When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as He promised, you are to keep this service. Sermons
I. POINTS OF ANALOGY BETWEEN THE TRUE PASSOVER AND ITS TYPE. 1. In both the death of a blameless victim. The lamb, physically blameless (ver. 5); Christ, morally faultless. A sinful world needs a sinless Saviour. It has one in Christ. The sinlessness of Christ, a moral miracle. Proofs of this sinlessness. (1) Christ asserts his own freedom from sin (John 8:29-46; John 14:30). (2) In no part of his conduct does he betray the least consciousness of guilt. Yet it is admitted that Jesus possessed the finest moral insight of any man who has ever lived. (3) His apostles, one and all, believed him to be sinless (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5). (4) His enemies could find no fault in him (Matthew 26:60; Matthew 27:23, 24). (5) The very traitor confessed the innocence of Christ (Matthew 27:4). (6) The delineation of his character in the gospels bears out the averment of his moral blamelessness. (7) The captious efforts which have been made, by fixing on a few paltry points in the gospel narratives to impeach Christ's sinlessness, indirectly prove it. "As if sin could ever need to be made out against a real sinner in this small way of special pleading; or as if it were ever the way of sin to err in single particles, or homoeopathic quantities of wrong' (Bushnell). 2. In both, the design is to secure redemption from a dreadful evil. In the one case, from the wrath of God revealed against Egypt in the smiting of its first-born. In the other, from the yet more terrible wrath of God revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (Romans 1:18). "Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come" (1 Thessalonians 1:10). "Saved from wrath through him" (Romans 5:9). 3. In both, the principle of the deliverance is that of vicarious sacrifice. The lamb was substituted for the first-born. It protected the house, on whose door-posts the blood was sprinkled, from the stroke of the avenger. The substitutionary character of the death of Christ is, in like manner, affirmed in innumerable Scriptures. Jesus "died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6). He "suffered for sins, the just for the unjust" (1 Peter 3:18). He gave "his life a ransom for many ' (Matthew 19:28). His blood is a propitiation (Romans 3:25). There is just ground for the remark of Coleridge (we quote from memory) that a man who would deal with the language of his father's will, as Unitarians on this and other points do with the language of the New Testament, would be liable to an action at law. 4. In both, there was need for an act of personal, appropriating faith. "The people bowed the head, and worshipped. And the children of Israel went away, and did as the Lord had commanded "(vers. 27, 28). "Through faith (they) kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood," etc. (Hebrews 11:28). Their faith showed itself in sprinkling the blood on their door-posts and lintels, and in sheltering themselves under it. Nothing short of this would have availed to save them. So it is not knowledge about Christ, but faith in him; personal application to his blood, and trust in it as the means of salvation, which secures our safety. Faith is the bunch of hyssop. 5. In both, the slain lamb becomes the food of the new life. There was, on the part of the Israelites, a sacrificial feast upon the flesh of the lamb. This denoted, indeed, peace and fellowship with God, but it was also an act of nourishment. Similarly, under the Gospel, the new life is nourished by feeding upon Christ. We make him ours by inward appropriation and assimilation, and so are spiritually nourished for all holy service (cf. John 6.). Minor typical features might be insisted upon (male of the first year, roast with fire, not a bone broken, unleavened bread, bitter herbs of contrition, etc.), but the above are the broad and outstanding ones. II. THE SURPASSING EXCELLENCE OF THE TRUE PASSOVER. It belongs to the nature of a type that it should be surpassed by the antitype. The type is taken from a lower sphere than the thing which it represents. So completely, in the case of the passover, does the reality rise above the type, that when we begin to reflect on it the sense of likeness is all but swallowed up in the sense of disproportion. How great, 1. The contrast in the redemptions. The redemption from Egypt, though spiritual elements were involved in it, was primarily a redemption from the power of Pharaoh, and from a temporal judgment about to fall on Egypt. Underlying it, there was the need for a yet greater redemption - a redemption from the curse of a broken law, and from the tyranny of sin and Satan; from death spiritual, temporal, and eternal. It is this higher redemption which Christ has achieved, altering, through his death, the whole relation of God to man, and of (believing)man to God. 2. The contrast in the victims. That, an irrational lamb; this, the Eternal Son of God in human nature, the Lord's own Christ. 3. The contrast in the efficacy of the blood. The blood of the passover lamb had no inherent virtue to take away sin. Whatever virtue it possessed arose from God's appointment, or from its typical relation to the sacrifice of Christ. Its imperfection as a sacrifice was seen (1) In the multitude of the victims. (2) In the repetition of the service (Hebrews 10:1-3). But what the flowing of the blood of millions of lambs, year by year slain in atonement for sin could not achieve, Christ has achieved once for all by the offering up of his holy body and soul. The dignity of his person, the greatness of his love, his holy will, the spirit of perfect self-sacrifice in which he, himself sinless, offered himself up to bear the curse of sin for the unholy, confers upon his oblation an exhaustless meritoriousness. Its worth and sufficiency are infinite (Hebrews 10:10-15; 1 Peter 1:19; 1 John 2:2). 4. The contrast in the specific blessings obtained. The difference in these springs from the contrast in the redemptions. Israel obtained (1) Escape from judgment. (2) Outward liberty. (3) Guidance, care, and instruction in the desert. (4) Ultimately, an earthly inheritance. We receive, through Christ, (1) Pardon of all sins. (2) A complete justifying righteousness, carrying with it the title to eternal life. (3) Renewal and sanctification by the Spirit. (4) Every needed temporal and spiritual blessing in life. (5) Heaven at the close, with triumph over death, the hope of a resurrection, and of final perfecting in glory. - J.O.
Ye shall keep this service. I. IN THIS INCIDENT WE HAVE A CLEAR RECOGNITION OF THE PRINCIPLE OF VICARIOUS SUFFERING. It is seen in the birth of the infant, in the history of the family circle, in the events of everyday life, but supremely in the Cross of Christ. In the Cross of Christ it is seen in its highest embodiment, in its truest meaning, and in its most glorious possibility. There is the innocent dying for the guilty, the God-man suffering for the race.II. IN THIS INCIDENT WE HAVE A CLEAR RECOGNITION OF THE NEED OF FALLING IN WITH ALL THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE GREAT SCHEME OF SALVATION. The method whereby the Israelites were to be protected from the stroke of the Destroying Angel was Divinely originated, clearly revealed, and imperative in requirement. The sinner must be saved in God's way, and not after his own. He may reason about the peculiarity of the method of salvation; be may think that other means will be more effective to the end desired; but if he at last is found out of the Divine way of safety, he will inevitably be lost. The blood of Christ sprinkled on the heart is the only sign the Destroying Angel will recognize and regard as the token of safety. III. IN THIS INCIDENT WE HAVE A CLEAR RECOGNITION OF THE FACT THAT THE DIVINE METHOD OF SALVATION WILL AVERT THE MOST AWFUL PERIL. The trustful soul shall not be hurt by the second death. IV. IN THIS INCIDENT WE HAVE A CLEAR RECOGNITION OF THE FACT THAT THE EFFICACY OF THE DIVINE METHOD OF SALVATION SHOULD BE ASSOCIATED WITH PUBLIC RELIGIOUS ORDINANCES (ver. 24). V. IN THIS INCIDENT WE HAVE A CLEAR RECOGNITION OF THE FACT THAT THE GOOD SHOULD BE ABLE TO GIVE AN INTELLIGENT EXPLANATION OF THEIR MORAL SAFETY (ver. 27). (J. S. Exell, M. A.) II. IT IS NECESSARY IN ORDER TO THE TRUE PERFORMANCE OF PARENTAL DUTY AND INSTRUCTION. III. IT IS NECESSARY IN ORDER TO REFUTE AND SILENCE THE SCEPTICAL REASONINGS OF MEN. (J. S. Exell, M. A.) 1. It became and remained the national mark. 2. It was also the saving token. 3. It was rendered as conspicuous as possible. 4. It was made very dear to the people themselves by the fact that they trusted in it in the most implicit manner. 5. The paschal bloodshedding was to be had in perpetual remembrance. 6. This sprinkling of the blood was to be an all-pervading memory. II. THE INSTITUTION THAT WAS CONNECTED WITH THE REMEMBRANCE OF THE PASSOVER. Inquiry should be excited respecting spiritual things in the minds of children. The doctrine of the expiatory sacrifice is a gospel for the youngest. ( C. H. Spurgeon.) It is well to explain to children the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, for this shows forth the death of Christ in symbol. I regret that children do not oftener see this ordinance. Baptism and the Lord's Supper should both be placed in view of the rising generation, that they may then ask us, "What mean ye by this?" Now, the Lord's Supper is a perennial gospel sermon, and it turns mainly upon the sacrifice for sin. You may banish the doctrine of the Atonement from the pulpit, but it will always live in the Church through the Lord's Supper. You cannot explain that broken bread and that cup filled with the fruit of the vine, without reference to the Lord's atoning death. You cannot explain "the communion of the body of Christ" without bringing in, in some form or other, the death of Jesus in our place and stead. Let your little ones, then, see the Lord's Supper, and let them be told most clearly what it sets forth. Tell them who it was that suffered, and why. And when attention is excited upon the best of themes, let us be ready to explain the great transaction by which God is just, and yet sinners are justified. Children can well understand the doctrine of the expiatory sacrifice; it was meant to be a gospel for the youngest. The gospel of substitution is a simplicity, though it is a mystery. We ought not to be content until our little ones know and trust in their finished Sacrifice. This is essential knowledge, and the key to all other spiritual teaching. With all their gettings may they get an understanding of this, and they will have the foundation rightly laid. This will necessitate your teaching the child his need of a Saviour. You must not hold back from this needful task. Do not flatter the child with delusive rubbish about his nature being good and needing to be developed. Tell him he must be born again. Don't bolster him up with the fancy of his own innocence, but show him his sin. Mention the childish sins to which he is prone, and pray the Holy Spirit to work conviction in his heart and conscience.(J. S. Exell, M. A.) People Aaron, Egyptians, Israelites, Moses, PharaohPlaces Egypt, Rameses, SuccothTopics Act, Ceremony, Enter, Giveth, Kept, Observe, Pass, Promised, Rite, Service, Spoken, Worship, YoursOutline 1. The beginning of the year is changed3. The Passover is instituted 11. The import of the rite of the Passover 15. Unleavened bread 29. The firstborn are slain 31. The Israelites are driven out of the land 37. They come to Succoth 41. The time of their sojourning 43. The ordinance of the Passover Dictionary of Bible Themes Exodus 12:25 5302 education 7021 church, OT anticipations Library The Passover: an Expiation and a Feast, a Memorial and a Prophecy'And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2. This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: 4. And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Exodus A Question for Communicants The Blood The Birthnight of Freedom Of the Practice of Piety in Holy Feasting. Of Preparation. The Reaction against Egypt The Typical Significance of the Scriptures Declare their Divine Authorship Preparation for Passover. Disciples Contend for Precedence. Bread and Wine Appendix xii. The Baptism of Proselytes The Johannine Writings Circumcision, Temple Service, and Naming of Jesus. Opposition to Messiah in Vain Sundry Exhortations. Peaceable Principles and True: Or, a Brief Answer to Mr. D'Anver's and Mr. Paul's Books against My Confession of Faith, and Differences in Judgment About Baptism no Bar to Communion. Solomon's Temple Spiritualized Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners: Jesus Living at Nazareth and visiting Jerusalem in his Twelfth Year. The Prophet Amos. The Scriptures Jesus, My Rock. Links Exodus 12:25 NIVExodus 12:25 NLT Exodus 12:25 ESV Exodus 12:25 NASB Exodus 12:25 KJV Exodus 12:25 Bible Apps Exodus 12:25 Parallel Exodus 12:25 Biblia Paralela Exodus 12:25 Chinese Bible Exodus 12:25 French Bible Exodus 12:25 German Bible Exodus 12:25 Commentaries Bible Hub |