The Rescue: Remembering The Passover

What's up Summit Church? So good to see you guys. Excited as we continue to go through our whole story series. It is so amazing to see how the good news impacts us. What I've been blessed by is just seeing how even in the Old Testament as we go through the Bible, how God just continually, continually speaks to us through his son Jesus. Today we're going to actually veer into an account in the Bible in the Book of Exodus where we see God's people suffering.

How did I know and I understand that I've never met one single person that likes suffering. In fact, let me tell you a little story about my crazy family, okay? Listen, there are six of us, four of my children in our family.

I have three daughters, one son. Well, one night me and my wife, we go on a date night. We always let our kids know, listen, when someone is watching you guys, y'all have to act better with them than you do with us because we can deal with your crazy selves. But they might not be able to do that, so you better be on your best behavior. Going to date night, we come back, drama, all right? That's drama. So we got to deal with it.

So me and my wife come up with a very old school, very slick way to get them back. We say, listen, all four of y'all line up. Are y'all going to get a spanking today? And you're going to tell us how many licks you deserve, right? That's real old school, right?

You know, so they were like, oh man, okay. So, you know, everybody says like one or two and everything, but then we get down to my youngest. Now, she's about four or five. Now, this girl is something else, okay? Just to let you understand Kirsten for a moment. Kirsten is the kind of kid that will talk in third person, all right? She's the kind of child that will be going by Dunkin' Donuts and she'll say, Kirsten surely would like one of those Dunkin' Donuts today. I'm like, who are you?

Why are you talking in third person right now? I mean, one time she actually said to my wife, Mommy, why hasn't it happened yet? And my wife was like, what are you talking about? She said, why am I not famous yet?

Why is it taking so long, you know? She's that girl. This is like at three or four years old, she's saying this kind of stuff. So, you know, we get down the line and then we tell all the kids, you have to give us a number.

You have to give us a number, one, two, whatever. Kirsten looks at us and the series today says, zero, because that's a number two. You know, we're like, oh my God, this girl, you little sinner, you are something else, you know? But the point is, listen, nobody wants to go through any kind of pain, any kind of suffering, whether it is something that someone else is inflicting on you, or if you were the cause of it.

No one wants to go through that. But the good news is that God always has a plan of rescue for us in the midst of our suffering and our sin. So let's look at God's plan in the book of Exodus.

So this part of the whole story is about a rescue mission that begins on the night, a prolific event that happens one night. It's called the Passover. It's in Exodus 12. But before we get to the Passover, I need to catch us up.

How do we get from chapter one to chapter 12? I'm going to explain it really quickly, but I want to make some real key observations along the way. So in Exodus one, there's an evil, dark-hearted Pharaoh. He's enslaved God's people and he's treating them extremely harsh. Unlike Joseph, who we heard about last week, whose leadership actually blessed Egypt.

He gave them wisdom during a three-year famine and allowed Egypt to flourish and allowed this country to have the wealth that it had. God's people is an instrument of salvation at all. In fact, he is so scared of these people. He fears them so much. He's so sadistic and so callous that he orders that all the Hebrew-born males to be executed. Now, during this time, little baby Moses gracefully avoids being killed and is actually raised by the daughter of the man that is trying to kill him. It's an amazing story right there in Exodus two. But fast-forwarding, when Moses gets to be about 40 years old, he gets sick of seeing the injustice on his people. But he tries to take justice into his own hands and he kills an Egyptian slave master.

And he hopes that no one finds out. But as soon as the news gets out, Moses fears his life and he flees Egypt and goes to a place called Midian for 40 more years. So now Moses is 80 years old.

80 years old. And God calls Moses back to Egypt for his rescue mission. Now, Moses tries to avoid this call that God has placed on his life because, hey, one, I'm a murderer. Number two, you want me to do all this speaking to all these people and I'm not the greatest orator. I can't speak all that well.

I have some inadequacies there. And God basically is like, Moses, please, first I need you to understand that I am the Lord. And this really is not really about you, Moses. It's not about your inadequacies.

It's not about your past. It's not about your sin. It's about my promise that I have for my people.

So I want you to hear this for a moment. If you're here today, some of you are just like Moses. It might have been a while since you set foot around the people of God. It might have been a while since you cracked your Bible open to hear from God. I don't care how far gone you think you are. I want you to know that God is still pursuing you. He wants you back in relationship with him, back on mission for him, back to his call. Moses was 80 years old, y'all. And it still wasn't too late for him. So Moses returns to Egypt with a simple message.

It's exactly what we need today. Exodus 5, verse 1. It says afterward, Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, let my people go that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness. Notice that God wants to deliver his people from the bondage of slavery, but their freedom didn't stop there. Their freedom didn't stop there.

So that they could do what? Worship him. This feast to him in the wilderness is a way of worshiping God. So listen, our freedom should always lead us to worship. So write this down.

This is very important. All the suffering, all the disappointment, our sins, whatever has bound us is actually himself. It's to worship him. He wants to free them from their slavery to worship him. See, it's sad, but a lot of people have reduced Christianity to this just get out of hell free card. But no, no. It's much more than that.

You miss out on the richest part of Christianity if you just seek salvation from the things that have you bound and you miss out on seeking the Savior. He's a person. He's Jesus. He desperately desires to be in a relationship with you. And make no mistake, no, he does not want to leave you in the middle of your brokenness and your bondage on this planet.

No. But church, listen, the best way for you to navigate through what is ahead of you, your suffering, your pain and your sin is to be in relationship with the God of the universe. So let's get back to the story. God tells Moses to relate his plan now to what he's doing. See, Moses had objections. God proved himself.

Okay? But now he has to tell this to the people. So he's going to tell this to the people, but I want you all to pay very close attention to what God says and what the people think about what God says. Exodus 6.

It says this, Exodus 6, verse 6. I will give you from slavery to them and I will redeem you with an outstretched armor with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people. I will be your God and you shall know that I am the Lord your God who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give you for a possession. I am the Lord.

How many times did you hear I am, I will? That lets you know who is doing this. Who is in charge? Who is going to execute this plan to rescue them from their suffering and their sin?

It's God. But look at verse 9. Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses. Why? Because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.

Hmm. Can I speak to some of you here today? Whose spirit is broken and the harshness of what has you bound has drowned out the spirit of God. It has drowned out his word and it has even caused you not to want to listen to the people that God has sent into your life to convey his plan to you. This is where they are. They don't want to hear what God has to say and this person that God has sent them their way.

To hear his plan. Now, listen, I understand how hardship can impact us. Our family, personally, because we all think that pastors, if you think that everything is rosy and merry when we stand up here, no.

We are all sinners saved by grace. We all deal with things. We have families that are messed up. We have issues that are going on. And I promise, I felt like in 2015 and even here at the beginning of 2016, it seems like all not heaven has been breaking out against my family.

And it's been very special. And hardship has a way, I don't care who you are, it has a way to make you see God's plan differently. So instead of believing in God's dominion, I'm looking at my situation and now it's harder for me to believe in his sovereignty and his rule and his control.

And God, are you really aware of what's going on right now in my situation? So instead of drawing closer to him, you begin to kind of deny his presence and his relevance in your life. So you kind of slowly start reading God's word, his love letter to you. You kind of slowly begin not to pray anymore. You start viewing time with God as, uh, this is a burden to me because it's a waste of time.

I don't see any results that are coming from this. And instead of trusting what he promised, because this is where they are. Listen, they know Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are. One of the things that God swore to them is I'm going to bring you out from this promise that I've given you. We saw that promise back in Genesis, but they're like, no, no, no, no, no, you're promising this, but my son, this Pharaoh has killed my son. What about that promise, God? Because my son is dead right now. Some of us here are like, as parents, you're like, Lord, you said to raise this child up in the way they should go and they won't depart from it. But right now they departed.

Right now they're gone. What am I to do? What am I to do? We start to ignore these promises that God has for us. When he speaks, all we hear is blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I hear this promise. We start treating his promises like junk mail. When you get junk mail, you get some mail, it has your name, Christopher Lamar Green, $10,000 on it. I got that in the mail. Of course I'm going to throw that in the trash. I'm going to rip it up and get rid of that.

Why? Because nobody believes that. And we're treating God's word the same way.

It's not junk mail. We don't have that kind of God. He does not put your name on a promise that he can't keep. That's why God says in verse 6 to them, and this will come back and make light to them, he says, I am the Lord. Stop right there.

Stop right there. Listen, we can leave here right now if you believe that. If you believe that he is Lord, I can close up when I'm speaking and walk off stage because that is one of the most powerful things you'll ever believe as a Christian.

That's why he starts there. Do you believe that, Summit Church? Do you believe he is Lord over what is making you go through your pain and your suffering? That's why in verse 7 he says, you shall know that I am the Lord your God. He desperately desires for us to know him. That's why he says, I want to be your God. I want to make this thing personal. I want to be right there in the midst of your family.

Yes, I'm relevant. That's why in verse 8 he says, I will bring you out of the land that I swore. You better pay careful attention when God swears something because there's something that God can't do. He can't lie. He's a promise keeper. So guess what? If you have a problem that gets in the way of his promise, guess what has to happen to your problem?

It has to go. Church, we don't have a God who is inactive and negligent. We don't serve a God who is afraid to do the impossible in our lives.

So get to know him. Continue to trust him and stand on his promises. Now that God has dealt with Moses' objections, he's dealing with the people's objections, but they still don't believe him. So he says, listen, I'm going to show you. I'm going to show you who I am and that I'm in control and I am your God.

And I'm going to do it through judgment and salvation. So now we get to the point in Exodus in chapters 7 through 12 where we see these 10 plagues that come out. So God demonstrates this through blood in the Nile and nobody has water because there's blood everywhere.

There's frogs all over the place. There's gnats and then the gnats get on steroids and they turn into flies and then there's the death of cattle and then you see bulls breaking out. Then hell comes down and it destroys everything. Now all this is happening to the Egyptians. Locusts come in. They eat everything that the hell didn't destroy. Then darkness comes down for three days.

You can't see what's in front of you for three days. All this happens to the Egyptians and God is trying to give them space to repent. And earlier on in chapter 12, God says, listen, you've seen all these things happen to the Egyptians, but there's something I need you to do, Israel.

Yes, you're oppressed, but there's something I want you to do. He says, I want you to find an unblemished, that means with no defects, little one year old lamb, an innocent little young lamb. I want you to take that lamb, I want you to bring it into your home, I want you to kill it, I want you to eat it, then I want you to take its blood and place it over the doorpost of your home. Then in Exodus 12, here we are, Exodus 12, verse 12, God says, this is what I'm going to do. For I will pass through 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, the little g of Egypt, I will execute judgments because I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are and when I see, what does he see? 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. See, this 10th plague is not just an indictment on the Egyptians, it's for the Israelites as well. See, this 10th plague is not just for the oppressor, it is also for the oppressed.

Why? Because the destroyer, death is coming for the oppressor and the oppressed. And that's news for some of you here today.

It's news for us not to remember, this is very important, that death is coming for all of us. And there's a problem that we have because we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We are all by nature objects of God's wrath, deserving his just wrath. But this coincidentally is also what makes God a good judge. He does not let the guilty go free. He doesn't let the guilty go free. Listen, there would be pandemonium right now if all the judges in America decided to let everyone that they've imprisoned go free. We wouldn't consider them to be good judges at all if they'd done that.

That's why R.C. Sproul says it like this. He says, a God who doesn't righteously and angrily punish sin is an idol of our making, not the God of the Bible. So even though Israel was protected from the first nine plagues, and yes, they were being oppressed, yes, this was wrong on the Egyptians' part, their guilt is still obvious because God is requiring that an innocent, unblemished lamb has to die for their sin. Listen, church, for any sin, no matter how great or how small, someone has to pay.

Someone has to pay. And that someone for us was Jesus. Jesus in our place, an innocent, without sin, perfect, lived a life that we couldn't live, die to death that we couldn't die, our substitute. See, this lamb in Exodus chapter 12 gave us temporary salvation, but Jesus, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, gives us eternal salvation. Now, I don't know about you, but that's some good news.

That's good news. That's the gospel. But make no mistake in verse 13.

Make no mistake. What was it that God saw? It was the blood that God saw, not the people. It wasn't how much money they had. It wasn't the kind of great plans they had. It wasn't all the good works that they've done. It wasn't their education.

It wasn't their morals. It was nothing but the blood. That's why identity outside of Christ is not just unwise, it's fatal. So what does God see over the doorposts of your heart?

Does he see you or does he see his son's blood? But at midnight, at midnight, where I'm from, we say late in the midnight hour, God turned the situation around. God struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, both human and animals, and there was not a house in Egypt without someone dead unless the blood was at the door. And it was then, right there at midnight, that Pharaoh finally let God's people go from their bondage. But God wasn't just rescuing them from some bad thing. He freed them to experience something even greater, and that's his presence, worshiping him.

So we want to spend our final few minutes unpacking what God was accomplishing through the Passover. So here are two things that God rescues us from, and then two. First, God rescues us from slavery to freedom. Listen, the Israelites were conscious of their physical bondage, but they were aloof to an even deeper slavery that God would deal with later on in the wilderness. Because he's trying to take them out of their slavery through the wilderness to the Promised Land. See, they thought that their greatest problem was the oppression of the Egyptians, but God knew that their greatest problem was in their hearts. See, the Israelites were supposed to spend 40 days in the wilderness, but that 40 days quickly turned into 40 years.

Why? Because what took one day to free them from slavery took an entire generation to free them from their idolatry. So if you're reading with us right now in the Bible reading plan, we're in the book of Leviticus, and if you're reading Leviticus, you're probably like, what in the world?

What are these laws and all these rules and requirements? What is going on? What is God trying to do? God is trying to now, while these people are in the wilderness, he is trying to help them be into his presence. He is trying to encourage, seeking after them, but they don't know how far away they are.

He has to show them and reveal to them their sin is what's separating them, and he's constantly pursuing them. See, none of us here are slaves in the literal sense, but we all wrestle with idols that try to control us. That's why in 2 Peter 2, 19, and 20, it says that anything that controls a man, he's a slave to.

So how do you know if you're a slave, you don't have control? But God wants to empower us, church, through his word and through his spirit to master what has been mastering us. Never forget that God told Cain, Cain, the first murderer that we see in the Bible, he said something amazing to Cain. He says, Cain, there's something that is crouching at your door. That's my crouching impression right there. There's something that is crouching at your door. It's sin, and it's crouching at your door, and I know you're jealous, and I know you want to kill your brother, but he said, but you must rule over it.

You must master it. God says, listen, I will give you the power to master what is trying to master you. You can be a slave to my righteousness instead of a slave to your sin. See, Jesus is not just trying to move us from being bad to good, not from sinful to sinless. He's taking dead people and making them alive. He's taking sinful people and gifting us this righteousness in his presence.

He's snatching people from the evil one into the family of God. He loves to free slaves. That's why in Galatians 5, verse 1, it says, for freedom Christ has set us free. So stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. See, our freedom is not to do whatever we want.

Our freedom is to do whatever he wants. And if you've ever been baptized at this church, that's been made very clear through baptism because we ask two questions. We ask you, do you believe that Jesus has done everything in his ability, not our ability, but in his ability to save you? And if you believe that and you believe that he is Lord of everything, then that means you're willing to do whatever he tells you to do and go wherever he tells you to go. See, Jesus saves us from our sin, and he joyfully gives us the ability to serve God and to serve others.

That's the mission of our church, to love God, to love each other, and to love our world. Write down this second and final thought. God rescues us from despair to hope, to hope. What is despair? Despair is the complete loss or absence of hope. Jesus wants to move us from hopelessness to hopefulness. But some of you are saying, you know, Chris, right now, I heard this story.

Yes, they got rescued right then. But I'm still going through some stuff right now, and I don't see my rescue right now. And it's caused some of you not to have any hope. You think that what you're going through is meaningless. You think that it's without purpose.

So you say, why should I hope? Can I tell you a story on a lighter note? Have you ever tried to convince a hopeless teenager about something? Listen, let me tell you a crazy little funny story about my nephew. Many years ago, my nephew, he decided to give us his thesis on why he suffers to take a bath, okay?

Teenage boy, classic. This is actually his words that came out of his mouth. He said, I don't understand why I need to take a bath when I'm going to get right back dirty again, okay?

Now, in his mind, it made a whole lot of sense. But we're kind of looking at him and we're saying, this might seem tedious and pointless to you, but trust me, son, you need to keep washing. You need to keep putting on deodorant. You need to wash on, rinse off, Daniel, son.

Wash on, rinse off. You need to keep doing that because, one, it was going to be a blessing to you, and it's surely going to bless those that are around you, all right? And all the parents and middle school teachers said, amen, all right? Now, you know, I've spoken to many of you who are in the middle of suffering, and you may feel alone, but you're not alone.

I want to tell you that you're not alone. It may seem meaningless. It may seem pointless.

It may seem like it has no purpose at all, but God is doing something. You need to keep praying. You need to keep believing. You need to keep trusting.

You need to keep knowing that He's with you. It made me think about another instance when me and my wife were on a date night. We had just gone through something very, very painful in our family, and we were just trying to get away, have some time together, and on our way home, on our way home, a young lady zooms past me, throws her finger up at me, cursing me out, and I'm like, I don't even—where in the world did this come from?

What is happening right now? And she scoots around us really fast and then slams on break. I'm like, does this woman have a death wish? And she slams on break, and then I boop, and then I bump her. Then when I bump her, she jumps out of the car. And I'm like, oh, my goodness, what is getting ready to happen? What is getting ready to go down? And I look up, and my wife is already out the car.

I said, rut roll. And I'm like, uh-oh, you know, and this girl is kind of fussing, and my wife is like, what are you doing? And this is crazy, y'all. Within a few moments into this crazy conversation, this girl begins to break down, and she talks about how rough her day has been and how she's worked 24 hours, and how she's about to go home to this boyfriend that is beating on her, and she's crying. And my wife lays her hands on this young lady and begins to pray. Pray for this young lady.

In the middle of the road, y'all. See, listen, listen. You never know what people are going through.

But one thing that I know is that they need hope. He wants to bless us, church. He wants to bless those around you even through your suffering. See, you're going through something, and people are going through something, and God wants to sustain you.

But people need to know that there is a God, and He cares. He will hear your cry. He will bring you out of your bondage.

He will heal you. He will not falter on His promises, because there is hope. We have a hope that goes beyond this world, because our hope is in the resurrection. Our hope is in a person named Jesus. We have a Savior that overcame our two worst enemies, sin and death.

And when you have this kind of hope, let me tell you something right now. He will not waste one ounce of your suffering. Your suffering is not in vain, church. It may seem meaningless.

It may seem pointless. But God has a purpose, and He's working it together for your good. He didn't just give us fire insurance. He gave us blessed assurance. He didn't just give you protection. He gave you a person. He didn't just give you rescue. He gave you freedom. He didn't just give you salvation. He gave you a Savior. And He's more than an idea, more than a moral standard to live up to. He's a person to behold, a Savior to embrace, a God that will never leave you or forsake you. He is a high priest that is not unable to sympathize with your weaknesses, because He's faced sin just like you, but was without it. Therefore, you can approach the throne of grace with bonus. That's the kind of God that we serve.

So write this down. Last thing. The Passover lamb. The Passover lamb is our sign, but He's also our sustenance, our sustenance. How is He going to help us through our despair? How is He going to give us hope? Listen, this Passover lamb in Exodus 12 was a sign of deliverance, but He also was a meal.

You say, Chris, that sounds very crude. Yes, but the Lamb's blood saved Him, but His body also provided the nourishment that they needed on the journey to and through the wilderness. See, Jesus is not just the Lamb of God. He's also the bread of life. He rescues us from our sins to Himself, and then He sustains us as He sends us out. Do you know why Paul said in Philippians that I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me?

Do you know why? Because he was shipwrecked, but he didn't drown. He was beaten and left for dead, but he didn't die. He didn't have a home, but he had a place to stay. He didn't have anything to eat, but he still found a way not to starve. He was tormented by a messenger from Satan himself, but God sustained him. God gave him strength through everything that he was going through, through all the suffering.

He could do all things through Christ that gives him strength. So I want to encourage you today. I want you to know that God saves you, and He will keep you.

No matter how deep the sin, no matter how deep the suffering, He will sustain you. You're safe in the arms of the Almighty Savior. Would you pray with me? Father, first I want to pray for those that stand here today, and they're ready to come. They're ready to come to You. They're ready to take the blood of the Lamb and place it over the doorposts of their hearts. They're ready to be embraced by You. They're ready to be rescued from their suffering, rescued from their sin. And I pray, God, that they would accept You and begin this journey with You. But I also want to pray for my brothers and my sisters who know You, but because of the hardship that they face, they've lost a little bit of hope. God, remind them that Your grace is sufficient and that You give them more than what they need and that You've given them Your body of Christ to hold them up during this time. Well, God, we thank You and we honor You and we appreciate Your rescue and we remember what You've done for us. In Your mighty name that we pray, amen.