Nothing....but the Blood [Part 1]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Allen Wright. According to the Bible, judgment day, in a very real sense, has already come.

There are multiple days of the Lord, and there is a future day of the Lord, but the future day of the Lord, or the future judgment day, is really just a consummation of what God has already done in Jesus Christ. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series, God Moments, as presented at Reynolda Church in North Carolina.

If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It's Pastor Alan's book by the same title, God Moments, and it can be yours for your donation this month to Allen Wright Ministries. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you a copy of Pastor Alan's book, God Moments, our special offer today. Contact us at pastorallen.org. That's pastorallen.org, or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. More on this later in the program. But right now, let's get started with today's teaching on God Moments.

Here is Allen Wright. Are you ready for some good news? God is a judge, and you're going to have your day in court. I said, God is a judge, and you're going to have your day in court. And I'm going to keep saying that until somebody shouts hallelujah. The reason that this sermon is needed is because Christians and non-Christians seem to have this in common, that when you mention that God is a judge and that there is a day of judgment, they both think it's dreadful.

And it is an uncommon word. It is actually a good news view of judgment day. The reason that I've been so drawn into this is because I preached all the way through the first epistle of John and saw that in four instances in that tiny little epistle, he says that you would have confidence for the day of judgment, that you would have assurance, that you have confidence. He says in chapter four, abide in Christ so that you would have confidence for the day of judgment. In other words, there was something very important to the aged apostle John as he was summarizing the Christian gospel.

There was something very important about highlighting that he really longed for every Christian to have absolute certainty, not only about their eternal home with God, but about this thing we call the day of judgment. There is a prevalent image throughout the Bible, a figure of speech that is called the day of the Lord. And it's mentioned often in the Old Testament and in the New Testament.

It is really another phrase, another word for the day of judgment. The apostle Peter preached the Pentecost sermon, what was really the first Christian sermon ever preached. And his main text was a text from Joel, which was a prophecy of the day of the Lord.

Is that not a little astounding? The first Christian sermon was about judgment day. And Peter said, this is that of which Joel spoke, that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, wherein the people of God had become utterly filled with the presence of God, finding the fulfillment to the prophecy of Jeremiah and Ezekiel that had said, I would put my spirit within you and give you a new heart. And all of this that was being manifest in Jerusalem that day on Pentecost, Peter said, this is that, that Joel spoke up.

He said that all of those ominous signs and everything Joel spoke up, all of that was pointing to this day. In other words, this is the thing that's first and foremost important to understand about judgment day. According to the Bible, judgment day in a very real sense has already come. There are multiple days of the Lord and there is a future day of the Lord, but the future day of the Lord or the future judgment day is really just a consummation of what God has already done in Jesus Christ. In other words, the day of the Lord was a decisive day in history in which God would judge evil and God would pour out an unmerited grace through an unexpected, unimaginable sacrifice that He would make through His own Son, the Lord Jesus. So in a very real sense, evil has been judged and everyone who is in Christ, Paul says, has already been blessed with every spiritual blessing. So what this means is that at the final judgment day, it's not really that something new is happening, but rather it is a consummation of something that has already taken place. So that when you as a Christian meet your maker, what judgment day is the final doling out of the absolute certainty that you've been declared not guilty and that you have been lavished with an unspeakable inheritance?

Because there are two kind of courtroom settings that would make for the greatest day of your life and one would be if you had been living under the specter of having been accused of guilt and feeling guilty all of your life, if you had a day in court in which you could see that judge's gavel come down and say with full authority, not guilty, not condemned, no condemnation, case dismissed, innocent, reckoned as righteous, boom. If you could have that and you've been living under the specter of guilt your whole life, that day in court would be one of the happiest days of your life and there's another kind of day in court that would be a very happy day and that would be that if you had an inheritance or a reward that was coming to you, but there had been someone accusing that that inheritance was invalid or that that reward should not be given to you, but if you had your day in probate court where the judge would announce that the will had been attested, that the inheritance was valid, that the reward was to be granted and it was released to you, legally binding inheritance to you, that day would be one of the happiest days of your life and so what we have seen is that the whole thrust of the New Testament is to assure the Christian that there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and because worthy is the lamb that has been slain for you, your inheritance is sure and so the posture of the Christian therefore is one of huge expectancy and of no guilt. Most of our problems that that cause us to become heavily laden, that cause the heavy yoke to weigh us down in life are related very simply to either regret and guilt over the past or worries over the future of something bad that might happen and the gospel answers both of these questions saying to us that we are utterly and completely forgiven and therefore set free from all of our past sin and because of the assurance of what Christ has done for us that we live with absolute certainty of future blessedness in other words the best is yet to come and if you want to know what an abundant life feels like I'll tell you precisely what it feels like it's where you have no guilt and you're looking forward to the next day and that is the power of the gospel that is at work in our lives and so it is that when you think on judgment day there is an astonishing astonishing revelation of good news for the Christian and I want to again proclaim this in such a way to reassure every Christian of the of the thoroughness of the forgiveness that we have because of the grace of Jesus Christ the lamb of God God that takes away the sin of the world and I want to assure the Christian of the spectacular inheritance which is guaranteed without regard to our merit and at the same time for anyone who does not yet know Christ I would want to proclaim this gospel so vividly that everything within your heart would want to run to accept what God has offered and if you were skeptical at the end of the hour that at least you would say that's so good I wish it were true I want to turn you to Exodus chapter 12 for one of the most important stories not only in the bible but one of the most important stories in all of history we call it the Passover in Hebrew it is called the Pesach it is the event and the life of Israel in which they were liberated from their slavery and taken towards their promised land it becomes an image that is that is utterly important to understand the gospel and as we celebrate communion today we will be celebrating Jesus's celebration of the Passover which he then interpreted as being all about himself when he said this is my body and this is my blood and this is given for you it is for the Hebrew community their ultimate celebration year after year after year for 3500 years now I read this week that even amongst most Hebrew Jewish families that don't don't really even believe so much in God or practice their faith that still 67 they celebrate the Passover this is one of the most important events you'll ever read about in the bible and one of the most important historical events in all of history Exodus chapter 12 let me set the stage this last of 10 plagues the Passover it followed nine other plagues against Egypt and the reason for the plagues is that the Hebrew people had been put under a terrible bondage in Egypt it is very important to understand this it's especially under important for a skeptic who would say well that God who judged the Egyptians that seems so capricious and so mean but you have to start this to understand the atrocity of this slavery and what had happened was that God had used Joseph one of his own people to save Egypt from starvation but instead of ultimately his people being rewarded by Egypt a new Pharaoh came into power the bible says who knew not Joseph and he was cruel and he put all of the Hebrew people under bondage but the Lord had blessed this people and they they had flourished and they become very numerous and the fact that the Hebrew people become so numerous it terrified Pharaoh that they might rise up against him in the midst of this God called an unlikely candidate a man named Moses who'd actually grown up in the Egyptian court it was as if he was one of them and yet he wasn't one of them and he called him through a burning bush and he said I want you to go and tell Pharaoh to let my people go that's Alan Wright and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series God's always been there in every moment you narrowly escape from danger in every moment you were surprised by a blessing in every moment you just knew the direction to take God was there your life is defined by countless moments of God's grace perhaps they've been covered by the sands of time or have just gone unnoticed in the rush of life but your life is full of God moments when you make a gift today we'll send you pastor Alan's heart-stirring book God moments that will lead you on a spiritual treasure hunt to uncover your God moments it's Alan Wright's timeless book God moments discover your God moments in the past and be filled with fresh faith today the gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries this broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support when you give today we will send you today's special offer now these are the final days this offer is being made available to you this month we are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries call us at 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860 or come to our website pastor alan.org today's teaching now continues here once again is Alan Wright Moses when he speaks to Pharaoh gets a basic response from Pharaoh that goes like this who is your God I don't know who this Yahweh is I don't know who your God is I'm not going to let your people go and what then becomes an important motif throughout the entire story is that Pharaoh has a very stubborn heart you read it over and over you see it from the beginning instance that he is absolutely resolutely opposed to God he is not neutral on the matter he wants to have nothing to do with the true God and we have been saying and this is important for this age to to hear us rightly about the Christian gospel that in the end Justice C.S. Lewis has said that what judgment is and what hell is is ultimately God allowing someone to have what they really want if you in the end don't want to have anything to do with God then in the end I suppose God lets you have that Pharaoh wanted nothing to do with God and furthermore he began to oppress the slaves by punishing them with a new edict that said that they had to make just as many bricks the same quota that they were making for their slave masters before but that they were no longer going to provide them straw for the making of the bricks and so they had to go and gather their own straw essentially doubling their time but requiring the same amount of work from them and their slave masters beat them what's more is that in the midst of all of his fear of the expansion of the Hebrew people Pharaoh had commanded that midwives would would destroy the the first born children and they refused to do so and so what he did was he made a command in which the first born children the children of the of the Hebrews would be thrown into the Nile you know so interesting we don't know for sure exactly how much of this transpired and what took place but but some scholars would say if indeed this was carried out and the number of years over which that this would have been carried out this infanticide could have could have under some calculations been over two million Hebrew children that were killed what I'm saying is before you start saying that God was capricious in his judgment of Pharaoh this was a Pharaoh who had committed infanticide and so God sends Moses and what the story is you might think it is about God's harshness towards Egypt but you could look at it entirely different he goes to him with a series of warnings that are accompanied by plagues and Pharaoh refuses and several times Pharaoh says okay go I believe you your God your God go worship your God leave and then as soon as the plague stops as soon as as soon as he gets a little relief from his trouble Pharaoh hardens his heart and he refuses to let them go so there are plagues the water of the Nile turns to blood and then there are there are frogs that begin leaping out all over the place in Egypt and gnats come and then flies there's a plague against the Egyptian livestock there are boils that come upon the flesh of Egyptians and hail just comes and demolishes crops and locusts come and consume and all of these just one after the other it's like building like let my people go because in the end it's not just a picture about Pharaoh it's a picture about hell it's a picture about evil and the nature and stubbornness of evil it is growing at each of these plagues with Moses representing God and saying let my people go and the enemy having a stubbornness a stubbornness a stubbornness so that finally after the plague of the locusts and then the night that prefigures them all it prefigures rather the last of the plagues the darkness that comes for three days and then we come to Exodus chapter 12 the last plague the Passover verse one the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt this month shall be for you the beginning of months it shall be the first month of the year for you tell all the congregation of Israel that on the 10th day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their father's houses a lamb for a household and if the household is too small for a lamb then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb your lamb shall be without blemish a male a year old you may take it from the sheep or from the goats and you shall keep it until the 14th day of this month when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight and I want to pause here and note please note this in your heart forever the emphasis was not on whether the Hebrews were without blemish the emphasis was on the lamb the attention was not upon their merit but upon the merit of the lamb verse 7 then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lentil of the houses in which they eat it and they shall eat the flesh that night roasted on the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it I want to pause here and say do not let this be missed on the night of the day of judgment the Lord had commanded his people to have a feast that's what's going on lamb chops on the grill my favorite verse 9 do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water but roasted his head his leg his inner part and you shall let none of it remain until morning anything that remains until morning you shall burn in this manner you shall eat it with your belt fastens your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand you shall eat it in haste it is the Lord's Passover for I will pass over the land of Egypt that night and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt both man and beast and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments I am the Lord two notes here most scholars agree that this word for firstborn is in the masculine and refers to the firstborn sons and secondly notice the focus of the judgment is on the gods of Egypt all of the pagan and demonic principalities of Egypt that deceived the people and the world and persecuted the people of God the judgment was against evil verse 13 the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are and when I see the blood I will pass over you and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt so thus far we see there will be this day of judgment and that in the midst of the judgment that the Hebrews are to be celebrating with a great feast and that if they ever start wondering or they start getting a little worried about it they need to remember the sign that the Lord has given them is the blood over their doors a sign to remember them that they were safe a sign to remember that the Lord was liberating them and taking them into an inheritance and then verse 29 at midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon and all the firstborn of the livestock and Pharaoh rose up in the night he and all his servants and all the Egyptians and there was a great cry in Egypt for there was not a house where someone was not dead then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and he said up go out from among my people both you and the people of Israel and go serve the Lord as you have said take your flocks and your herds and as you've said and be gone and bless me also sometimes it is helpful to engage in your study of scripture more with your heart than with your mind sometimes I like to just imagine myself there sometimes I'll just try to envision myself there maybe on one of the hillsides of the shores of the Galilee as Jesus taught from a boat or maybe just envision myself there on the day that Jesus liberated a woman who'd been caught in adultery and the stones all fell into the ground from the pharisaical judgmental hands of religious oppressors and Jesus said is there no one left to condemn you. Alan Wright and today's teaching God Moments. Stick with us. Alan is back here in the studio in just a moment with additional insight on this for your life and a final word. God's always been there in every moment you narrowly escaped from danger in every moment you were surprised by a blessing in every moment you just knew the direction to take God was there your life is defined by countless moments of God's grace perhaps they've been covered by the sands of time or have just gone unnoticed in the rush of life but your life is full of God moments when you make a gift today we'll send you pastor Alan's heart-stirring book God Moments that will lead you on a spiritual treasure hunt to uncover your God moments it's Alan Wright's timeless book God Moments discover your God moments in the past and be filled with fresh faith today the gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries now these are the final days this offer is being made available to you this month this broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support when you give today we will send you today's special offer we are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries call us at eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty that's eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty or come to our website pastor alan.org alanee we're here at the end of the God Moment series but we're right in the middle of this teaching and there's a dramatic conclusion coming that will be here when we resume and conclude with part two nothing but the blood can save but did save nothing more is needed so there's assurance here give a sneak preview how will the dots be connected into remembering the God Moments in our lives as we look at the sacrifice well as I think that the Lord sort of gave me this image imagining myself there in Egypt yeah beholding the scene on Passover night and watching in my mind's eye Egyptians come out and beg the dark presence to please spare them I'm a good man or I've done a lot please spare me all to no avail only to hear nothing but the blood can save you but also to envision the Hebrew families who wonder why they were spared I can imagine a child asking his dad why did we not get destroyed why this cool light instead why such grace right and that Hebrew father says we did nothing nothing but the blood over our doorpost so that's what we're going to see Daniel it is to say nothing but the blood can save you but also nothing in addition to the blood is needed to save you it's such good news today's good news message is a listener supported production of Allen Wright Ministries