This sermon delves into the parallel between the Old Testament Passover and its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. It emphasizes the importance of moving from shadows to substance, highlighting the detailed fulfillment of God's plan. The sermon covers various aspects such as creation, substitution, inspection, affection, execution, application, confession, protection, impartation, separation, declaration, celebration, sanctification, unification, direction, redemption, immersion, and destination, all pointing towards the ultimate destination of being in the presence of God.

I think in the King James it does use the word Easter to appease King James at the time, but basically it is not a scriptural word. The correct word is the word Passover. And I want to trace the parallel between the Old Testament Passover and the fulfillment of that Passover. As you know, the Bible says that all the types and shadows in the Old Testament were fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. And He is the substance of the shadow. There's a tremendous amount of interest these days in going back and the messianic movements that are springing up, in going back and getting stuck with all the shadows. Now when I passed to the church, I conducted many a marriage, and I'm sure Pastor Jim has done the same thing, you know, the bride and the groom and so on, but I never ever married a shadow. It was always the substance that was standing there. You know, the bride was real. You could feel her. It was never just a shadow. And I don't know why people get so excited about the shadows when the substance is here. And we need to understand. But nevertheless, I want to go back, and if you have your Bible, turn with me to the book of Exodus. We were taught in Bible school, which is many, many years ago for me now, 53 or 54 at least, that the old is in the new revealed, and the new is in the old concealed. In other words, the New Testament gives us a greater revelation of what we see in the Old Testament in a sort of a type and shadow. So what I'm going to do, we're going to look at the shadow, and then we're going to look at the substance as we go through this, because one of the things that interests me as I study the Word of God is just the fascinating way in which God fulfills every detail. I mean, the Word of God is written by numerous authors, all inspired obviously by the Spirit of God, but we see this amazing parallel between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Let me give you a scripture. First of all, 1 Corinthians 5, and verse 7, it says, Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. And what I've done now as we go through this, and I don't know how many points I've got, but you'll know when I'm getting to the end, about 18. Okay? 18 points. Now, it won't take more than 20 minutes for each point. It won't take that long. But I've taken one word, and then I'm going to elaborate on that one word. In fact, I've already lied because the first one is a number of words. The word creation, the word inauguration, or the word institution. We had an inauguration. In other words, an inauguration is the beginning of something new. The word creation, something new, begins. And Exodus chapter 12, and verse 3, Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves according to their father's household. Sorry, it's verse 2. This month shall be the beginning of months for you. It is to be the first month of the year for you. In other words, the Passover began a brand new season, a brand new year. Not just a season, a brand new year in the life of the children of Israel. It would be like God coming down and saying that the year 2017 is going to begin today. And so all calendars and everything else now are going to be changed. It's not going to be January the 1st anymore. It's going to be April the 2nd. I mean, that's really what happened. It's fascinating to me that no matter where you go in the world, whether you go to a communist country, whether you go into an atheist country, whether you go into a Hindu country or a Muslim country or whatever, that if you ask them what day is it, they will say to you it is April the 2nd, and thereby testifying to the fact that Jesus Christ changed time. In other words, the fulfillment of that Passover is 2017 years ago. In a communist country, in an atheist country, in a Hindu country, or whatever other country you go to, when they make out a check and they sign it April the 2nd, 2017, they are testifying to the fact that it is A.D., the year of our Lord. Not B.C., not before Christ. In other words, the Passover divided time. Isn't that amazing? And so the Bible says, of course, the fulfillment of that, 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 17, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. The moment you accept the Passover lamb, if you like, as your own personal lamb, your own personal Savior, you begin a brand new life. You are a new creature. All things have passed away. A new season, if you like, begins in your spiritual life. John 3 and verse 3, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. In other words, there is a new birth just as there is a natural birth. We celebrate our birthdays. We should celebrate our spiritual birthdays as well. That was the beginning of a brand new life for us. So that's the first word, the word creation, or the word institution or inauguration. The second word is the word substitution. In verse 3 it says, you are to take a lamb for each house. In other words, that lamb was going to shed its blood, or its blood was going to be shed as a substitute for the life of the individual. When Jesus Christ died, He died in my place. As the old hymn says, in my place condemned He stood, sealed my pardon with His blood. Hallelujah, what a Savior. I think we need to sing more Easter songs throughout the year. We really do, don't we? Hallelujah, He's risen, He's risen. We saved Him for one season, but it is a substitute. Revelation 5 and verse 6, it says, I saw a lamb standing as if slain. John in the book of Revelation, as he has that incredible revelation of the end times and so on, he sees a lamb standing as if slain. And of course John 1 verse 29, a verse that we are all familiar with, when John the Baptist saw the Lord Jesus Christ coming, he said, behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. That was a revelation that John had. This is the Lamb of God. This is the one that is going to die in your place and my place. And so Jesus Christ became our substitute. The third one is inspection. Verse 5, it says the lamb shall be unblemished. In other words, the children of Israel could not just hop over the back fence and grab any old lamb and bring it in, cut the throat of that lamb and say, you know, I fulfilled what God asked me to do. No, that lamb had to be without spot, without wrinkle, if you like, unblemished. And so they had to inspect it. In other words, it had to be examined thoroughly. That was one of the jobs later on of the priesthood. Every person that brought a sacrifice, that sacrifice had to be inspected. And if it had any type of blemish whatsoever, it was discarded. It could not be accepted to God. Now when we talk about sacrifices in the New Testament, the Bible talks about a sacrifice of praise. And the psalmist says, let the words of my mouth, the meditation of my heart be what? Acceptable. In other words, we should give to God the very best. When we sing, we should not have our mind on what we're going to eat today or the person's hairdo in front of us or whatever it is. We should be giving to God the very, very best sacrifice. And so there was an inspection. 1 Peter 1 verse 18 and 19, you are not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of a lamb unblemished and spotless. In other words, Jesus was the spotless Lamb of God. In Him there was no sin. He who knew no sin became sin for us. But that wasn't sufficient because you could brag of yourself. You could testify, well, I'm sinless. And anybody could say that. But He had to be examined. Now notice what happened in Matthew 26 verse 59. Now the chief priests, of course, those were the religious leaders of the day, and the whole council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus. And they did not find any. In other words, they were trying to accuse Jesus of being a blasphemer. They brought all sorts of accusations against Him. And yet when they examined Him, they could find absolutely no fault in Him. That was the religious community. We go on then to Luke chapter 23 and verse 14. Pilate, it says, having examined Him said, I find no fault in Him. And then verse 15, the next verse, nor has Herod. So in other words, Jesus was examined by the spiritual hierarchy and then also by the civil authority, the king. And neither of them could say, listen, I've examined Him. You brought accusations. I've looked at those accusations and there is not one single thing that you claim to be true that is true about the Lord Jesus Christ. Amazing that the Lamb of God was examined just as it was in the Old Testament. So there was a period of inspection. Of course, the Bible says in the mouth of two or three witnesses let every word be established. And so you've got priests and you've got kings and rulers that are examining Him. Number four is the word affection. Now this may sound like a strange one in some ways, but in Exodus 12 and verse 6, it says, and you shall take the lamb and you shall keep it until the 14th day of the same month. I remember very vividly as a young boy in my early teens, my parents moved from England to Ireland. My mother's Irish and we bought a farm. My father had had a serious accident. It was a time of recuperation, so we bought this farm and it was a sort of old McDonald's type farm. We had a little bit of everything apart from a horse. My mother being a nurse and she said no horses allowed. Horses and motorcycles never had a chance in our family. But we had cattle. We had milking cows. We had chickens and ducks and you name it, but we also had sheep. And I remember during the lambing season that occasionally a ewe would die during the lambing process and we would have a pet lamb on our hands. And we would have to feed that pet lamb and believe it or not, you know Mary had a little lamb is absolutely true. Wherever Mary went, that lamb was sure to follow. And that became a sort of permanent attachment to you. Why? Because you were its source of food. You gave it to Bible and it was like a dog. It would follow you everywhere. And you became attached to that lamb. I mean it really was a joy. You know something about a lamb, it's not vicious. It's not going to bite you. It's not going to butt you and so on. It's just that cuddly little thing. Now it's interesting in Revelation 5 and verse 6. It says in the midst of the throne there was a lamb. And I'm not an expert on these things, but I can read. And the Greek word is anios, A-R-N-I-O-S, and it means a little pet lamb. It is the same word that Jesus used when He said to Peter, Do you love Me, Peter? And Peter said, Yes, I do. And He says, Okay, feed My sheep. And then asked Him three times, but finally the third time He used the same word, Feed My lambs. Now why is that important? Because you can imagine if we go back to the Passover time, here is a household and they would take a lamb for a household. And that lamb would be with them for at least four days. And it became a pet lamb. It was in the house with them. They were looking after it and so on. And then you had to kill that pet lamb. That would be like you taking your dog, and I assume there's a few dog lovers here. One lady back there. Imagine having to go home this afternoon and take little Fido and slit the throat of that thing in front of the children. That would be a horrific thing. In other words, this is something you really love. Isn't that true? Now the Bible says, Jesus came unto His own, and His own received Him not. Zechariah 13, verse 6, And one shall say unto Him, What are these wounds in Your hands? And He shall answer them, These are those that I was wounded in the house of My friends. The house of My friends. The Bible says, In the night in which He was what? Betrayed. Betrayed by His friends. That little pet lamb, that innocent, spotless lamb that knew no sin and never did any sin and so on was again killed. There was an affection that built up and then wounded in the house of His friends. The next one is the word execution. New Testament calls the word crucifixion. Exodus 12, verse 6, You shall kill it at twilight. In other words, God gave very specific details when that lamb was to die and it was to die at twilight. In Matthew 27, verse 22, it says, Let him be crucified. They cried out for the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. And a few verses later, verse 45, Matthew 27, it says, At the sixth hour, darkness fell. In other words, Jesus fulfilled that exactly. It was at twilight. It was an unnatural darkness, but nevertheless, every Jew should have been observant enough to say, Listen, something's going on here that is unnatural. The lamb was crucified again at that twilight hour. Number six. See, it's not too bad, is it? We're getting there. Okay. Some of you needed to forgive me back then when I said that. Number six. Application or appropriation. Application or appropriation. Exodus 12, verse 7, it says, You shall take the blood and put it on the two doorposts. You shall take the blood and you shall apply it to the doorposts. In other words, it was not sufficient to just kill the lamb. There's a lot of people, you could walk down the street here or go to Beaumont or wherever it is and say, Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on a cross? And you may possibly get an 80% answer, Yes, I do. But have you appropriated the death of Christ? You may not get that same degree, maybe 10% or 20% at the most. In other words, it was not sufficient just to see the lamb crucified or killed. The blood had to be applied on the doorpost of your house. And so it says here, Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. But John 10, verse 9, I am the door. By me, if any man enters in, he shall be saved. Again, it was interesting. Why didn't he say on the window? Why didn't he say on the roof? Because Jesus Christ later on claimed again, I am the door. It is the door that gets you into, if you like, the house of God, into the family of God. And there is only one door. I am the door, not a door. You know? So we need to see that. Hebrews 11, verse 28, talks about Moses. It says, By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood so that those who destroy the firstborn should not destroy them. Not only did he keep the Passover, in other words, the shedding of the blood of the Lamb, but also the sprinkling of the blood. That is important. A lot of people, like I say, believe in the shedding of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. History will testify to the fact Jesus Christ was crucified. But it's a different thing to believe that He was crucified for me and I by faith reach out and apply that blood to my life. So, number seven is the word confession. Confession. And also protection. You could put that word there alongside it. Exodus 12, verse 7, it says, You are to put the blood on the doorposts of the house. Now, this is one of the things that I think we many times were weak on when it comes to making a testimony or were weak on testifying to others that we believe that Jesus Christ shed His blood and have appropriated that in our life. In other words, the Bible says if we confess with our mouth Jesus Christ as Lord and believe that God has raised Him from the dead, a lot of us, it's an internal confession. But we don't confess with our mouth. In other words, if you lived in this period of time and your neighbor was an Egyptian or maybe another neighbor was an Egyptian and they walked home one day and they saw you putting blood on the doorposts of your house, they would obviously be curious and say, What on earth are you guys doing? And then they had an option to say, Jesus Christ has told us or God has told us that we are to apply the blood to the doorposts because tonight the death angel is going to come and unless we have the blood on the doorposts, we are going to be damned, we're going to be doomed and so on and so forth. It was an outward sign of an inward belief. It was a testimony to the outside world that we believe that the blood of Jesus Christ is going to protect us. And the same thing is true in our own life. We have to make that outward confession so that people know, people that you work with, people you go to school with, or whatever, we need to let them know, Listen, I am a Christian. I gave my life to Christ as a teenager or whatever it is and make that outward confession. It's also, of course, a protection as we'll see. Number eight is the word impartation. Impartation. Exodus 12 and verse 8, And they shall eat the flesh the same night, roasted with fire. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. So it was not enough just to apply the blood. You had to partake of the flesh. Jesus made that very, very clear when He said this in John 6 and verse 53, Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life. In other words, the Lamb literally gave them strength in the natural, natural strength. They were going to commence a journey This was going to be the strength in which they were to go out and leave the land of Egypt and so on. In the New Testament parallel, it's Christ in you, the hope of glory. We receive the Lamb into us. Christ lives in me. The old hymn, Oh, what a salvation this, that Christ liveth in me. Some of those old hymns, they were rich in theology. But Christ lives in me. I have to receive Him into my life. Likewise, they had to partake of the Lamb. Christ in you. Colossians 1 verse 27, if you want the Scripture. Revelation 3 verse 20, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man opens the door, I will come in to him. God wants to dwell in you. Our body is the dwelling place of God. Isn't that right? We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. But He will not force His way in. We have to invite Him in. We have to partake and they have to partake in the same way. Number nine is the word separation. Exodus 12 and verse 11, Now you shall eat it in this manner, with your loins girded, and sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. Now why does the Bible say that? Because it was the beginning of a journey. They were going to leave where they had lived all of their life up until that particular moment. And they were now going to separate themselves from Egypt, from the sin of Egypt, from the gods of Egypt, from everything else. The moment you and I receive Jesus Christ into our life, we begin a journey. In fact, the Bible refers to us as pilgrims. Isn't that right? We're looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. There should be, if you like, a good restlessness in every single one of us. You know, I'm getting older now, so I'm closer to the finishing line than I was last time I was here. And I'm sort of getting excited about it. You know, my wife always said, oh, I hate you flying and this and that. I said, listen, darling, if the plane goes down, I just go to a better destination than the one I was going to. Of course, apart from Vida, you know. But we are on a journey. Isn't that right? We are to press on. We're to move on. It's a life of separation. Colossians 1 and verse 13, He delivered us out of the kingdom of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His dear Son. In fact, when the children of Israel came out, you remember that it was darkness for them and it was light for the children of Israel. God literally caused something to happen where they were in light because they were in the kingdom of light and the Egyptians were in a kingdom of darkness. It was symbolic, but nevertheless very real. 1 Peter 2 and verse 11, the Bible says we are strangers and pilgrims and we are to abstain from fleshly lusts. In other words, God wants us as believers to live a life of separation. Jesus Christ, the Passover, did not leave them in Egypt. It took them out of Egypt. Jesus came to save His people from their sin, not in their sin. There's a popular message these days, a sort of grace message that basically says you can continue in your sin. No. God wants us to be separated. 2 Corinthians 6, verse 17, Come out from among them and be you separate, saith the Lord. Touch not the unclean thing, and I will welcome you. I will be a father unto you, and you shall be sons and daughters unto Me, saith the Lord. In other words, there are conditions for calling God your Father. And the condition is that you separate. God says you separate yourself first, then I will welcome you. Meaning if you don't separate, I can't welcome you. Let everyone that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. If we are going to call ourselves Christians, part of the Christian life is we live a life of separation. We are not involved in the things of the world. We're not doing what the world is doing. We've come out. We have to have our shoes on, our feet, so to speak, our loins girded, and staff in our hand. We commence a journey. Let us press on to maturity, the Bible says. We have to run the race that is set before us. It is always progressive in the Bible. And the children of Israel, of course, we see that very, very clearly. Number 10, declaration or exaltation or demolition. Exodus 12 and verse 12, it says, I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and I will strike down all the firstborn of the land of Egypt, both of man and of beast, and then notice, and against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. In other words, the night of the Passover, God declared His supremacy over all the gods of Egypt. Now keep in mind, those gods were demonic forces. When Moses threw down his rod and it became a serpent, Pharaoh was not that impressed. He called in his magicians. They threw down their rods, and they too became serpents. That was not just sly of hand. They operate in a very, very powerful demonic realm. There was a darkness over the land of Egypt. But God said, Tonight I'm going to show that My authority is greater than all the gods of Egypt. Now, when Jesus Christ died on the cross, Colossians 2 and verse 15, it says He disarmed rulers and authorities. He triumphed over them. I don't know if I've shared before, but a good friend of mine many years ago said one of the most powerful tools, if you like, or weapons is a better word, one of the most powerful weapons we have is communion against the enemy. Because when we take those emblems, we are signifying the fact that Jesus Christ triumphed over all the powers of darkness. And we need to proclaim that. It's a proclamation. It's a declaration that our God reigns. He reigns over all the powers of darkness. And so there that night, God says, I'm going to show now through the shed blood of the Lamb that I have triumphed over all the powers of darkness. Number 11 is liberation. Exodus 12 and verse 13, When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you. In other words, when I see that blood, you will not be condemned along with the rest of the world. Every firstborn of the cattle, I mean, there was an incredible death that took place throughout the land of Egypt that night. From Pharaoh's household all the way down to the house of their servants and so on, every firstborn was taken. God's judgment fell. Romans 3 verse 25, In the forbearance of God, He passed over the sins previously committed. Romans 5 and verse 9, Much more than having been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God. Thank God we do not have to have that same wrath poured out on us that is poured out on the world. We've been saved by the blood of the Lamb, not by our own goodness. God so loved the world that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish. Why? Because there was a Passover Lamb that took your place and my place so that we didn't have to go through again that judgment of God upon our lives. Another verse, John 8 verse 36, If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. It was a time of deliverance, a time of freedom where judgment came to the world but not to the people of God. Number 12, the word celebration. As you know, the various feasts were all feasts in which they celebrated. Aren't you glad there weren't seven fasts? There were seven feasts. Sounds good, doesn't it? It says we are to celebrate it as a feast to the Lord in verse 14. So it was something we celebrate. We should celebrate what Jesus Christ has done in our life. Isn't that right? There is no room for gloom and despair and despondency and misery and so on. The Bible talks about joy. In fact, our pastor ministers on righteousness, peace, and joy, and he's been doing a mini-series, but the last one was joy. But the Bible says then were the disciples filled with joy. Part of the fruit of the Spirit is joy. In His presence is what? Fullness of misery. No, fullness of joy. I remember an old Methodist. There used to be a Methodist evangelist that used to come to our church in New Zealand, and he had been liberated and brought into the baptism of the Spirit and had a huge healing ministry, sort of the Benny Hinn of Australia. But he would say this. He said, If heaven is like your church on a Sunday morning, how many of you would really like to live there forever? That was his way. Most of us are looking at our watch, can't wait to get out of here. He said, If that's a foretaste of heaven, forget it. Hopefully it's going to be exciting. Isn't that right? And we are to celebrate the feast. So 1 Corinthians 5, verse 7, Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. Let us celebrate it. 1 Corinthians 10, verse 16, Is this not the cup of blessing which we bless, a sharing in the blood of Christ? Again, we have been blessed above all people. I think of the prodigal son there in Luke 15, where the father said, Listen, we had to rejoice. This son of ours has come back from a far country. He was blind, but now he sees. He was dead, but now he's alive. And he called in the music and the dancing and the band. It would be neat to have a recording of that particular event. See what sort of music they had and what the songs were like. But the father was excited, the father being a type of God, the father running. The only time God ran in the Bible. And he's running to embrace the prodigal. And then he strikes up the band and so on. So we celebrate what God has done. Number 13 is the word sanctification. The word sanctification is a word we don't use a great deal anymore sadly, but it means to set something apart as being holy and for a holy purpose and so on. Verse 15, Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. But on the first day you shall remove the leaven from your houses. For whoever eats anything leavened on the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. As you know, there were two feasts that went back to back. Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And because they were so close, most of the time we just refer to it as the Passover. Even in the New Testament, they don't talk about the Passover, but it's inclusive of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. What is interesting about this feast is this, that for seven days, you had to go through your house and you had to take out anything that was leavened. Now you ladies know, maybe you don't, but the older ones will and you used to make your own bread. You put a little bit of leaven in there and it isn't too long before it permeates and affects the whole lump of dough. Isn't that right? And leaven in the Bible is a type of sin. And so God was saying again, in types and shadows, now that I've redeemed you by the blood, I want you to have a walk of holiness, a walk of sanctification. No leaven in your house. And you were the one that was responsible. Now I know that sounds like works, but we have to cooperate with the Spirit of God. As the Spirit of God goes through this house, because the Bible says whose house we are, He begins to open things in our life and says, David, I discovered this today. A little bit of leaven in your life. And I need then to repent and avail myself of the cleansing of the blood of the Lamb. Is that right? But I have to have a life of unleavenedness. And it's for seven days. Seven in the Bible is always a type of completion or a type of perfection. In other words, God wants us to walk free from sin and certainly free from the bondage of sin. So they were to be sanctified. And if they refused, they were cut off. And that's the interesting thing. I may have said this before. For those of you who are strong believers in eternal security, this is the one Scripture that in typology demolishes all that because we are now under the protection of the blood. The Lamb has been crucified. The blood has been shed, appropriated. Now we're redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. But now that we are redeemed, we are to walk in holiness. We are to walk in purity. And if we don't, we're cut off. Now you say, well, that's Old Testament. Well, let me give you the New Testament. In the New Testament, there was a particular problem in the church where there was a man that was having sexual relationships with his father's wife, not his mother. His mother had obviously died or there was a divorce or whatever. But he is having a sexual relationship with his father's wife. And Paul finds out about it and he says, listen, if this man doesn't repent, remove the man. But in 1 Corinthians 5, it says, let us celebrate the feast not with the unleavened bread of malice and wickedness and so on. In other words, unleavenedness has come into the church. And you guys are basically rejoicing over it, he said to the Corinthians. It doesn't disturb you. It doesn't worry you that there are people in the congregation sleeping together and they're not married and so on and so forth. This was Paul's concern. He said you should be brokenhearted. You should be weeping over that. That should really trouble you. It should bother you. And so, you know, they put this man under discipline and hoping that he will do something, but if not, they said, remove him. So there we have, in fact, not only that, it says we put him under discipline that his soul might be saved. Right? Now if his soul couldn't be lost, why go through the exercise? It was nebulous. It was pointless to put him through. If he couldn't be lost anyway, Paul says that his soul might be saved in the day of redemption. There you have in very powerful typology the fact that, listen, we can. It may not be easy, but we can lose our salvation. If we are determined to live a life of sin and sort of thumb God, so to speak, and just say I don't care, I'm going to do my own thing and so on, God will cut us off. He's patient. He's kind. He's long-suffering and so on, but ultimately, you know, He will let us go. All right. Now that we've got that resolved, the next one is unification. Unification. I'm not talking about some church group here. Exodus 12 and verse 46, it says you are not allowed to break any bone of the Passover lamb. In other words, when you have that lamb roasted by the fire and you're eating of it, you are not to break the bones. And of course, the fulfillment of that is in John 19 verse 31. Jesus is on the cross. He's been crucified. He is the Passover lamb. And what would happen is people could linger on the cross. In other words, they could lift themselves up a little bit and get another breath. And they could keep themselves going many times for an hour or two hours or whatever, but the Roman soldiers would come along and they would break the bones, the leg bones of the person on the cross so that then they had no strength to lift themselves up and sort of get that extra breath. They would just hang there and it would speed up the death process. And of course it says here that the Scripture might be fulfilled, not a bone of him shall be broken. When they passed by, when those Roman soldiers came to the Lord Jesus Christ, he was already dead. He'd already given up his spirit. It is finished. He was dead. And they did not break a bone. And then the Bible says that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Amazing, isn't it? The detail that God went to to show you and I that Jesus Christ really is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Every little jot and tittle Jesus Christ fulfilled. And then of course the great high priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17, 21, that they may be one, even as thou, Father, art in me. God is looking for unity in the body of Christ. We may meet in different congregations and so on, but in the eyes of God, if you are redeemed by the blood, it is a body that is not divided. The old hymn, Onward Christian Soldiers, it says all one body we. One in hope and doctrine, one in purity or charity. All one body we. In other words, from God's perspective, if you have accepted Christ as your Savior, whether you're a Methodist, Presbyterian or whatever, you're part of the body of Christ. I even understand that in the original language where it says that he took the bread and it says he broke it, that the word broken is not in there in the original. He took the bread and he gave it to again fulfill the fact that his body was not broken. Unification. The next one is direction or progression or vision. Exodus 13 and verse 20. Jump over a chapter now. And it says they set out going to the wilderness. In other words, they have commenced their journey. They have got a vision. They've got direction. Exodus 8 and verse 1, it says let my people go that they may serve me. God's intention was to have a people and that he would be the very center of everything that they did. Hopefully tonight I can get into that a little more. We're going to look at one of the minor prophets and so on, but we'll see how God intended the entire nation of Israel, their life was to revolve around the Lamb, if you like. Jesus Christ symbolically was to be in the midst of them, not on the outskirts and so on. You know, that word myths, if you look it up in the Bible, in the midst of the throne, a Lamb. He stood in their midst. You know, God is not to be on the outskirts. He wants to be in the very center of everything we do. You know, Jesus be the center of my life. We sing that song sometimes. Hebrews 12 and verse 1, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. In other words, we are commencing the journey now. There should be vision. There should be direction in our life. Hebrews 6 and verse 1, let us press on to maturity. Romans 8 and verse 14, as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. In other words, God wants to lead us. We should know the direction of the Holy Spirit in our life. He is constantly leading us on to maturity, on to the things that pertain to the kingdom of God and so on. That should be our life. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. All the other things will take care of themselves if we get the right priority. Number 16 is the word redemption. Redemption. Exodus 15 and verse 16 now. They have come to the Red Sea. The waters have parted. You know the story. It says here in verse 16, terror and dread fell upon them. By the greatness of thine arm, they are motionless as stones, speaking of course of the army of Pharaoh. Until thy people pass over, O Lord, until the people pass over, whom Thou hast purchased. Whom Thou hast purchased. One aspect of the cross, and if you've been here over the years, I know I've ministered on it. One aspect of the cross is the word redemption. It means to buy. You are not your own. You're being bought with a price. Jesus Christ did not simply shed His blood so that you could be forgiven. He shed His blood so that you became His possession. I know for a lot of people that's a real, real struggle. I'm happy to give God my sin. I just don't want to give Him myself. And He's not interested in your sin. He is interested in yourself. He wants you for Himself. The Bible says, let me give you the Scriptures here, 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 19, you are not your own. You've been bought with a price. Titus 2 and verse 13 and 14, it says, and He purchased for Himself a people for His own possession. And then Revelation 5 and verse 9, it says, and you purchase for God with your blood men from every kindred, tongue, tribe, and nation. So when Jesus Christ died, He purchased you. In other words, you are His now. You're His by the right of creation. You're His by the right of redemption. He's got a twofold claim on your life. And we have no right to do with this life of ours what we want to without His permission. I remember Lauren Cunningham, Director of Youthful Mission, he would always take the verse, go into all the world and preach the Gospel. And people would say to him, but I'm not called. He says, yes, you're called. There's the call, go. He says, you need permission to stay. I like that. In other words, every single one of us is called to go and you need permission to stay. We reverse it and say, well, I need permission to go. God hasn't told me to go. Yeah, He's told you to go. You need permission to stay. So show me your permission slip and I'll let you stay. Thank you. Alright, redemption. We're not our own. Number 17, immersion. We're getting there. Exodus 14, verse 22. Children of Israel went through the waters and it says, the sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land and the waters were like walls to them on their right side and on their left side. In other words, that is a type of baptism. Paul writing to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter 10, it says they were all baptized into Moses in the sea, in the cloud and in the sea. That was an outward sign again. Immersion, identification. Romans 6 and verse 4, we are buried with Him in baptism that we should no longer be slaves to sin. In other words, that was a symbol of their baptism. When they went down into those waters and they came up on the other side, the children of Israel were being pursued, as you know, by the chariots of Pharaoh, the army of Pharaoh and they went down into those waters, those same men that would beat them on a regular basis because they were slaves prior to this, remember. And if they didn't make their quarter of bricks or whatever, there's all sorts of hardship and affliction and so on. But the moment they went down into the waters, the waters came back and drowned every master. In other words, that mastery over their life. Sin shall not have dominion over you. We have been brought up and raised up in newness of life. If you've never been baptized, symbolically, again, it is a great lesson and you should be water baptized by immersion. It's hard to bury somebody by sprinkling. Isn't that right? They smell pretty bad. You go to the graveyard and there's bodies there and somebody's just gone like this with a little bit of sand. Four days later, that thing is going to stink. You've got to bury it. And we've got to be buried in the waters of baptism and then we're raised up in newness of life and the old dominion over us. We're no longer slaves to sin. Jesus Christ has broken that dominion. Sin shall not have dominion over you for you're not under law but what? Under grace. Grace has got a greater power. The power to deliver you from sin. Not to keep you in sin. It's not an excuse for sin. It's the power to give you dominion over sin. So, immersion or identification. And the last one, destination. Exodus chapter 15 and verse 13. It says, In thy lovingkindness thou hast led thy people whom thou hast redeemed. In thy strength thou didst guide them to thy holy habitation. Now, it's interesting. There's one other verse here. Verse 17. Thou wilt bring them and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thy dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. God had a specific place in mind long before the children ever got there and there was a certain mountain that God wanted as his habitation. We know that mountain now to be Mount Zion. It wasn't just any old mountain. God says, I'm going to bring you out of Egypt through the wilderness and eventually I'm going to bring you to Zion, the place of my presence, a place where, again, the tabernacle or the temple was made. In the New Testament, of course, we have in the book of Hebrews, it says in Hebrews 12, verse 22, that they have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God. In other words, there is a spiritual Zion that you and I are going to one day. God has a destiny for each and every one of us. That doesn't mean that, you know, we should be clamoring necessarily just to get there. There's a process, obviously, but there are things that we should be doing along the way. God has called us to. We are to be led by the Spirit of God. But ultimately, our destiny is to be in the presence of God. Not in an earthly dwelling place, but a heavenly dwelling place in the sense that the tabernacle that they went to was a copy of the true tabernacle which is in heaven. And we are going to go to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, to the church of what? The firstborn. That's a great concept, isn't it? Remember what happened to the firstborn. The firstborn got a double portion. You know, I happen to be the middle child in our family. And if I was living in the Old Testament, I'd have a bit of an issue with my older brother because he would have got double what I get when Daddy dies, you know, type thing. But thank God in the New Testament, we are all firstborn. There's no middle children in the New Testament. And we get a double portion. That's what Jesus Christ has done for us. Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. We can celebrate the feast. And it's amazing to me as you go through that and I would urge you to take a little bit of time and maybe go through it on your own, Exodus 12 especially and 13 and 14, those chapters there, because all of that has been fulfilled. We're no longer under the shadow. We now have the substance of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Let's stand on our feet.