Well, there certainly are certain truths in Scripture that are meant to grip us. And what better time to think of the truth we're focusing on this morning than the beginning of the year? Because the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is for the whole year, for the whole life, and for all eternity. It's precious blood, the Bible says. It's incorruptible blood, the Bible says. It's the blood of God, the Bible says, His precious blood. Now, we're redeemed through the blood of the Lamb. Now, it's foundational. The Bible says if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? If we give this truth up about the blood, we have nothing but the religion of Cain, as we'll see in a moment, dead and lifeless and only able to satisfy the human emotion for a moment. No single idea in the scripture is held in more constant view than the blood. There are over 460 specific references in the Bible to the blood and thousands of examples of application when it talks about the altar and sacrifice and sin offerings. Over and over, it's always the blood that's held before our eyes. Old Dr. Barnhouse said, you can cut this Bible on any page and it will bleed. There is a theme of the precious blood that goes all the way through. And Father God is trying to teach us something about that blood. From the very beginning, he's tried to make it clear to us that no one can stand before God in their own merit, in their own sincerity, in their own ideas about God. It has to come a righteousness given from God, a pure gift. Now this goes all the way back. Before we come back to Exodus chapter 12, where we'll look at a little in detail, I want to consider for a moment this teaching in the book of Genesis. And if you'll look at chapter four for just a moment, I want to take you there and see what God is first teaching us about the blood. In Genesis chapter four, we won't read the whole chapter, but may I say to you, It's built immediately on chapter three. Chapter three is when God comes to Adam after his sin and he pronounces upon him the curse. He curses the devil. He curses Adam and the ground for his sake. And then he gives the word about the Messiah that between the seed of woman and the seed of the devil, there would be a perpetual war. that this seed of woman would bruise the head, crush the head of the serpent as the heel of the seed of woman was bruised. And he was speaking about the Lord Jesus on the cross. Those feet nailed to the cross beneath that heel that was bruised would be crushed the head of the serpent. Now, apparently, Adam saw this because suddenly he turns to his wife and says, Your name shall be called Living One, Eve. And it's a strange thing to call your wife living after you've just been told that you're under a curse. And God made, it says, coats of skin. That's how it reads in the original language. Two coats of one skin. He took the covering of an innocent victim and covered the nakedness of Adam and Eve. And their nakedness was covered. Adam had tried to cover his own nakedness by fig leaves. I'd never want to be wearing fig leaves in a fire, would you? The fire is coming and a lot of people are wearing fig leaves. Isaiah says that we all are as an unclean thing and our iniquities have taken us away like leaves. The symbol of the Jewish nation was the fig leaf, the covering of religion. but not effectually covered by blood. In the very next chapter, chapter four, Cain and Abel come to an appointed place at an appointed time. And it says in verse three, in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the Lord. The fruit of the ground was the best that he could do. He had sweat, he had toiled, and he had done the very best he could. Like bouquets of flowers and fruit, utter sincerity came to a prescribed place to offer to God the offering of sincerity. And Abel, verse four, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect to Abel and his offering. Now, Cain did not like it, and first John tells us that he became angry and he slew his brother Abel. because he was jealous of the ease with which God's favor came to him. Hebrews chapter 11 says, By faith it was that Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. It was the sacrifice that separated them. Cain came by the works of his hands, by the deeds of his own life, and Abel came by the blood of the firstlings of the flock. He came by faith. Now, to come by faith, You have to have a word from God. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And apparently Adam had told Cain and Abel about the lambs covering that Adam and Eve had received to cover their nakedness, righteousness given from God. In fact, the word for coats that God made for Adam and Eve is the very root word for which we get our word atonement in the Old Testament. The covering, it's the root word of the garment that the priests wore for a white linen to show forth the white righteousness of the saints. The book of Revelation tells us in chapter seven that the white linen that the saints in heaven wear, they've made clean and white in the blood of the lamb. So from Genesis to Revelation, God is trying to get across to us that it is always and only by the blood of the Lamb that we must come. There are two kinds of people in this room today. Those who have been washed in the blood of the lamb and are trusting him and him alone for their righteousness. Those who come according to God's word by faith to him, the appointed altar, the Lord Jesus at the cross, and they're trusting him. And God says, you're as right with me as you can be by the blood of the lamb. not with corruptible things, as we heard, such as silver and gold or vain traditions handed down for hundreds of years through various denominations that a person might be in, but rather through the precious blood of the Lamb that God set up before the foundation of the world. And just at the end of time, When he came, the Lord Jesus was revealed for our sakes. That's the first kind. The second kind of person are those in this room who are sincere. They're here because their mother and father were. They're culturally acclimated to things of religion. They love the hymns. It makes them feel better to come to church and recite and to pray. But yet they have never yet come God's way by the blood. They are yet coming by their own sincerity and their own thoughts and their own desires. And God says you're rejected. Only you can come. by the blood of the Lamb. It's an amazing thing. Now, think of how God shows this blood. It's ever-growing in its power and scope as you see it revealed throughout the Scripture. In Genesis chapter 4, you see the blood of the Lamb shed for an individual. In Exodus chapter 12, at which we're going to look in just one moment, you see the blood of the Lamb for a family. It covers them when judgment comes and the father applies the blood and the whole family is protected I would say to every father in this room of which I am one If the daddy doesn't take the blood of the lamb and put it over his house The devil will take your children It's the father's responsibility to put the blood of the lamb over his home in prayer and by faith to hold it before them, and that God might see and protect our homes. The blood of the Lamb for the family. In Leviticus, however, it's greater. Leviticus 16, God reveals the blood of the Lamb for a nation called Israel. The whole nation on Yom Kippur, the day of covering, the day of atonement, the day of blood. He ordained that they would come and by the blood of the Lamb, cover the sins in an act of obedience of a nation, that they all should come by faith under the blood of the Lamb. But then it goes further than that. In Isaiah 52, verse 15, it says, with his blood, he will sprinkle many nations, not just Israel. They were to be a witness to the world of the Lamb of God. And they lost touch and became exclusive and thinking perhaps that the God's call was a excuse for elitism. It can happen to you or me as well. And God will find another outlet. And so he sprinkles blood on every nation. Every man and every nation who feareth God, God will sprinkle with the blood. But then in John chapter one, we see the one that it says in Psalm 40. Lo, I am coming in the volume of this whole book. It is written of me. I'm coming to do thy will. Your word is within my heart." We see that timeless Lamb of God, who had been in the wings of history, casting his shadow through the Old Testament, it grew longer and longer, and in chapter 1 of John, he steps out. And there, John, the baptized John, says, The Lamb of God who is taking away the sin of the world, not just every nation, but the whole world. Yes, His blood is the propitiation for the sins of not only believers, but the whole world whosoever will might come. and under that blood. Well, it goes further in first Peter that our sister read to us. It says that we're redeemed with the incorruptible blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, but he was ordained before history. So it's not just for the world. It's for all of history. And it goes beyond that in Revelation chapter five. We see around the throne of the lamb in the timelessness of eternity. We see all the hosts of heaven praising him by thy blood thou hast redeemed us to God. And we have been made kings and priests by thy blood of every kindred and tongue and tribe and nation. And we are now yours. Isn't that good? They're praising him today around the throne of the Lamb for the blood. And that's for all of created universe, bigger than history. God sprinkles the heavens with his blood. It says in Colossians, we have peace through the blood. Why do I put so much emphasis on the blood? Because God does. Woe to the man that does not love the blood of Jesus, because he is perishing. In Revelation 22, the last chapter of the Bible, we see the blood of the lamb for all eternity availing much. A lamb at his birth. The Lord Jesus was born where lambs are born. He was born in Bethlehem. There, shepherds that were raising lambs born to die, who guarded them day and night and never left them. They would never do that because they were special Passover lambs. There it was that God the Father chose to reveal the announcement, unto you is born this day in the city of David, Bethlehem. a savior. He is Christ the Lord, the one that the prophets of old have told of. And suddenly there was a host of angels who couldn't keep quiet because Emmanuel had come. And we're celebrating that even still, not just at Christmas, but every day he has come and he is still in our midst. Well, it was at Bethlehem that they raised Passover flocks. If you go to Israel, they'll show you the place today. where they kept Passover lambs. It's as if God said to shepherds raising lambs born to die in a figure. He said, boys, you're out of business. You're out of business because today the lamb has come and he's born in the place where a lamb should be born in a stable, in a feeding trough. He's being sent down Bethlehem, the house of bread. He's the bread of life set down in a feeding trough that you're to eat his flesh and drink his blood. And whoever does will live forever. And so we see him marked out as a lamb at his baptism. Behold the Lamb of God who's taking away the sin of the world. We see him marked out as a lamb at his triumphant entry, where it says in John 12, on the 10th day of the special month, he came into Jerusalem. It's the same day that all those Passover lambs would normally come into Jerusalem. It's like pulling a white sheet over a hill all those lambs coming in the sheep gate and over here Coming in the sheep gate as well was the Lord Jesus coming in not on two legs but four legs on the foal of an ass And the people cried out, save now, save now. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And what a wonderful thing that he came in and for three days, there's so much time devoted to him. In the New Testament Gospels, they're taking those lambs into the courtyard of Passover time to examine them. They'd pull out their tongue to make sure it was perfect. Look at their ears and eyes and say, no spot. It's good for an offering. Well, God the Father left his lamb to be examined by Sadducees, Pharisees, Herodians, the common people, the soldiers. Everyone said, never a man spoke like this. He is spotless. We find no fault in him, even his enemies. God said, my lamb is perfect. You see, it was on the 14th day in the evening that they would take the Passover lambs to that great temple and they would sing the Hallel in the courtyard. And it was at that time that Jesus was hanging on the cross. And at that time, it was that as he could look, I believe, and see those great temple fires smoking. That God the father saw the real Passover lamb the lambs were ready to die God's lamb was dying and God said it's finished this Ritual these pictures these types that go pointing toward Jesus from this time. It's over He tore the veil in the temple. Can you imagine the sheer horror that must have taken place as they were going about their rituals, ready to offer the blood on that special day as they'd done for hundreds of years? And no man could ever go through that veil. 2,000 priests it took to hang that veil says Josephus it was four inches thick and it was it was the size of this opening here and There at a special moment when Jesus said it is finished that veil was a picture of his flesh It says in Hebrews 10 from top to bottom done by God in the middle like the Lamb is divided in the half God said it's finished and now the way into the very end throne room of God is opened by a new and living way, which Jesus Christ has made holy for us himself through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. Now, let me just relate all this to the Passover. Because you see, it's a clear picture for us. Remember, when you look at it later, Exodus chapter 12, As God said to these people living under oppression, they'd been under the heel of Pharaoh, a picture of the devil. He said, I'm going to bring you out. It's going to be a new day for you. You're going to start your calendar over. It was their seventh month. But God said, it's going to be such a great work. You're going to start your calendar from here. It's almost as if saying, if you're in Christ, you're a new creation. All things pass away. All things become new. And so God said on the 10th day of this month, that's the very day that Jesus Christ would walk into Jerusalem. Thousands of years later, hundreds of years later, he would come in on the four legs. On that day, they took a lamb. And they would begin to observe that lamb to make sure it was perfect, a young lamb taken from its prime. And surely the children would say, what a wonderful little lamb. Nothing's more precious than a little lamb. My children would love it. And then on the 14th day in the evening, I would bring that as the father to the door of the house and pull its head back like this. And my child would say, what are you doing, daddy? Son, if this lamb does not die, you must die. It's a clear case of sin must be paid for. And I would pull that knife across the throat of that lamb and blood would erupt into what they said was the basin. It's an Egyptianism, which means sop. It's a drainage ditch beneath the door. Blood would spill in what was normally a drainage ditch, a pool of blood right at the entrance where you go in and out. And they would take a little bitter herb they eat in Passover from that day on, called hyssop, and apply it. It's not enough to believe the blood was shed. It must be personally appropriated with the bitter herbs of repentance, as we confessed a moment ago. I would take that herb and I would strike it, is the Hebrew word, on the top. It almost would resemble if you got a crown of thorns and mashed it against the top of that door. And I would then rub it on the two wooden side posts of that door. And as that blood was there, God said, when I see the blood, you go inside there and you eat the flesh of the lamb whose blood was shed for you. His blood is for you to take away wrath, but his flesh will give you strength for your journey that is going to be hard. And you abide beneath the blood. And I'm coming through to bring judgment on all the firstborn. It's a picture of all who've only been born once. When I come through tonight, I will see the blood. It's a token for God. See, everything depends upon the value that God places on the blood, not how you feel about it. God says it's enough. When I see the blood, I will pass over. I always thought that the Passover meant that God would turn his head and go the other way. But that word in the Hebrew does not mean that. The word Passover means to set up a vigilant guard over and protect. When I see the blood that you've applied on your door, I myself personally will set a guard over you and protect you against all your adversaries. Isn't that wonderful? And so they went in there and put that blood over them. And that night, no matter whether they were strong in confidence or weak in confidence, if they were under the blood, they all came out. And so it will be with us. the blood of Jesus Christ when it's applied in a figure to our hearts. Because you see, the heart is the door. We often say, open the door of my heart, in and out. Come in, Lord Jesus, and live. The door out of the heart flow the issues of our life, in and out. And we too must come by faith this morning, if you haven't, to Calvary. And we see that one that God said, when I see the blood, Imagine at Passover, God seeing the blood, it would speak to him of the one who said, I am the door. It's almost as if that token would be of a one coming who would come in on Jerusalem on the 10th day and who would be crucified the very moment they killed that lamb in Exodus. Blood at the top of the door where the head would be, blood on the sides where his arms would be nailed and blood flowing down into that pool beneath the cross. It's a perfect picture. We come and take those bitter herbs of repentance and apply it into that blood and put it on our hearts by faith. He sprinkles us. And when God sees the blood, he says, you're as righteous with me as you'll be a million years from now. I wonder what God looks at when he sees your heart this morning. Perhaps it's some unconfessed sin or some long not made right wrong. And when God looks at our heart and sees that, he cannot bless us as he longs to bless. But he says, when I see the blood, I will guard you against all comers. You see, it's not by works of righteousness, which I could ever do. But according to his mercy, that's not getting what I do deserve. And grace, that's getting what I don't deserve. God does both. As I, under the blood, God showers me abundantly with the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. See, it doesn't matter if we're like Cain. We come here this morning dressed nicely, sincere. Speaking with utter devotion from a long-term historical relationship to the church, what matters is, does God see the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ on your heart? Have you, in faith, taken the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and come to the fountain that is open for sin? As it says in Romans 3 25, he has justified us freely, means without a reason, through the blood. It says that we have the blood of sprinkling on our heart. God wants to give us peace through the blood of the cross. When he looks at our heart and sees something, good deeds and other things, he cannot bless. But when we come to him by the blood, he protects us against all comers. How do we apply the blood? Only one way. The moment that I, in poverty of spirit, say, oh God, you're right, and I'm wrong. There's no hope for me apart from thee. Lord, you're my only hope. I could never be good enough. And I've never been good enough. If I've ever told one lie or broken the law at one point, I'm completely disqualified. I'll never be able to recover. The only hope for me is the righteousness, which is by faith that Paul wrote off in Philippians 3, which comes as a gift from God. So how are you dressed this morning? Are you dressed in that white linen robe that comes through the coat, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you put on the Lord Jesus Christ? Or are you still standing in the filthy rags of Cain? That's the two kinds of people today, sons of God and sons of this world. And they are dressed in the robes of darkness. They're their own works. And they hate the people that say, trust Jesus by the blood. It's always been that way. That those who are righteous are persecuted by those who are not. Not by our own deeds, but by the blood of the Lamb. What a wonderful thing. We must apply the blood. Victory is a gift, not a growth. It's what God gives. The moment that I am willing to call sin, sin. Lord, there's no hope for me. You know what? That's good news for bad people. And you know what else? That's bad news for good people. Not all the blood of beasts on Jewish altars slain could give my guilty conscience peace, nor wash away the stain. But Christ, the heavenly lamb, takes all my sins away, a sacrifice of nobler name and richer blood than they. 1973 legal sacrifices every year, plus thousands of others, and 1,900 years of blood in the Old Testament. Oceans of blood and it all points to the one to whom John said, behold, the Lamb of God. One drop of his precious incorruptible blood is worth all those others. They did it pointing to him. We look back and come to the cross. Well, I hope that you're under the blood this morning And I hope that you're trusting the Lord Jesus Christ, his blood shed for you, his life, his word in you, and you go in the strength. Christ, our Passover, it says in Corinthians, is sacrificed, let us keep the feast. Are you Cain or are you Abel? Let the Holy Spirit have an answer. May I pray with you? As we bow before God, may I ask you this. Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? May I just invite you as your heads are bowed to just trust him now. If you're not washed in the blood, if there's anything else you're trusting in, would you trust him now? And may I ask you to acknowledge that by quietly looking up to Paul. Let him see your eyes. Paul, would you look at the eyes of people? May you look at his eyes. If you're wanting to trust the blood of the lamb this morning for the first time, to be washed in the blood, let him see your eyeballs and he'll pray for you and he'll Minister to you make sure he sees your eyes. You're trusting the blood you're tired of trying on your own Paul you need to look behind you. There may be some behind you over here Are there some look look at Paul if you're trusting Jesus and over in front of Paul, may he see your eyes? Over to the main body of the congregation have have you looked at Paul if you're trusting you're looking not at Paul But unto Jesus the precious fountain the blood My only hope. Father, in Jesus' name, you know the hearts of every soul. And I pray that when you look at our hearts, you'll see the blood of Jesus. Thanks be to God. Glory. Hallelujah. For your unspeakable gift. Glory be to God in the highest. And now on earth, peace, goodwill toward men because of the blood of the lamb. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. I thank you for the privilege of sharing this time with