Sermon Central
-
The Blood Made The Difference Series
Contributed by Jerry Shirley on Jan 6, 2004 (message contributor)
Summary: There is a PLAGUE...final and fatal it is, but there is a PROTECTION. Passover and the blood of the Lamb! Link inc. to formatted text, audio & video, PowerPoint.
What Makes the Difference?
Ex. 11:4-7 (key), 12:3-7, 12-13
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/BloodMadeDifference.html
v. 7 “...the Lord doth put a DIFFERENCE between the Egyptians and Israel.”
At this point in the story, Israel has been held in slavery for many years in Egypt. God raised up Moses to go to Pharaoh and say, let my people go. Pharaoh hardened his heart over and over. The land lay in ruins after 9 massive plagues devastated everything and everyone except for Israel. [recount]
Still Pharaoh hardened his heart. The thought of God our Creator should melt our hearts, but for some the devil has his way and they view God differently, and actually allow their heart to be hardened at the same.
Ill.—imagine a frozen river w/ clay banks (the same sun which melts the ice hardens the clay)
There was 1 plague more to go…the death of the firstborn…and God will show the plan of salvation in a beautiful picture painted in broad strokes of blood!
The Plague, and the Protection
1. This was the Final Plague.
It was a spiritual illustration of the finality of death, if you’ve not been saved. The NT says we are all under either the love of God, or the wrath of God, all are saved or lost, there is no gray area. You are either redeemed, or doomed.
And all of us will one day face the final plague—death!
11:5-- says that the death angel will visit everyone, the smallest hut / grandest palace…poorest of poor / richest of rich…educated / uneducated!
Heb 9:27 -
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
None of us are getting out of this world alive. In spite of all medical science has come up with, the death rate is still one per person!
Are you saved? You may have hardened your heart 9 times, but there’s a final plague, a final test coming…what will happen to you when the death angel comes to visit?
This was the Final Plague…
2. This was a Fatal Plague.
Death=separation
Physical death=when soul and spirit separate from the body (empty shell)
Spiritual death=when soul is separated from God
Rev. 20—death and hell cast into lake of fire…this is the second death.
Only born once?…You’ll have to die twice…born twice…die once!
No wonder Jesus said, ye must be born again!
Knowing that we all must eventually face this final, fatal plague…it would be wise to find out if there’s any protection available to us, that we might avoid that second death!
The Protection
11:7 What made the difference? The death angel stopped at most of the homes, but not all…what made the difference? Why were some spared?
Were they better people? No!
(crossed red sea and built calf, had an orgy / ran out of food and water and cursed God)
It wasn’t their morality that made the difference!
You say, I know, their priests did ceremonies and performed rituals! No!
Empty, repetitive formalities bring nothing but drowsiness!
No ritual / no morality could make the difference…only 1 thing could make the difference: the blood of the lamb!
12:7, 12-13 “pass over” is where we get the word “Passover”.
Here is the theme of the entire Bible: It is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!
Adam and Eve sinned. Their boys inherited that sin nature. Both were told to bring a sacrifice for their sins. Abel brought a lamb, Cain brought fruits and vegetables / Abel’s offering was accepted, Cain’s rejected…what made the difference? The Blood!
That’s Gen. 4:4—it was a lamb for one man in those days.
Next we come to our text in Ex. 12, where God told every family to take one lamb, sacrifice it, and apply its blood to the top of the doorpost and the sides (what were they forming? A cross!)
Now it’s a lamb for each fam.
Lev. 16—God told the high priest to kill a lamb for the sins of the whole nation (this was done once a year for hundreds of years)
A lamb for the whole land.
Here’s the best part:
Jn. 1—Jesus is introduced…Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!
All the other lambs were leading up to this, they were just pictures of the perfect Lamb to come.
The Lamb to span all eternity!
All 4 of these lambs do have something in common:
All had to be spotless (12:5)
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
v. 3—picked out the lamb on the 10th day of the month / watched until 14th day (v. 6) / inspected it
(for nearly 4 years the Jews inspected Jesus in His earthly ministry, looking for faults, but at the end of His life, even His enemies had to admit he was sinless.)
