[0:00] So we come this morning to study God's Word. In a previous life I had a responsibility for emergency planning in! In various different roles that I undertook in the police. And part of emergency planning as we see there on the screen is about knowing your situation.
[0:30] Situational awareness. Knowing what's going on around you in the present as well as the potential influence of different factors in the future.
[0:41] And coming from that what you see is perception. Do you actually recognise what is happening in the situation that you're in?
[0:54] Because one of the things that we had to be able to do was have that perception and make decisions. Was this a significant incident? And what you tried to do was prevent it becoming a major incident.
[1:08] So in order to do that you had to have understanding. Do we understand the potential impact of what is happening round about us? Are we in control of it? What mitigating circumstances can we put in place to make sure that situation doesn't get out of control?
[1:30] And part of that is can you figure out a solution? And what might happen next? So why did I tell you what I used to do?
[1:41] Why did I tell you about situational awareness? Because each one of us need to be aware of the situation that we are in.
[1:53] As we look at our text this morning from Exodus chapter 12 and verse 13. It says there the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are.
[2:06] 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. And hopefully what we'll see is that the children of Israel were in a situation.
[2:21] A situation that they had no control over. And then we'll see what they did within that. But what we see on the screen here is that there was going to be a situation where God was going to come and strike the land of Egypt.
[2:39] And there was actions that the children of Israel were going to have to take. And you will see on the screen there that there's been a slight change to situational awareness and my response to it.
[2:55] I want you to read that statement for yourself. And I want you to emphasize the word that is written in red. I could have put that statement as situational awareness and your response to it.
[3:12] And you would read that as the person that's speaking. I want you to read that and think about it as we go through the sermon this morning. But what is my response, my individual response to the situation that we find ourselves in in this world?
[3:32] When I was working, we had what was called an emergency planning coordinating group. And we made collective decisions.
[3:44] And these decisions that we made affected everybody. Whether you realize it or not, they affected everybody here on the island when we made them.
[3:55] But there's a decision that has to be made this morning that only you can make for yourself. And as we look at the situation, remember what is my response to the situation?
[4:14] And hopefully what we'll do is we'll look at it with the help of three headings. Situation, sacrifice and salvation.
[4:26] And while we look at the children of Israel, and we look at the situation that they were in. What I want you to think about, and we've sung about it, and we've prayed about it.
[4:40] That how this casts forward to a sacrifice and an offer of salvation for each and every one of us here this morning. Let us look at what the situation was for the children of Israel.
[4:59] You can see there on the screen Exodus chapter 1. The children of Israel, as we know, had been taken into Egypt when there was a famine. And Joseph was the governor responsible for sharing out the grain to make sure that everybody had enough to eat after Pharaoh's dreams.
[5:23] What we see here is that Joseph has died, Pharaoh has died, and there is a new leader in Egypt.
[5:34] A leader in Egypt that doesn't have the same fondness, the same care for the children of Israel as Pharaoh originally had. And we see a situation that the people of Israel had absolutely no control over.
[5:51] Many of them had been born into the situation that they found themselves in. They were now slaves in Egypt, and they were in the bitter service, bitter hard service, of Pharaoh having to make bricks and mortar for the building of the city of Egypt.
[6:12] No control over the situation that they had found themselves in. What does that mean for us here? Well, you will say, we're not in bondage.
[6:25] We're not under oppressive leaders. But what does John 8, 34 teach us? It teaches us that truly I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
[6:45] And whether we recognize it or are prepared to admit it or not, if we are outside of Christ this morning, we are slaves to sin. The situation that we find ourselves in.
[6:58] And not one of us can say, that doesn't affect me. Because what else does it teach us in Romans 3, 23? For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
[7:14] Not one of us can say that we're not a sinner this morning. Not one of us can say that sin at some time or another, or even now in our own situation, has had a grip of us.
[7:29] And we've followed the ways of the devil. Could we change the circumstances? Well, the truth of the matter is no.
[7:40] The psalmist teaches us elsewhere that we were born in iniquity. We were born into a situation of sin. Do we actually understand that?
[7:54] Do we perceive the situation that we are in? Going back to the children of Israel, in relation to their perception and their understanding of the situation that they found themselves in.
[8:11] As I said, they were born into the situation that they found themselves in. They had no control over it. And we see there that during those many days, the kings of Egypt, the king of Egypt died.
[8:25] And the people groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. They had an understanding of the situation that they were in.
[8:37] But there was nothing that they could do about it. But they did one thing. They cried out. And they cried out for help.
[8:48] What about our own situation if we're outside of Christ? What's our situation if we do not know Jesus this morning as our Lord and as our Savior?
[9:05] Do we have that perception? Do we have that understanding of the situation that we find ourselves in this morning? Colossians 2.13 tells us, you're dead in your trespasses and sin, and the uncircumcision of the flesh.
[9:28] There's a dead body of understanding. Can a dead body perceive? If we are dead in our trespasses and sin, do we actually really understand the danger that we are in?
[9:45] We saw in the verse at the beginning there that there was a warning to the children of Israel that there was going to be a visitation upon the land of Egypt.
[9:59] It points forward to there's going to be a day of judgment. And if we are dead at this time in our trespasses and sin, do we really understand?
[10:12] Do we perceive the danger that we are in this morning? And the question is, what can we actually do about it?
[10:24] We go back to the children of Israel. They cried out for help. What happened when they cried out for help?
[10:36] The rest of the verse says their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. They cried out and the cry was heard by God.
[10:51] Romans 10, 13 teaches us, for everyone who calls in the name of the Lord will be saved. The children of Israel cried out. God heard them. And as we will see, and as we have already read, God provided a way out for them.
[11:08] A way out of the situation that they were in in Israel. God said, what about ourselves? If we are outside of Christ, dead in our trespasses and sin.
[11:24] Can a dead body call out to God that he doesn't know, that he doesn't understand? What did we read in 1 John 4?
[11:36] In this is love. In this the love of God was made manifest amongst us. That God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him.
[11:53] Without us even knowing it. In the deadness of our sin, God sent his son.
[12:05] Why? That we may live through him. Do you hear that message this morning? Do you understand that message this morning?
[12:18] Because in that situation, as we see here, as God sent his son, he sent a son as a sacrifice for each and every one of us.
[12:32] And we'll look in that in a bit more detail as we contrast it with the Passover lamb that we have before us in Exodus chapter 12.
[12:45] Where did we come to? Or how did we come from Exodus chapter 3 to Exodus, sorry, from Exodus chapter 1 to Exodus chapter 12?
[12:58] Moses was met, met God at the burning bush. He was then commissioned to go and speak to Pharaoh. And then we read of the death of the firstborn son.
[13:11] And then we read of the final plague that visited the people of Egypt. The death of the firstborn son.
[13:26] And what we have here in Exodus chapter 12 is the institution of the Passover meal.
[13:46] The Passover meal that was going to protect the people of Israel as the angel of death moved amongst the people in the land of Egypt.
[13:57] And as we go through this, we'll see what the lamb signified. We're also what the children of Israel had to do in relation to both the lamb and the blood of the lamb.
[14:13] We were to take a lamb that was without blemish. A year old male to take it either from the sheep or from the goats. But the key thing here is that the lamb was to be without blemish.
[14:29] A pure, spotless lamb. Where do we see a pure, spotless lamb? Now we can go forward into the New Testament.
[14:44] Where we see John the Baptist crying out, Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. John the Baptist saw Jesus coming and he cried out to the crowd, Behold, the lamb of God.
[15:04] And then we see Peter telling us, Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers. Not with perishable things such as silver or gold, But with the precious blood of Christ.
[15:19] Like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. It was a sacrifice made. For the children of Israel, they had to take a spotless lamb.
[15:34] And they had to kill the lamb. That was a cost to each one of them. That they took a lamb from their own flock. But what we see here at the cross wasn't a cost to any one of us.
[15:51] The cost was purely upon God. The spotless lamb of God was his son. His son, Jesus. That he sacrificed for each and every one of us at the cross.
[16:06] And we see there that he's referred to as the spotless lamb of God. It's not that long ago that we ourselves looked in Luke chapter 23.
[16:18] How Pilate, on three occasions, while he was trying to investigate Jesus. That he declared three times that Jesus was innocent.
[16:33] Innocent of the accusations that were made against him. He was indeed a spotless lamb of God. Offered for each and every one of us on a cross.
[16:48] But did the sacrifice bring salvation? Did the sacrifice bring the salvation to the children of Egypt?
[17:03] Or was it a symbol of something that they had to do? We can go back and we can read in Exodus chapter 8 and chapter 9.
[17:15] Children of Israel, as we will see, had to do something with the blood of the lamb. They had to put it on the doorposts to signify that they were of the children of Israel.
[17:34] We see in the passages on the screen here that God knew who the children of Israel were. When the plagues were visited upon the people of Egypt, the people of Israel were protected from it.
[17:52] God could discern between who was of the children of Israel and who was of the children of Egypt. But what do we see in Genesis 12?
[18:05] We're always told that we have to take heed of repetition. And they're told clearly what they have to do with the blood of the lamb. That they have to sprinkle it on the doorposts.
[18:19] Why were they to sprinkle it on the doorposts? So when the angel of death came through, that he would pass because they were protected.
[18:31] Protected by the blood that was on the doorposts. And anyone that was within the house of the children of Israel was protected.
[18:42] They did not befall what the angel of death brought upon the children of Egypt. The psalmist in Psalm 51 cried out to God, Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean.
[19:00] Wash me and I shall be whiter than the snow. The sprinkling of the blood was a cleansing. And where does that point us forward to?
[19:14] When we look at what Jesus did for us on the cross at Calvary. He points us forward to an offer of salvation for each and every one of us.
[19:26] As we see Jesus standing at the cross, waiting for each and every one of us to come to him. While he was here on earth, he was rejected by those that were there.
[19:42] But he came to bring salvation for each and every one of us. He came for salvation. The children of Israel could have chosen not to put the blood on the door.
[20:00] They could have chosen to think, Well, I'll be saved because I'm part of the family of Israel. But they were told they had to sprinkle the blood on the door.
[20:13] We may be sitting here this morning and thinking, Well, I come to church. I'm okay. I come to church here. I'm part of a church family.
[20:25] But the reality is that you have to make a response to come to Jesus. To accept that the blood that was shed for you, that the cross of Calvary was shed for you personally.
[20:41] And you need to come and take of that blood. And be part of the family of God. Recognizing that as Jesus hung on that cross, he hung on the cross for your sins, for my sins.
[21:02] And that being aware of your own situation, that you respond when Jesus says, Come, come to me. That offer that is made to you.
[21:16] We see it in John 14. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. We know of the Philippian jailer that cried out, What must I do to be saved?
[21:32] And he said, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And you will be saved. You and your household. There is one way that we can come to God.
[21:45] And that is through Jesus. And that is through Jesus. Recognizing that Jesus was the spotless Lamb of God. That gave his life for each and every one of us.
[21:56] While we were dead in our trespasses and sin. While we could do nothing to help ourselves. God, in love, sent his son Jesus.
[22:09] That we may live through him. And in living through him, he had to die for each and every one of us. What is our situational awareness this morning?
[22:26] As we recap on what we have thought about. We saw what situational awareness was. And if we are out of Christ this morning, it says to us, That truly, truly I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
[22:47] Do you actually perceive that you are in sin this morning? Are you hearing a voice telling you that you are out of Christ?
[22:58] In need of Christ? Are you recognizing and understanding that the wages of your sin are death? Do you see the current state that you are in?
[23:12] And do you actually realize that there is nothing that you can do in and of yourself. To get out of that situation. That it is ready. It already has been done for you.
[23:24] All you need to do, as we have seen already, is come and believe. Believe in the one that was sent into the world.
[23:35] That we may live through him. Do you recognize your need of salvation this morning? The plea to you is that you do not delay.
[23:48] That you come and come now. There is a situational awareness for those of us that are in Christ.
[24:00] Well, we recognize that there are those that are out of Christ who need to come. Those of us that are in Christ.
[24:11] Do we actually recognize? And do we acknowledge that it is through grace that we have been saved? That it is not of our own doing. We cannot boast of it in ourselves.
[24:23] It is a gift that comes from God. And we have to make sure that we never lose sight of that. That in our understanding of it. That we are sober minded.
[24:37] That we are watchful. That we recognize that each and every day. The devil prowls. Seeking. Someone to devour. That we cannot stand in our own strength.
[24:50] That we cannot be complacent. We have been given God's word to direct us. And how we may glorify him. And how we may enjoy him forever.
[25:02] And let us never lose sight of that. That it was out of God's love. That it was made manifest amongst us. That he sent Jesus.
[25:14] To die. That we would live through him. That we do. Passover Passover was instituted and what do we read at the end there?
[25:33] The people of Israel went and did so as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron so they did and we also read there and again we sang of it the importance of teaching their young ones and if you went even today to a synagogue and spoke to young Jewish boys and girls they had been schooled in the doctrines of the Passover and what the Passover meant even to this day because they still wait for the Saviour but the Saviour has come the Saviour has come for each and every one of us and as the congregation gather here this evening for the Lord's Supper and as the institution of the Lord's Supper is read my question to you is if you are hearing God's voice calling you this morning been woken from the deadness of your sin are you going to come and are you going to acknowledge that Jesus is your Lord and your Saviour that as the blood in the form of the wine is here tonight do you recognise that that was poured out for you and the bread that is broken that Jesus' body on the cross was there for each one of you the children of Israel when the Passover was instituted they went and they did what was commanded will you do what is commanded when you hear God calling you when you hear that call going out come unto me will you obey that command and will you come and sit at the table and remember the death of Jesus the death that was for you the death that was given in love that through death we may live in Jesus let us pray do you