Advent Advent always begins the Christian calendar this is the period of time in preparation for the coming of Christ before Christmas a small little chunk is Christmas

Right 12 days long you can imagine that followed by epiphany which is the moment that the church celebrates the visiting of the Magi or the wise men to the baby Jesus and that marks kind of like the first time that the Gentiles are introduced to the Savior of the world who is Jewish which goes into Lent their time after epiphany and Lent and then we have Holy Week Easter Pentecost and I don't think they knew what to do with between Pentecost and Advent so they just said and then the rest of it's just the time after Pentecost which is where we are now in our Christian calendar but even in most even in Christian life and celebration there was this move to orient our lives off of not oh well I January and February nights because winter's almost over and then spring's coming in April May June and then then you have the summer months of July and the like that's not how they wanted them to fulfill their calendar or think about their life they wanted them to orient God wanted them to orient their life around the moments where he showed up I think it's an

Important question for us even though even though like things like the Christian calendar or orienting orienting your life around a thing like Passover maybe something maybe a tradition that is unnecessary for following Jesus but I think that the point here is not about like hey what calendar do you follow and is it the most faithful representation of what the Bible wants you to do I think the bigger question here is like like the Jewish people and like their ability or like the command of the Lord for them to orient their whole life around this moment of God's redeeming and delivering deliverance of them I think that there should be this question of like how how how fully how fully has God's deliverance reoriented your life like it was for the Israelites God God was like I want you to know that my deliverance over you reorients your entire life setting you free from slavery showing up on your behalf passing over you in judgment because I see the door because I see the blood on the door post this moment reorients everything else everything else pivots off this one thing question being is like what is the one thing

That everything in your life pivots off of what is the one thing that reorients every other decision in your life for some of us it's like our family like my family unit reorients every decision of my life for some of us it's our own story like my story or my background or what I what happened to me in the past that reorients every decision in my life some of us it's like what I want to happen in the future my goals my vision my purpose my dreams my aspirations that's what's orienting every aspect in every decision of my life for some it's a spouse or a relationship or a child for some it's our work for some it's our schedule that's whatever it is the question is what is the thing that all of your life pivots around and that when it calls your attention you snap to attention right wrong or indifferent what reorients our lives what what changes the trajectory of everything else in our in our calendar our schedule and our relationships the Lord is forever calling us to remember his deliverance as the reorienting principle of our life of the thing that changes all other things of the thing that motivates all other things and he tells the people of Israel

Hey listen don't ever forget this moment don't ever forget this time of deliverance in 1214 he says this day you are to commemorate for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord a lasting ordinance in verse 17 he says the same thing celebrate the feast of unleavened bread which is another name for Passover because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come at the end of the chapter chapter 12 verse 24 through 27 he says again the same thing within the span of 10 verses he says it three times obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants when you enter the land that the Lord will give you he has promised observe the ceremony again and when your children ask why does this what does this ceremony mean to you then tell them it is the Passover a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians most of us have moments or a moment

That we look back upon our lives and our spiritual journey with the Lord and remember at least somewhat or in some fashion a moment of stark deliverance and salvation I remember this moment this is the moment that the Lord showed up for me this is the Lord moment that I placed my faith in him this is the moment that God came like face to face with me in the middle of my darkness in the middle of my poverty in the middle of my brokenness in the middle of my bondage where God reached into time in his grace and through his Son Jesus invited you into eternal covenant and life through your faith in him now these moments are powerful and we generally look upon them with awe and wonder and gratitude so why would God tell people to celebrate the Passover ceremony every year because just like me just like you just like them we have a tendency to forget the power the presence and the faithfulness of God in his saving of us and we need reminding we need reminding part of why we need reminding

Is because we have an enemy of our soul that is constantly and consistently trying to dangle the shame of our sin dangle our dead self in our face and tempt us to step back into that dead skin and out of the power of his spirit in our lives and without regular moments of remembrance of God's salvation for us we begin to see ourselves once again in sinful shame like Adam and Eve saw themselves when they sinned they saw their shame and they hid but here is where we're gonna unpause our story from earlier where God's judgment came and passed over the homes where blood was on the doorposts from the lamb without defect our story from just a moment ago and return to chapter 12 verse 13 because I believe that this verse chapter 12 verse 13 speaks through the course of all of human history even into our very moment here right now the blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are and the Lord says when I see the blood I will pass over you no destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt do you hear this morning when you place your

Full faith in Jesus when God looks at you he does not see your shame and he does not see your guilt he sees the blood no destructive plague will touch you and the blood of Jesus applied to your life by faith saves you from the destructive plague of death and judgment this is the core of the Christian faith the core of Christian truth the same God that saved the Israelites through the shedding of blood will save you as well through the shedding of blood it needs only to be applied to your life by faith in Jesus the Apostle Paul said this in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 7 reminding the Ephesian leaders of this truth and this reality he said in him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of our sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace it is the blood of Jesus Christ applied to your life by faith that brings redemption the forgiveness of sins the cleansing of your heart and the removal of the judgment of death that the Lord brings Peter a disciple and apostle of Jesus said this of the blood in first Peter chapter 1 verse 18 for you know

He says that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers but it was with the precious blood of Christ the lamb without blemish or defect self-familiar the Lord has from the beginning of time been weaving a redemptive thread through history of redeeming and delivering his people to the shedding of blood but maybe you've made the decision of faith in Jesus a long time ago and kind of that awe and gratitude effect of God's deliverance has all but kind of worn out and all you can kind of see even in these moments today again is your shame and your sin you don't see you don't see yourself as God sees you through the blood you need in moments like that a remembrance similar to the Passover remembrance for the Israelites because Passover was then again a yearly reminder oh yeah this is who God is this is what God has done this is what he has done for us you need a reminder they needed a reminder and we all need a reminder and by God's grace he has given us or he has

Given the church a reminder God has given the church a reminder and a remembrance of his deliverance through the shedding of blood through blood applied by faith for our salvation and deliverance the remembrance that we have was instituted by the lamb himself Jesus Christ at the communion table we're gonna celebrate this morning and remember our own deliverance through the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ that all those who had placed their faith in Jesus Christ and the shedding of his blood may be freed from both the power of sin and the penalty of sin that God will see the blood in your life and pass over you we will have our communion liturgy up on the screen behind me the communion liturgy is not a way to kind of be steeped in some specific or type of church tradition the communion liturgy that we use here is meant to reclaim and retell and reproclaim the story of the gospel the reason that we do come to the communion table and asks and invites us to come into engagement with the Spirit of God as he has moved throughout redemptive history and is moving now even

Here Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another is that you do you like that invite this morning need to hear it once again Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him all who earnestly repent of their sin and all who seek to live in peace with one another therefore let us confess our sin both before God and one another merciful God we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart we have failed to be in obedient church we have not done your will we have broken your law we have rebelled against your love we have not loved our neighbors and we have not heard the cry of the needy forgive us we pray free us for joyful obedience through Jesus Christ our Lord amen

Hear the good news Christ died for us while we were yet sinners this proves God's love towards us in the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven bless the Lord who forgives all of our sins who keeps no record of wrongs and makes us as white as snow glory to God amen the Lord be with you lift up your hearts let us give thanks to the Lord our God it is right and a good and joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to you father almighty creator of heaven and earth you formed us in your image and breathed into us the breath of life when we turned away and our love failed your love remained steadfast you delivered us from captivity you made covenant to be our sovereign God and spoke to us through the prophets and so with your people on earth and all the company of heaven we praise your name and join their unending him holy holy holy Lord God of power and might heaven and earth are full of your glory Hosanna in the highest blessed is he who comes in the name

Of the Lord Hosanna in the highest holy are you and blessed is your son Jesus Christ your spear anointed him to preach good news to the poor to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind to set at Liberty those who are oppressed and to announce time had come when you would save your people Jesus healed the sick fed the hungry and ate with sinners by the baptism of his suffering death and resurrection you gave birth to your church you delivered us from slavery to sin and death and made with us a new covenant by water and the spirit when the Lord Jesus ascended he promised to be with us always in the power of your word and Holy Spirit on the night that Jesus was betrayed he met with his followers in an upper room at that meal he took a loaf of bread and giving thanks to his father he broke the bread gave it to his disciples saying take and eat all of you this is the power of the Holy Spirit likewise he took the cup and after giving thanks for the cup he shared it with his disciples this is my blood poured out

For you and for the many of the for the forgiveness of your sins take and drink it often in remembrance of me heavenly father we ask that you would pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and cup make them be for us the body and the blood of Christ that we may be for the world the body of Christ redeemed by his blood by your spirit make us one with Christ one with one another and one in ministry to all the world until Christ comes in final victory and we feast at his heavenly banquet to pray the Lord's prayer with me our father who art in heaven hallowed be your name the kingdom come they will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen if you are new to conduit we invite you this morning to participate with us in the reception of

The gospel through the communion table you do not need to be a member of this church or any church to take communion with us this morning you need only to express faith in the gift of God offered to you in the body and the blood of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins let's pray eternal God we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your spirit to give ourselves for others in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord amen we receive communion here by a method called intention where you come through the center aisle you can tear off a piece of the bread and dip it in the cup and take it at that time Lord with all of creation we lift our voices to sing of your holiness to the lamb that was slain before the foundations of the world we give all honor praise glory and adoration thank you Lord we remember your deliverance today the blood of Jesus shed for our sins

The body of Jesus broken for our sins we trust in you Lord and remember in Jesus name amen you are loved have a great week and we will see you next time